Silver Oak Bistro

[Anonymouze]

I think we may be very well having a Picnic with SOB! I'll have to talk to hubby about it but Chef Gary's stuff is always good and Mike puts out a good value IMHO.

[Deldino]

Has anyone tried the takeout bbq yet?

[Anonymouze]

Had another fabulous meal at Silver Oak last night. New menu item, a thinly sliced duck breast with barbecue sauce (tasted like chef Gary's usual sauce toned down and thinned out a bit... and was that cherry I tasted?)  Anyway, the reason I write today is to let you know of an insert that was placed in the back of the menu.  It reads as follows:

Silver Oak Fourth of July Barbecue Carry Out

Feeds 6

Snacks 10

Stuffs 4

2 Lbs Baby Back Ribs

2 Lbs Pulled Pork

24 BBQ Chicken Wings

3 Pints Barbeque Beans

3 Pints Cucumber & Tomato Salad

3 Pints Mac & Cheese

3 Pints Peach Crisp

Rolls, Pickles, and Onions

Pigasus Barbeque Sauce

$60

Reserve your order by July 2nd.

Apparantly this can be ordered either hot or cold.  We ordered ours hot and plan on driving it right home on the 4th and chowing down out on the patio.  For the quantity and multitude of menu items they're offering, the $60 bucks seems more than fair.

Another note about Silver Oak:  The dining room now has a flat screen TV mounted over the kitchen door where an image of the kitchen itself is shown.  We thought it was a fun, whimsical touch and not too much of a distraction.  The image itself is slightly blurry (intentionally), adding to the "what the heck is Chef Gary doing now?" factor.  The screen is about the width of the doorway.

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Makes me almost... ALMOST want to return from househunting/vacation in the DC area early! YUM. I wonder if they will have this available after as well?!

[Kape]

Has anyone tried the takeout bbq yet?

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We had it on July 4, and everything was terrific. It was my first trip to the restaurant (which was closed for catering that day).

kenp

[whitetrufflechick]

Had it on the 4th

It was fabulous, though the overloaded tins of barbeque, beans, mac & cheese, peach cobbler, etc. sort of collapsed under their own weight on the way home.

Bonus was finding a full jar of sauce in the bag -- more than enough for the meal and many others to come.

Overall there were probably 10-12 aluminum trays of goodness that arrived piping hot.

[mfeygin]

Please tune in to this Sunday's CBS Sunday Morning show for Chef Gary and Silver Oak's "GroupER Therapy" segment. All the best, Mike

[Anonymouze]

Hey Mike! Open up a SOB here in the Reston area you'd make a million quickly! I hope to tune in if I miss it make me a tape n mail it to me - I miss y'all.

[mfeygin]

Please tune in to this Sunday's CBS Sunday Morning show for Chef Gary and Silver Oak's "GroupER Therapy" segment.  All the best, Mike 

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Thanks Stacy, hope you are doing well in VA. Chef Gary was working in DC area before - so you never know....LOL Mike PS: This is one of the shows that I TIVO every week (the only show on Sunday) - I'm make sure to save a copy...

[tommy]

Please tune in to this Sunday's CBS Sunday Morning show for Chef Gary and Silver Oak's "GroupER Therapy" segment.  All the best, Mike 

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did this happen? am i thinking about the correct show? CBS Sunday Morning at 9 am? or some other sunday morning show. i'm thinking some other show, which means i didn't tivo it.

[mfeygin]

Hi Tommy, the "GROUPer Therapy" clip was on at 8:50am this morning - CBS Sunday Morning News. I have it tivoed and will put the clip on the web. I will also let you know if it makes the CBS News website. All the best, Mike

[mfeygin]

Please tune in to this Sunday's CBS Sunday Morning show for Chef Gary and Silver Oak's "GroupER Therapy" segment.  All the best, Mike 

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did this happen? am i thinking about the correct show? CBS Sunday Morning at 9 am? or some other sunday morning show. i'm thinking some other show, which means i didn't tivo it.

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Hi Tommy, here is the info:

http://wcbstv.com/food click on the "Texas-Style Cajun Dish" clip. Go Chef Gary!!!!!!

[mfeygin]

Please tune in to this Sunday's CBS Sunday Morning show for Chef Gary and Silver Oak's "GroupER Therapy" segment.  All the best, Mike 

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did this happen? am i thinking about the correct show? CBS Sunday Morning at 9 am? or some other sunday morning show. i'm thinking some other show, which means i didn't tivo it.

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Hi Tommy, here is the info:

http://wcbstv.com/food click on the "Texas-Style Cajun Dish" clip. Go Chef Gary!!!!!!

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Here is the direct link http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=90973@wcbs.dayport.com

[Anonymouze]

Man Mike that video... tell Gary you guys gotta buy me a new keyboard, I drooled all over this one LOL

I think I'll borrow Gary away for a weekend of dueling BBQ w/hubby down here to remind him of how nice the DC area is and of course you Mike and the E-Gulleters are welcome to PM me about comin down too!

[mfeygin]

Stacey, I think we will have to ask Jason to organize a food-relieve shuttle to operate from NJ to DC area. On the way back, you can send us some boiled peanuts and country ham.... Well, I made the front page of the Bergen Record Business section today - http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=e...UVFeXk2OTgzNjg4

One of your DC friends? All te best, Mike

[Anonymouze]

I hope y'all didn't miss me TOO much! I heard that Chef Gary will be working out of Wyckoff soon? Is this part of the SOB family?

Also I want to try to go to SOB for supper if there is time if not we head home and eat highway grub... will I need a reservation for Saturday night? (Probably so but I gotta ask!) Long LONG drive back to Northern Virginia aka NOVA aka "DC suburbia".

I hope Mike F and Chef Gary and the SOB crew are doing great and I really hope I have time to have a good meal up here... y'all take care ya hear?!

[mfeygin]

I hope y'all didn't miss me TOO much!  I heard that Chef Gary will be working out of Wyckoff soon?  Is this part of the SOB family? 

Also I want to try to go to SOB for supper if there is time if not we head home and eat highway grub... will I need a reservation for Saturday night? (Probably so but I gotta ask!) Long LONG drive back to Northern Virginia aka NOVA aka "DC suburbia". 

I hope Mike F and Chef Gary and the SOB crew are doing great and I really hope I have time to have a good meal up here... y'all take care ya hear?!   

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Hi Stacey, glad to hear that all is well in DC land. Chef Gary will be commuting to Wyckoff very soon. Would love to see on Saturday, please let us know if you can make it and we will catch up. Bourbon BBQ will be a part of the Silver Oak family and we are hoping for a late May early June opening. All the best, Mike F.

[markabauman]

Not sure if I've missed something. Although we are frequently up and down Route 17 en route to NYC or visiting family in NJ, we rarely have the opportunity to stop and dine there. We were to lunch at SOB a while back and we returned for dinner last night. As I did the last time, I brought just for appropriate fun and enjoyment a bottle of 1992 Silver Oak Cab. Last time there, Chef Gary came out, we discussed the food and we shared our wine with him. Last night I mentioned to the server that we would like to do the same thing and she simply said "Chef Gary is no longer with us". Didn't pursue the comment. The menu appears very similar and many dishes are labelled as "Chef Gary's .....", etc. Anyone know?

[rooftop1000]

What I last heard was that he was gone and things didnt look good...but that was from another Ridgewood restauranteur...

Still havent made it over there myself

T

[markabauman]

We are not familiar with other restaurants in the immediate area, although we saw a few interesting looking places in Ridgewood that we wanted to find out more about. Still haven't made it to nearby Sakura Bana. Probably would try somewhere else if we had the opportunity to stay and eat in that area again. Suggestions?

[Curlz]

This piece from the Bergen Record might offer some explanation...

[markabauman]

OK, thanks; that explains a lot. The way the server mentioned "Gary is no longer with us", in hushed, cryptic tones made it seem literal. Glad to see he is alive and well. We did find it a little uneven.

[markabauman]

I received the following PM from the restaurant and it clarifies a lot:

"Hi Mark, Chef Gary has been in Kentucky spending time with his Grandkids

and family since January. The crew in the kitchen is all his and so is the

menu. Gary is presently working on some wonderful Charity food projects in

KY and we are just waiting out for the economy to turn around so Chef Gary

can return to work on our future projects full time. "

[ColNJ]

Per their advertising and web site, Silver Oak Bistro has a new chef, David Ilmojahid. He's also Pit Master at Bourbon Co. BBQ.

Has anyone been since this change?

Edited September 13, 2008 by ColNJ (log)

[newguy]

Out of pure coincidence and location, my wife made reservations so we could meet friends and that happened to be an approximate middle location. Always heard great things. I really wish I could say it lived up to the reputation.

We split starters, hush puppies that were so hard we were almost unable to cut them. A fresh pasta and mushroom adish called rags and mushrooms or something. that was exactly that, a few mushrooms and pasta. Shrimp and Grits that was ok and a scallop wrapped in bacon special. the scallop and bacon was not bad, but whatever the garnish was, and i can't remember, was just terrible.

Entrees we had a potato wrapped catfish etouffe. i have never seen such violently overcooked fish with a 4" crust made of iron, ever. shrimp, jambalaya. a large scoop of rice, some sauce and 5 shrimp. a steak special that was ordered because the menu steak was not available (with 3 other people in the restaurant) and a short rib dish that "needed" a knife.

we did however get a kick out of the tv screen with the live feed into the kitchen with the 2 women that would throw stuff in pans and walk out of sight, and the chef that walked the dining room while those pans were on the stove...

If this place is open in october i'd be amazed. the server had to go to the liquor store next door to buy soda for service. when asked for dessert we passed and headed to that turkish bakery for something good

[whitetrufflechick]

Out of pure coincidence and location, my wife made reservations so we could meet friends and that happened to be an approximate middle location.  Always heard great things.  I really wish I could say it lived up to the reputation.

We split starters, hush puppies that were so hard we were almost unable to cut them.  A fresh pasta and mushroom adish called rags and mushrooms or something.  that was exactly that, a few mushrooms and pasta.  Shrimp and Grits that was ok and a scallop wrapped in bacon special.  the scallop and bacon was not bad, but whatever the garnish was, and i can't remember, was just terrible.

Entrees we had a potato wrapped catfish etouffe.  i have never seen such violently overcooked fish with a 4" crust made of iron, ever.  shrimp, jambalaya.  a large scoop of rice, some sauce and 5 shrimp.  a steak special that was ordered because the menu steak was not available (with 3 other people in the restaurant) and a short rib dish that "needed" a knife.

we did however get a kick out of the tv screen with the live feed into the kitchen with the 2 women that would throw stuff in pans and walk out of sight, and the chef that walked the dining room while those pans were on the stove...

If this place is open in october i'd be amazed.  the server had to go to the liquor store next door to buy soda for service.  when asked for dessert we passed and headed to that turkish bakery for something good

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Sadly, we've had experiences like this and worse over our past two visits to Silver Oak. After having so many (for awhile, weekly) great meals over the years (under the watchful eye and talented skills of Chef Gary), Silver Oak is no longer a place I think of when it comes to consistently great southern fare. Won't be going back unless its confirmed that things have changed, dramatically, for the better.