Recent reviews

Bread was hot and pretty tasty. Chick Peas were reported very good. I had the chicken skewer <spicy> the meat was a little over cooked and not as tender as I’d like.

What he said. Honestly, what with the 40 minute wait for a table, you’d think that, bookworm that I am, that I would have found something to read and or buy at the bookstore. Nope, not a prayer.

I had to actively work on not choking on my dry-as-dust Sysco hamburger- medium rare? more like massively charred! but it wasn’t all the hamburger; the conversations going on around me were impossibly wonkish, self-congratulatory, and just plain awful.

The upside? Yes, that really hot girl at the other table was definitely a lesbian. The downside? I already knew I’d never want to hear another word out of her mouth.

It’s got a good feel to it- part 50’s, part now, it makes me want to sit at the bar in a long black dress, hat, and dark glasses. (Possibly also with a jeweled cigarette holder, but just for emphasis.)

Even the dishes are pleasing.

The food too; no denying that. Go- make plans to meet a friend at the bar. Dress up a bit, have a cocktail, and don’t flinch at the bill- it’ll be worth it.

This will be re-opening soon as just “Majestic”, under the management of the folks who bring you Eve and also Eammons.

———— 2004-01-12:

I had a good meal here. The sparking blood orange drink was a great starter. But service was hard to come by, at times, and the menu left me a bit flat- I wasn’t in the mood for anything especially heavy or involved- but everything on the menu that evening was heavy and involved. My meal was quite tasty but I only ate about half of it. Don’t come here looking for a simple inexpensive nosh. Convivial atmosphere, pleasing decor.

The chef is leaving here soon, so the future is uncertain at this local hotel restaurant. I went in this past weekend, and had a thoroughly competant meal, though I can’t claim any knockouts. The truffled fries seemed overwhelming this time, instead of addictive. The mac-n-cheese was heavy first, creamy second. The slow-cooked pork was tender and tasty, and my spiked coffee and pannacotta were both enjoyable. But the wine was merely so-so, and my (admittedly picky) dining companion would only allow that dinner was pretty ok. That was a somewhat spendy ok.

I’m usually a fan of this sort of place: traditional food, open late (open 24 hours at the Jones and O’Farrell location), and no-frills service. But I’m not a fan of Naan-N-Curry, because their lamb is terrible. It’s half meat, half bone and gristle. This is not ok.

Charging an extra buck or two for the lamb dishes and just taking the lamb off the menu are both honorable options. I know (and I keep saying) that it’s hard to serve red meat for cheap, but El Castillito seems to have it pretty well figured out.

Naan-N-Curry is otherwise well put together, but the bad lamb shows a lack of pride in their work. Not recommended.

Hmm, a hamburger wrapped in paper, fresh hot fries, milkshake — you’ve seen this before: it’s the classic California hamburger stand, still intact on the west coast only, in chains such as In-N-Out and Fatburger. Taylor’s Refresher, however, has taken advantage of the Napa Valley and San Francisco demographics to set prices at a yuppie level 100% higher than the fast food drive-ins that inspired it. And I mean that in the nicest possible way, because as a result, they can afford to use local ingredients, cook everything to order, and have beef that’s good enough to leave it pink in the middle.

I’ve been saying for years that American fast food is something that can’t be done right for cheap, and here’s a restaurant to call me on it. That classic burger-fries-shake combo, once promoted by McDonald’s for 47¢, will now set you back about $13 at Taylor’s. Is it worth it? Well, the Ferry Building is full of stores that sell staple foods at prices three times higher than your grandmother would ever approve of you paying. And like its neighbors, Taylor’s really does have very good food. And $13 buys you more than you can or should eat, while at finer restaurants I’ve spent that much on a salad or even a cocktail. Like Vincent Vega, you must decide whether the milkshake (which is perfectly textured and made with Double Rainbow ice cream) is worth $5.

Apart from the culture shock and the Chevy’s-style pagers, there isn’t much not to like. There is a well-rounded menu of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, hot dogs and corn dogs, chili, a few seafood choices, along with a credible selection of beers and local wines, in bottles and half-bottles. It would have been easy to gussy up the food with exotic cheeses or other “reinventions”, but they’ve wisely resisted; everything on the menu has been tested for decades in diners across America. It’s just done better here; the luxury is in not having to cut any corners. The heart of California is in living a shared dream, and this is a piece of it.

This is food-plan and it’s about the food, so Pizzetta 211 gets a 7. There’s no doubt that the food is tasty and fresh, and in this neighborhood it goes without saying that it’s all premium ingredients and where possible from local sustainable farms etc. etc. But it’s clear that they’re not really interested in hospitality. The place is tiny without being intimate, and a lack of niceties — get your own silverware, wine served in a rocks glass — seems to be the result of indifference rather than a friendly informality. Pizzetta 211 is probably great for carryout if you live nearby, but I really wish I could also recommend it as the place to go before a movie at the 4 Star.

Brought to you by the people who brought you Tryst and The Diner in Adams Morgan, it’s a pale imitation of its older bretheren. It’s nice to have the tea and coffee options right near the metro and the large conference hotels, but the scenery and the good vibe are just not there.

mandu=dumplings, and the dumplings are very good. I think the fried have the edge, but the dumpling soup is very tasty as well. They’ve only recently opened, so I expect the service bobbles will work themself out.

Mmm, tasty meat pies. Get the good meal deal: an empanada, a dessert empanada, and medium soda for $6.

The falafelshop does two things, and does them well: falafel, and twice fried frites. Cash only. Open late late late.

Good scenery, good coffee, good beer, good sandwiches. Did I mention the good scenery?

Ok, so the service can be variable. But... there’s wireless to help distract you, except on weekends when they want you to put the laptop down and socialize.

Actually, don’t go here. It’s crowded enough as it is, and you’ll just end up hogging the confy sofa.

Late, and I lament the fact that I don’t lament its closing.

1/18/2003:I was surprised to see this tired old German restaurant in Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants of 2003. It used to be pretty decent, and as I lived about seven minutes away, I ate there with some frequency. Last winter I decided to go back with some old friends, for old times’ sake. What a mistake. The place just felt tired, and so did the cooking. I know there aren’t many German restaurants in the DC metro area, but that doesn’t justify adding Wurzburg House to the Top 100. Would the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award the Best Actor Oscar to Adam Sandler if he were the only actor left alive after the big earthquake hit? Well, probably, but that’s beside the point. Unless Wurzburg Haus has done a 180, don’t eat there. Buy a bottle of sauerkraut from Safeway and call it a day.

Another small business tanked. Pity.

3/9/2004:Quick update: The funghi sauce is outstanding. So is the pesto (made with walnuts rather than pine nuts, and Adrian is clearly proud of it). If in search of a quick nosh, try an empanada if they’re available; they’re the real deal.

[review from 2/6/04] Now that I’ve eaten in the place once, and had carryout once, I feel confident in saying that the pasta itself is pretty good, thou maybe not quite as good as what you’d get at a first class Italian restaurant. I’m not as impressed with the sauces, and of course as Peperonata Pasta is really a store and not a restaurant, it has little ambience. Good for a quick nosh if you’re in the neighborhood. Better for taking the noodles home and cooking them yourself.

[original review dated 1/23/04 follows] Newsflash! The mom and pop business has not yet been squelched by industrial food!

Peperonata Pasta is a restaurant in the same way River Falls Seafood is: just barely. Actually it is a little storefront that sells homemade pasta, but it also has a small hot lunch menu and five tables in front, so it qualifies.

I’m quite taken with it, but please note: the numeric rating is provisional because I haven’t eaten on site yet. However I noticed a good sign: the sign for cannoli that said something to the effect that they’re filled when you order them. Props. And they’re good.

The place is owned and operated by a charming Argentinian immigrant couple of Italian descent. When I ordered a pound of pappardelle, he weighed it on butcher paper, then tied it up with a red ribbon and tucked in a sheet on how to cook fresh pasta. He had about a dozen types that day, and also ravioli with several fillings (four cheese, spinach and ricotta, butternut squash, etc.) With advance notice he’ll also make big sheets of pasta for lasagna, or prepare to the point of baking lasagna, ziti, manicotti, and I forget what else. He was quite talkative.

He was also very proud of the fact that the gnocchi are potato gnocchi, not semolina. I’m definitely going back there for lunch. Soon. It it will become a regular stop on grocery days, too.

Yesterday he told me “today we’ve been here one year three days. They say if your business survives one year, you’ll survive.” I sure hope so. I wish both of them the best of luck.

Egad! I can’t believe I haven’t updated this in so long. Komi is now on my regular, albeit long-range, restaurant rotation. Johnny Monis is no longer a “promising young chef” — he’s now a major talent and a major player. I won’t rehash my last several adventures here, since kobi offers such an excellent descrption, but: if you enjoy fine dining, if you’re serious about food, go. It isn’t inexpensive, but it is an incredible bargain for the quality you’ll receive.

[earlier notes follow] Thanks to the talents of a promising young chef, Komi is off to a good start. The interior is simple almost to the point of plainess, but comfortable. The rather short menu is full of the latest and trendiest, along with some foods whose time I wish would go already (I just don’t get arugula), and some very homey touches.

The house made breads (ciabatta and foccacia) were outstanding, served warm with sun dried tomato butter. Kobi’s pizzetta had a wonderfully thin and crispy crust, topped with good cheese and just a bit of tomato, and of all things baby basil. And I do mean baby: these were the week old shoots of the plant, with the cotyledon and one tiny pair of true leaves. (As a gardener, this amazes me that either baby basil is commercially available or that someone at Komi is sowing seeds and harvesting them so soon after germination). The really interesting thing, though, is how clean and pure and intense a taste these basils have. I’d call it a revelation if Phyllis Richman hadn’t beaten that word into the ground during the 1990s. (Yep, you’ll never catch me using the word ’revelation’ in a food review. Not me.)

Baby basil is not the only bizarre touch at Komi. I ordered the delicata squash soup, which was served with cashews, a light sprinkle of cinnamon, and... a marshmallow. But it worked, in exactly the same way that the maple cream on the squash soup at Chef Geoff’s doesn’t (and I bring this up because apparently the chef at Komi used to cook for Geoff).

On the homey front, a side of creamed collards with pozole was smokey with bacon, the type a dish only a Southerner could love, but I don’t like my greens cooked that long. I’d have to say it was well-executed, but not the kind of thing I like.

For dessert, we both had Mexican hot chocolate, served in small bowls, with doughnuts. The doughnuts were a bit dense, but in a good way, with a hint of nutmeg and a crispy sugary exterior, and still warm. The chocolate was deliciously rich and soothing.

The dinner menu offers a small variety of fish and meat (hangar steak, rabbit, arctic char) that I’m looking forward to exploring.

[originally written 1/11/04; additional notes follow]

Went back for dinner last night, had asparagus salad with hen-of-the-wood mushrooms and microbasil; main course was arctic char with cherry tomatoes and figs. Both dishes well conceived and executed, flavors nicely balanced, etc. I read recently that there is an industry in producing “microgreens”, which are said to be more intense and pure in flavor. Certainly true of that basil. Dessert was “chocolate four ways”: chocolate mousse with chocolate shavings, flourless chocolate torte, a smidgeon of white chocolate mousse in a dark chocolate shell. Lovely, and enough for two to share.

Praise: presentation. I like how the ingredients are arranged on the plate.

Quibble: noise. That spare interior gets awfully loud at dinnertime. I was trying to catch up with someone I hadn’t seen socially in a long time; conversation was difficult.

If it’s good enough for Thomas Keller, it’s good enough for you, right? On the one hand, you have to respect this place for sticking to their menu and their ways, year in and year out. You can get burgers, fries, and a shake or Coke. For fifty years that’s been the entire menu.

On the other hand, fast-food burgers are not exactly the world’s perfect food. I like my red meat to stay red, and you’re not going to get that at a place where a complete meal is $5. In-N-Out represents the triumph of development over concept.

Take your friends from overseas here; it’s the real thing and a true time capsule. But despite the cult following, it’s only what it is.

California is filled with great Mexican restaurants, which is why it’s a shock that this one is so boring. It’s slow, it’s disorganized, it has a dreary white-people atmosphere, and the food is bland. This sort of place is a drag on the neighborhood. Don’t eat here.

It’s crazy to base your fast-food dessert restaurant on cream puffs. Ice cream probably makes the most sense; it will keep for weeks in the freezer case. Cupcakes will last all day and are an easy sell. Doughnuts don’t last long, but they can be made quickly. Any of these have fewer ingredients and require less skilled assembly than a cream puff.

But it’s good for us that this Japanese chain has found crazy American franchisees, because these cream puffs are delicious. Better coffee would make this an 8.

The team that brought us the award-winning Restaurant Eve has taken an ugly old space in old town Alexandria and given us a pretty, low-priced, authentic fish and chip shop. Order at the register from the items listed on the blackboard (usually three kinds of fish; seven sauces; a batter burgher; batter sausage; batter candy bars), pay, and a few minutes later a paper bag with the good will be brought out to you. There’s seating for about 30 at two counters and a few communal tables.

Everything on the menu is deep fried. Yep, even the candy bars. Friends report that they’re damn tasty, but I’ll save my calories for the beautifully light and crispy fish and the fries — um, chips. The sausage is very good, too.

As the motto reads: Thanks be to cod.