Camille-Beau

As for the article focusing only on the tepid vegetarian offerings of the area's "white tablecloth" restaurants, that would be true except that there were issues discussed with regard to service. An example: "The problem was preciousness and a lack of pacing. The evening was all exclamation points, an ESPN SportsCenter version of the Vegetable Plate served with a ceremoniousness more suited to the delivery of a papal bull." If the pace is slow, mention it. That doesn't change the focus of the article if it was, in fact, dedicated only to pointing out the lack of options for the vegetarian diner.

I suppose I wasn't aware that Mr. Lalasz was employed by any publications as a food critic. But then I also don't see how mentioning to the restaurant staff that you would like to have something other than risotto would negate your anonymity.

Do you feel that it is disingenuous to not only write negative reviews on this board, but publish an article for the general public to read without giving the restaurants an opportunity to address your concerns at the time? One of the issues discussed frequently here is how unfair and easy it is to criticize restaurants after the fact. And if you don't tell the restaurants that you are bored and disappointed with their vegetarian offerings, then how will they know what to change or improve -- or should they just wait to read about it in the Washingtonian?

Why not inform the restaurant, particularly when it is one that doesn't typically carry a large number of vegetarian selections?

Something that I may have missed both in the article and on this thread is whether or not you did alert the restaurants to your specific dining requirements in advance or were the requests for alternate items made when placing your order (other than when actual vegetarian tasting menus were available). Also, at any time either during the dinner or afterward while still at the restaurant, did you let the manager/chef/waitstaff know that you were disappointed?

Excellent job by all! Chef, Rissa, Ferhat -- I think we all know how difficult it is for a restaurant to prepare and serve a dinner of this type to a large group of people so thanks for offering these two evenings for dr.com. You guys were great. Loved the food & wine and loved the company (sthitch and ctay122+1, thanks for sharing a table with us. You guys were a lot of fun ) MDT -- Thanks!!

QUOTE(Camille-Beau @ Mar 2 2006, 11:05 AM) Expressing frustration about the lack of vegetarian dining options is acceptable but expecting all restaurants conform to the needs of this group is not. Contradiction:

Expressing frustration about the lack of vegetarian dining options is acceptable but expecting all restaurants conform to the needs of this group is not.

As a consumer with money to spend, I demand that every single restaurant I walk into prepare any dish I like, the way I like it -- not as they think it should be prepared. It is, after all, MY MONEY. Who are they to tell me what I will eat and how I will eat it? Chefs, make sure your kitchens are always stocked with items not on the regular menu so that you can whip up something at a moment's notice based upon my needs! Seriously people, if a restaurant does not offer what you like to eat, then choose to dine at restaurants that do cater to your tastes. All this article did was prove once again why I admire the men and women who choose to work in the restaurant business. Most restaurants DO offer alternatives, but they often seemed to be slammed for not offering ENOUGH variation from the items they prepare that are already variations from their planned menus. While one person would be happy with portobellos and vegetable combinations of many kinds, with pastas etc., someone else claims those items are uninspired. Seems like a winless situation. I think I'll go to Vegetate and order a hamburger...

Plenty of sufficient BTUs cooking the 'old fashioned way' at home on the new Miele cooktop for searing meat. My question relates specifically to meat that has been cooked using sous vide. What do you do to get a char on the outside of meat that has been cooked sous vide? Are you tossing it in a hot pan after removing it from shrinkwrap to add that texture/taste or are you foregoing a seared outer crust in favor of meat that is the same texture and color edge to edge?

We do pan sear for the crust -- just curious as to whether or not you add a char to your red meat after cooking it sous vide. Like for the steak and bacon 'sandwich' Every item I've had cooked sous vide lacks any char.

What do you do about getting some variance in texture (such as external crispness) to the meat? I am so not a fan of sous vide cooking and find that the lack of a seared outer crust (for lamb and beef) and somewhat flabby internal texture seem to be the reason. Have tried many items that were cooked using this format -- lamb, salmon, lobster, etc., at various types of restaurants (I'm not equipped to try this at home) and find that this method of cooking just doesn't work for me. The lobster and salmon tend to be somewhat rubbery. -Camille

French fries and Champagne -- our favorite combination. Seriously!

Update on V Steakhouse -- apparently it closed in December. No loss unfortunately. It's unclear at this point what restaurant will replace it - or the adjoining space originally slated as a Charlie Trotter restaurant (he dropped out) in the Time Warner Center.

Exchange the lemon gelato for their special olive oil gelato and you'll be very very happy. Oh yeah, and 'oxtail' anything.

Love on the Back Burner

The salt-cleaning method works very well, We toss in a large amount of kosher salt and use that as the scrubber, adding oil only if the pan didn't have any residual oil from whatever was cooked in it.

Fortunately Sine qua Non stacks very nicely on our wine cabinet racks. Too good to pass on despite the strangely shaped bottles (and price).

Ok sportsfans, ready for another round? We (me/Beau) will be at the new farm on Sunday. Work to be done involves setting up additional frames for new houses and, if we're very very lucky, pulling plastic over the frames already in place -- not likely to happen with this wind, but you never know. On Monday, we'll be stopping by the old farm to watch (and help perhaps?) a crew hired solely for the purpose of finally taking down the very large house. Farmer Dave estimates it will take a week to complete. If interested in joining the party, please PM. And on another very important note, Nick and the Maestro kitchen crew were out at the farm yet again (4th visit!!!) last Monday to work on the framing of another greenhouse. That's an unbelievable effort on their part and one that is very much appreciated. Nick would post photos, but doesn't seem to have much time available, given his day (and night) job. We definitely understand Kudos Nick -- you and your team rock!!

We dined there once only because of the need to grab something quickly before flying back to DC. The decor is bizarre. I think we called it 'harlequin bordello' -- as in copious amounts of red velvet, gilt, smoked mirrors and diamond-shaped lattice work everywhere. Very cheap-looking, particularly when filled with the jeans/flipflops/t-shirt clientele. Granted, this was for lunch but it wasn't quite what we thought a JGV restaurant would be, particularly for the prices they charge. Excellent burger - juicy with a very flavorful toasted sesame bun. Service so-so. Won't be back.

A few days late, but for those of you who are interested, here is the menu from the "Judgment of Paris" dinner (please excuse my annotations regarding vintage): Menu.pdf

Please forgive any lack of quality in the photos. Since use of our digital camera without the flash requires a steady hand (something I did not have, particularly after the 3rd glass of wine) most of the photos were taken with flash, showing them in a different light than what we experienced in Maestro's lovely dining room. I tossed in a couple without flash that weren't too blurry to give you an idea of how the presentation looked during the dinner. So, that being said, let the photo parade begin --- Lovely Versace place setting (good call, Ustreetguy ): Amuse of Ahi tuna, razor clams and a flat-parsley 'shot' Buffalo mozzarella, quenelle of Osetra caviar, olive oil: The extra dish -- oysters with champagne zabaglione Maine lobster ravioli with ginger bisque: Fabio Trabocchi and staff prepping the next course Risotto, seared diver scallop and truffle: Seared Fois Gras with Torcolato sorbet Striped bass with Porcini mushrooms - 3 ways: "Tongue-in-Cheek" veal cheeks and tongue, parsley foam Kobe beef with Manni olive oil and 100-yr old balsamic: Gorgonzola with quince Pre-dessert panna cotta: Dessert of pears, caramel and amaretto Mignardises of chocolate cake and frozen passionfruit ice cream: I'll leave descriptions up to everyone else, but will add that everything was darn tasty, particularly the veal cheeks & tongue!!

Darn Tasty

Restaurant Eve hosted a very unique 5-course dinner Monday night titled the "Judgment of Paris Dinner". The special guest was George Taber, author of the book "Judgment of Paris" regarding the famous 1976 California vs. France wine tasting event. As you all likely know, Mr. Taber was working for Time magazine at the time and by chance ended up as the only reporter covering the event. The dinner included wines from the same winemakers that were involved in the tasting. Obviously the winning vintages of the California wines - the '73 Stag's Leap Cabernet and the '73 Chateau Montelena chardonnay were not available (the Smithsonian was not likely to give up it's two bottles) but the more recent vintages were very good. The French wines were spectacular and also quite a treat due to the vintages that were served -- a '78 and '86 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, '71, '86, '88 and '89 Chateau Haut Brion, and '75, '76 and '78 Chateau Leoville-Las-Cases. Bordeaux heaven!! Cathal's excellent menu included the following (pardon my lack of eloquence in describing these dishes, but note that they were all delicious and we would definitely order them from the regular menu whenever available): first course of succulent Seared Diver Scallops on a bed of 'mock' risotto (made with potato) with black truffle; second course of butter-poached Cod with lobster and bacon vinaigrette; and the third course of roasted ribeye of lamb with braished shoulder which was paired with both the Stag's Leap Cab and the Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Fourth - cheese, of course, was an excellent Croziers blue on boxty (an irish potato pancake) with smoked hamhock vinagrette followed by dense, decadent chocolate cake with orange milk jam for dessert. (I'll scan a menu for later inclusion to show more detail). Throughout the dinner, Mr. Taber talked about various aspects of the tasting, including the moment when he began to realize the "dog bites man" story was turning into the more interesting "man bites dog", along with the way that customs was circumvented in order to get the wines shipped to Paris (it traveled as hand baggage - two bottles per person - with a group of people visiting France on a wine tour). An excellent first-person perspective of such an interesting event. Cathal & Meschelle (and Todd and Ronnie, et al.) thanks for putting this very cool event together (and Gene -- many many thanks for supplying Eve with the wonderful Bordeaux )

Just FYI -- Brian McPherson has left drinx (along with Bill Hunter - the GM) and is now sous chef at David Greggory.