Stars Bistro...No Stars

With Rusty & JP, often referenced in this blog, we dined, if that's the right word, at Stars Bistro on P Street. The main advantage of Stars is that it is a short walk from Rusty & JP's place. That may indeed, based on our visit, be its only advantage.

In any case we had much to catch up on with the boys and were delighted to see them...potential job changes all around the table, them moving, us staying put, and so forth so the food was somewhat incidental. Fortunately.

Let me just say for starters that it is located in the Residence Inn. Need I say more?

We started with a mix of Mediterranean style appetizers...I had baba ghanoush, having been warned away from the tabouli ("too much parsley") by the charming and friendly, but somewhat clueless waiter. The boys had hummus, Michael had a salad. Well, the apps were edible, although not as good as what you get in plastic tubs from Whole Foods. The pita bread that came with it was stale. Not a good sign.

For dinner we all had hamburgers except for JP who ate some sort of other salad. I followed the time-tested "hamburger rule" which says that if you think the food is going to be bad, order a hamburger, they can't screw it up that much. Well, it worked, in that they didn't screw it up much, but it was no more than edible. With it the boys and I had a $30 bottle of Australian Shiraz (some sort of critter wine) marked down to $15, which price we found hard to resist. JP's comment after the first taste: "well, we didn't overpay". Michael had a couple of glasses of some nondescript white.

The bill came to about $22 a person, which these days is kind of shockingly cheap, but then again it wasn't very good. Other than proximity, or desperation, I can't imagine a good reason to visit this place again.

Boston: O Ya

Having spent a very enjoyable day wandering around Boston, we convened with our foodie friends David & Ra'ed for a late (9 pm) dinner at O Ya, perhaps the most acclaimed new restaurant in Boston. We stopped off for a preprandial appetite sharpener at No. 9 Park, just a block from our hotel, where we enjoyed delicious cocktails and a few nuts with the gregarious and hospitable bartender. (He was extremely accommodating when Ra'ed's glass of pinot gris proved to be corked..for the first time in my experience, the color of the wine was OK but there was a distinct odor and flavor of cork. It appears to have been a bad batch). Indeed, we were enjoying ourselves so much it was hard to tear ourselves away but we finally managed to.

It was a short, but not terribly scenic, walk through the deserted Boston financial district until we finally found O Ya at the edge of downtown. Ra'ed's iPhone served us well in step by step navigation.

Once inside, we were promptly seated at four corner stools at the bar. The restaurant is very small...only about 10 tables plus about another dozen seats or so at the bar. Properly positioned, we had a direct view of the chefs who, sushi-bar style, put together most of the menu.

Well, once again I had neglected to bring my reading glasses and my only real complaint was that the small type on the menu (necessary to cover the large number of possible options) and rather dim lighting made choosing difficult. Too difficult, frankly, so I opted for the omakase menu in which David (always a fan of tasting menus) was happy to join me. Michael and Ra'ed, being either more finicky or less sight-impaired, decided to pick their own courses.

What a meal we had! Easily the most memorable since we last ate at Alinea, and maybe before. The tasting menu was a LONG procession of courses, not quite as overwhelming as Alinea, and certainly not as "out there" in the tastes and techniques. Just delicious, wonderful food, probably 14 or 15 small tastes, each more delicious than the rest. I won't bother to try to single out any of them individually; in fact I really can't remember the specifics (although what I can only describe as a potato chip laced with truffle oil did wow all four of us). Just an extraordinary meal. With dinner we started with a bottle of Trimbach Pinot Gris ($46) which went so well with the wide variety of food that we stuck with it. Michael and Ra'ed, who were at the far end and perhaps not paying close attention, or maybe in a food stupor, were amazed that no matter how much they drank, the bottle never seemed to run out. (I kept reordering...we went through 3 bottles, not bad considering how little Ra'ed drinks. Of course we were there for close to 3 hours).

The cost of this extravaganza: $415 including tax and tip. Expensive, yes, but I would do it again any time we happen to be in Boston. It was one of the best high-end food experiences we have ever had, and if any $400 dinner can be said to be a bargain, this one was.

Boston: Sorellina

At long last I was dragging Michael to Boston, a new place for him and a return to old and happy haunts for me. While we were joining friends on Saturday night, we were on our own for Friday. Where to go? After much research and visits to local Boston blogs and boards, I settled on Sorellina near the Hancock building.

It turned out to be an excellent choice. The restaurant was not full when we arrived a little early for our 7:30 reservation, but soon all the seats were taken. It is a large room, well broken up, expensively decorated, and with an excellent lighting level. Too often places are either so bright as to ruin any sort of relaxing or romantic mood, or so dark that you're fumbling with a flashlight to see your food, never mind read the menu.

The meal did get off to a slightly rocky start. We ordered gimlets as an appetizer, celebrating, if that's the right word, Michael's abrupt disassociation with his employer of five years. The server -- extremely knowledgeable and professional -- asked us if we wanted fresh lime juice or Rose's in the gimlet. Nice of her to ask. Naturally we chose fresh. However, when the gimlets came they were exceptionally...tart. I didn't mind that much but Michael felt it was undrinkable (and for him, that's saying something!). Fortunately the server noticed our distress and quickly brought us new drinks, cheerfully and without hesitation, for which we were very grateful. Frankly, the new ones were not up to the level of Blacksalt, which is kind of our gold standard for gimlets, but we did manage to finish them (big surprise) and move on to a nice bottle of Mark Kreydenweiss Pinot Gris.

Dinner was terrific. Sorellina is certainly Italian themed in the best sense of simple and delicious cooking, not overly fussy. At our server's recommendation, I started with the grilled octopus while Michael had the "verdure" -- a salad of spinach, artichokes, and pancetta. The salad was excellent and the octopus, with a bed of squid ink couscous, sublime...Michael had 2 bites which given his inner ambivalence about octopus, really is saying something.

We then had half pasta portions...fettucine with wild mushrooms for me, red beet ravioli for him. Both were sublime. I was a little startled at my first taste of the ravioli, having misread the menu in the dark as "red beef ravioli". Gotta start carrying those reading glasses.

For main courses Michael had roasted chicken and I had the double pork chop. Both were good, but the chicken was better, the pork being just a bit too plain for my taste. And maybe just a tad overcooked...it was pink as requested, but not quite as juicy as I might have wished.

Nonetheless, it was a lovely dinner and a memorable evening. Not cheap..somewhat over $200 before tip...but certainly a very happy choice.

Dino: Great Wine List

With our friends Rusty and JP, late of our New Mexico adventure, we convened at Dino in Cleveland Park for a late Friday evening supper. Despite its proximity to Bardeo, one of our usual hangouts, we had never eaten at Dino, which has a reputation for an awesome wine list.

We got off to a slightly awkward start as there was no record of our OpenTable dinner reservation (which could have been my fault). However, the restaurant was not full and we were quickly and cheerfully shown to a table...we chose one in the quieter upstairs area.

JP and Rusty arrived rather damp from a tremendous thunderstorm that had caught them walking to Metro, and had to fortify themselves in the bar before facing the arduous set of steps up to our second floor table. Rusty had grabbed a glass of rose on the way up, most likely the Dal Maso Tai Rosso from the Veneto, which we all agreed (I helped myself to a taste) was pretty unexciting...not a great start. Meanwhile, JP, in need of more fortification, had tried a "spa" cocktail which mixed Hendricks gin, cucumber flavor, and lime juice among other things. It was tasty on first sip but we also agreed that the cucumber and lime were not such a good mix, the lime being a bit too acrid.

Things improved after that. Michael and I each ordered a rose tasting flight, which seemed expensive at $15 but it turned out to be three pretty hefty portions of wine. The only one I can remember is the first, a Littorai Pinot Noir Gris from Anderson Valley, which was off dry and delicious. The other two were also extremely tasty and increasingly hefty (in fact the third one seemed a lot more like a red than a rose to me)...so much so that when Rusty and JP had polished off their rather unfortunate first drink choices they joined us in the tasting sampler.

Since we were in no rush we ordered some appetizers for the table...a plate of burrata, a cured meat (salumi) plate, and an unusual black cabbage bruschetta which was, basically, upside down (the bread was on the top). All were tasty and quickly consumed. My impression was that the portions were not overly generous but when you have four hungry men picking at an appetizer, it's not going to last for long.

After the appetizers, we each had a half portion of pasta...Michael and I had boar tagliatelle and Rusty and JP had something else, all delicious (enough that I wished I had ordered a full portion) but not particularly memorable.

Service was very professional and attentive (and provided by an extremely attractive waiter, who caught the attention of more than one person at the table).

Having dessert waiting at the house, we finished our wine and departed, with a group of satisfied boys and plans to return soon.

Cafe St-Ex

I dropped by my friend Bill's house to visit with him, his mother (visiting from Boston) and his toddling daughter Eileen. After some pleasantries, we ventured around the corner to Cafe St-Ex, one of my favorite little places in DC.

We were seated promptly at an outside table, which proved to be a mixed blessing as it was early (6:30) and still quite warm. We all anxiously awaited the moment when the sun dropped behind a nearby apartment building.

The restaurant quickly filled up. We were there to catch up and keeping Eileen reasonably close to the table (she has recently become proficient at walking and is happily exercising this new power) took precedence over food and drink. Nonetheless, we had a very pleasant meal.

We started with a shared appetizer of "chicken confit sliders" which was perhaps the least successful dish I have ever had at this restaurant. There is probably a reason why I have never seen chicken confit anywhere else as I think it is just too insubstantial to stand up to whatever treatment it received. What we got was two small buns smeared with a chickeny paste which was more or less the exact consistency of tuna salad. Not bad, but not good, and distinctly odd.

Main courses were more successful. Bill and mother Jean had the burgers which were as good as always. I briefly pined for one but was very happy with my choice, a fried green tomato BLT which was both delicious and relatively light, given the heat, and accompanied by tasty sweet potato fries. (The regular fries that came with the burgers were also excellent).

With dinner, and before, I had a couple of Unibroue Maudite beers. I mourn the disappearance of Delirium Tremens from the draft beer menu here and hope the management will restore it (it is still on the bottled beer menu, at a staggering $24 per 750 ml bottle). However the Maudite was an excellent substitute, a bit darker than DT but with the same quality and overall taste. Bill had some sort of nondescript lager and Jean had a G&T, neither worthy of special note.

Cafe St Ex remains one of those great local places that makes me wish I still lived closer.

Santa Fe: Cafe Pasqual's

Back in Santa Fe with our friends Rusty and JP, we had been foiled (by the 40 minute wait) in our attempt to have breakfast at Pasqual's, ending up at the French Pastry Cafe for the second day in a row. That evening's dinner was planned for La Choza, so you can imagine our horror when we found that La Choza was not open on Sundays! (I suppose we should have checked, but it did not occur to us until we drove up). Tomasita's, our second choice, was similarly closed, so we decided to take a flyer on Pasqual's.

To our great good fortune, there was only about a 10 minute wait and we were ushered to a table overlooking the room. Then the feast began.

JP and I split appetizers of pupusas and tacos barbacoa, while Michael enjoyed grilled asparagus wrapped in Parmesan and Rusty had a simple romaine salad. For the main courses, both Rusty and Michael opted for the "sampler platter": chile relleno, chicken mole enchilada, and taco do carnitas, to which Rusty added the optional barbacoa skewer. JP went for the straight chicken mole enchiladas while I had the pork and green chile carnitas.

Without attempting to describe every dish, let me just say that all of them were fantastic. The mole was deep, rich, and spicy. The pupusas (a new experience for all of us) were fascinating. I don't think I even got a taste of the chile relleno, Michael gobbled it up before I could grab a taste. Everything had wonderful flavor and was simply amazing. With all of that we washed it down with beers to start and a very pleasant bottle of rose to follow...we were all impressed that asked to recommend a rose from the three on the interesting list, our friendly and professional waiter recommended the least expensive one.

Toward the end of the meal, Michael and I agreed that we had found our new favorite restaurant in Santa Fe...hardly an undiscovered gem, to be sure, but a wonderful and festive meal. It was not cheap (about $220 for the 4 of us with one round of drinks and a bottle of wine) but in terms of the quality of flavors and enjoyment of the experience, it was certainly the most memorable meal we have had.

More Santa Fe Dining

Rather than giving a full entry to each, in the interest of time I thought I would summarize some of our recent dining experiences in Santa Fe.

As always, the French Pastry Cafe was useful, friendly, and efficient. I had a cherry tart the first day that wasn't the best (a little dry and flaky). The cafe au lait was terrific. The chocolate croissants were the largest we have ever seen, and are good, not just big. The chorizo egg and cheese crepe is an excellent hangover treatment. We ended up here 3 of our 4 mornings.

Bobcat Bite. The burger is all it's cracked up to be, one of the best anywhere. The wait was not too long and the staff is remarkably friendly. We had a nice view of hummingbirds out the back window. Not too much to say for the decor, but the burgers were great.

Coyote Cantina. We ate here the first night; it was pleasant, friendly, and welcoming. The menu was interesting but the food fell a little bit flat, we thought. Not bad, just not memorable. Lively crowd and decent service. The charge for chips and guacamole seemed a little much.

Tune-up Cafe. Great breakfast/brunch our last day. Huevos rancheros were good, but left me a little hungry. The breakfast burritos could not be improved on. Friendly, funky atmosphere.

Aqua Santa. We had a very nice meal here which somehow, for us, did not reach the heights of our original meal. The room was crowded and hot (it was a pleasant, not overly warm evening outside) and the meal took a long time. Service was excellent. The food was good but not nearly as memorable as our meal at Cafe Pasqual the following evening. Much more romantic and elegant setting, though.

Bumblebees. As good as ever. Some odd anomalies there...the interior of a fast food joint, but cloth napkins. Serve yourself chip bar is a treat, but much of the salsa seemed a bit pallid (nothing really spicy). Tacos were good...the shrimp still is the best of the sampler platter. Next time I will skip the others and go straight for the shrimp. The mango soda was a little over the top for our taste.

Sadly, the tamale bar at the Whole Foods is no more. The guacamole bar is a poor substitute. It's still the best Whole Foods I've ever been in, however. We put together a meal for Rusty and JP (they were arriving late) which was terrific, and bountiful, but expensive...those items from the buffet really add up at $9 a pound.