oh no you didn't...

So one of the most interesting and often amusing things about working in a restaurant is that you come into contact with a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life who are all extremely unique specimens of humanity.  One such group of people is the folks you work with on a day to day basis.  There's always an eclectic mix of personalities in a restaurant and learning to work with everyone can make for a trying and frequently rewarding experience.  From your fellow cooks to servers, food runners, hosts, and managers, it takes a while to get a read on everyone and know how to handle them.

Even working at a small restaurant like Granville's where there are not that many people on staff, it still has taken me a while to figure it all out and some people I'm still figuring out.  Some things are a surprise, like the bartender and server you think don't like you at first but that later turn out to be two of your best friends from work.  Some things are a constant struggle, like the always negative server that finds something wrong with everything and complains about every single co-worker.  There are some days when it takes everything you have not to lose your cool at this person and just say something like, "If you spent half as much time with your tables and doing your job as you do bitching about things then people would like you and you might not screw up so many tickets."  Or even something more simple like, "Shut the hell up!"

But in the end, it's worth it to put in the effort to learn how to deal with these people and you'll get some friends out of it and the ones you aren't friends with, well, at least you won't be surprised by the crazy things they say and do anymore.  But the other thing about a restaurant is that, beyond having to learn how to deal with your colleagues, you have another completely random element to figure out how to deal with: your customers.  Especially if you spend any amount of time out of the kitchen and in the front of house.  I work two front of house shifts a week, one as a server and one as a host (although that will be ending).  Even if you don't work in the front of house, you'll get to hear the goings on from the servers, bartenders, and food runners you work with so there are some events that become legendary.  Working in a restaurant you have to deal with customer's bizarre quirks, off the wall requests, and often really bad behavior.  And when they aren't directing all of this at you, you get the opportunity to overhear things they say to their dining/drinking companions and, while some of it is pretty unbelievable, some of it as also pretty hilarious.

So with all that said, I'd like to introduce a new feature to the blog: oh no you didn't..., a feature dedicated to the crazy things people say and do in the restaurant.  Some of these will be customer comments, some will be about staff, and some may even feature staff from neighboring restaurants on the block who are essentially part of our family.  Sometimes I may have an entire post dedicated to this feature, but more often it will probably be a separate section of a larger post.  So at the end of this post I'll kick it off with the inaugural oh no you didn't... featuring a selection of random and hilarious things from last night.

Before I get on to that though, this was a big week in terms of non-restaurant related cooking.  My boy Tahir and I decided a while ago that we wanted to cook dinner for some friends of ours who are really serious foodies.  The guests were Tahir's boss and his boss's wife and two amazing chefs that are friends to us both, Tom and Christy, who own one of my favorite spots to eat and drink at and are all around awesome.  Because we were cooking for some seriously sophisticated palates, we knew we'd need to step the food up to a new level beyond what even our normal dinner parties involve.  So we planned a menu and this past Saturday night it all came to fruition.  I know Tahir took some pictures of things so should he get those up on his blog I'll link to them here.  Until then, here's the list of what was served:

— amuse bouche of torched escolar with cilantro oil, orange bell pepper, lemon zest

— chilled corn soup with tarragon oil

— basil infused tuna with napa cabbage slaw and meyer lemon, honey, and sriracha vinaigrette

— "shrimp and grits" - chili and garlic shrimp, fried polenta cakes, red bell pepper and tomato sauce

— chicken consomme with scallions, oyster mushrooms, and toasted rosemary

— chili maple glazed pork tenderloin stuffed with red pear and blue cheese butter, sauteed dandelion greens

— 15 spice ribeye with chevreuil sauce, crispy potatoes with smoked seasalt

— cinnamon caramel ice cream with apple fritters

All in all I thought the dinner went well although there were a few things that didn't work out perfectly.  However, at the end of the night, there was good food, great wine, and even better company so I'll call that a success.

And now, to wrap it all up:

oh no you didn't...

This first one is an excerpt I overheard from a conversation at one of our tables.

blonde 20-something girl to her 3 friends: I would love to live in like the prohibition era when I could go out and wear flapper dresses and drink and smoke.  But I wouldn't want to keep living through the depression because that would be, like, really hard.  And I'd love to see, not live in, but just see the 50's and 60's.  You know cause there was so much stuff going on then with the blacks uprising and everything.

This next one is related to the first in that one of the blonde girl's friends is involved but this happened later, at the bar.

nikki (bartender): what can I get you to drink

blonde girl's friend (bgf): I'll have a white wine spritzer with tonic and without the wine

nikki: (confused stare) what?

bgf: well, like no wine, just tonic and spritzer

nikki: what exactly is spritzer?

This next one involves a server from a neighboring restaurant who walked up to a group of our staff while we were outside - he's an eccentric dresser to say the least and this night he was rocking a pair of red canvas keds.

russell (server from neighboring restuarant): my footsies hurt

me: is that because you stole some little girl's shoesies?

getting back into the swing of things

So I feel like life has been pretty crazy lately.  Once the move was all completed, my computer, of course, died on me.  The logic board went bad and so the computer was dead.  So on my second attempt at a new computer, I finally have a new (old) computer.  So with that set, I feel happy to be back and connected to the internet daily again.  It's weird how dependent on the internet we (or at least I) have become.  The week and a half that I was having computer issues were really stressful.  I felt extremely disconnected from the outside world and it was unsettling. 

But I'm back and happy to be so.  Aside from computer issues things have been pretty crazy all around.  Despite the doom and gloom of economic news these days, the restaurant is busy.  Really busy.  Pretty much all the time.  Which, given some of the slow times we had last August and September and this January, is really nice.  It's great to work a line shift and look up the first time the board clears and realize that it's already 8:15 p.m. instead of standing around bored as the minutes tick slowly by and you think the night will never end.  As we get ready to launch a new menu and with a lot of other exciting things coming up (some of which I can't quite mention yet but will hopefully be able to divulge in a few weeks) it's extremely comforting and pleasing to know that we're still considered one of the "hot spots" in D.C. and that people are willing to spend their time and money on us.

I'm extremely excited about the new spring menu.  I love spring foods because if I had to pick the one adjective that I most appreciate in a dish it would be "fresh".  I love foods that are light, fresh, bright, and bursting with flavor.  Spring and summer are two of my favorite food times because of the sheer abundance of food and the fact that so much of it has that fresh bursting quality.  There are spring berries, fresh corn on the cob, perfectly ripe tomatoes, pea shoots, green garlic, and so many other foods that in color, taste, and texture just ooze freshness and lightness.  So it's a no-brainer that I'm looking forward to a menu focused on these tastes and textures.

specials of the week

— lamb leg steak with blueberry and apple cider reduction - the flavor of cider, blueberries, cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, and black peppercorns over the slightly gamey flavor of lamb leg is just a delightful combination. I love fruit and sweetness with lamb and so this was my favorite thing of the recent specials

— duroc pork chop with sauteed apples and ginger - I love pork chops.  Especially when it's a thick and juicy bone-in pork chop combined with the deliciousness of butter, apples, and fresh ginger.

favorite things

— new computers

— the past Thursday's episodes of 30 Rock and The Office.  I love Tina Fey more and more with each passing day.

— Flight of the Conchords.  I am late in getting into this show but after my roommates forced me to watch it the other night, I am on board.  It's hysterical and this song pretty much got me hooked.

— menu planning.  T and I are having another ridiculous dinner party. Only this time the guest list includes people who've cooked us amazing food before (and one of whom is T's boss and my boss might possibly be in attendance as well) so it's a bit intimidating.  But the menu looks promising and I am pretty happy about it.

if you can't beat 'em...

So as mentioned previously, I was a little annoyed that we were left off Washingtonian's list of the 100 Best Restaurants in the D.C. area.  I mean, I'm not saying we're better than Komi and need to be #1, I just think that we're better than some of the things that happened to make it on the list.  I also noticed that there were only two places east of the Capitol on the entire list, so that says something as well.

However, after some soul-searching, I decided to be less ticked and channel my energy into something more productive — like making sure we get on that list next year.  I think there are a number of ways we can accomplish this.  One of them is making sure that we step up our game with the entree portion of the menu.  Everyone knows our mussels and fries are good and are, in the eyes of many, the best in DC.  But we can't make it on to the list with just mussels and fries.  I want to step up the game with our sandwiches although they are consistently really delicious.  But the biggest difference I noted, just from reading about the places that did make the list, was that our appetizers and entrees need to be taken up a notch or two.

Accomplishing that goal is going to come from a lot of things: menu changes, making sure we keep on track with the weekly chef meetings to plan out our orders of proteins and kick around ideas for specials, encouraging creativity and innovation among the other cooks, and making it clear that it's not okay to just send out a good dish but that it has to happen on a consistent basis with an emphasis on great presentation.

But one other part of my multi-faceted strategy for stepping up our game and making that list is to eat at as many of the spots that made it as I can to get a sense of what they do, how we compare, what lessons can be learned, and maybe even pick up a few ideas to bring back into our kitchen.  So far in the last two days, I've gone to two.

#100: Marvin

So I was really looking forward to this spot for a two reasons: 1) it was #100 meaning it was the last place to make the cut and 2) one of their signatures is offering several preparations of moules frites.  I went Sunday night before heading to a show at the 9:30 Club and we were seated within 5 minutes of arriving.  The decor is really hip with kind of a sleek urban vibe.  The noise level was actually a lot better than many other hip spots but maybe that's just because this was a Sunday and the snow outside was keeping the crowds away.

I decided to forego having a drink since I was on my way to the show and there would be plenty of booze there.  Neither I nor my dinner companion were super hungry and so we didn't mess around with appetizers and got right down to entrees.  He got the mussels with white wine, shallots, and fennel and I got the famous chicken and waffles.

The food came out relatively quickly and I was eagerly awaiting the verdict on the mussels.  My friend is a diehard fan of Granville's and our mussels and since I really can't eat a full order of mussels anymore (you try eating a bowl of them when most of your days are spent cleaning them, cooking them, and generally consumed with all things moules), I figured I'd let him order the moules frite and tell me how our fries and mussels compare.  His verdict: their actual mussels taste more like mussels whereas our broth takes on a lot more flavor and our mussels also have a lot more of the flavor of what's in the broth.  Basically their mussels and their broth are like two separate dishes whereas ours are a bit more connected.  

I suspect this is because of a difference in cooking methods.  Ninety-percent of places will cook mussels by steaming them in a pan with a lid.  This traps all of the water that would otherwise evaporate as the wine, beer, or whatever cooking liquid is being used comes to a boil.  So the mussels are steamed open and then the whole dish is plated by basically dumping everything in a bowl.  Our mussels are different.  We cook ours in an open sautée pan and toss the mussels around frequently to coat them with the hot broth.  This helps them open but I think it's also why the flavor of the sauce tends to infuse our mussels really well.

As for the frites...well, few things make me as sad as having frites that are less than spectacular. These, sadly, fell into that category.  The color was good, they were pillowy on the inside, but they lacked that crisp outside that I love and they could have been hotter too.  The fries at Marvin come with three dipping sauces: a horseradish mayo that I loved, a curry mayo that was way too eggy and sticky, and catsup.  

But, while Marvin gets acclaim for it's moules frites, the dish I was really looking forward to was the fried chicken and waffles.  This is the dish that gets rave reviews and, well, let's be honest, it's fried chicken.  How can you really go wrong with that?  And this dish had a lot of my favorite things on one plate: country fried chicken breast, Belgian waffle, white gravy, collard greens, and even a ramekin of maple syrup should you want a little sweetness.  After cleaning the plate completely, I have to say that I loved a lot about this dish and found only one thing that I would have changed.  The chicken was perfectly cooked.  Really crunchy outside and super moist inside.  It was resting on top of a soft, slightly sweet, golden brown waffle.  The white gravy underneath was great and I only wish there was more of it.  Midway through I poured the syrup all over the whole thing and I really loved the flavor of the salty chicken, the rich gravy and the sweet syrup and waffle.  The only thing I would have changed with this dish was the collard greens.  

Being from the South I have pretty specific ideas of what I want in collard greens.  The ideal serving of greens should be tender and slightly bitter (Marvin gets both of these right).  Where they missed was the acid and the smoked meat flavor.  I usually make my greens with either a smoked ham hock or some slab bacon.  If neither of those are available, then a smoked turkey leg works well.  But to me, collard greens thrive when their earthy bitterness goes up against that rich, smokey flavor.  And what balances it all out is acid.  I usually add in some apple cider vinegar before the greens have completely wilted so that much of the vinegar cooks down but still leaves behind a bright acidic finish.  However, other than that, I would say the chicken and waffles were pretty amazing.  On the whole, Marvin gets a decent rating from me.  The mussels (the two I tried) were tasty but I like more of the flavors from the broth to infuse the mussels, the fries were disappointing as was the curry mayo, the chicken was perfection as was the waffle and the gravy, and the collards were certainly decent although not perfect.

#6: Restaurant Eve

So within a twenty four hour span I went from sitting at the #100 restaurant to sitting at the #6.  I think it was a really neat experience because one of the things I noticed is that so much of what makes a truly great restaurant great is little details.  Restaurant Eve rarely misses on the details from the stellar drinks, each placed on the appropriate side (right hand side) of the guest, to making sure silverware was replaced between courses to the tiny garnishes like the fried capers on a salad that don't seem like much but if they weren't there the whole dish would be different.

I went with a good friend of mine who is a fellow foodie and who had just returned from a trip to NYC where she had the 9 course tasting menu at Le Bernardin so I figured she'd have a really great standard of comparison.  Especially since both courses she ordered included seafood.  But let's start at the beginning.

I definitely was not going to forego drinks here.  In addition to a great wine list, Restaurant Eve is home to Todd Thrasher, one of the best mixologists (aka fancy bartenders) in the country.  So a cocktail was definitely on the agenda.  I ordered "The Cure All" which is a palate-pleasing blend of Hendricks gin, Blanco tequila, tumeric, and basil coconut water.  The first taste of the drink is sweet with the tequila and coconut being the dominant flavors.  The second sip is a more developed taste that starts sweet, has an earthy middle from the tumeric, and finishes with a crispness from the cucumber in the Hendricks and the hint of basil.  My friend had the Molly Delicious, a smooth concoction of house-made apple cider, Calvados, and Makers Mark.  Bourbon and apple were made for each other and this drink proves why.  There's something about that combination that is just so refreshing and earthy at the same time.

For our first course, we both had the evening's salad special: bibb lettuce, fried fresh sardines from Maine, hard-boiled quail egg, fried capers, and a creamy dressing of some sort (I wish I had remembered to ask).  The salad was delicious.  The sardines were perfectly crisp and with a light ocean flavor that was not fishy at all.  The bibb lettuce was delicate enough to let all the other flavors shine and the fried capers made this dish.  That little bit of crunchy, briny flavor was the perfect garnish.  Like I said, it's all in the details.

On to the main course.  My friend had the rockfish over creamy polenta and swiss chard with a lobster butter.  The fish was expertly seared with a beautiful brown crust on the outside and a supremely moist interior.  The bitterness of the chard paired well with the meaty rockfish and creamy polenta.  I opted to go with the pan friend veal sweetbreads served on a bed of parsnip, bacon, roasted cipollini onions, wilted greens, and a whole grain mustard sauce.  This dish was heaven.  I would eat this every day if I could.  The sweetbreads were so crisp but so buttery inside and the tangy mustard sauce along with the sweetness from the parsnips and cipollinis was just amazing.  This was probably one of the best dishes I've had and I was really glad I went with the sweetbreads.  Given Cathal Armstrong's reputation for amazing preparations of offal I figured the sweetbreads would be great but they were still just so sublime.

After that main course, it would be hard for any dessert to compare since I'm not much of a sweet tooth but we decided to at least try something.  So we went with the banana creme tart with cocoa nib ice cream and caramel.  It was a really nice, light dessert and a good end to the meal.  

All in all I'd say that Restaurant Eve more than deserves it's #6 ranking.  The details here are never overlooked and it means that the entire experience is one of great pleasure.  

So that concludes part one of what I'm sure will be many posts as I continue to try out the best the DC dining scene has to offer.