Escoffier

We shop at the one in Fairax and the only things we've had problems with has been some (in-house) packaged nuts and some slightly stale-dated yougurt drinks. Everything else has been okay.

From what I remember, the most expensive thing on the menu was around $19. Definitely a neighborhood, casual place. Last night the attire was everything from blue jeans to suits and nobody seemed to feel out of place.

Grover and I went to the soft opening last night. Our impressions: 1. The makeover is amazing. The only remaining traces of Ecco are in the small dining room where the restrooms are located. Everything else is new and shiny and clean. 2. There are a lot of hard surfaces. This makes the room very loud. We were told that there are plans to fix that. While it was loud, it was possible to carry on a conversation, albeit at a higher level than normal. 3. The service reflected the newness of the restaurant and the staff. There was some confusion about replacing used silverware and getting water to the tables. However, the wait staff was eager to be helpful and we had a number of servers stop by our table to see if everything was all right and if we needed something. The service issues will disappear as the staff becomes more in tune with management expectations. 4. The food (didn't think I'd ever get to that, did you?). We started with a crab and cheese 'fondue'. A oval ramekin filled with baked crab and cheese and cream (I'm guessing here), accompanied by grilled toast. Like a crab dip you would find elsewhere. Quite flavorful but could have used a bit more crab (it's hard to get too much crab). The toast was over-grilled in that it was quite hard but edible. For mains, I had French style pork chops and Grover had the Baby-back ribs. The two pork chops were served on a bed of mashed potatoes with a sprinkling of corn and sauced with a black bean sauce. Surprisingly, the black bean sauce was a nice touch. The pork chops were smoky, large and were grilled to a perfect medium-(a slight bit of pink, mostly white). I ate every bit. The ribs are probably the best bargain on the menu. Not one (about 6 rib) rack but two, covered in a slightly sweet, slightly tart barbecue sauce. They were meaty and very tender. Grover grudgingly gave me one. It also had great smoke-infused taste. The ribs were served with what appeared to be hand-cut fries that had just the right amount of crunch to the outside and the proper amount of creamy potato goodness on the inside. There was too much food for her to finish but it didn't prevent us from ordering dessert. Dessert was a selection of two large scoops of sorbet (a raspberry and a coconut). These were good but nothing outstanding. The dessert highlight was the "Elvis pie". This is a LARGE piece of pie made with chocolate, peanut butter and bananas. This is one dessert you order for the table. It was rich, good and way too much for us to finish. There's something about chocolate and peanut butter that is addictive (ask Reese's, they know). A good initial start. As we were leaving, the couple just ahead of us said, "It's just what the neighborhood has been lacking, a good place to go to eat". I agree but I think it will be more than just a good neighborhood eatery.

Oops! I shouldn't have said lamb...

Outstanding, yep. As to Venezuelan, that might be a bit of a hazy memory. After all, it did come with the 4th course. I can't find my notes from dinner which makes it even more frustrating.

The official opening of Overwood will be Tuesday the 27th of March. Kent Lawson (formerly of Majestic Cafe) is going to be one of the managers (in his spare time he might even wait on a table or two).

This is just a (admittedly unapologetically favorable) quickie review. I'll do more later but these are just impressions from our dinner last night at Vermilion. 1. Tony Chittum is a fish god. If Tony Chittum is the chef and fish is on the menu, order it. Even if you don't like fish, you'll like his (maybe not, but give it a try anyway). 2. The new menu is rich, extravagant and damned tasty (and the cost well in line with the other NRG restaurants). If the courses we had last night were representative (and I have no reason to believe they weren't), you could almost close your eyes and order and be fed well. 3. The service is thoughtful, quick, informative about the food and wines and non-intrusive when it should be. The wait staff is to be commended on the excellent service. David, Brendan and Julie made our dinner a thing of delight. 4. Like every other restaurant in the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, the wine selection is varied, reasonably priced and very good. I had a Venezuelan Malbec that was outstanding, it was just one of the wine pairings, all of the selected wines were excellent complements to the food served. I'll add the menu we were served and the wines that accompanied them this afternoon when I have more time, but the two of us were absolutely blown away by the experience we had.

After our dinner with an Indian friend the other night, I'm thinking about dinner at an Indian restaurant in Vienna. Nothing specific as of yet, just want to gauge interest beforehand. This would probably be in April so it's a bit down the road, but if you are interested, PM me.

I believe that was called SwampDoodle...Linky-dinky and then there's this link to the area called SwampPoodle. Silly people didn't know where they lived.

The ones we had were made by his mother but I'm getting recommendations for good ones from Patels from him. I'll post as soon as I find out.

While it doesn't really qualify as a restaurant, Grover and I had dinner last evening with a friend who just happened to have some mango pickles he'd brought back from India. Really nice contrast between the sweet mango and counterpoint of spicy red chili paste they were pickled in. I understand they are available at Patels in Vienna and I plan on finding out this weekend.

I took Grover and her mother there one weekend because Foti's isn't open for lunch on Saturday. The lunch menu was good, the service was prompt and the bill wasn't outrageous. The room was comfortable, the iced tea had the right amount of ice (why do so many places skimp on the ice?), and the desserts we had were great. A bit better than the blue plate special at the Warrenton Diner. I won't make a special trip, but if I'm down that way and it's Saturday, it's a good place to stop.

With all the new chefs coming to Vermilion and Rustico, one of the best chefs of the NRG is being (temporarily) overlooked. Chef Anda is one fine chef. We trudged out through snow, slush and general unpleasantness to Tallula last Sunday night. We got there early and so had the place to ourselves until people started arriving around 7:00pm. We ordered the ceviche and the corndog for appetizers, followed by scallops for me and the duck breast for Grover. The ceviche was extremely good (it could have been bigger, I wouldn't have minded), lots of fish in a small, taco shell like bowl. Tart with a nice fish flavor without being overwhelming. Grover wouldn't give me a bite of the corndog so I'm going to assume she liked it. The scallops were served on a vanilla infused reduction that added a contrasting sweetness to the scallops. They were cooked exactly right, not tough, not stringy, the exact amount of mouth feel. We didn't get dessert because we were both pleasantly full. Our server Sarah took great care of us. All in all a very pleasant way to spend a snowy (slushy) Sunday evening.

Can I leave a definite maybe for Grover and me?

and that's just his pedal pushers...you should see the shirts

Dino doesn't officially open until 5:30 so that precludes 5-7 unless one finds standing on the stoop and gazing longingly through the window attractive...

An interesting listing of Chefs and restaurants that rely on Sysco for "foodstuffs". Interesting interviews. From Slate: "Recently, New York magazine reported that Thomas Keller uses frozen Sysco fries at his Bouchon bistros. (While a company spokeswoman wouldn't confirm the brand, she confirmed the use of frozen fries.) Mickey Mantle's Restaurant, an upscale sports bar, serves Sysco's pre-made soups, like Manhattan clam chowder and vegetarian black bean. And then there's Edgar's restaurant at Belhurst Castle, which has won numerous awards of excellence from Wine Spectator magazine. There, the kitchen takes Sysco's Imperial Towering Chocolate Cake out of the box, lets it defrost, and then sprinkles it with fresh raspberries before serving it to diners. "We've had a lot of success with that cake," executive chef Casey Belile says. The Edgar's menu, of course, does not list the dessert as a Sysco pre-made cake, but it does charge $8.95 for the experience." Complete article here.

Appetizers: Mandu - shrimp, beef & pork, and vegetable Pa jun - seafood pancake (Mrs. Lee grinds her seafood and mixes it with the batter before she makes her pa jun. Some people (me) prefer their pa jun with pieces of seafood, but this version was good). Jap-chae - for some reason, this wasn't served hot but warm. Didn't seem to matter much, it disappeared quickly. Very nice consistency of noodles, crunchy veggies. Yache gui - Grilled veggies with sesame seeds. This was almost enough to convince me to become vegetarian. The veggies were very good. Main Courses: Bulgo-ki - Very tasty grilled beef loin. Surprisingly, this was thicker than what we normally get when the meat is grilled at the table. The extra thickness seemed to bring out more of the beef flavor. Dak-jeem - Chicken simmered in spices. OMG, this was good. Large pieces of boneless chicken (both light and dark meat) simmered in a light sauce with red pepper. There was definite spiciness to this dish but it wasn't overpowering. Food from the Seoul area is spiced but not as heavily as from other regions of Korea. I (and I think most other people) ate way too much of this dish. Naturally, there was rice and panchan (which was refilled or replaced whenever it got low). The kimchi was especially nice. Nice spice kick, great crunch and very tasty. For dessert (which Koreans (most Asians for that matter) don't eat), a large bowl of fruit. I don't think anyone went home hungry or dissatisfied. All of the food came from the regular menu (with the exception of the fruit at the end). For a grand total of $26 each, it was a bargain.

According to the Washington Post business section on Monday, 21P has filed for bankruptcy and dissolution of the corporation. From the Post: 21 P Restaurant Concepts 2100 P St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20037 Type of filing: Chapter 7 liquidation Case number: 07-00087 Date filed: Feb. 13 Attorney: Joseph M. Goldberg, 202-638-0606 Assets: $238,199 Liabilities: $472,888 Largest unsecured creditor: Hana Sakuta, $61,465

From their message today: The Seminar meets at 7:45PM every Tuesday (except for the weeks of December 25th and January 1st) at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church on Whitehaven, between Foxhall and Macarthur Blvd. New subscription request - send message to wwcs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com from your regular e-mail account.

They do this every Lunar New Year. Go early if you want to see anything unless you're 7 feet tall. The street fills up very fast.

Grover and I attended the soft opening of Oyamel this evening. Just a short synopsis of some of the (many) dishes we had: - Guacamole-made at the table and very good. Most places who do this do it for show. In this case, all the ingredients came together extremely well. There wasn't a bit left. - Pollo Mole - a section of breast and a full leg and thigh. The chicken was tender and juicy. Not a flashy dish, just good, tasty chicken. - Camarones - well cooked sizeable shrimp. We found this dish to be a bit salty but the shrimp were not rubbery or tough, they were cooked exactly right for my taste. Nice spicy bite. - Short ribs - OMG this was a super-fine rendition of short ribs. Fork cuttingly tender, great beefy flavor. - Flank steak - Another slightly over-salty dish. If you can ignore the slight oversalting, another exactly right beef dish. Nicely pink in the center and very juicy. and finally the Tres Leche was heavenly... The soft opening continues through the weekend with the official opening due on Feb 23. Chef Joe Raffa looks happier than I've seen him in a long time and the food reflects his happiness. He's still adjusting the seasonings on the food (see above) but for a soft opening, everything seems to be coming together very well. Grover and I both left totally full and very happy. I'd say this is an auspicious re-opening for Oyamel. We both look forward to going back (and seeing some of our (former) Majestic friends who are working there is also very welcome).

Geez, you all are making this sound like strictly a Chinese affair. It's the Asian Lunar New Year. Asia is somewhat bigger than just China (the last time I checked). A small group of friends will repair to the Escoffier/Grover manse and indulge in a Korean New Year lunch normally served only to the highest ranking member of the Korean Court. Possibly pictures will follow. PM me and I'll let you know the address to send those red envelopes .

If you missed Valentines day dinner at Tallula....too bad for you...Nathan did it again....5 courses each better than the previous.

Middling Italian but Mary's mom (of DelMerie fame) owns it I believe. I do like the red wine bottle on the table, pay for what you drink idea though. It's where we go when we have friends who aren't adventurous enough to go somewhere "daring".