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I heard from an inside source today that Stephen Starr's restaurant group has signed a lease for the old Q Street Cleaners space at 1601 14th St. NW, and it's going to become a Buddakan. Confidence level? Since I'm relying on a source for this (as opposed to hearing it with my own ears), it can't be 100%, but it's up there. -
Details from Sietsema & Metrocurean -
We went to the new Ghibellina on 14th Street last night. The good news: thoroughly enjoyed the bianca pizza with rapini, mozzarella, garlic, calabrian chilies,fennel seed, and pecorino romano. The crust was perfectly charred and flavorful. I prefer pizzas that retain their crispness, and this pizza did just that. It was one of the best pizzas we've had in awhile, and we've been eating pizza quite a bit lately. We also enjoyed the fresh ingredients in the Insalata Ghibellina - arugula, avocado, confit, tomatoes, emmenthaler, pine nuts, pesto. My husband and I shared Spaghetti Alla Trabaccolara. The menu listed the ingredients as tomato, white wine, cod, pollack, golden tilefish, and fennel. The dish arrived and I was a little disappointed in the fact that the pieces of fish were small and not very plentiful. Then I noticed that one of the fish had been replaced with squid. My husband keeps kosher and squid is not okay. We called the server over and she apologized and said that the chef frequently toys with the ingredients in this dish. I don't really think it's appropriate to add shellfish to a dish and not alert diners. There are people who are severely allergic to shellfish, not to mention others who don't eat it for religious reasons. Before leaving we asked to speak to a manager, and he echoed the server in saying that the chef had made changes to the dish. I was really enjoying Ghibellina until the squid incident. I still think it's a great place for pizza. But I feel that the staff minimized the situation with squid. Any kind of dietary restrictions require the diner to take responsibility for inquiring about ingredients. But a restaurant should also take responsibility when they substitute one ingredient for another- particularly if it's something that may have an adverse effect on their patrons. -
Never been, but I am intrigued. Anyone checked out this place? Great Wall - Szechuan House -
Incredibly, Jônt, Chef Ryan Ratino's Chef's Counter on top of Bresca, received 2 Michelin Stars less than one year after opening. As of today (May 26), it's completely booked until Jun 24. A 14-course tasting menu is $225 ($345 including supplements), with beverage pairings available for $155. With tax and tip, the full experience here is $1,300 for two! The wines by the glass and bottle are very well-chosen for such a new restaurant, but so, so expensive with no obvious entry point (other than the wrist-slitting choice of their outstanding-looking non-alcoholic beverages). For a restaurant this rarefied, there can be no excuse for any typos on the wine list, not even online. Jônt is also the only Michelin 2-Star restaurant open in DC right now (Minibar and Pineapple & Pearls are still closed). There is very limited seating space, and a huge pent-up dining demand (Minibar created this niche by opening in 2003 for the artificially low price of $65 (for 34 courses), and subsequently going up in price like a helicopter). Congratulations to the team here for such a noteworthy achievement - this is the equivalent of winning the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in the same season. Now, the long-term question is: Will Jônt be remembered as Fred Lynn, or Ichiro Suzuki?
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2 weekends ago, stopped in this new place for lunch and really enjoyed the chicken. Here is the website. We had a half white and it was cooked perfectly like most pollo a la brasa places but it was also super flavorful. I almost bought more even though I was stuffed. Kind of addictive. The 2 sauces were good two - a yellow mayo that wasn't spicy and a tomato based spicy one - I'd say a medium strong heat. The sides were hit or miss. The guasaca was a riff on guacaomle and served chilled was kind of meh - especially since it doesn't come with chips or anything to scoop it with. Better were the yucca fries which comes dusted with delicious spice blend that adds the right amount of heat and lime. I thought the chicken didn't need sauce but was still good with the yellow one whereas the yucca fries were good with the orange tomatoey sauce. The quinoa salad was ok - nice light to balance the strong chicken flavors but nothing too special. The Arroz Blanco was meh. I would have gone for the special rice but like a few of their sides it had unnecessary bacon and other proteins that I don't eat. I should also say that this place's set up is a bit unusual. You walk in to a nice bright sitting area - but no full tables, only lots of counter tools so it is a bit odd to eat with companions since they are only next to you and not across a table. This is odd because the space is big enough for several regular 2 or 4 tops. It is counter service so you walk back to an open kitchen and order. The food is all ready immediately. Then further back in the long space are bathrooms and at the end of the hall is a big walk-in freezer door. When you open it, you enter a new sitting area with a few small regular tables and then a big bar area. This backroom is their bar which has a full bar menu/cocktails, but only serves a few food appetizers from the front space. Moreover, they don't want you bringing food/drinks back and forth between the two spaces. All a bit odd to me. I think the owner wanted to diversify and have chicken but supplement income with a bar and found this long space and this is a the result. Or the owner just really liked the idea of having a quasi-hidden bar in their restaurant. In short - go for the delicious chicken and yucca fries. It is deceptively big menu so I'm sure some other items are good too. -
Jeni’s Ice Cream Coming to 14th Street just south of U Street. --- Jeni's Thread in the Shopping and Cooking Forum [Pool Boy]- 59 replies
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Kliman breaks the story that the ground floor of what I always thought was an unobtrusively handsome building will become the site of K&K's next adventure,"inspired by the cuisines of SE Asia." "Southeast Asia" is a pretty broad swath of territory, and the phrase bringing "modern techniques & execution to these traditional dishes," is pretty unhelpful, so I hungrily await further details. As I recall, Karoum once cheffed at Asia Nora -- whether this is relevant, I have no idea (and I never liked that place, anyway). But this sounds more noodle-y. Adam at the bar is always a good sign. -
Late last week the following message was posted to our U-Street area email group: Some questions were answered at last night's ANC1B meeting on the application for a new restaurant at 1825 14th Street. The placard described the restaurant as "serving Mediterranean fusion cuisine with a focus on Latin and Asian Tapas." At last night's meeting attorney Andrew Kline disclosed that the restauranteur is Richard Sandoval and the chef is Kazuhiro Okochi. Here are links to explore on each of these partners: Richard Sandoval: www.modernmexican.com Kazuhiro Okochi: www.kazsushibistro.com Sandoval already has a presence here in DC with Zengo in Gallery Place. Capacity is estimated at 140 and will also feature a sidewalk cafe with seating for 25. CSNA review of the application will be on the April 9th agenda. The concept -- "Mediterranean fusion cuisine with a focus on Latin and Asian Tapas" -- sounds pretty circa 1995 and I wouldn't have paid much attention had I not seen Kazuhiro's name attached to the project. Now all of the sudden it sounds interesting. Anyone know anything about it? -
Chef Ryan Ratino (Ripple, Masa 14, L'Auberge Provencale) has announced Bresca, opening Fall 2017 in the former first floor of Policy: Jul 12, 2017 - "Major Update about the Plans for the 1st Floor of Policy. Chef from Recently Closed Ripple To Open Bresca" on popville.com
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Yep - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/going-out-guide/wp/2013/08/27/adam-bernbachs-2-birds-1-stone-opens-below-doi-moi/ -
You could have knocked me over with a feather. After an excellent meal at Ghibellina, I was strongly swayed that there may be a new king of the 14th Street Shuffle (the Dining Guide Shuffle, that is). Further proof that DC's Italian Renaissance is in full-swing. People are talking about this-and-that neighborhood, but the biggest change in DC's dining scene of late has been the explosion of high-quality, moderately upscale Italian restaurants. And Lupo Verde, at least downstairs at the bar, positively screams Italian. If you've never had a Na Biretta beer, get one, and if you like a lot of malt, get the Na Biretta Rossa ($9) - this is like Moretti La Rossa, but better, and on steroids. Excellent quality, and a very cool-looking bottle to boot. I would get this again in a heartbeat, but there are four Na Birettas on the menu, and I'm eager to try the other three. It took forever for me to get my appetizer, probably close to half an hour, but when it arrived, I knew what took so long: I cannot imagine the labor that went into the Torta di Cozze ($9), and they've got boulder-sized testicoli offering this on a 14th-Street menu. Nominally a "Mussels Cake," this was an incredibly elegant little plate of warm, shelled mussels, sandwiched between two small wafers, with a half-melted scoop of Burrata, a little Parmigiano, and a drizzle of leek sauce. While not a large dish, and perhaps more delightful than delicious, this was not a nine-dollar plate of food; get it now, or pay more later - assuming it can possibly remain on the menu. Lupo Verde has a nice little wines by the glass list, but I went straight for the house white: Pinot Grigio on Tap ($8) from Piemonte, and it was a solid (not perfect, but solid) match with the Torta di Cozze - ideally, you'd want something a bit fuller bodied and bone dry. I recently had a very good spaghetti carbonara at Rose's Luxury, so I thought I'd try Lupo Verde's Carbonara ($14) to compare - there was no comparison. Lupo Verde's is made with homemade paccheri, guanciale, eggs, and Pecorino(-Romano?), and the paccheri is a wonderful vehicle for this classic Roman dish. This was, without question, the finest carbonara I have ever eaten. Like the Mussels Cake, it was a fairly small portion, but it was also a fairly small price - my server came down and almost apologized that the dish, served in a metal bowl, is presented merely warm, not steaming hot, because "that's the way they eat it in Italy," he said. Maybe, but the dish was plenty hot enough for me, and I was entranced by its execution. Lupo Verde's house red is also from Piemonte: Sangiovese on Tap ($8), and while this was a perfectly nice wine, especially for the price, I would counsel having it with a less-delicate, perhaps tomato-based dish, or charcuterie, and I would again recommend a full-bodied, bone-dry white with the Carbonara. Although I was getting somewhat full, I knew I hadn't eaten very much - these were not large courses - and since it was early, I knew I'd be wanting something later. So I got a plate of Three Cheeses ($13) to go which came with slices of bread, walnuts, and apricots. I apologize for failing to note the cheeses, but if you'd like, you can piece the order together yourselves: Lupo Verde is currently offering a total of four DOP (Denominazione Origine Protetta) cheeses, and I got the three that weren't Castelmagno. That was about the most non-helpful thing I've ever written, but the portions were fair, and although the cheeses are stored in plastic wrap, they were in perfect shape (on a similar note, my beer had gone several months past its expiration date, but it, too, was in perfect shape). It is important to recognize that I have now tried only two cooked courses at Lupo Verde, and I am not reviewing the restaurant; I am reviewing the individual meal. And I'm going to come right out and say that these were the two most refined dishes I can ever remember having on 14th Street. Needless to say, coverage is initiated, strongly, in Italic, and Lupo Verde, based on this one meal, is a legitimate contender for the 14th-Street crown. Yeah, you could have knocked me over with a feather.
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Enjoyed a lovely meal at Etto last night, thrilled to have this restaurant in the neighborhood. It embodies so much of what neighborhood restaurants should be -- run by seasoned, local chefs and restaurateurs (Obelisk, Two Amys, Standard/soon-to-be-called Garden District)... relaxed and friendly... excellent food and drinks. On display at the bar are beautiful antipasti. Last night included: swordfish belly; squash blossoms stuffed with faro, raisins and pine nuts; Roman artichoke bottoms; cauliflower; a rabbit roulade; peas and pancetta; and more. Also on the bar is a big punch bowl of house made "adult" punch. The wood-burning oven for the pizza is going non-stop. We started at the bar (got there about 6:45pm and there was already a wait for tables, they don't take reservations), then were seated at a table for 6 to share with another couple. Not a problem for my friend and me -- spacious and we had enough privacy to enjoy our meal and conversation while making new friends. Peter Pastan was behind the counter all night, and kept a careful and close eye on everything going on, from bar to oven to kitchen to staff to diners. Our meal: Squash blossoms: By far the best of the antipasti we had; a wonderful blend of flavors and textures -- the first time I've enjoyed squash blossoms that weren't fried, scrumptious. Cauliflower: Tasty, but couldn't quite place what made the florets orange-red, very mild in flavor. Roman artichoke bottoms: A favorite, loved this version -- the bottoms were filled with what tasted like a blend of parsley, lemon and something savory, possibly anchovies (?). Pizza ala Romana: Tasty pizza crust, crispy where it should be, lovely and chewy where it should be. I understand they mill their own wheat and mix in spelt. Gives it great texture and taste. As for drinks, we kept things simple. A nice prosecco in retro glasses. We left around 9:30pm and the place was jammed. Noise level might be my only negative, but that's typical of most places now, so it is what it is. Will definitely be going back to Etto and, hopefully becoming a regular if I can get a seat. And I love the idea of having a place within a few easy blocks where I can order delicious and, in some cases, unique antipasti to bring home to enjoy as well. Interested to hear what others think of Etto... -
Jeff Black here. My new Restaurant is now open. Downstairs is a Gulf Coast inspired Oyster Bar (Pearl Dive), upstairs we have bocce ball and a bar named Black Jack. Let me know what you think. JB -
This restaurant serves Tapas and Spanish style food on 14th Street. The service at this place is impeccable. While waiting in the bar, there were so many servers and bussers going past and instead of making you feel like they were in their way, they made you feel like they were in your way. The bartenders actively make eye contact with the patrons, instead of you fighting to get their attention. And, in case you didn't know, this place is packed to the brim nightly. I came tonight, on a cold DC Thursday expecting the absolute worst. I've walked in and walked out because I was told there was a 2 hour wait. They don't do many reservations, and I actually don't know their rules for doing them. We were told 1 hour and it ended up being close to 1 hour and 30 minutes. When I went up as the annoying guest asking "are we there yet?" they took the time to tell me why it was taking longer and then let us know an updated time, which was fairly accurate. We were seated by a vivacious and energetic hostess that had been dealing with impatient and likely rude guests all evening, and she never broke her smile the whole night. I came with 7+ a high chair for a 21 month old. We were placed at a cozy table and I'll tell the truth, we told them 6, and added one at last minute. We were those people. They added a chair and we got very close. Waters delivered immediately, two waiters introduced themselves, and took drink orders. They also told us that specific dishes took a long time (paella and grilled meat platters), which got us to put those in first. We ordered 2 patatas bravas, 2 asparagus with aioli, seafood paella, a churrasco, multiple hamachi crudos, gambas ajillo, 2 tortillas, blood sausage, 2 chorizo with fig, scallops, lamb chops, 2 lamb burgers, 2 beef empanadas.. I think that's all of it. The pacing was impeccable. Rarely were we overburdened. Service was slowed down when it needed to be, but with attention to whether we needed more drinks. The food quality was high - highlights included lamb chops, churrasco, chorizo, hamachi crudo... Paella was not like Barcelona the city, but tasty in it's own right. Not one dish was bad. I never order patatas bravas because stateside it's essentially French fries and hot sauce, but here the fiery tomato sauce and aioli made it impressive. I can't really get thinking about the food, even though it was fabulous, I'm just so impressed at the way the restaurant presented itself. A prince amongst men... I hated the idea of this place - a Connecticut chain, the hottest gals and guys in DC, a hostess that could be a model, a fancy bar and terribly long wait times. But, sometimes the execution and the effort overstate any potential negatives. If the food gets any better and the service stays the same, this place will last a long time. And, final caveat - I freaking hate tapas state side.- 13 replies
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With an opening planned for late this week, El Centro D.F. looks to be another fun addition to the 14th Street lineup. Each of the three levels will offer a different experience - slightly more formal dining/drinking in the underground tequileria, more casual eat-in or carry-out in the main level taqueria, and two bars for drinking on the rooftop. (Rooftop bars seems to be this year's "cupcake".) I'm looking forward to yet another good reason to head down to 14th Street! It sure has come a long way from what it was 15-20 years ago. -
Finally, Ron Tanaka is going out on his own, and will be running the kitchen at Cork Wine Bar. Cork will be opening in mid-January, and will be focusing primarily on old-world European wines. It will have 67 seats, and the opening menu will be written by co-owner Diane Gross. But the news here is Tanaka, who is widely admired among insiders as one of the greatest kitchen talents in all of Washington, DC. He's spent the past three years at CityZen, the past two as sous chef. Before that, he spent five years at Citronelle, where he rose through the ranks to become saucier, then sous chef. Sous chef at both CityZen and Citronelle! Tanaka is downplaying all of this, emphasizing that his opening role will be one of execution. "We're doing small, Italian tapas-sort-of plates," he said. "We're going to be doing simple things, like a Caesar salad. It's going to force me to use a different type of creativity." I nudged Tanaka to start thinking about some of his own dishes to slip onto the menu down the road. 'It will be a couple of months until things get into full swing,' he said, imploring me not to make a big deal about anything. Then he added that "all I'm going to be doing is running the kitchen." Maybe so, but finally, after years laboring in the shadows of giants, you've got your own kitchen to run. Congratulations, Chef Tanaka, and we'll see you next year.
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No thread on this place yet, and it's been open since, what, April? It's a nice little place with a neighborhood (rather than destination) kind of vibe. Not too many items on the menu, but it's wide ranging: Indian, Georgian (republic, not US State), Turkey, a lot of South American dishes... Four of us spent and hour and a half grazing our way through. Nothing we had was spectacular, but everything was good: well-conceived and executed. I'm not really inspired to describe any of the dishes, but wanted to get the thread going. This is the kind of place I'd stop at once a week or so, walking home from work, if I lived and worked in the area. Compass Rose 1346 T Street NW Washington, DC 20009 202-506-4765 -
"Where's your brother?" I demanded, looking directly into his eyes, my hand impatiently tapping the bar. "I don't know." "WHERE IS HE?" "I DON'T KNOW!" I put down my glass, and inched closer towards him. "Is it open?" "Is what open?" "IT!" He shrugged his shoulders, and muttered something. "Maybe. I don't know." I took my pen, and instead of gouging it into his eye, signed my check (2007 Chateau Magneau Graves Blanc, $8), walked out the door, turned left, and headed up the street to find his brother. --- Salad Days Sour ($12) - Celery-infused Macchu Pisco, Lemon, The Bitter Truth Celery Bitters, Burnt Cinnamon Rhum Manhattan ($14) - Neisson Rhum Agricole Reserve, Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth, Walnut Liqueur, The Bitter Truth Orange Bitters Sazerac ($8) - Old Overholt Rye, Peychaud Bitters, Kubler Absinthe. Cheers, Rocko.
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Last night I stopped by the brand new somewhat Hemmingway-themed Bar Pilar on 14th St between S and T. The small space that used to be El Camino Real has been completely renovated and is now dominated by a huge and gorgeous antique bar, with a few east coast beers on tap (including the superb Clipper City Small Craft Warning Pils and Dogfish Head Indian Brown) and a full kitchen. I had the Tacos Pilar, which were more like a couple of small bias cut chimichangas, and they were a bit on the sweet side but very good. Service was spotty, which I think had more to do with the server than the kitchen or bar. About a dozen other bar food mexican type interpolations showed up on the menu along with side dishes like mac & cheese and tater tots. The great news is that, according to owner Mike Benson, the kitchen will be open from 6pm-1am daily. In the meantime, related bar/restaurant Saint-Ex a few doors down has a new chef, Barton Seaver (disclosure: I DJ at Saint-Ex once a month, but I'm there more often just as a patron). The menu is a bit more fishy now (pescocentric?) and I had a house cured salmon, chevre, tomato, and greens sandwich which was generous with the salmon and tasty aside from the bland roll. It looks like they're narrowing down the scope of the menu while putting a bit more thought & prep into each of the remaining & new dishes. They've also added Coniston Bluebird on draft, to my knowledge the first place in the city to carry it. -
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[I hesitate to start new threads but I suspect there will be more posts on this one] Couple brief thoughts before I forget. Maybe I'll return and do a more thorough writeup. I was able to swing by last Saturday on what I believe was the second full day of business. They already seemed to be humming on all cylinders, service wise. I didn't get to try dinner, but we had several drinks in the bar at a four top table in the corner. Service was extremely friendly - even going as far as to repeatedly apologize for getting in the weeds behind the bar (really, the waits were not bad). The young-ish, attractive crowd seems to have already descended on the place. As we left (around 6pm), they seemed to be beginning a brisk dinner service. They clearly put a ton of design resources into this place. It's slick, modern, with some clever touches. Note: the restaurant/bar is on the 2nd floor, but they have an elevator. By coincidence it turns out my friend Candice is working there, and she mentioned they hope to start distillery tours soon (on the 1st floor, where the hostess stand is). A special shout to the bar staff: they have some killer signature cocktails, and the bartender that night improvised at my request an ad hoc Cachaça drink (their substitute for not having any pisco for a pisco sour) that was excellent. I'll definitely be back but I suspect this place will get crazy very quickly.- 2 replies
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I only recently became aware of this new entrant in the booming DC coffee shop scene despite it being open a couple of months. Did a quick search here on DR.com and, though I found a hiring post, didn't see a thread or report so here you go. Most of the other food websites/magazines/blogs have announcements or articles about it including Washingtonian, Eater and Y&H. In short, BakeHouse is a very nice place with a nice back story and a few smart points of differentiation (aka good reasons to visit). Briefly, BakeHouse was founded by a young married couple who hatched the idea while working in a small museum in South Georgia (the island which figured in the Falklands War and, of course, Shackleton's Endurance expedition; not Savannah/Valdosta). I like this place. It's small but modern with a bright and airy design. Approximately 15 seats not including some outdoor sidewalk seating. For this time of year (July), I can attest their A/C works quite well. More seriously, they have all the essential requisites. Quality coffee (more on that below), some complementary (actually more locomotive than caboose) food items, free & fast wifi, and a mix of seating types (counter, sofa, tables). Just west of 14th on T, so close to metro, bus lines, bike lanes, landing strips and whatever other transport options. Just a fundamentally nice and pleasant place. With that backdrop, two things at BakeHouse really stand out. The first is signaled by their name. Different from most coffee shops with plasticene (or worse) food, this place is really and firstly a bakery cafe that also has a very good coffee program. That versus the more typical coffee house with a couple of cellophane-wrapped biscotti options and uber-sweet muffins. The BakeHouse folks seem to love baking and they do it well. I tried a good-looking cinnamon roll. It tasted good too (!) and, interestingly (appreciably for me), it was served warm with the frosting on the side. Tarts, scones, pies, cupcakes, cookies and a full array of breakfast and lunch sandwiches are all part of the mix here. Much better grub than most coffee shops. The baked goods and casual, grab-and-go foods are themselves an excellent reason to visit. Second, of course, is the coffee. I love the places in town we now have that are really coffee forward. By that I mean spots owned and operated by coffee obsessives who care intensely about their equipment, technique and, of course, their beans. But, alas, an achilles heel of such places is they tend not to emphasize food very much, if at all. Filter, Peregrine and Qualia are good examples. All top of the heap in terms of the very best, painstakingly-made cups you'll find around here but, if you want a truly great muffin or scone to go with it, well, have to go elsewhere for that. BakeHouse is a slightly different animal. They're using a very good coffee not yet well known in DC called Zeke's. Zeke's is an 8-year-old, small, family-owned Baltimore roaster that's been a presence at many of the area farmer's markets for a few years. They will be opening a shop themselves at Conn and Rhode Island later this summer, where they'll be surrounded by several of the other higher-end independents now clustering in the Dupont/Downtown/Shaw/Logan/14th St area. At BakeShop, I tried a single-origin pourover from Bali and a cortado. Though maybe not quite as precise concoctions as other shops, both were quite good. BakeShop uses a Cecilware Venezia espresso maker and a Mazzer grinder. Pourover rack looked to be filled with Hario v.60s. BakeShop is bringing some new mojo to the booming small, artisan coffee scene in DC (Yes, Msgr, Furstenberg--talking to you here ) with much-better-than-the-norm baked goods, a new local coffee roaster and a respectable coffee program. It's a nice shop. They even welcome dogs outside with peanut butter treats though that's hearsay for me since noone is outside sipping hot joe on 95-degree days. -
Tom Brown is opening a new place. According to the article, it will be adult cocktails, no food, but complimentary bar snacks like nuts. ETA September or October.
