marigold revisited, ex-Salt

[mrbigjas]

i didn't go because i wasn't sure about it and then i was sure it would be filled. d'oh...

[Capaneus]

i didn't go because i wasn't sure about it and then i was sure it would be filled.  d'oh...

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And what happens when you assume, dear boy? You make...

[KatieLoeb]

Aw shucks, y'all! You're going to swell a poor country girl's head if you go on like that. I love it when I get to enjoy the "fruits" of my labor so to speak. That was a load of fun. Great company, fine wine and fabulous food with gracious service. My hats off to the Marigold staff for a lovely evening.

I tried to be frugal (as I always do) and had a lot to choose from in the Chairman's Selections this time around.

Wine selections are in italics:

BISOL PROSECCO CREDE NV ($16.99)

A lovely aperitif to get our appetites going. Apple-ly and refreshing.

Billy bi soup with roasted chicken oysters and chicken fried oysters

FLORA SPRINGS SOLILOQUY 02 ($12.99)

A very lucious Sauvignon Blanc that complimented the soup very well.

Olive oil-poached halibut with asparagus, honshimeji mushrooms and carrot-miso emulsion

BRUNDLMAYER GRUNER VELTLINER KAMPTALER TERRASSEN 03 ($15.99)

My favorite Austrian wine varietal comes through again. The only wine I could think of that could stand up to asparagus, the earthy mushrooms AND the miso.

Smoked potato gnocchi with beef cheek ragu and rhubarb gastrique

FOLEY ESTATE PINOT NOIR 02 ($19.99)

Big lush and fruity Pinot Noir that had enough gumption to not get overwhelmed by the beef cheeks, which tend to be quite rich and flavorful.

Rabbit leg braised with chorizo, with scallion polenta, fava beans and morel mushrooms

CLINE CELLARS BRIDGEHEAD ZINFANDEL 01 ($12.99)

A quite extracted very berry zin with pepper and spice to compliment the chorizo and a great balance of acid and soft tannin.

All in all the pairings worked very well considering I'd not tried the dishes before. Sometimes my best guess works though, so I'm happy for that!

Someone needs to descibe dessert better than I can, and Capaneus needs to tell us about that very cool Late Harvest Zin he brought along to go with dessert. Both were really yummy!

And Andrew! Where are the pictures????

[mrbigjas]

i didn't go because i wasn't sure about it and then i was sure it would be filled.  d'oh...

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And what happens when you assume, dear boy? You make...

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<sigh> i know, i know. someday i'll learn. for the moment though, i'm just going to encourage you to plan another one, and soon! hurry! summer's bounty is almost upon us!

[shacke]

BTW to the guys and gals at my table - the name of the new avant garde restaurant in Chicago we were trying to think of is "Moto". There is a huge thread on the chicago board. Will make a stop there next time I am in Chitown - who knows when?

Evan

[Capaneus]

....

Someone needs to describe dessert better than I can, and Capaneus needs to tell us about that very cool Late Harvest Zin he brought along to go with dessert.  Both were really yummy!

And Andrew!  Where are the pictures????

Yeah, Andrew! You weren't along for your wit and looks, you know!

Dessert was really interesting, in that all the constituent elements were quite conventional (which I had not expected). There was a liquid-centered chocolate cake; a sliver of epoisses wrapped in prune; and another bit of epoisses flanked by candied walnuts. It was only when you combined these that things popped: the fatty richness of the chocolate paired with the cheese's; their sweetness and saltiness contrasted; the prune echoed the chocolate, but the specific qualities of their sweetness were quite different, somehow, and the textures played off each other's - and the cheese's. The experience was quite different if any of the elements were eaten separately, together, or in any permutation. *And* it was tasty.

The dessert wine, which I picked up in a fit of cowardice, was Chateau Potelle "Zinie" Late Harvest Zinfandel. It was delicious, and quite unlike other California sweet wines. The sugar content was quite low, though higher than a table wine would be (think auslese vs. TBA). Essentially, it struck me as a highly concentrated Zinfandel experience. Those who have tasted some of the bigger Turleys - keep going in that direction a few more degrees and you'll get there.

I wished I could take credit for what turned out to be a very good match, but credit properly goes to Peggy at the 19th and Chestnut PLCB Store, who was the only local retailer to stock it. Unfortunately, I seem to have bought the only bottle in the Philadelphia area. At $18.99/500 ml, it may well be worthwhile to talk someone into transfering some of the bottles available elsewhere in the state.

[Andrew Fenton]

....

And Andrew!  Where are the pictures????

Yeah, Andrew! You weren't along for your wit and looks, you know!

Sorry: we've been having some technical difficulties with the supercomputer (the PonderMatic 3000) here in sub-basement 2 of Fenton Labs. I'll try to have those photos tomorrow, after I've wiped away the tears of pain from all the cruelty I've received from y'all...

[philadining]

Sorry: we've been having some technical difficulties with the supercomputer (the PonderMatic 3000) here in sub-basement 2 of Fenton Labs. 

Most of those problems are from the computer being insufficiently lubricated. I find a little bacon on the keyboard helps.

I'll try to have those photos tomorrow, after I've wiped away the tears of pain from all the cruelty I've received from y'all...

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I want to apologize for my part in the unwarranted harassment. I think it's insulin rebound overshoot that makes me tell cruel lies about Gary and impugn your moral fiber and auditory acuity. I should stop myself from posting so soon after these dinners, really.

For the record, I thought you were invited as eye candy.

[Andrew Fenton]

All right, after a slight delay (to prove I'm not one of those obsessives who can't sleep without posting my dinner experiences), here are some photos. I've left out the shots of Capaneus standing on his chair and singing "I'm a Little Teapot": for those, please PM me.

First off, "We start with the best part of the chicken: the oyster!"

But wait! Not much of a soup yet, is it? Not to worry, here's some green garlicky goodness; the oysters have returned to their natural liquid environment. (Sorry the photo turned out so crappy. To think, I was still sober and not bloated with food yet.)

Continuing the nautical theme, next up we had the halibut, matey:

Over at the cool kids' table, we were having a heated discussion about zombie movies as cultural signifiers. Alas, instead of braaaaaains, we were next served cheeeeeeks:

And here, chorizo-wrapped rabbit saddle (giddyap!) with all the traditional fixins:

This is the intermezzo pineapple tidbit. I think it turned out best of all the night's photos.

A brief diversion, to show the amazingly cool bathroom faucet. It looks like the monolith from 2001. I'm pretty sure I saw a group of monkeys go into the bathroom and come back out knowing how to use tools... oh wait, that was the other table! Well, whatever:

And finally, dessert:

Good times, all around. Props to Capaneus for organizing dinner, and as always, to the Divine Miss Loeb for her uncanny ability to choose the right wines at the right price.

Edited May 13, 2005 by Andrew Fenton (log)

[TarteTatin]

Went to Marigold Friday night for the first time; there were four of us.

Really good.

Service was a bit slow during, but that never bothers me because we are there to dine, not to rush in and out...We waited awhile for our table at the beginning...but when I suggested we stand at the entrance and pop our champagne, the maitre'd agreed and brought four flutes.

Appetizers included that great grilled cheese for four of our party, I had the clam chowder risotto, delicious. Someone else had the vegetable salad, which looked small, but she said it was excellent.

Two had a gorgeous rib-eye, two of us had great lamb shoulder, one had very pretty skate (I love it when they serve it fanned out), and hubby had the rabbit wrapped in chorizo. I think he was the most underwhelmed. He said these farm raised rabbits have no taste, so it definitely needed the chorizo to give it any taste!

Desserts, two of us had a chocolate-cardomom pudding with mango lassi that was to die for (although I didn't taste the cardomom!), hubby had a coffee soaked tiramisu, (he doesn't usually go for that sort of stuff, but he liked it), someone else had something tapioca, which they didn't like....we also had a cheese plate in the middle of the table which was pretty small and kind of boring/typical.

We brought some great wines...brought back from Vouvray last year a bottle of Poniatowski's Sap Nature Petillant, very nice, there was a 1998 Paullac, 3 California Pinots, and then we finished with a half bottle of Banyuls 1996. They have good wine glasses for a BYOB too.

It was a fun evening, not too expensive, and we really enjoyed!

[bilrus]

I really wanted to love Marigold. I originally had reservations at Django for my trip last weekend, but on the recommendations of several people I trust I switched to Marigold.

My wife and I had two appetizers and two entrees. Both the Grilled Cheese and the Clam Chowder Risotto blew us away with their creativity and execution, especially the bacon foam and the plump juicy clams in the risotto. My wife's smoked paprika tagliatelle was excellent.

Only my sous vide braised lamb shoulder was a miss - chewy and fatty but still with a nice lamb flavor that unfortunately was mostly overpowered by a one note middle-eastern spice that I couldn't quite place. Sous vide seems like the wrong way to cook such an initially tough piece of meat. But despite that the food was very good.

So what was wrong, and why didn't we have any desserts? Because it had to have been at least 80 degrees in the restaurant (well, maybe it was 78). Last Friday night was very hot and humid and we had to wait a while on the front porch / foyer area which wasn't air conditioned. We got hot and the inside wasn't much better.

I don't want this to come off as petty and obviously (I assume) this is an isolated incident. The food was, for the most part, top notch. But a dinner is about the whole experience and I can't say I loved Marigold.

[mrbigjas]

someone i know went to marigold on saturday and said the same thing--that the food was great, but it was really hot in the place. and that the person she talked to said the AC was working.

it would be kind of a bummer if that were the case--that because of some infrastructure issues (namely old, inadequate ACs), it would put the restaurant at a disadvantage during the summer.

it would kinda be like my house...

[philadining]

... it had to have been at least 80 degrees in the restaurant

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That was the gods punishing you for listening to the nattering nabobs of negativity and dumping a Django res! I'm actually a big fan of Marigold, but despite the recent reactive overshoot, Django ain't exactly a greasy spoon diner. Switching to Marigold wasn't a totally crazy thing, they're both excellent restaurants, but next time, keep your Django table. Don't mess with your dining karma like that!

[bilrus]

... it had to have been at least 80 degrees in the restaurant

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That was the gods punishing you for listening to the nattering nabobs of negativity and dumping a Django res! I'm actually a big fan of Marigold, but despite the recent reactive overshoot, Django ain't exactly a greasy spoon diner. Switching to Marigold wasn't a totally crazy thing, they're both excellent restaurants, but next time, keep your Django table. Don't mess with your dining karma like that!

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I'm definintely shooting for another Django reservation next time. It wasn't so much negativity about Django, but the positive recommendations for Marigold that prompted the change.

Fortunately I love close enough that it isn't a big deal to shoot into town on a bit of a whim.

Edited June 16, 2005 by bilrus (log)

[bilrus]

someone i know went to marigold on saturday and said the same thing--that the food was great, but it was really hot in the place.  and that the person she talked to said the AC was working.

it would be kind of a bummer if that were the case--that because of some infrastructure issues (namely old, inadequate ACs), it would put the restaurant at a disadvantage during the summer. 

it would kinda be like my house...

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The AC was definitely running, but it was too little, too late.

[philadining]

It wasn't so much negativity about Django, but the positive recommendations for Marigold that prompted the change. 

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Ahh, right, there is indeed a well-deserved buzz about Marigold here, and I'm sorry to hear about the environmental issue (and the lamb...) it really is a good place! I realize I was thinking of a certain other message board that seems to feature endless sniping at Django.

Of course, any place can have an occasional problem, I had to dodge a bucket catching AC drip in the main entrance of Melograno last night, but let's hope Marigold is getting on top of their cooling problems, it's going to get hotter!

There's nothing magical about Django, it's just famously hard to get a weekend reservation, so I was kidding you about cosmic retribution. But I hope you do get to try it sometime, along with Matyson, Melograno, Nan, Pif, and our many other interesting BYOB destinations!

[bilrus]

It wasn't so much negativity about Django, but the positive recommendations for Marigold that prompted the change. 

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Ahh, right, there is indeed a well-deserved buzz about Marigold here,

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Not only here. Tom Sietsema, the critic at the Washington Post profiled both Django and Marigold here and in a recent chat said Marigold was his favorite from his trip. I've come to trust his judgements for the most part.

I like the whole concept and wish we had a few more comparable places here in DC. We are in good shape on the low-end and the high-end here is as good as anywhere in the country outside of New York and San Francisco. But there are precious few casual, mid-level places turning out really good food here.

[mrbigjas]

you've got certain things in abundance that we have very few of, though. reasonably priced french bistros, for one thing. we have, like, one of them.

[GregD]

Are they no longer doing Sunday brunch?