Review #6 - Boundary Road

[DonRocks]

All existing restaurants in Poll #5 will automatically roll into Poll #6 - please nominate only restaurants that aren't already in the poll.

[mcbriden]

21 Great American Bistro in Fairfax City. 

[jasonc]

The Dugout

[LauraB]

Can I make a suggestion for the next poll?  I'd like it if you didn't solicit any more nominations and just held the poll with the numerous already-nominated restaurants.  It's really hard for these suburban restaurants to compete with the likes of Kinship and Tail Up Goat, etc. Just a thought.

[Deac]

I second that. The choices are getting overwhelming. Perhaps if a restaurant doesn't meet a certain threshold of votes through a certain number of polls (3?) it gets dropped off and replaced with another.

[DonRocks]

Laura's comment and Deac's proposal seem reasonable - let me think about how to best handle this. Understand that up until this point, we were burning through two a week - that's 100 a year. Is it really *that* overwhelming having 25-or-so restaurants to choose from? I think the ones selected thus far have been wonderful choices - this is about as democratic a process as it could possibly be. Why don't we wait until we get to 50 or something? The problem with Deac's solution is that it's more work for me, and I'm trying to keep the rules of this as simple as possible.

I think a more long-term issue is: What about re-reviews? If someone nominated Kinship again, it might win again, to the expense of local mom-n-pop places. I don't have a problem with it, so I'm not sure I should be the one deciding - why don't people with concerns start a private PM chain, and come up with some poll questions. Then once you've decided, run them by me.

The problem with commenting is that it's almost like political lobbying, or maybe more like marketing. I'm not certain Requin would have won had Eric not chimed in, so maybe we should ask everyone to rally people around their nominations in that post only, rather than in subsequent posts.

Either way, Kinship is a speed bump, and will be the only restaurant reviewed this week. And that's *if* it's this week. Going to these places is not a problem. Talking about them wouldn't be a problem; writing about them sucks the life out of me. Maybe I should have a radio show or something - I know what all these places are like; I just *hate* writing because it's so hard for me to do well. I know, I know, "I make it look so easy," but I'm telling you, it isn't.

There's a scene in "Amadeus" (no, I'm not comparing myself to Mozart) where his evil benefactor comes calling at night, with Mozart literally dying, and demands to know where the score for the Requiem is. The dialog that follows goes something like this:

"I've almost finished the whole thing," he replied weakly.

"Well? Where is it?" The messenger demanded?

A pale, gaunt Mozart smiled maniacally, pointed to his head, tapping it a couple of times, and said, "It's ... right ... here!"

That is an exact parallel to the situation I often find myself in, especially with Kinship, the difference being this isn't going to be any K626,

 

[Bart]

Don -

    Maybe you could do categories of restaurants and group the poll that way?  

Poll #7 - Suburban VA

Poll #8 - Anything goes

Poll #9 - Mom and Pop shops in DC

Poll #10 - Anything goes

Poll #11 - All Ramen review

Poll #12 - Anything goes

Poll #13 - Suburban MD

Poll #14 - Fine Dining/dress up places

etc

etc

[DonRocks]

2 hours ago, Bart said:

Don -

    Maybe you could do categories of restaurants and group the poll that way?  

Poll #7 - Suburban VA

Poll #8 - Anything goes

Poll #9 - Mom and Pop shops in DC

Poll #10 - Anything goes

Poll #11 - All Ramen review

Poll #12 - Anything goes

Poll #13 - Suburban MD

Poll #14 - Fine Dining/dress up places

etc

etc

I'm worried that people are going to get sick of having their nominations not be considered. Mamma's Kitchen, for example, has almost no chance to win, but maybe if it's on there for long enough, it will. Our Virginia members far outnumber our Maryland members, so Chettinadu is just going to be sitting there, possibly for months or years.

I'm doing these reviews for you, not me, so if everyone could get together (maybe a large, group PM?), figure out what you want me to do, and let me know, I'll do it.

This week, I'm just not feeling very well, and I was hoping I'd never have to review Kinship (Métier opens today, btw) because that's my refuge restaurant, the way Corduroy was when it was 20 minutes from my house and I could park right in front of it, and hop right up to an empty bar (Corduroy's $30 bar menu, btw, is still the best $30 you can spend in this city).To say what I want to say about Kinship is going to take some time - it won't be a long review, but it needs to be carefully considered.

If there's any way someone could start a PM chain that includes everyone who has ever nominated a restaurant, come up with some ideas, and run them by me, I'll be happy to do whatever you want me to. That's my suggestion - something like Bart says would be fine, but "All Ramen," for example, could involve me running around to ten different ramen shops - which I could do, but it will take some time (people who know me well understand that between the horribly unpleasant traffic, the sheer number of restaurants that have opened in the past four years, and most of all, the severity of my injury, things just aren't as easy for me as they used to be).

[DonRocks]

This Poll (which I just spend 15 minutes typing in and *lost*, will be out tomorrow, will close Wed, May 11 at 4 PM, and will be written by May 18th.

Nominations for Review #7 will be all San Francisco-based, and will include everything Northeast of San Francisco up to and including Sacramento. "Review #7" will consist of at *least* the Top 3 selections, maybe more. I'll review whatever you want, but please focus on 2016 James Beard Semifinalists, as well as past James Beard nominees and winners. If you have an upcoming trip to the Bay Area, please say so in your nomination - that way, people will have a tendency to vote for your selection. Once I return, we'll be back to some sense of normalcy, and I'll try to get in at least two a week - these don't need to be limited to such a close-in range, btw - I'm happy to travel some if that's what you want.

[DonRocks]

The poll will close on Wed, May 11, 2016 at 3 PM, and the review will be written on-or-before May 18.

[DonRocks]

Because the database was offline, the poll will now remain open until Sun, May 15, at 3 PM.

[DonRocks]

Boundary Road