L'Auberge Chez Francois

For my dear friend's 42.8th birthday, he made reservations at one of his favorite destination restaurants.  I couldn't even spell opulence before the night began, but afterwards, I knew what it tasted like.  The enjoyment of L'Auberge starts before you even get there... It's located in Great Falls... out in the woods, down these beautiful and fun-to-drive winding country roads lined with McMansions decked out last night with Christmas lights.  You just drive and drive and drive, twisting and turning until you come up to a french country house in the middle of no where.  literally.  Even though it was only a half hour drive from DC, it felt like Alice in Wonderland.  The meal started with 2 bottles of bubbles called in from California and 2 bottles of French country wine... Course 1 was a quiche that melted on my tongue.  My appetizer was a tuna tartar with endive and a bit of caviar, perfectly flavored.  My salad, I chose the special, which was a duck.  The duck was very sweet, complemented by candied pears and citrus fruits.  It might have very well been the best salad I've ever had.  With a sorbet between dishes, my entree was the veal scaloppini.  The sauce was rich.  The spaetzle perfectly cooked.  The meat coupled with the mushrooms and the sauce complemented each other perfectly.  My last course, I pre-ordered a grand marnier souffle... nobody at the table was excited to try it... but everybody agreed it was the BEST desert choice of the 6 of us... although the chocolate souffle (If I liked chocolate) was the richest, most decadent desert I've ever tasted.  My friend said the service was "off" last night... but I gotta say, if that was "off" for this restaurant, just about any DC establishment could learn something from the staff there on such an off night.  The only drawback... I really had to restrain myself from imbibing too much wine because of the location and knowing my on-call DD would have never found me in the woods.  5 stars!

Ba-bye Bebo

I never understood the allure of Bebo... a trendy Italian restaurant in Crystal City.  People either LOVED it, in all caps... or hated it.  It was not the kind of place you'd just go to because you needed food.  The one thing both groups had in common was to expect to be there for a very long time.  I suppose if you're enjoying your evening there, that's not a bad thing.  I've never had a great experience and tonight was no different.  Not by my choosing, there was a work dinner thing there with about 12 people.  The place had 2 large parties and the party room was packed.  Nobody else was in the restaurant.  On a Friday night.  That should have been clue 1.  Since we were all work-chatty, I didn't notice the exceptionally long time it took to order and get our food.  The entire ordeal took about 3.5 hours give or take.  My food portion was far too small for the price... I ordered swordfish.  I don't remember if I asked for it with no flavor, but that's how it came out.  On a plate so hot that it must have been sitting under a serious heat lamp for at least 10 minutes.  I imagine had I ordered a meal of courses as is tradition in a good Italian place, my portion was the right size.  But... I don't think that's why it was small.  I think it was small because the place is going out of business and the chef didn't care.  Not only was it small, but it was a bad cut of fish, bruised and previously frozen.  That's not how I want to enjoy my fish... I truly think the chef didn't care.  My coworker's salmon was dry.  The pasta dish was unappetizing and the pizza that came out was described as ketchup on wonderbread smashed thin with some cheese.  Now that last description also came from an Alabama guy who thinks McDonalds is fine dining.  Not an insult to him... he'd probably agree.  When we discovered discrepancies on the bill and couldn't decipher it because it was in Italian, I sought our server... turns out our server didn't even work there and the place was self imploding!  Nobody came to work... if anybody was even scheduled.  The restaurant is closing.  Well, I say good riddance.  It is too good a space and location for it to be occupied by a restaurant like that.  At the end of the meal, everybody was talking about going to Chipotle across the street.

Evo Bistro

For my friend Alyssa's birthday, her BF, JP chose a very out of the way bistro in McLean based on a Washingtonian review called Evo Bistro.  These friends are wine people and this was a unique way to indulge in such a hobby.  At this wine bar, they combined technology with the art of wine, allowing you to free flow taste a selection of about 40-50 wines.  My favorite was the 3 Ring Shiraz from Australia.  Its described as a dense purple accompanied by a flamboyant, extroverted bouquet of blackberries, white flowers, earth and a background oak.  Alyssa tasted a bit of chocolate at the end too.  The tapas style food at evo was hit or miss.  The hit really hit it out of the park -- and that was the scallops with a caper vinaigrette.  I lapped up the sauce with bread it was so good.  The miss was definitely the overcooked shrimp.  The atmosphere was cozy and friendly.  The staff helpful and knowledgable.  I will be returning to Evo.  It's a perfect place for a small event.

Boulevard Woodgrill

I joined a different brunch bunch today honcho'd by my friend DeDe, who chose Boulevard Woodgrill in Clarendon.  I had been there once before and wasn't impressed.  The food was unmemorable and neither was the ambience.  BUT... in giving it another try for brunch, I found a real gem.  I had the standard breakfast shmorgasborg with eggs, bacon, potatoes and french toast.   It was all fine.  I had saved the french toast until the end since with the syrup it would be a sweet treat.  One bite into it and I knew that this was the BEST french toast I've ever had.  I don't give such complements out lightly.  It was crusted in a crunch corn flake "breading."  This crunch exterior and soft interior had the texture of the perfect french fry -- you know how if you cook it hot enough, the inside melts and the outside is crispy?  That's how this french toast was.    I also complement their bloody mary... or Boulevard Mary.  If you like a spicy one, then go for this.  And a Skrimp on the edge of the glass for garnish provided a unique taste treat.  This brunch certainly reversed my previous impression on this place.

Woodmont Grill, Bethesda

For a change, I ventured with Monica and Lou to Bethesda for the evening to see Altar Boyz at Bethesda Theater.  With that in mind, we were looking for a pre-show meal and ended up at Woodmont Grill after walking around from the metro and simply happening on it.  We happened on it because we could smell the grill from a block away and it smelled great.  Eyeing the yellow umbrellas, we didn't know what to expect walking up to it, but it immediately presented itself as a hip place upon entering.  The nightly jazz band was just setting up and we were able to get seated right away having showed up before the dinner rush.  The place filled quickly around us as we were given tastings of a few wines before we settled on the Wild Thing Zinfindel, a perfectly deep red to put a calm to the evening.  I ordered the BBQ ribs, which fell off the bones.  They were very savory indeed and exactly what I wanted, craving flesh for dinner.  My sides were very thin fries and steamed spinach, which I was glad I substituted the coleslaw for.  Lou and Monica both had the Hawaiian ribeye and neither said anything good or bad about it, but the waiter claimed it to be a popular dish.  Desert was the apple crumble and a very good cup of espresso.  While the place reminded me of an upscale chain, the jazz, loud vibe and good food cancelled out any preconceived notions for an enjoyable evening that got us to the theater in the exact right amount of time without rushing.  If I were to venture back to Bethesda or needed to recommend a place, I would certainly name Woodmont.

Cork

My girlfriends took me out to Cork on 14th St... In the few blocks of 14th that is too north of Logan to be gentrified and too south of U st. to be hipster.  Cork is a refreshing addition showing the two neighborhoods might be meeting shortly.  The front part of the place is really a wine bar with a healthy selection of wines by the glass including bubbles.  I chose a Chianti, which was their only blend with Sangiovese and stuck with that for the evening.  On the table were small plates of mostly satisfying but forgettable dishes with the singular exception of their avocado with pistachios on a piece of toast.  The combination of those flavors really stuck with me and would be worth going back for.  We didn't have many of the fish dishes though and I would have liked to try those.  The scallops had a lot of flavor in the sauce, but a bit too salty.  I would have also liked to see a couple more flesh options on the menu.  All of the other dishes, including their cheese selections were not slap my mother good, but certainly above par.  The lighting was too dark to read the menu, but the atmosphere was chill and comfortable for the small space.  The service was decent for a start-up, although the dishes should have come at a slower pace since the small table filled up quickly.  Overall, a worth-it neighborhood place, but not a destination dining experience.

Carlyle Grand Brunch

On a day when you want to walk to brunch and you live in Arlington, none is better than the Carlyle Grand.  Droves of people out with their dogs, this friendly brunch place even has $1 dog biscuits on the people menu.  With my mother in town, we sat outside on an overcast Sunday morning... early for most brunch goers, so still pretty quiet for Shirlington.  She had the french toast, drizzled with yogurt, fruit and crunched up granola, describing it as the best french toast she's ever had.  I would have described it first as the largest french toast I've ever seen and tried to put it in a wrestler's weight class.  These slices were more like loaves.  But very sweet and yummy.  I had the scuibnocket or skabtucket or scraptastic... I don't remember the name.  Basically scrambled eggs with bacon, mushrooms, green onions and all kinds of other parts and pieces mixed in and garnished with cheddar.  It was also very good.  Better than an omelet I think because it was light and airy.  The service was only ok since the waiter spilled my juice and went downhill from there, but he was a happy person and nice, so it was a wash.  I can't not mention the hot tea.  They only had a few selections of caffeinated loose tea so I chose the tropical one.  Very tasty and served in a little asian iron pot.  Good on them for the details.  Overall, an experience I might make a Sunday morning tradition when mom is in town.

Nobu -- NY

I have tasted perfection in New York City.  A quick bus trip up (yes, I said bus), found me at the Nobu in Tribeca.  The mood was as any trendy NY restaurant should be (after the baby left), but the menu had way too many choices.  So my friend Darryl and I opted for the Chef's choice tasting menu.  There were 3 options based on price... which determines the quality of ingredients.  We had our eyes on the high-quality flesh (Kobe beef) so we opted for the highest price option to ensure we got that.  Interesting part of that was of the 8 courses, the beef was my least favorite -- albeit amazing in its own right.  But the one course I can still taste a week later, I even took a picture for you... was the sashimi thin sliced red snapper, served raw.  It carried a dot of a red spicy sauce and a dot of black pepper.  Served with a mound of cilantro and floating in a lemon juice reduction.  The flavors in this were simply stunning. The other courses were, in order:  tuna garlic tartar, teriyaki oysters, the red snapper, ginger tuna salad, caramelized black cod, kobe beef, sushi with clam soup, green tea ice cream and flourless choc. cake.  I may very well remember this meal as being so good because of the sun-dried fig martini which had me on my ass three seconds after arriving... but oh, what flavors!

Tallulah

What was once no more than a tacky neighborhood place to go for food because you were hungry turned into a destination dining experience a couple years ago.  Located at the inconvenient address on Washington Blvd and Pershing in Arlington -- it's worth the extra effort to get there.  Having gone here a number of times, the most memorable things about this restaurant were the largest scallops I've ever seen -- perfectly cooked, succulent.  You can't pass up their sliders with the caramelized onions.  I mean really -- it's 2 bites.  you have room for one.  The wine selection is one of the best I've ever seen -- and at the bar, they'll let you taste any of them.  For a fun change of pace, go to the bar side on movie night.  I've not done that yet, but it's on my to-do list simply because I like this restaurant's vibe and I want to spend more time there.

2007... a bad year for blogging

My apologies for taking a break (for um, a year or 2)... I moved to Tampa.  I've returned and am ready to eat again!

Ashby Inn

I cannot think of another restaurant where I've lingered so long because the entire experience has calmed me into one of those wonderful Sunday afternoon stupors, where I don't have a care in the world.  This happened to me Sunday at the Ashby Inn, an hour west on 66 in Paris Virginia.  I think this lovely little farmhouse turned Inn may be the only business in this hamlet.  I sat on the edge of their covered portico at a table for two with my good friend Andrew, overlooking the hillside at the base of the Shenandoah Valley.  The only thing missing were sheep grazing.  Perhaps I was simply there on the wrong day.  A path edged with unique herbs led to a wall of shrubs -- the only thing between me and this wilderness.  Butterflies swarmed.  Sparkling wine uncorked by New York transplant Lissa (with 2 s's), who was more our friend than our server.  With a price fixe menu -- my appetizer was by far one of the best dishes that has ever touched my lips.  Understatedly described on the menu as a peach and mozzarella napoleon, this creation came to me on a long, thin white plate -- a perfectly plump and juicy peach sliced in 1/4" sections.  Grilled and still warm.  In between, slightly melted pieces of buffalo mozzarella.  The entire thing was drizzled with an orange cilantro reduction that made the flavor of the dish pop into another genre.  This course was followed by a dual eggs benedict.  One was served with a steak fillet, perfectly grilled.  The other with canadian bacon.  I have never seen two such perfectly poached eggs.  The desert choice was an apple cake that was a cross between pie, cake and candy.  Brunch began at 1pm.  I left around 4.  I will never forget this brunch and will return to this place often.

Jaleo -- Crystal City

It has been a long while since I dined at Jaleo in Crystal City.  I used to live right across the street, yet avoided this place as a bastion of mediocre food and tourist service.  But in a cry for convenience and armed with the new knowledge that the commonwealth rid itself of the 1700s law where you could not mix wine and spirits effectively killing a good sangria recipe -- I decided to give this place another shot.  Clearly the new management there had a come to Jesus meeting with their people or started from scratch.  The service was impeccable.  The food, I can still taste a week later.  The most unique dish was thinly sliced watermelon topped with I believe goat cheese.  Truly unique. My favorite though were the golden friend bacon-wrapped dates.  My mouth is watering.

TenPehn

What I would have once said was a fantastic Asian Fusion place in downtown... located at 10th and Penn (hence the name)... left me severely disappointed during restaurant week this year.  While the food was ok -- not memorable, but certainly not bad -- it was the service I found deplorable.  Granted, this was compounded by my overbearing company which created a patronizing situation I found gross.  Regardless -- that's not the part with which I found fault.  A week after dining, I realized the entire bill -- which had been split between 4 credit cards -- somehow ended up completely on mine.  Upon querying the manager of the restaurant, he admitted fault -- but instead of doing the right thing and refunding my money, I'm now torn between disputing it with my credit card or tracking down strangers with whom I dined to pay me back.  Disappointing all around.