Marcel's

[Mark Sommelier]

Had a few appetizers at Nectar last night and then went to Marcel's for some more. We sat at the bar and I had the best steak tartare I've had in a very long time. Freshly made mayonnaise, cornichons and a poached quail egg on top. Absolutely excellent. Next dish was beer battered shrimp with citrus dipping sauce. Wow !!

Chocolate souflée and I was bien cuit . I love this place.

[John W.]

As Mark's dining companion, I would concur. The partridge crepinette was outstanding as well.

The Zaytinya-Nectar-Marcel's traverse was a good way to spend a Sunday.

I was most certainly bien cuit.

[morela]

What about The Simpsons? Did you still get your dose of FOX on Sunday?

[Mark Sommelier]

What about The Simpsons? Did you still get your dose of FOX on Sunday?

Yes, the Nectarines turned the Simpsons on for us. They even turned up the sound! D'oh!

[amcleod]

I FINALLY got to Marcel's two weeks ago and I love it too. I will remember the amuse-bouche of lobster flan for the rest of my life. I said to the waiter when he took it away, "If everything else is awful, I still had a wonderful meal!"

Thank you for pointing out that one can just visit the bar to eat there - I don't think I can afford to eat an entire meal there again for quite some time, but this will allow for a fix!

[DonRocks]

Yeah, you bet it's awesome food, Mr. Slater.

Sheepishly slinking into the bar, underdressed, I was nevertheless welcomed by the ever-gracious and professional staff at Marcel's. I ordered three small courses and batted three-for-three, plus a complimentary amuse-gueule: a fennel flan with crème fraiche and smoked salmon was an impossibly small tureen, about six nibbles, and signaled the first of three flans I was to have that evening (by sheer coincidence, I ordered the only other two flans on the entire menu). Oven roasted tomato soup with Pipe Dreams goat cheese flan and 'parmesan crisps' leapt beyond its description: the flan resting in the middle of the bowl, topped with microgreens and two cross-sticks of parmesan. And then came the soup poured atop it, blistering with aromatics and roasted goodness. Escargots with garlic flan and onion-chive butter was essence of reduced garlic, and Bach was astute in recommending a Viognier with it, with a white Burgundy being his second choice. The final course was Wiedmaier's famed Boudin Blanc with onion confit, potato purée topped with lardons, resting in a reduced red-wine sauce, and served with a Drouhin Cotes de Nuits Villages Red Burgundy. It was great as it has been in the past, and the potato purée combination with the lardons was as good as it could have been.

Marcel's doesn't get enough verbage here, and it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the very finest restaurants in the city. It's expensive as sin, but merits its lofty prices.

I love eating at the bar here, and always feel welcome at Marcel's.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[pastramionrye]

who is subsidizing your outings, Don...and how can I get myself a piece?

[sara]

LiamDC and I stopped by Marcel's bar last night after drinks at the Circle Bistro. We'd planned to have a meal at the bar, but were sorta stunned by how high the prices are (around $30 for entrees and in the mid-teens for apps)--I'm not saying they're not well-deserved prices, I don't know, it was just more than we were hoping to spend at the moment. Anyways, we shared the Escaragots, which was really lovely as Don said, and had the viognier and a glass of the Oregon riesling. Most amusing for me was the big group of Naval Academy midshipmen and their dates, who'd just turned 21 and were getting carded by the very-nice bartenders. Fun stuff. We'll save our pennies and come back for more, I'm sure.