Komi, 17th & P Streets

[liamdc]

80's music!...not cool under any situation...that said..I do hope this place does well or at least gets people thinking about decent food in the Dupont area...there are a few decent places around and a whole lot more shitty places too...and don't forget that opening a restaurant is actually easier than keeping it consistent on food and service..thats where komi has to step up to break outta the pack

While I disagree that '80s music "is not cool under any situation," I strongly agree with your point about consistent food & service. My experience at Komi suggests consistency is something they need to work on. The Post review may encourage me to try this place again.

I guess I'll set out to build a bridge between '80s music and Sinatra fans. I like both genres. But nothing's better to dine to than big band or jazz.

[John W.]

I guess I'll set out to build a bridge between '80s music and Sinatra fans. I like both genres. But nothing's better to dine to than big band or jazz.

80's music equaling Bad Brains, Husker Du, Misfits etc?

or

80's music being everything else that forced me to listen to above.

That's be a concept: Enjoying your La Chapelle '88 whilst listening to Minor Threat's "Bottled Violence." I want to own that restaurant.

Back to Komi and it's choices of music and what have you;

I'd say that Tom's review was a pretty good one, good enough to get those guys a pretty good whuppin'. Wish them luck for that.

I guess I've missed the window to eat there again, I loathe post-review dining.

[morela]

What's that song they always play at Nectar again? Komi should play songs like that...

or maybe RuPaul's "Supermodel" to go with theme of 17th Street. That Album's from the charmed 90s, you know....

..................................................................................................................

Supermodel

from the album Supermodel of the World

performed by RuPaul in 1993

.......... (ahh. this is bad)

I have one thing to say

Sashay, shanté

Sashay, shanté

Shanté, shanté, shanté

I have one thing to say, you better work!

Edited January 9, 2004 by morela (log)

[Mark Sommelier]

ABBA rules !

[morela]

I had to get rid of the 'make love to the camera' line...and a few others. That was way too nuts, but who on 17th Street really minds that much? Komi sld at least play that song for drag races, with the front door of the place open. And a liquor licence wld be good too~!

Edited January 9, 2004 by morela (log)

[vengroff]

Nevermind.

Edited January 9, 2004 by vengroff (log)

[morela]

What's that song they always play at Nectar again?  Komi should play songs like that...

The song I remember from Nectar is from John Williams' soundtrack to "Catch Me if You Can." I think it's called "The Float." There's also some Sinatra on that soundtrack, needless to say.

Blue Rondo A La Turk

David Brubeck!

[vengroff]

That's it, or course. Now I feel like an idiot. Good thing I don't post on eMusician.

[JPW]

Blue Rondo A La Turk

David Brubeck!

My favorite tune of all time. If they have the good taste to play that then I must go soon.

[morela]

Do they have soup?

I going there in 30 days.

Edited January 16, 2004 by morela (log)

[Malawry]

At dinner, soup comes with every meal (a demitasse, but a decent-sized one).

[morela]

Think two of us can just walk in there tonight at 8 with any luck...or no way in hell?

Maybe it's a dumb question...

[JennyUptown]

Is this menu online anywhere?

[bbq4meanytime]

Seriously good food. We dropped in for lunch today and I tried the spanish mackerel, capers, ostreta caviar and mustard oil. Clean tasting fish; the citrus zest and salt balanced well. Fire grilled quail w/maple cumin glaze and black eyed peas was pretty tasty too. Not busy though, we could have walked in but had reservatiosn anyways.

We agreed it was definitely worth trying dinner. Although I didn't look at the wine list, they permit corkage.

Edited to respond:

Jenny: I didn't ask if their menu is online but I don't think so because I was unable to locate it and their business card doesn't have a url.

Edited February 26, 2004 by bbq4meanytime (log)

[dcfoodie]

I found that Komi serves quality food but the portions were really small. I found I could have eaten at least three of their entrees. That being said, the preparation and presentation of the food was perfect and everything tasted great. Also the small entrees leave you with plenty of room for the homemade donuts which I highly recommend. Check out the Komi I wrote on my site.

[JennyUptown]

I found that Komi serves quality food but the portions were really small. I found I could have eaten at least three of their entrees. That being said, the preparation and presentation of the food was perfect and everything tasted great. Also the small entrees leave you with plenty of room for the homemade donuts which I highly recommend. Check out the Komi I wrote on my site.

DUUUUUUUDDDDE, enough with the self promotion. If you want to tell us what you think of a place, post it here on egullet.

[dcfoodie]

DUUUUUUUDDDDE, enough with the self promotion.  If you want to tell us what you think of a place, post it here on egullet.

I would not exactly call it self promotion. If I have already written something about a restaurant, I am just going to link to it, just as if I had found an article on someone else's web site about it. Yeah, I know, convenient that a lot of my posts so far have been for places that I wrote reviews of on my site, but give me time...

Edited April 10, 2004 by dcfoodie (log)

[Steve Klc]

Self-promotion isn't the problem, at least as far as I'm concerned, Jason. Welcome to eG. You're free to link to your blog all you want. However, you risk marginalizing yourself somewhat due to a failure to really engage here. Get involved in the discussions here, let all of us get to know you a little better, and you'll be fine. My problem with leading us to your blog for this review of this restaurant (from February, so it isn't even timely) is you really didn't advance what we already knew and what we already covered in greater depth here--MONTHS before you finally decided to go to this place. We were on top of this place in November--and as it turned out, not even Tom Sietsema disagreed with our sentiments when he finally came out with his formal review in January, which also preceeded yours.

My question for you is--portions sizes were small compared to what? How often do you eat in this genre and at this price point? Most of your blog entries are in the cheap eats/ethnic/Chowhound level of things--it doesn't "seem" you have a lot of experience at the fine dining and New-American dining level, not at places like, say a Firefly, which also offers somewhat similar food and wine with style and is trying to lure the same audience--though Firefly is much better than Komi at this point and John is a much more developed chef at this point. Not that this perception is necessarily correct on my part--and that's not to say you can't be correct about Komi without having that background--but I just don't know what to take away from your statement because you haven't revealed enough of yourself here yet and what I did read on your blog didn't help me.

What you don't say is whether portions sizes were small compared to the price--meaning what kind of food to value proposition they presented. "Portion sizes were small" doesn't really mean anything unless you answer "compared to what?" Compared to the quail at Cafe Atlantico? I like small quail--I like to eat small quail a lot more than big fat quail. I like small portions so I can have more of them and have a more interesting sensory experience. But that's just personal taste. Why do you think people are going gaga over the "bar" menu at Palena? Why do you think (practically) everyone under the sun in this city is emulating Jose and instituting some kind of tapas or small dish menu? I think it's because food people like choice, they like variety, they like to control what they eat and that includes portion size and they don't like to be locked into the 1 app, 1 huge entree, too stuffed for dessert routine that still defines too much of the dining in this area. What do you think?

What I usually want to know from a review or report is 1) is the dish really good 2) why is the dish really good and 3) how fairly-priced it is given the portion size and 4) how does this restaurant compare to others at its price point or in its class. Give me more of that depth and I'll link to your blog again and give another review of yours a chance, but I'd suggest you're better off linking to something more timely and something we haven't already covered, better, here. Just a thought.

[therese]

We were on top of this place in November--and as it turned out, not even Tom Sietsema disagreed with our sentiments when he finally came out with his formal review in January

Hey, just for the record here I want to point that I (a visitor to our nation's capital from Atlanta) was the one "on top of this place" and started this thread way back when. Though it's actually the receptionist at Nectar (name unknown) who gets the credit---she'd eaten there earlier that week and nicely provided the recommendation.

[Steve Klc]

The eGullet community is magical, thanks for playing your part therese. You're a part of the "we."

[dcfoodie]

First of all, let me say thanks for the advice on my writing from someone who is obviously more knowledgable about the restaurant biz than I. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Your feedback is noted. I am only a software engineer who eats out A LOT. It took me some time to muster up some bravery to post links to it on a site like eG. I pretty much expected someone with culinary expertise to cut it apart and I was hoping for some feedback.

My problem with leading us to your blog for this review of this restaurant (from February, so it isn't even timely) is you really didn't advance what we already knew and what we already covered in greater depth here--MONTHS before you finally decided to go to this place.  We were on top of this place in November--and as it turned out, not even Tom Sietsema disagreed with our sentiments when he finally came out with his formal review in January, which also preceeded yours.

As you determined from reading, I do tend to stick to good eats and not fine dining and as you stated earlier in your post, it does not make my opinion less relevant. Everyones opinion should matter, even if they are stating things that others have already covered. That is kind of the whole point of a discussion board.

Many times restaurants open and they are great. Then they get reviewed and a lot of buzz. They can't handle the popularity and quality of food goes downhill. I would hope that people would continue to post their ongoing opinions about restaurants. I realized when I first posted in this thread that it was an old thread, but, I did not think that made it less relevant. And as I stated in the review on my site, the only reason I went to Komi was because I read the review in the post. That is no secret.

No, I didn't discover Komi and I have not been to a lot of similiar restaurants like Cafe Atlantico, Palena, or Firefly. So maybe it is not just Komi, but this style of restaurant that I was commenting on. I have a big appetite, but you probably would not be able to tell from looking at me. If when I am eating at a place like Komi, I am supposed to order more than entree, then maybe they should not charge as much as they do for a single entree. Or perhaps, and this is just a perhaps, I should just stop eating so much, and let me stomach shrink down to its normal size. Maybe then the entrees at Komi will be enough for me.

[DCMark]

Went to Komi for the first time this weekend. We live at 17th and U so something decent is welcome in the area.

Wonderful food and a real asset to the neighborhood. I hate to use this comparison, but the restaurant felt New Yorkish in terms of its setting, service, patrons, etc.

The meal started out with a cold cucumber soup. Not a great start as it was heavy on the salt.

We started the table off with the chicken pate with pistachios ($8) which was devoured in a matter of minutes. The pistachios were added a nice crunch to the pate, which tasted remarkly like duck pate.

My wife then had the Endame soup with parsely oil. ($7) The oil added a nice flavor to an otherwise so-so soup. My appretizer was fois gras covered with white anchoivies ($9). The fois gras was as good as any I have had recently in the US but would not be something special in France. I was looking forward to tasting the melange of anchovy and fois gras but the combination did nothing to enhance either. My sister had a mackrel dish which was somewhat like a tartare of mackrel. She loved it.

For our main courses both my wife and I had the steak/veal combination with ??? mushrooms and whipped potatos. My steak was cooked as requested (rare) and the combo of steak and veal went together well ($25?). My sister had the skate on a bed of greens which she was unable to finish as the portion size was quite generous (all portion sizes were fine in my opinion).

For dessert I had the rhubarb/pecan pie which was surprisingly good (as I am not a huge fan of rhubarb), topped with crispy oatmeal and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. My brother in law had the doughnuts with a side of hot chocolate. This dish was not nearly as good as Sette Osteria's. The culprit was the chocolate sauce which was almost devoid of sweetness. Actually, the dougnuts were better on their own rather than dipped. This trend of desserts without enough sugar is not one that I like.

We started dinner with a few Muscat mojitos ($6) which I loved. The nice taste of a mojito without the intoxicating effects of rum. Perfect for starting a meal where we wanted our palette awake and not drunk. Personally, I have ruined too many nice meals by starting out with a couple of martinis. Wine was a Nero d'Avola ($26), the best bargin on the wine list. The wine arrived about 10 degrees too warm but that was quickly corrected by our waitress.

Service was outstanding. Komi practices the 'swarm' technique of serving. Plates arrive to the diners all at once as 4 arms place the dishes in synchronization. Local DC water (lead and all) was cheerfully served.

All in all I very much enjoyed the restaurant. Don't take my complaints above about the food too far. The restaurant is quite good and is significantly better (and pricer) than Kuna, the only other decent restaurant in the neighborhood. At $120 per couple (tax, bottle of wine, 2 glasses of white and 2 mojitos) it was resonably priced too.

Edited May 17, 2004 by DCMark (log)

[HOOLIGAN]

  My appretizer was fois gras covered with white anchoivies ($9).  The fois gras was as good as any I have had recently in the US but would not be something special in France.  I was looking forward to tasting the melange of anchovy and fois gras but the combination did nothing to enhance either.

What's the name of the restaurant again? WD-50.5?

[pastramionrye]

that is a funny one.

[DCMark]

  My appretizer was fois gras covered with white anchoivies ($9).  The fois gras was as good as any I have had recently in the US but would not be something special in France.  I was looking forward to tasting the melange of anchovy and fois gras but the combination did nothing to enhance either.

What's the name of the restaurant again? WD-50.5?

Color me stupid...but I don't get it...explain?