bilrus

Given several choices, my visiting mother chose to go to Ceiba last weekend - based mainly on the website and menu. The food did not disappoint, although I am not sure she warmed completely to the idea of ceviches. One of the entrees we ordered was the Shrimp on sugar cane skewers. This was the first time we have had this and it was the best of the night. I love shrimp when they have that snap when you bite into them. These were perfectly cooked and well seasoned. We also had the opportunity to sample several of the desserts and the key lime mereungue pie was tart and sweet and nice to look at, too. The only miss of the night for me was the Ribeye with Chimichurri. It was a nice piece of meat, but I could ahve used about three times more of the chimichurri. But one miss out of all the food we had, and the ability to satisfy three very different diners makes for a winner in my book.

Could the idea of being disappointed at not having the 'celebrity chef' in the kitchen be an indictment of the idea of the 'celebrity chef'?

He also often uses the quotes around foriegn language (mostly French) phrases.

Neisha Thai at the Tyson's Corner Mall is pretty good. Colvin Run is very good and would be my first choice in the immediate area for more upscale. Clyde's is probably the best of the local mini-chains.

Sure.

The best butt/shoulder (whateveer you want to call it it was really good smoked) I have had in a while anywhere came from my grill via Wegmans last month.

Great beef cooked perfectly. A simple description of a place that does what it does well. I was disappointed that the hash brown, German fried potatoes were not available for lunch, but thought the french fries were very good. The bacon was a little fatty (I know, it *is* bacon) but had great flavor and a nice chewy texture. The tomatoes and onions were serviceable to add a light note to the rest of the heavy food. And I actually liked the sauce as a salad dressing that I bought a bottle to bring home. And thanks to everyone for the suggestion of taking 278 to get back to the Turnpike. Mapquest got me screwed up going there, but we had no problem heading home.

But that is hardly ever (never) the reality. What you are saying is true though. Each incremental improvement towards perfecting something will add exponentially more expense and value. Even at Per Se, we had inititally thought about going with just a glass or two of wine to keep the costs lower but we reconsidered - why not spend the little bit more to heighten the enjoyment that much more. And on the wine - I commented a few times that the quantity of wine to food ratio was tilting in favor of the wines. I found myself (not a small guy or a lightweight by any stretch) a little silly by the end of the evening after the pairings, a glass of champagne in the lounge and two glasses of wine that my wife didn't enjoy or finish.

I wanted to go through our courses on the veg menu, so I thought I would just do both at the same time. Veg - tomato "paste" with Italian spices on cone Chefs - Salmon tartare with red onion crème fraiche on cone The tomato cone was the one course I didn't get to try. But my wife liked it better than the Salmon cone from FL. The salmon cone was good as always. Veg - Spring Onion Soup - Sweet Onion 'Vermicelli' and Chive 'Mousse' Chef - Potato Blini with Chive Butter and Osetra Caviar I didn't enjoy the Oysters and Pearls at French Laundry, so I asked for a substitution on this course. If everyone is familiar with silver-dollar pancakes, these were nickel pancakes. Perfectly cooked and the caviar added a salty note to the dish without overpowering. The Spring Onion soup was fantastic, layers of onion flavor and quite rich. Veg - Ribbons of Jicama - Haas avocado Emulsion, Persian Lime Gelee and Upland Cress Chef - Hawaiian Hearts of palm - Confit of field rhubarb and perigord truffle coulis The jicama salad looked like ribbons of fettuccine, so the crunchy texture, although expected, was a bit of a surprise. The flavors were reminiscent of guacamole. The Hearts of palm was probably the weakest of the courses in our mind. Nothing memorable and the various elements didn't seem 'pulled together'. This was a complaint in most of the courses that were not great. Veg - Warm Salad of Green Asparagus - Satur Farms Icicle Radish, Garden Mache and Perigord Truffles Chef - Crispy Skin Black Bass - Italian Eggplant, Sultanas and Madras Curry Emulsion The fish was one of the highlights of the Chef's menu, in particular the curry emulsion. I don't remember much of the Asparagus, so I guess that says it wasn't great. Veg - Forest Mushroom a la Greque - with baby artichokes and garden herbs Chef - Sweet butter Poached Lobster "Cuit Sous Vide - with Globe artichokes, Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Picholine Olives and Spicy Lobster broth Just as at French Laundry, I didn't love the lobster - just too chewy. The artichokes were the star of the Veg dish here. A flavor memory that sticks with me three days later. Veg - Chou Fleur Roti Entier - 'Saupiquet' of green almonds, California Raisins, Fried Capers and 'Verjus' Chef - Braised Hallow Farms Young Rabbit Shoulder "Farcie aux Ris de Veau" - 'Confiture' of Kumquat, melted fennel bulb and Green Almonds The Rabbit was the best dish of the night, but I love rabbit. It was intensely flavorful and stuffed with the other ingredients. The cauliflower was another standout, with the sweetness from the raisins and the saltiness of the capers accented the relative blandness of the cauliflower. Veg - Gateaux d'Aubergine - Tomato Confit, Nicoise Olives, Country Bread Croutons, Roasted Sweet Peppers, Spring Garlic Coulis and Shaved Basil Chefs - Snake River Farms "Calotte de Boeuf Grilee' - Yukon Gold Potato Mille Feuille, Sautéed Chanterelle Mushrooms, Wilted Baby Spinach, Crispy Bone Marrow and Sauce Bordelaise. I really liked the Eggplant dish - it was reminiscent of eggplant parmesan. My wife didn't, but she doesn't like eggplant in general. The beef was a little chewy, but this was a traditional steak-house dinner in miniature, although the sauce was practically non-existent. I don't really like marrow (especially after a recent thread about its biological uses). But it did fascinate me that they could remove this perfect inch long tube of marrow and fry it crispy. As if they could take butter without a batter and deep fry it without it losing its consistency. Veg - Azeitao - Spring Three Bean Salad with rosemary-infused extra Virgin Olive Oil Chefs - Chabichuo - Gelee de Pomme verte, Satur Farms Red beets and English Walnut Shortbread The Chabichou cheese was very good, but the rest of the dish was wildly incompatible. Nothing enhanced anything else - almost four disparate elements on the plate. The Azeito was very mild and creamy, but the bean salad would have stood on its own as a regular course. Overall this was the weakest of the courses. Veg - Old Chatham Sheep's milk yogurt Sorbet - Beet essence 'Genoise' and Candied beets Chefs - Pineapple sorbet - with braised Pineapple and Haas Avocado "Coulis' Both of these were just OK. The pineapple sorbet was good, but the braised pineapple didn't do much. The beets and avocado in these desserts only served to add to the 'Strange" quotient. Veg - Valrhona Chocolate 'Velours' Ginger infused Custard and preserved Meyer Lemon 'Granite' Chefs - 'Tentation au Chocolate, noisette et lait' - Milk Chocolate "Cremeux", Hazelnut Streusel, Condensed Milk Sorbet and Sweetened Salty Hazelnuts and "Pain au Lait' Sauce As I mentioned earlier the Milk Chocolate Cremuex was the single most memorable component of any dish we had. The dessert with the Veg menu was another case of elements that didn't really enhance each other much. So in retrospect I would say that five of the courses were misses and seven or eight were truly memorable. The rest ranged from good to very good.

We did enjoy the entire experience overall. It was one of the more enjoyable meals and evenings we have had - not perfection, but excellence nonetheless. The smiles on our face didn't leave from the first bite of Yuzu popcorn in the lounge until they handed us our menus as we walked out the door. As has been discussed, I think value is hard to define. For nearly four hours of happiness on our anniversary, $600 was worth it. Was it three times better than our Pasta Tasting at Babbo the next night? Probably not. But then again I think that Babbo is an excellent value. Not in terms of cost of the food to what you pay, but in terms of overall satisfaction. Per Se is similar - the food is excellent, but you are paying for everything else - the pampering, the buzz of being in a great restaurant, the little extras. In the end I would say you are getting what you are paying for. As for whether we would go back, I don't see that happening for some time, if ever. I assume that if we lived in New York I might look at it differently, but only getting into the city two or so times a year, there are still a lot of other restaurants, both high-end and mid-range that I still want to try. That also has more to do with the fact that even here in DC, there are only a few, mid-range places that we go to on a repeat basis. I would rather spread my high-end, big-budget dinners over several deserving places.

I was pretty impressed with the Whole Foods (unlike the rest of the center which ranged from average to strange).

I am just getting caught up on the thread after our little trip to New York which included dinner at Per Se on Sunday evening. The room itself was spectacular - a modernist contrast, but still warm counterpoint to the French Laundry. We were seated in the second row of seats so our view was the Columbus statue and the treetops of Central Park - no construction in sight. If not for the buildings on the East side of the park, you wouldn't have known you were in the city at all. We ordered one each of the Vegetable and the regular Chef's tasting and switched plates midway during each course. This was a nice way to be able to sample twice as many dishes. The Vegetable tasting menu had several highlights although I might not have been completely happy if I hadn't had some meat and fish mixed in. I don't have our menu with me, but I will go through it once I do since I haven't seen anyone discuss that menu yet. I was surprised to hear any problems with the wine service - ours was just right. We did the pairing which was $75 per person with each of us having a different - with only one course were we served the same wine and there was one other in common. My wife prefers whites (and on the sweeter, milder side) and the sommelier was very accommodating. She enjoyed several of the so much that we asked if he could jot down the ones she liked. He returned with a typed list of each of the wines each of us had. Like the handwritten menu above - a very nice touch, above and beyond what would be expected. He also said he remembered us from our visit to the French Laundry last November (maybe a fib, but it was a nice touch as well). Service-wise, I was surprised that we probably had at least 15 different staff members serve us in one capacity or another from the time we walked in until the time we left. I enjoyed the desserts, which seems to be the exception. A quenelle of Milk Chocolate mousse (If something that creamy can be called a mousse) that came with the Chef's menu was a highpoint to end on. Another interesting thing was that at French Laundry I thought the bread course was rather perfunctory - you need some bread so here it is. At Per Se, I think they put more emphasis on it, bring the basket around several times. And about three times during dinner they circulated with trays of the best Parker House rolls I have ever seen. About 1/4 the size of a standard roll, I'm not sure which was more buttery, the rolls or the butter itself. I realized though that the emphasis of the bread course both at Per Se and French Laundry appears to be the artisan butters that are served with the bread rather than the breads themselves. Anyway - I'll post some on the Veg menu when I dig it out of the luggage.

If I was someone selling a product - I'm not sure I would feel victimized by a clamor for my product. Ann Amernick was hammered on this board not long ago for the same attitude on her doughnuts.

Johnny's Half Shell does a nice Fish and Chips - and the shrimp on the Po Boy are damn good. Don't know if they do them off the sandwich, but they might.

I'm embarrased to say that I had dinner tonight at Don Pablo's (I know, I know - it was a favorite back in my pre-eGullet days). Reading this makes me really pissed at myself for eating there.

I think being a chef also involves both procurement and doing things the right way once the food is in the restaurant. Given the same pristine ingredients one chef can make a meal at their restaurant feel like eating off of the produce bins at a farmers market (which can be agood thing, but not what you want in a restaurant). Another chef can do just enough to the same ingredients to make them more than the sum of their parts. There is a place for both the simple and the complex in the food world.

I'd be interested to see what he has to say about this. I was thinking of posting a related question in the Post chat today.

I have eaten at a number of very nice, well known, high end restaurants over the last few years. But for some reason the menu at Maestro intimidates me. I don't know if it is my lack of familiarity with the Italian language (as opposed to French), or not enough knowledge about the ingredients being used. But in the back of my mind there is a bit of nervousness about ordering something I don't want. The funny thing is that aside from offal and small bits of things with lots of bones (like the frog at Full Kee) there is very little I won't eat - or at least try.

I am going for the first time for my birthday next month. I am pretty damn excited.

Thanks everyone for the driving advice. This is just one of the reasons I love eGullet.

There's lots and lots of parking around the restaurant. You don't need to use their valet system (whatever that is). The neighborhood isn't the scary wasteland it once was. is there a valet in front of the restaurant? if so, i'll do that as it's nice and easy. I'm with you on that, Tommy.

Drive to Luger's. The subways have been spotty on weekends lately due to service and maintenance.

My wife and I are going to Luger's next Tuesday on our short trip to NYC. After plowing through this thread I'm not sure which meal I am looking more forward to. A repeat of our favorite meal last year at Babbo, our long-awaited trip to Per Se or steak and bacon at Luger's. It is going to be lunch on our last day and we pretty much need to leave to drive back to DC ASAP after the meal. Is it reasonable to get the car out of hock at the hotel garage and drive to Luger's and then out of the city or is it wiser to subway there and back and get the car out of the garage after the meal? We are going at 11:45 am and are staying at the Barclay Intercontinental at 48th and Park Ave.

I like a cold Dr. Pepper with mine.

I'm a soft taco person too, but didn't know they'd divvy them up like this. What do they charge you for that? Is there even a button for such a mix on their registers??? It never seems to cause them any consternation at the register. I think they just charge for whatever the most expensive of the three is. I think they are all within $.20 of each other.