David Greggory

[Mark Sommelier]

David Greggory took over the former Red Tomato/Shelley's West End space at 21st and M, recently. Smart looking space. I went twice. Once at the bar for drinks and appetizers, once for dinner. Had a blast both times. The place is very low key. Excellent rib-eye with lardons. Great crab cake. My friend the chef licked the plate of the rabbit cassoulet. The deviled egg assortment is a must. They have a decent, well priced wine list. The outdoor tables allow you to watch the limos and Ferraris pulling up to Galileo down the street. David Hagedorn and Greggory Hill are two well known local chefs.

[sara]

Hi

My family went (unfortunately w.out me) last Friday night. 6 of them, and 5 declared they had a great meal. Especially popular were the mussels steamed w/ coconut milk, thai chili paste, lemon grass & lime on linguine w/ fennel chips; and the rubbed grilled lamb loin and pomegranate esssence on pilaf of grains, apricots, pine nuts and olives w. baby artichokes. Apparently the rib-eye steak was fatty and overcooked.

They loved the valet parking, attentive service, and said the place was nearly completely empty on Friday night from about 5:30-7:30 pm, other than a happy hour crowd at the bar. Dinner came to about $40/per (one entree, a shared app, shared dessert, and glass of wine).

[vengroff]

Forget the Ferraris. The fact that it finally stopped raining is reason enough to dine al fresco any place that offers it.

[mr food]

We're thinking of trying it this Friday. Has anyone been recently? The Post review was lukewarm

[Mark Sommelier]

We're thinking of trying it this Friday. Has anyone been recently? The Post review was lukewarm

I went 2 weeks ago. It was very good and very reasonable priced. The service was good, as well.

[Monica Bhide]

Gonna try this next week. sounds like an interesting place

[John W.]

Something to save youse all from your own hell -

"Three little piggys" at DG. Three excellent black pepper bisquits, each adorned with a different pork style. Can't recall exactly what was in them, but I do recall ordering two more when the first one came. Not three invariably overcooked tiny patties of meat.

Greggory Hill's new pork technique is unstoppable.

Edited December 3, 2004 by John W. (log)

[DonRocks]

"Three little piggys" at DG. Three excellent black pepper bisquits, each adorned with a different pork style. Can't recall exactly what was in them, but I do recall ordering two more when the first one came. Not three invariably overcooked tiny patties of meat.

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Going from left-to-right on the plate: a BLT, a BBQ pork sandwich, and a ham sandwich, each on a homemade biscuit. What a fiendishly good plate of food this is!

[mnebergall]

Sounds suspiciously like miniburgers to me.

[John W.]

Sounds suspiciously like miniburgers to me.

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An antidote to mini-burgers.

[Mrs. P]

Happy Hour at David Greggory is a wonderful way to decant after a hard day reading egullet at work . My first visit to David Greggory, I was impressed with the atmosphere, happy hour bar menu, and the quality of everything we sampled. A quick recap of what ended up being dinner at the bar:

Sangria: A happy hour special. Perfect for the warmer day we had yesterday– not too cold, not too sweet, and just strong enough.

Deviled egg sampler: Attention all you deviled egg fans: Try this flight of deviled eggs. Our plate came with three types: Arugula (almost like a pesto, garnished with a chiffonade of arugula), Paprika smoked bacon (amazing), and caper/onion. The fillings were piped onto the eggs and garnished. Each had a very individual flavor - really excellent.

Mushroom, manchego, and almond croquettes: These were really wonderful. Crispy exterior, dark brown because of the mushrooms, and a very soft flavorful center. I loved the soft-crunchy texture contrast. It was paired with what seemed to be a tomato-based sauce that was spread on the plate, but it was a bit too watery for dipping and I don’t really recall the flavors. The croquettes on their own were wonderful.

Plaintain chicken empanadas: The bartender explained that the empanada shell was made from a plantain puree, and the filling is chicken with black beans. There was a creamy chunky tomato relish paired with the two empanadas, which complemented the empanadas well. I am not a big fan of pairing sweet and meat, and I found the empanadas to be a bit on the sweet side. The tomato relish (surprisingly) helped to soften the sweetness.

Pizza of applewood smoked bacon, onions, mushrooms, spinach pesto, and manchego: We ended up repeating this one. The crust was thin, almost cheesy tart-like, and very flavorful. I would return just to have this pizza. And at $5 for the happy hour special you really can’t beat it.

Appetizers from the happy hour menu are $5, and the drinks we ordered were $3 each I believe. You can also order from the main menu. For four of us the bill came to $55, with two drinks each. Happy hour runs from 5:30 to 7 most days, and extends to 10:00 on Tuesdays. Make this a <$20 Tuesday!

[FunJohnny]

Agree David Greggory is a great HH choice in view of both price and food selections. Went there with Chef Shogun a few weeks ago on a Friday. It was slammed. How crowded was it last night?

[Mrs. P]

Not too busy until 6:15ish - then it started to fill up. I think some of it was people stopping at the bar before taking their tables, so around 7-7:30 the bar began slowing down and the dining room got busy. They do, however, have a lot of space at the bar and adjoining tables. I can see how it would be busy on a Friday - for a Mon-Thurs HH visit it might be less so.

[Roger Troutman]

We went there for dinner last year for restaurant week, and while I don't recall what I ordered, I do remember it being a rather disappointing meal.

[The Doctor]

Hit the Tuesday Happy Hour last night, and the operation was a complete success. Showed up around 5:30-ish. There weren't many people in there, so we snagged our choice of tables off to the side of the bar. Ended up having a party of 12 and the service was really great and attentive, remaining consistent as the numbers grew. We stayed until well after 9, a time when other happy hour discounts would be a distant memory. Everyone loved the drinks and the $5 pizza is a delicious and filling steal. I think the place earned a lot of return customers just because of that pizza. I also tried the eggs, which were good, but at 3 half eggs for $5, there's no way I'd take it again over the pizza. The calamari and wings were great, too. Best Happy Hour food I've had in a while.

[Mrs. P]

Glad to hear you liked it - it is good to know that others have similar HH experiences there. And the pizza ROCKS, eh?!

[JennyUptown]

Just revisiting this thread for ordering ideas as I'm heading here for dinner tonight.

I'm intrigued by the '3 Little Pigs' dish, as well as the empanadas.

[PatDC]

Glad to hear you liked it - it is good to know that others have similar HH experiences there.  And the pizza ROCKS, eh?!

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I had a wonderful Indian dish there, sometime back. Alas, I'm too late and too vague . They were slow and we had to wait a long time for a reserved table, but everything foodwise was great.

[JennyUptown]

Maybe the garam masala salmon?

We had a really enjoyable meal. I'll report back later.

[PatDC]

Maybe the garam masala salmon?

We had a really enjoyable meal.  I'll report back later.

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I think that may have been it. It had curried spinach with it. That's the thing I remember most vividly. I'm looking forward to your account.

Let's see if I can quote correctly this time. Last time, I quoted the wrong message

[JennyUptown]

I'm back. Wanted to tell you about the really enjoyable meal I shared at DG last night with my family. We were celebrating my mother's birthday a few days belatedly and wanted something reasonably festive with a menu of "accessible" food options.

When I arrived, Mom and Dad were enjoying a cocktail at the well-lit bar. The two bartenders were friendly and seemed to enjoy the banter with my parents (I must admit my parents are pretty cute and fun ). I ordered a Sidecar which was fine, but didn't hold a candle to Palena's version. After this experience, I don't know that I should bother ordering one anywhere else--I'm pretty stuck on Palena's Sidecar.

Coats checked and drinks begun, we were escorted to our table in the dining room. It's an attractive space with lots of glass (on both sides of the restaurant) and light wood.

Unlike a lot of restaurant web sites, DG's web site is up to date (at least at the time of my writing this) which will make my recap much easier to write. What we ate:

Smoked Chicken Plantain Empanadas with Crema ($6.50)

Loved these. Served piping hot, the inside was a mush of goodness. In addition to the crema, the empanadas were served with a dollop of tomato salsa. These alone would make me go back. I don't have issues with the sweet/savory mix, nor did my family (lots of "yum!" heard), but I realize this dish won't work for everyone.

Hummus and Pita with Lemon Pickle, Roasted Pepper, Olives, Tabbouleh, and Pita Bread ($9.25)

A great dish, but I wonder if it isn't priced a few dollars more than it should be. Not your usual bowl of hummus in a bowl with a basket of pita, this is a more spare (sparer?) presentation. We were told "free free to ask for more pita is you work your way through this" but with all of the other dishes we had, the amount provided worked just fine. Everything was so tasty it prompted one member of our party to say "somehow they do it better than most Middle Eastern places in town."

Caesar Salad ($7.25)

My father's starter was a salad in order to avoid having me go Food Police on him, a former cardiac patient. He ate every last bite, but that doesn't mean anything with dear old Dad. He's more inclined to eat food than to talk about it, and just because he finishes something doesn't mean it's good.

"3 Little Pig" Sandwiches on Black Pepper Biscuits ($8.25)

Wow, so good. LOVED the little biscuits. The sandwiches, as described previously, are ham, pork bbq and BLT. All wonderfully flavorful and at three or four bites, a great sampler of a few permutations of pork.

Somehow we found room for entrees...

Seared Jumbo Lump Crabcakes with Red Bell Pepper Relish, Asparagus and Mango Shallot Puree (half $14.25; full $28.50)

Mom was wise and ordered a half portion. She was practically swooning as she ate, and she didn't offer a taste!

Braised Lamb Shank with Root Vegetable Puree and Cabrales-Red Wine Glaze ($22.25)

My dish. Really tender meat, but I wish the glaze had a little more punch. A dash of salt helped. Honestly, though, I was so full by this time, I thought I must explode.

Grilled Pork Chop with Five Cheese Macaroni, Braised Greens and Maple Dijon Glaze ($21.75)

Somehow Dad snuck this one past me, the Food Nazi. I wasn't happy at all to see him savoring every bite of the very rich, buttery five cheese macaroni (fortunately he gave me some of his portion - delicious). He didn't offer up a sample of the pork chop which is a sign that it was REALLY good because the dude is generally very generous.

In spite of feeling stuffed, we got dessert to go along with the complimentary ice cream served to my mother, the birthday girl. We tried Tres Leches Cake with Caramelized Bananas (price not known) which was pretty good, but I was really too full to enjoy it by this point.

Beyond the food, DavidGreggory has a tremendous staff IMO; they're a real selling point. Literally everyone we encountered from the man checking our coats to our cheerful server to the wonderful Gerlinda. The sparkling (literally) senior citizen is a wonderful host (working Thurs-Fri-Sat in case you wish to meet this lovely lady) who was enthusiastic, knowledgable and just generally a trip. From her skin, liberally dusted with glitter to her rock star glasses, Gerlinda treated us with the friendliness you'd expect would be reserved for regulars.

And I think it's possible I could become one (a regular, I mean) because I hear happy hour prices for this great food are really reasonable. There's still more territory to explore on DG's menu - I think the "truffle scented pizza" might be next for me.

[HPL]

I can't comment on the HH but this is one of my favorite places to eat. I have taken numerous small groups there and never had a bad experience. I have been (rightly) accused of getting into ruts but I really enjoy both the crabcakes and scallops. The latter are served over a bed of spinach, a rice/mushroom mix, and an amontillado cream sauce. Others have been very pleased with the salmon. I also frequently start with the empanadas.

Can you tell I really enjoy this place? I will admit that I was a big fan of Chef Hill's when he had Gabriel and happily followed him to his latest home.

Edited March 2, 2005 by HPL (log)