Mark Sommelier

James Beard Foundation Best New Restaurant!! Winner!!!

Use it in an omelette.

Soy and butter are my favorite way of flavoring Brussel Sprouts!

WRONG, for many reasons.

John, I have lived here and worked in the fine dining business for 30 years. I read all the responses after yours yesterday and confidently say that they are all wrong. There is no indiginous cuisine here that is unique to DC. Crappy, greasy half-smokes are available in every direction for hundred of miles. Shad and shad roe are a greater Chesapeake-James River specialty and are enjoyed in Richmond and Baltimore, too. Washington has changed so much and so often in the past 50 years that it's impossible to say what local cooking is about. The only consideration anymore when dining out in DC is : is the food edible and the service half good? Sorry to sound so negative. The local eatery that satisfies your criteria: Old Glory in Georgetown. Chinatown has some good places but is scary at the same time. Go to Peru for Peruvian chicken, please.

Brunch at Brasserie Beck was really great a few weekends ago. Full menu plus brunch menu. Nothing like starting brunch with a huge shellfish platter.

Palena restaurant, not cafe. It's too good. Beck and Central are both great but very different. New Heights has fried oysters, Equinox doesn't. Simple.

If you aren't flying business class, where the booze and snacks are FREE, this place is a good alternative.

Not always the case. ← Then move to a restaurant where they do. The wine staff must have an incentive to sell, upsell, or just get out there on the floor and push product - Lord knows that they also do a lot of related work before, and after, service. The wine staff should get, in pay, 10% of all wine sales - we've done it that way for thirty years. ← Damn! I wanna work in a place that pays 10%!

For wait staff? Much less. ← @ $3.50 hour + tips

I discovered that "tartine" is French for "really skimpy sandwich". You learn something new everyday!

doesn't she run one of puck's restaurants? ask michel, he'll know. ← After she crashes her 1) car, or 2) career, she may well. I still don't know why she's "famous".

This whole argument is a straw man. Why are these chefs "celebrities"? Because the media writes about them often and a lot. How bizarre to help create these celebrities and then complain that that's all you read about. I guess that's how things work these days. I am annoyed every time I see or hear about Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, and I still don't know who the hell Lindsay Lohan is or why I should care about her.

You obviously work in a really small restaurant, right?

Adam came to Citronelle from the Inn at Little Washington by way of Komi. Derek and Adam swapped jobs about 3 months ago.

Emulsion is a specific method. If the sauce is prepared like the recipe in Happy in the Kitchen, then it's actually a reduction, not an emulsion. ← ??

Yes.

Charles, you are right. The reason is that I stopped providing them with the list to "analyze" because they got so hung up on the pricing and downplayed the selection. I had some very heated email exchanges with the former food editor and his wine writer.

The Four Seasons Hotel serves the only fine dining lunch in Georgetown on Saturday. The restaurant is called Seasons. You may also like the Bistro Français on M St. Avoid the waterfront at all costs!

The building that Galileo is in currently will be gutted to the frame starting in early September. The restaurant is moving to the space where Oyamel was in Crystal City. You'll have to call them about your gift certificate.

"Man does not live by bread alone"

Snake River Grill is considered the best in town. Go for dinner. You should have a lunch at Amanganni. It sits on a ridge overlooking the valley and has stunning views of the Grand Tetons. If weather permits, you can sit outside. The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is a hoot. Very busy bar with a band doing covers in the back. Lots of local color.

The cost of living in Las Vegas is way lower than in DC.

Both restaurants are open all afternoon and are pretty quiet after 2. Very relaxing. Don't miss the croquettas at Jaleo!