Central, 11th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Downtown - Executive Chef Nick Johnson and Chef de Cuisine Sean Mulcahy

[Mark Slater]

Insider tip: Don't miss the corned beef sandwich.

[Robert3]

All the great, the good, and the recently-eased-into-temporary-exile of the DC restaurant community was there tonight. Seems like the new late-night industry hangout, though the kitchen closing at 10:30 does cramp its style a bit.

By the way the "Cuvee Michel Richard" Bourgogne Blanc that's served by the glass (vintage 2004, from Domaine Borgeot, likely declassified Chassagne-Montrachet at least in part), is dyn-O-mite. Probably the best $8 glass of wine in the city.

Does anyone know their corkage policy?

[Lydia R]

Congratulations Duck on your first post, welcome to DR-world.

Does anyone know their corkage policy?

Mikey, our server at lunch today, said the corkage fee was $20 per bottle. He added that a customer recently brought in a case to be kept on premises. My table of fellow Chowhounds all nodded and thought of the same person simultaneously. Here's Steve's report from today's lunch.

ETA: Link to lunch report

[Jacques Gastreaux]

It seemed very similar--same crunchy wafer inside, etc. Close enough for me .

I seem to recall a crunchy wafer on the Citronelle version. Fried parmesan cheese, if I recall.

[jparrott]

I seem to recall a crunchy wafer on the Citronelle version. Fried parmesan cheese, if I recall.

I don't remember the crunchy wafer in the Citronelle version being purely parmesan, though it might have had some parmesan in.

[mdt]

I don't remember the crunchy wafer in the Citronelle version being purely parmesan, though it might have had some parmesan in.

They are thin potato crisps according to HitK.

[Mark Slater]

They are thin potato crisps according to HitK.

Potato tuilles.

[jparrott]

Bad news: Lobster burger is now $28

Good news: Existeth now a Shrimp Burger, $18. It's yummy.

[DCJono]

Has anyone been able to snag reservations for lunch in the coming weeks? I checked Open Table and called the restaurant and was told there is no availability for the rest of the week, but yes, they do take reservations for lunch. The first available lunch opening according to Open Table is in mid-February.

That would be fine, except that for dinner, there is reservation availability every day this week. (not peak times, tho)

Also noted that there are reservations open for today's lunch at 11:45, 1 and 1:30pm.

So I suppose I'm wondering if they are really not taking reservations for lunch yet? Anyone have any experience? Or is lunch just more popular than dinner?

I'm thinking I will try again tomorrow morning (I'm trying to get a table for tomorrow) to see what happens.

[mdt]

Ended up going to dinner here again on Friday night after getting into town too late for the OHH. We were able to walk in and snag a table in front of the kitchen at 7p and had a great and leisurely meal. The service this time was excellent and better than our first visit.

Enjoyed the prosciutto and onion tart to start and both were very good. I believe that they are using a hand-crank machine, but I did not ask. Entrees were the lamb shank and fried chicken, both excellent. The fried chicken was a leg and a breast were juicy and covered with a super crunchy crust. It is tremendous so who the hell cares if this is not traditional southern fried chicken. The side of green beans that we ordered were good and better than the roasted veggies that I had last time.

We shared the banana split for dessert and, as mentioned before, is a neat take on the traditional dessert. While enjoyable I would like more fudge and caramel sauce, but that is just me being selfish.

I see this place being very regular in my dining out rotation along with the maple manhattan (perfectly made).

[Hannah]

After a couple of visits, I'm in love with the onion soup. And, while there are a lot of other wonderful sounding things on the menu, don't overlook the hamburger - it's really good.

[laniloa]

I got a call today saying they were going to have to cancel my lunch reservation for next week. They said they still have some construction to do and won't be serving lunch for a little bit.

[Bella]

My wife and I joined two friends at Central last night. There are definitely some service kinks to be ironed out, but our food was top notch. We didn't have a reservation and were initially told that it would be around a 45 minute wait, and that we could not eat in the bar. Not a problem, we grabbed some wine, and sat in the bar, and stared at several four-tops open in front of us for the next hour. The space is beautiful, by the way. After about an hour or so we were seated at one of the open tables we'd been staring at.

I feel that I really have to make a comment about this. I see this type of frustration a lot with diners seeing open tables but they are not sat. I also hear frustration that "clearly the server was busy and our table got the brunt of it" etc etc type comments. Apparently no one sees a correlation between the two problems. You can be temporarily appeased by having the illusion that just because you are sat right away you will get stellar service and right away. There are two serious reasons that people dont consider when complaining about their wait time. One, the kitchen needs to catch up and two, the servers need to catch up. So complain about your sevice, fine, complain about your wait time, fine, but when you do, think that if you were sat on time you'd probably be complaining about your service. And if you were to get good service but had to wait, make that consideration too.

[youngfood]

We didn't have a reservation and were initially told that it would be around a 45 minute wait, and that we could not eat in the bar.

Wait, you can't eat at the bar here? Really? Is that an ongoing or a new policy?

[JPW]

and that we could not eat in the bar.

Wait, you can't eat at the bar here? Really? Is that an ongoing or a new policy?

Actually, the point was not made in Bella's above post, but that of DCDuck on Jan 13 as correctly attributed above. She just missed the "close quote" tag.

I don't what the circumstances were for DCDuck's visit (maybe that close to opening they wanted to limit bar eating?), but you can definitely eat at the bar.

[Bella]

Actually, the point was not made in Bella's above post, but that of DCDuck on Jan 13 as correctly attributed above. She just missed the "close quote" tag.

I don't what the circumstances were for DCDuck's visit (maybe that close to opening they wanted to limit bar eating?), but you can definitely eat at the bar.

Sorry, I dont post much and I am not so good with the quoting

[mame11]

Words are difficult to find to describe the meal I had tonight at Central. Okay, I had the hamburger. It was no ordinary hamburger. The meat was cooked to a PERFECT medium. It was the most flavorful meat I have had in the year that I have been eating meat again. The bun was brioche (I think). The burger was dressed with tomatoes that seem to have been pickled in some way. Oh, and these really yummy potato tuiles which add a unique flavor and texture to the burger.

The next time I go, I'm getting the burger and actually looking at how it is dressed since all I know is that it was delicious. Worth every cent of the $16 price tag. (and very much in the spirit of the DR.com crew of getting fit for summer, I had the salad instead of fries and it was great... green beans added a crunch that was unexpected).

The cheesy puffs (as my friend called them) were so much better tonight. Really perfect.

And I am now pleased to know that a mojito can be savory.

p.s. my friend had the lobster burger which she reported to be out of this world (it would be lost on me since I don't like lobster). I took a bite of the asparagus she ordered as her side and wow it was a festival of flavors in my mouth.

p.p.s. this is a great place if you are going to Ford's, literally a 5 minute walk...

[jparrott]

Oooh...that "Chicken from the rotisserie" is goooooood.

Would it kill them to list on the menu what each entree comes (or doesn't come) with? The chicken comes with potatoes (mash or roasted, depending on kitchen whim) and a salad, whilst the mussels come sans accoutrement.

[TinDC]

The lobster burger comes with fries, right?

Tomorrow night will finally be my first trip to Central and I am so excited! My birthday is on Sunday, so I chose Central as the spot to dine with a group of friends.

I am pretty sure I am going to order the lobster burger because I am a lobster fanatic.

I'll be sure to report back on our experience.

[jparrott]

The lobster burger comes with fries, right?

Fries or a (yummy) salad.

[TinDC]

Okay, here is my review: I love Central! I cannot wait to return.

I must start out by noting a negative: we had an 8:15 reservation and we were not sat until 9:15. I imagine that most folks would not have been pleased to wait an hour after their reservation, but we enjoyed our drinks at the bar. It was not that big of a deal last night.

I started with a glass of the Michel Richard white and agree with others that it is a great by-the-glass option, but you all didn't tell me about the mojitos! Oh my God, they are good! My husband ordered one and I was immediately envious. Refreshing, not too sweet, and just small bits of fresh mint floating in the drink. Mojito purists might balk that there is not tons of mint, but I enjoyed this version immensely.

When we finally did sit down, we requested two orders of cheese puffs (there were six of us) and I am glad we did. They were delicious, so light and airy, about the size of a quarter. I ate many.

None of us ordered individual appetizers but we all wanted to try the cheeseburger, so we decided to order one for the table and cut it into sixths. What a burger! I would absolutely consider ordering one as my meal next time. The meat is so flavorful and they cooked it perfectly.

I had decided on the lobster burger before I even arrived and it was terrific. I feel that I may not have enjoyed it as much as I should have because I had lobster at the Palm the previous night, so I may have been a little bit spoiled . The potato tuille on my burger tasted the slightest bit stale. I loved the fries! Everyone has their favorite style of french fries and this is mine. No skinny fries for me! I like the thicker cut and potato-y flavor.

I got a few bites of my husband's fried chicken and it was excellent. The panko coating, while not traditional, was perfectly crispy. He raved about the mashed potatoes, and did not use the mustard sauce that accompanied the chicken, so I used it to dip my fries in. Delicious.

For dessert, the table ordered a banana split and the apple pandowdy. The banana split was a fine version and fun to share. I was not wowed by the pandowdy, but it was devoured by others.

Service was excellent throughout the meal. It did not suffer despite the restaurant being packed the entire time.

Like I said, I cannot wait to return. I just hope I can get a reservation again in the near future.

[DLB]

Okay, here is my review: I love Central! I cannot wait to return.

I must start out by noting a negative: we had an 8:15 reservation and we were not sat until 9:15. I imagine that most folks would not have been pleased to wait an hour after their reservation, but we enjoyed our drinks at the bar. It was not that big of a deal last night.

Did they offer a reason for this, and maybe a free drink or two?

[TinDC]

No, they didn't. We did ask a couple of times when our table would be ready and they kept telling us "soon". We were out with friends celebrating my birthday, so I really did not mind last night. Had I been there with my parents, though, or folks other than dear friends, I probably would not have been pleased.

[MeMc]

Does anyone know if the charcuterie is the same all the time or if it will change? And is Central's carrying Bud supposed to be cheeky or serious? I'm going tomorrow to the bar if anyone else is going.

[Mark Slater]

Does anyone know if the charcuterie is the same all the time or if it will change? And is Central's carrying Bud supposed to be cheeky or serious? I'm going tomorrow to the bar if anyone else is going.

The room near the kitchen where the hams and sausages are hanging is the curing room.

Bud was an attempt to be non-confrontational

[Robert3]

The room near the kitchen where the hams and sausages are hanging is the curing room. The chef will be making charcuterie for the restaurant in the future. It takes a while for them to cure.

Bud was an attempt to be non-confrontational

Any chance they will be serving cassoulet this winter?

[lackadaisi]

I am usually so unhappy with salmon that I rarely order it. I think I am going to start ordering a lot more salmon now. Wow! So moist and flavorful. And, the shrimp burger, so good. Two (I think, it wasn't mine) very large shrimp curled up to be burger-like and placed on a bun to make a delicious, if messy, treat. It worked so well together that Jlock and I realized while talking about it on our way home that we were discussing it as if it was as classic as a hamburger.

[Rachael H]

I ate at central last night, I thought it was really good. It was amazing how busy it was on a Monday night. I will be back soon, and I will order the faux gras. I aso recommend the macaroni and cheese, and shrimp burger.

[New Foodie]

Now have reservations for Monday, February 12. Apologies if this was mentioned above, but is there a seperate menu for the main restaurant vs. the bar? I'm just trying to get an idea for the prices in the main restaurant area. Did I read that they range from $16-$28 or so?

[jparrott]

Menus are the same.

[Joe H]

I did not have the experience tonight that Michel would have hoped that I or anyone else would have had. At best, this is a work in progress as far as I am concerned. It is also why a formal review from the Washington Post or Washington is left for several months for a restaurant to work out its kinks and concerns. This evening I sat at the bar for dinner with four people behind the bar tending to customers. From 6:15 until 8:15 when I left the dining room was not more than half filled. Not a single person working the bar had any familiarity with the menu. And I have no idea if there were specials. I am only talking about the regular menu which is quite limited as is the wine list as well as the offerings of wine by the glass. The $56 12 oyster 6 shrimp special left all four of them speechless: no one knew anything about the oysters or even if the shrimp were fresh. Fifty six dollars is a LOT of money to spend for twelve oysters and six shrimp. A LOT! With urging from myself and a stranger seated next to me the manager came out and explained the three different kinds of oysters being offered. Michel needs to name these on the menu as well as educate his servers that the shrimp are fresh or frozen, especially if he is charging a premium price. Tuna carpaccio at $16 was paper thin sliced ahi tuna with a bit of olive oil and lemon drizzled on it. Something green also for a bit of seasoning. Four bites, five bites- just nothing exceptional. For me not worth $16. (Kinkead's sets the standard for tuna carpaccio in the D. C. area for a reference point.) Bread Line bread was exceptional as was the Vermont/Irish butter served with it although I was first told by the bar staff that the bread was baked in house. And then several other glitches: $28 NY strip steak au poivre that was overcooked and excessively fatty although I really liked the topping and thought if this had been fresh and correctly charred it would have been wonderful. A side of cherry tomatoes was good if "warmed" too long in the oven. The accompanying shoestring onions were outstanding although no one behind the bar had any idea of whehter these were onions or fennel or ?. Actually there were two versions of shoestring onions, each outstanding. Dessert was two scoops of ice cream: caramel and coconut. I was not impressed with the caramel ice cream; and the coconut was really a coconut ice, not an ice cream although those behind the bar insisted it was ice cream.

Michel came in half though my meal. At some point he walked over to the kitchen and seemed to take over; of course this was after my entree was served and I had already begun to form an opinion as had several others at the bar.

The brightly lit, contemporarily designed Central needs work and time. It needs Michel in the front of the kitchen overseeing what comes out. It needs to have servers fully educated for what is being presented on the plate as well as the history/reputation/standards of Michel Richard. This is NOT just another version of Les Halles although tonight it seemed exactly like this. Steak needs to be correctly cooked, vegetables freshly served, desserts served with at least a bit of the flair of what Michel is known for. And the wine list: short! Only three reds by the glass although the malbec was well worth the $11 for the (what seemed like) three ounce pour. And the glasses? Central has the Schott bordeaux but they are only available when specifically asked for. Otherwise you are going to be served a very small glass that does not allow swirling, certainly doesn't allowing sniffing of what is in it. And the servers/bar staff need to know what they are serving; they must be educated!!!!!! About both food AND wine! They must learn to have pride in what this man has spent decades building. (I belive that Citronelle is one of the absolute best restaurants in the United States; his reputation is involved in Central just as it is involved in Citronelle.)

Tonight, with a full bar and a half to two thirds full dining room (when I left), I left feeling that I my $110 could have been spent more wisely. For just myself (three glasses of wine). But there is potential here. A great deal of potential. I believe it just needs Michel in here educating and steering his staff to his standards and his expectations. With this Central will be the credit to Pennsylvania Avenue that we have all hoped for and expected. But it needs him, perhaps full time in the beginning to accomplish this. Until then I fear that it is only a worthy competitor to Les Halles. Again, for me, a work in progress and reason why professional reviewers wait several months and have several visits before writing in the public press. By then this has the potential to easily have three stars. But not for this evening.

A return visit this evening with friends had little in common with my solo visit of several weeks ago. Before even considering the food I want to note our waiter: he was superb and extremely knowledgeable with a very real pride and enthusiasm for Central that was missing on my first visit. Tonight we found Central's "ambassador" and the restaurant excelled! Exemplery onion soup, an outstanding faux gras terrine highlighted the appetizers although there was some disappointment with the mushroom pearl pasta risotto. Goat cheese caesar salad showed a great deal of potential and would have been outstanding with a bit less dressing. Main courses were excellent across the board: "Grilled South African tiger prawns (5-10 count) and delicious "72 hour short rib with Central steak sauce" were the stars (the 72 hour short rib may have qualified as a "comfort food" great dish!) with a very good grilled Hangar steak and a very good lobster burger. I am not a fan of the deconstructed banana split especially since I didn't like either the chocolate or the vanilla ice cream nor the raspberry sherbet. The creme brulee and the souffle were excellent, especially the creme brulee which was one of the most flavorful of any that I have had. Overall this was a wonderful evening in a restaurant that now shines and is a very real credit to both Michel and to the city of Washington. It can also be an outstanding value if one goes lightly on wine: the 72 hour short rib is only $20, the Tiger Prawns the same while most of the entrees fall in the $17-22 range. The $56 seafood first course of a dozen oysters and 6 shrimp are gone from the menu.

My applause to Central! A very real destination on Pennsylvania avenue.

[plunk]

Any recomendations for nearby places to go before or after Central for a couple of cocktails?

[plunk]

Any recomendations for nearby places to go before or after Central for a couple of cocktails?

*sorry for the double post - don't know how to delete it*

[lackadaisi]

Any recomendations for nearby places to go before or after Central for a couple of cocktails?

Have you considered the bar at Central?

[plunk]

Have you considered the bar at Central?

Yes, but I think my dining companions are looking to change things up a bit, you know?

[Jacques Gastreaux]

Any recomendations for nearby places to go before or after Central for a couple of cocktails?

Ten Phen (right next door on Pa. Ave), the bar at Oceanaire ( a few blocks away), the bar at Capital Grille (about 4-5 blocks on down Pa. Ave).

ETA: While I have not been, I'll bet that 701 has a bar as does the new Italian place that used to be Signatures. Both a few blocks towards the Capital on Pa. Ave.

[TinDC]

In the other direction, there is also Les Halles and the Round Robin bar at the Willard.

[TinDC]

I just called to make a reservation for next Tuesday the 20th and was told that they will be closed the 19th, 20th and 21st for construction.

[New Foodie]

I just got back from my first time at Central and it was as great as everyone said it is. With the exception of a couple minor serving snafus, I can't say a bad thing about the place. It is quite bright in there, but not in a bad way, and it seems like it would be louder than it is with all the hard wood, etc. I never had a problem hearing my dining companions talk.

Of course we ordered the cheese puffs to share and although this may sound like a strange compliment, they tasted like airy little cheez-its. Believe me, that was a good thing! Very light and delicious. Hard to describe them except as like the savory outside of a cream puff. I probably ate more than my fair share. Only one person got an app and she had the goat cheese caesar salad. She liked it except for the fact that there was quite a bit of excess dressing.

My entree was outstanding. The only other time I'd had hangar steak was at Ray's in Arlington and I couldn't tell you which was better. Both are highlights of steak experiences in my mind. Although I'm not good at distinguishing what is in sauces, whatever the steak was served with was really good (although the steak was flavorful enough to eat on its own as well). There was another cut of steak on the menu being served with the green peppercorn sauce, so I'm not sure which sauce was with mine. But it was served with a simple, small field green salad and some scrumptously salty and seasoned fries. My plate was definitely clean when they took it away.

My friends got the lobster burger, the tiger prawns and the fried chicken. Although I'm not a huge lobster lover, the bite I had of that was good, as were the shrimp. But I still think the steak and the chicken were the best two dishes of the 4. I think next time I'd get the chicken (although the steak would certainly tempt me).

We were too full to get dessert, but I think we all came away very satisfied and happy. Sometimes new restaurants are hit or miss, but this lived up to the expectations. The only (very minor) gripe was that our server came back to our table once to ask 2 of us to repeat our order (we had no special orderes and only one ordered a salad) and then tried to give my friend the steak knife for my meal and give her my steak when it came out of the kitchen. Just a little confusion about who ordered what. Nothing that ruined my meal by any means.

Probably the most interesting part of our meal though came about 10 minutes after we sat down. We were seated near the back of the restaurant and my friend sitting opposite me looks past me and says "Do you think that's really her or just looks like her?" Well turns out Giada De Laurentiis of the Food Network (Everyday Italian) was seated at the table right next to us with a friend. I got enough of a look at her to know it was definitely Giada, but since my back was to her, I couldn't spy very well on what she had to eat. One of the friends at my table had heard from an acquaintance that Giada was doing something at the White House this week, so it makes sense that she would be at Central so near by. Too bad it wasn't Rachel Ray trying to eat for $40

[Roo]

The 72 Hour Short Rib that I ate at the bar this past Monday night may have been the best main course I've had in months. The "steak sauce" was super flavorful, so good as to be hard to describe with words. The meat was very tender, with just the perfect amount of char on the outside. And the creamy mashed potatoes were even better to soak up that sauce. I'd previously had the hanger steak and shrimp burger, both good, but not out-of-this-world good like that short rib. First single dish that I would put up on a par with Tom Power's scallops.

I've never been to Citronelle, but eating at Central has made me consider starting a little side fund to put away money for a future trip.

[sunshine]

We recently dined at Central on a Friday nite. First, the ambience: It was packed; the bar was full and it was loud. We were seated in one of the middle tables in the line of traffic - bad. Next time, we'll request seating by the window or against the wall or better yet, in the back by the open kitchen. Nice modern, clean space. The bar is beautiful. Did I mention that it was LOUD?

The food: Overall impression- a good deal for the price; clever, well-prepared. Budget Michel Richard. We started with the onion soup - sooo good on a winter's nite. A classic done extremely well. Was just oozing with tangy gruyere cheese, nice rich broth. Husband had the faux gras - a generous platter of a bowl of faux chicken liver pate served with cornichons, pickled onions and toast, with a little side salad. This was delicious. For entrees, husband had the hangar steak, perfectly cooked medium rare, served with thin crispy fries and a delicious red wine or port sauce. I had the panko crusted chicken, served over mashed potatoes with mustard sauce and green salad. This version of "fried chicken" isn't my favorite but definitely enjoyed it. The mashed potatoes were a bit gummy. (It paled in comparison to the mashed potatoes served with the scallops at Corduroy- the gold standard of mashed potaotes for me now.)

For dessert, we had the deconstructed banana split. Again, a generous portion. It's served on what looks like a porcelain TV tray with 4 compartments. In one compartment, 2 whole bananas sliced in half, covered in whipped cream and sitting on 4 types of sauce: chocolate, raspberry, caramel and nut. In the other 3 compartments: a scoop of strawberry sherbet, chocolate and vanilla ice creams. It wasn't the most spectacular dessert, but it was a clever take on the classic.

Service: Could be better. Our waiter was quite nice and seemed really busy (we saw him hurrying around alot) but he wasn't actually attentive enough to stop and notice when we were running out of water, when my husband waited a while for his steak knife to be able to eat his steak, or when we were ready for the check, or when we were ready to pay. The manager finally came by and rang up the check.

We have a soft spot for Citronelle because we had our wedding celebration there, and they did an excellent job. Central is a nice addition. It's nice to have a more affordable Michel Richard place. Next time, I want to try the lobster burger.

[TinDC]

Does anyone want my 7:30 reservation for 2 tomorrow night? I can't go PM me if you do.

[Adam23]

Had a superb meal this evening at Central with my wife.

The scene: Lots of fancy cars parked out front - A Bentley, two Astons and a Maserati on this fine evening. Made my Ford feel at home. Tons of yuppies and tons of single women on the man hunt, particularly around the bar. If you stay away from the bar though, its a very comfortable restaurant. Love the open kitchen where you can watch the chefs at work. Surprisingly quite a few empty tables.

The service: Great. Our waiter was extremely friendly and was on top of everything. Though the service staff did forget to bring us bread, which the waiter quickly rectified.

The food: Great. Easily the best meal i've had in quite some time. There is little doubt that I will be back time and time again.

For appetizers, we ordered the cheese puffs, the Ahi Tuna Tartar and the Onion Soup. I wasn't that floored by the cheese puffs. I found them kind of bland. The wife enjoyed them, but we both agreed they were not the highlight of the meal. The Ahi Tuna Tartar was awesome. The tuna was delicious, everything was seasoned properly and it was very fresh. We'de order it again. The onion soup was amazing. Truly one of the best onion soups i've ever had and i've probably ordered onion soup at 100's of restaurants. Lots of bubbly cheese, a rich flavorful broth, delicious bread floating in it - nearly a perfect onion soup. If you like onion soup, you MUST ORDER THIS.

For main courses, my wife had the fried chicken, I had the 72 hour short ribs and we shared a side of brussel sprouts. Both the chicken and ribs were served with a salad and mashed potatoes. The brussel sprouts were unnecessary to order since there was so much food without them. Even so, the sprouts were very nice. They were roasted in lots of bacon and were very tender and tasty. The mashed potatoes were great. Very creamy and smooth. The salads were ok - definitely the low point - they were way over dressed. Though the vinaigrette dressing was rather tasty. As for the mains themselves - the fried chicken was superb. It wasn't your standard fried chicken like KFC or anything. It was perfectly cooked, juicy, tender, and had a very nice Panko-esque crust. The Bearnaise sauce served with it was very nice. My wife cleaned her plate of the chicken. Lots of people were ordering the chicken and were clearing their plates as well. As for the short ribs - excellent, tender, and flavorful as everyone else on here has said. Truly very good. Though, I wasn't wowed by the sauce. Reminded me of Oyster sauce which isn't my favorite. But the meat itself was so good. Tons of short ribs being served from the kitchen as well.

For dessert we had the Kit Kat and the Banana Split. The deserts are rather large. The Kit Kat is awesome. Rich chocolate flavor, a nice side of ice cream, truly an outstanding desert only to be compared to those Hazelnut bars at Corduroy. The Banana Split was good. A nice bananas coated in whipped cream, gently placed on three sauces - caramel, 2 chocolate sauces and a strawberry sauce. It was then served with a delicious chocolate ice cream, a delicious strawberry sorbet, and a vanilla ice cream (which I thought was the weakest of the ice creams - it was lacking something in the flavor department).

Their wine list is good. Didn't really analyze it too closely but they had some interesting selections. Corkage is $15 if you bring your own.

Total bill for our food and corkage for a bottle was $128 + tip. Not bad considering the copious amounts of food we ordered.

Definitely check it out if you haven't. It was definitely a memorable meal for us.

[ulysses]

Just to let everyone know, we will be closed Monday 2/19 thru Wednesday 2/22. We will reopen on Thursday evening @ 5:00pm.

Thank you for you patience and patronage.

[Chica Grace]

To all DR members: RUN. don't walk to Central. Brian (GM) and Justin Guthrie, aka "ulysses" (Bar Manager), as well as Chef Cedric know how to keep diners well-fed, well-served, and well-soused with extremely well-prepared food, excellent recommendations on wine, and total encouragement to mozy-on up to the bar for an after dinner drink. Be wary: there are many tempting items to Central's menu. My good friend Nadya and I decided to venture last night & check out for ourselves: "Gee what is all the buzz about ?".

First: we did not have a reservation. knowing a table would be difficult, we decided to show-up early , be polite, look hungry and ask to ge seated. we did! Host stand was most gracious and we got a table "right where the action is" - in front of the open kitchen. we later realized this was to our advantage as all Central cooking staff soon became our dear friends, as we proceeded to stuff ourselves with completely indulgent items.

Second: a perfect cocktail. I ordered a Cosmo, and it came not as the typical "pink" one but yellow-colored with floating cranberries. It was perfectly mixed. Having a perfect cocktail only means one thing - it goes down quickly. Most dangerous.

Third: What did we eat? The question is - what didn't we? kitchen sent over fabulous onion tart/pizza with lardon. It was not just "a bite" it was more like half a pizza. Our "ordered" starters were the frisee salad with lardon & the duck rillettes with pate. The frisee salad was classic - with a properly poached egg on top the smothers everywhere when you cut into it. The duck & pate combo were "byond" good. I especially liked the pate, it had a mix of froie gras and something else . We kept this dich on our table all night, as we were determined to have every morsel bite - even though its like 50% FAT! UUGH!

Fourth: As we moved on to mains - those consisted of hanger steak and lobster buger. Both -yummy , delicious. However, by this time, we are stuffed to the point, How can anyone eat more?

But there is always room for dessert..........

Fifth: Souffle - that has a perfect texture, & is one of the highest and firmest souffle's I've ever eaten. Had a bit of an orange taste. Comes smothered with a chocolate sauce (EVERYONE must try this - out of this world). We also had the famous "kit kat/hazlenut bars" - which grew in size! The ones served at Central are more like a hazlenut bar - extending the length of the plate.

Sixth: Complete indulgence. ended with bubbles. A blueberry champagne that is out of this world. Why stop at one glass? I had two. So did Nadya.

Seventh: By this time, we 've been sitting at our table for hours. Eating , drinking, and getting to know the team at Central. And chef Cedric still offers to make us " a little something before you leave" My God Chef! The meal is amazing, but I can barely move. But, can I take a raincheck?

Again - DR members - RUN don't walk to Central. Michel Richard's team has again elevated the meaning of service & food in Washington DC.

Nadya? care to comment from your side?

[mdt]

The duck & pate combo were "byond" good. I especially liked the pate, it had a mix of froie gras and something else . We kept this dich on our table all night, as we were determined to have every morsel bite - even though its like 50% FAT! UUGH!

Isn't the pate faux gras that is made with chicken livers and such to mimic foie gras? Glad to hear that it was good as I will have to make some using the recipe from Happy in the Kitchen.

[Nadya]

Miss Chica summed it up perfectly...man, that list goes on and on and on. The evening was a show of complete, unrestrained hedonism (well, is there another kind? there is something very wrong about being hedonistic in moderation).

Blueberry champagne is a must-drink, note to self, close to four glasses of bubbly (in addition to many, many others) and zero hangover on Sunday, is this not the best recommendation?

Love the decor, modern and spacious and luminous, even if the stylized, larger-than-life rendition of Michel Richard on the wall is a bit over the top. On the plus side, while you are getting drunk and squinting your eyes, the portrait is abstract enough to transform in your blurry vision into sky and clouds, pictures of relatives, birds and bees and assorted moving images, anything, really, and is also giggle-inducing, which is good for digestion. Or ingestion. Not sure which, perhaps both.

The service was like a good interpreting service - completely unnoticeable yet making things happen. I turn my head away for a second to admire the view or to ponder on the meaning of life; I turn my head back, and there are glasses and things on the table. How? how? I don't know but I was loving it. They know what I want and what goes with what I want. Whoever trained the staff deserves a gold medal. They made us feel adored.

The kitchen, to which we had first-row tickets, is three times as big as my apartment; it was like an upscale ballet of impossibly clean-looking cooks dishing out the plates to the wide slab counter.

The faux gras pate has to be my favorite indulgence of February. I believe it was 60% the real thing and 40% chicken livers; in any event, it was ridiculously rich and good and flavorful and I refuse to believe it's bad for me. How can anything made of liver be bad for MY liver?

The problem with the menu is that EVERYTHING looks good. You know how really good eateries make you wish for expanded stomach capacity? I want the hanger steak AND the lobster burger AND fried chicken AND for my miniskirt to still zip up with no problem, which shall I choose? My hanger steak was perfect, Chica's lobster burger was perfect, my stomach capacity was very far from perfection.

Desserts..what a showstopper. I don't know from souffles. But I heard they are hard to make. The one they set before us was proudly erect with just a touch of quivering, and oh that chocolate sauce, I wish I could spoon it and eat it all up, I do.

Hazelnut bar is Citronelle's KitKat bar on steroids, it's more like a chocolate log, and I wish I was more hungry. Yes, the chef wanted to make another dessert for us, which we foolishly! declined. Now as I'm typing this, fresh from my ascetic breakfast of dry toast and egg, WHY did I not agree to another dessert? WHY?

I do believe I found a new home downtown. I predict that these bar stools will be seeing quite a bit of my bottom. If they'll have me in the dining room again, I should be so lucky. I met at least two managers I wanted to marry by the end of my dinner. I don't remember when we stumbled out. I can't believe I drove home.

[mr food]

Anyone know if the semi private room is available? They're nice on the phone but the guy who handles it (Bryan) can't seem to return my calls. I'm trying to put together a dinner at the end of March.

[DLB]

Can you still eat at the bar here?

[Jacques Gastreaux]

Can you still eat at the bar here?

(202) 626-0015, ask for Justin, he will know.