tjaehnigen

MAr, I agree with your comments on the DC Wine Expo -- it's generally a waste of time. Mostly there for people to socialize and get loaded. I used to be all about QPR, now I am all about Q.

D'oh! Oopsie

I have now been to Palena, home to chef Frank Ruta and pastry chef Ann Amernick, three times in about 7 months. I forgot to do write-ups for the first time in late July of last year and also again when Mrs. TJ and I took out my little brother and his partner there in October. I made it a point not to forget to do a write-up, any write-up, on this fantastic restaurant. Frank Ruta excels at coming up with unique and fresh approaches to food that embraces seasonality, IMO. Some may call it 'Californian' or 'Noveau American' or whatever, but I call it just damn good food. Ann Amernick's creations are terrific and she can create light and delicate creations, heavier but very interesting creations (knowing exactly what last little thing or touch will make the dish) and some damn fine cookies and caramels. Palena is in Woodley Park in NW DC, near the Uptown movie theatre and near other restaurant destinations such as Yanyu, Indique, Lavandou, and Ardeo. It sits oddly abutting an Exxon gas station, but you'd never know it once you get inside. We were always warmly greeted in our last two visits, and this time was no different. We'd made it there just a tad early and we hopped over to the bar (which has the MOST COMFORTABLE bar seats in DC) for a club soda and within a few minutes we were led to our table in the back dining room. As an aside, the bar area is the 'front' part of the restaurant and has a medium sized bar with some additional tables and booths open for patrons to hang out in and drink, eat and be merry. They have a special bar menu where everything is $9 or similar, including a supposedly excellent hot dog that Mrs. TJ and I are dying to try one of these days. When we were led back to our table, this time we got the corner table with a nice view of the whole room and we got to sit around the two closer sides together instead of across from each other which was nice. We were greeted upon being seated by both the same wiater we had as last time (great guy, don't know his name) and Kelly (I think that is her name, and the manager?). The waiter made it a point to ask which one of us knew Mark, the sommelier from Citronelle (whom I know only really from here on eGullet), to chit chat about that a bit. Mind you, I made the reservations this time on Opentable and I don't think I'd even mentioned Mark to anyone there, so I'd imagine that somehow they remembered this or flagged this as a tidbit to remember somehow if we came back anytime soon -- nice touch. The way you order in the main dining room is 3, 4 or 5 course prix fixe. They have three different course sections that you can choose from that one would typify with a first course, a second course, a main course and then a dessert menu for that. They also offer a cheese course for $9 extra. But, here's what is really cool, if you want to order say a 4 course dinner, and you want to eat four what are all essentially choices from the main course section, you can all for the same prix fixe price. You'd better be hungry though! We opted for the four course, with one choice from each section and then dessert. Here's what we had-- Mrs. TJ had-- Trio of Fish-- Piquillo pepper stuffed with Maine crab and fennel slaw, Spanish Mackerel cured in house aged vinegar and yellowfin tuna tartar with citrus (I think blood orange) Chick Pea and Lime Soup with baccala cakes and parsley (Mrs. TJ declared this course 'transcendant') Wild Texas Boar Loin and Leg, pan roasted, with buckwheat polenta, braised red cabbage and a sauce made with Sicilian olives Bread pudding of dried fruits I had---- Scottish Salmon, lightly smoked with a salad of leeks, almonds and Bouchot mussels from Maine Shrimp and Shrimp Boudin, wrapped in Eastern Shore chard leaves over a stew of Castellucio lentils with a Willakenzie verjus and bay leave emulsion Pennsylvania Veal 'Parmentier' -- Veal cheeks, neck and breast in a leek and potato stew with carmelized salsify and black truffle sauce Pumpkin Cheesecake with pumpkin seed brittle (the brittle made the dish!) Mrs. TJ's mackerel in her first course was amazing. The tuna tartare was delcious and very inventive as the citrus (I think it was blood orange?) was interspersed with the tuna, but, because of the color differences, you could hardly tell it apart, so it was a surprise waiting to happen in your mouth! My Scottish salmon was divine. Nice light smokiness was complemented really well with the mussels and the leeks and almonds. Frank Ruta does this often, I believe, he makes not only the tastes excellent, but he makes the textural things wonderful too, trying to give you nice contrasting elements to excite your tastebuds. Mrs. TJ's 2nd course, the Chick Pea and lime soup, was truly wonderful and transcendent. How and why it appeared to be so orange is still a mystery to me, but I am guessing there were some other spices and seasonings at play here that might have lended the color as well. The baccala was a great contrast to the soup as well. My shrimp concoction was wonderful. Served in a tiny cast iron pan inside of a larger dish, everything was still frothing and foaming with great abandon as it was presented to me. The Boudin was delicious and the chard wrapping was wafer-thing, but the sauce and froth and tiny veggies and the most tendy and tasty shrimp on the planet really, REALLY made this dish for me. It was excellent. Mrs. TJ's next course, the Boar with the buckwheat polenta and braised red cabbage. Yum. While the loin was not quite as tasty as the legs (oh the legs!), the crispy and essence of being wild meat paired with the buckwheat polenta made for a great pairing . Mix in a little of the apparently carefully cut tiny wedges of cabbage, then braised (they looked like tiny jewel slices) to cut things up, man that was good. I had the veal dish which was really not a stew at all. The veal was fall apart perfectly juicy good. The potatoes and the salsify were cut the same and almost looked the same in the preparation, giving you a chance for a surprise in your mouth again depending on which thing you actually stabbed with your fork and then ate. The black truffle sauce was a really good, light, but very depth of flavor tasty kind of sauce that pulled everything together. Nice. Mrs. TJ's bread pudding was delicious, but only a slight disappointment compared with previous tasties we'd consumed here. I got the pumpkin cheesecake, which won out over the pear tart I'd been eyeing. I was hoping for something different than an orange slab of cake, and my wish came true. There was a bit of cheesecake suspended between two layers of pumpkin poofi-creaminess and sprinkled lightly with tiny pumpkin seed brittle. The brittle and the separation of pumpkin and cheesecake make this dish for me. The combinations you could make allowed for different flavors and textures to be combined to your satisfaction. Yum. Palena is pretty small, maybe 40 seats in the dining room and other 30 or so capacity in the front at the bar and tables, so it was no surprise that Kelly, the manager, was there ready with our coats as we eheaded out after a bit of raving of the dishes. I love three hour leisurely excellent meals. Palena is one of my favorite current dining destinations and it is highly recommended. PS: with the first and second course selections, we opted to pop the 2000 Kistler McCrae Vineyard Chardonnay we'd brough (we'd had a Dehlinger Pinot as our red option). Since we had to drive back, two bottles was not really an option. Perhaps one day we'll metro it and then bring and drink two. Oh well, TTFN.

Only ever been to Babbo, so that gets my vote.... D'oh! Could someone do a one-liner on each of his current restaurants? Which one is the pizza/wine place? I'd be most grateful. Esca (sp?) being a fish place ranks it up high for me since Mrs. TJ is a fish-hound. Grazie!

Feb 29th opening eh? I might have to make a special pilgrimage. heh heh heh

I think I'd go again on BYOW Mondays as the food was quite good, and a great QPR considering the price. I think it's a great neighborhood joint.

Helped friends move a couple of weekends ago and it was bitterly cold. Stopped in the Panera Bread and, among other things, had a hot chocolate that was quite tasty and warmed up my aching bones.

I almost made it to Corduroy for RW, but didn't (too short notice, nothing available). But I will definitely have to make the trip now. I'd put Palena on the list of most underrated restaurants in the city, too.

I have always walked by Celsius and wondered if it was any good, but always ended up walking a few steps more to Fusion instead. Might have to check it out next time, then...

Man, I'd love some good local meat, too.

I haven't been a regular to the Bethesda dining scene for a bit, but I liked Grapeseed, too. Tako Grill is good, too. The Bethesda outlet of Oodles Noodles isn't bad, though not quite as good as the downtown outlet. South Beach Cafe was good, and I heard they moved a short distance from their original location a while back, but still in the same general vicinity. There's also a Bethesda outlet of Jaleo, too.

I went to Katz's my very first time about two month ago and I had the pastrami and I enjoyed it quite a lot. JMHO

I have dined at Mi Rancho and it is indeed decent Tex Mex. I also eyed the Cuban place right across the street but I have not been there yet. Crisfield's, IMO, is overrated and overpriced. I've only dined there once, but it was at best an average dining experience for me.Too crowded. I felt so squeezed in at the table. I don't mind rough around the edges type of restaurants as long as the food is really good. But this just was not hitting it on all cylinders, that is for sure. Tastee Diner has always been great diner fare, but I haven't been there since they relocated it in preparation for the new Discovery Channel building.

Interesting. Well, we're using a recipe from my wife's great grandmother, without any instructions, so we're kind of winging it. I am tending to think we need to go more alcohol than broth but I don't want to kill everyone when they eat this. Still, it has to go in the oven for a while in the pie crust, so perhaps some of the alcohol will 'burn off'??

OK, here is a follow-up question about mincemeat pie... We adapted a James Beard prepaation using my wife's great-grandmother's ingredients. My main question is, how 'wet' is the mixture supposed to be? We dumped a whole bottle of port into the 6 pounds of meat, 1 pound of suet, 3 pounds of raisins, 3 pounds of apples, 1.5 pounds of currants, etc mixture and it was still way too dry looking to me. So, for better or worse, here is what we did to augment the mixture to make it more wet-- we added about another quarter bottle of port, maybe 6-8 oounces of cognac, 6-8 ounces of sherry and a good measure of the beef broth that was created when we boiled the beef prior to grinding it. It got pretty wet, but there was still no amount of liquid sitting in the bottom of the pot -- which I assume should be there to soak up the liquid over time. Is the mixture wet enough without there being any liquid to further be sucked up over time, or should I keep monitoring the wetness and just add some as needed? And what liquid should I use -- more booze, beef broth (which is unsalted) or both or something else (water?)??? Help!

DonRocks-- Thanks for the write-up. We were hoping to get to Palena for Christmas Eve, but they'll be closed. Ah well. I LOVE Palena. Mrs. TJ and I plan to go sample the front/bar menu soon. As for the 'back room' they are prix fixe 3, 4 or 5 course priced, I think at $50, $57 and $64 respectively. Plus, while they do have the menu broken down into sections (appetizer/salad type stuff, main dish type stuff and dessert type stuff, I think), if you want what amounts to essentially 5 main courses, you can do that! For only 64 bucks!!! Unbelievable. Then again, you might have to call yourself Mr. Creaosoate to do 5 main courses justice. heh heh heh

Can't help, but I prefer to have others make my brandade and other salt cod concoctions for me. Then again, I have never tried to make the stuff myself.

tj, Ever been a waiter? How many bottles did you and the Crüe bring? Did anyone bring a tire bouchon? Did you ask for fresh glasses for each bottle? Just curious. Never been a waiter. I think the 6 of us polished off about 10 bottles? I can't remember exactly. We asked for and were given I think 3 stems per person. We attempted to offer tastes to any of the staff that was there when we could, but they were just very short-staffed in general that evening. We planned on leaving a great tip, and we did, despite the less than stellar service. I didn't mind toooo much about the service since we were doing the BYOW thing and we were having a good time so the time did fly by. Honestly, if a place makes it known that Mondays are free corkage BYOW nights, they need to expect folks to take advantage of it like we did. I fel a little weird bringing my own stems or decanters to a restaurant, but if I ever do it, I'd feel most ok if I did so with my DC Crü pals. All in all a decent experience and the food was good, the wine was excellent and the company of the DC Crü was superb.

Excel and Access are very flexible and, if you're familiar with either app to any degree, are pretty easy to use/set up.

I want that! Man, I need to go back there.

Heck no. I BYOW and pay a corkage fee whenever possible. When I cannot, I but what I like, up to $50 or so. Unless I am at a destination dining establishment where BYOW is not allowed and/or illegal. There, I buy what I damn well please, but looking for the hidden Easter Egg of the list when possible.

I remember reading something somewhere about the sommelier at TFL. He basically took the tack of having at least one well-priced gem per page of the wine list and seemed to think any hal intelligent wine-o would naturally gravitate towards one of those listed and be happy. For those below half intelligent wine-os or for non-wine-os, he basically seemed to think, uh, 'screw 'em' or something like that. I wonder if most wine lists at restaurants are constructed this way (well, at least at finer dining establishments, let's say)? Thoughts anyone?

Is Celsius any good? I always walk past it and am tempted to go in, but I am usually on the way to Fusion. Anyone tried Eden? I've heard good things about it.

My only serious disappointment with the Rehoboth restaurant scene is the decline at Chez la Mer. It was always a pernnial dining choice for me, but the last two times have left me disappointed. Fusion, just down the street from Chez La Mer, is quite good and has pretty god wine list too. BTW, there is a wine shop on the main drag now that has some seriously fun wine-os to talk to about wine. I forget the name of the shop, but it is about 2 blocks from the beach on the right hand side of the drag as you drive toward the beach.

tj, That's called welcome to Washington. At least at Citronelle, they dress less obviously (right Tom?). Hey, I loved it. I've seen far worse examples, too. that couple certainly was a topic of conversation at our table, but the company was at center stage, followed extremely closely by the food, followed also extremely closely by the wine we BYOWed (a 95 BVGdL and a 00 Numanthia Toro).