Sietsema on Sunday, 3/6: Three Stars

[Joe H]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?n...file&id=1025657

[morela]

Wow. That's many stars.

[cjsadler]

Interesting... you never hear anything about this place (including here on eG).

[Busboy]

Interesting... you never hear anything about this place (including here on eG).

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Except that it's been getting a lot of play in his weekly on line discussion.

It's only a block from my office; now I'll never get in. Damn!

[iamthestretch]

It's my impression that Sietsema has long been an admirer of George Vetsch. He championed the African place on 18th St. that Vetsch was involved in, though he couldn't save it from the curse of Lauriol Plaza.

[Joe H]

There are many, many restaurants that are excellent that receive little attention on any of the boards (i.e. L'Auberge Chez Francois, Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Jerry's Seafood in Lanham) that have been around a long, long time and receive little mention either on a message board or in the press. As an example, for someone visiting D. C. for the first time, the Old Ebbitt Grill is a wonderful place to take them. Historic, a local institution and while the food isn't great it FEELS like D. C. Yet, it's rare that it receives a mention. How many people recommend Ray's for someone looking for steak on here when the Prime Rib is a landmark institution? Landini Bros. in Old Town is not the greatest Italian around, but, it's in a 300+ year old building with brick walls, stone floors, beamed ceilings and a lot of history and character that more than compensate for someone entertaining on business; these are the restaurants that people remember and want to go back to. Every week the trade association for my industry which is based here has people in from all over the world and has narrowed the restaurants they visit down to about five or six, all based on reaction to the many that they previously went to. No, they don't go to Ray's but they do go to the Prime Rib and to the Capital Grille. They FEEL like D. C., they FEEL like power restaurants and a big deal. They go to Kinkead's, they go to the Old Ebbitt.

I note all this because these are solid, long established restaurants that receive relatively little notice on this and other boards. Yet, for many they are dependable and evoke a personality that visitors enjoy.

Edited March 3, 2005 by Joe H (log)

[JennyUptown]

I haven't been to Etrusco in about 18 months, maybe two years. From what I recall, the food was very good; the service, though, was downright cold as was the "atrium" Tom refers to in the review.

Might be worth revisiting.

[bilrus]

There are many, many restaurants that are excellent that receive little attention on any of the boards (i.e. L'Auberge Chez Francois, Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Jerry's Seafood in Lanham) that have been around a long, long time and receive little mention either on a message board or in the press.  As an example, for someone visiting D. C. for the first time, the Old Ebbitt Grill is a wonderful place to take them.  Historic, a local institution and while the food isn't great it FEELS like D. C.  Yet, it's rare that it receives a mention.  How many people recommend Ray's for someone looking for steak on here when the Prime Rib is a landmark institution?  Landini Bros. in Old Town is not the greatest Italian around, but, it's in a 300+ year old building with brick walls, stone floors, beamed ceilings and a lot of history and character that more than compensate for someone entertaining  on business; these are the restaurants that people remember and want to go back to.  Every week the trade association for my industry which is based here has people in from all over the world and has narrowed the restaurants they visit down to about five or six, all based on reaction to the many that they previously went to.  No, they don't go to Ray's but they do go to the Prime Rib and to the Capital Grille.  They FEEL like D. C., they FEEL like power restaurants and a big deal.  They go to Kinkead's, they go to the Old Ebbitt.

I note all this because these are solid, long established restaurants that receive relatively little notice on this and other boards.  Yet, for many they are dependable and evoke a personality that visitors enjoy.

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But it isn't really all that surprising that places like that don't get mentioned on here or Chowhound. Their reputation isn't entirely based on the food (with the exception of Kinkead's).

This is different because it is getting praised for the food. A restaurant broke out of the two-star parade and we haven't picked up on it.

We're slipping.

Edited March 4, 2005 by bilrus (log)

[Sthitch]

Bill,

I would take the Prime Rib's crab cakes and steaks over any in town. Ray's meat is very good, but PR is just better.

[hjshorter]

This is different because it is getting praised for the food.  A restaurant broke out of the two-star parade and we haven't picked up on it. 

We're slipping.

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I agree, Bill. I'd been to Trattoria Al Sole back in the 90's, and it never crossed my mind to go back. It's on my list.

[benjy]

I walk by it all the time and have often wondered about it. The review is very positive, but most of the reader comments following the review are quite negative.

Has anyone been here been there recently?

[oliveDC]

I went a few weeks ago and I'm shocked that Tom awarded three stars. We called on a Saturday night and were told the first reservation they had was at 9, so we took it. We arrived and there were only a handful of tables in the whole place, which we found weird considering they made it sound like they were practically booked.

There were two fish on the menu, rockfish and snapper, prepared three or four ways (all sounded very good). We ordered wine and an antipasti while we decided. It wasn't until the waiter came to take our order that he bothered to inform us that they were out of rockfish. So three of us ordered the snapper, the fourth ordered a meat dish (can't remember what).

We're sipping wine, enjoying our antipasti, when about 15 minutes later the waiter returns to tell us they are out of snapper with no real apology. We were all dumbfounded that a place praised for its grilled fish had none on a Saturday night. We quickly chose pasta dishes, which turned out fine, not amazing, but the bad impression was made.

Maybe we were there on an bad night, but I think three stars (the class of CityZen, Palena, Cashion's, Two Amy's) is absurd. I'm certainly not rushing back anytime soon.

Maybe the fish delivery truck was in an accident...who knows...

[sdelgato]

I too am shocked at three stars... I had a similar, almost identical experience there two weeks ago. Ordered snapper, after several (tens of) minutes go by... No snapper, no apology, fine. Order an ok bowl of pasta, but just ok. Service indifferent at best. Managed to walk from my table to the front door without a single person even acknowledging my exiting, ho-hum. Three stars is a complete stretch. Unless they recognized him and crawled up his ass whilst he was there... Purely conjecture to be sure but it would explain alot. Just my opinion. It is certainly a good restaurant, but a three star, I totally disagree.

Edited March 4, 2005 by sdelgato (log)

[JPW]

I too am shocked at three stars...  I had a similar, almost identical experience there two weeks ago.  Ordered snapper, after several (tens of) minutes go by...  No snapper, no apology, fine.  Order an ok bowl of pasta, but just ok.  Service indifferent at best.  Managed to walk from my table to the front door without a single person even acknowledging my exiting, ho-hum.  Three stars is a complete stretch.  Unless they recognized him and crawled up his ass whilst he was there...  Purely conjecture to be sure but it would explain alot.  Just my opinion.  It is certainly a good restaurant, but a three star, I totally disagree.

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I would think that he has been around long enough that any restauranteur worth their salt would recognize Sietsema and his dining companions by now.

[HORSEPLAY]

I would think that he has been around long enough that any restauranteur worth their salt would recognize Sietsema and his dining companions by now.

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[Miami Danny]

This is different because it is getting praised for the food. A restaurant broke out of the two-star parade and we haven't picked up on it.

We're slipping.

I assume you are being sarcastic! This is the most mystifying review I've read in a long time. It certainly doesn't read like a 3 Star review. Other than Tom's affection for the chef, I can't find 3 stars anywhere in this review! HE is the one who's slipping.

[Kanishka]

Just wrote a post about this for DCist -- "Is Sietsema Slipping?". It will probably be up in the next hour or so. Be on the lookout, and please comment if you wish.

K

[dmede]

Friends took me to Etrusco for a birthday dinner last night. This was my first time there, but add me to the list of those befuddled by Sietsema's recent three-star review. Frankly, it struck me as a low two-star (or perhaps even one-star) restaurant.

The food was decent, but that's all. I had a nice antipasto as an appetizer, but the veal I had as an entree was boring (with some awful vegetables on the side). The dessert of amaretto and vanilla custard was good, but not three-star good. The bread service was terrible. The wine list was over-priced. I didn't taste my friends' food, but all of it looked like decently executed Italian food. Nothing more, nothing less. They both left food on their plates (and portions were not huge).

The service was generally adequate, improved only by the server bringing me a scoop of ice cream with a birthday candle in it at the end of the night.

It's just impossible to believe that both Etrusco and Palena would get three stars. If Etrusco gets three, then Palena deserves about six.

Edited March 16, 2005 by dmede (log)