Redwood, Bethesda Row - Chef Antonio Burrell Has Departed

[Tweaked]

Wash Post reporting Redwood is chef-less

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/goingoutg...d=news-col-blog

[Lydia R]

A tale of two Fridays:

If I'd written this post a week ago I'd have waxed poetic about the elevated bar behind the host stand and above the loud chatter from the regular bar area. The small plates were excellent with the surprise standout being the Roasted Cauliflower (with garlic & chopped pecans). The two wines we had were Serenity Pinot Noir and Auxerr from Adelsheim. They were unusual and very good. Our server, Moana, was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the wines. Additional nibbles included the wonderful wild mushroom soup, beet salad and spicy onion rings. I'd even have posted this photo of the mousse-like butterscotch pudding topped with small chocolate covered tapioca pearls and accompanied with two gingersnap cookies. Great service and a thoroughly enjoyable attitude adjuster.

Not so much this past Friday when my +1 and I tried to relive the previous experience. The "upper bar" was closed and we sat in the regular bar. Definitely different service environment. I'm fine with the idea that the owners want a frat-like sports bar vibe. I was even OK with overhearing the bartender tell a beer drinker near us that he was "glad to have someone to talk to because the wine drinkers just stare into their wine and don't speak." I was trying to remember what ESPN stands for so I could talk to him when he told a new customer that all their beers were local and I decided to use my effort elsewhere. My +1 was still stunned that the bartender never made eye contact or spoke directly to them the whole time. Thankfully we were able to move on to another place.

Bummer, now I'm spoiled and probably won't soon return.

[jandres374]

Any recent reports since the change in chef and retooling of the menu? Might try it out this weekend with some out of town guests.

[Walrus]

We haven't been recently, but people we know went to Redwood for their Christmas party -- it was, apparently, a real downer...I hate that this beautiful space isn't being filled with beautiful food (or good service, it seems)!

[monsterriffs]

I was there a few weeks ago with some relatives and I was pretty much totally underwhelmed by the food. I ordered the red snapper hoping for a nice substantial filet and was rewarded instead with two teeny crispy/soggy pieces of snapper on top of a hot mess of sauce and what appeared to be hazelnuts (or something, I can't recall). I don't mind mediocre food if it at least looks pretty, but this had nothing going for it on any level.

I was hesitant to go to Redwood to start with, but I was tired of fighting with my family about going into the city for some decent food, but their borders begin and end with Bethesda....

[jandres374]

We ended up going Saturday night. Our dining companions canceled on us at the last minute - turns out they were the lucky ones. The babysitter showed up early which allowed us to get there early and check out the bar since we had not been there before. The bar is very nicely decorated and apparently no one has told the people of Bethesda that we are in a recession - the place was packed, standing room only in the bar area. Apparently, the $15 glasses of wine did not scare enough people away.

It was restaurant week in Bethesda, the menu consisted of maybe 2 starters and 5 main courses and 4 desserts. My wife went with the restaurant week menu while I went with the regular menu.

When we finally sat down the food was well disappointing. I started with the virginia oyster chowder, cornmeal fried oysters, bacon, potatoes, leeks 14. Call me crazy but when I read "cornmeal fried oysters", emphasis on the s at the end of oyster, I expect more than one oyster. I received one fried oyster on top of a flavorless chowder. I then had the ale braised long bone short rib, sweet potato apple puree, rapini, jus 24. This consisted of a basically flavorless short rib with an awful sweet potato puree that just did not work.

My wife went with market lettuce salad, roasted apples, walnuts, pomegranate seeds, dijon vinaigrette 8, which was fine. Her main was flat iron steak, braised wild greens, house made steak sauce 20, which was cooked as ordered and flavorful based on the one bite I had.

I forget the desserts but they are nothing but average.

Service was fine and wine list is decent for MontCo County. Wife had to send her drink back as it was poorly made, I am drawing a blank on what she ordered. They handled it well without blinking an eye.

Probably be a long time before we return.

[Bob Loblaw]

From Tom Sietsema's chat today:

Redwood has a new chef, Blake Schumpert, formerly of Ardeo in Cleveland Park

[joni]

Although I live nearby, I've never tried Redwood because every review/comment about it was negative. I thought I heard that there is a new chef. Should I attempt it now? Maybe just for appetizers and drinks at the bar? Thanks.

[Heather]

I am looking for a place to take my dad to lunch on Thursday, and can't remember the name of the restaurant in Bethesda that is (I think) owned by the same folks as Sonoma. I checked the dining guide but nothing rang a bell.

Alternatively, does anyone have a recommendation? Is Blacks still a good choice?

(Don, please delete or move this as necessary.)

Redwood

Thank you!

[jandres374]

I heard from a reliable source today that Redwood will be closing. Anyone have any details. This is a huge space to fill - perfect for say a Bethesda locale of Ray's.

[jrage]

Can't get more reliable than this source! There is no truth to the rumor that Redwood is closing.

Redwood is doing very well. Since we opened a year and a half ago, Redwood has found a great new chef, Blake Schumpert, who's getting awesome feedback, (Bethesda Magazine just gave us a much better review.) We have a completely new management staff, including General Manager, Jawad Saadaoui, a customer favorite for years at Sonoma and Mendocino. We've improved the service with a very experienced and friendly staff and without compromising on the quality of our ingredients, we've lowered our menu prices.

Redwood is a very different experience than it was when we opened. We ended the year with a great New Year's Eve event, with dinner and dancing to live music and we're looking forward to a great 2010.

While I'm on the subject, we're starting a number of fun promotions to kick start the winter season.

Happy Hour: Monday - Friday: 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm - $4 Draft Beers and Wine - $5 Specialty Cocktails - $4/$5 Bar Bites

Sunday - Monday Nights: Half-Priced Wine

Tuesday Nights: Live Music in our Bar & Lounge (starting soon)

Wednesday Nights: Live Music in our Bar & Lounge (already started!)

Sunday Brunch: We've just revamped the menu and we'll be adding live music soon.

We'll be participating in DC Restaurant Week and Bethesda-Chevy Chase Restaurant Week for both Lunch and Dinner, so that's a great way to check out the new, improved Redwood. Join our mailing list to get updates and invitations to some fun events; Redwood Newsletter - This is a great source for the latest breaking news regarding Redwood or become a Fan of Redwood on Facebook!

So to be clear - Redwood is not closing, we're really just getting started.

[ktmoomau]

Was at Redwood the other night. The National cocktail was really bad unbalanced and hard to drink. The service wasn't very attentive, I would have ordered another cocktail had she checked in more, maybe dessert, but after the entrees arrived and she checked to make sure the food was ok that was until a bit after our plates were cleared.

The endive salad was fine, but could have used a bit more stuff on the endive. The swordfish was great, I loved the accompaniments. Cooked very well. There was something almost like a homemade tahini and a pesto and they played so well together.

[mtureck]

I'd never been to Redwood...first I heard that it wasn't very good, then lately I heard the opposite, so I finally went over to check it out.

I went for Restaurant Week lunch, (I know, I know, not the best time to check a place out) and came away really impressed.

One of the reasons I've never gone is the menu...a pretty generic sounding collection of the obvious restaurant trends of the day...charcuterie plate and artisinal cheeses, mussles, steak frites, pizzas and flatbread, etc. So maybe not the most original of places, but there's something to be said for a place that does those things well.

I started with a cheese board with a Old Chatham "ewe's blue" cheese and a dry cured surryano berkshire ham. They were both excellent, and the board came with a small bowl of olives and gherkins, some sliced apple, some sort of fruit preserve (pear?) and number of slices of toasted bread. One of the nicest meat/cheese board I've had in town. I had the Blue Bay mussels with frites for my entree. Slightly overcooked, but excellent plumpness and flavor in a nice wine/cream/garlic sauce. The hand-cut frites were a little thin for my taste, but crispy and tasty. If I was in the mood for mussels frites, I'd have these again instead of going over to Mussel Bar. Ended with a simple caramel sunday with some scattered fruit. Paired it all with a nice Chenin Blanc for a reasonable $7.

All in all, I was very happy with my the meal, and I'd certainly go back. I'd really like to try more from the meat and cheese selection, and see how their pizza and burgers rate.

[Kibbee Nayee]

The plan was for a few of Lady Kibbee's family and us to meet for a Sunday brunch in the Bethesda area. So I dutifully consulted the Dining Guide for South Bethesda and noticed Redwood has a Sunday Brunch. Nice. We made reservations....and....

First negative comment -- The horrific, satanically-inspired Multiple Locations Dining Guide has such locations as Lebanese Taverna and Jaleo in the same general block as Redwood, but how the fuck is anyone going to know that when the list under South Bethesda doesn't include them!!!! So, that was me, the middle of "Bethesda Lane" shaking my fist at the sky and screaming "May Don Rockwell be immersed in kangaroo boogers!"

Second negative comment -- A typical GPS won't include "Bethesda Lane" because it's a stupid fucking promenade, not an actual traffic route. So having an address on Bethesda Lane will almost certainly guarantee that people who do not live in Bethesda can't find your fucking restaurant, and when they call your front desk, those morons should be able to explain that, and not say "we're, like, near the Apple Store."

Third negative comment -- Good luck find a parking space.On to the actual restaurant, where we can begin with....

Fourth negative comment -- This place is fucking LOUD!!! As in, you can't carry on a conversation with anyone LOUD!!! As in, come here alone and wear ear plugs. Or better yet, go to Lebanese Taverna or Jaleo.

Fifth negative comment -- The Sunday Brunch sucks ventworm nut.

That is all.

[DonRocks]

First negative comment -- The horrific, satanically-inspired Multiple Locations Dining Guide has such locations as Lebanese Taverna and Jaleo in the same general block as Redwood, but how the fuck is anyone going to know that when the list under South Bethesda doesn't include them!!!! So, that was me, the middle of "Bethesda Lane" shaking my fist at the sky and screaming "May Don Rockwell be immersed in kangaroo boogers!"

[When you should have been screaming, "May donrockwell.com be immersed in venture capital!"

Crowdsourcing, anyone?]

(Seriously though, you just trashed a place with very little supporting detail.)

[Kibbee Nayee]

(Seriously though, you just trashed a place with very little supporting detail.)

Allow me to expound....

The omelette station itself was OK, but just OK. Accompanying ingredients were sparse -- one each little tub of onions, green and red bell peppers, cubed ham and sauteed mushrooms. My egg white omelette with mushrooms, onions and red and green bell peppers was somewhat small and not memorable in any way.

Among the hot items were the standard scrambled eggs and hard boiled eggs (same serving bin), sausages and bacon (same serving bin), and hash browned potatoes -- about what you would expect at a Holiday Inn. Interestingly, by storing the hard-boiled eggs in the same container as the hot scrambled eggs, the hard boiled eggs couldn't be peeled cleanly. The white and the shell peeled off together, because the eggs were obviously not immersed in cold water before peeling.

The salmon gravlax wasn't bad, in and of itself, but the accompaniments were a bit sparse. There were capers, chopped (grated?) hard cooked eggs and egg whites, and pickled onions. There were no raw onions or diced tomatoes. And the only cream cheese had an unidentifiable herb in it.

All accompanying breads were somewhat dried out. The fruit bowl was good enough, but it's a fruit bowl.

Added to the deafening noise level, the food quality wasn't enough to compel me to return for any reason at any time.

[MsDiPesto]

<snip>A typical GPS won't include "Bethesda Lane" because it's a stupid fucking promenade, not an actual traffic route.<snip>

As someone who drives down Elm Street twice a day, I can assure all readers that everyone on foot in Bethesda thinks Elm Street is a pedestrian mall too. Plus, drivers think nothing of making a U turn because they just have to have that particular parking spot. Then they execute a perfect 18-point turn.

[Biotech]

As someone who drives down Elm Street twice a day, I can assure all readers that everyone on foot in Bethesda thinks Elm Street is a pedestrian mall too. Plus, drivers think nothing of making a U turn because they just have to have that particular parking spot. Then they execute a perfect 18-point turn.

I drive that street daily as well. In addition, it's a nice bonus when the delivery trucks are blocking the lanes...which is pretty much all day.

[DonRocks]

A donrockwell.com exclusive:

Congratulations both to Redwood and Antonio Burrell, their new Executive Chef.

Antonio will be serving (modern) American cuisine, and will be releasing a new bar menu on February 26th March 12th.

Look to late March or early April for full changes to the dinner menu, which will have a strong southern emphasis.

[bookluvingbabe]

A donrockwell.com exclusive:

Congratulations both to Redwood and Antonio Burrell, their new Executive Chef.

Antonio will be serving (modern) American cuisine, and will be releasing a new bar menu on February 26th.

Look to late March or early April for full changes to the dinner menu, which will have a strong southern emphasis.

That is quite the news. Welcome, welcome news.

[DanielK]

AWESOME!

[hm212]

Excited about this!!!

[collije]

Niiiiice! Good pickup. Now please work on tasteful sound deadening

And since it's American cuisine with southern emphasis .... cough ... bring back the Commonwealth Fried Chicken (or something almost exactly like it lol) ... cough

[gnatharobed]

Embracing our new Bethesda resident status, we're celebrating our first anniversary here. Anybody been since Chef Burrell joined them?

[DanielK]

I was in for a quick bar snack last week.

So, just to set expectations, the menu hasn't changed at all yet. Not that this is BAD - the food there before was fine and well executed, just not a draw if you're not in the area.

From what I originally heard, he was rolling out a new bar menu at the end of this month. However, since this promotion says "preview of the new bar menu", I wonder if that's been delayed a bit.

A new dinner menu was not expected until later in March.

[gnatharobed]

We had an amazing experience last night at Redwood. With less than 24 hours notice, Chef Antonio generously offered to prepare us a tasting menu to celebrate our 1st anniversary and my parents' 39th anniversary. Chef started us with an amuse of salmon, lobster, and shrimp terrine paired with winter radishes, fennel, oranges and a citrus mustard. The generous portion was larger than any amuse we'd ever seen but no complaints here because it was delicious- delicate and balanced, it was a great sign of things to come. The first course was a beautiful seared rare yellowfin tuna with scallops, japanese eggplant, gold ball turnips, and sunchokes with a balsamic vinegar reduction. Luckily, Chef had printed us personalized menus so I didn't have to remember every element of each dish. The peppery tuna complemented the balsamic reduction perfectly.

Next was my favorite course, housemade bratwurst & pork loin, with apples, amish sauerkraut, kielbasa broth and spicy mustard. Apples and pork are such a classic pairing but Chef really elevated this combination by using both cooked and raw apples. The loin was so tender I thought it was prepared sous vide but Chef said he brined it slightly to give it that supple mouth feel. The next course was a duo of ribeye and hangar steak with green tomato chutney, potato puree and a decadent foie gras sauce. We were all stuffed at this point but finished every last bite! The chutney's acidity cut the richness of the steak, foie sauce and buttery potatoes beautifully.

Chef has a strong sense for seasoning. Each course was flavorful and interesting, never salty or one-note. Chef served each course, giving us detailed explanations about the preparation and answering any questions we had. His passion for food and attention to detail and care he puts into every element is inspiring. Thank you Chef for making our anniversary dinner truly unforgettable!

[Colin Brennan]

I was in for a quick bar snack last week.

So, just to set expectations, the menu hasn't changed at all yet. Not that this is BAD - the food there before was fine and well executed, just not a draw if you're not in the area.

From what I originally heard, he was rolling out a new bar menu at the end of this month. However, since this promotion says "preview of the new bar menu", I wonder if that's been delayed a bit.

A new dinner menu was not expected until later in March.

We're going to put the majority of Antonio's new bar menu items on early next week and transition completely on March 13th. Dinner menu changes still slated for late March.

[darkstar965]

Hey Colin,

I'm one of the many here who'll definitely be heading up Redwood way to check this out soon. Very exciting.

Only if time permits, would you mind sharing just a few thoughts on why the full dinner menu will be more than a month away? I ask solely because I'm interested and suspect any detail you can share would be a bit educational for many here and drive respect and appreciation levels even higher for what you and other better restaurants do when bringing great chefs on board. What will happen to design and test the menu before it goes public?

Really looking forward to this. And thanks so much for engaging with the board here!

[Antonio Burrell]

Hey Colin,

I'm one of the many here who'll definitely be heading up Redwood way to check this out soon. Very exciting.

Only if time permits, would you mind sharing just a few thoughts on why the full dinner menu will be more than a month away? I ask solely because I'm interested and suspect any detail you can share would be a bit educational for many here and drive respect and appreciation levels even higher for what you and other better restaurants do when bringing great chefs on board. What will happen to design and test the menu before it goes public?

Really looking forward to this. And thanks so much for engaging with the board here!

I would be glad to answer this...

It breaks down in two mindsets on how you change over chefs and change the food.

One way to change chefs and menus is to do it as fast as possible. Like ripping off a band-aid. The idea being that the change has been needed for awhile and therefor the quicker the change over the better. This can often lead to rushed and incomplete menu ideas, poor execution and general chaos for all involved.

Another way to change chefs is to let them get acclimated to their surroundings, how the kitchen works, how the kitchen staff is, get to know what the likes and dislikes of the clientele are. I generally favor this method. What takes so long when you are talking about how we are approaching the revamping of the dinner menu is that we are extensively testing menu ideas and perfecting the recipes so they are consistent. We run the items as specials and have the servers solicit feedback. One of the biggest challenges that each chef faces when doing a new menu for an existing place is training the staff on cooking the new items, how they should taste, how they should be plated and whether or not the timing it takes to produce the dish is inline with the other dishes on the menu. It can be a fairly complicated process sometimes. Then after you have sorted out all of that, comes the seasonal consideration. We are testing and trying out new dishes with an eye towards spring, eagerly anticipating all the new produce that will come and that honestly is why it's taking so much longer than the bar menu. We are really just waiting to make the changes to fall in line with the seasons.

[Justin Bittner]

Congrats Antonio on the new position, hope it serves you well. Who knew you were so well spoken, I've only ever heard you speak after a few too many Jameson's. Anyway brother wish you the best and ill be by to say hey.

[darkstar965]

I would be glad to answer this...

It breaks down in two mindsets on how you change over chefs and change the food.

One way to change chefs and menus is to do it as fast as possible. Like ripping off a band-aid. The idea being that the change has been needed for awhile and therefor the quicker the change over the better. This can often lead to rushed and incomplete menu ideas, poor execution and general chaos for all involved.

Another way to change chefs is to let them get acclimated to their surroundings, how the kitchen works, how the kitchen staff is, get to know what the likes and dipslikes of the clientele are. I generally favor this method. What takes so long when you are talking about how we are approaching the revamping of the dinner menu is that we are extensively testing menu ideas and perfecting the recipes so they are consistent. We run the items as specials and have the servers solicit feedback. One of the biggest challenges that each chef faces when doing a new menu for an existing place is training the staff on cooking the new items, how they should taste, how they should be plated and whether or not the timing it takes to produce the dish is inline with the other dishes on the menu. It can be a fairly complicated process sometimes. Then after you have sorted out all of that, comes the seasonal consideration. We are testing and trying out new dishes with an eye towards spring, eagerly anticipating all the new produce that will come and that honestly is why it's taking so much longer than the bar menu. We are really just waiting to make the changes to fall in line with the seasons.

Wow! Don, how does one nominate a post for Post of the Year? :-) I LOVE this post; particularly that it's from a talented and crazily busy chef. Thanks so much, Chef Burrell. This is exactly what I was hoping to learn.

There are some obvious takeaways here for someone like me who appreciates good food, is informed (but far from expert) and, while well aware of Chef Burrell's great rep (and fried chicken!), has never had his food. Redwood is entering a totally new and much better era. The food here is likely to be pretty awesome. The news and future are exciting and very bright. That's all the great but obvious stuff.

Also obvious but worth noting is that Redwood's owners deserve a lot of credit for bringing in a chef like this and then allowing him to do his job. Go figure. :-)

Less obvious-but as exciting to me-is a set of values and business philosophy that is uncommon not just in restaurants but in the business world generally.

Chef's views on business things like:

- understanding and responding to customer needs

- listening first

- developing substantive and productive relationships with customers and colleagues

- training and coaching the others who can make or break a business irrespective of product excellence

- learning from and responding to mistakes in a customer-focused way

...are exemplary. No kidding, the stuff above is very interesting but also unusual and incredibly valuable. For restaurants, other businesses of any kind and even the world's largest companies, governments and non-profits.

Thanks again, Chef Burrell. Like so many others here who know you and your cuisine much better than I do, I can't wait to experience the new Redwood!

[Colin Brennan]

psst... Antonio is making fried chicken! We'll have it for dinner tonight and tomorrow if it last that long.

[DanielK]

psst... Antonio is making fried chicken! We'll have it for dinner tonight and tomorrow if it last that long.

That's great - where did you source the crack he needs for the batter?

[collije]

psst... Antonio is making fried chicken! We'll have it for dinner tonight and tomorrow if it last that long.

Doh, visit coming soon lol

[darkstar965]

psst... Antonio is making fried chicken! We'll have it for dinner tonight and tomorrow if it last that long.

Geez--you're away unable to check the board for a day or two and this happens! Will the chicken ever appear again?

[Antonio Burrell]

Geez--you're away unable to check the board for a day or two and this happens! Will the chicken ever appear again?

Will have limited orders of dark or white with Mac n cheese and beans of some sort :-)

[Rieux]

I have never eaten in Bethesda, and know nothing about restaurants there, but my brother was at a conference at NIH and wanted to meet close to his hotel. I chose Redwood solely because I had read that Antonio was there on this site. The meal was solid, and the experience good. Living in DC-proper, I LOVED that the restaurant let 2 of us sit at the table when we arrived a half hour early - no "full parties only" rule. It was great to sit near the window, have a glass of wine and relax as we waited for my brother and uncle. I was trying to be healthy in advance of a trip to Italy tomorrow so I went with the spring salad and the black pea hummus. The spring salad was GREAT with ramps, asparagus, beets, etc. I could have eaten two more. The hummus was also delicious and came with cornichon, fresh veggies, olives, in addition to the normal pita bread, which I appreciated. All the others had burgers which they liked. All in all, a lovely evening.

[DanielK]

I owe you guys a writeup from a tasting menu that Antonio did for me a couple of weeks ago, but here's the headline:

Unbelievable dinner, and the pairings were excellent. Go here for the new menu, or ask (in advance) for a special menu, and be prepared to be blown away.

[Antonio Burrell]

well....after much to do and much hard work, both by me and my wonderful staff, we have overhauled the menu. Some of the more popular items we kept, especially at lunch, but it is mostly a new, revamped menu. I am pretty much an idiot when it comes to getting menu's posted to stuff like this but I am sure that they are posted on our website http://www.redwoodbethesda.com/menu.html

Hope to see familar faces, meet some new friends and most of all.....feed some happy people.

-A

[hillvalley]

The lamb slider, on the HH menu for a mere $4, is the best deal in town. The burgers (I had two) were cooked to a perfect medium rare and the goat cheese added just the right amount of creaminess. It comes with chips but when I told the bartender I didn't want any on my second burger she offered to substitute it with a salad. Simple mixed lettuces and a few cherry tomatos, it was the perfect accompaniment. With tax and a generous tip dinner cost $12.

Extra props go to the bartender who realized that I was not in the mood for conversation and kept the annoying old guy sitting near me from trying one too many times to get my attention.

[DonRocks]

Extra props go to the bartender who realized that I was not in the mood for conversation and kept the annoying old guy sitting near me from trying one too many times to get my attention.

Umm ... say hi next time.

[rockcreek]

Oh, SNAP!

All right, we're in. Gonna try to convince the missus to check it out today.

Umm ... say hi next time.

[Antonio Burrell]

So I got to thinking that if I'm going to help a trend jump the shark, I better do it REAL FRICKIN BIG. so I did. Featured in the bar at redwood after 10pm till 11pm and only on Friday and Saturday nights we will be serving a Buttermilk fried chicken breast sandwich on a cornmeal Parmesan waffle with bacon maralade, maple mustard and sharp white cheddar. We are only making 20 a night, that's it. Get there early and reserve some space at the bar and reserve one early (that's a dr.com special hint) and help me make your tummies happy. :-D. I can't seem to figure out how to post a pic here so I'll let someone else post one, I know someone out there has already had one :-)

[DanielK]

I know someone out there has already had one :-)

Yeah, but I had version 1.0, which was a little different than what you posted above. Still awesome, though.

<photo credit to AGM>

[DanielK]

Sad to say that Antonio is no longer at Redwood.

We still had a very nice dinner for 4 there last night, though I will say that there were a couple of small misfires that didn't happen when Antonio was in the kitchen. Our cocktails were fabulous, and appetizers were still all excellent: hushpuppies, wings, fried brussels sprouts, and the BLT salad were all just as I remembered them (though I would say that the salad, at $13 for a moderate portion, is overpriced).

Entrees were a bit more mixed. Fried chicken and mussels & fries were both excellent, though the mashed potatoes with the chicken were closer to whipped than mashed. Spring Orecchiette pasta was cooked perfectly, with a nice array of fresh spring vegetables. But there was almost no seasoning to be found, and the "lemon pea cream" managed to turn into a bland pesto. Fish of the day was an Alaskan Halibut with sesame noodles and shredded vegetables. An otherwise excellent dish was slightly overcooked, and not a bargain at $30.

Desserts, a banana split and peach empanadas, were both excellent (disclaimer: comped by the manager who recognized us.)

I'd go back in a heartbeat for apps and drinks at the bar, but I'd want to see some more consistency with entrees out of the kitchen before I can endorse it as a destination again.

[stockwatch_1999]

That bites. What was that - 6?months? Sound like they also might have either downgraded or don't actually have a replacement yet? This is an expensive location to not to be getting this right after being there for a while.

[rockcreek]

Does nobody have this, or - with no disrespect intended - do people just not care?

[darkstar965]

Has anyone been in the past two years that can comment? Since Chef Burrell left? Recently?

This place has had so much churn and turmoil over since opening it's very tough to keep track of what's going on and whether worthwhile to visit.

Help please. Muchas gracias. :-)

[pras]

I went several months ago and thought it was decent.  The tuna tartare was very enjoyable.

[jandres374]

Redwood still has not re-opened following a water main break.

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2018/Redwood-Hoping-to-Reopen-Soon-after-Pipe-Burst/

Apparently several large tax liens have been filed by both the state and feds. Looking like this one may be shuttered for good.