Eric Ziebold

I think Sheldman asked a very important question. Unfortunately, in everyone's rush to anoint or bash michelin not enough people have thought about ratings, dining guides etc... under the context of who is their audience. Taste is subjective. Different people are looking for different things from an experience at any given restaurant. Anyone that is blindly using any guide is bound to be disappointed at times if they're basing their decisions solely on that guide. I've eaten at restaurants that you've raved about and had great meals, and I've eaten at restaurants you've raved at and had mediocre meals. Does that make you wrong? I ate at El Bulli with Grant Achatz, he loved it but I didn't. Does that make him wrong? The next night we ate at El Raco con Fabes, I loved it, he didn't. Does that make him wrong? When I had a bad meal at a restaurant you recommended did I complain to you? yes i did. Can you complain to michelin? yes you can. I don't have michelin programmed into my phone so admittedly it's much easier to complain to you. There is no dining guide that takes responsibility for their reviews by reimbursing people that have bad experiences at restaurants they've rated highly. Sure I've heard you say to people, if you don't love it I'll buy it for you, but is that really your practice for your dining guide that if anyone goes to a restaurant you have in italics and don't think it's great they can send you the bill for reimbursement? Now I do realize that nowhere in your post did you even allude to expecting reimbursement, but what is your expectation in asking the question of...."If you vehemently disagree with a rating, and feel ripped off (as happened to me once last week), to whom do you complain?" Do you really expect them to reprint their guide and change the rating solely because you disagree with them? I'm willing to bet if they got enough letters from enough people they would certainly revisit a restaurant more frequently than normal. Doesn't the key to using guides successfully lie in understanding the guides criteria, how it works, and in some ways it's palate? Taking Robert Parker as an example. I find his evaluation of Bordeaux wines to be useful(note I did not say 100% to my liking). However, as it pertains to white wines not at all. The great thing about Robert Parker as a resource is that he's very consistent in my opinion and that consistency makes it easy to discern what his palate is. He consistently rates white rhone wines with huge scores. He seems to love white wines that I consider big, fat, obnoxious, flabby, low-acid and heavy. Generally speaking, I don't like white rhone. I really don't like the white rhones that he gives massive scores to. Does that make him wrong? To immediately dismiss him because I disagree would be foolish. To understand how/why he rates things the way he does makes his reviews useful. Simply put, I'll read what he writes about Bordeaux, I won't even look at what he writes about white rhone. For some people the michelin guide will be useful, for some people not at all. I disagree with some of the people that are trying to degrade them. So who is their target audience, and is a Washington DC guide good for you?

wondering if they're going to include a sort of "cuisine" section like they do in the Paris guide.

Since you asked, our contribution covers 100% of the insurance for our employees.

To clarify the foie, personally I'd like to be with at least 3 if not 5 other people to order the whole roasted foie. We got 6 lovely slices out of the one we served tonight.

enjoyed it quite a bit.

your next trip to France you need to head to Chez Hortense in Cap Ferret for their moules frites(southwest France). Absolutely to die for albeit a little different than the northern version. No broth, instead it would seem they're oven roasted as opposed to steamed. Garlicky, bacony bread crumbs, very respectable french fries and some inexpensive white bordeaux (specifically we had the graville lacoste for about 20 euro). Absolutely delightful dish regardless of origin. These are small bouchot mussels so if you prefer the giant PEI type skip it and save the table for us. :-)

Being a huge fan of the Cava in Ballston/Clarendon I was quite excited to see that Cava was opening in Fox Chase. Their fast casual here means basically everything is coming out of a steam table. I haven't been back.

If you're talking about the 2 & 3*s I would tend to agree. one Michelin star represents a “very good restaurant in its category,” while two stars denotes a restaurant boasting “excellent cooking” that is “worth a detour.” Three stars, however, is the ultimate accolade, afforded only to those restaurants that offer “exceptional cuisine” that is “worth a special journey.” I think it's tough to be "worth a special journey" if someone comes in and orders a single course. The obvious exception being the tongue taco at La Taqueria in San Francisco.

To clarify, tax is additional, service is not. So if you order the wine pairing it's already priced with the idea of it being service included as well. I'm one of those that thinks the current system is antiquated and broken. Personally, I'd be very happy if that's the future for the hospitality industry.

Yes, legislation would make it easier but I don't actually think it would be that difficult for restaurants to handle it internally if they want to. Service included written on the menu as well as removing the gratuity line from the Credit Card receipt would make it pretty clear for most people. (I say most because there might be some people that still pay their tab with that archaic thing called "cash") I was in Europe for a little while in August, some places have moved away from service included, but they all have the tip line which I found really annoying and frustrating, I see this as a great solution for tourists and locals as like. They simply sign the amount that is stated and if they ask about tipping can then be told that the restaurant is service included and they don't accept tips. On a side note....I'll never forget our experience in Beijing where we got chased down by a server. We knew it's not a tipping culture but we were in a very off the beaten path restaurant that did everything they could to accommodate the language barrier. Feeling like we were a pain in the a@# we left a tip on the table. Our server chased us down to give it back to us, and even though we tried again she made it obvious that she was refusing to take it.

sorry, meant to post this a few weeks ago but had to reset my password for the umpteenth time. If what we saw when we walked past the restaurant (now several weeks ago, but right after the salmonella reporting) they're gonna have no worries getting people back into the restaurant. Place was packed!!!!

uh oh, Don how do I change my tagline? Should probably read Eric Ziebold Chef, Unemployed

If you're a fan of moving away from the current gratuity system then it's great that Bar Marco has been able to get as much press and publicity as they have for what they're doing. While it's probably in some ways more 'simple' to look at the restaurant economics there are IMHO two major issues with changing to gratuity system which are much harder to address. Public perception, and finding staff. Don has repeatedly said that he would gladly pay the 20% extra if the need to tip at the end of a meal was removed. I certainly don't question his sentiment, and am good enough friends with Don that I can say with confidence that he genuinely means that, however what if the diner isn't aware that service is included. Unless the entire industry was to change all at one time I do think it would be a perception challenge if there were only a small handful of restaurants that had 20% higher pricing to compete. I'm not saying they wouldn't get any customers but I do question that most people would delve that deeply into the issue to say oh, I see, the reason their appetizers are $18 instead of $15 is because service is included. Oh that's not really a $10 dessert its actually $8 because service is included. 3 courses for $54 is actually the same as 3 courses for $45 because service is included. If it's a restaurant that I really want to go to does it make a difference? Probably not. But if I'm strolling along the Promenade in Manhattan Beach reading menus as I walk by or strolling through Chinatown for that matter and am deciding where to eat, does it make a difference? I think it can/would/does. Some of those are probably the types of restaurants where the service staff needs the most help. Additionally, until the new system was in place long enough, would we still not feel a little guilty about leaving 0 gratuity? Or would it simply be we would still leave a tip just maybe 5% instead of 20%? I thought Charles brought up a good point months back. If the service staff in California IS getting paid a higher base salary then do we still need to tip them 20%? Is the cost of living that much higher in San Francisco or San Diego than Washington DC, or NYC? Which brings me to the question of service staff. I think there is a large segment of the service workforce that doesn't want to change the system. Doesn't want to go away from receiving cash tips, and certainly doesn't want to have to declare and get taxed on all of their income. There is what I would consider a large section of the service population that likes feeling like they control their own destiny in regards to their income. Again, unless the change happens overnight to the entire industry, I think that for the bulk of the restaurants it's going to be much harder to find good, well trained/trainable service staff if you're a restaurant paying a straight hourly wage and the restaurant next door gives you the opportunity to make hard cash.

We're looking to fill a position in our kitchen. Hours can be long. Experience is preferred. Right attitude is even better. If interested in learning more please reach out to me at: EZiebold@mohg.com (202)787-6600

I personally don't own a camera, and only on rare occasions take photos of anything, food or otherwise. Did have an inspiring dish the other day that caused me to want to take a photo: Had this at a Jolie Feuille gallery viewing just the other day. Absolutely delicious. Only problem is that the 'restaurant' only has seating for 4 ppl. (6 if they're very friendly) They're only open sometimes on Sundays and Mondays They don't take reservations. And they don't accept cash. (payment is only accepted in the form of a shared bottle of wine) Besides the great dish, it's nice that if you're willing to jump through all of the reservation/payment hoops they're very accomodating when it comes to taking photos. (granted there was only 1 other person in the "dining room", but she didn't seem to mind.)