Finn & Porter in Alexandria

[LARRY WIENER]

We got an invitation to attend some "special dinners" at Finn & Porter in Alexandria, that would have Robert Mondavi Signature Estates wines, featuring Sena, the "Signature Wine of Chile." The cost is to be $49 for three courses and $59 for four courses; apparently Mondavi wines are included with each course.

Did anybody else get one of these Mondavi invitations? Has anybody been to this place yet? I understand that it has just recently opened.

[Steve Klc]

Larry--unfortunately not, though I'm waiting to hear some good reports. Maybe yours will be the first? It seems like a fairly conservative steak and seafood place, and for me that niche doesn't hold much appeal. Plus, I like eating at Majestic Cafe too much, so we go there maybe once or twice a month. (For more upscale dining in Alexandria, we went to Elysium when Gian Piero was cooking there.) Majestic Cafe is still wonderful and I haven't heard who the new chef is at Elysium.

[jamesglu]

Steve, do you know if the new chef at Elysium will be maintaining the same approach as Gian Piero did? Though I had some 'misses' there, on the whole I really liked the idea.

[Steve Klc]

I don't know for sure james--I got an e-mail from owner Peter Greenberg about the same time Tom Sietsema did re: Gian Piero resigning and to say he was searching for a replacement. But Peter is a very smart guy, I suspect he realizes he had a good marketing concept there--something that made his little elegant out of the way place special and worth the drive across the bridges. I'd bet he maintains the chef-of-your-own concept and I hope he attracts a chef who appreciates what could be possible there.

Why don't you ask Tom during this week's online Post chat to see if he's heard anything?

[LARRY WIENER]

Steve:

No offense to those who love the Majestic, but it seems to us to have gained popularity on the basis of some hype and sucking up to the opinion makers. It's not that it's bad, it's just that much of what they have is (my wife's opinion) pedestrian.

An underappreciated place in Alexandria is the Stardust, in the north end of town. The food is sort of the same as at the Majestic, the bar is funkier, and the atmosphere is more inviting. It merits more attention.

LARRY W

[Steve Klc]

No offense taken Larry, please no worry. I'll be eager to check out Stardust. But I hear those comments about Susan's food from time to time--some variation of "much of what they have is pedestrian" and "the food at (insert name here) is sort of the same as at the Majestic." The other good one is that Majestic Cafe is too expensive. Except, you know, it's not. I'm guilty of stuff like that once in while, I'll find myself in a seemingly similar type of place like Boulevard Woodgrill and say, this is a competitor of Majestic and food is very similar and...then I'll realize it's not. It's less expensive, less refined but less good and less interesting--and while Susan isn't doing what she did at Morrison-Clark she still injects enough of the little surprises, the little nice touches of an herb or green in just the right way, the little reworked Southern-ness, that is lacking in the safe/homey/rustic cooking at just about all those other restaurants that are "sort of the same as the Majestic." Then I realize the service isn't as attentive elsewhere, the iced tea isn't as well-brewed, and then I linger over a dish and realize it's good, really good--like last week I realized her corned beef hash at brunch is the best hash--actually the best "new" dish--I've tasted in two weeks. Yes, I marvelled at her hash. I realize how ridiculous that sounds.

Usually on my way home I say to my wife--who was mentored by Susan while working at Morrison-Clark years ago--you know, that dish I had (insert dish here) is exactly the kind of thing I wish I would cook at home if I had the time or inclination to cook anymore.

Granted, Susan is not aiming to be the creative, modern, intriguing cooking that Kats and Jose are doing at Cafe Atlantico--but I'm an omnivore and I doubt Susan could pull that off; however, in the style and ingredient set that Susan chooses to work within, for her customer base and price point, I think your wife might be hard-pressed to come up with too long of a list of chefs creating a better overall experience. She manages to make her food seem interesting--in little ways, Kinkead ways perhaps--that otherwise would seem boring to me elsewhere. I'm more bored by, and have had more underwhelming, disappointing meals at Kinkeads than I have at Susan's.

Gained popularity based on some hype and sucking up to the opinion makers?

Well, Susan is incredibly respected by the media and by her chef peers. DC is very supportive of female chefs in general. She's nice and a tireless worker and has been very, very supportive of up and coming chefs. I consider her a friend, my wife really considers her a friend. But how that translates into sucking up I'm not sure--ages ago on eGullet I wrote about how Tom Sietsema gave Susan a poor review--as poor a review in that time frame as I recall for the Post because they don't assign stars--and how my concurrent experience there, even sampling the very same dish he singled out most for derision, was diametrically opposed to his experience. I loved that steamed salmon/bok choy dish and told Susan last week I wished she brought it back. It was lean, clean, light and very subtly perfumed.

I think it's gained popularity for many reasons: because of Susan, obviously; the fact that Alexandria is underwhelming as a culinary destination; the design (and atmosphere) of the place is stylishly sophisticated, urban and understated; and let's not forget Susan is actually there every night and just about every brunch expediting and walking through the dining room and diners like that; the service is tops for the price point in a city of poor service and I see the same faces over and over; wines are inexpensive and eclectic; and on and on. If something goes wrong, Susan is there to rectify it. The place is always packed and I get the sense there is a high percentage of repeat diners. That's not hype. That's comforting, like so much else at the Majestic, and it means people come back.

[hjshorter]

I have a soft spot for the Morrison-Clark. Scott and I stayed there the night after our wedding several years ago, when Susan Lindeborg was still there, and had a terrific supper (better by far than our wedding brunch) and we were treated like visiting royalty. I have been meaning to try the Majestic. Sounds like it's worth a trek to Arlington.

[LARRY WIENER]

We went to Finn & Porter; here is my report.

A week or so ago we went to Finn & Porter, in response to an ad we received in the mail from Robert Mondavi vineyards. The restaurant is in the Hilton Hotel on Seminary Road in Alexandria. In our opinion it is the biggest deal in that part of Alexandria. As a matter of fact, it is the only restaurant in Alexandria proper that resembles a big city restaurant.

Essentially, the restaurant is a steak, upscale seafood, and sushi house.

When you enter, the impression is of spaciousness. The ceilings are high and the tables are spaced sufficiently apart to avoid crowding. The restaurant is straight ahead; the sushi bar and raw bar are off to the left. The noise level is somewhat above ambient and gives the impression of a bustling environment, but it is well within acceptable bounds.

The menu is about half the size of a sheet of newspaper. It is roughly divided into four parts: the meats, the seafood, the sushi, and--at least when we were there--the Mondavi special dinner which was also billed as the chef's Spring tasting menu. As I recall, there was also at least one vegetarian item you could order.

On the back is a very extensive wine list; since we were having the Mondavi dinner, we didn't examine it in any detail.

The Mondavi dinner comprised either three courses or four courses, depending on whether you wanted dessert. The courses and wines were:

Amuse Bouche: Lobster Medallions with Quail Egg and Caviar; Mondavi 2000 Fume Blanc.

Appetizer: Buffalo Carapaccio with White Truffle Oil and Frisee Salsd; Byron 2000 Pinot Noir.

Entrée: Fresh Spring Leg of Lamb; Sena 1999 "The Signature Wine of Chile".

Dessert: Passion Fruit Tuile; La Famiglia 2001 Moscato Bianco.

It was all good. The food was well prepared and very tasty. I don't like lamb very much, but I joined the clean plate club this time. The wines were well selected and went well with the food. I especially liked the Pinot Noir. My wife liked the Sena. It was big and dark and full flavored; the waitperson said it was supposed to be close to Opus One (who knows?) It was interesting to me that the Amuse counted as a separate course; it's not that way at the Obelisk, where it just seems to show up and consists of whatever the chef had a whim to make on that day.

The prices weren't cheap. The three-course dinner was $49 and the four-course dinner was $59, plus tax and tip. I think that ordering the regular menu items would put you in the same neighborhood.

Since we were there on a Saturday night only a few weeks after the place had opened, the service was at best spotty. We apparently fell into one of those black holes where contact with any of the personnel was infrequent. Our notes read, “Service slow, not well organized; we were quickly forgotten.” We did, however, have a couple of nice conversations with the on-site manager.

In summary, with service being the one sore point, we liked the place and are planning to revisit it sometime soon. We liked the atmosphere and we think that what they do they do well. Again, if you like the feeling of a big-city restaurant you might like the place.