Eating Around: War Stories From Restaurant Week

IF YOU love to hate D.C. Restaurant Week, please turn your attention to today's Ask Tom chat. There, The Post's dining critic Tom Sietsema sums up reports from the trenches, with quotes like the following:

... [T]he meal was so rushed that I had indigestion afterwards.

Or ...

It was probably the toughest piece of meat I've had short of a steak at a low-end steak chain that I was forced to visit on a trip out of town. Normally I would know what to do, talk to the waiter, etc. But I've got to tell you, I felt guilty about doing that. I know that the special menu is supposed to be a real deal, I'm not surprised that they offer less than the top of the line, but, what should our expectations be?

Getting your fix of Restaurant Week horror stories is just like gawking at a gruesome auto accident. You want to look away, but you just can't help yourself. (Of course, there are good RW reports out there, too, but those are no fun.)

If that didn't scare you off, there are restaurants doing extended prix fixe deals. Lists are available here and here.
» "Tom Talks Shop" [Live Online/WaPo]
» "Hungry for More?" [GOG/WaPo]
» "Restaurant Week Extensions, Better Than Hair Extensions" [Metrocurean]

» OMNIPOTENT PRESENCES: Michel Richard's Central is now open on Pennsylvania Avenue downtown. Consider yourself warned: Although you might not see Richard there in person, "[i]n the back of the dining room, a floor-to-ceiling, Warholian portrait of Richard's laughing mug looms over the tables." [Washingtonian]
Photo by Susan Biddle/The Washington Post

» TRY THIS, NO. 1: When you're at Chef Morou Ouattara's newish restaurant in Alexandria, Farrah Olivia, be sure to try "the butter-poached lobster with tapioca and the kaffir duck breast with steamed cabbage and apricot," Nycci Nellis of The List Are You on It writes. "But," she continues, "our favorite of the evening — the dessert! Pastry chef Leon Baker served up a delicious chocolate concoction that featured sweet pea brittle, mocha semifreddo and cocoa reduction." [The List]

» TRY THIS, NO. 2: Last week, this writer was at Oval Room near Lafayette Square, and if you find yourself there in the near future to try out Tony Conte's menu, consider for a first course the inventive tuna, chipotle and avocado served with crispy tapioca (think of it as a waffle cone, just made of tapioca.) For a main course, look out for the pink snapper, served with a vanilla onion puree, chard lily bulbs, snow peas, tarragon and mire lemon. It's delicate balance that works well.

» UPCOMING: At the corner of U and 9th streets NW, look for Nellie's Sports Bar set to open in February, brought to the greater Shaw/U Street area by local fundraiser and former ad exec Doug Schantz and restaurateur Rocio Anzola of Silver Spring's Cubanos. It'll have a rooftop deck and space for special events. [Nellie's via Remaking Le Slum Historique]

Posted By Michael Grass at 9:04 PM on January 17, 2007 Tagged in Food & Drink , Pick Your Poison

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