John W.

Why does that place stay that busy? I went once and it was the most underwhelming meal I've had in this city I think. At least Outback steakhouse made the top 10 steak places. That at least makes this process semi-legit.

I found three more (important ones too) underneath my coffee table. Gordon Ramsey, Georges Perrier and Gray Kunz. I had windered where they went.

Now that's comedy. I am with you on the Santa Lucia stuff. Love it. Was disappointed by a P+H '00 Russian River Pinot today. The alcohol (13.9% or higher I think) just throws it all out of wack. Good nose, but didn't offer much past that. DonRocks and I tasted it again after a spell of being open and first impressions were confirmed. Just didn't do anything for me. And I didn't think it had much to improve on.

84. TK and CT fighting for prime bookshelf space.

Finally made it on Monday night. Kat (Slater's assistant sommelier) joined us. Food was very, very focused and very, very tight. None of the "look at me" ego food either. From memory: Gazpacho of horseradish and dill with goat's yogurt (done tableside) Roasted halibut with spring pea sauce and lime leaf emulsion Tuna carpaccio with pine nuts (awesome presentation) Garam masala braised veal cheeks with golden lentil-squash puree, goat's yogurt and baby cilantro(with all due respect paid to other restaurants, one of the best dishes I've eaten this year) One of us had the scallops with chorizo, which was equally good Cheese - 5, great variety, especially the epoisses that was served in a bowl due to inherent runniness Desserts Baked Alaska with prune? ice cream and armagnac sauce, cherry clafoutis with some kind of warm shake thing, and some chocolate thing (I have an allergy to chocolate) I didn't taste. Was getting a touch foggy at this stage, so apologies for the dessert innacurracies. Wines where paired by Mr. Slipp, all quite nice and appropriate, but escape memory. Yes these guys are my friends, but even so, I left quite impressed.

Feeling/thoughts/absolute seething hatred about Rocco's new show... haiku style.

I'm doing "seared scallops with gingered grits and smoked bacon viniagrette" and "heirloom tomatoes with green curry-coconut emulsion and Asiago cheese." I just hope Jay gives me preferential treatment in the kitchen, being a fellow Kimpton chef and all. I agree with Steve on the fact that a lot of this gets mailed in, but I am quite certain that this lineup will not. It is kind of a big deal. Agree wholeheartedly with the fact that off-site events are tough - I almost always never cook anything (always try to do cold stuff) as it could turn into a trainwreck real quick. But scallops are the easiest thing to cook. I just hope Jamie does her roasted pig, that is good stuff.

Bill; It's in the front of the place, I don't think they take reservations. I went on a Monday a few weeks ago and it was half full or so. I would just call before you are planning on going to see if it's busy or not. It's a good feeling on a Monday, the restaurant isn't open, so it's really mellow. Frank was there that night, I'm not sure he'll be there all the time, but I would guess that he would. I would run and not walk there.

Patio as in outside? It was raining like hell outside. I really like the front area, can't wait for wintertime and Bordeaux etc. I was the guy with the black-haired girl sitting closest to the back dining room.

Our lunch servers are happy, making good money for a 4 hour shift. Kitchen has been rolling, getting it out hot, fast and seasoned. During shift meetings we stress the importance of not making a mistake. M, T and Wed went great, huge (for us) cover counts, quality was there, service, the lot. Today, before the beatings, something didn't feel right. I am pretty superstitious, so I was bit concerned to say the least. At 11:50. (maybe the first order), a wrong entree was ordered, let's say a well done steak instead of something else. Just shut us down. Listening to the printer roll non-stop for the next expletive-laden 90 minutes after that was a sound to behold. We never quite caught up. Cooks often conjure up images of the beatings amassed, today's were certainly not fit for a family show or even cable. But the best one was my garde manger Julio, saying in Spanish "Un Grande Combate." God I hope no mistakes are made tomorrow.

I went on Monday night for cafe. Had a bunch of stuff which was all quite good. Fry plate, haricot vertes, peach and honeyed eggplant salad, noodles with rabbit, roast chicken (killer) and cod with parsley-potato nage. Everything was well seasoned and cooked perfectly. All a value at $9 each. I would expect it to be even better in the dining room. Wine list, albeit short, had quite a few things that I thought were bargains. Drank a '96 Vosne-Romanee, which after it was iced briefly (it was room temp) was delicious for $75 (producer forgotten). Good time, will go back for dining room shortly (haven't been for a few years). Desserts: Cookie/caramel plate and blueberry-sour cream cake with anglaise which where both really simple and really good. I like her caramels a lot. Look forward to your comments, tjaehnigen.

I hope there are not people trying to just do RW week right, might be why they are there in the first place. Steve, excellent response.

I think there are two camps to this in the customer side and the business side. A lot (and I mean a lot) of people let's call them "bridge and tunnel" crowd" are chomping at the bit for this. If one of ten of them return during normal business, I would be pleasantly surprised. How they go on about it seems to be the highlight of their year culinarily. Others, like bilrus for example, seem to have a thought out plan, and will see some places for the first time and he seems to get it. I went once to Tosca during RW, actually forgot it was RW, the hecticness kind of put me off, but we had a great time. Business side of things, there are a few ways to go about it. If you need the business, you pay your fee, you get a shot in the arm $$$ wise for a week or so, but if you do it badly you get beaten online. If you are not good during normal business, you are not good during RW. I'll use Galileo as an example for my next point, as they stick out in my memory as a top-level place that got beaten last time. They (as the opinion goes, I wasn't there so I can't judge) went through the motions (something like pasta bolognese, which if anyone can make it taste good it's Roberto) and got beaten. We open our whole menu, to expose (hopefully) new cusotmers to what we do. We don't have any special menus, we just do what we do for a somewhat lower price. The only thing we alter is our dessert menu, as we can't from a logistical viewpoint keep up with quality and quantity. Conclusion, am I aware that RW has going on in NYC for a long time, and have certainly taken advantage of it (especially Daniel a few years ago). But in DC, I recall RAMW rolling it out for September 11th because the industry was tanking. I really think that when people budget 30.03 plus a glass of wine they miss the whole point of it. Bring something from home or spend some money on wine if you can. Get an after dinner drink. Don't go and spend 38.03 (30.03 plus a glass of the cheapest house wine). You might miss the boat. To do this half-heartedly I think is a bad idea, it could be the only impression a lot of people get about a place. Steve, you guys, and Cashion's are organizations that come to mind not to do it. Besides the obvious strain on service, is there any other reasons why you don't participate? Certainly not a dig, as the community could not ask any more from Jose and Co. Just wanted another viewpoint, as from a cooks angle, the mayhem is not something to look forward to.

The original idea was to boost sales in two trying business times, end of January and end of July. I also think the first one in DC was in October after September 11th. I view it as a giving back to the community thing. Lots of people support us, we give it back to them two weeks a year. There are many restaurants on the RW list that are full regardless, I think they are looking to increase their market by allowing this "preview" at a reasonable price. As for the commitment week-in and week-out, it won't change for one week. The places that go through the motions will certainly be dragged across the coals on several internet sites, so you really have to be on your game. I am not denying the fact that marginal places are doing this to increase business, but a little research and you can cull those out. I am certainly with you on avoiding this week as a diner, but for the masses, I think it's something to look forward to. I certainly couldn't go to signatures or Poste and spend 30.03. I just couldn't do it. Would be much more.

I'm from the other side of the fence. I'll try to answer from a consumer's viewpoint. I would like to say I think it's a great promotion, and has really taken off. As for the food, it varies. Some places will do set menus and offer their a la carte as well, in case you don't want to do RW. We couldn't keep up with the set menu so after a day we gave up and offered our whole damn menu, with a few upcharges as necessary. I've read bad things about places that don't take it seriously in terms of effort. As for options, it varies from place to place, from set menus for RW to just order from the a la carte menu. As for the crowd, imagine that every place that participates to be as busy as say a week after a stellar review from Tom S, maybe worse. It's just that busy. Most people are here for RW, so I would say yes to once a year type crowds. Good experiences? Went to Tosca (with some friends who wanted to participate in RW), ended up having a tasting menu and one lot of wine, considerably more than the 30.03 that they wanted to spend. Oh well. Bad experience? Doing 120-130% capacity for 13 meal periods, having plans to go out on Sunday night, and my grill guy calls in sick, so I end up working grill. I felt like I just put my cat to sleep. That was as empty as a feeling as I'd ever felt. Comedic experience - Having a friend of mine who works at a high-level restaurant call me and say that more than a few people would sit down, order, eat, get the check and try to claim Restaurant Week. Sorry mate. Restaurant week reminds us in this business why we drink so much. But I still think it's a good thing.

I missed that. I really am speechless on this. What a load of garbage that was. But like a true American, I'll be watching next week. Maybe for the same reaons people watch NASCAR, to see the crashes.

I'll drive it over in my new Mitsubishi.

Preach on. Can I buy you a Coor's?

I really think all the fun was missed. The "where in the (expletive deleted) is my kitchen equipment that was supposed to be installed three weeks ago. " Or the "someone stole the silverware, how are we going to replace that in two days" type things. I'll watch next week, just to find out where are those damn clams.

Maybe I missed it, but what does Rocco's business partner lose if they didn't open on time? Only 1/6th into this, but I enjoyed Morimoto's opening show (RAW) much better than this.

I thought it was a piece of crap. Never in my limited experience of opening restaurants (4 in less than 2 years) have I seen construction happening 4 hours before you open. It is simply not allowed. Where is the health/fire inspections? That is a very traumatic experience, even with NBC/AMEX/Coors/Mitusbishi and whoever else backing you. For anyone who has suffered through an opening, and to watch that (oh, just put it on my amex), is a big slap in the face. The over the top commercialism and sensationalism (dig the changing room t+a scene) is just too much. Not enough 18 hour days and obvious alcohol abuse for me. Hope it makes for great viewing. Makes me want to rush out and open another one because it's sooooooooooo easy.

Tom's review here

I think it's going to encompass Carribbean, Mexican, and South American cuisines. I really can't remember my last discussion with Tunks, but I remember a lot of talk about ceviches. What was the address approximately?

Don't forget Jeff Tunk's new place downtown (I think) too.

Notice there are Johm W and John W. I stay away from any negative posts. It gets difficult sometimes, but I do. Steve brought up a great number of good points. I feel very comfortable having Tom as our critic of note. I feel he takes chances and is commited to furthering the reputation of DC as a dining town (or at least as far as the chefs take us). He reviewed a couple of bars (Topaz and Rouge) last year. Agreed on the NC comments as well. I was kind of shocked to see even Eve do it. I really enjoy the one-two punch so to speak of Eve and Tom. The more coverage the better. As much as Jose has done in this city, do you think there ever was a chance it would be "relegated" to the Friday section? Tapas/Mezze or not, anything you guys do deserves a very high level of recognition.