Andy Hayler in DC

[mtureck]

I'm not sure if this is being discussed elsewhere, but it seems that our friend Andy Hayler has been eating his way around DC.

https://www.andyhayler.com/blog/post/washington

Some very interesting reviews!

Just to expand a bit in case you don't have the time to do all that reading:

The good: Pineapples and Pearls, minibar, Bombay Club, Rasika.

Disappointing: Kinship, 2 Amys

Very good, but not three stars good: Inn at Little Washington

[Marty L.]

40 minutes ago, mtureck said:

I'm not sure if this is being discussed elsewhere, but it seems that our friend Andy Hayler has been eating his way around DC.

https://www.andyhayler.com/blog/post/washington

Some very interesting reviews!

Just to expand a bit in case you don't have the time to do all that reading:

The good: Pineapples and Pearls, minibar, Bombay Club, Rasika.

Disappointing: Kinship, 2 Amys

Very good, but not three stars good: Inn at Little Washington

What explains why he didn't indulge in any of the things that make 2 Amys great?  That he didn't heed *any* of the advice offered on this site?

[DonRocks]

6 hours ago, Marty L. said:

What explains why he didn't indulge in any of the things that make 2 Amys great?  That he didn't heed *any* of the advice offered on this site?

Andy went to 2 Amys at my urging, the night before we had dinner together (with DIShGo). Although I urged him to sit at the food bar and order small plates, his rationale was that he could hardly review a pizzeria and not order a pizza. And you know what? He's right, and he's also right that 2 Amys' pizza is not what it once was - remember the days of Eden Macquaid? He also tells me that, since he's been to 2 Amys, he's had several people tell him that "2 Amys was once good, but has recently deteriorated."  He also went on Mothers' Day, and it was slammed.

Having dinner with Andy, and getting to know him for several hours, forced me to take a global view of things, even things that I love - let's face it, he's writing for a very high-level, global audience, and the food bar at 2 Amys is very much of a local, in-the-know thing for a select group of fortunate diners - I don't think 2 Amys has anything to worry about from his review (but I also wish their pizza hadn't deteriorated so badly from what it once was).

Andy is an absolutely delightful person - as friendly and as down-to-earth as you could possibly hope for. But it was also crystal clear to me just how much this man knows about high-level dining, and I only scratched the surface of it.

---

PS - This post is absolutely not intended as "the final word."

[lion]

Recently I went to Timber with a friends visiting from out of town for meetings. Both of us thought they did a good job. The intention seems to be a cross of American New York style in terms of toppings and sauces with a Neapolitan style crust. I was impressed with the strong flavors coming across on a light but charred crust. It may be the best pizza place in the metro area at the moment. I had no problem with eating an entire pie myself, something that I haven't done a while.

2 Amy's has been coasting for a long time which honestly isn't an issue since it is so family friendly. The problem is that there was a time when it was the best in DC and now it's not.

AVPN's listing ingredients isn't really enough to have a 'quality' pizza. Someone has to take ingredients and experiment and try to improve, to make the sum of the pieces into something more.  Someone has to keep doing that with passion over the years. 

Losing Eden Macquaid really hit the DC scene, he was a standard bearer.