Equinox, with Chef Todd Gray

[jordyn]

I was in D.C. last night, and had dinner at Equinox with a couple of friends.  Previously, several people whose opinion I trust had strongly recommended Equinox, so I was excited to eat some good food.

My friends were a little late in arriving, and the woman who initially tried to find our reservation seemed to be struggling to use their computer system.  Fortunately, I only had to repeat my name four times, before someone more capable showed up, promptly found the reservation, and guided us to our table.  Unfortunately, we were promptly led to perhaps the worst table in the restaurant--wedged into a corner between the "inside" and "outside" rooms, the only four top in a space dominated by two large (and noisy) parties.  We're obviously not part of the Washington elite, but the restaurant didn't fill up during the evening, so I consider it unfortunate that they found it necessary to banish us.

Service was fairly hit or miss generally.  When asked for some elaboration on the preparation of the squab and lamb entrees, the server did little more than repeat the description from the menu.  My wine glass frequently sat empty waiting to be refilled, although water glasses were well tended to.  When we were actually being helped, service was professional, but we often went through long stretches without any attention from the staff, which was particularly frustrating because I had a train to catch at the end of the meal.

On to the food.  No amuse; I'm not sure if there's never one, or if we just didn't deserve it.  The appetizers we tried were:

Grilled Fennel and Blood Orange Salad with Crispy Duck, Citrus Vinaigrette, and Fresh Chervil.  This turned out to be a crispy duck salad with a few small slices of orange and some fairly insipid fennel.  Fortunately, the duck was quite good, richly flavored without too much fat, so this was more a matter of mismatched expectations than a flawed dish.

Poached Maine Lobster with Ginger Cream, Maitake Mushrooms, and Spring Onions.  This was simply excellent.  The lobster was full-bodied but soft, melting into the buttery cream of the sauce, with the ginger adding just enough zing to keep the dish from becoming too rich.  Probably the second best lobster dish I have ever had, second to Charles Nob Hill in San Francisco.

Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese served with Quinoa Salad, Dried Cranberries, Mache Lettuce, and Fresh Lemon.  This was fine, with no surprises.  The cheese was slightly chalky, and the pistachios didn't add anything particularly interesting to the flavor.

On to entrees.  One of my dining companions had Seared Yellowfin Tuna served on Whipped Yukon Potatoes with Whole Grain Mustard Cream, Sweet Onions and Organic Mustard Sprouts.  This must have been pretty good, because he ate it all before I had a chance to taste any.

Spiced Breast of California Squab served on Barley Risotto with Spicy Onions, Applewood Bacon, and Hazelnut Squab Jus was quite good.  The spices in the sqab were hard to detect, but the bird itself had an excellent flavor and was cooked to perfection.  The barley risotto was excellent, and seemed to be infused with foie gras or perhaps squab liver.

Mushroom Crusted Niman Beef Tenderloin with Celery Root Puree, Black Truffle Sauce, and Celery Heart Salad.  The celery root and truffle sauce here were excellent compliment to a soft but not particularly beef flavored piece of meat.  Unfortunately, although this was requested "medium well" despite the chef's usual "rare to medium rare", it came to the table rare.

Finally, dessert.  Due to the slow service and my need to catch a train, we ate dessert rather hastily, so these impressions may not be as well formed.

Rustic Apple Tartlet with Cinnamon Hazelnut Croquant Ice Cream and Pomegranate Sauce was okay, not great.  The pomegranate sauce added little, and the apples were not as flavorful as I would have liked.

Roasted Banana Sourdough Bread Pudding with Honey-Clove Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce was good, although the flavors of the pudding were also a bit jumbled.  The ice cream was very nice, with clear flavors of both honey and clove in nearly perfect proportions, but the portion was so small that I only got to enjoy it for two bites before it was no more.

Stuffed Doughnut Holes of Vanilla Custard served with Lemon Sauce and Raspberry Coulis was excellent, with the stuffing balancing the density of the sugar-coated donut holes.  Unfortunately, there were only three of these bite sized morsels as well.  This tiny portion facilitated us leaving in time for me to make our train, but would have been disappointing had we actually been expecting to sit and enjoy dessert.

Neither of my friends were drinking, so I focused on the list of wines by the glass and half bottles.  There seemed to be about a dozen wines by the glass and about 10 half bottles, representing a decent range of California favorites.  I settled on a half bottle of 98 Chalk Hill chardonnay for $43.

Prices were in the $10 - $15 range for appetizers, $25-$29 for entrees, and about $7 for desserts.  Dinner for three, with my wine, tax and tip, came to $235.

Overall, the evening was a mixed bag.  Most of the dishes were competent, with a few excellent standouts and a few slightly confused dishes as well.  Service was generally disappointing, and the noise level (in our area at least) was nearly untolerable, even for someone used to dining in New York.

[Edited to add comments about price and the wine list.]

[Damian]

Thanks for the post, Jordyn!  

Your Equinox experience was on a par with mine.  Hit or miss food, uninspiring room, and indifferent service.  I was there soon after it first opened and chalked it up to them not having gotten it together yet.  I had no desire to go back but probably would have given it a second chance had the occasion arisen.  At that price point, however, I expect a much better experience.

[Malawry]

What a great, thorough post! Thanks for your dissection.

This has got me wondering. What restaurants in DC offer a stellar service experience? Do any of them? I've had decent service in DC but have not experienced anything outstanding.

[SamanthaF]

I ate at Equinox last week, and my experience was similar. My table was in the middle of the outside room but stuck against a post. Service was very hit and miss.

I had the Fennel and Blood Orange salad with duck (so so), followed by the Beef Tenderloin (overcooked), followed by the Banana Sourdough effort (tiny, tasteless).

Wines were overpriced.

I had eaten at Butterfield 9 earlier in the week and in my consideration it is far superior to Equinox.

I think I've mentioned it before, but  Melrose at the Hyatt is far better than both of these restaurants. The chef there started his career in Europe and it shows in the eating.

[Malawry]

Edemuth, another friend, and I made it over to Melrose yesterday. Edemuth had seen something on opentable.com about a $25 appetizer, entree and dessert deal good for the month of April, so we thought we'd go check it out.

The service we received was wonderful. The phone staff was professional and polite, despite our changing our reservation around twice. After we were shown to our table we looked over the menu and realized we didn't see the special listed. We asked about it and were told that it had ended at the end of last week. Somebody went and talked to the manager, though, and she came over and told us that they would give us any appetizer, any entree (except for the crab cakes), and any dessert for $25 since we'd come in part for the special. This was cool; it meant we had the pick of the menu, which we wouldn't have had if we'd come the previous week.

I ordered the shrimp bisque and red snapper with grapefruit and grits. Edemuth ordered the Thai calamari salad and a lamb entree with a wedge of potato-rosemary cake. Our friend ordered a more ordinary tossed salad with Balsamic and feta and the same fish entree I'd ordered. I also ordered a kir.

The shrimp bisque consisted of a small pile of thin strips of sweet peppers and red onion plus a few baby shrimp in the center of a bowl. Our server presented the bowl and then poured the soup over it from a gravy-type boat she had brought with her. The broth was thinner than I'd expected (I think of bisques as rich and creamy) but it did not lack for flavor. It was savory and a little briny and not too rich. I would have liked more of the baby shrimp (or larger shrimp, for that matter) but I enjoyed the soup nonetheless.

Unfortunately, my friend and I were presented with the wrong entrees...so Edemuth ate her lamb while we waited for them to bring us the correct dishes. I had a taste and thoroughly enjoyed the meat. It was juicy and tasted a little smoky from the grill, and was rich without being gamy. The manager came over and presented my friend and I with a small plate of the Thai calamari salad to tide us over and apologize for the delay in receiving entrees. The salad was a curious combination of minty-cilantro pepperiness with the delicate calamari rings and crunchy bean sprouts. Quite a nice mixture of textures and flavors.

Eventually our entrees made it to the table. A small round of creamy, mild, rich grits was set in the center of the plate, with a large piece of grilled fish reclining atop it. A sweet, tart grapefruit-based sauce surrounded the grits, and two pieces of fresh grapefruit were placed at the sides of the dish. The fish was cooked perfectly, with a mild flavor enhanced by the smoky grill and tart sauce. Grits are not my favorite food, but this was a good example of them...they weren't gummy at all, just creamy and moderately corn-y.  I liked the grapefruit sauce as an aficionado of grapefruit, but after a while I found the flavor got to be cloying and overly sweet. Perhaps using a little less of the sauce would make for a better dish, or enhancing the grapefruit sweetness with something more puckery like lemon.

For dessert, I ordered the pineapple upside-down cake with butterscotch ice cream. Our friend selected the banana-chocolate custard, and Edemuth ordered the frozen tiramisu on the suggestion of our server. The cake was good albeit a little too sweet, but I'd ordered it mostly because of the ice cream...which was all I'd hoped for, slightly bitterish from the burnt sugar flavor and not too sweetened and very very creamy. I tasted the banana-chocolate custard, which was mounted on a slightly crisp crust (meringue and hazelnuts, I think). There was a phyllo-wrapped deep dark chocolate mousse on top of the custard, and some banana chips on the plate as well. It seemed like a good "dead of winter" dessert, but a little rich for a springtime afternoon. I thought the tiramisu suffered for being frozen...the flavors were not intense enough to overcome the cold temperature...but it was made up for by the dark, intense hot fudge. The fudge came in a cruet with the dish and Edemuth seemed to enjoy pouring it over the frozen treat. It made a good dessert terrific.

This meal is an excellent example of the principle that good service does not mean not screwing up, it means dealing with it elegantly when you misstep. And Melrose certainly did that. Plus the food was better than most of the food I've eaten around DC, which put me in a pretty good mood. So I'd definitely recommend it, and would gladly return without any kind of "special deal."

Edit disclosure: Edemuth's lamb came with a potato-rosemary cake, not a rice cake. I didn't try it, nor did I remember to acquire a copy of the menu, hence my error.

[SamanthaF]

Malawry,

I'm so glad you enjoyed Melrose! - I'm flying over to DC for 18 hours next week and I've already booked my table.

[tjaehnigen]

Mrs. TJ and I had our traditional 'Let's get dressed up (a bit) and have a nice dinner just the two of us' Christmas Eve dinner (2002). After the past two years at Tersiguels' in Ellicott City, MD, we decided to try a restaurant we'd never tried before -- Equinox, in Washington DC.

Equinox ( Equinox website ) is located in dowtown Washington DC, near the Haye Adams Hotel, The Oval Room and te White House. It is a small-ish restaurant, seating about 80-100. It is the home of Todd Gray (chef/owner) and Lisa Scruggs (pastry chef). They do allow BYOW for a corkage fee (I think it is $20/bottle).

Equinox has a small bar area, an ample waiting area (unnecessary for our first experience there) and a small 'original' restaurant area and a larger 'outside' area which is essentially a somehwat built in glassed in area to allow for about 50-70 additional seatings. It is nicely appointed and the tables are spaced apart enough so you don't have to feel claustrophobic or listen in on other folks' conversations. On to the meal...

We opted to NOT go for the tasting menu, so that we could sample more of the menu instead. We ordered a bottle of the 2000 Flowers Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast ( TNs here ) which was served to us in OK stemware -- not Riedels or Spiegelaus -- just a standard, but adequate red wine glass with a decent-sized bowl.

First courses were Tuna Tartare and Open Ravioli of Sweetbreads & Woodland Mushrooms. The Tuna Tartare was diced tuna with equally sized diced cubes of (HAWAIIAN!!!) pineapple. There was a frisee of some greens served on top of this along with some peppery crackers. I am sure there were a number of spices mixed in with the Tuna & Hawaiian Pineapple, too. It was delicious. The Ravioli was superb. It was essentially one very large ravioli (think of a two by two 'normal' sized ravioli) with the mushrooms and sweetbreads laid atop of followed by another slightly offset ravioli 'sheet' and drizzled with a brown and spiced sauce of a sort, It was my first experience with sweetbreads. I'd read how certain posters here have waxed poetic about the stuff, that I just had to try it once. It didn't have the texture I expected (I expected a runny mess) -- it was more like a meat (a game bird most aptly describes what type of meat) mixed with marbled fat of a sort and, um, stuffing -- at least from a consistency perspective. It was a very, very good first experience, plus it paired really well with the wine.

Our second courses were an Onion Soup and an Endive Salad. The Onion Soup was not overly salty at all, as many French Onion Soups can be. It was distincly sweet around the edges (I think it was actually called a Carmelized Onion soup, now that I think about it) and it had some shredded bits of shees floating on the surface, too. It was served with two small triangles of grilled cheese sandwiches -- the cheese must have been Gruyere -- were a cute and decidedly delicious plus. Great course. The Endive Salad was a bit more classic -- with walnuts and Stilton and more. The endive was not served in whole 'boat' form, but rather chopped up a bit. It was nothing new, but this dish was well executed and prepared with very fresh ingredients. Yum!

We split the next course as it was a dish for two -- Rack of lamb with a Garlic Jous and some mashed potatoes and haricot vertes. This had to be the best lamb, or almost the best lamb, I have ever tasted. In a simple preparation like this, the ingredients and execution are key. It was wonderful. the only thing that detracted from this course was that the wait between the course before this and this main course was pronouncedly long. I am not sure if the kitchen got backed up (most of the larger and other tables were well into their main courses...), or if they goofed the first attempt at making our main course, or if the waiter messed up on when he put the order in or what, but it just took too long. Another table of two ordered the same thing about 30-45 minutes after we arrived and they were served at the same time as we were (although they only had one starter course, not two). Anyway, it was a bit of a bummer about that.

For dessert, I indulged in a wonderful 'Egg Nog Creme Brulee' which was wonderful Mrs. TJ got something which is escaping my memory right now. But I remember her really enjoyying it. The coffee was top notch, which is unusual for most restaurants.

The only other detractor to the evening was that we were a bit stresed out by the drive in (it was snowing/sleeting/freezing raining/etc) and that we couldn't seem to shake the feeling enough to truly enjoy our meal. I certainly enjoyed our experience, and I would go there again. BTW, the TNs for the wine are here.

I did actually go there again in March 2003, and I will try to add my notes on that experience too.

[Cadmia]

sigh. I hate posting here because disecting a meal is not a skill I've yet acquired..

However, Equinox is one of my favorite restaurants downtown. It's reasonably priced, the wait staff has always been extraordinary, and although the wait between courses can sometimes be long, the food has always been very, very good (and they have often given us extra wine to compensate for the wait.

I read recently that Todd Gray is going to be the chef at a new inn in Middleburg scheduled to open in 2004 I believe.. I am very much looking forward to that :)

[vengroff]

sigh.  I hate posting here because disecting a meal is not a skill I've yet acquired..

There are all kinds of posts that have nothing to do with disecting meals yet are perfectly welcome here.

For example, a tidbit like

I read recently that Todd Gray is going to be the chef at a new inn in Middleburg scheduled to open in 2004 I believe.. I am very much looking forward to that :)

is something I'm sure many members here would like to read.

Please don't hesitate to share your facts and opinions with us.

[Cadmia]

Vengroff:

The aricle about Gray was in last month's Washingtonian I believe. I'll see if I can dig it up sometime this weekend (in the middle of moving so that may be a tall order!) and post some more of the details.

Edit: Found it online:

http://www.washingtonian.com/dining/whats_.../thismonth.html

Edited July 18, 2003 by Cadmia (log)

[ExpatRaver]

Dissecting a meal is not necessarily a skill that one wants to aquire. It is generally posessed only by those who are in the industry, and (most of the time) makes otherwise innocuous flaws in your meal stand out. Would you otherwise remember details like a dull presentation of a piece of halibut if it tasted devine and was paired nicely with an affordable and brilliant wine? Perhaps one of your five courses was a bit under par, but if the overall experience was great, so what. When you break a meal down to the bare essentials it can appear flawed in ways that a normal diner wouldn't notice. It falls to the ignorance is bliss category.

[tjaehnigen]

I prefer to not dissect a meal and rather elaborate on the experience. I enjoy dining out and I generally have a great time. the only thing that really detracts from my experience, typically, would be inadequate service, delays between courses, and noise (especially from larger parties or children). My wife and I are typically so enjoying the meal we're having, that it becomes very apparent to the staff and they usually make even more of an effort to elevate the experience for us (we often realize this in retrospect).

Commenting on food and wine and discussing how good or bad somethig is is certainly a skill, but I prefer telling a story about the experience, it's much more fun and fulfilling for me.

[tjaehnigen]

I had eaten at Butterfield 9 earlier in the week and in my consideration it is far superior to Equinox.

I think Equinox is better than Butterfield9, having eaten at Butterfield9 last night. Butterfield9 was good, really good, but it didn't grab me as much as Equinox. Butterfield9's sommelier was nice, and we offered her tastes of all 6 wines we brought. You'd think we'd have gotten at least one of the corkage fees to be comped, given that. Nope.

[morela]

I read recently that Todd Gray is going to be the chef at a new inn in Middleburg scheduled to open in 2004 I believe.. I am very much looking forward to that :)

Market will be cool too. Check it.

http://www.market-salamander.com/market.html

[DonRocks]

Has anyone ever not seen Todd Gray at Equinox? I was there last week for about the 15th time, and he is always there. It is refreshing and reassuring to see a chef rooted at Home Base, rather than out signing this-or-that cookbook or doing this-or-that appearance. I'm not saying he doesn't do these things, but he sure seems to cast a ubiquitous presence at Equinox.

People carp about Todd working the dining room, but at least he's there to work it.

Rocks.

Edited October 17, 2003 by DonRocks (log)

[DonRocks]

Bilrus, you asked about Equinox during Restaurant Week. I was there two years ago in what turned out to be an unforgettable meal. We didn't even know it was restaurant week when we arrived, but decided to take the $20 (or whatever) menu because there was no reason not to. Well, wow. It seems a lot of places do a token menu for Restaurant Week, or perhaps try and pull off something rather lame. Not Equinox - Todd Gray offered up what he does best: honest, satisfying no-bullshit food that will have you leaving wth a smile on your face. How could they possibly pull this off? The obvious answer is that they couldn't: they were almost certainly losing money on each menu served, hoping to make it up on drinks and tips. Equinox also has an excellent pastry chef in Lisa Scruggs - an added bonus, as the dessert course is often a key component in the Restaurant Week offerings.

Go on a Monday or Wednesday night, sit at the bar, and introduce yourself to one of the very best bartenders in all of Washington, Tony Allen. Try the excellent William Fèvre Chablis by the glass, and tell Tony I said hello.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Edited December 21, 2003 by DonRocks (log)

[morela]

A few things:

1. At least Washingtonian acknowledged the talents at Equinox.

2. The Winter Solstice dinner on Friday night blew me away... That's all I'll say.

3. It's not going to be done for a while, but this inn in Middleburg is one to watch.

Vanity!

Salamader Inn's Logo

Is that not a damn hot design?

Picture that on a chef coat...or a bathrobe. I can't wait to get my bathrobe!

[bilrus]

Thanks for the input. Its a place I have always been meaning to go, but there are just too many places to try.

2. The Winter Solstice dinner on Friday night blew me away... That's all I'll say.

Why is that all you'll say? Tell us more. That's why we're here.

[morela]

Because they are good friends of mine (Todd and Ellen)

I can tell you more about Equinox later if you want.

Edited December 22, 2003 by meaghanfitzgerald (log)

[DonRocks]

Tonight it was Chef de Cuisine Ethan McKee, who ably filled in for Todd Gray in his absence. As always, Tony Allen was a commanding presence behind the bar. Tony works on Mondays and Wednesdays, and really needs to be considered an eGullet icon if not an eGullet legend - put it this way: I got drunk one night and traded him my car on-the-spot for fitness-training sessions. Think I'm kidding? Go in and ask him for details...

The only thing bigger than Tony at Equinox is the Equine Ox. Travis, the dining room manager, is one of the largest people I know, and as big as Tony is - and Tony could pick me up with one hand and throw me through a wall - Travis makes him look like a dwarf. And nobody, but nobody, in all of Washington, is a more gentle, composed and amicable front-of-the-house figure than is Travis.

Equinox has a new tasting menu at dinner, at $55-70 for 3-4 courses (salad, pasta, fish and meat).

And the rockfish with chestnut purée made me swear up-and-down that it had anchovies in it, despite Chef McKee's insistence to the contrary - he assured me it was the purée coupled with the Virginia ham that lent the illusion of the anchovies, and I'm certain that he's correct.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[eunny jang]

And the rockfish with chestnut purée made me swear up-and-down that it had anchovies in it, despite Chef McKee's insistence to the contrary - he assured me it was the purée coupled with the Virginia ham that lent the illusion of the anchovies, and I'm certain that he's correct.

←

V. mysterious.

I can't for the life of me think how chestnuts roasted, boiled or steamed and dry-cured ham could even hint of anchovies. Maybe it was the rockfish.

Once again, leaving me to wonder "how do they do it?" Eating out in cool places (which I don't do often) is often spoiled for me, since all I do is sit and quietly wonder how they do this, what technique they use for that...

[mnebergall]

And the rockfish with chestnut purée made me swear up-and-down that it had anchovies in it, despite Chef McKee's insistence to the contrary - he assured me it was the purée coupled with the Virginia ham that lent the illusion of the anchovies, and I'm certain that he's correct.

←

V. mysterious.

I can't for the life of me think how chestnuts roasted, boiled or steamed and dry-cured ham could even hint of anchovies. Maybe it was the rockfish.

Once again, leaving me to wonder "how do they do it?" Eating out in cool places (which I don't do often) is often spoiled for me, since all I do is sit and quietly wonder how they do this, what technique they use for that...

←

How about the salt from the country ham mimicking the saltiness of the anchovies????

[eunny jang]

How about the salt from the country ham mimicking the saltiness of the anchovies????

←

But anchovies don't just add salt, they add murky richness, too - not always particularly fishy, but an almost musty and tongue-coating element. I don't get that from ham, or from chestnuts. Hmmm.

Edited November 11, 2004 by eunny jang (log)

[DonRocks]

How about the salt from the country ham mimicking the saltiness of the anchovies????

←

Oh, there's no doubt it was the combination of everything (including the rockfish) that masqueraded as an undertone - just a secondary nuance - of anchovies in my own tortured little mind, the damnable thing being that when I picked at the individual components, I couldn't find any - thus my query to the chef. (Idea for the adventurous chef: present these ingredients as a purée, thinly spread atop an ice cube in the shape of a fish, lay a poppy seed atop it, and call it virtual coldwater anchovy with parasite.) By the way, this was a very good dish, as was the housemade egg fettucine with mussels, tomato concassé and saffron cream sauce.

[Chef Shogun]

How about the salt from the country ham mimicking the saltiness of the anchovies????

←

But anchovies don't just add salt, they add murky richness, too - not always particularly fishy, but an almost musty and tongue-coating element. I don't get that from ham, or from chestnuts. Hmmm.

←

Umami! The Fifth Taste! Darling of food magazines! Could have been a hit of fish sauce or something. Mushroom powder, soy sauce, or the other things Bon Appétit told me you could use to invoke this most mysterious of tastes. Of course, I love stuff like this: it has some flavor of foo, but there's no foo in it! I'm with you on that one, Eunny...I'd just sit there and try and figure it out, too.

Do you know if you can do the tasting menu at the bar?