eGullet Event - Ray's The Steaks

[JennyUptown]

Where is that menu anyway? The other thread? I will try to dig it up but if anyone finds it first, feel free to bump it for the menu.

Mmm...meat!

[hillvalley]

That being said, I would be honored to host a dinner.

I could accommodate up to 12 for a prixe fixe dinner of :

Amusee Ray's Style

French Onion (Ask Jared) or Crab Bisque

Hanger Steak or Flat Iron with Sides

Dessert would not be included, which is just as well since Mr. Klc has determined that they are really not worthwhile, anyway.

Is this what you are looking for?

[mnebergall]

Looking forward to seeing everybody Sunday evening. If there is a question, PM me.

[morela]

Hey Michael,

Can I try the "Devilishly Good Eggs" for real?

[JennyUptown]

Morela are you joining us on Sunday? If not, why?

[mnebergall]

Hey Michael,

Can I try the "Devilishly Good Eggs" for real?

The only serve three egos.

[JennyUptown]

I'm sad to report that I can't make tonight's dinner. I've been having dental work over the course of the last month that just is not been going well. I had hoped pain medication would get me through, but chewing a steak is out of the question, I'm afraid.

Edited August 1, 2004 by JennyUptown (log)

[DonRocks]

This brings the total down to ten people, does it not? I think it's important to try and fill the table for twelve, seeing as though a special dinner is being arranged. Can two people fill in?

[mnebergall]

Sorry folks, my otherwise reliable Verizon DSL picked this afternoon to crap out on me. I did not get the word that JennyUptown was not going to be able to make the dinner this evening until I sat down at the dinner table at Ray's and got the news. If I had known, I would have been able to fill the two seats. I felt bad because Michael got shorted two spaces at the table and two other eGulleteers were denied the pleasure of a memorable meal at Ray's the Steaks. Chef Michael pulled out all the stops. I will let the others elaborate. Suffice to say that the Chef Michael had a "devilish" grin on his face at one point.

[hillvalley]

I am pleased to report that Tomdc made it safely home

First, my thanks to Chef Michael. What an amazing meal and evening. We were treated like royalty, leaving the rest of the diners wondering who we were. The fact that we constantly applauded the Chef's efforts probably added to the curiosity.

Despite that fact that he is the kitchen, the Chef was able to check on us after every course and told a wonderful story about our first wine.

We drank three wines, all at the Chef's recommendations.

The first, which we referred to as The Face Wine was Dievole from Sienna, Italy. I have written down Rinascumento Toscano di dievole, but I have no idea if that is the name of the vineyard or something else. I am sure our two wine experts at the end of the table can clarify.

The second and third wines were from Spain. The first was Montesierra, Ciranzer 1998. (I think, can't read my writing which isn't a surprise since it was after my second glass)

The third was Cestell de Remi, Golim Bru 2001. It was like buttah.

Now, for the food. Oh the food. What a meal.

It started with two amuse bouche. The first was Chef Micheal's take on deviled eggs and steak tartar. The whites were filled with the most unbelievable steak tartar, which we heard the Chef preparing moments before we were served. It was simply delicious. On the side, the yolks had been combined with more steak, a brilliant combination.

The second amuse was perfectly grilled squid, seasoned with lemon, s&p. It was served on two spears of asparagus which were also perfectly grilled.

Next came soup. I had the crab bisque. JPW and Tom, who went with the French Onion, agreed that mine was the better choice. It was creamy, flavorful and had at least half a crab's worth of meat in it. I'd come back just for the soup.

On to the steaks. I forget what cut I had, it wasn't the hanger but it was served with garlic and onions. Again, perfection. Everyone agreed that there steak were amazing, not that we expected any different. I am looking forward to the steak salad I will have for lunch tomorrow with my leftovers.

Chef Michael served the steak with mashed potatoes and spinach. Big surprise here: they were excellent. I only tried the garlic potatoes, although with the garlic in my steak I could not really taste the garlic in the potatoes. They were amazing.

Steve Klc, it is your fault we did not get dessert and for that I thank you. Our check arrived with small bites of peanut butter chocolate candy. It was just enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. At that point everyone agreed that dessert would have been too much.

Yet again it was another fabulous eG event. Thanks to mnegerball for putting it all together, and for not drinking the rest of us under the table

[Malawry]

Did any one take pictures?

Sorry I missed this one, the food at least sounded great.

[JPW]

A few edits on hill valley

The third wine was "Gotim Bru" from Castell de Remei in the Costers del Segres. It is a blend with tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Tempranillo is swiftly becoming one of my favorite grapes. I found it went perfectly with Chef Michael's steaks.

It was Montesino, not Montesierra. Can't recall the exact blend.

Hillvalley had the flatiron steak, as did I. Mine was cajun style.

My thoughts -

I HATE deviled eggs. But I of course had to try. These, with the steak tartare brought tears to my eyes they were so good. The ones that are typically inflicted upon me when visiting my wife's relatives in the south will now be even more unbearable. I will probably never again have deviled eggs unless they come out of this kitchen.

I absolutely ABHOR calamari. To me, it's the nastiest stuff on the face of the earth (although shellfish are close). Again, I would not insult the chef by not trying them. While that peculiar texture of calamari still sent my stomach into convulsions and I had to force myself not to expunge it instantly, I have never consumed a piece of seafood that tasted that effing good! I actually managed to eat (and keep down) about half of mine before passing the rest to hillvalley. For me, this is record calamari consumption.

The cajun flatiron was absolutely stupendous. A beautiful piece of meat, perfectly done. I smiled while savoring. I smiled on the way home. I smiled as I crawled into bed.

Mrs. JPW and I will definitely be back when Peanut leaves the shell and she can once again consume meat that is not overcooked to death.

[jmc8y]

everyone who didn't go is really jealous right now

[Al_Dente]

I wish I had known about the 2 seats available. I could have filled em.

[mnebergall]

It was Montesino, not Montesierra. Can't recall the exact blend.

Montesierra, not Montesino.

[mnebergall]

Despite that fact that he is the kitchen, the Chef was able to check on us after every course and told a wonderful story about our first wine.

I will try to paraphrase the story that Chef Michael told us about "The Face" wine (appropriately named as JPW apparently got "faced" drinking it).

According to Chef Michael:

The land on which the grapes for this wine are grown had belonged to a certain family for generations. During some land reform program instituted by the Italian government (oxymoron??), the land was appropriated and the landowner was kicked off of the land. It was broken up into smaller parcels and divvied up among the local population, which proceeded to run it into the ground (pun?). The land fell into disrepair until more recently when the original landowning family was able to reacquire it. They replanted the vineyards and are now producing first rate wines. "The Face" is one of their lesser wines, but we all liked it although once we started tasting the other wines and comparing, the consensus was that the other wines were better. We would have been perfectly satisfied with it. The reason we called it "The Face" wine is because the entire label is taken up with a black and white photo of a man's face. And the labels, while all having a picture of the same man's face, did not all have the same pose.

This is just one of the little anecdotes that made the dinner that much more interesting and raised the "stakes" a notch or two.

Also, while making the "devilishly good eggs," Chef Michael set up such a din in the kitchen hand chopping the steak tartar that it was difficult to talk and we all wondered what the hell he was doing back there. He is excused for the racket.

Thanks again to Chef Michael for putting together such a special menu for us. I only lament the lack of a digital camera last night, the only physical evidence is the styrofoam clamshell in my refridgerator.

If there is sufficient demand and the Chef is willing, perhaps we could do another one of these (no repeaters, except me).

edited for grammer and punctuation.

Edited again to add the last two paragraphs.

Edited August 2, 2004 by mnebergall (log)

[JPW]

Dievole aka the faces

[tomdc]

Great sex or Michael's deviled eggs...damn, it's a toss up.

I'm so glad he only served us one each. I could have eaten a dozen. The calamari and accompanying asparagus had the slightest grill taste to them that made them totally scarfable.

I have never had a better hanger steak. I'm not sure I will ever order it anywhere else, it would only be a disappointment. OK, maybe in Paris. While the rest of the group were eating their steaks in a very polite, portion-controlled fashion, I was inhaling mine. This was an incredibly plump, juicy, tender piece of meat. The sides were comparable to the best served at any of the hugely expensive steak joints in DC.

Michael asked us to convey to everyone, especially Steve klc, that his speciality is steaks NOT dessert. You want dessert go to Reeves, you want steak, run to Ray's the Steaks.

It was great to meet everyone. I'm looking forward to doing that again soon. BTW, Hillvalley is a kickass driver. Thanks again !

[JennyUptown]

I wish I had known about the 2 seats available. I could have filled em.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to give more notice.

Pain medicine has been rendering me unconscious.

[morela]

Postcard from Arlington 22201

Micahel, I'll see you for the eggs next Sunday. Rest up, morela

[mnebergall]

Postcard from Arlington 22201

Micahel, I'll see you for the eggs next Sunday. Rest up, morela

The devilishly good eggs are not on the menu. I get the impression that he made them especially for us.

[hannnah]

It was a most excellent dinner - thanks to Chef Michael for the time he took with us, even though the restaurant was completely full for most of the evening, and for the fabulous food.

No one's mentioned the spicy cashews that were out on the table when we arrived. These were incredibly good - coated with a little cayenne, maybe some paprika, and a healthy dose of something very addictive. Even if everything else hadn't been wonderful, the nuts on their own would make me want a return visit.

I'm sold on the steak tartare eggs - despite the fact that I have a pathological hatred of deviled eggs, this was a nice nod to the concept without actually being very eggy at all! If the steak tartare on its own isn't already on the menu, it ought to be - it was very, very good. The calamari amuse was incredibly simple and pretty much perfect - a little lemon, salt and pepper was all it needed.

I'm not sure which I liked better, the onion soup or the crab bisque. There's a lot to recommend an onion soup that has visible bits of beef in the stock - and I much prefer a brothy soup with a small, crispy crouton to one that's got a whacking great piece of bread that soaks up all the juices. The bisque was nice and crabby, though.

The flatiron steak was everything I'd been led to believe - a nicely aged, nicely marbled, tender piece of beef prepared simply and well. I had mine with just the grilled onions, no garlic, and they were an excellent accompaniment to both the steak and the sides. I look forward to the leftovers waiting for me at home. Dave's hanger steak was nice as well - no leftovers of it though.

While we didn't have dessert, there were some particularly good-looking strawberries and cream sitting in the kitchen when we left that I would have been happy to try. And we did get a little chocolate-and-peanut-butter nibble at the end, which at that point was just enough. We're definitely looking forward to a return visit.

[laniloa]

This was a fabulous evening from start to finish. Who knew that the sound of meat cleavers slamming away making devilishly good eggs was the perfect sound track to enjoy a glass of wine to? Especially when you are drinking subversive, stick it to the man wine from a family who has reclaimed their ancestral land after having it taken from them by the government.

I'm just sorry we couldn't fill the extra two seats. More people should taste these eggs.

Hmmm...is it too early to eat my leftover steak lunch?

[mdt]

Don't have much to add as the above posts were spot on in their descriptions. I had the flat iron with garlic and onions and all I can say is YUM!! That was not my first trip there and it will certainly not be my last.

Thank you Michael for the wonderful meal and those great eggs!

[morela]

I'm just sorry we couldn't fill the extra two seats. More people should taste these eggs.

Why are people teasing me today. I'm hurrying, I swear. I have to wait for my Prada bib; it's being Fed-exed today.