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CityZen, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel - 2008 James Beard Award Winner Eric Ziebold - Closed Dec 7, 2014


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Going for the first (and last, I suppose) time on Wednesday night.  What's the dress code?  I'm reading conflicting things.

Anywhere from a sweater and khakis, to a tuxedo. The majority of men will be in a jacket and tie, and I think that's the appropriate level of dress (maybe not a tie, but certainly a jacket). You "can" wear nice jeans to the bar area, but I would advise against it. In the dining room, I would feel somewhat underdressed in a sweater and khakis.

CityZen is not stuffy, but it is a high-end restaurant, and diners dress appropriately.

If you want to save yourself some money, park on the street and walk the one block up to the restaurant (although I believe the meters on the street there now require payment up until 10 PM). I've valet parked at CityZen, but not often because there's just no need for me to unless it's raining - plus, I enjoy the brief stroll after dinner.

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I often wore jeans (and a jacket) in the bar and have seen some borderline grunge there.Of course, they wouldn't let me order the good Burgundies because I didn't appear "worthy."  Also, they'd trot the Parker House rolls by every now and again just to underscore the fact that I wasn't getting any.

Actually ate in the dining room in jeans once, when the bar was full and the resto had seats and Jared was in an alarmingly good mood (having earlier led my friend and I through an impromptu horizontal of the various Domaine Weinbach Gewurtztraminer cuvees).  Normally, though, I think looking pretty sharp is the order of the day in the dining room.  A friend who once inquired formally was told that a jacket would be appropriate for a gentleman, though a tie was not required.

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I would err on the side of slightly dressier. I just went on Friday and I would so most diners were on the dressed up side, jacket and tie for men, dresses for women.

A little update on the status of both Ziebold's new place and the hotel restaurant - we were told by our server that as of now the plan is to close the restaurant in the hotel. She stated that they hadn't found a chef of the caliber they wanted yet to replace Ziebold. Also, she said the timeline on his new place is 1 year out. I have no idea how reliable any of this info is.

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Said farewell to CityZen with a stop by the bar last night for the three-course menu with beverage pairing. The eight seats filled up immediately so we waited until 7:00. First course shoat belly was served with a 1996 Auslese Riesling from JJ Prum, an astonishing wine in pristine form at this age. The exceptional duck course was served with a current vintage Priorat from the regular BTG list, followed by a cheese course with a sweet Vouvray. Comic relief was provided when guests came in from a wedding in the lobby and started ordering mimosas, screwdrivers, and vodka-ginger ales, to the befuddlement of the CityZen staff. We finished at 8:30

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I have dinner reservations for 2 on Saturday the 6th at 8:30PM. My wife has backed out due to a conflict and none of the friends whom I've asked can join me. I'm planning to call tomorrow to see if the restaurant could accommodate a solo diner (I don't want the bar menu); otherwise I may just have to cancel it.

I first wanted to see if a DR member would be interested in joining me. The idea of fine dining with a stranger seems a bit odd and I don't feel totally comfortable throwing this invitation out there. But, I jumped on the reservation when I learned of the closing date and I'm pretty determined to enjoy one last dinner there on Saturday.

Don, I wanted to ask you personally as I haven't had the chance to meet you, but I figured eating there twice in a week would be a bit much!

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I have dinner reservations for 2 on Saturday the 6th at 8:30PM. My wife has backed out due to a conflict and none of the friends whom I've asked can join me. I'm planning to call tomorrow to see if the restaurant could accommodate a solo diner (I don't want the bar menu); otherwise I may just have to cancel it.

I first wanted to see if a DR member would be interested in joining me. The idea of fine dining with a stranger seems a bit odd and I don't feel totally comfortable throwing this invitation out there. But, I jumped on the reservation when I learned of the closing date and I'm pretty determined to enjoy one last dinner there on Saturday.

Don, I wanted to ask you personally as I haven't had the chance to meet you, but I figured eating there twice in a week would be a bit much!

Charles, I'd love to, but I can't. :(

I think it would be a wonderful way to make a new friend. The first night Charley Geer (rest his soul) and I *ever* met each other, it was to cross-taste a 1989 Haut-Brion and a 1989 La Mission Haut-Brion (we were active in an online wine discussion board, and found out we lived only a few miles from each other). We were good friends until the day he passed away.

So by all means, someone chime in - if you haven't ever tried CityZen, you'll never have a better (or, for that matter, another) chance.

(And they will absolutely take solo diners and make you feel quite welcome - it's not awkward in the least.)

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(And they will absolutely take solo diners and make you feel quite welcome - it's not awkward in the least.)

Thank you, everyone! I didn't have any takers to join me, but I was able to switch the reservation to one. JoshNE, hope to run into you guys; have a great dinner!

I'm already going to the DonRockwell dinner tonight; otherwise I'd have joined you.  But I wanted to let you know that bookluvingbabe's post about dining solo here inspired and reassured me so I treated myself to a solo meal in the main dining room last month.  I had a wonderful time.  And I agree with Don - it wasn't awkward.  I appreciated that they led me to a table where the second chair had thoughtfully already been removed so I wasn't looking at an empty chair the whole time.

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Looking forward to hearing about what I'm sure will be an incredible dinner tonight. Also excited for my solo dining experience--I have no doubt that they'll take good care of me. So pleased that I will be able to enjoy one last meal at a restaurant that's hosted quite a few of my special celebrations over the years.

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Yes, the DonRockwell dinner was amazing. Half the table had one tasting menu; the other half had a different tasting menu. And we traded tastes of both menus. Quite an impressive span of dishes. My solo dinner last month and the group dinner this month were very different social experiences, but one of the things they had in common was that I came away from both of them loving the food. I will be eagerly awaiting the Chef's new restaurant.

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Went last night, we both had the chef's tasting menu-- small deviations were that I went for the risotto with truffle, and Nick went for the wine pairing. We had a great view of the kitchen.

The risotto was the standout course for me. The truffle was exquisitely pungent, so that one would have another cloud of truffle envelope one each time someone nearby ordered it. The salmon sashimi with curry was delicious; the lamb carbonara was all savory and sweet and warm heady flavour that popped on the tongue. And, of course, the rolls.

Most wine is pretty bad for me-- I'll get itchy and flushed and my mouth will get all puckery; more often with reds, but still a lot of whites too. I generally take a very very small sip of whatever Nick is drinking, to see if we come across a wine I can drink. It's amusing for him, because the faces I make are generally hilarious. This time we found two wines that didn't prompt an immediate flinch-- a 2011 Schloss Johannisberg Reisling Spätlese, and a 2006 Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe "La Crau" Cháteauneuf-du-Pape. I ended up stealing the latter from him, just because I haven't been able to have a glass of red wine in forever.

All of the staff did an amazing job, it was a lovely night.

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What an absolutely wonderful last dinner to remember CityZen by. I don't think it's just sentimentality that made this, by quite a margin, my favorite of the 6 or 7 meals that I've had here over the years. To be honest, all of those previous experiences had been missing something for me. The cooking has always been flawlessly precise--I've never had a single course that was not perfectly cooked or seasoned. But there haven't been as many truly memorable dishes as I'd expected. I was mostly left thinking, "great technique", "subtle balance", but not necessarily, "really delicious". My great fondness for the restaurant had been formed more by an appreciation of the impeccable service and a respect for the focus of the cooks than lust for the food.

But last night, for their last dinner service, EZ and his team were cooking with heart and soul. Not to say that they didn't before, but it was the first time that everything came together for me and I had course after course that put a smile on my face. The precision that I'd come to expect was still there, but also a generosity and boldness that made many of the dishes unforgettable. My only regret is that I was so outrageously full shortly after the halfway point that I couldn't finish a lot of what was put in front of me. In all fairness, in addition to the 6 courses on the printed menu, I received 3 canapés, a pre-dessert, an extra fish course as a gift from the kitchen, an extra dessert, and *a second extra fish course*, that I believe to have been a mistake (I had chosen the white truffle supplement instead). Two of those extra courses were some of my favorites from the evening (the seared cod and the first dessert), so I'm definitely not complaining!

While I'd come to take the service at CityZen for granted, I can't fail to mention how well I was taken care of. I was a little conscious of being a solo diner while the couples on either side conversed, but I got to fully focus on the enjoyment of the experience. Everyone who served me was utterly professional, yet warm and personable. Several of the FOH staff whom I talked to still didn't have new jobs lined up. They're among the best in the city and I really hope that they all end at deserving restaurants (and, maybe, at Chef's new place next year).

Photos below. For reference, I had the regular tasting and substituted the matsutake mushroom tart from the veg tasting for the lobster cassoulet.

Thank you, Chef Ziebold and team! It's been a great 10 years and I'm very much looking forward to the next chapter.

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I am so glad that you posted the menu from the closing night!  We went, for the first and last time, about a month ago, in celebration of my wife's 55th birthday.  The "we" included our two children in their early 20's.  All together, it was an incredible experience.

I am not as adventurous as my wife and children in eating (thankfully, the kids chose the better path), so they had the six course tasting menu, while I "dumbed down" with the four course meal.  The reason for the thanks in posting the menu is that the first course listed was also the first course the rest of my family had on our visit.  (or at least very close)  The "sashimi of skuna bay salmon" (photo #2 above) was a dish that our two young adults (with the generally short attention spans of those their age) kept talking about then and for days later.  The reaction to that dish caused me to promise them that we would take them to Chef Ziebold's next endeavor.

I, on the other hand, had some sort of clam sashimi (I think the menu had it as a sashimi, but it was sort of pickled like a ceviche), which I had chosen as a "lesser among evils" of a seafood-heavy first course list.  Wow, am I glad I did, it was revelatory, just as the salmon sashimi was to the rest of my family.

So, what's up next for Chef Ziebold?

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Great write up Charles. We were there on the early side and had a wonderful dinner as well. We both did the regular tasting menu and enjoyed each dish. The entire experience was great and you would never have known it was the last night of service. The take home gift of the thank you note put in the bar menu holder was a nice touch. They also had a guestbook for folks to sign on the way out. I was glad to have dined there over the years and look forward to Chef's new place!

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Best thread ever.

Don - package it up and send it to the Smithsonian immediately.  (sort of joking, but not really)

PF (above) - you write better than you cook"¦"¦"¦that sounds bad"¦"¦"¦.how about, you're writing is on par with your cooking which is tres magnifique  

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As I am reading this in New York, I can't tell you how much I wish EZ had a place open in NY - like, right now. That said, thanks for a beautiful post which celebrates both all that was so special about Cityzen, and what we collectively love restaurants and this community in general. It's all about the people and the experience.

[Don, feel free to delete, just thought that Waitman's words deserved more from me than the like button].

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