Maestro

[DCMark]

Hey, I just need a little encouragement before I pluck down $400 for dinner and $200 for the room for my one year anniversary. My biggest wig-out is that I am paying to spend the night in TYSON'S CORNER!

[hannnah]

It's that good. We did our 2nd anniversary dinner there in March. The tasting menu is a nice mix of dishes off the "Tradizione" and "Evoluzione" menus. If I had to choose one favorite, I'd have to go with the carpaccio - it was stunning, although I'm told the baby goat chops were pretty damn good (they must have been, I didn't get to try them!) If you can get a kitchen view table, do - it's great fun to watch your dinner come together.

Bear in mind that the 7-course option ends up being a LOT of food, what with amuses and pre-desserts and mignardises; if you're not looking to be stuffed by the end the 5-course might be a better option.

Oh, and the $200 for the room is just about worth it for the bed alone.

[DCMark]

I just called and they do not have space for 2 on June 5th before 930PM. Totally my fault. Does anyone have connections there that could help me make this happen? THanks

[wmsmurray]

My wife and I went there for our one year anniversary and did the same thing - dinner and a room. We had a table relatively close to the kitchen so we could see everything happening (like a ballet! none of the mad dash rushing, cursing and yelling I had expected). The food is just spectacular. While I can't claim to have dined in many restaurants of this caliber, we finished the meal happy that we came and that it was worth the money (although the cats couldn't eat for a month ) The sommelier was similarly spectacular. We basically turned ourselves over to his choices and did a by-the-glass with every course for the dinner. His choices were fantastic and sometimes very different from what I would have chosen as a pairing. And by the end of the night we were in no condition to drive anywhere - so the room is a good idea. Hope this helps.

[bilrus]

I am going for the first time for my birthday next month. I am pretty damn excited.

[Joe H]

Call Emanuele Fissore at 703-821-1515. He is the general manager and very accommodating if at all possible. I arranged the Chowhound dinner for 58 on February 18th. Also mention that you'd like to reserve a room, too. (This helps them.) If you are flexible (i.e. early dinner at, say 6:00-it will last three hours +) he may be able to get you in. You should do the $125 seven course blowout. You'll end up with 12 courses total and, yes, you'll leave stuffed. Their goat cheese and grappa risotto is superb. Fabio flies in arborio from Alba which is the same that Le Calandre uses. In fact Fabio has now eaten at Le Calandre, the Michelin three star outside of Rubano that is most similar to Maestro.

In my opinion Maestro is the best and most creative Italian restaurant in America as well as the best in the greater D. C. area. Laboratorio is also superb with Roberto but the style is different. We are very fortunate to have these two great restaurants here.

[Joe H]

This is the link: http://share-dell.shutterfly.com/action/sh...M2r5I&sm=0&sl=0 to a series of about 60 photos of the dinner I referred above. It was 14 courses, lasted a shade over five hours and extraordinary. A number of the dishes shown in this dinner are available in his tasting menus.

[bilrus]

I have eaten at a number of very nice, well known, high end restaurants over the last few years. But for some reason the menu at Maestro intimidates me.

I don't know if it is my lack of familiarity with the Italian language (as opposed to French), or not enough knowledge about the ingredients being used. But in the back of my mind there is a bit of nervousness about ordering something I don't want. The funny thing is that aside from offal and small bits of things with lots of bones (like the frog at Full Kee) there is very little I won't eat - or at least try.

[Joe H]

Fabio is extremely creative. Steve klc and I have discussed in the past whether he would even be considered "Italian." For me, he is, but he uses this as a starting point for a very personal cuisine that is really quite dissimilar from most of what you would find in Italy, Le Calandre excepted. This is a restaurant where not every dish, regardless of its description, will taste or even look like what you might imagine it to be. In the link above most if not all of the dishes from the Chowhound meal are shown. Note Roe's description versus what the dishes actually looked like. My point is, this is a restaurant to order the $125 tasting, not even consider what the next course on your plate might be, and just go for it! For me, some of Fabio's dishes are as close to sublime as I will find on this side of the Atlantic. Yes, Keller, Trotter and several others including Roberto for some of his dishes (duck custard brulee) are in this league. But you will taste things, Bilrus, and LIKE things that you never would have imagined you would.

I envy you for your first meal at Maestro. No matter what you expect, it will surpass it. There are very few restaurants anywhere that I can say this about.

[Steve Klc]

That previous exchange here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST&f=34&t=15083&

Seems that with "a very personal cuisine that is really quite dissimilar from most of what you would find in Italy" you're inching ever closer to me on this, Joe.

Playing the "Who is in what league" game is less important to me, suffice it to say I feel you can find sublime and creative cooking going on all across the country--and sublime restaurant experiences (which aren't necessarily the same thing)--above and below this price point--so I think you really have to look beyond what something might be "worth" until you experience it firsthand. In this case, I strongly suggest you experience Fabio and Maestro firsthand, both are very special, and I agree with Joe your best bet is putting yourself in his hands, as it is with the most creative, most personal chefs. I'd also recommend you ask to have wines paired as well, agreeing with wmsmurray.

Good luck getting a table. And Bilrus, we share in your excitement as well, and I suspect after the fact, whatever nervousness you had going in over ingredients or language you'll realize wasn't really warranted--as it isn't warranted in the hands of most chefs at this level no matter what their nationality because their influences, their reach is at once global yet personal.

[bilrus]

I'd be interested to see what he has to say about this. I was thinking of posting a related question in the Post chat today.

[Steve Klc]

That's a good idea--in that recent Judith Weinraub article, he said "I take something people feel comfortable with and, still respecting the original ingredients, use modern techniques and presentation to bring the dish up to a new level," says Trabocchi. "Better and more interesting -- and extremely dramatic." Judith wrote "Trabocchi's food is grounded in Italian regional cuisine, but for many diners not recognizably so. The ingredients may be similar. Some of the reference points -- pasta, the carpaccio, risotto -- are, too. But his aspirations are quite different" and "Consider, for example, his lobster ravioli. The concept is classically Italian, but the contemporary ingredients include lobster from Maine and an Asian ginger and lemon glaze. The technique also is contemporary. There's a chunk of raw lobster inside the ravioli dough (instead of a mousse or blend of lobster meat), so that both are cooked together in simmering fish stock."

Link to more Weinraub on Fabio here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...3-2004May4.html