ExpatRaver

I finally made it to Komi. I've been wanting to go since I posted the thread saying that "Kumi" was opening soon. (Whoops!) Anyhow, I'll give all the details before I start talking the place up. We had a lovely little tasting menu offered us by Chef/Owner Johnny Molise. The amuse was a teacup of granny smith apple soup, a bit heavy on the salt, but lovely still. Our first course of the evening was gorgeous, three little scallop shooters served in their shells with cuccumber-watermelon water, salmon roe, and a spicy kick of mustard oil. They were beautifully refreshing and zesty. Next came three perfect little napoleons of tuna, cucumber, and watermelon. Each layer was brushed with zesty herbs (I believe a bit of wasabi was in the mix.) and a leaf of chocolate mint topped each one. Next came beautifully prepared bass, complete with crispy skin, and a perfect texture. The filet rested on crispy fingerling potatos, edamame, and a lobster emulsion (definitely a highlight of the meal, it tasted like movie-theater popcorn). The last savory course was a crispy pork belly served with baby turnips, apples, and brussel sprouts. Now, it should be noted here that I like neither turnips nor brussel sprouts overmuch. I loved these. The turnips were mild and delightfully crunchy, and the brussel sprouts were definitely not the ones my mother insisted that I eat as a child. (I'm not quite sure it was even the same vegetable.) As a southerner I am particularly persnickity about my pork. The meat must be a perfect texture, the right amount of fat must be left on, etcetera, etcetera. This was as good as it gets, folks. Komi is also joining the ranks of restaurants in DC doing a real cheese course. Five distinctly different and fun cheeses from all over the world. I don't know how many times I said "Just one more bite and then take it away." Dessert was a super-high-fi hot cocoa with house made doughnuts to dip into it. Brilliant. Beverage wise Evan, the dining room manager, set us up with a lovely bottle of Jossmeyer Riesling, from Alsace (a favorite of mine) which worked well with all the food. With the pork we had a very pleasant half bottle of Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir (don't remember the vintage). Very nice. The entire wine list is under $60 and very food friendly. The service was very friendly and casual. And I highly reccomend going in for lunch or dinner.

Went in a couple of weeks ago to give it a go, and I wasn't disappointed. I still haven't been in for a full meal, but I had some bar menu stuff. The trout was a really well seasoned fillet, my only objection was that the cole slaw was diced in a brunoisse instead of julianned or shreded. I'm a southern purist on this point. The hush puppies had a nice texture, and the custard brulee was devine with a bit of black pepper ground into the sugar before caramelizing. Doug, the wine director, has done a good job of compiling an interesting list, especially heavy in Terry Theise wines (happy about that). I was also extremely happy with the cheese selection, and the clever cheese menu. Charles (the waiter who handles the cheese presentation) was very knowledgeable. I'll definitely be back in sooner than later.

I haven't had the chicken at Palena yet (heard it's great many times before), but I can think of three ways to accomplish the skin. The first (and most old school) is to rotisire it, the second (and best for whole chickens) is to do it in a convection oven, and the third (which works well for half chickens or breasts) is to cook it in the oven and crisp the skin side in a salamander.

Did you have Jamison's pumpkin-butternut squash soup at Nectar yet? Mmm... sweetbreads. Delicious... In once a week and all you ever get is cheese... tut tut.

Last night a friend of mine and I went to the soft re-opening of Tahoga. Well, things could've gone a bit better. I'll be as lenient as a soft opening warrants, meaning, I won't rip on anything relating to stock, just food and service. We showed up a bit later than we meant to, so after apologizing profusely we were seated near the bar. All of the tables were preset with two forks, two knives, b&b plates, napkins, and stemware for champagne, water, and wine. We decided to forego the bubbly and go straight for a white. Our waiter brought out a 2002 Touraine (Loire Valley Sauv Blanc). He promptly filled my friend's wine glass, moved to a position from which he could reach mine, and filled my water glass. He didn't even seem to notice that the two pieces of stemware were dramatically different, and then he left. The wine wasn't particularly interesting besides being thoroughly overextracted. No bread had arrived. Our waiter came back to take our order, and at our request brought water. We ordered, and waited for a few minutes. Still no bread. For our first courses I had a gazpacho with avocado and rock shrimp, and my friend had a pizzetta with foie gras, figs, some kind of mushroom, balsamic reduction, and watercress. If this sounds like too many flavors, don't worry, you couldn't taste anything over the slathering of syrupy balsamic. The gazpacho balanced the pizzetta out by simply tasting like nothing, though the rock shrimp and avocado thrown in the center of the dish were nice. Our second courses were respectively filet mignon (billed as one-side char-broiled filet) over what I described as a "big ol' pile" of rattatouie and a pork loin that was supposedly braised with forty cloves of garlic. Our waiter could not explain what "one-side char-broiled" meant, and judging by the grill marks on both sides I'd say it was definitely both-sides char-broiled. It was really perfectly cooked with regard to temp, but it was oversalted and the only other discernable flavor was rosemary of which there was quite an overabundance. The pork loin looked (and according to my friend tasted) as though it had been boiled not braised. There is something singularly thought provoking about a piece of boiled pork. For a moment I forgot that I was in a new restaurant and imagined what it must've been like to be a peasant in medieval England, the simple country life, the spiritually cleansing physical labor, the god-awful food... C'mon, folks, boiled pork? To wash down our entrees we were given Italian Merlot. It had to be the most fruity, over-extracted, plum bomb ever quaffed. It wasn't horrible, just really uninteresting and cheap. I wouldn't have been surprised to learn that it was Franzia. And, still... no bread. At this point my friend and I simply opted to take off before dessert, but of course we had to go through all the social pleasantries that went with attending a soft opening. The owner was pleasant and brief, but his new manager wanted to tell us EVERYTHING about opening the place. Apparently she'd put a lot of the physical labor in herself, and she was quite proud of the results, but I just couldn't understand how she could wander around the dining room cooing over how lovely everything was when her service staff was undertrained and the kitchen was turning out second-rate food. So, perhaps they'll get everything sorted out before the real opening on Monday, but I somehow don't see it. Oh, and one last thing. If I were going to open to the public on Monday, I wouldn't plan on having all of my liquor, bottled water, and wine delivered on Monday as the manager told us they were. Maybe, just maybe, I'd make sure that was all in place before opening day.

A friend of mine who's restaurant is participating has been complaining about the whole week. Aparently the kitchen is utterly slammed and barely able to keep up with demand, while the servers are thorougly frusterated because the afforementioned "bridge and tunnel crowd" is simply taking advantage of the opportunity to eat in a restaurant they can't normally afford. This inevitably creates one solution for a server who isn't making any money. Switch from quality service to turn and burn. If Joe Waiter isn't making any money by racking up a good check and providing stellar service, he's going to simply try to get his diners in and out as quickly as possible so that he can get another bunch of diners in. This is how servers make money at such stellar establishments as TGI Fridays and Red Lobster. So, I'll be sitting out RW. Good oportunity to try that new asparagus recipie I saw in Gourmet....

Mendicino's been under new management (with a new chef I believe) for a few months, and things are going quite well for them. Troy is a great GM/Maitre'd and the bartenders are all pretty wine-savvy. The food that I've had there has been really good (not exceptional, but really good), and the atmosphere is very nice. The wine list is all West Coast US stuff, which narrows down the selections a bit more than I personally like, but it's good for what it is. While I also think that Georgetown has crap food for the most part, I've had good times at Mendicino. I'll also give Enzo at Filomena my money, though the atmosphere of that place is way over the top on the kitsch scale. I wouldn't eat at Milano if you paid me since what you were paying me probably wouldn't cover the price of my meal. The pizza at Paulo's is pretty decent, though I wouldn't go out of my way for it, and Chopsticks on Wisconsin has good sushi if you're in the neighborhood. The biggest problem with Georgetown is that the few good spots to eat aren't big, flashy, hot spots. They're more hole-in-the-wallish places with food that's good for what it is. Oh, and I'll give an honorable mention to Miss Saigon as they've been my refuge from reality more than once. They're overplayed, but the spring rolls are good, and the beef barbecue with vermicelli is passing fair (if not nearly the best I've ever had).

Dissecting a meal is not necessarily a skill that one wants to aquire. It is generally posessed only by those who are in the industry, and (most of the time) makes otherwise innocuous flaws in your meal stand out. Would you otherwise remember details like a dull presentation of a piece of halibut if it tasted devine and was paired nicely with an affordable and brilliant wine? Perhaps one of your five courses was a bit under par, but if the overall experience was great, so what. When you break a meal down to the bare essentials it can appear flawed in ways that a normal diner wouldn't notice. It falls to the ignorance is bliss category.

Been really happy with Bethel Heights. 1500 Case production from WV. Great value, and I'll put it a few notches up from Argyle.

Having just left Europe after a three year stint there, I can safely say that slacks and sweaters are a staple of the twenty-something crowd. It really isn't the presence of a tie or jacket that declares whether or not you are acceptably dressed (though I personally sport both regularly), but how you wear what you are wearing. I regularly see diners all over DC wearing the latest European fashions, which, I might add, don't include ties so often anymore. I can certainly understand not wanting to allow someone wearing baggy pants or a t-shirt into a restaurant, but the dining experience is about relaxing, enjoying good food, wine, and company in an atmosphere in which you are comfortable. Were I a maitre'd, I would be less inclined to allow a man in a cheap, poorly fitted suit jacket and polyester tie in to dine than a man wearing a nice pair of slacks and a fashonable sweater. Insofar as I'm concerned if you, as a diner, are made uncomfortable by someone dressed in such a manner, you must not be paying enough attention to the food. Like my mother used to tell me, "Stop staring at people and eat your dinner."

I'm going to have to check this out if just to see whether or not the crushing review is justified. If the food's that bad, better pray that the servers know how to lead guests through the menu. How are the bar prices?