Restaurant Eve

[T.Thrasher]

THANKS Jenny!!--hope to see you soon.

[mhberk]

Todd,

My wife and I won't let that posting discourage us and we look forward to celebrating our 1st wedding anniversay with you and your staff on the 19th!

[John W.]

Guess I missed my chance.

Damn. Now I have to wait 6 months before it's slow enough to eat there.

Congrats to Restaurant Eve on a great review.

Thrasher, who do I send my dry cleaning bill to?

[DonRocks]

I went to the bar at Restaurant Eve this evening for the fourth time, and I have to say that nobody, anywhere in Washington, makes better mixed drinks than Todd Thrasher and Restaurant Eve.

I've now had just about every drink on their menu, and top-to-bottom, they're all well-conceived and brilliantly executed. Even the ones I don't love, I still respect.

Example: earlier, I reported that I didn't like the pickled martini, and this evening I had a revised version that I still find to be absolutely undrinkable, but I've been assured by others that it's a great drink, and Todd told me this evening that it's about a 65%-to35% love-to-hate ratio, with not much in the middle. It's an amazingly detailed drink, and not at all to my taste, but Todd looked at me defiantly this evening, and said, quite proudly, "this is not coming off the menu." Bully for him, I say.

Todd Thrasher is a baller.

The Bloody Mary, the Purple Basil Colada ... ooh....

What a wonderful, welcoming place to be, the bar at Restaurant Eve.

[mnebergall]

Guess I missed my chance.

Damn. Now I have to wait 6 months before it's slow enough to eat there.

Congrats to Restaurant Eve on a great review.

Thrasher, who do I send my dry cleaning bill to?

Congratulations to Chef Cathal and Todd Thrasher. Wow, three stars from Seitsema after being open only a few months. A stellar acheivement.

Note:

Please reserve the bar stools at the end of the bar for us "regulars." After all, we were there first.

And thanks to the staff for letting us in the front door during the deluge last night.

[iamthestretch]

Well good for them. Though a bummer for the early adopters. It strikes me that the sensible thing to do is to come down with a sudden, urgent "client meeting" this very afternoon and get over to Eve for a spot of lunch. Hark, was that my phone ringing?

[mnebergall]

Well good for them. Though a bummer for the early adopters. It strikes me that the sensible thing to do is to come down with a sudden, urgent "client meeting" this very afternoon and get over to Eve for a spot of lunch. Hark, was that my phone ringing?

I don't know what they serve for lunch, but if the veal short ribs with polenta is on the menu, it is definitly worth a try. Before doing so, I would check the calendar to see if there is time for an afternoon nap.

[SanFran88]

Just wanted to join in the chorus of congratulations for Chef Cathal, Meshelle, and Todd. We've been to the Bistro at Eve a half-dozen times since it opened (I'm not counting the two times I snuck in for lunch without telling my wife ) and I think we've tried everything on the menu. The worst thing I can think of to say is the prawns can be difficult to peel -- but worth it. (And unlike Tom, I like the oxtail ravioli). I think the line in the review about this being a great neighborhood restaurant of the sort you find in San Francisco or New York is absolutely correct. Meshelle and Todd really make the Bistro feel like a home-away-from-home. Cliche yes, but true. The only reason we haven't done the tasting room is the Bistro is just so comfortable; well, that and needing to find a sitter that can pass my wife's third degree. Hopefully I'll still be able to convince Todd to take me to Costco to help me pick out wines. Damn, I knew I should have got a firm commitment before the review came out. I saw on their website www.restauranteve.com they are having a veal tasting at the end of the month; looks like its a horn-to-hoofs sort of thing. Pretty adventurous for Old Town.

[sara]

It's nice to be excited again about a neighborhood restaurant. The review definitely got us going, and we'll be out there as soon as possible to try out that bistro menu--and possibly more importantly, those cocktails!

Edited June 19, 2004 by sara (log)

[mnebergall]

Todd,

My wife and I won't let that posting discourage us and we look forward to celebrating our 1st wedding anniversay with you and your staff on the 19th!

Well????

[fido dido]

I managed to get a reservation at 9.30 last weekend for myself and three other extremely spoiled eaters. One was a visiting Manhattanite, and two others (ex-Manhattanites) were well-traveled foodies. Having lived in, and been disappointed by, DC's restaurant scene for the last two years, we didn't have very high expectations for this place. We were also suspicious because Tom Sietsema had given it a positive review, and we have been led woefully astray on more than one occasion by him. For the first half-hour, we were not disappointed in our expectations. We were seated almost 30 minutes late, having first been ignored by the waitress at the bar for the first ten minutes and then treated to glares the rest of the evening when we told her we'd ordered at the bar by the time she arrived. We didn't mean to be rude, but we didn't know what the protocol was for ordering drinks when the bar was full and both the bartender and waitress ignored us.

As none of us had eaten in almost 12 hours, we decided only to order the most interesting thing on the cocktail menu and do a mini-tasting. The pickle martini was....interesting. I wasn't surprised to read the mixed reviews. Ice-cold, it wasn't bad. The pickles themselves didn't win any favors, and ordinarily I love pickles in all forms. (I made it a point to go to a pickle buffet in Kyoto a couple months ago) A friendly warning though: I made the mistake of trying the drink after it had sat for a bit, and lukewarm it was quite unpleasant.

By the time we were seated at 10pm, we were a very grumpy and hungry group. I am embarassed to say that we freely indulged ourselves in a lengthy criticism of everything that had occurred up to that point in the evening. The staff, however, were extremely gracious. I don't know how much of our criticisms was overheard, but the chef personally sent over four complimentary plates of his excellent oxtail ravioli with apologies for the wait, and then added two more appetizers to compensate for the diner who'd ordered the oxtail himself. Also, when we told the waiter he'd brought the wrong wine, he returned with not only the correct wine, but a better vintage. I don't know if it was intentional or not as he did not mention a word, but judging from the service the rest of the evening and from other reviews, it probably was. Regardless, we were all soon mollified and very much impressed with Restaurant Eve's efforts.

On the food, the crab cake appetizer was the best I have ever tasted - sweet, firm, and generously chunky- probably due to the fact that the meat was large chunks from the claws and not scraped from smaller parts of the crab. The rabbit terrine was a bit salty, but the texture was lovely - firm, bouncy and surprisingly meaty. I like terrines but all too often they are too gooey and slimy. The splash of mustard and little pile of mushrooms on the side were perfect accompaniments.

I ordered the turbot, which had a nice, crisp outer crust encasing the perfectly done fillet. The sauce it came in was light, but beautifully seasoned and fragrant. All too often in American restaurants fish is handled roughly - either so smothered in sauce you forget what you are eating, or way overcooked. My only complaint was that, again, it was a tad on the salty side.

My companions were equally pleased with their entrees - the pork belly was especially outstanding. I was reminded of a similar dish in Chinese cuisine (pork belly braised in dark soy sauce and sugar, with some spices, with maybe some chestnuts tossed in) that is not as popular nowadays for health reasons, but among my grandparents' generation it was a favorite, prized for the way the fat would melt in your mouth and leave you with a bit of meat to chew on. It was nice to see a modern twist put on such a traditionally homey dish.

For dessert, the cucumber sorbet was unforgettable. A little like having a breath mint as there was definitely mint incorporated, and a judicious dash of.... black pepper, was it?....It made an exciting way to end a lovely meal.

So, despite a rough start, Restaurant Eve turned out to be all that it was hyped up to be, and more. I'm very glad that they chose to make Old Town their home, and I can't wait to come back next time, where I promise to be better behaved.

Edited June 23, 2004 by fido dido (log)

[mdt]

I saw on their website www.restauranteve.com they are having a veal tasting at the end of the month; looks like its a horn-to-hoofs sort of thing. Pretty adventurous for Old Town.

Anyone going to this?

[sara]

I wanted to love Eve. I wanted to title my post "All About Eve." But some misses in the dishes, and some slips from the servers, have deterred me. That said, Todd Thrasher shall be crowned King of cocktails. Yes, along with Derrick at Palena. My cantaloupe and prosciutto champagne celebration was outstanding, I'll never forget the bite of the meat, the foam of the fruit, delish.

His tomato water bloody mary is also to be added to the list of best BM's ever.

The food hits were the pork belly and a special veal liver. Both rich and well-executed. But there were more misses than hits, at least in what I got to try in one night. The oxtail in the ravioli was overly dry, a bit stringy. The rabbit terrine was a bit bland, BDC does it better at the moment. The sabayon was an alcoholy slippery mess. The blackberries on the funnel cake were a nice touch, but the funnel cake overall didn't rise up and bounce with sweetness like the best can. And the birthday cake, while as sweet and buttery as I like them, made me feel like a child--but I couldn't forget the slightly off/acidic taste from the strawberry frosting--make this cake vanilla or chocolate frosted and it'd be improved.

Service fluctuated--from polite, to rude and a bit chaotic. For some periods of time, we sat drinkless and foodless in the lounge, and people passed us by repeatedly. Another time, the bartender spilled a big glass of water straight down Liam's pants-- the only saving grace was the bright idea to provide a black napkin to mop it up off his black slacks.

Neighborhood restaurants don't have to be perfect. This one isn't, and that's ok--it'll grow. But it's simply not in a neighborhood I can frequent often enough to watch it grow, and be tolerant. Were it a bit more accessible, a bit closer to home, I think I'd be there.

edited to correct 'spilled' down his pants, not 'slipped'!!

Edited July 6, 2004 by sara (log)

[DonRocks]

The food hits were the pork belly and a special veal liver.

Sweetbreads!

[sara]

Oh DAMN! Yes, the sweetbreads. How could I forget??? Really. Those were lovely. They're not on the online menu and I was too intoxicated to recall to bring home a printed menu so I left those lovelies out of my first post. FABULOUS--order them. Really, order the more unusual meats--sweetbreads, pork belly, veal liver...those were the strengths of my meal, IMO.

[Meshe at Eve]

Hello E gullet Posters!

Saturday was really outrageously busy. Pretty incredible for a holiday weekend. We were so booked in both the Bistro and Tasting room..We sent many guests to the bar then at one point, I was even trying to disuade people for even trying to eat at the bar.

Service is very important to us. The bar should not be any less attentive. So I guess that in the future, we will just have to turn people away other than have them have a bad experience, such

as one poster experienced. ....Sorry to have lost a guest. We wish that they were able to experience Eve the way we would have liked. We will however continue to do our very best.

I LOVE The Rabbit Terrine..dear Posters, Please do enjoy the Dijon Mustard that accompanys it.

Also I might add, very humbly, It would be a bettter idea to not be intoxicated, eat, then post.

Just a thought., My tastebuds never worked properly under those circumstances either.

Be Well All.

[sara]

Hello E gullet Posters!

Saturday was really outrageously busy. Pretty incredible for a  holiday weekend. We were so booked in both the Bistro and Tasting room..We sent many guests to the bar then at one point,  I was even trying to disuade people for even trying to eat at the bar.

Service is very important to us. The bar should not be any less attentive. So I guess that in the future, we will just have to turn people away other than have them have a bad experience, such

as one poster experienced. ....Sorry to have lost a guest. We wish that they were able to experience Eve the way we would have liked. We will however continue to do our very best.

I LOVE The Rabbit Terrine..dear Posters, Please do enjoy the Dijon Mustard that accompanys it.

Also I might add, very humbly, It would be a bettter idea to not be intoxicated, eat, then post.

Just a thought., My tastebuds never worked properly under those circumstances either.

Be Well All.

Hi

I think I'm being addressed here, tho I'm not sure...

First, I was there Friday, not Saturday.

Second, what makes you think I was intoxicated by the time I ate (I had only one drink prior to my meal), drank, then posted? In fact, I posted nearly a week after my meal. I sat, thought about it, then posted--a well-considered strategy I think.

Third, I did have the mustard with the rabbit terrine. Sure, spicy mustard is a good thing, and it always picks up bland food. But ultimately, you're enjoying the mustard, not the terrine, yes?

Fourth, you didn't necessarily 'lose a customer.' I never said that.

ps. I'm going to try and not take offense at the idea that my tastebuds were compromised or uneducated, just because I didn't love the food.

Edited July 7, 2004 by sara (log)

[sara]

They're not on the online menu and I was too intoxicated to recall to bring home a printed menu so I left those lovelies out of my first post.

ps. I see from this that you may have thought I was drunk before starting to eat. Not the case; it was just after all the dinner, wines, dessert and dessert wines that I forgot to take a menu. Without the menu, I left out the sweetbreads when I sat down to post the first time; but I did not forget their taste at all, and actually complimented that dish, right?

[Meshe at Eve]

Hello Sara,

I certainly did not mean to be offensive..Accept my apologies if this was the case.

Sometimes postings can be misinterpreted..on both ends.

Friday was just as hectic, the overall weekend. We have spoken to our bartenders and they

are now aware that if it is too busy to handle, then we cease serving the menu in the bar.

We can not sacrife, the quality of service. So thank you for alerting us to this.

You have every right to not like everything on our menu. After all, each person's taste is

different. How would you like to see the Rabbit Terrine different? We love it this way...

Dijon is meant to compliment, not overspice, yes!..I asked due to the fact that some don't

eat the mustard...believe me, we watch every plate. (Feedback...yes, yes, yes-in a motivating

way? EVEN BETTER!)

I appreciate the posting, and thank you for the compliment of the sweetbreads. Are you in the restaurant Biz or just looooooove to eat.

Be Well. Meshe

[sara]

Meshe

Thanks for your response. No, I'm not in the business currently, tho I waited tables in the area for years. As for the terrine, my suggestion is to use more black pepper, garlic and thyme--to punch it up a bit. Of course, I'm no chef, so this is just a guess as to what might fix what I perceived as blandness.

Regarding bar service, I must admit it might be quite disappointing to some of your customers to discover that on any given night the bar might stop serving food, simply because it's too busy. I understand the dilemma, yes. But it might be easy to deal with if it was a simple Friday/Saturday nights, no bar menu, policy that people could be made aware of. Price and convenience are two reasons people order off bar menus, and if one traveled all the way to Old Town to try the food, at the bar, and couldn't, I can imagine a bad reaction.

I think I was actually pretty tolerant and understanding of how busy the bartenders were the night I was in there. The thing was that we never really received any recognition from them that there was a problem. Yes, the bartender said "sorry" after spilling the drink, but she never offered us a cocktail and offered to comp it-which I've seen done elsewhere. And one bartender took our food order, and then 15 minutes later asked us again what we'd ordered, then proceeded to enter it into the computer--sure a sign of busy-ness, but again, no apology for the forgetfulness. Perhaps my complaint is more about attitude, or performance under duress? Not sure.

Anyways, I've not sworn off a return visit by any means! We'll try to find our way out there again.

Edited July 7, 2004 by sara (log)

[Meshe at Eve]

Thank you, thank you!

We Just read your email to our bar staff! Anything out of the ordinary will immedietly be brought to

our attention. A positive and helpful attitude is what we expect from our staff. (We'll leave the bad attitudes..to bad guests...yes...amazingly ...there are many of those too. Hmmmm just gave me

an idea about a new forum. (Hey restaurant friends..Dig, if you will this picture..)

Anyway...Sara,

Next time you come in...We'lll send you something nice!! (It is illegal in this state to

extend the compliments of alcohol..yes, crazy but true) ...gotta run..service begins.

Be Well. Meshe

[pastramionrye]

this little discussion should have been had in private...i think.

[sara]

Well, pastrami, not under my control. But at the same time, these things can be illuminating and productive for others to see. If anyone disagrees, our moderator can deal with it.

[DonRocks]

this little discussion should have been had in private...i think.

In hindsight, maybe. But Sara, a valued member here, posted her honest thoughts, and Meshe came in and rightfully defended her turf. Sara replied to her questions, and Meshe replied to Sara's reply.

The conversation took place one post at-a-time, was conducted in good faith, and worked out for the best.

As an aside, there are some posts here, even with full disclosure, that border on annoying marketing (refer to the Washington City Paper Restaurant Finder thread), but I really wish more people here in the biz (and there are quite a few) would just say so, because I think it lends a degree of honesty and context to their postings. Meshe is to be applauded for disclosing that she works for Eve.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[Steve Klc]

but I really wish more people here in the biz (and there are quite a few) would just say so, because I think it lends a degree of honesty and context to their postings. Meshe is to be applauded for disclosing that she works for Eve

She sure is to be applauded--and might I add she handled this eG situation with all the tact and graciousness I've seen on display at the restaurant. Meshe clearly "cares." I have to admit I had the same misgiving about Sara's intoxicated comment when I read it and wondered if anyone was going to respond to it.

Restaurants rot from the top down--and when a chef or owner stops caring and/or starts mailing it in, you not only see a decline in the food but you see it when the chef stops caring about his family of employees, his or her "family" in the front and back of the house get the message, the next step is the family stops caring about the customers. There are a few too many chefs around town who open and close restaurants, bankrupting one and failing with another, who are not above playing games paying their staff, sometimes letting payroll checks bounce and who seem never to have offered good customer service--yet these chefs seem to be given too free a pass by an at-times-uncritical local media focused mainly on the "food." The kind of chef, with several failed restaurants under their belt, who wouldn't inform their staff until the very last night that the restaurant was closing the next day and, oh, by the way, they'd all be out of work.

What I can tell from the way Meshe engaged Sara is that not only does she care about her family--her employees--she even views patrons as part of her extended family even those who have a complaint. That's refreshing, it's also the hallmark of the many good local people who realize this is a customer service business: every single diner and every single experience is important.

Sara is to be commended as well for having the courage to raise an issue for discussion which might not have gone over so well or swum against the tide. No one is protected here and dissent is welcome--it's just that all of our opinions, ideas and arguments are likely to be engaged and challenged. It also doesn't mean that just because you're "in the biz" or have dined at all the Michelin three-stars your opinion is necessarily correct or more correct--as we've seen demonstrated over and over again on eG that isn't the case. Pros disagree all the time. If you are not prepared to engage respectfully, to explain and/or to defend your opinion--you might as well not share it in the first place. Would that all the professionals who post or lurk on this site add their names to their signature lines rather than continue to post anonymously or stew privately.

Thank you, at this point, to all the eG members and eG pros who do post under their own names--it helps keep this a special place. Some things are better expressed privately--beginning with whether anyone feels this little discussion should have been held in private--but communities gain when prickly, thorny issues are discussed out in the open--it raises awareness for everyone and everyone can make up their own minds.

I think we all have to remember one fact about the restaurant business--that the period after a positive review by the lead critic of a town is a difficult time. That's why, I think it was John Wabeck, made the crack about now having to wait six months to go to Eve. Eve has been in that period of transition since the Sietsema review came out--of likely hiring new staff, training the exisiting staff to operate seamlessly at the pace of higher expectation and heightened awareness. Mistakes and poor decisions are going to be made in this period--the true measure of commitment is in how the restaurant management handles those situations as it goes forward. My sense is that they're in good hands with Meshe and Todd--and the few on the service staff who may have seemed a little green or apprehensive on your last visit will be just that little bit more confident and mature on your next visit--and one of the reasons they will be is because of posts just like yours Sara.

We ate in the Bistro for the first time on July 6th and were very impressed, I'll write up a little more about it later, but we were taken in most of all by the level of service: consummate, earnest and seamless despite the fact that the house was full, including a packed bar, this just after the long holiday weekend. And Todd wasn't even there--he was teaching a scuba class that night. From the way you are greeted at the front door, which is the side door actually, to refilling the water, to the little delish Breadline rolls, to the incredible cocktail and wine list and wine service, to the dishes presented, to our server Laura eagerly going into the kitchen to find out what a certain odd-looking but incredible-tasting leaf was in the wonderful baby beet salad (turned out to be osaka, a type of mustard green apparently) despite the fact that she obviously had better things to do, to the black-clad runner bringing out a single sabayon for two elderly ladies to share and presenting it as if it was the most important action he had that night--this place oozed sincerity and attentiveness. It's a mistake to consider this place just a "neighborhood" restaurant--which could be interpreted by some as almost a diss. I mean, it aims to convey a neighborhood feel but Eve is poised to be much more special--and in some ways it already is.