Corduroy, Fine Dining at the Convention Center - Chef Tom Power's Magnificent Cooking

[Simon]

On 6/21/2024 at 10:37 PM, Ferhat Yalcin said:

I met many of you at Corduroy including Don Rockwell and many other great people. I did meet some asshole customers, too, which I had to kick them out of Corduroy in the mids of their dinner.

Anyone else remember that group from the Parker board that showed up with a bunch of wine, started popping them like they were at a picnic table, and got kicked out after tense confrontation?  Those were the days, my friends

[Pat]

We had a nice farewell dinner on Tuesday. I got the tuna with sushi rice that I've loved for so long. I was happy that it was possible to get the spring rolls, which I had always thought had to be ordered at the bar.

My husband had the pea soup, which he loved, but Chef also sent out some of his red snapper bisque for us both, which was extra wonderful. The last time I'd had it (quite some time ago, at Baby Wale) I thought it was lacking some punch. This had had extra punch. Awesome. Quite a signature soup, this is.

I had a little of my husband's baby kale salad and loved the anchovy dressing. Also sampled the mushroom pasta, which I really loved.

I had JMC Chinon Rose by the glass, which was perfect with everything.

Our server was good. Everything was. I'm sad I won't be going back.

A great run for Corduroy.

 

 

[lion]

Definitely a great run for Corduroy. Hats off! 

[Ericandblueboy]

Great night at Corduroy.  Nice to see Ferhat and other Rockwell members.

[Tom Power]

It was great to see so many of you old friends last night! Thanks for the support and love over the years.

We will have Liquid liquidation / Fire sale next Monday through Wednesday July 1-3  5:30 PM until at least 9. 

Limited menu, spring rolls, meat balls, possibly some fish, lots of soup all at low prices. Amazing deals on drinks. $3 beers, $5 to $8 cocktails, at least half price on almost all wine for here or to go. 

Let me know if you are interested in shopping my cellar. I have a bunch of wine to move.

[DanielK]

After a lovely final dinner there on Friday night, with a bunch of Rockwellians, my daughter and I stopped by for a final hurrah last night at 10p. There was a little nibbling, a fair amount of drinking, and a lot of hugs and tears.

My wife and I will be at the fire sale on Tuesday about 7p. Hope to see some of you there.

[DonRocks]

I’ve been to the old and new Corduroy over 100 times (that’s a conservative estimate, if you multiply five times per year by 20-ish years).

And the final meal there, at 5:30 PM, Jun 28, 2024, was perhaps the greatest meal I’ve had there, and one of only a few meals in recent memory that I can call “flawless,” from beginning to end.

Exactly two weeks before, I had dinner at Lameloise, a Michelin three-star restaurant in Chagny, France. The service, ingredients, and astounding culinary technique at Lameloise all merited three Michelin stars. But in terms of actually enjoying the food, the least-enjoyable course at Corduroy (whatever that may have been) was more enjoyable than the most-enjoyable course at Lameloise. It’s true, and may DIShGo be my witness.

[DIShGo]

9 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I’ve been to the old and new Corduroy over 100 times (that’s a conservative estimate, if you multiply five times per year by 20-ish years).

And the final meal there, at 5:30 PM, Jun 28, 2024, was perhaps the greatest meal I’ve had there, and one of only a few meals in recent memory that I can call “flawless,” from beginning to end.

Exactly two weeks before, I had dinner at Lameloise, a Michelin three-star restaurant in Chagny, France. The service, ingredients, and astounding culinary technique at Lameloise all merited three Michelin stars. But in terms of actually enjoying the food, the least-enjoyable course at Corduroy (whatever that may have been) was more enjoyable than the most-enjoyable course at Lameloise. It’s true, and may DIShGo be my witness.

Absolutely. Our final meal at Corduroy was flawless, from beginning to end. Our meal at Lameloise was special to me—the service was impeccable, the decor was lovely, and many of the dishes were technically exceptional and beautiful to see. But in terms of taste, nothing came close to Tom’s cooking that last night. 

[Pool Boy]

This news makes me so sad. (It also reminds me I need to get back on the DR.com wagon more regularly to stay up to date.)

I don't remember which one of our wino group recommended that we try Corduroy (in the old location) back in the day (like 2002-2004 range), but we went back there with the group probably 5 times total - toting in loads of wine and eating great food with great service. What fun memories.

 

We knew Tom was getting ready to move to the 'new' location, and that meant there were some serious deals on the wine list - I am embarrassed to admit I can't remember the exact bottle or winery, but it was a steal at $130, a 1995 I r=do remember. It was great. We ordered a number of great bottles that night between the 3 or 4 of us that went.

In the new location, my wife and I probably went probably 10-12 times over the years. Just us. With family, With friends. Such consistently great food and service every time. And, pre-pandemic, as long as you didn't do a reservation before 6:30pm, there was pretty easy parking (now, not so much).

One of the things I love how Tom cooks is where the real star of the dish is not the obvious thing, the protein or what have you. No, just like Frank Ruta, the contributing elements on the plate nderpinning the whole dish  - those, thooooose were often the stars of the dish.

My wife and I had gotten used to having such great dining in such a small snippet of land in that area of DC - Corduroy, Convivial, Kinship & Metier and the various incarnations of places in Blagden Alley. We all were so lucky. But in all of those great dining choices in that sliver of real estate, the two places we'd gravitate to the most were Corduroy and Kinship.

 

What a great run! 

[eatruneat]

But wait...there's more. 

Tom posted on Instagram that he is still trying to offload the last of his wine, liquor, and beer and is selling them at cost. Always looking to buy good wine at a decent price, @MichaelBDC and I headed over this afternoon with a list of seven wines. We left with 10. 

The list of remaining wines (as of two days ago) can be found here. He says they are mostly on the lower end but that is just fine with us. As we left, he asked us to spread the word so here I am, spreading the word. He'll be around 3pm-6pm tomorrow, cash/check/AppleCash preferred.

 

[zgast]

Chef Power is continuing to offer his wine cellar for sale - details here (ht Popville).  Limited time and you can pre-purchase to just pick up.