vengroff
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Posts posted by vengroff
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I haven't stopped in to the new location yet and wondered what effect opening in a much larger space, in that part of Georgetown, would have on the quality and detail of the product as was apparent at the small P Street space. I look inside the new space and sense a Bertucci's corporate vibe. Have you been to both Vengroff and are you in a position to compare?
I have now been to the Georgetown location. We stopped in before catching a movie. Unlike the original location, there was no line out the door, even on a prime weekend evening. Also unlike the original location, the pizza was a mess. Just about everything was lost in the translation, and I'm certainly not eager to go back.
One of our pizzas came out with a huge burnt bubble occupying about 1/3 of it's surface. The others all had much thicker and wider outer crusts than I had ever had at the original. Toppings were applied haphazardly and very unevenly, leaving spots of plain dough showing through in some places and big cold piles of toppings in other places on the same pie.
Service was also quite slow and inatentive.
If I didn't know better, I would never imagine that there was any common ownership or management of the two locations.
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This weekend we brought some vegetarian guests to Cafe Atlantico for brunch. We had the vegetarian tasting menu. I had enjoyed dinner at Cafe Atlantico before, but the bruch was, without question, even better. There were one or two places, like the potato foam, where I might have appreciated a bit of animal protien, but other than that it was fantastic.
The meal was structured around a series of collections of small dishes. Two to four dishes would be presented at a time, in a succession designed to provide a full spectrum experience in each course. Many of the dishes we had have been discussed above, but I'll mention a few that I think merit special attention.
First, there was the pinapple with olive oil and cripsy plantains. The pinapple was shaved paper thin, then formed into bite-sized flowers reminiscent of the ginger one sees with sushi. It was drizzled with a nice fruity olive oil and then sprinked with crispy bits of fried plantian. It was eaten with chopsticks, dim-sum dumpling style. The crunch accent over a smooth underlying texture was a motif repeated in a number of other dishes, and it worked really well in most all of them. The sweetness of the pinapple and the fruitiness of the olive oil worked well together, blending into a new and interesting flavor in which each did its part.
Another really special dish was the famous jicama-arugala roll. It may be blasphemous to say so, but the roll itself was not the special part. Instead, it was the accompanying salad of sweet corn, cabralas cheese and crispy quinoa that did it for me. Again, it was a set of textures and flavors working together to create something really new and interesting.
I also really enjoyed was the egg with veracruz sauce. This was a soft fried egg over a dense ragu of tomato and olives. Cracking the yolk and allowing it to meld with the vegetables creates a beautiful thick velvety consitency.
Huitlacoche quesadillas and guacamole made table-side were two dishes that stood out on the menu for their simplicity, but they were excellent examples of their genres. A thick custardy Brazillian french toast filled with a mild cheese was also a favorite at the table.
I rarely ever go out for brunch because it is generally predictable and uninteresting, not to mention poorly executed. That is absolutely not the case here. Faced with the choice of brunch at Cafe Atlantico or dinner almost anywhere else in town, I'd take the brunch. It is an incredibly exciting meal.
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One approach could be to start with this year's James Beard Award "Best Chef" nominees for the Mid-Atlantic region--four of five nominated are from DC: Peter Pastan at Obelisk, Jose Andres at Jaleo, Todd Gray at Equinox and Ann Cashion at Cashion's Eat Place.
I was disappointed by Equinox, but that was over a year ago. Jose, of course, is the man. I've been looking forward to trying Cashion's for a while, but have not made it yet. Can't say I know much about Pastan. Jay Comfort probably belongs on the list too.
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Throw in Fabio Trabocchi from Maestro--who picked up the Beard "Rising Star" nod--assuming he stays here and isn't the chef Tom Sietsema referred to in his last online chat as moving up and out of the area.
I have been worried since I read that that Fabio might be the one.
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Let's not forget eGulleteers Kathleen Purvis of the Charlotte Observer and Grant Achatz of Trio also got Beard nominations. Congratulations Steve, Grant and Kathleen. (Zaytinya picked up a Best New Restaurant nod as well.)
Congratulations, all!
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I routinely use a 12" knife, but I have large hands. Once I got used to the 12", the old 8" seemed like a toy.
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Read the excellent Kitchen Scale Manifesto by Barney the Dinosaur, err Vengroff.
Thanks for the plug. The manifesto is still being edited, but a final version will be available by the time the eGullet Recipe Archive goes beta.
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I've never before had the urge to drive to West Virginia for any reason,
but this article piqued my curiosity. Give a full report if you decide to make the trek. The only thing I'm scared of is running into Tyler Florence's film crew. At least I know I won't run into him, since he doesn't actually go to the festivals he covers; he just does the voice overs later. I'm afraid it's Tyler Florence, not Emeril, who is the true the anti-Bourdain.
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Looks like I got scooped by the Post!!! The Great Ramp Hunt by Lynne Shaner.
I swear I had not seen this article when I started this thread.
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I was reminded by another thread that the short ramp season is all but upon us. As long as I have known what a ramp was, I have looked forward to this time of year.
A quick google shows that there are a number of ramp festivals coming up. In particular, there are several in West Virginia that seem close enough to DC to be worth a trip. These include the Mason-Dixon Ramp Feast in Morgantown, the International Ramp Cook-off and Festival in Randolph County, and the Feast of the Ramson in Richwood.
I've eaten ramps at home when I can get them and at upscale places like Gramercy Tavern, but this seems like a chance to get back to the roots, as it were. Ramps on their home turf, freshly pulled from the mud.
Have any eGulleteer been to one of these? Am I overly romanticizing what these events are like?
[Edit: Note that a couple of those web sites are from last year, but the festivals are on for this year.]
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One of the more interesting features of the Washington Post's food section web site is that users can post their own reviews. It's always instructive to see what Washington diners think and whether it jives with my impressions. Here's the entry for Cafe Atlantico.
As you can see, it gets 2 stars out of 4 from Post readers. The reviews are split between very favorable and very unfavorable ones. Some of the bad reviews cite small portions for the price. If you look through the Post user reviews in general, you will see this complaint over and over and over again. It's as if price per pound is the metric of quality in this town. I pretty much universally dismiss these. The other complaints all seem to have to do with service. I haven't personally had a problem with service there, but others seem to have.
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What are the criteria for rising star? Total unknowns? What about young chefs who already have a name, but still have places to go?
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I think it makes sense to extend the deadline a bit. There are a lot of good seats left in almost all sections. The new confirmation deadline is Tue 18 March (one week from today) at 5pm, unless availability starts thinning out, in which case I will make a grab. Please confirm sooner rather than later to ensure you get in if this happens.
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Well, the game isn't exactly a sellout yet. Ticketmaster is offering me club box seats on the 3rd base line (sec. 254) for $45 a pop. Excellent seats, and if my beloved Mariners were in town, I'd take them. Lower reserved, (sec 29) are $25. Upper box seats (sec 334) are $20. We could also drop down to below $10 for nosebleeds.
Currently, it's me, Varmint, Holly, hjshorter, and possibly KatieLoeb?
What is your preference for seating/pricing? I'll buy tickets for all who confirm via PM to me by Thursday 5pm.
Here's a map of the stadium:
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Argh! Amazon.com does not ship kitchen products to Canada. Any helpful suggestions on where to buy this in New York when we are there next week?
Broadway Panhandler in Soho.
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I've decided on the All clad petite roti stainless steel pan.
How do I order through Amazon so that egullet gets the credit?
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Let me guess, the recipe for Military Special rum is Military Special vodka plus sugar? Don't ask how Military Special vodka is made. It can probably be used to fuel military jets in a pinch.
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Excellent report Mr. Shaw. My current faves at Zaytinya are the squid with spinach and the stuffed cabbage. Did you try the latter, with the olive oil and lemon foam? The dates, of course, are incomparable.
As for the crema Catalana at Jaleo, I would never have ordered it without the "new way" moniker, and the waiter's subsequent description. "Trust me," he said, "it is served in a new way that you have not had before." I actually appreciated that more than I would have a more detailed description, because each layer I encountered was refreshing and new. With all due respect to Steve Klc, whose desserts are stupendous, I hope the crema can retain a position on the menu as an honorary classic.
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I'm in for crab and baseball, and 30/70 for being able to make it on Wednesday also.
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In the onion people vs. garlic people debate, where do the shallot people fit in?
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The other chef in the DC area who I think is working at the top of his game, although it is a different game than Jose's, is Fabio Trabocchi at Maestro. To be fair, though, I have only had one meal of his, whereas I have now had a total six at Jose's three restaurants.
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Are you sure it was caul, not caul fat? The latter is a webby membrane of fat often used to wrap other foods before roasting.
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So what's the time frame for the sushi bar? And (hopefully not showing too much ignorance here) what exactly is Latino sushi? Ceviche? Sashimi with jicama in place of daikon? Perhaps something along the lines of Nobu's new-style sashimi, but using a hot oil infused with Latin spices? Something based on a creation of the Japanese population of Peru?
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Another vote for shallots and stock. I think veal stock would be fine. The port should be a flavoring agent in the sauce, not the whole of the sauce.
I don't have Tom Colicchio's Think Like a Chef in front of me, but I think his section on making pan sauces is excellent.
Hoarding for War, Shopping for the Apocalypse
in Restaurant Life
Posted
Personally, I find it hard to imagine a situation in which I would be safe from harm locked up in my house for a week, but would have no access to any source of food or water outside my home, or transportation to a location where such a source would be available. That being said, I'm sure I have more than enough to eat and drink for a week in the house.