Gemini and Happy Ice Cream (formerly Happy Gyro, formerly Komi), 17th & P Streets NW, 2013 James Beard Award Winning Chef Johnny Monis Rocks East Dupont

[ppsailor01]

The waitress told us it seared both before and after braising.

Bon Appetit says the spaghetti with crab and sea urchin is the best.

[RissaP]

Gosh, how does he do it?

Big Papa has spoken. Yes, I will buy goldenticket and Pat a round of drinks next time I see them—real soon, I hope! When is the next DR.com event?

Thank you Pat and goldenticket for your patience and hard work. Hang in there! Not sure when this will slow down.

Congratulations Don! Three articles within one week!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/09/AR2010110902986.html

http://www.northernvirginiamag.com/gut-check/2010/11/03/don-rockwell-pro-reservations

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2010/11/03/independents-day-foodie-website-founder-don-rockwell-starts-a-new-restaurant-association/

All the best!

[RissaP]

Oh come on! Where are the deleted parts, I know there are some! THis is not fair, I did not get to read them. Damn it!

[hillvalley]

I'd like to point out that 5 1/2 years into the site and we still haven't seen Rocks, Seitsema, or Snuffaluffagus in the same room.

[Sthitch]

I'd like to point out that 5 1/2 years into the site and we still haven't seen Rocks, Seitsema, or Snuffaluffagus in the same room.

Wait, I thought he was really Keyser Söze.

[Ericandblueboy]

Asked for the uni pasta and was denied tonight (you can't always get what you want), and unfortunately, the pasta dish in its place wasn't very good - a doughy chewy gummy pasta served with a lamb ragout (ah the vagaries of homemade pasta!). However, I did finally get to try the sucking pig and it was as good as the goat (we had both tonight but not the fish), and you get these pieces of crispy skin (there goes my cholesterol count). Steve (Sthitch) picked the wines for us tonight, a bottle of sparkling wine, a white, and a red all from Greece and all relatively inexpensive but very good wines.

What's new or different from our visit last year? super crispy calamaris, saganaki cube instead of the Caesar salad cube, the quarter smoke mentioned above, frozen baklava (it's mostly cinnamon ice cream).

Despite the pasta debacle, our dinner reaffirmed that Komi is still my favorite restaurant in the metropolitan area. I'd go once year for no special reason other than to have some food that is familiar and some that's new.

[Sthitch]

While I agree it was a lovely meal, there were a few issues I had with the menu more so than the spectacular preparation (though the goat shoulder was quite bland). There was no sense of seasonality to the meal, with the exception of the roasted Brussels sprouts with apple, none of the dishes remotely expressed autumn to me (and the inclusion of a breakfast radish took away some sense of the season - as I am told they are in season right now, radishes just make me think of spring). Also, I did not get a sense that the quality of the ingredients matched the price charged, sure the bits of fish and scallops were fresh, but I cannot say that there was a single dish where the ingredients stood out as something special.

The Greek wines were fun, the ones that we had were very French in style (gone are the days where Hellenic wines equal retsina). The first wine was a lovely sparkling wine that they also have available by the glass, while the label said brut, it had a slight hint of sweetness I would not have expected, it really matched well with the first few courses offered. We followed this with a bone dry Assyrtiko that presented a fruit forward nose, this went spectacularly well with the trio of scallops and brought out the sweetness of the sea urchin roe. Finally with finished with a Xinomavro, a wine that reminds me of a rustic Nebbiolo d'Alba in structure and flavor, it matched particularly well with the suckling pig and goat shoulder, it also went very well with the small coin of pumpkin flavored dessert. I was thoroughly impressed by the quality of the wines that we had, I would be open to trying more Greek wines along these lines, now I just need to figure out who the decent importers are.

[DonRocks]

I'd like to congratulate Johnny Monis and the rest of the staff at Komi for edging out Dino as the Best Restaurant in the Washington, DC Area.

[TedE]

Expansion into the downstairs space in the works? Interesting ...

[no1uno]

So, we're going for our 3rd spin on Friday (previous, last June and the June before: this stuff's pricey!) -- any tips on what to order? (Tee hee.)

We've had the goat and pig, so we were somewhat tempted to request (you can't order, per se...) the fish ... but that suckling pig has haunted us ... oh my ... so, we're gonna go pig again ... if we can....

Looking forward to chatting with Kat about her tasty vino choices!

Wow, this has become a dry thread -- possibly because it's hard to constructively gushily add to the previous gushes -- what to add?

We indeed went on March 25th -- and again last Friday, June 17th -- as non-rich folks, this fell exactly on Friday-month after receiving our tax refund and my job's bonus -- this is a hard meal to afford!

March (our 3rd visit), the new high point was the new half-smoke, served with IPA -- it was SO great! There was an egg-yolk-filled pasta, which was amazingly tasty, as well as, duh, impossible -- I implored the waitperson for a clue, but he was, duh, evasive. And Johnny himself brought out a smoky martini that was such bliss (and alas we failed to note details of the incredients)! Everything else seemed similar to before -- which, was extaordinarily exquisite -- and we had the pig again, which is SO yummy! (Especially the cracking, which my wonderful wife doesn't care for, so I get more!)

Last Friday -- woah! TWO Johnny cocktails! A "Hemingway daiquiri" which was lovely, and later a WONDERFUL orangy delight with burnt orange pieces in it (we ate them all), which the waitperson told us was made with an orange liqueur we'd never heard of and do not remember (we were doing the wine pairing, and Kat was in form!) And that cocktail had a large cubical ice cube, all sides flat, which is not possible -- but this time, with this cocktail's cubes and the raw-egg-filled pasta, I decided: this Johnny is clearly a genius, we're in utter bliss enjoying his work, we should just relax about the how.... So, we relaxed, and damn did we enjoy.

Oh, he's tweaked the relish/marmalade on the half-smoke -- we both liked it alot more.

This time we tried the fish -- salt-encrusted roasted sea bass -- it was, shall we say, really really amazingly good -- we'd order it next time without doubt, except we heard for the first time that Johnny is now doing STEAK, and she was pretty effusive about it! So, we'll likely try that next time, but damn that bass was good.

It's so nice to be able to thank Johnny personally for the delights he bestows! And I do it again here.

Kat was a delight as always (and the wines perfect -- if she were to leave Komi, we'd go wherever she goes!), tho a little hoarse -- and she left early, turned out she was ill; we couldn't tell from her demeanor -- get better soon!

[DaRiv18]

This is a bit OT but had to share.

I'm waiting outside around 11:30 today, about to go into Sushi Taro for lunch. There's a woman standing outside KOMI, looking a bit puzzled. She finally approaches me and says, "My friend told me that there was a Cosi here, is it nearby?" When I told her no, she went on and on about how disappointed she was. I decided immediately that there was no use in trying to set her straight.

[Pat]

The other relevant threads I can think of are locked,

so I'll have to put my comment on this post here.

I'm glad to see the old style returning. I've missed it.

Yes, all that for that comment .

[petercarrjones]

PoP reports that the downstairs space is almost ready.. looks pretty minimalist to me- any idea what the concept is going to be? Lots of two-tops and a bar- so I'm guessing it's not the regular Komi experience.

[Rovers2000]

First trip to Komi last night for the fiance's birthday. Both of us (and our two other guests) did the wine pairing with the tasting menu, which I would wholeheartedly recommend doing as I felt it was a good value (they are quite generous with the pours and I believe we had around 5 different wines, along with a beer across the meal...all of the wines were "topped off" as well).

A few highlights:

-caviar on house a brioche bun (reminded me of an asian style pork bun in looks)

-smoked caviar with salted pinapple

-kobe beef tongue gyro - this was served with Great Lakes Amber Ale and was one of the highlights of the night for me. I could've eaten 3 or 4 of these.

-spanakopita with liquid spinach

-scallop with coconut dust

-gnocchi with some sort of game ragu - people talk about "pillowy" gnocchi...this dish should be what comes to mind with that descriptor

-for the mains we had the goat and the veal - I could've eaten the family style serving of the goat myself. Echoing the comments above, if I could go some place and just get the goat, I would. Perfect.

-dates with marscapone

My memory is a bit foggy around the desert course, like I said, they are really generous with the wine . While I was a little disappointed to not have the greek donuts that people rave about, there was a salty / peanut butter / chocolate bite that was really outstanding.

All in all I would class this as a really really good meal that got pushed into great territory by Kat and her wine pairings. There was a german red (a spätburgunder) that was out of this world - in fact, as a side note, if someone can recommend some wines in this style that I can get my hands on in the area, it would be greatly appreciated.. While it definitely was an expensive treat, in my mind it was worth the cost...even if that cost puts it firmly in special occasion territory for me.

EDIT: The addition of coffee into my system jogged my memory on the desserts: Apple in phylo with chedder ice cream and a selection of small "bites" that included the chocolate peanut butter with sea salt and a brown butter cake.

[Rieux]

Went to Komi last night. Monis was not in the kitchen, but I didn't think that the meal suffered at all for his absence. We had the wine pairings, which were excellent, and the young male wine steward was great fun to talk to, and really knowledgeable. As Rovers said above, the spätburgunder was amazing, and I really enjoyed the smoky white from Campania.

There is no way that I can remember all the things we ate. I'd say there were 2-3 misses, 6-7 great things (I used the word transcendent a couple of times, to much ribbing from my friends), and the rest was very good.

For excellent, I'd say that the raw scallop with truffle and sea urchin was great, as were the dates, the half-smokes (I could have eaten 100 of these), the gnocchi with rabbit ragu, the gyro with foie gras, the goat (as always) and the peanut dessert.

A couple of the first raw fish dishes needed more flavor -- they just seemed kind of bland, although they were light, and given the progression from light to heavy in the meal they made sense.

[Bart]

Went to Komi last night. Monis was not in the kitchen, but I didn't think that the meal suffered at all for his absence.

He was likely downstairs in Little Serow. We saw him there the following night (Thursday) in the kitchen.

[Lori Gardner]

I was at Komi this past Saturday night for dinner. I didn't see Chef Monis but towards the end of the meal I asked if he was around. They said he was downstairs at Little Serow but goes back and forth between the two restaurants. About ten minutes later he was at our table delivering a dessert course. I didn't see him go around to other tables, so my sense was that because I asked about him he made a special appearance. It's the second time I've met him and he seems so humble and genuinely appreciative of praise.

[Steve Plotnicki]

I am in the process of preparing a slideshow of the top restaurants in the country for the 2012 Opinionated About Dining Survey results. I am looking for photos taken at Komi. If you allow me to use one of your photos, I will give you credit on the slideshow. I am not sure if the credit will be a clickable link but if so I will link it to your site/blog/Flicker account etc. If you would like to contribute to this project, please email me at stevep@opinionatedabout.com and we will take it from there. Thanks.

[DonRocks]

Dear Komi,

I'm sorry your salt cod was stringy and salty.

Cheers,

Rocks

PS - I've slept on mattresses all over the world, too, and I don't know the first God damned thing about mattresses.

[ktmoomau]

Last night was my first time at Komi. I'm not sure why that is, but it is. In many of my recent dining forays I have felt kind of lost in the wilderness of eating out. Either a place is too fine dining and I just can't find myself resonating with any of the dishes, or it is too nouveau and the creativity isn't producing the tastes they should, or I am just eating things that are good, but I feel like I have eaten them before.

Komi last night walked the fine line of creativity and taste, fine dining and comfort food that I think I have been seeking. The "mezze" portion of the meal had some interesting tastes. Steamed bun with roasted red pepper feta, toasted sourdough with rabbit mousse, trio of very fresh fish and monkfish liver, charred octopus with a great relish, foie gras, cheese croquetta, etc etc, all well crafted with a central taste that came together and worked (There were maybe two I didn't love, but they were things that just aren't my favorite foods). And just when I had a nice portion of interesting bites, then comes a comforting plate of homemade pita, baby goat and accompaniments. The crispy outside crust of the meat and the fork tender inside was just enough comfort paired with impeccable execution, that I wasn't at all let down by the rustic nature of the dish, in fact I was impressed with the execution. If anything it was the right change of pace at the right time. Then there was a custard with fig, ice cream and then chocolates, in small bites that just worked, when you were almost over the top full. I also liked the pacing of dinner, not too much time to leave you hungry, but enough time that Hubby and I had a nice relaxed evening, something we have been rather deprived of, where we talked and enjoyed the evening.

It just worked. It was perhaps not as fun as the old minibar, not as practiced and perfected as the French Laundry, but I love the balance struck between rustic and refined. And the flavors popped enough and melded enough that I felt I was getting what I was paying for, I was getting a great balance of creativity, skill and process. They didn't do just one element well- the sourcing, the meat, the fish, the dressing, the plating, the breads, the pickling, the ice cream- it was the number of things all being done very well at the same time. It is definitely one of my favorite meals as an experience and a meal. And it was just what I have been seeking to kind of right the balance of what you should be doing at that level.

[DonRocks]

Congratulations to the 2013 James Beard Award Winner for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic: Johnny Monis!

Cathal Armstrong's classy response: "All good. Johnny is a great chef."

[Joe H]

Justice and long overdue.

[no1uno]

Continues to amaze. Since we were there in August, the vast majority of the dishes were new, and (shock! not!) extraordinary. The new (to us) red snapper main entree was stunning. And we've really come to appreciate sommelier Bill Jensen. Such bliss.

[lotus125]

Bill is a gem.  I think he's been there for years; has just transitioned into the som job.

[mdt]

After a less than stellar experience at another highly priced restaurant left us wondering if this type of dining was just not that exciting or interesting to us anymore. A visit to Komi earlier this month proved that we were wrong, very wrong. The dishes were beautifully plated, interesting and most importantly absolutely delicious. Unfortunately they do not hand out menus, so I am not going to detail each dish and just provide some of the highlights.

• Slow cooked uni and egg with chives "“ a custard of uni and egg presented inside an egg shell served with a garlic knot.

• Peeky toe crab with coconut with lime "“ absolutely awesome sweet crab matched well with the coconut (which was an extremely light mousse/foam) and the great acidity of the lime. One of the best dishes of the night.

• Whole prawn with burrata "“ perfectly cooked prawn on a bed of burrata with basil oil(?), I wish I had more details on this dish as it was exceptional.

• Ham sandwich (open face) house cured ham, jalapeno, on house made sourdough bread. Think of it as a take on banh mi.

• Duck hearts with Ethiopian spiced lentils and crispy injera

• Main was a bone in veal chop and perfectly cooked they had the standards of goat and suckling pig, but he veal was new to us and we opted for that. Not sure if they ask all diners, but we have been many times and we were asked if there was anything we preferred.

• One of the desserts was a chocolate custard with a layer of olive oil custart and sea salt "“ Delicious, my only complaint was that the serving was too small!

• And if anyone is interested the lollipop flavor was birthday cake

There were two one-bite dishes that we did not enjoy, but not for a fault of preparation, just flavors that did not go well in our opinion.

• Steamed brioche bun with white chocolate and osetra caviar - This is a combination from Blumenthal that was analyzed by a chemist that showed similar flavor compounds. I am all for science, but it didn't work or us. It was OK, just nothing special.

• The other was a combination of chocolate and paprika, IIRC, that didn't work for us.

The wine pairings were excellent and went very well with the food. The pairings ranged from reislings, to white rioja, to a spiced Italian beer, to a 2003 Chateau Musar (great!), and finished with Madeira. I think we had 8 or 9 tastes which they said would be about 5-6 glasses total and they served a ½ pairing for my wife with no issues.

As usual excellent food and stellar service made for a wonderful evening.

[no1uno]

Another evening of bliss -- and humor!

When the next course came after the yummy little garlic knots, I said we'd like a basket of those please -- we all chuckled. Soon, Johnny himself comes to the table with a small plate with 4 more knots! I protested mildly that I had been joking, and he deadpanned, "We never joke about garlic knots."

Later, we were talking to sommelier Bill about how wonderful the Eden Ice Cider was, and coincidentally we'd had a bottle just the week before (brought by a brother living in NH), and I commented about what a PITA the bottles are, taller so they don't fit on the shelf with the other bottles, and so skinny you worry about knocking them over. He laughed and said that sommelier Basheer really hates them, and brought him over to express his true feeling on those dang bottles -- not fit to print here, but it was hysterical.

IMVHO the wine (and beer and cider) pairings just keep getting better and better. Johnny agreed and said that's very important to him -- kudos to Kyle, Bill, and Basheer!

(It was also very sweet to have Kyle greet us when we arrived and note he'd seen us a couple of days before when we were waiting in line for Little Serow. We've gone 8 times since June 2009, and they always make you feel like it was just last month.)

-- Monte

[schulju]

I was really bowled over by my first visit to Komi last night.  I was enjoying myself too much to take copious notes on the procession of dishes, but the mains were suckling goat and suckling pig and the three of us were arguing over which was better.  Both were amazing.

When I made our reservation they asked for any food aversions/allergies and if it was a special occasion.  I mentioned that one of our party was having a birthday and that his favorite thing is oysters.  While I don't know if they were served at any other table last night, I can tell you that we were served oysters and our waiter indicated that they had been flown in as a special treat for the birthday boy!

All of the wait staff as well as our sommelier (Basheer) were warm, gracious and attentive.  As I was driving, they were more than happy to accommodate me with a partial pairing.  When our waiter noticed that I pushed one wine to a companion as it wasn't to my liking, it was immediately replaced with another choice.  Unlike any other pairing I've ever seen, glasses were kept filled until it was time for the next round.

Is it expensive?  Yes.  Is it a good value?  Hell Yes!

[wolverine]

If one is going to Komi with a diner who is not an adventurous eater (not big on seafood, gamey, or exotic dishes), any recommendations on how to handle when making a reservation?  The diner is fine skipping some courses, but I don't want her to just sit there.

(I know, go somewhere else, right?  Any other advice?)

[genericeric]

If one is going to Komi with a diner who is not an adventurous eater (not big on seafood, gamey, or exotic dishes), any recommendations on how to handle when making a reservation?  The diner is fine skipping some courses, but I don't want her to just sit there.

(I know, go somewhere else, right?  Any other advice?)

Mrs. Genericeric is not big on seafood and even less so on raw seafood but gamely went along to dinner.  She was willing to try the first few raw seafood courses, even if I ended up eating most of her bites, but was never so happy as when she saw the caesar salad bite presented.  I don't remember the courses here being particularly exotic per se (I know the menu changes over time but I don't remember any uni or fois gras courses, for example), and I use the word bites purposely because the crudo dishes at the beginning of the meal tend to be pretty minor percentages in terms of the quantity of food consumed (but man, are they good).  I would be most concerned if she has an aversions to the larger proteins served at the end of the meal (goat, pig, etc).

Some of the other members who may have gone in the last few months may have more guidance on individual courses, but I think if you can get through a few raw seafood courses at the beginning and mention any protein aversions when making the reservation, she may really enjoy many of the smaller courses and her overall meal.

[jca76]

I suggest that you just explain the diner's limitations in advance and leave it to the kitchen to do the best that they can -- and in my experience, they're great at handling dietary restrictions.  I'm pescatarian, which has never been an issue, and on trips over the last year they've accommodated one friend who doesn't like seafood (so no fish/roe/urchin/etc. for him -- his loss) and another who was pesctarian but pregnant (so nothing raw).  

[rbh]

Komi has always been excellent at dealing with the different limitations - once, I went with a couple vegetarians... one of whom was deathly allergic to mushrooms - and they handled that well. after you make the reservation that way, they've also always been very good about asking about it once you're seated so they understand which dishes, particularly the small plates, to which person.

[DanielK]

One time when I went my non-raw-seafood eating partner had a far better meal than I. In fact, that was a disappointing meal there for me, as the series of mezzethakia that starts the meal was 5 crudo courses in a row - I felt like I was at a sushi bar.

[mdt]

One time when I went my non-raw-seafood eating partner had a far better meal than I. In fact, that was a disappointing meal there for me, as the series of mezzethakia that starts the meal was 5 crudo courses in a row - I felt like I was at a sushi bar.

How recently was this visit? My last couple of meals there have not been like that at all.

[DanielK]

How recently was this visit? My last couple of meals there have not been like that at all.

Not that recently, but since the context of the quote was a comparison against CityZen, and Komi is $15 more than CityZen, I feel that they're just not on the same playing field.

[mdt]

Not that recently, but since the context of the quote was a comparison against CityZen, and Komi is $15 more than CityZen, I feel that they're just not on the same playing field.

I completely disagree based on my last 3 meals there, although I have not been to CityZen nearly as frequently.

[DanielK]

I completely disagree based on my last 3 meals there, although I have not been to CityZen nearly as frequently.

Guess I'm due for a revisit, then.

Though I have gone to Little Serow three times since I've last been to Komi...

[Rovers2000]

My wife and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary at Komi last night - it's been over 2 years since our prior visit and I found it to be as wonderful an experience as I remembered.  First, I genuinely love the service here.  Not severe.  Not over the top.  Just comfortable, like you're eating dinner at your coolest friends house and just catching up.

In terms of what we ate, a few tidbits from my memory:

- Trout Roe on a puff of dough

- Uni with brown butter aoli and sea beans

- Yellow Tail collar with zatar (my wife and I basically fought over the last bites of this)

- Foie Gras with roasted cauliflower

- Suckling Pig (I could eat mountains of the crisp skin...the subsequent heart attack be damned)

The wine pairing was great as usual - particularly the initial white that came out post champagne, I mentioned it tasted slightly like petit manseng...sure enough later in the meal, two extra wines were presented that had petit manseng in them b/c "they happened to be open"

Just a wonderful meal.  Yes it's an indulgence, but Komi is 2 for 2 in making me feel that its money more than well spent.  DC is lucky to have them.

[turbogrrl]

any word on whether komi and little serow's kitchens escaped damage in the aftermath of today's housefire on the top floor? keeping my fingers crossed that things are ok...

[Joe H]

http://www.popville.com/2014/11/fire-at-1509-17th-street-nw-most-of-damage-appears-limited-to-3rd-floor-status-of-komi-unknown/

[Bart]

Just saw on the news this morning that "Komi will be closed today because of the fire"  Not sure what this really means since they're closed on Mondays normally.

[Pat]

Tim Carman reports that Komi was "largely spared" and quotes Johnny Monis as saying: "Things could have been much worse." and "The neighbors are safe, and as far as we can tell, the restaurants suffered only minor damage."

[no1uno]

It's probably boring to read my oh-my-how-we-love-Komi posts, but, darn it, we do. (Hey, we like Roberto's 8 too!) Our October venture (for Julie's birthday) was so amazing, we decided to do a combined Xmas- and my-60th-birthday-present and went last night. (I wrapped it, and it was under the tree!)

Food: lots of new items, virtually all wonderful. My fave was grilled octopus on grits. This is their first time using grits -- being a grits-head I inquired, and indeed they're using Anson Mills grits, which we've loved for decades (we currently have 4 varieties in our freezer -- they grind them fresh, and the wholesale buyers can order the ones being ground and shipped the next day). If you're a My Cousin Vinny fan, you have to love the scene where he discredits a witness: "So, Mr. Tipton, how could it take you five minutes to cook your grits, when it takes the entire grit-eating world twenty minutes?" / "I don't know. I'm a fast cook, I guess." Well, Anson Mills grits take an hour and a half.... (I wrote "virtually all" only because the mortadella on the toasted sourdough was, um, so subtle it was ... boring.)

Johnny always brings one of the courses, and he brought the macaronia, long flat noodles with a goat ragu "“ he has a full beard going, which others agreed reminds one of late-era Jim Morrison (tho Johnny referred to it as "fat Jim Morrison", so I doubt it'll last long...).

The deserts have gotten so much more interesting that I had to inquire, and it turns out that Ben, who wasn't available to laud in person, has been experimenting. Well, major kudos, I hope he's retained and encouraged, because the desserts are now on a par with the rest of the food and the wine pairings (of which I gushed last time so needn't again).

I was thrilled to resolve a longstanding misunderstanding with my wife -- since the previous time we ordered the suckling pig main course, several years ago, we hadn't ordered it again because Julie doesn't like the crackling skin. Turns out, she loves the rest of the meat, and doesn't mind at all that I get all of the crackling! Dang, is that yummy stuff!

Humor: if you google Komi and click images, you'll see pics of Obamas (we were again at the "Obama table"), and Drew Barrymore. Some stories get it wrong ("The couple looked gorgeous as they left KOMI restaurant. Prior to having dinner..."), but the truth is they just showed up at 9pm for dinner and were turned away. So I asked sommelier Bill who did that, and he said it was he "“ they showed up with an entourage of like 8 people, and left when told it was impossible "“ Bill said she was very gracious about it, said she'd heard wonderful things about Komi, and ... "somewhere out there Drew Barrymore has my card." (Another aside, Maryland Guv-elect Larry Hogan was at the next table to us, very low-key and unobtrusive -- there was a bulky security guy there for a bit, who checked things out and then vanished.)

As always, they were all so sweet, embracing Julie and wishing me happy birthday ... c'mon, lottery, make this available to us more often!

P.s.: forgot: Kat was there! For her own birthday dinner, it was great to see her again. (She'd just arrived as we were leaving -- we like the discounted Early Bird Special....)

[darkstar965]

It's probably boring to read my oh-my-how-we-love-Komi posts, but, darn it, we do. (Hey, we like Roberto's 8 too!) Our October venture (for Julie's birthday) was so amazing, we decided to do a combined Xmas- and my-60th-birthday-present and went last night. (I wrapped it, and it was under the tree!)

Food: lots of new items, virtually all wonderful. My fave was grilled octopus on grits. This is their first time using grits -- being a grits-head I inquired, and indeed they're using Anson Mills grits, which we've loved for decades (we currently have 4 varieties in our freezer -- they grind them fresh, and the wholesale buyers can order the ones being ground and shipped the next day). If you're a My Cousin Vinny fan, you have to love the scene where he discredits a witness: "So, Mr. Tipton, how could it take you five minutes to cook your grits, when it takes the entire grit-eating world twenty minutes?" / "I don't know. I'm a fast cook, I guess." Well, Anson Mills grits take an hour and a half.... (I wrote "virtually all" only because the mortadella on the toasted sourdough was, um, so subtle it was ... boring.)

 

Johnny always brings one of the courses, and he brought the m[/size]acaronia, long flat noodles with a goat ragu "“ he has a full beard going, which others agreed reminds one of late-era Jim Morrison (tho Johnny referred to it as "fat Jim Morrison", so I doubt it'll last long...).

The deserts have gotten so much more interesting that I had to inquire, and it turns out that Ben, who wasn't unavailable to laud in person, has been experimenting. Well, major kudos, I hope he's retained and encouraged, because the desserts are now on a par with the rest of the food and the wine pairings (of which I gushed last time so needn't again).

I was thrilled to resolve a longstanding misunderstanding with my wife -- since the previous time we ordered the suckling pig main course, several years ago, we hadn't ordered it again because Julie doesn't like the crackling skin. Turns out, she loves the rest of the meat, and doesn't mind at all that I get all of the crackling! Dang, is that yummy stuff!

Humor: if you google Komi and click images, you'll see pics of Obamas (we were again at the "Obama table"), and Drew Barrymore. Some stories get it wrong ("The couple looked gorgeous as they left KOMI restaurant. Prior to having dinner..."), but the truth is they just showed up at 9pm for dinner and were turned away. So I asked sommelier Bill who did that, and he said it was he "“ they showed up with an entourage of like 8 people, and left when told it was impossible "“ Bill said she was very gracious about it, said she'd heard wonderful things about Komi, and ... "somewhere out there Drew Barrymore has my card." (Another aside, Maryland Guv-elect Larry Hogan was at the next table to us, very low-key and unobtrusive -- there was a bulky security guy there for a bit, who checked things out and then vanished.)

As always, they were all so sweet, embracing Julie and wishing me happy birthday ... c'mon, lottery, make this available to us more often!

P.s.: forgot: Kat was there! For her own birthday dinner, it was great to see her again. (She'd just arrived as we were leaving -- we like the discounted Early Bird Special....)

Great post; not boring at all. In fact, very entertaining.

And are you available for hire next time I need to really impress someone with a package? :-). Wow!

[no1uno]

Great post; not boring at all. In fact, very entertaining.

And are you available for hire next time I need to really impress someone with a package? :-). Wow!

Thanks -- our approach re Xmas-wrapping is nothing exceeds like excess.

[Pool Boy]

It's been a long time since we've been to Komi. Are you still able to pick at least one or two of the courses of your dinner? I ask because I am kind of over tasting menus in general (I'd rather pick four or so courses to indulge more thoroughly in).

[lotus125]

It's been a long time since we've been to Komi. Are you still able to pick at least one or two of the courses of your dinner? I ask because I am kind of over tasting menus in general (I'd rather pick four or so courses to indulge more thoroughly in).

Sadly it's just tasting menu now, though they sometimes seem amenable to requests.  The restaurant is still terrific, and with many small, light plates, the tasting menu feels less daunting than many others. Definitely worth a return trip.

[no1uno]

It's been a long time since we've been to Komi. Are you still able to pick at least one or two of the courses of your dinner? I ask because I am kind of over tasting menus in general (I'd rather pick four or so courses to indulge more thoroughly in).

You can choose your main entree, from goat, suckling pig, red snapper, sea bass, veal, steak, lamb neck -- I don't know if all are always available, certainly the goat and pig are.

[Pool Boy]

You can choose your main entree, from goat, suckling pig, red snapper, sea bass, veal, steak, lamb neck -- I don't know if all are always available, certainly the goat and pig are.

Thanks. It's been a while since I have been there. Have always loved it, and glad there is some choice still.

[jca76]

You can choose your main entree, from goat, suckling pig, red snapper, sea bass, veal, steak, lamb neck -- I don't know if all are always available, certainly the goat and pig are.

How is this choice presented?  (And when was the last time you experienced this?)  I don't recall choosing the entree course since they did away with menus years ago, although they will ask about likes/dislikes.  (I'm pescatarian, but have almost always been accompanied by meat eating friends.)

[no1uno]

How is this choice presented?  (And when was the last time you experienced this?)  I don't recall choosing the entree course since they did away with menus years ago, although they will ask about likes/dislikes.  (I'm pescatarian, but have almost always been accompanied by meat eating friends.)  

They ask at the beginning -- we last experienced this last Friday, last October, last June, and ... (we're fans; see above). I believe the table has to agree on the main course. We weren't that thrilled by the sea bass, but really really loved the red snapper, got it twice in a row.