DonRocks Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 "Kitchen Roots: Ruta, Solomonov, and Ehland" by Hal B. Klein on pittsburghmagazine.com If these dishes look insane, you'll understand why I insist this is a legitimate, Michelin-starred-quality restaurant. The fact that restaurant critics and publications don't mention The Grill Room says more about the critics and publications than it does about The Grill Room. What the hell does this man have to do to get properly recognized? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtureck Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 "Kitchen Roots: Ruta, Solomonov, and Ehland" by Hal B. Klein on pittsburghmagazine.com If these dishes look insane, you'll understand why I insist this is a legitimate, Michelin-starred-quality restaurant. The fact that restaurant critics and publications don't mention The Grill Room says more about the critics and publications than it does about The Grill Room. What the hell does this man have to do to get properly recognized? I'm assuming you mean national critics/publications, since all the local folks have covered him and his restaurants thoroughly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 It didn't make the Washingtonian's top 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtureck Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 It didn't make the Washingtonian's top 20 But Palena was certainly a fixture there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Gardner Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 I'm not seeing The Grill Room in the top 100. only have digital issue right now, so maybe I missed it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 I think it's not included al all. Start here for context. And then see the next post in that thread for Frank Ruta's comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtureck Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 And more context, from Kliman's chat on May 5th... "I've only been to the Grill Room once, so take what I say with a grain of truffle salt. I found the cooking to be largely lacking in the magic I had come to expect fairly routinely at Palena in its heyday. My impression was of technically correct cooking that lacked spark and oomph. And the prices are high, high, high "” $23, I believe, for a Manhattan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 I don't know if this is for the better, or for the worse, but the Capella hotel has been sold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 17 hours ago, DonRocks said: I don't know if this is for the better, or for the worse, but the Capella hotel has been sold. Well, that is indeed unclear. The Chinese company that owns the division that owns the division that bought the hotel seems to be involved in real estate as well as hotel things, so maybe not a bad thing. I mean, MAYBE they will finally let Frank change the name of the restaurant! I guess we will see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 The google business listing curse strikes again: The Capella is listed as "permanently closed." I would presume it is still open, at least for the time being. Or is it not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 14 minutes ago, Pat said: The google business listing curse strikes again: The Capella is listed as "permanently closed." I would presume it is still open, at least for the time being. Or is it not? Sold or not, I assume its open. (a phone call would tell us, wouldn't it). But the picture below describes the likeliest problem that infects whether a business is shown as open or closed. Its not the ONLY reason these reports come up, but it is the first step in correcting things of this nature. Joel Finklestein of Qualia Coffee pointed this out to Ferhat Yalcin of Drift on 7th in this post. --> Business owners--> CLAIM YOUR LISTING in Google. The owners of the Capella Hotel have never done that!!! Google still doesn't know who owns the business. If somebody maliciously or inadvertently reports the business closed Google doesn't know if its true or not and doesn't have anyone in authority to check on the report. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 ROSEWOOD DEBUTS in WASHINGTON, D.C. Dear Valued Guest, I am pleased to announce that Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has taken over the management of the former Capella Washington, D.C. Effective today, this prestigious Georgetown hotel will be renamed Rosewood Washington, D.C. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts manages 19 one-of-a-kind luxury properties in 11 countries, with 16 new hotels under development. Founded over 35 years ago, the company is guided by a trademark philosophy of A Sense of Place® whereby each hotel reflects the individual location’s history, culture and sensibilities. The Rosewood collection includes some of the world’s most legendary hotels and resorts, including The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel in New York, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, and Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel in Paris (which reopens in 2017), as well as new classics such as Rosewood Beijing. I also wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself as I recently joined the property as Managing Director. I hope that I will have the chance to welcome you personally to Rosewood Washington, D.C. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance. Sincerely, Pascal Forotti Managing Director Here is the website for the Rosewood Hotel. I don't know how The Mansion on Turtle Creek has fared, but my guess is that the past is a good predictor of the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 On 4/21/2016 at 10:32 AM, Pat said: The google business listing curse strikes again: The Capella is listed as "permanently closed." I would presume it is still open, at least for the time being. Or is it not? I just looked at this a bit more. I assume the restaurant is open..but I haven't checked. If one searches for the grill room by name or website http://thegrillroomdec.com the website is down. The Capella Hotel reference on google says the hotel is closed...and there is not a great reference to the Rosewood Hotel in Georgetown. Overall visibility is poor...and specifically the thegrillroomdc dot com site is down. (I assume it was hosted by capella). No direct reference to the restaurant on the web. Good thing its on OpenTable. In fact I just started to make a reservation and OT had tables for May 4...so I assume its open (still haven't called). Now if one wanted to scan for a menu in the future...possibly one can find one on OT or another source. Alternatively one could go to historical web documents: Here is a menu from march, via something called the web archives: March Grill Room menu. This link isn't to the menu but a cover page with a link to the menu...but try some of the menus and you won't see the full page and all the choices. This tool only seems to be taking you to a screenshot of a part of a page. Oi Oi....problems. Of course what was on the menu in March might not be available in April or May or beyond. Loss of visibility like this can cause big hurts to a business....but its hard to tell. Where do all these potential diners come from and how are they finding and choosing the restaurant. That is the ultimate big mystery. Hopefully they resolve this soon, but when things go down on the web as with The Grill Room right now...it just can't help. For the time being if I wanted to dine there I'd use OT or call direct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 20 minutes ago, DaveO said: I just looked at this a bit more. I assume the restaurant is open..but I haven't checked. If one searches for the grill room by name or website http://thegrillroomdec.com the website is down. The Capella Hotel reference on google says the hotel is closed...and there is not a great reference to the Rosewood Hotel in Georgetown. Overall visibility is poor...and specifically the thegrillroomdc dot com site is down. (I assume it was hosted by capella). No direct reference to the restaurant on the web. Good thing its on OpenTable. In fact I just started to make a reservation and OT had tables for May 4...so I assume its open (still haven't called). Now if one wanted to scan for a menu in the future...possibly one can find one on OT or another source. Alternatively one could go to historical web documents: Here is a menu from march, via something called the web archives: March Grill Room menu. This link isn't to the menu but a cover page with a link to the menu...but try some of the menus and you won't see the full page and all the choices. This tool only seems to be taking you to a screenshot of a part of a page. Oi Oi....problems. Of course what was on the menu in March might not be available in April or May or beyond. Loss of visibility like this can cause big hurts to a business....but its hard to tell. Where do all these potential diners come from and how are they finding and choosing the restaurant. That is the ultimate big mystery. Hopefully they resolve this soon, but when things go down on the web as with The Grill Room right now...it just can't help. For the time being if I wanted to dine there I'd use OT or call direct. Yesterday when I was looking around, the Grill Room site was up, so it's gone down pretty recently. That could be due to the sale or just be an unrelated problem affecting the website. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dracisk Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 The Rosewood DC website has this on the Grill Room, but there are no links to menus or OpenTable or anything like that. Maybe they'll add more later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted April 22, 2016 Author Share Posted April 22, 2016 5 hours ago, DaveO said: I just looked at this a bit more. I assume the restaurant is open..but I haven't checked. 5 hours ago, Pat said: Yesterday when I was looking around, the Grill Room site was up, so it's gone down pretty recently. That could be due to the sale or just be an unrelated problem affecting the website. 4 hours ago, dracisk said: The Rosewood DC website has this on the Grill Room, but there are no links to menus or OpenTable or anything like that. Maybe they'll add more later. Fear not - I heard from The Man Himself that from everything they've seen and heard, Rosewood is determined to make both the hotel *and the restaurant* truly special. There was no anxiety whatsoever, and this should be an improvement over the Capella's ownership. Can anyone even name the opening chef at The Grill Room or The Rye Bar? Neither can I. Granted, they made an excellent decision in acquiring outstanding talent in Frank and Aggie, but from what I was hearing, things were not going well before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finatic Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 The Rosewood letter says it is taking over MANAGEMENT, not ownership! Better to get paid to run the place than to have to put up the money to own it. Anyone know anything different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 5 hours ago, Finatic said: The Rosewood letter says it is taking over MANAGEMENT, not ownership! Better to get paid to run the place than to have to put up the money to own it. Anyone know anything different? You're right about Rosewood doing the management, but the hotel was also just sold to CTF Georgetown Hotel, LLC for $65 million - it was previously owned by Castleton Hotel Partners I, LLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcandohio Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 A single data point...Rosewood manages the Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, and the restaurant there is top-notch. From what I've read, Rosewood is a disciplined management group focused on preserving the local history and character of its properties. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Yeah transitions can be tricky. It sounds like the Rosewood folks are getting their act together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithstg Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 On 4/24/2016 at 8:42 AM, dcandohio said: A single data point...Rosewood manages the Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, and the restaurant there is top-notch. From what I've read, Rosewood is a disciplined management group focused on preserving the local history and character of its properties. Rosewood is a GREAT smaller hotel chain. Like a higher-end Kimpton, if you will. I had been staying at the Capella when in town for a while, and think that a more professional management group will take what is a great physical property to the next level. If what I have seen at other Rosewood properties is any indication (their Mayakoba property most recently), Rosewood will up the service standards and smooth out guest experiences but otherwise much about the Capella will remain the same. I'd bet they'll be easier for a restaurateur to work with than the Capella's old management as well. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 3 hours ago, Keithstg said: Rosewood is a GREAT smaller hotel chain. Like a higher-end Kimpton, if you will. I had been staying at the Capella when in town for a while, and think that a more professional management group will take what is a great physical property to the next level. If what I have seen at other Rosewood properties is any indication (their Mayakoba property most recently), Rosewood will up the service standards and smooth out guest experiences but otherwise much about the Capella will remain the same. I'd bet they'll be easier for a restaurateur to work with than the Capella's old management as well. This is my hope as well. I'm heading back for another meal in the not too distant future and looking forward to it. It has honestly been too damn long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zgast Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Menu is down - any recommendations from those that have dined recently? Just made reservations for Wednesday. Saw Don's recent review, but wondering if there are other 'must eats'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted May 2, 2016 Author Share Posted May 2, 2016 34 minutes ago, zgast said: Menu is down - any recommendations from those that have dined recently? Just made reservations for Wednesday. Saw Don's recent review, but wondering if there are other 'must eats'. The seasons have changed since my review, so I suspect it will completely different. On Apr 9, Frank showed a picture of some house-corned tongue with charred ramps and asparagus, crispy barley and Rick's manila clam dressing on his Facebook Page (Friend me and you'll be able to see it - it's available to "friends of friends"), but it wouldn't surprise me if this was long gone by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zgast Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 5 hours ago, DonRocks said: The seasons have changed since my review, so I suspect it will completely different. On Apr 9, Frank showed a picture of some house-corned tongue with charred ramps and asparagus, crispy barley and Rick's manila clam dressing on his Facebook Page (Friend me and you'll be able to see it - it's available to "friends of friends"), but it wouldn't surprise me if this was long gone by now. Hazards of seasonal cooking. I'll have to wing it going in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 On May 2, 2016 at 3:53 PM, DonRocks said: The seasons have changed since my review, so I suspect it will completely different. On Apr 9, Frank showed a picture of some house-corned tongue with charred ramps and asparagus, crispy barley and Rick's manila clam dressing on his Facebook Page (Friend me and you'll be able to see it - it's available to "friends of friends"), but it wouldn't surprise me if this was long gone by now. This, or something quite close to it, is currently on the menu. We were there last night and had a great meal. And , as good as the beef tongue dish was, there were others we had that night that were better. One was astoundingly good (a new variation on the goose egg ravioli). I'll post pictures and full comments later this week, but I am happy to report they are firing on all cylinders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted July 24, 2016 Author Share Posted July 24, 2016 On 4/22/2016 at 2:40 PM, Pat said: Yesterday when I was looking around, the Grill Room site was up, so it's gone down pretty recently. That could be due to the sale or just be an unrelated problem affecting the website. The Rosewood's website is up now - Frank and Aggie are still there at The Grill Room and The Rye Bar. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 On 7/24/2016 at 10:12 AM, DonRocks said: The Rosewood's website is up now - Frank and Aggie are still there at The Grill Room and The Rye Bar. I sure wish they would let them change the name! We're going next month. Of some interest is that the menu is much more streamlined (no more 'proposed meal') which I think was that way already in May when we were there last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 On 6/5/2016 at 5:59 PM, Pool Boy said: This, or something quite close to it, is currently on the menu. We were there last night and had a great meal. And , as good as the beef tongue dish was, there were others we had that night that were better. One was astoundingly good (a new variation on the goose egg ravioli). I'll post pictures and full comments later this week, but I am happy to report they are firing on all cylinders. Finally getting around to my meal that I had there with my wife on June 4th. We had no AC on the Friday before Memorial Day and our reservations we had to cancel for that weekend, because the Grill Room had no AC as well. They let us know about it and graciously rescheduled us to our first choice of an alternate date. Vichysoisse of Josiah's Young Fennel with lump crab and green apple salad We spit this to start and it was so Spingy and delicious. There were some crispy strips of something on top and even a few bits of radish in the salad too. Absolutely delicious. Grilled Mediterranean Octopus - a warm salad with crispy prosciutto, potatoes and ramps - Gosh this was an excellent dish. Perfectly cooked octopus, so tender and yet so MEATY. A great play of textures in this dish the the radish and prosciutto to go with the octopus. Frank and his team can make any variation of this dish they feel like coming up with if they are even half as good as this variation. So good. Grilled Spanish Mackerel in a Venetian-style marinade of strawberries and pistachios with shaved fennel, arugula, saffron aioli and a deviled egg - Excellent Dish. Another play in textures paired with more excellently cooked seafood., This had some broth to it as well in the form of the aioli and whatever else dressed the 'salad'. Delicious. Grilled house cured beef tongue with crisp kale, zesty greens, and a Manila clam dressing - Just great. There were crispy greens and other greens that formed the bed for the tongue to sit on and be framed by delicious clams and their dressing. I would never have dreamed of making this like but earthy version of a surf and turf, but this dish was singing. If you love tongue as much as I do, this dish would make you very, very happy. Goose Egg Ravioli with lamb sausage, spiced Virginia peanuts, scallions, and pecorino - COURSE OF THE NIGHT. Hands down. What they do with pasta here is always amazing, and ravioli in particular. But this was an evolutionary leap forward. Not sure if it was adding an unctious layer with the lamb sausage or a more angular pecorino, but MAN ALIVE this was amazing. Missing from the description were all this little green veg bits contributing to the sauce/broth. I only got one taste of this as my wife soon defended all of my longing glances like a momma lion defending her downed wildebeast from an entire pack of hyenas. Spring brodetto with black bass, shrimp, Bouchot mussels, with asparagus, radish, and spring onions in a fragrant broth - I am a sucker for anything Frank makes with a broth (yet still for SOME reason, I have yet to have had his consomme in the year and half he's been at Grill Room, though I am told it has made appearances on his menu in that time - so, considering I think I last had it in early 2014 at Palena, I am surprised I am still alive, as clearly the withdrawal period is filled with anguish here, and I am in my 30th month or so). ANYWAY, more perfectly cooked seafood (nailing the shrimp - nailing them I tell you) in a delicate broth augmented with masterful hand of tiny vegetables (especially those onions). You cannot go wrong with this dish. And that broth almost makes of for this consomme-less husk I have become. Spring lamb stuffed breast with roasted artichokes, new carrots, radish and pea shoots - So good. Arguably simply prepared and excellently cooked, what again outsines the assumed star of the plate is all of the accoutrements. The interplay of the artichoikes and the tiny radish playing with the greenness of the shoots and all of that glorious meat and (of course) more sauce. Yum. Then dessert....We wanted to get two. Could not decide, but ultimately ordered two, so they brought the one we nixed, plus another simple chocolate cakes, and actually a fifth dessert in the form of their cookie and caramel plate (which went home with us). Turning Japanese - Japanese cheesecake, rhubarb sorbet, matcha shortbread and poached rhubarb - Tremendous dish, so springy, and the matcha was an excellent foil to the cheese/sweet rhubarb combo, providing earthiness and intrigue. Strawberry Fields Forever - Strawberry sorbet, buttermilk ice cream, lime meringue, fresh strawberries and sable - Because strawberries. Serious, an excellent dish and worked well, particularly if you got each element in one bite. The lime was the catalyst of the dish, too. Pick Me Up - Mascarpone mousse, caffe corretto ganache, coffee ice cream, espresso soaked cake - Wow, just wow. We expected this to be so heavy (one of the reasons we had nixed this), but it was not at all. So freaking good. The 4th was the chocolate cake (yum) and the caramels and cookies were wonderful for breakfast the next morning. This place is expensive. But it is comfortable, inviting, has excellent service and seating all which make it easy to linger and indulge. We may all miss the Cafe part of Palena, but this is the new iteration of what was Palena's dining room. I love it here and I will keep coming back and looking forward to trying it again in the full swing of summer, next month. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 According to Tom Sietsema, Fraank and Aggie are departing the Grill Room next month to go to a new place - linky. Probably opening in March 2017. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweaked Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 More from Washingtonian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 7 hours ago, Tweaked said: More from Washingtonian Yeah, I am sure he's looking forward to not having to do all of the hotel food duties - '.."All the other parts of the hotel I think are something that made it difficult for us to do what we do best," Ruta says... The other quote - 'Just as important, Ilhan has hired perhaps the perfect chef to execute this high wire act of high-low cuisine....' - I think truer words could not have been spoken. I have to believe that this may provide us all a situation in some ways similar to Palena where you could dine up on the higher end, but still get there for a more reasonably priced and excellent meal. It will be interesting to see how they are going to lay out the space. I for one am quite interested to see how this is going to evolve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidsdc Posted October 7, 2016 Share Posted October 7, 2016 Can't recall how long we've been doing this, but we created a tradition of celebrating our wedding anniversary at the same restaurant. The one we started out with was Mrs. Simpsons on Connecticut Ave, which closed. We were quite thrilled to then find Palena and began celebrating there. When that closed, we were very happy to be able to continue our tradition with Chef Ruta at The Grill Room. Now Chef is leaving at the end of October, so we'll just squeak in to be able to celebrate our 30th anniversary, on the 18th. That makes me quite happy. Hopefully he doesn't decide to leave early or else we'll be in a fix! (And then his new restaurant should hopefully be open by next year this time, so we can continue the tradition...) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 On 10/7/2016 at 5:29 PM, squidsdc said: Can't recall how long we've been doing this, but we created a tradition of celebrating our wedding anniversary at the same restaurant. The one we started out with was Mrs. Simpsons on Connecticut Ave, which closed. We were quite thrilled to then find Palena and began celebrating there. When that closed, we were very happy to be able to continue our tradition with Chef Ruta at The Grill Room. Now Chef is leaving at the end of October, so we'll just squeak in to be able to celebrate our 30th anniversary, on the 18th. That makes me quite happy. Hopefully he doesn't decide to leave early or else we'll be in a fix! (And then his new restaurant should hopefully be open by next year this time, so we can continue the tradition...) We started our anniversary tradition, more or less officially, at Palena. We were happy to be able to shift it to The Grill Room. And now we'll be happy to see it shift to the new place once he is there as well. Of course, we found plenty of excuses to also otherwise hit up Palena or the Grill Room over the years, oftentimes just because Ít's been too long since we have been there!'(and FRANKly, our 'too long' frame of reference continually got shorter and shorter). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidsdc Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 I don't believe I'm posting out of line, but Don, feel free to remove if you disagree. The restaurant freely offered that Chef is not in due to a family emergency. We may have to postpone our arrangements for tomorrow evening. I don't know any details (and wouldn't post even if I did) but any family emergency is a trying time; I hope the best for him. I let the restaurant know we are willing to reschedule for next week if Chef will be back by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Any word on what has become of the Grill Room since the departure of its stars? It certainly is still wickedly expensive: The cheapest main course on their online menu is roast chicken for $30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Boy Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 On 3/29/2017 at 10:32 PM, The Hersch said: Any word on what has become of the Grill Room since the departure of its stars? It certainly is still wickedly expensive: The cheapest main course on their online menu is roast chicken for $30. No idea. My main reason for having gone there was Frank and Aggie. But Keith (?), their sommelier is an unassuming rock star (if he is still there). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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