I picture virtuoso uberchef Christopher Clime of Ceiba sitting down with investors in a shady dark bar somewhere. He slowly shakes his head as designer after nervous designer unrolls fabulously graphics-rich website plans, delicate logo prints, exquisite bathroom sink catalogs, subtle business card designs, and their all important choices of individual hand-crafted bottled water cooler for each distinctive table.
With this kind of packaging, food wouldn
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20Dec
6 Responses
I gotta agree that the oysters are pretty damn good. I had the ones at DC Coast, chilled with “Vodka-Japanese pickled ginger ice.” Whatever that is. I’m normally a little squeamish about oysters, but these went down with no reservations. Also had the risotto, a little too rich for my taste, but decadent and comforting at the same time.
I’ve necer been to Cieba, and would like to try it, but I’ve been repeatedly dissapointed with DC Coast and the one time I went to Ten Penh I was rather underwhelmed. Expensive, trendy, and well marketed, yes, but those are really at the bottom of my list of criteria when picking restaurants.
a) Ten Penh is spelled incorrectly throughout. This wouldn’t be so bad if you hadn’t included the image of their logo, which shows the correct spelling.
b) Personally, I’ve only eaten at Ten Penh, but I’ve been favorably impressed with everything but the prices every time I’ve eaten there. Great ingredients, well prepared, and only a little bit too fancy/stylized.
c) I think if you’re talking about these three restaurants as a unit you might give more credit to Jeff Tunks, the chef who is also an owner/partner in all three, rather than to the chef who is responsible for two menus only because he recently moved from one restaurant to the other.
Eek about the spelling! Thanks Nate! Yeah, on second thought, serious credit has to be given to the owners- good food only goes so far. And for all I know, Clime doesn’t even like shady dark bars.
Restaurant Week Participants Announced
After weeks of teasing, the participants in the next restaurant week have finally been announced. And the list is good — though DCist noticed a few disappointments. We were hoping to dine at Corduroy, Firefly, or maybe even Belga Cafe, but none of tho…
I have long lamented the lack of casual dining locales in the District, and have come to realize that this city, is for the flashy and stuffy. So, Ten Penh, with is over stylized atmosphere/ingredients and its lack luster reviews, only made the more sense to me as to their complaints about Ten Penh’s astonishingly supposed over priced items. But, come to think of it, as one of the priviledged few who can afford some battle scratches here and there, I ask, do I really care? NO! God bless America, God bless my money, and God Bless Ten Penh for a wonderfully executed elitist dining experience.