The California cuisine and intimate but unpretentious atmosphere drew my group to Mendocino Grille to kick off Restaurant Week on Monday. Though Restaurant Week isn’t always the best time for a place to show off its charms (particularly in the service arena), we still had a fine enough experience for us to gravitate towards the restaurant again…that is, when we all get raises.
Mendocino’s menu is already on the small side, so when they limit the Restaurant Week options by tacking on $5 and $7 upcharges to the majority of the appetizers and
entrees (even on some desserts), the selections which allow you to stay in the $30 range become pretty limited. Still, all six of us managed to enjoy our meals while avoiding the upcharges (yeah, we’re those customers the management loves this week; at least we ordered alcohol), though not all were wowed with every selection.
I started with the duck confit appetizer. I’m not a huge fan of sweet dishes, so I was pleased that Mendocino’s offering stayed squarely in the “savory” category; not necessarily a guarantee when you’re having duck. This one sat on a bed of meaty white beans, and the skin was nice and crispy. I was pleased with my entree, thinly-sliced hanger steak on a bed of pureed potatoes and broccoli rabe, accented with a peppercorn sauce. The dish was slightly marred by the omnipresent whole peppercorns, but delicious overall. The biggest surprise for me was dessert – there are few around that suit my tastes, but the goat cheese cheesecake with citrus sorbet had a just-right combination of tartness and creaminess for me. Overall, the portions are measured, if not generous.
Friends raved about the beet salad and striped bass, but were underwhelmed by mushroom consumme and house cavatelli (which should be noted was the only vegetarian choice of entree). No dessert, whether it be banana ice cream or chocolate pot de creme, was consumed without praise.
Mendocino’s charms that might go unnoticed during a Restaurant Week excursion include an extensive wine list with many by-the-glass options (I had no qualms with the tart “J” Pinot Gris I chose) and a wonderful cheese selection; it has much in common with its trendy sister restaurant Sonoma on the Hill. Service wasn’t impeccable – it was rather slow and two parties’ credit cards were wrongly charged – but was polite and gracious throughout the meal. While my budget will likely put me back at Sonoma than have me returning to Mendocino, the food convinced me that the restaurants’ purveyors deserve my patronage in either context.
Mendocino Grille
2917 M Street
Washington, DC
20007
202-333-2912

We at DCFUD try to get together every month or two for a small happy hour, discuss new restaurants, recipes, chefs on the move, all the good gossip in town. Last month, we ate at Nirvana, the fine vegetarian Indian restaurant in Northwest, and while the food was delicious and the service impeccable, the lack of meat in the meals dictated that our group Restaurant Week outing had to rectify that. The task of organizing a RW dinner fell into my hands, and as our dear friend and colleague MAW would be heading back to grad school down South on Tuesday, we had to do something Monday night. We passed around a list of participating restaurants, and selected which ones we’d like to try. Our short list included Viridian, Taberna Del Alabardero, The Prime Rib and Bobby Van’s Steakhouse. It’s hard to find fault with any of those places, and my experience at Bobby Van’s last summer certainly made me eager to go back. We selected Bobby Van’s for the meal as they were able to accommodate our group, and to our pack of carnivores, there’s just something about a good steak.
As was the case previously, the food was straightforward, seasoned and cooked to perfection. Our server Paul was conversational, friendly and, in a skill so many servers seem to lack, understood the light-hearted mood of our group. And, just like last year, Chef Eric was making the rounds, though this time he recommended that we try a serving of scallops with seaweed, radishes, mashed potatoes and a light sauce. No ridiculously exotic ingredients, but presented and prepared wonderfully. While everybody else enjoyed the RW offerings, I chose their standard menu’s Porterhouse for Two…by myself. My ability to overeat is almost legendary – ask DCFUD scribe Jason about my one-man attack on Kam Fong last New Year’s Day – and the chance to order what Washingtonian Magazine called the finest porterhouse in the city was all I needed to go from gourmet to gourmand. And what an absolutely wonderful cut! Each bite was glorious; the New York Strip side flavorful and the Filet Mignon side tender, the whole seared with the right amount of crust. Remember John Candy’s steak-eating scene in The Great Outdoors, when those last bites forced down with anger and spite? Not me – I’ll admit the presence of a small tear in my eye when the bone was bussed away. We didn’t mean to be the last group in the restaurant, and we apologize to any of Bobby Van’s staff who may have missed a bus or Metro.
For those looking for last-minute reservations, Viridian is packed tighter than a Tokyo subway train, and considering their RW special is pretty much everything on their menu, they get bonus points for really getting into the spirit of the event. The Prime Rib has long remained a mystery to us at DCFUD – our startling lack of trust funds, expense accounts or lottery winnings has rendered this fine restaurant untouchable to our meager budgets – and a mystery it shall remain for us as they are only participating in RW for lunch. Bobby Van’s is busy during the prime dining hours, but their bar side should accommodate smaller parties and offers the RW menu. Taberna Del Alabardero is likewise busy during the 7pm to 9pm stretch, but the menu looks like it’ll be worth the wait. I’ll let you know after Friday night!
Let us know where you’re going and what you’ve enjoyed in the comments. We’re always appreciative of restaurants that treat RW as a chance to shine rather than a tiresome gimmick to fill some seats.

As astute reader Audrey points out, despite the fact that they still haven’t renewed the domain name, the Washington DC Convention & Tourism Corporation & Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington have posted the full list of restaurant week participants at http://www.washington.org/restaurantwk/.
Restaurant week runs from January 8 through January 14, 2007. Lunches are $20.07 and dinners are $30.07. Keep in mind that not everything on a restaurant’s menu is available for the restaurant week price and be sure to ask your wait staff to show you what is. Every year we hear stories of people who end up with very expensive tabs that they thought were included in the tip.
And remember to be nice to your wait staff. For some of these places, the restaurant week tabs are significantly lower than the normal price, and wait staff may see their tips decreases proportionally.
And finally, get reservations early. Like yesterday. You can book by phone with the individual restaurants or through OpenTable.com.
There are 170 restaurants are participating this year. Some options to consider:

• 1789 Restaurant
• Bobby Van’s Steakhouse
• Brasserie Les Halles
• Charlie Palmer Steak
• Inde Bleu
• Indigo Landing
• Kinkead’s
• Smith & Wollensky
• Taberna del Alabardero
• The Prime Rib
• Vidalia
• Viridian
• Zengo

Lately, I have had a huge decision to make around lunchtime. I work right between two good burrito stands, and that means that a decision has to be made when I’m in the mood for Mexican takeout stand goodness. Both stands are vegetarian and feature both black and pinto beans.
One option is Carlos Guardado’s stand on 17th and K Street, on the Farragut North side of K Street. His burritos have a fresh (quality ingredient) taste to them. To me…they are the perfect comfort food. He has three wraps to choose from (spinach, plain, and tomato), and maybe 8 small bottles of hot sauce. These sauces are not of the fruity hot sauce variety. He did have Uncle Brutha’s red and green sauces last week…and I do especially like Uncle Brutha’s green. Carlos also sells coffee.
The other option is John Ryder’s stand, Pedro and Vinny’s, at 15th and k (on the other side of K), which is all about variety. He has 8 wraps or so (including onion, whole wheat, garlic, and spinach), and 30 or so hot sauces, many of which are fruity (including Georgia Peach, raspberry habanero, pineapple, grapefruit, Jamaican mango). You can even order hot sauce by number and specify whether you want it fruity. Ordering a #7 fruity once yielded his homemade mango hot sauce, which is kept in a vodka bottle. He also has chips and hot sauces at the front of the stand…where you can sample them. You can order three different sizes here, unlike at Carlos’ stand.

You make your own change at Pedro and Vinny’s, and bag your own burrito. There is usually a line at this stand, and while on line, John will ask you what kind of tortilla you want, and whether you want cheese.
You need to check his website when the weather is not good…to ensure that the stand is open. In the winter, John will update his site Fridays, letting you know if he will be in be in town the following week.

I like both stands and tend to order the same things at both…small burrito, mixed beans, spinach wraps, and guacamole. But, it is nice that Pedro and Vinny’s has tomato salsa and a verger variety of hot sauces. Plus…I like the fruity hot sauces with their burritos, and the crunch of the onions. So…when I want quality comfort food…I go to Carlos, and when I want variety…I go to Pedro and Vinny’s. 🙂 I usually spend $5 or $6 at either stand.

Keep in mind that both stands may be closed in bad weather, especially in the winter. Although, the weather has been nice lately.
Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays to all!

A bad dinner affects humans differently than a bad movie or a bad day at work. We feel the same outrage that might be inspired by a factory poisoning the air, or the realization that last night’s hookup isn’t going to call: we took something in, into our very bodies, and trusted it and made it part of ourselves. There’s a deep feeling of betrayal and hurt to go along with the disappointment; we needed the comfort and sustenance of a good meal and now we won’t have another chance until tomorrow. Perhaps eating is just too basic to the human condition to risk messing up.
Are you listening to me, you people at Montsouris? I wrote a note to all my writers yesterday about how we should try to approach every restaurant positively. You’re making me look bad!
Taking over for Johnny’s Half Shell in Dupont, Montsouris comes to us from the owners of the very pleasant Montmartre over in Capitol Hill. With two solid restaurants as forbears, how is it things could have gone so wrong? While the few tables at the front of the restaurant look rather nice, most of the clientele is crammed into a bizarre row of cheap, diner-style seats facing the kitchen. It’s knee-to-knee and elbow-to-wine glass as diners struggle not to eavesdrop on each other, and there’s the collective feeling of confused faux pas. What could be wrong with my hair today? Perhaps I should have worn my pearls? Why oh why have we alone been consigned to this nasty and impersonal galley, when such lovely tables are visible off in the distance?
Now, in the eighties it was considered a mark of distinction have your French server hate you. Their prime purpose was to aggressively lounge near the kitchen, arms crossed and eyes glaring, cursing under their very French breath. But today that form of bizarre sadism lives on only in the very low-confidence, or the very out-of-business. I’m not sure which category Montsouris falls into yet, but I can say this: each sneer, each forgotten wine order, each ignored attempt to flag down fork, water glass, or menu, are small bruises to my soul. It wasn’t that big to begin with, and now it’s black and blue. Thank you very much.
And now I could spend a page writing about the food, but you know it’s going to be bad. Should I even bother? Assume that a good meal would have vindicated everything else, and draw your conclusions from there. The appetizers were by turns boring or inedible, the steaks grainy and cold.
I emerged from Montsouris a beaten woman; practically in tears, and with that odd combination of hunger, nausea, and leaden depression that only the a truly bad dining experience can provide. And so it was that, a few minutes later and with my stomach still churning over the catastrophe across the street, I crept into the bar at Urbana and ordered two appetizers, a glass of wine and a desert. They were lovely.
Montsouris
2002 P St. NW,
Washington, DC
20036
202-833-4180

The fine folks at Washington DC’s Convention and Tourism Corporation are usually a good place to go for information about the upcoming Restaurant Week. On their site, they’re linking to www.restaurantweekdc.com – which, the fine folks at Network Solutions tells us is either going to be renewed, or deleted, but gives us no further info on RW07.
Remember kids, always check your links, and don’t forget to renew your domains! Not every bit of mail from a domain registrar is spam, you know?
It just seems like it.