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Citronelle, 2007 National James Beard Award-Winning Chef Michel Richard's Flagship - Chef Patrick Robinson Replaces David Deshaies - Closed


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I should have been more specific, youngfood. My comment was unrelated to Ms. Morgan's prowess as a sommelier (well documented), it was a statement on the food offerings. I found on the last visit that the menu items had changed very little over the last several years, were not particularly cognizant of seasonal ingredients, and generally not as 'wow'-inspiring as they had been in years past. Now this is just one man's opinion, and I would certainly say that Citronelle is still quite good, but the meal I had at Komi in August and at Cityzen in May were on a completely different level than the one I had at Citronelle last February.

Also, I don't know why Tom Sietsema would not include CityZen in a dining guide for the Washington DC area, but to call that an 'egregious omission' would be an understatement.

A group of us dined recently at Citronelle and my experience echoes some of the sentiments above. The kitchen sends out dishes that reflect a degree of precision, skill, and artistry that is hard to replicate. At the same time, the whole experience felt a little tired to me. The dining room is still pretty blah and the menu, as mentioned above, doesn't change much. Maybe it's just a sign of the economic times we are in but I need something more when the tab is that large.

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[posted on eGullet 2003-2004]

The indigenous people in North America were Asians who crossed the Beringia land bridge formed by glacial flow (and corresponding topographical change) approximately 12,000 years ago. When they arrived, they found woolly mammoths, saber-tooth tigers, mastadons, large bison, camels (!), giant ground sloths, and a whole host of other now-extinct beasts.

However, the true "Native Americans" were the anaerobic bacteria which formed during the Precambrian Era, only to be conquered and usurped, at least in stature, by the stromatolites and other primitive prokaryotes which formed approximately 3 billion years later in the region surrounding Lake Superior.

The only thing I can think to add is that I had a kick-assed beef shortrib "pot-au-feu" at Citronelle on Saturday night, and the presentation of the shortribs really does look like layered stromatolites. It's a bloody brilliant take on this dish, turning the peasant into the elevated. Run, do not walk. It's available at the bar for $35, and no shit, I suspect the entire dish has less than 1,200 calories while at the same time being rich, filling and satisfying.

Thank you for listening, and have a nice day.

Rocks.

Remember this place?

This was the quietest closing, relative to stature, in United States restaurant history.

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I know that I kept hoping it would reopen. The hotel is still closed though work is going on. I think that is the first I've seen that indicated that wasn't the plan...

Citronelle will never again reopen inside the Latham. All items have been removed from the hotel which has been foreclosed upon.

Michel Richard = 1st Ballot Hall Of Famer. Although I don't love his late period, that's what he'll be remembered for, but that's *only* because this website wasn't around to document his earlier work. But I saw it with my own eyes, and it was genius - and i'm not talking about frozen roulades; I'm talking earlier than that. Any future he has - and it might be a considerable one - lies in New York City.

Don't you see that it's important to document *every meal* you have at Palena, Inn At Little Washington, CityZen. This is not just to write a "review" - it's to capture a moment in history for future generations.

I'll start writing reviews again if everyone wants me to, but I'm tired, and best suited to be an organizer and mentor at this point for future generations of scribes.

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Well, that's a bummer. I had a wonderful meal there some years ago, and that was the hotel that my wife and I stayed when we got married in Georgetown (10 years ago.) Fare thee well, Carriage Suite.

Don: you should write reviews if it makes you happy. Sometimes though, you just need a break. Hard to begrudge you.

Citronelle will never again reopen inside the Latham. All items have been removed from the hotel which has been foreclosed upon.

Michel Richard = 1st Ballot Hall Of Famer. Although I don't love his late period, that's what he'll be remembered for, but that's *only* because this website wasn't around to document his earlier work. But I saw it with my own eyes, and it was genius - and i'm not talking about frozen roulades; I'm talking earlier than that. Any future he has - and it might be a considerable one - lies in New York City.

Don't you see that it's important to document *every meal* you have at Palena, Inn At Little Washington, CityZen. This is not just to write a "review" - it's to capture a moment in history for future generations.

I'll start writing reviews again if everyone wants me to, but I'm tired, and best suited to be an organizer and mentor at this point for future generations of scribes.

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Citronelle will never again reopen inside the Latham. All items have been removed from the hotel which has been foreclosed upon.

Schneider's of Capitol Hill has purchased Citronelle's 4,000-bottle wine cellar, and has it up for sale (by the bottle):

Citronelle Wine Cellar for sale at Schneider's of Capitol Hill

A cursory (3-4 minute) scan found nothing that made me want to pull the trigger, but that doesn't mean there aren't bargains.

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Schneider's of Capitol Hill has purchased Citronelle's 4,000-bottle wine cellar, and has it up for sale (by the bottle):

Citronelle Wine Cellar for sale at Schneider's of Capitol Hill

A cursory (3-4 minute) scan found nothing that made me want to pull the trigger, but that doesn't mean there aren't bargains.

Me neither, but the  current offering is just a selection of domestic bottles. Apparently more will be added each day, and old world wines over the weekend.

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Damn. I was waiting for the Rhones to show up. Guess I won't bother looking, then.

ETA - I didn't look at the high end ones. My wine budget is relatively small compared to just about any of the Berserkers. Might be a couple of good deals at the higher price point.

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ETA - I didn't look at the high end ones. My wine budget is relatively small compared to just about any of the Berserkers. Might be a couple of good deals at the higher price point.

There aren't, at least not that I saw.

One thing that's important for everyone to realize: there is a very well-established auction market for high-end wines, certainly all the top Rhones. There would be nothing preventing Schneider's from sending these to auction - thus, it is logical to conclude that they're going to be trying to get "auction value or higher" by selling them. High-end wine is very much like currency these days: it has a fairly precise world-wide value at any given point, and any fluctuation from that value - higher or lower - should be a red flag. This is why I bristle at restaurant wine prices ("This wine is worth "X" - and you're charging 2 times X? No!" It works for the low-end, obscure stuff, but not the high-end, well-known stuff (at least not with me)).

Schneider's knows what they're doing, and I cannot imagine any "steals" showing up on the list.

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There aren't, at least not that I saw.

One thing that's important for everyone to realize: there is a very well-established auction market for high-end wines, certainly all the top Rhones. There would be nothing preventing Schneider's from sending these to auction - thus, it is logical to conclude that they're going to be trying to get "auction value or higher" by selling them. High-end wine is very much like currency these days: it has a fairly precise world-wide value at any given point, and any fluctuation from that value - higher or lower - should be a red flag. This is why I bristle at restaurant wine prices ("This wine is worth "X" - and you're charging 2 times X? No!" It works for the low-end, obscure stuff, but not the high-end, well-known stuff (at least not with me)).

Schneider's knows what they're doing, and I cannot imagine any "steals" showing up on the list.

Agreed. Was hoping to find auction value or slightly lower, with free shipping, as I'm so rarely in DC now. Used to shop at Schneider's all the time, now its either online or Chambers Street in person.

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This remains the quietest closure of this magnitude I have witnessed in my entire career.

If you mean Citronelle (versus this being a wine reference?), I've thought the same thing. But he is a bit under-the-radar/more media shy maybe? The suspected but unclear involvement in that ill-fated sausage concept and the Manhattan misadventure maybe?

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This remains the quietest closure of this magnitude I have witnessed in my entire career. 

We had one meal there. It was amazing. I think it was maybe 2001/2/3 timeframe. There was this cauliflower soup with caviar on top served in what looked like an egg. It was tremendous. Even more so because my wife does not like cauliflower - but that course alone changed her mind.

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If you mean Citronelle (versus this being a wine reference?), I've thought the same thing. But he is a bit under-the-radar/more media shy maybe? The suspected but unclear involvement in that ill-fated sausage concept and the Manhattan misadventure maybe?

I was referring to Citronelle closing which predates Manhattan blowing up. Michel lived for media - he was as much of a ham as anyone, and Citronelle's PR rep was an expert at controlling the media - but despite that, the media turned on Michel during the Manhattan debacle, and (you'll have to take my word on this one) the entire sequence of events was very, *very* hard on him.

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I was referring to Citronelle closing which predates Manhattan blowing up. Michel lived for media - he was as much of a ham as anyone, and Citronelle's PR rep was an expert at controlling the media - but despite that, the media turned on Michel during the Manhattan debacle, and (you'll have to take my word on this one) the entire sequence of events was very, *very* hard on him.

Didn't know. Easy to believe. Sad.

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