gks_eats_dc

Does Dino's Monday 'wine madness' still stretch into the night? I want to drink Valpolicella or Amarone tomorrow and Dino is a good place to do that, but can't until 9 or 10 pm...... [updated]--got my answer--lasts through the last seating

I knew the DC restaurant scene pretty well when I worked here 2 years ago and I've tried to keep up, but I'm sure I'm missing updates. I am back for the summer under pleasant circumstances: I can be invited to lunch just about daily! Two catches, though: lunch must be fairly close to Metro Center and the budget is $25 pp total (sadly that's not so easy to pull off at good restaurants downtown). Since I trust the folks at DR, I'd love to hear people's suggestions, which I'll use to amend my Google Map-enhanced list. Thanks!

2004 Two Hands Shiraz Angel's Share. Amazing wine so long as you don't mind them unrestrained! Rich and dark, nose of currants and berries, loads of ripe fruit. Give it a couple hours to open up. It's somewhere under $30 a bottle, and, I've just checked, received a 95 from Parker. I'm not sure it deserves quite such a high mark, but it's a remarkable shiraz, no question. I've got a case chillin' in the cellar.

I am heading off to Napa and Sonoma in August. I was wondering whether those of you who have been might recommend moderate-to-nice range hotels in Sonoma and Napa? Looking online, I can't get a sense of where places like Santa Rosa are relative to Sonoma, Healdsburg, etc. The most important aspects are cleanliness and reasonable location relative to the wineries...Advice? Thanks!

I'd agree that it's good, though never great. An interesting note about Lettuce Entertain You...As a Chicago boy, I was intrigued to discover that the company also owns Everest, Tru, and Ambria, easily 3 of the city's most acclaimed restaurants, as I'm sure some of you already know...

Had another nice meal at the CityZen Lounge tonight, no surprise there. The caponata is merely good, the carpaccio of hiramasa great, the fluke very nice, and the rabbit excellent. But I dare say my meal tonight was more exciting than most have experienced, even in the dining room... As we sat and I began sipping a glass of Aussie Riesling, I turned to my right and found standing beside me none other than..........LIONEL RICHIE! The Legend, Himself. We chatted, shared a bottle of noteworthy Burgundy, and got to know each other. Really a remarkable guy! Well, none of the hanging out happened, but he was there standing next to me, and that's as good as the peppermint patty dessert.

they definitely will email the menu (and wine by the glass list)...i've received it a few times...i'm dining there thursday

Interesting! And here I am just loving them.

For those of you who don't mind cooking them from home, I suggest some of the already-cooked Niman Ranch ribs from Trader Joe's. Man, those are some good ribs and they're just about effortless to prepare.

So besides duck and lamb, what's on the menu? Any good fish dishes? Anything reasonably interesting on the wine list?

Ya know, I looked it up and you're right, boisson is a feminine noun. Mea culpa. But that revelation is strange to me because...I'm a native French speaker. I'm still a little puzzled as to why I've heard "un boisson" my entire life. I have to spend the next few nights checking every word I (think I) know. Oh, and though this is unrelated, surely the DR.com will share in my enthusiasm: tomorrow night, I've got a date with 2 bottles each of Dominus and Insignia.

Une petite correction: Thrashe-moi un boisson. Non?

Glad to see people are chiming in about PP, and glad to see it's in the Weekly Dish-bet you he got the idea from my post. Unlike Tom, I've never gotten a free baguette there...Anyway, I only take exception to the description of the entrees described from the to-go case. They're not quite as good as in the restaurant, and the portions are certainly smaller (though they are priced down to about $12 or so) and that includes the bisques and soups. To my mind, the chicken is really the stand-out on the lower level, as well as the baguettes.

I searched and could not find in the archives of DR.com a Petits Plats thread (though, I apologize if it exists). Why so little discussion of this charming little restaurant? Perhaps one reason is location: Petits Plats is located at the end of the string of tourist trapping restaurants that dot the Adams Morgan red line stop. The vast majority of those places do indeed serve insipid food at inflated prices. "Come on, Zoo visitors, walk on in and eat this chicken we just got from Safeway." Yet, set inside a townhome with four cozy dining rooms, Petits Plats offers humble bistro dishes with honest preparation, worthy ingredients, and reasonable prices. My relationship with PP began not in the main restaurant, but in the take-out room of the lower floor. There I am accustomed to call about 20 minutes ahead so that I can be told, in an endearingly accented English, precisely when one of their fantastic roasted chickens will be freshly finished. Stuffed with some of their delicious baguette, crispy onions, garlic, and jus, this is a treat. Eventually I started eating at the restaurant. Sietsema's review of the place in 2000 described the quality as ranging from moderate to very good, but with inconsistensies. That's about right. I recently sampled a special appetizer of asparagus, which were overcooked and not particularly fresh, with smoked salmon, which was soft and not overly salty. The main dishes, though, are the winners at this place. Their grilled salmon is fresh and well cooked, served with a zesty sauce accented with capers. The cassoulet is also good, the duck confit and garlic sausage being the highlights in that deep pot. If you like veal cheeks, sample these, they're fork-tender and rich. A caveat: the entrees are anything but "petits." Some of them are almost offensively large (why, I wonder, serve about 3 cups of white beans with a cassoulet?!) The desserts are reliable; I especially enjoyed the TART lemon tart (sadly, the vanilla ice cream that flanked it was horribly frozen and tasteless). A word to Rockwellians low on cash: it is a secret known to frequenters of the take-out room that those desserts are all available to-go for $4 (rather than $7 or 8). Indeed, on a recent visit, the tray on which a waiter graciously presented some fruit tarts was suspiciously familiar...The wine list is simple, though there is a reserve list with expensive French wines. At this place, I'll stick with the regular list. A safe bet is the 2004 Girard Sancerre, which costs around $35 (and retails at $18). Service is enthusiastic and friendly. The staff has a feel for locals vs. tourists, and one can observe some differences in their approach as they make that discovery. That's good and bad. On whole, a nice neighborhood place worth noting.

I finally got a chance to try Kotobuki. I think the liliputian quality of the place is charming...my old studio in Dupont may have been bigger than the dining room, actually. Service-wise, I agree with the above, it's nothing special, but the service is friendly enough and correct. The sushi ranged from good to very good. Since I had a vegetarian with me, I couldn't escape ordering vegetable rolls, which are unexciting. My personal favorites, though, were the uni, which really had a delightful play between the creamy texture and the mildly bitter flavor, and the scallop. I'd recommend this place to anyone who is serious about sushi and is afraid to break the bank. It reminded me of some of the joints in San Fran I used to frequent. Oh, and I am glad to report that all windows are now intact!