Willow, Chef Tracy O'Grady and Pastry Chef Kate Jansen on N. Fairfax Drive in Ballston - Closed

[Escoffier]

Grover and I decided we should expand our dining repertoire so we thought we'd check Willow in Ballston. Parking? Convenient. Into the garage, up one floor on the elevator, through the glass doors and we were there. We were shown to our table accompanied by Chris Cunningham. Chris was our pleasant (and unexpected) surprise. We put our wine selections in his capable hands and started reading the menu. Grover is a French-onion soup fanatic so her choice for a starter was simple. I was looking for something a bit more esoteric and the warm crispy Fried Calamari with Summer Salad was just the thing. An amazing amount of perfectly done calamari (not like rubber-bands, just exactly-right) and warm greens. Enough on the plate that it could have served as an entree.

For mains: House Made sausage-Crusted Miniature Rack of Pork for me and Roasted Norwegian Salmon for Grover. The pork was moist, slightly pink and delicious. The housemade sausage added just the right amount of spicy goodness. I didn't get a chance to taste Grover's salmon because I was getting full and she kept glaring at me if my fork strayed too close to her plate. I wish I had written down the wines because they were tremendous. Chris picked some spectacular wines. This was our first trip to Willow but definitely won't be the last.

[darkstar965]

I find myself at Willow about once every two months. Usually for a business lunch. I should have posted once or twice with some details but don't think I ever did. No matter; it's well covered here. I always find it reliably well executed with nice balance between the familiar and the original. I remember a butternut squash soup from two weeks ago that was excellent and not straightforward (can't recall the twist). Oddly, haven't seen Chris there since he moved over from Freddie's. The travesty about going to Willow mostly for lunch is that usually I end up passing on dessert. Willow is one of a small number of places with pastry chef/dessert makers in house that make dessert something special. Of course, in Willow's case, the pastry chef/baker is also the owner.

[Chris Cunningham]

I find myself at Willow about once every two months. Usually for a business lunch. I should have posted once or twice with some details but don't think I ever did. No matter; it's well covered here. I always find it reliably well executed with nice balance between the familiar and the original. I remember a butternut squash soup from two weeks ago that was excellent and not straightforward (can't recall the twist). Oddly, haven't seen Chris there since he moved over from Freddie's. The travesty about going to Willow mostly for lunch is that usually I end up passing on dessert. Willow is one of a small number of places with pastry chef/dessert makers in house that make dessert something special. Of course, in Willow's case, the pastry chef/baker is also the owner.

Thats because I don't go in until about 3 PM Tuesday-Saturday Hope to see you there sometime

[darkstar965]

Thats because I don't go in until about 3 PM Tuesday-Saturday Hope to see you there sometime

Ah, gotcha. Note to self: book dinner at Willow soon

[FunnyJohn]

Did you know that there are side bets during Restaurant Week? Apparently there was at least one: Australian Lamb (which promotes Australian Lamb) sponsored a contest among ten of the establishments participating in RW for who, by customer vote, could prepare the best dish featuring...Australian Lamb. Willow, which you've probably guessed by now, won for its two dishes:

1) lamb, merguez sliders; and

2) cassoulet featuring lamb shank and a sausage made by Jamie Stachowski.

As the winners, Tracy O'Grady and husband Brian will be going on a trip to Australia sometime later this year for the Sydney Food and Wine show which is supposedly one of the best in the world. Tracy wants to get the word out to others in the biz that these kinds of contests could become a fixture during RW, or even at other times of the year, and encourages everyone to consider participating, and for other food producers to consider sponsoring. She would also like to thank all her customers who voted for her lamb. The two dishes are still available -- I had the sliders yesterday for lunch and they are delish! The cassoulet is on the dinner menu.

[Chris Cunningham]

With all this talk of burgers on the board and the plethora of burger places....I'm going to challenge all of you to a Burger Throw Down!!!! If you want to try one of the Top 3 burgers you've ever had....YEA..Thats Right..and BOLD...Then you need to come to Willow and have our burger. It is available on our Nosh menu and only available at the bar or in my half of the restaurant there called Nosh. Its one of the best kept secrets or unknown gem of Willow. It shames every burger in town If you have to ask for it past Medium....Order Chicken, cause I wont serve it to you

Our Willow burger is $14 with hand cut fries. Its a double, House smoked Angus Beef and Homeade Bun.

For our Rammy nomination, I personally created a special burger for the next 2 weeks that can be had for $10. Its the same double patty, but with Smoked ham, American cheese, Fried egg and BBQ sauce. Its not only an incredible deal, but its an incredible burger, and you will no longer have to ask yourself where THE BEST Burger is in this area......If Obama had only gone the extra mile

I'll be waiting

[ktmoomau]

I had the burger, and I will say- it's really darn good. I told my Hubby that Willow's burgers are in a higher contention of burger for sure up there with Palena, Ray's, etc. I also can't believe I ate the whole thing, but I polished it off much more easily than I would have thought. Chris also picked a great red wine to go with it. The whole experience last night sitting at the bar, talking with Chris and some other people hanging out there was just so pleasant. It was such a vibrant, but low key atmosphere, really nice.

I also happened upon some guys who "invented" an interesting cocktail there called the Chudley Manor. They gave me a sip and I have to say it wasn't half bad- homemade lemonade, tonic, peach shine, jalapeno simple syrup. (There was a very entertaining crowd last night, it was a good time.)

[hopsing]

My husband loves the Willow burger and fries. It's a hidden gem.

[JBag57]

With my wife being out of town, I found myself last night in need of a late evening meal, and "took the plunge" on the Willow burger (the special described above, sans egg). I have not tried the others that people have mentioned as being among the best in the city, and thus do not have those points of comparison, but this burger was excellent. Two patties, juicy, medium rare to medium, and while I am not usually a big fan of potato buns/rolls, their housemade one was very good as well. The fries were also good, if not a bit saltier that I would normally like.

Even though I arrived there just short of being ravenous, I was not able to finish the entire burger--I guess my appetite is declining with my advancing age!

[SeanMike]

Mr. Cunningham, would you be willing to share your hours at Willow?

I haven't been there since 2007, except one visit where I was informed the kitchen was already closed. I'd love to come to the bar, say hi in person, and enjoy the fact that I don't have to drive home, but I am actually cutting back on my eating out, so I want to make sure you're there when I can show so I can keep doing hugely long run-on sentences in person until I fall down off my stool and Uber a mile home.

[Chris Cunningham]

Lol..... Of course sir

Usually I am there Tuesday - Saturday, starting about 4 pm each night. I will not be there this Wednesday due to a Martini Contest I'm in ... Other than that, I should be there for you

[Sthitch]

I am in for this...but I challenge any of you to come into Willow and have our Willow Burger. If its not in the top 5 burgers youve ever had , I will buy it back It seriously blows away any local burger in the area....Yes, I'm that confident in it,,and I've had most of what people think are the top burgers in the area. So come on on for the Burger Throw Down

There were two fundamental problems with the burger that I had for lunch that kept it from being great.

The first was too much wood char flavor, not every bite had the problem, but enough of them did that I couldn't help but notice it. I suspect that the burger was licked by the flame which usually causes this off flavor, some people like it, I am not one of those people. The second is the construction of the burger; I felt like I was going to have to dislocate my jaw to get a bit out of the sandwich. I would have preferred this as one larger paddy instead of a double - an option for a single paddy version would be even better. Aside from the char, I found the meat to have a nice flavor and was quite juicy; a lesser bun would have fallen apart because of those juices. When it comes to toppings, I generally do not like anything other than cheese a few condiments but the mushrooms worked quite well. The fries were absolutely delicious. It is a burger I would order again, but I would not rank it in my top 5.

Your bartender in training is very nice and she is quite attentive.

[KeithA]

Finally had a chance earlier this week to try Willow for the first time at lunch. We both had the burgers which were rather good. The bun is nice, burgers were cooked to correct medium rare and had a different, but nice smoky taste to them. However, I didn't think the dijonaise was that great and should of just had regular mustard (they do serve it and ketchup on the side for you to spread yourself which I like).  Also, the slightly pickled (read closer to raw) onions didn't add much of anything because of the strong smoky meat overpowered them (I say this as strong lover of onions in all things).  So I think with a few tweaks it could be better.  The duck-fat fries were a deep brown and extra crispy while still being soft inside - excellent!

Despite the pretty good grub, we had some odd service/food issues.  I ordered by burger without cheese and was brought one with cheese. It was quickly ushered away and a new one was returned a few minutes later, but it didn't have the onions. So after I asked for them, they were brought. This is somewhat minor as they quickly fixed the issues, but it showed the wait staff wasn't the most attentive (also weren't when we sat around forever waiting for the check).  Other and oddest thing was the lemonade they served my friend.  It was basically lemon juice with ice - SO tart with no trace of sugar to be undrinkable.  Again, they fixed it when brought to their attention, but again a mistake that really shouldn't have occurred.

It is worth checking out the burger if you are nearby, but not worth a special trip.  Also, a few blocks away behind the Westin hotel, Big Buns (a very casual burger place, not a strip club despite the name) also offers less expensive and very good juicy burgers with lots of topping choices. Big Buns' burgers are not as gourmet, but they are good and cooked to order (thick patties - not like Five Guys) so I'm not sure if I'll be back much to Willow for the burger unless it was a work lunch.  The fries are definitely better at Willow, but BBs are tasty too.

[hopsing]

Have you tried Willow cookies yet?  I had ones a few weeks ago that I think were called macaroons, but they weren't coconut or anything.  There were smallish marzipan-tasting cookies with a raspberry cream filling.  They were the best non-chocolate cookies I've ever had.  Later I found out they were gluten-free!!!!  I mean, I didn't feel like I was sacrificing anything by eating them.  They were absolutely delicious!!!

[KeithA]

Have you tried Willow cookies yet?  I had ones a few weeks ago that I think were called macaroons, but they weren't coconut or anything.  There were smallish marzipan-tasting cookies with a raspberry cream filling.  They were the best non-chocolate cookies I've ever had.  Later I found out they were gluten-free!!!!  I mean, I didn't feel like I was sacrificing anything by eating them.  They were absolutely delicious!!!

I didn't try them at Willow, but they are macarons (one "o") and very different from coconut macaroons. Your description is spot on and they were making a buzz about a year or so ago as the next dessert trend but have since faded some. They often come in different filling flavors. I'm sure there are several french or french-ish bakeries around town where you can buy them (often as mini-one bites or larger full cookies size).

[jiveturk21]

I had the burger at Willow today for lunch (one of the perks of having a new client in Ballston).  Eating on the shaded patio was awesome, maybe even a bit chilly (who thought that would be the case in August).

The burger was pretty damn good, very smoky, cooked correctly and the bun held up to all of the juice.  Two things that didn't make it perfect.  One, if you have two patties, I think that you need two pieces of cheese, this burger only had one on the top patty.  Two, I got no onions or mushrooms with my burger.  I noticed this and said something to our waitress, she said that she would bring some out and I never saw her again (until we got our bill).  I'm not sure if the onions and mushrooms would have made the burger better or sloppier, but I'll never know.

[ktmoomau]

Went in the other day for lunch, picking up a donation too, sat at the bar and wanted a burger, but I didn't want a double patty.  The girl at the bar was so nice.  She told me she would have them just make two small burgers and I could take one home if I liked.  That was great as it was a really busy week for me and I needed meals ready for me.  My burger was good, cooked to medium rare, and juicy.  I like the pickled onions on it.  I had fries with it.  I love the trio of dips they give you, this really makes it for me, especially the grainy mustard aioli.  And she packed up some of my fries and condiments so I really did have a whole second meal.  

[DonRocks]

Went in the other day for lunch, picking up a donation too, sat at the bar and wanted a burger, but I didn't want a double patty.  The girl at the bar was so nice.  She told me she would have them just make two small burgers and I could take one home if I liked.  That was great as it was a really busy week for me and I needed meals ready for me.  My burger was good, cooked to medium rare, and juicy.  I like the pickled onions on it.  I had fries with it.  I love the trio of dips they give you, this really makes it for me, especially the grainy mustard aioli.  And she packed up some of my fries and condiments so I really did have a whole second meal.  

That is called Customer Service. Nice!

[hopsing]

I don't know if I've mentioned it before but the Nosh menu at Willow is the best bargain ever!  You can try reasonably-priced small plates and get the gourmet experience.  We were there Saturday night and had mussels, the awesome gougeres, calamari Picasso, scallop taco, eggplant/mozz sticks, apple and blue cheese salad and the double patty burger.  All this great food and so easy on the wallet.

[dcs]

All this great food and so easy on the wallet.

We enjoyed the $10 lunch menu at the bar yesterday, which includes soft drink/iced tea (although we opted for wine).  A half of roasted pork sandwich (which was generously sized) with a cup of tomato soup hit the spot for a late lunch.  The menu is small, mainly soup, salads, half sandwiches, and the hamburger, but there is a rotating list daily specials - I believe yesterday's was beer battered cod w/ chips.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Restaurant Week was extended, and I enjoyed the Merguez meatballs (yum!) and the soft shell crab. I've had a lot of soft shells, and this one is as good as it gets, with fresh shaved corn off the cob and nice little fingerlings in a tasty sauce with a few little raviolis swimming in the sauce. Accompanied by a Central Coast chardonnay. Delicious all around.

Oh yeah, Restaurant Week includes a dessert, so I took home the chocolate chip cookies for the kids. Nice meal.

[hopsing]

We were there Saturday evening for extended RW.  I finally got to try the eggplant flatbread.  Amazing!  Plus the porchetta was new to me and quite delicious.  It was topped off with passionfruit layer cake.  I have to say I'm in love with the layer cakes and am contemplating ordering one as my birthday cake for January.  I'd post some pictures if I can figure out how to do it on this forum.

[cheezepowder]

I'm on their email list and have received emails about their Buffalo Night on the last Friday of the month (including an email about this Friday).  They're having beef on weck at the bar, patio, and bistro.  I'm curious - has anyone tried it?

[FunnyJohn]

There will be no Beef on Weck this Friday (the 30th) at Willow due to restaurant week.  The last Buffalo night prior to Lent will be on Friday Feb. 6 and then the Beef on Weck will be offered again at the end of April.

[dcs]

Hat Trick for Willow at the 2015 DC Burger Bash!  We were there and they got our vote.

[dcs]

The winning burger (The Smokey Saint) will be available this week as a slider for $2 from 3pm to 9pm, with 50 cents from each order going to the DC Central Kitchen.  Nothing wrong with that offer.

[JBag57]

They just announced, via at least email, that they are closing for good on September 19.  The email said to look for some good closing specials.

[dcs]

They just announced, via at least email, that they are closing for good on September 19.  The email said to look for some good closing specials.

It's on the front page of their website.  It is a crushing announcement.  It has long been our favorite spot in Arlington to pull up at the bar for good drinks, excellent food, and wonderful conversation.  The staff has always been super friendly, superbly efficient, and expert in their jobs.  Arlington will be poorer for this development, in a lot more ways than one.

[DonRocks]

Ballston is losing its best restaurant. Willow has been ranked #1 in the Dining Guide for many years, and will remain as such until the day it closes: Sep 19, 2015.

Brian Wolken's Facebook post.

[Genevieve]

Oh, what a shame!

It's a terrific restaurant, and has been our go-to spot for Mothers' Day as well as on many other occasions.

And there are no other restaurants in Ballston nearly as good.

They'll be missed.

[DaveO]

It's on the front page of their website.  It is a crushing announcement.  It has long been our favorite spot in Arlington to pull up at the bar for good drinks, excellent food, and wonderful conversation.  The staff has always been super friendly, superbly efficient, and expert in their jobs.  Arlington will be poorer for this development, in a lot more ways than one.

Ballston is losing its best restaurant. Willow has been ranked #1 in the Dining Guide for many years, and will remain as such until the day it closes: Sep 19, 2015.

Brian Wolken's Facebook post.

Wow.  Shocker.  It is difficult to run a restaurant.  Difficult to run an upscale restaurant.  I recall the first upscale restaurant that went into that space before Willow.  Meanwhile Rio Grande, in the same building across the Plaza has been running busy virtually since the building went up, for over twenty years.

The FB explanation above does outline some of the struggles and the confluence of challenges that must have pushed this closing.  I think of all the restaurants that have opened in the region per Cheesepowder's great posts;  well over 650 in a little over 2.5 years, some nearby to Willow and some further away but drawing potential Willow customers.

On the real estate market conditions, I don't know if it is just the astonishingly high rate of office vacancies as the description references, but also in the next two years Ballston will lose a lot of office tenants, and unlike in the long past the basic foundation of replacing those tenants (that always (or for at least 30 years) and confidently suggested that vacant spaces would be filled....has been broken.  At this time, who knows where and how Arlington will replace all these now and soon to be departed tenants.  Those tenants were a healthy market for lunches, plus dinner after work.  Very substantial and now shrinking with large unknowns as to how and when they will be replaced.  That is a lot of existing and anticipated business loss.

And ever higher rents.  Oi, oi, oi.  Tough tough tough.  Sorry to see it occur.

[hopsing]

I will miss their gougeres, fish and chips, layer cakes, cookies, portabello fries and so much more....

[Andelman]

Bummer. My wife works in that building...she's sad to see it go.

BTW, does anyone out there recall the restaurant that was there before Willow?

[DonRocks]

Bummer. My wife works in that building...she's sad to see it go.

BTW, does anyone out there recall the restaurant that was there before Willow?

If you remind me in a few weeks, I'll find out for you (I don't want to ask them right now).

[JBag57]

There was a Bistro Bistro, possibly the original tenant.  Probably not the immediate predecessor to Willow.  Gaffney's--some kind of oyster place, maybe?

[dracisk]

Yes, I remember Gaffney's. I don't know if there was anything between Gaffney's and Willow.

I'm sad about Willow. I ate there a few times years and years ago and this thread renewed my interest, although I don't get to Arlington much these days.

[DonRocks]

I'm pretty sure FunnyJohn was the first person in history to review Willow on Sep 19, 2005. This quite likely means that Willow had a 10-year lease, which also makes the restaurant even more special to me, personally, as it's the first 10-year restaurant we've covered from opening to closing - this small bit of trivia, along with all the great meals I've had there, makes Willow's closure all the more bittersweet.

[FunnyJohn]

Yes, this is sad news indeed.  Not only was (is still) Willow the best restaurant in that part of Arlington, but it was a great training ground for many young wait staff and chefs.  I think that location, because of the very high rent, is a challenge for any restauranteur, and if I am not mistaken, Tracy and Co. kept Willow going longer than any of the previous establishments that have opened and closed there.  I wish Tracy, Brian (who were married at Willow just before it opened to the public), and Kate all the best in whatever they are contemplating for the future.

Oh, and as I cast my mind back through the mists of time: there were 3 other restaurants that tried and failed at this location: #1 was some kind of Italian pasta joint, #2 was Bistro-Bistro and #3 Gaffney's.  Anyone with more intact braincells may feel free to amend this list if I am missing something.

[Pat]

BTW, does anyone out there recall the restaurant that was there before Willow?

The first post in this thread indicates it was Gaffney's.

[ktmoomau]

Ballston is losing its best restaurant. Willow has been ranked #1 in the Dining Guide for many years, and will remain as such until the day it closes: Sep 19, 2015.

Brian Wolken's Facebook post.

No offense, but I really don't think it was the best restaurant anymore.  Service had really gone downhill, especially in the bar where they packed in too many tables because honestly the bar food was much more reasonable and I always thought it was a place that had good things on the menu, but had some really bad dishes too, and you had to know what to avoid.  Willow when Chris was there was also a whole other place the bar felt much more like a neighborhood bar.  I also think unless you were eating off the bar menu prices were fairly steep on food and their menu hasn't changed a lot in the eight years I have lived literally next door.  SER is much better at this point in my opinion.  There is a heck of a lot of other competition too: first Rio Grande redid their menu and is better than it has been in the past, Kapnos is solid and has really good vegetarian options, Rustico is very popular although I am not the biggest fan, Mussel Bar isn't bad, but also pricey, plus all the small pick up dinner/lunch places that have opened over the years that has meant a host of more options for people wanting dinner on a weeknight in the neighborhood like Earl's, Big Buns, Sweetgreen, etc.  I am a bit surprised they are closing because I do see a lot of people in the restaurant, but I think they had more people regularly in the bar then the restaurant.  There are certainly things I will miss, and I am sad to see any restaurant close, but I don't think I am as surprised as other people.  It wasn't a destination restaurant for people outside Ballston, but it wasn't really a neighborhood restaurant either that you felt you could eat at often.  Plus the number of vacant offices in the couple blocks around the restaurant is pretty steep right now, which I am sure has really hurt business.  

[Andelman]

There was a Bistro Bistro, possibly the original tenant.  Probably not the immediate predecessor to Willow.  Gaffney's--some kind of oyster place, maybe?

Yes, Gaffneys. Thank you. We were trying to remember as my wife went into labor right after she ate a big ass hamburger from there about 12 years ago.

[Josh Radigan]

Schlotski's deli prior to Bistro Bistro. I know that because I worked at that Bistro Bistro. The staff then divided up into two restaurants. Some went to Argia's, the others came with me to open Bistro Bis

[cheezepowder]

From Willow's email:

Starting Friday, September 11th

enjoy Half Off Select Wines

Thursday, September 17th

Craft Beer & Wing Night

$4 Craft Beers ALL NIGHT! 
$6 Smoked & Fried Wings 
Bar, Bistro & Patio 

Friday, September 18th

The GREATEST Buffalo Night EVER

Beef on Weck & Gravy Fries All Night 
and the Last Dinner Service

Saturday, September 19th

Irish Wake

Cash Bar

[beachgirl54]

I am so sad about this - snagged a table on Friday night - totally a babysitter-worthy event.  I had the best coconut cake there that I've ever eaten.  Dinners with visiting family, birthdays celebrated at the bar, lunches with friends . . . sniff . . . 

[Genevieve]

Yes, they had the most amazing coconut cake.  Bought one from there for my birthday one year and it was incredible.  Far better than any other I've ever had.

I told my mom about the closing and she was really sad about it - said "where will we go for Mothers' Day now?" and how much she'd miss them.

And it's the last place one friend and I had dinner with another beloved friend who died a few months later.  She wasn't doing a lot of outings by then, but she very much wanted to see the movie Julie and Julia -- we saw it at Ballston and then had a reservation at Willow afterward, because I knew we'd need a wonderful meal after that movie.  Our friend told us that she once cooked the complicated duck dish that is the crowning glory of the Julie section of the movie.  And we all delighted in our food and felt it was the perfect place to eat after watching people cook delicious meals for two hours.

I never ate at the bar, but I didn't think service had gone downhill in the dining room.  We had excellent service the past few times we went there, same as always.

I hope that the chefs and pastry chefs and everyone else who works at Willow find good jobs, whether they start a new place (here's hoping) or go somewhere new.  And I would dearly love it if the chefs and pastry chefs stay in Arlington or near by . . . but given the office vacancy rate, I don't know how likely that is.  (Shirlington could use a new restaurant or two, but given the failures that have happened there, I don't know if they'd risk it.)

[NolaCaine]

I wanted to agree with someone who, up-thread, said that service had gone down hill.  Last night, my neighbors (who all live less than a mile from Willow) had a little gathering and we were all talking about that. The bar service, drinks and food are all excellent but all of us had stopped going to dinner there because the service was so slow.

That said, my first Easter dinner with my one year old son and husband was there. We just walked up, got a table on the patio, and proceeded to have a wonderful time with great food and service outside on an amazing Sunday afternoon.

[DonRocks]

Service had really gone downhill, especially in the bar where they packed in too many tables because honestly the bar food was much more reasonable and I always thought it was a place that had good things on the menu, but had some really bad dishes too, and you had to know what to avoid.  

I wanted to agree with someone who, up-thread, said that service had gone down hill.  Last night, my neighbors (who all live less than a mile from Willow) had a little gathering and we were all talking about that. The bar service, drinks and food are all excellent but all of us had stopped going to dinner there because the service was so slow.  

I have no doubt that the service had gone downhill, but I'd like to propose that this was a result of declining revenues, and not an independent event (not that it much matters).

I hypothesize the bar was *so* inexpensive, that patrons started going there-and-only-there to eat (guilty!), and this led to an empty dining room, less bottles of wine sold, smaller check averages, declining overall revenues, and less money with which to pay staff. Sometimes, low bar prices can look like a great idea in the short term, in order to get people drinking, but can invoke long-term disaster. They were probably doing as well as ever at the bar, but were paying rent on the entire space - and this was a pretty big restaurant.

This is, of course, all conjecture, but it's a scenario I can easily see unfolding. Perhaps a lesson to be learned from this is not to make your bar the only place people want to frequent - you could dine *very well* there, all night, every night, for not a lot of money, and making this tiny area so attractive may have led to an overall system collapse.

Masseria, for now, may have the opposite problem: There's no financial incentive at all to sit at the bar there, at least none that I'm aware of (except, of course, that you don't have to order dinner). A happy medium exists, of that I am certain, and I suspect we're going to see a course given in this concept with Kinship and Métier: If you want to even set foot in Métier, you're going to have to pony up (it's the same thing in New York with Nougatine and Jean-Georges (there are some insider-diner tricks I've taught myself here)). Cathal Armstrong once said to me, when I asked him if I could order some items from the Tasting Room while sitting at the bar: "If you want to fly first class, you have to buy a ticket." He didn't say it to be snotty; this was part of Restaurant Eve's business plan, and there were no exceptions. I have absolutely no problem with this.

Maybe it's because Willow has been around for so long, or maybe it's because Willow was a semi-neighborhood restaurant for me, or maybe it's because there's been such extended notice of the closure, but this one is hitting me pretty hard - even harder than Gypsy Soul, and probably for those exact reasons.

[dcs]

An agathokakological final lunch at Willow.  Kudos to that entire team.  Professionals right down to the wire.  They are doing this with class and dignity.  (Take notice RiRa Irish Pub). The last hurrah tomorrow night.

[beachgirl54]

Went last night and the food, as I've always experienced, was stellar.  Nice list of 1/2 price wines, with a fair number sold out (but we managed).  I'm still sniffling about this . . . . I hope they go out tonight with a bang.

[DPop]

It's a shame, I have some great memories of this place, but I agree with the posters that noted that the dining room prices were simply too high for the inconsistency and relatively uninterested service that one would get a times.  I hope they find a new (better) spot for what they are looking to accomplish and hope that the space doesn't get overtaken by some lifeless chain looking to do nothing other than put butts in seats to consume reheated foods filled with cream, butter, and sugar.