Restaurant Week Experiences

[Indy67]

The starter's gun has sounded! How was your first meal for Summer RW?

I have a positive report from Seasons restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel. The RW menu is quite limited -- two options in each course -- but we found something that truly attracted us so we weren't troubled by these restrictions. More significantly, the food we ate was truly delish! The service was gracious and attentive. We've dined at Seasons before -- most recently in May -- and the restaurant's excellence in the kitchen and in intangibles such as service remain intact in spite of RW bargain prices.

The evening began on a positive note. The RW menu is placed inside the regular menu. However, the maitre d' took pains to explain that this was simply to make people aware of the range of the regular menu in the hope that they'd be intrigued and happy enough with their RW experience to return at full price. This was a really gracious gesture and in stark contrast to our experience at Taberna a year ago when the RW menu was not presented unless asked for, and, then, it was accompanied by condescension.

The two appetizer choices include Yellow Gazpacho with Celery Sorbet OR Seared Scallop with Mussels in a bouillabaisse broth. The two entree choices include Roast Chicken Breast with mashed potatoes and pencil-thin asparagus OR Sauteed Red Snapper served over a Crab, Potato, Corn, and Pea Swith Meyer Lemon garnish. Desserts include a Vanilla-Lime Cheesecake or Pineapple "Raviolis" filled with Raspberries accompanied by Margarita Sorbet.

The hit of the entire meal was the fruit dessert. After hearing our waiter wax rhapsodic about this dish, all four of us ordered it. Paper-thin slices of pineapple encase some fresh raspberries. Three of these pineapple raviolis alternate with scoops of Margarita sorbet. A basil sauce decorates the plate and lends a wonderful fragrance and sharp taste to the whole.

The bouillabaisse broth was fabulous: gutsy and rich with concentrated fish stock. In fact, we thought this broth was better than bouillabaisse we've eaten at Le Miramar in Marseilles.

Portions struck me as somewhat smaller than restaurant-size portions -- smaller than I recall portions at our May meal. Of course, much has been made of the ridiculously large size of restaurant portions. Tonight's portions were more in line with normal at-home portions. As a result, we left the restaurant full and satisfied but not stuffed.

Assuming you can find something appealing from the limited menu, you'll have a great experience at Seasons during RW.

Indy 67

[John Talbott]

The starter's gun has sounded! How was your first meal for Summer RW?

Indy 67

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I assume you were asking about the DC RW, but this was also the year Baltimore began RW. Our experience at Abacrombie was very good, but it was clear they were just adapting to the new idea. However unlike most New York places during RW that have two starters, two mains, etc, (as does Cafe Bouloud) the places we called had almost a regular menu (as does 11 Madison for instance) and sometimes a reduction in wine prices. Like NY too, some places have extended their reduced prices thru August.

[Indy67]

Last night, we went with another couple to Bobby Van's. Three of us weren't particularly enthusiastic about our destination, but we enjoy one another's company so we didn't refuse the fourth person's active lobbying to dine there. A steak house doesn't seem like a particularly good choice for RW; the basic ingredients are inherently expensive. Our concern was fueled by a post on another web site criticizing Bobby Van for RW.

We were pleasantly surprised.

The appetizer course consisted of two choices: Caesar salad OR field greens with vinaigrette. The entree course included pasta with pulled chicken abd andouille sausage OR crab cake OR petite filet mignon OR baked salmon OR a fifth choice I can't remember. There were two choices for dessert: chocolate cake OR cheesecake.

I ordered the field green salad. When it arrived, it seemed like a pleasant surprise with some slices of Roma tomatoes, red onions, and a reasonably generous crumble of blue cheese. Alert readers will have noted the word "seemed." People who like the taste of balsamic vinaigrette won't share my criticism; however, I'm not a fan of sweet dressings. Furthermore, the strong taste of the vinaigrette made each component taste largely the same -- a tough accomplishment when one of the ingredients is blue cheese. My companions said that their Caesar salads were good with a nicely flavored dressing.

We looked at the regular menu and noticed that Bobby Van's offers no Petite Filet among its offerings. So putting an eight-ounce Petite Filet on the RW menu was its way of keeping steak -- other than hangar steak -- among the choices. I ordered my steak seriously rare and the kitchen obliged. The remaining three steaks were ordered medium-rare. Here, the kitchen fell down. One steak was as ordered, one steak was rare, and one steak was almost as rare as mine. Finally, when you order your steak, ask the kitchen not to salt it. They use a heavy hand. Since salt is on the table, that's an easy thing to adjust yourself.

Judging by the clean dessert plates, everyone was satisfied with dessert. The cheesecake was creamy without being too dense and a drizzle of fruit sauce added a bit of fruity freshness.

Service was competent but nothing special in either a positive or negative sense.

Overall, a positive evening -- definitely better than personal expections and advance billing based on other posts.

Indy 67

[willmmmm]

Went to Fareheit for lunch yesterday and La Chaumiere for lunch today.

Farenheit was average. The tomato and goat chese tart appetiser was great, but the braised veal breast over pasta with a roasted tomato sauce entree was bland. The chocolate tart desert was passable. Menu options were limited to 2 or 3 a course. Service was very good and the wine parings our waiter did for each course were spot on.

La Chaumiere was amazing as usual. They pretty much offered their entire menu as options for each course. I sucked it up and had the Quenelle de Brochette (Pike Dumpling in Lobster Sauce) for an appetiser. It was interesting. I'm not sure if I would order it again, but it was tasty. It's not a texture I care for, but the flavor was great. I had the beef medallions in red wine sauce for an entree. Meat was cooked to order medium-rare perfectly. A very good dish. The profitteol dessert was so good I wanted to lick the plate after I had finished.

I'd highly reccomend La Chaumiere for restaurant week or any other time. Farenheit is a decent option if your already in Georgetown, but don't go out of your way. I wouldn't pay the regular price to eat there outside of restaurant week.

Bistro Bis tonight, I'll post on it next week.

Edited August 18, 2006 by willmmmm (log)

[chickenlover]

Me and my GF went to Tosca and Vidalia this week. Both were very good. Although Tosca offered a bigger menu with only 2 upcharges, Vidalia had happy hour prices on a dozen wines. Service and attitude were great all around. We ate the following...

Veal Ravioli

Sweet Corn and Crab Soup

Lamb Chops w/ Broc. Rabe and Artichokes

Prosciutto Wrapped Scallops

Tiramisu

Chocolate Cake Thing

"Pork and Beans" (Pork Belly)

Fried Green Tomatoes

Catfish w/ Gumbo

Rissoto

Lemon Pie

Pecan Pie

For me the highlights were the ravioli, the chocolate dessert, and the pork belly.

[Busboy]

Welcome Chickenlover and willmmmm (who first posted when I was on vacation) and thanks for your reports from the front lines of restaurant weekj. We look forward to more reports and, if you have any questions on the DC board or anything else here, please don't heasitate to PM.

[Rebo]

Hubby and I ate at Sonoma by the Library of Congress on Tuesday night. I appreciated that we could order from much of their regular menu, but it was rather complicated. For the appetizer, you could have one chacuterie, a salad, a one-topping pizza, or one of their firsts. For the main course, you could have a double portion of a first or a regular portion of a second. The dessert menu was open choice.

Hubby had beet salad, gnocchi with rock shrimp, and chocolate pudding. I had duck salami, a hamburger (I was in a weird mood), and chocolate cake. The service was friendly; the food was okay, but nothing exciting.

On the subject of smaller RW portions: I work at a RW restaurant, and our chef decided to reduce portions a bit on a couple of the more expensive dishes in order to make them available for RW (sea scallops and lobster ravioli). The thought was that there's no way anyone will go home hungry, and we could offer more variety (RW diners have four or five choices for each course).

[Indy67]

"On the subject of smaller RW portions: I work at a RW restaurant, and our chef decided to reduce portions a bit on a couple of the more expensive dishes in order to make them available for RW (sea scallops and lobster ravioli). The thought was that there's no way anyone will go home hungry, and we could offer more variety (RW diners have four or five choices for each course)."

As far as this diner is concerned, your chef made a good call.

Last night, we had a great RW dinner experience at Kinkead's. Everyone's meal evidenced a bit of portion reduction. For example, I had the soft-shelled crab appetizer as a first. The dish consisted of half a single soft-shelled crab, some green papaya slaw, and lime dipping sauce (pleasantly hot with some Thai chili slices). Now, when has Kinkead's ever served half a soft-shelled crab? A whole crab would have been nice, but that's only because it was so delish. Ditto to my friend's entree of braised short ribs. She was served one short rib. Now, this particular friend doesn't even stand 5' tall and never has eaten a whole meal of regular restaurant-sized portions. When she had finished eating, she rather wistfully said she wished she had been served more ribs. Then, she admitted it certainly wasn't because she was hungry; she was simply sad to have the good taste end.

Here's a list of a couple more dishes from last night's RW menu. (The list does not exhaust the possibilities)

First: Heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese

Tuna soup (reminiscent of tortilla soup)

Grilled squid

Mains: Crispy flounder with Tasso

Seared Tuna with soba noodles

Chile rubbed swordfish with black beans and mango

Atlantic salmon with pepita crust and shrimp, corn salsa

Our take away verdict was that we were delighted Kinkead's had gotten into the RW dinner biz. If reduced portion size was one thing that made this possible, here's to reduced portions!

Indy 67

[arbuclo]

We went to The Majestic Cafe last Thursday. They didn't have a separate RW menu; we got to order off of their normal menu. We'd been there once before for brunch on a Sunday so hadn't tried their dinner food. It was delicious. I had house smoked trout tart, soft shelled crab with black beans and greens, and blueberries & raspberries with raspberry sauce. Hubby had the picnic starter (cole slaw, potato salad, fried chicken patty...), steak with okra fritters (those are yummy!) and German Choc cake.

No special prices on wines but we figured we were getting a pretty good deal on the food.

[willmmmm]

Wasn't able to make it to Bistro Bis last Friday, girlfriend had to work late.

There are a bunch of places that have extended their restaurant week menues into this week:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/goingoutgur...d_weekness.html

I just got reservations for IndeBleu for Friday. They don't have a sample restaurant week menu up. Did anyone go there for restaurant week, and could you tell me what to expect?

Thanks.