Spending $150 in Town

[sphere777]

Hi there,

Got recognized by work with $150 in Visa dollars. What should I do if I want to buy top-notch food and stretch my dollars?

Here's some of my initial ideas:

Get the $20.10 happy hour deal at the Source

Go to Kushi and spend judiciously

Buy the $50 bar deal at CityZen

Go ape at Radius Pizza

What do you think?

[leleboo]

You could blow it all at once -- $150 covers Vidalia 24 food and beverage pairings (not tax and tip).

Otherwise, I'd vote CityZen's bar.

[Sthitch]

The Omakse at Sushi Taro is $120, and you do not have to be judicious in your ordering.

[Kibbee Nayee]

To each his own, and you will certainly get a lot of opinions on this board. But if I had $150 burning a hole in my pocket, I would go to one of the 'national treasure' chefs we have in this area -- Jose Andres, Eric Ziebold or Koji Terano -- and just say "feed me"....

[Ericandblueboy]

To each his own, and you will certainly get a lot of opinions on this board. But if I had $150 burning a hole in my pocket, I would go to one of the 'national treasure' chefs we have in this area -- Jose Andres, Eric Ziebold or Koji Terano -- and just say "feed me"....

Other than Koji. I'm not sure the other mentioned chefs would spare any face time with you. In fact, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't, if you just showed up with $150. Sushi Taro is great only for people who don't mind spending money on fish nads, i.e., it's adventurous (at least for me) and there's a chance that you wouldn't like some of the dishes. I think you can easily have two really good meals for $150. Start by visiting Eola's website and see if the menu interests you (Dean says he loved the pork consomme). If not then move to Inox's website. Those are my two favorite restaurants currently for a la carte fine dining.

[Sthitch]

To each his own, and you will certainly get a lot of opinions on this board. But if I had $150 burning a hole in my pocket, I would go to one of the 'national treasure' chefs we have in this area -- Jose Andres...-- and just say "feed me"....

When was the last time Andres was seen in one of his DC restaurants without a camera crew in tow?

[DrJ]

Had Omakase at Sushi Taro for third time last week and we are just as pleased as the first two times. Yes, one should know ahead of time that you like raw and slightly cooked seafood. Adventure is in the eye of the beholder. If your concept of sushi, sashimi or kaseiki is "nads" this is your chance to experience real Japanese quisine, but yes, otherwise you might as well stick to California roles. We ask Nobu and Masa to challenge us. Out of some 30 items we ate each time there has never been more than one we would decline for seconds, but we enjoyed the experience of them anyway. Everything else is pretty normal, just with new taste and texture profiles and more exquisite than normal. The fall menu was different but equally exotic as our two previous summer menus. At least half the items had not been seen by us before at Sushi Taro or other Japanese restaurants. It's not cheap at about $150 per person but you don't need to buy wine, only one or two Kirin. The food would be worth it alone if you count by the piece and quality, but you need to add the full-time attention and pleasant company of the chefs plus their artistry for 3-4 hours; it's cheaper than dinner and a show, and just as pleasant. We have done the chef's table at Citronelle twice and at Laboratorio and enjoyed them, but we get a lot more attention and enjoyment at Sushi Taro's Omakase, at half the price. We intend to do this at least twice per year and probably more as friends come through town. We now have friends planning their travel around a night at Sushi Taro.