The Shaw Bijou - Chef Kwame Onwuachi and GM Greg Vakiner's $95 Seven-Course Menu in Shaw - Closed

[Simul Parikh]

The more and more I read about this, the more I find myself sort of rooting for failure. And I hate that. I have that feeling sometimes for some garbage TV shows (The Newsroom - and this is coming from the biggest West Wing and Sports Night fan ever) and movies (the Entourage Movie - from a huge Entourage TV show fan). And in my opinion, both sucked and I had some schadenfreude. I also sort of wanted Sweetbitter to be a bad novel, because of the hype of the hot author, but it was beautiful and I loved it and I'm glad I was wrong.

The one problem I'm having, and it's been vaguely mentioned, is what if I'm having this unconscious bias about this because he's this telegenic, photogenic guy that speaks in a way, projects in a way that just makes me recoil. I wonder if I'd feel this way if someone like - I don't know - let's just say the sons of the the guys that run Indique - they have been in the Post repeatedly and I really want them to succeed. I like their story.

I'm not in the industry, so maybe the industry folks can settle me down about that - that yes, this is not about that unconscious bias, that it is about what he is saying and how he says it that's the problem.

Man, dancing around that ridiculous elephant in the room....

[franch]

I'm already outed as a ridiculous Shaw Bijou cheerleader, but I can't imagine rooting for the failure of a guy born in the Bronx, who lived with his family in Nigeria in a town with no electricity, and ultimately sold candy on the subway to put himself through culinary school and finance his catering business. Even if he was on Top Chef.

[Gadarene]

14 minutes ago, franch said:

I'm already outed as a ridiculous Shaw Bijou cheerleader, but I can't imagine rooting for the failure of a guy born in the Bronx, who lived with his family in Nigeria in a town with no electricity, and ultimately sold candy on the subway to put himself through culinary school and finance his catering business. Even if he was on Top Chef.

It couldn't have less to do with his being on Top Chef.

[Waitman]

14 hours ago, franch said:

I'm already outed as a ridiculous Shaw Bijou cheerleader, but I can't imagine rooting for the failure of a guy born in the Bronx, who lived with his family in Nigeria in a town with no electricity, and ultimately sold candy on the subway to put himself through culinary school and finance his catering business. Even if he was on Top Chef.

Well, though Bronx-born, he was raised decidedly middle class and his exile to Nigeria (to live with a former academic) came about because he was being a jerk around the house, not out of some extended stretch of poverty.  It's colorful, but not exactly Dickensian.  

[And nobody whose ever ridden the New York Subway has any sympathy for the mendicants trying to sell you candy or save your soul].

Kwame's problem is that, at this point, his attitude dwarfs his actual resume, the undeniable pretentiousness of his restaurant (nitrogen-cooled cocktail glasses, the members-only club) overshadows the sort of things that actually would impress a hardened gastronome crowd (the BP gig, the seat-of-the-pants multiethnicity of his catering).  

He's chosen to leverage his personality into millions of dollars of backing and thousands of words of publicity.  He's charging prices that the best chefs in the city -- guys who spent far longer than he did working hard and honing their craft -- don't charge. It's a risk he chose to take, and he surely must know that it rubs a lot of people the wrong way.  In three months, he'll either be the Joe Namath ("We're going to win.  I guarantee it") or the Jeb Bush of the DC culinary scene.  In the meantime, it's pretty easy to find the guy more than a little off-putting, to say the least. 

 

[TheGut]

I am rooting for Kwame and his team. I hope they succeed and earn some Michelin stars. 

I do have a question. Are there currently any African American chefs with Michelin stars?  I have not done the research and was wondering about it.  If Kwame is able to earn a Michelin star that would be huge.

Also, does anyone have any pics from opening night at the Shaw Bijou?  Would love to see what diners ate.

[Jonathan]

1 hour ago, Waitman said:

Well, though Bronx-born, he was raised decidedly middle class and his exile to Nigeria (to live with a former academic) came about because he was being a jerk around the house, not out of some extended stretch of poverty.  It's colorful, but not exactly Dickensian.  

[And nobody whose ever ridden the New York Subway has any sympathy for the mendicants trying to sell you candy or save your soul].

Kwame's problem is that, at this point, his attitude dwarfs his actual resume, the undeniable pretentiousness of his restaurant (nitrogen-cooled cocktail glasses, the members-only club) overshadows the sort of things that actually would impress a hardened gastronome crowd (the BP gig, the seat-of-the-pants multiethnicity of his catering).  

He's chosen to leverage his personality into millions of dollars of backing and thousands of words of publicity.  He's charging prices that the best chefs in the city -- guys who spent far longer than he did working hard and honing their craft -- don't charge. It's a risk he chose to take, and he surely must know that it rubs a lot of people the wrong way.  In three months, he'll either be the Joe Namath ("We're going to win.  I guarantee it") or the Jeb Bush of the DC culinary scene.  In the meantime, it's pretty easy to find the guy more than a little off-putting, to say the least. 

If I could "love" this, I would. 1000 times over. But I'll say this, I still find Joe Namath despicable even though he won a game.

[TheGut]

2 hours ago, Waitman said:

 (nitrogen-cooled cocktail glasses, the members-only club)

Convivial uses the same method to chill their cocktail glasses.  It is a current trend.  Nothing out of the ordinary.

[Waitman]

27 minutes ago, TheGut said:

Convivial uses the same method to chill their cocktail glasses.  It is a current trend.  Nothing out of the ordinary.

It's pretentious no matter who does it.   And, based on my entire history of bar hopping, decidedly out of the ordinary, at least for the moment. 

[To be clear, there are few industries on earth more pretentious than the "craft" section of the bar industry right now, so Kwame may just be keeping up with the Joneses here.] 

[ad.mich]

At this point I'm fascinated with this place - not from a food perspective but from a PR one.

I can't help but wonder what the point is of doubling down (tripling? quadrupling?)  on the attitude and pretension in the months leading up to opening.  Is this somehow the only restaurant in DC without overbearing PR representation?  There were some real obvious steps that could have stopped the bleeding - one humble interview where the principles say "sorry if we rubbed anyone the wrong way, we hear you, please judge us on the final product" probably would have been enough for most. At this point they're basically Ted Dibiase running shtick with the media. That's an easy way to get press because flame gets eyeballs.  I have a hard time believing it's an effective way to book a restaurant though.  A look at the number of openings on their website seems to back that up.

I still travel to DC with some regularity and have a nice dining budget/expense account available. In other words - I'm the kind of person who should be excited to see what comes from this new opening. Frankly, even if Sietsema pees his pants over the food there are too many other places to visit. 

[DonRocks]

[Just when the ghost of the shadow of Eric Ripert has floated away, just as I'm about to celebrate my one-year anniversary of not having thought about Spike Mendelsohn, just when the Mike Isabella publicity machine has crested and is dying down, I'm now faced with this. There is no rest for the weary.]

[ad.mich]

 

[Jonathan]

3 hours ago, ad.mich said:

I have a hard time believing it's an effective way to book a restaurant though.  A look at the number of openings on their website seems to back that up.

Quite a few tables left indeed...and from my experience, there is nothing that makes a restaurant sexier than it being full of people (sure, decor matters, but when a restaurant is brimming with life and merriment, it is sexy).

[Bart]

12 hours ago, Waitman said:

Kwame's problem is that, at this point, his attitude dwarfs his actual resume, the undeniable pretentiousness of his restaurant (nitrogen-cooled cocktail glasses, the members-only club) overshadows the sort of things that actually would impress a hardened gastronome crowd (the BP gig, the seat-of-the-pants multiethnicity of his catering).  

He's chosen to leverage his personality into millions of dollars of backing and thousands of words of publicity.  He's charging prices that the best chefs in the city -- guys who spent far longer than he did working hard and honing their craft -- don't charge. It's a risk he chose to take, and he surely must know that it rubs a lot of people the wrong way.  

I'm a Kwame fan from his stint on Top Chef and the attitude he projected was completely opposite from what's been discussed above.   In fact, he didn't have any attitude at all other than being nice and kind and mellow and being a team player even helping out competitors in challenges.   He was the most unpretentious guy possible on Top Chef  even when he was crushing the other in the competitions   

So I wonder if he's the same old mellow dude he always was but sucked up into the PR machine of his investors, the owners and the GM?  I don't recall seeing any offensive or pretensions quotes coming from Kwame. From the other two, hell yeah!  But not from Kwame himself. 

[Gadarene]

Just now, Bart said:

I'm a Kwame fan from his stint on Top Chef and the attitude he projected was completely opposite from what's been discussed above.   In fact, he didn't have any attitude at all other than being nice and kind and mellow and being a team player even helping out competitors in challenges.   He was the most unpretentious guy possible on Too Chef  even when he was crushing the other in the competitions   

So I wonder if he's the same old mellow dude he always was but sucked up into the PR machine of his investors, the owners and the GM?  I don't recall seeing any offensive or pretensions quotes coming from Kwame. From the other two, hell yeah!  But not from Kwame himself. 

I agree with this 100 percent.

[DonRocks]

30 minutes ago, Bart said:

So I wonder if he's the same old mellow dude he always was but sucked up into the PR machine of his investors, the owners and the GM?  I don't recall seeing any offensive or pretensions quotes coming from Kwame. From the other two, hell yeah!  But not from Kwame himself. 

Here's your answer:

Do you think Mike Isabella smiles 24 hours a day?

I know virtually nothing about this man (as I type this, I have no idea what his last name is), but I'm honestly wondering what he has done that 90% of people wouldn't do in the exact same situation.

[Gadarene]

23 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Here's your answer:

Do you think Mike Isabella smiles 24 hours a day?

I know virtually nothing about this man (as I type this, I have no idea what his last name is), but I'm honestly wondering what he has done that 90% of people wouldn't do in the exact same situation.

Start with the waterproof Icelandic sheepskin bar seats and the sommelier calling you several days before your (uncancellable) reservation to assess how much you're willing to shell out, and go from there. 

[DonRocks]

47 minutes ago, Gadarene said:

Start with the waterproof Icelandic sheepskin bar seats and the sommelier calling you several days before your (uncancellable) reservation to assess how much you're willing to shell out, and go from there. 

This isn't the chef.

My guess is that he got himself a sweet deal, and is doing what the investor tells him to do.

Just hope that whenever he runs into a line cook making $18 an hour, he thinks to himself, "There but for the grace of God ...."

[Gadarene]

14 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

This isn't the chef.

My guess is that he got himself a sweet deal, and is doing what the investor tells him to do.

Just hope that whenever he runs into a line cook making $18 an hour, he thinks to himself, "There but for the grace of God ...."

Agreed, and I think that was Bart's point (or at least Bart's hope).

I would add that, even if the chef doesn't find the relentless money-seeking douchiness of his co-owners off-putting, I would expect that he presumably had some sort of say in a concept that expressly disavows seasonality and inventive technique in favor of cramming a bunch of tritely luxury ingredients into dishes (caviar! foie! lobster!) and calling it a day.

Like, I'm sure the food will be good, and I'm sure he's a great chef (positive, in fact, based on everything I've heard), but that approach seems more than a little lazy to me.  And I find it disappointingly transparent as a way to justify charging an insane amount of money, as well.

[notquiteanonymous]

So with all of this extra publicity (any press is good press, maybe?), anyone been or have a reservation?  To be honest, while the price tag scares the hell out of my government paycheck, I'm oddly more inclined to go after all of the anger that's come out in this thread and either witness something great or snack on some nitrogen puffed, truffled, deconstructed (or some other overwrought techniques, you pick ) popcorn and watch the train wreck. 

Not to diminish any of the legitimate complaints that have been raised about publicity before it's deserved and putting in ones dues, but what if this guy is actually the real deal?  What if Aaron Silverman and co had the opportunity, and chose, to do Pineapple and Pearls first?  I recall more than a few raised eyebrows at that price, given how informal Rose's is, and now folks certainly seem to think it's justified.  I suppose that I'd hope to see praise if the restaurant deserves it, regardless of its origin.  And of course, if it does end up being Ishtar, then by all means continue to mock. 

[Gadarene]

Pineapple and Pearls is actually one of the best damn bargains in the city, especially if you sit at the bar.

$150 inclusive of tax and tips, plus whatever a la carte drinks you want.  That comes to around $115 for the food (+$11 tax and $24 tip) for a guy who has more than established himself.

Compare that with Shaw Bijou, which is $170 for the food alone, not counting the 20 percent mandatory gratuity and the 10 percent tip (and the mandatory wine pairing, for all I know; who knows if you can order just one glass).

P&P is so much cheaper than Shaw Bijou, it's silly.

[Marty L.]

42 minutes ago, notquiteanonymous said:

What if Aaron Silverman and co had the opportunity, and chose, to do Pineapple and Pearls first?  I recall more than a few raised eyebrows at that price, given how informal Rose's is, and now folks certainly seem to think it's justified.  

Everyone I know who has been to P&P has thought otherwise -- advised me that I'm much better off with four or five meals at Rose's/TailUpGoat/Seki/Hazel/etc.

[franch]

8 hours ago, TheGut said:

I am rooting for Kwame and his team. I hope they succeed and earn some Michelin stars. 

I do have a question. Are there currently any African American chefs with Michelin stars?  I have not done the research and was wondering about it.  If Kwame is able to earn a Michelin star that would be huge.

Also, does anyone have any pics from opening night at the Shaw Bijou?  Would love to see what diners ate.

1 hour ago, notquiteanonymous said:

So with all of this extra publicity (any press is good press, maybe?), anyone been or have a reservation?

I don't know about African-American chefs, but Loiseau des Ducs earned a Michelin star in France in 2014, and Louis-Phillipe Vigilant, the chef, is the first black chef to earn a star.

I'll post pics and a summary after my reservation this weekend.

59 minutes ago, Gadarene said:

Compare that with Shaw Bijou, which is $170 for the food alone, not counting the 20 percent mandatory gratuity and the 10 percent tip (and the mandatory wine pairing, for all I know; who knows if you can order just one glass).

I don't know whether to attribute continued comments like this to a deliberate disinformation campaign or more likely one of the PR missteps that we were discussing above. There has never been a mandatory wine pairing of $170 or $185 or whatever. The hand wringing of Washington City Paper and others over a table for two costing a staggering amount when they include nearly $400 of booze has always annoyed me. ANY check is going to be expensive with $400 of booze added on.

Also, it is 20% service and 10% tax, not 10% tip.

[Gadarene]

Franch, I never said there was a mandatory wine pairing. I wondered whether it was possible to order just a single glass, considering their focus on having the sommelier call you several days beforehand to arrange a custom pairing based on your price point.

Shaw Bijou is $170 for food, before tax and tip (you got me!  I said "tip" instead of "tax" in my post!)

P&P at the bar is &150 for food, tax, and tip all together.

Food at Shaw Bijou costs significantly more than it does at two-star P&P.

What part of that is misinformation?

[DonRocks]

8 hours ago, TheGut said:

I do have a question. Are there currently any African American chefs with Michelin stars?  I have not done the research and was wondering about it.  If Kwame is able to earn a Michelin star that would be huge.

This should probably be in a separate thread, but the first two James Beard Award Winners for "Best Chef - Mid-Atlantic" from Washington, DC-proper were Jean-Louis Palladin and Patrick Clark (who was a gentleman of color).

[franch]

o I don't disagree that Shaw Bijou is more expensive than P&P. it's just my continued rage at the idea that the shaw bijou has a floor of nearly $1k for a couple.

[DonRocks]

10 minutes ago, franch said:

o I don't disagree that Shaw Bijou is more expensive than P&P. it's just my continued rage at the idea that the shaw bijou has a floor of nearly $1k for a couple.

An honest (not a rhetorical) question: Why not simply let the free market run its course and see what happens?

I was thinking, just several hours ago, about Inox - the greatest restaurant in area history that has been so quickly and completely forgotten (arguably followed, I will add, by Suna, but I'm getting off-topic).

[Gadarene]

9 minutes ago, franch said:

o I don't disagree that Shaw Bijou is more expensive than P&P. it's just my continued rage at the idea that the shaw bijou has a floor of nearly $1k for a couple.

Shaw Bijou has a floor of $442 for a couple if they drink only water (and if the restaurant does not charge for water).

That's...still not great.  And maybe I'm cynical, but I would be surprised if cocktails at Shaw Bijou cost less than $15 and if there isn't a higher-than-usual markup on all bottles of wine.  Like, it's not like you're going to be able to get an $8 glass of garnaxta blanca probably, right?  Or a $30 bottle of Tikves Vranec.

4 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

An honest (not a rhetorical) question: Why not simply let the free market run its course and see what happens?

An honest (not a smart-ass) answer: there's no such thing as the free market.

[Bart]

3 hours ago, Gadarene said:

Agreed, and I think that was Bart's point (or at least Bart's hope).

Yep, nailed it!

The legend has it that Robert Johnson made a deal with the devil at the crossroads to become a master of the blues. I wonder if Kawame knowingly or unknowingly made his own deal with the devil:  "You get to be the executive chef of a cutting edge, high end restaurant, and in return we get to curate the clientele and boast about super chilled glasses and offer a no cancellation, no refund even-if-you-die-before-your-meal policy",

Who knows?

Unrelated to all of the previous discussion, I find it amazing that we're 6 pages into this topic and the restaurant has only been open for 1 day and there are no reviews yet.  That has to be a DR.com record.

[Simul Parikh]

9 hours ago, Bart said:

Yep, nailed it!

The legend has it that Robert Johnson made a deal with the devil at the crossroads to become a master of the blues. I wonder if Kawame knowingly or unknowingly made his own deal with the devil:  "You get to be the executive chef of a cutting edge, high end restaurant, and in return we get to curate the clientele and boast about super chilled glasses and offer a no cancellation, no refund even-if-you-die-before-your-meal policy",

Who knows?

Unrelated to all of the previous discussion, I find it amazing that we're 6 pages into this topic and the restaurant has only been open for 1 day and there are no reviews yet.  That has to be a DR.com record.

Not a review on Yelp either.... 

 

[reedm]

1 hour ago, Simul Parikh said:

Not a review on Yelp either.... 

I searched yelp yesterday as well, and the place wasn't even listed. I wonder if anyone willing to spend that much money on dinner even uses yelp.

[TheGut]

I bet Sietsema will have a First Bite Column out about the restaurant within the first two weeks.

[Simul Parikh]

Haha... Really? Are you sure? You're not just making a joke are you? 

[reedm]

1 minute ago, Simul Parikh said:

Haha... Really? Are you sure? You're not just making a joke are you? 

I guess it was a bit tongue in cheek, but their pricing is really at another level, so it might take a few days.

"I'd give it four and a half stars, but yelp won't let me do that, so I'm giving four. You get a lot of food for your money here..." 

[Waitman]

12 hours ago, Bart said:

Yep, nailed it!

The legend has it that Robert Johnson made a deal with the devil at the crossroads to become a master of the blues. I wonder if Kawame knowingly or unknowingly made his own deal with the devil:  "You get to be the executive chef of a cutting edge, high end restaurant, and in return we get to curate the clientele and boast about super chilled glasses and offer a no cancellation, no refund even-if-you-die-before-your-meal policy",

Who knows?

Unrelated to all of the previous discussion, I find it amazing that we're 6 pages into this topic and the restaurant has only been open for 1 day and there are no reviews yet.  That has to be a DR.com record.

I'd suggest -- delicately -- that suggesting that a chef-owner, and especially an African-American chef-owner, is merely the figurehead for nefarious plutocratic puppeteers is at least as insulting to said chef as simply calling him arrogant. At least give the guy credit for fronting his own band.  

Just wanted to add that, while the guy rubs me the wrong way, I'd be just as happy to see him succeed and, if my financial situation weren't tied to the political situation, I'd be happy to take one for the team and try the place out.  Hell, I ate at 11 Madison Park this year, so this would only be my second most expensive restaurant of 2016. 

[DonRocks]

7 minutes ago, Waitman said:

I'd suggest -- delicately -- that suggesting that a chef-owner, and especially an African-American chef-owner, is merely the figurehead for nefarious Caucasoid plutocratic puppeteers is at least as insulting to said chef as simply calling him arrogant. At least give the guy credit for fronting his own band.  

But not quite as insulting as assuming the puppeteers are Caucasoid.

This entire conversation has become a bit much - I don't want to play hatchet man, but from this point forward, please use your noodles before dishing out the pasta.

[DaveO]

Currently you can find 2 reviews in google reviews  

Maybe the first one is a fake reviewer.  maybe not.  Maybe the 2nd one also.  Maybe not.

In that I've been doing "local search optimizing" for years about 2 years ago I did a very large scale analysis of restaurant reviews in this area and elsewhere focusing on volume and comparing volumes of yelp, FB, and google reviews.   Some parts of the country are in areas where yelp had focused.  Some weren't.

In this area, which is one where there has been yelp focus (thus a higher volume of reviews) there are about 3-7 times the number of yelp reviews per restaurant as google reviews (typically)   Also typically fb volume of reviews are fewer than yelp but remarkably higher than google reviews.

(I think those ratio's remain pretty true today).   (I also doubt a "quality difference" between yelp/google/or fb reviewers let alone tripadvisor or OT reviewers)

[Waitman]

On 11/3/2016 at 8:06 AM, DonRocks said:

But not quite as insulting as assuming the puppeteers are Caucasoid.

This entire conversation has become a bit much - I don't want to play hatchet man, but from this point forward, please use your noodles before dishing out the pasta.

Fair enough. Caucasoid deleted.

[Thanks, Charles - knowing you, I know it was well-meaning. Knowing me, you should know I would take any possible opportunity to harangue you. :)]

[Waitman]

46 minutes ago, DaveO said:

Currently you can find 2 reviews in google reviews  

Maybe the first one is a fake reviewer.  maybe not.  Maybe the 2nd one also.  Maybe not.

In that I've been doing "local search optimizing" for years about 2 years ago I did a very large scale analysis of restaurant reviews in this area and elsewhere focusing on volume and comparing volumes of yelp, FB, and google reviews.   Some parts of the country are in areas where yelp had focused.  Some weren't.

In this area, which is one where there has been yelp focus (thus a higher volume of reviews) there are about 3-7 times the number of yelp reviews per restaurant as google reviews (typically)   Also typically fb volume of reviews are fewer than yelp but remarkably higher than google reviews.

(I think those ratio's remain pretty true today).   (I also doubt a "quality difference" between yelp/google/or fb reviewers let alone tripadvisor or OT reviewers)

Married couple.  Or, two people whose last names start with "O" and who sepnd time in Wexler, PA and who coincidentally ate at the same restaurant last night.  She gave Jerry's Subs four stars, so there's your benchmark for her reviews (his only other review was a 5-star Chiropracter). 

This why I only trust DonRockwell.com for my on-line reviews!

I note that there are tables for tonight and I don't feel like cooking....hmmmm.

 

[Gadarene]

35 minutes ago, Waitman said:

Married couple.  Or, two people whose last names start with "O" and who sepnd time in Wexler, PA and who coincidentally ate at the same restaurant last night.  She gave Jerry's Subs four stars, so there's your benchmark for her reviews (his only other review was a 5-star Chiropracter). 

This why I only trust DonRockwell.com for my on-line reviews!

I note that there are tables for tonight and I don't feel like cooking....hmmmm.

But if you book your reservation same-day, then however will the sommelier have time to cater to your wine preferences?

[Bart]

2 hours ago, Waitman said:

I'd suggest -- delicately -- that suggesting that a chef-owner, and especially an African-American chef-owner, is merely the figurehead for nefarious plutocratic puppeteers is at least as insulting to said chef as simply calling him arrogant. At least give the guy credit for fronting his own band.  

My comment had nothing to do with the skin color of anyone involved.  Maybe I'm wildly tone deaf on this, but I'd say if someone made the "racism leap", it says more about them than it does about me.  I didn't use Robert Johnson because he's black, I used him because he's the only guy I know who made a deal with the devil!  But if I am tone deaf on this, apologies to all.

Anyhow, I simply saw a young guy with no money, but a lot of publicity (and talent), and a very, very high end, expensive operation set up around him.  I don't think it's unreasonable to surmise that in this partnership Kwame had creative control of the menu, and others had creative control on other decisions.  I liken the arrangement to a newly signed band.  The record company gets to call a lot of the shots from selection of the single, to the look of the band and the marketing of the band.  To get a record deal, a band may give up a lot of control to get the record made.  Maybe Kwame did the same. 

 

[DonRocks]

One other thing: Please don't assume that people participating here are white males.

I really don't want to lock this thread, but it has become "well-meaning but silly" - beneath our standards.

No more mentions of race, please.

[Tujague]

Ouch.

[Keithstg]

7 minutes ago, Tujague said:

Ouch.

Better than I was expecting, honestly.

[TheGut]

9 minutes ago, Tujague said:

Ouch.

There were some highlights:

"An early delight is sweet king crab poached in garlic butter, a luxury enhanced with shavings of sea urchin bottarga, or cured roe. Later in the meal, Steak & Eggs gives the diner staple a luxe makeover. The Shaw Bijou’s upgrade features a fold of richly marbled, dry-aged Wagyu beef. Standing in for the egg is onion soubise circling the pickled yolk of a quail egg. Clever."

And then the Ouch:

"A younger Onwuachi sold candy on subway trains to raise money for his catering business. House-made versions of his best sellers serve as post-dinner bonbons. Honestly, though, a real Butterfinger is better than the chocolate-robed salt lick served here. And the “Skittles” are a waste of tamarind and cranberry powders, not to mention palm oil."

 

[Jonathan]

11 minutes ago, Tujague said:

Ouch.

I just find it unconscionable to serve food for that price-point yet have people leaving hungry. While I am by no means suggesting every restaurant should be a Golden Corral, the whole staff should have eaten the meal from start to finish and then amend it.

[Tujague]

13 minutes ago, Tujague said:

Ouch.

"None in my party are linebackers, but all of us end the meal less than sated. The beautiful, custom-made plates from Cloud Terre don’t ferry more than a bite or two per course to the table. Dinner at the Shaw Bijou feels more like extended hors d’oeuvres.

Mulling the meal, a companion asks the rest of us, 'How would you rather spend $2,000?' That’s the sum for four, once tip, tax and wine are factored in. . . . As my party stands outside one of the most highly anticipated restaurants of the season, currently all but obscured by construction fencing, I take a vote to see how many would return on their own dime. Head shakes all around confirm my hunch.

We’re also of one mind when it comes to our mood: Pizza, anyone?"

[Jonathan]

There are tables available tonight if anyone is interested...personally, I'd rather take my wife to Portland, Oregon ($673 for two, round trip) and go out to 3 or 4 restaurants and food carts before dropping $1,000 in Shaw at the Bijou and then heading over to Ben's or Jumbo Slice for pizza.

[franch]

36 minutes ago, Tujague said:

Ouch.

the sky must truly be falling in the kitchen right now.

[DonRocks]

29 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

I just find it unconscionable to serve food for that price-point yet have people leaving hungry. While I am by no means suggesting every restaurant should be a Golden Corral, the whole staff should have eaten the meal from start to finish and then amend it.

Diners in DC seem not to be "prix-fixe crazed" so much as the press in DC has noticed a theme at a few expensive restaurants, and are making their own news. "Custom pottery" is a stronger trend these days than prix fixe menus.

Regardless, with Prix Fixe menus in upscale restaurants in France, you leave as full as you want - if you want to leave absolutely *stuffed*, you will - there's no requirement to finish your plates if you're a light eater, but to involuntarily leave hungry would *never* happen - or, at least, not anywhere I can think of at the moment.

[franch]

28 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

I just find it unconscionable to serve food for that price-point yet have people leaving hungry. While I am by no means suggesting every restaurant should be a Golden Corral, the whole staff should have eaten the meal from start to finish and then amend it.

I agree with this. this is the true crime. my wife and I could have hit up Ben's/Jumbo Slice after our dinner at Minibar as well, which was disappointing. (anecdotally, I've heard that about P&P too)