[sara]

Oddly enough, I actually had a dream about the MiniBar last night. I was at a restaurant (not Atlantico apparently), and I was handed a plate with different colored glazes on it, and each glaze tasted like a dish I had at the Minibar. Especially memorable were the potato shot, the cotton candy foie gras, the guacamole, the ravioli...I could actually conjure the tastes in my dream. Unfortunately, the other guests at the table didn't like this plate presentation, and smeared the glazes together and put their plates aside!! (and I was yelling No Stop!) Anyways, my point is, I have NEVER had a dream about a meal after the fact, especially months later, and yet, the Minibar experience has stuck with me. I can't wait til they change the menu up and I'll go again.

[Al_Dente]

Does anyone know how long the wait is for available seats for 2 at the minibar. I want to do it again and a friend of mine, with much trepidation, is willing to go out on a limb and see if she likes it.

Is the next opening 3 months away or something?

[babka]

I've been wanting to do this for months, but all my adventurous friends are all poor, and the non-adventurous ones are...
um, dearly beloved.
but not people I want to sit next to for two hours while I'm trying to focus on exploding food.

any other eGulleters in the same situation and want to share an outing to the minibar with me??

[jparrott]

Is it just me, or does it sound like the minibar's menu hasn't changed very much in four months. Are they still serving tomatoes in February? I'd like to see a little more seasonal focus.

[morela]

Al_Dente, on Feb 5 2004, 09:20 AM, said:

Does anyone know how long the wait is for available seats for 2 at the minibar. I want to do it again and a friend of mine, with much trepidation, is willing to go out on a limb and see if she likes it.

Is the next opening 3 months away or something?

I tried to get resis with a weeks notice recently (I know better, but like to gamble)and they said I would have done better calling two weeks ahead...or three if it's for Saturday night.

This post has been edited by morela: 05 February 2004 - 03:27 PM

[bilrus]

jparrott, on Feb 5 2004, 12:02 PM, said:

Is it just me, or does it sound like the minibar's menu hasn't changed very much in four months. Are they still serving tomatoes in February? I'd like to see a little more seasonal focus.

THey say that it "evolves". THey said that if everything changed at once they would have chaos on their hands in trying to maintin consistent prparations with all the dishes.

There are a few changes. Instead of watermelon cubes in one flight they ised pears. There were only four tomato items I can remember *it is all a blur). One used a seed pocket from a Roma tomato. Another used small diced, again, probably from a roma. One of the injections used a cherry tomato (blanched and skinned). And the final one was the sorbet. I don't think any of these really required height-of-the-summer freshness to work.

Another new dish I had not seen anyone mention was Egg 147. An egg poached at 147 degrees for a half hour, craked in a small bowl with (if I remember correctly) black truffles and powdered sugar. Sounds wierd but it did work.

[bilrus]

Al_Dente, on Feb 5 2004, 11:20 AM, said:

Does anyone know how long the wait is for available seats for 2 at the minibar. I want to do it again and a friend of mine, with much trepidation, is willing to go out on a limb and see if she likes it.

Is the next opening 3 months away or something?

I made my reservation for tonight one a week ago and then yesterday was able to move it to last night. Don't know about for two though.

[hillvalley]

I am going next Friday and made reservations a month in advance. (That's the earliest they will accept them.) I've talked with others who were able to get a reservation for two during the week with just a few days notice, but I imagine on the weekends they book pretty quickly.

[slarochelle]

I'd like to try the mini-bar with my wife, but she's a vegetarian. With the menu as-is, she wouldn't enjoy it (although I would, eating all her non-veg items). Given the format, would they entertain the idea of creating an all vegetarian friendly meal? Would it help if both of us went the vegetarian meal route, instead of just one?

FWIW, cheese and eggs are ok, although no roe or caviar.

[WoodleyGrrl]

I was able to get reservations about 3 days before during the week about 2 months ago.

[bilrus]

slarochelle, on Feb 5 2004, 01:16 PM, said:

I'd like to try the mini-bar with my wife, but she's a vegetarian. With the menu as-is, she wouldn't enjoy it (although I would, eating all her non-veg items). Given the format, would they entertain the idea of creating an all vegetarian friendly meal? Would it help if both of us went the vegetarian meal route, instead of just one?

FWIW, cheese and eggs are ok, although no roe or caviar.

I doubt that they would be able to do that. There is so much coordination, with everyone at the bar being served the same things at the same time. The mini-bartender was telling me that that is the reason they phase new dishes in so slowly.

[babka]

yippee!!

Two of us are headed to the Minibar on Tuesday evening, 8 pm. They still have room for that seating, so if anyone else has given up on their beloved impoverished/vegetarian/greasyspoon dining friends, you're welcome to join us.

[Joe H]

Preparing special vegetarian only menus is more of a rarity than I think most people realize. Many restaurants accommodate this. But I strongly believe that the menu they are served is simply not on the level of their non vegetarian companion. In truth, how can it be? Preparing a menu for 15 or 20 or 30 or 100 is one thing. Preparing a menu for one is another matter.

My guess is that a restaurant such as Heritage of India would have a more complete and successful menu for a vegetarian than almost any restaurant in D. C.

[babka]

this is sorta off-topic from the minibar, but I'd respectfully disagree. In a very good restaurant, I've often called ahead to ask if its possible to get a good vegetarian dish. If it's not crazy busy (and that's a key caveat), the chef usually accomodates it by pulling together something quite wonderful, not on the menu, using whatever's fresh & cool in the kitchen--and, to be honest, we've frequently been happier with that than with the main-dish meat dishes that others ordered. key is to call ahead and ask if the chef can do it and to make sure the restaurant isn't slammed when you go.

that said, one of the reasons I've put the minibar off for as long as I have is that my usual dining companion is a strict vegetarian, and I just didn't see him being happy there at all.

[Joe H]

A good vegetarian dish or two is one thing but variety or a strong prix fixe featuring vegetarian is a whole different matter regardless of whether one calls ahead or not.

[vengroff]

Note that Cafe Atlantico puts on a stunning prix fixe vegetarian Latino Dim Sum brunch. I have no idea what their policy is at the minibar, but the brunch is one of the best vegetarian meals I have had anywhere.

[chapeaulong]

went to minibar tonight: Very cool.

High points; Cauliflower in textures, clam chowder, conch fritter, foie in cotton candy, sea urchin in pomegranite, guacamole.

Low points: Lots of trout roe, love it, but only once.

For 65 bucks it's a great tasting menu, very unique.

[bilrus]

chapeaulong, on Feb 10 2004, 10:24 PM, said:

went to minibar tonight: Very cool.

High points; Cauliflower in textures, clam chowder, conch fritter, foie in cotton candy, sea urchin in pomegranite, guacamole.

Low points: Lots of trout roe, love it, but only once.

For 65 bucks it's a great tasting menu, very unique.

Its interesting how one person's favrite could be another person's least favorite. The Sea Urchin was definitely on my list of lows.

And I agree about the Trout Roe. It is such a distincitive and strong taste that you can't remember much about those dishes except that they had trout roe in them.

[hillvalley]

My mouth is watering.....

I'm at work so I can't link it but check out today's food section. There is a little piece about mini bar and the cotton candy foie gras.

Chap, how many foie gras dishes did you have?

[chapeaulong]

Foie-chocolate truffle with tamarind, Hot and cold foie soup, and the cotton candy.
All very good.

[hillvalley]

I finished mini-bar less than an hour ago. It was one of my top 5 eating experiences, and I don't need to do it again for another year or so. I am also a bit tipsy, well a lot tipsy, so bare with me.

Throughout the whole meal I kept thinking how great it would be to be dining with other Egulleteers. It would be an amazing night.

First, my hats of to Josh, our chef. (The chef who is pictured above is Ed. He got stuck with a poor schmuck and his unappreciative wife. A manager had to come and explain that it was okay to eat with your fingers. My group was licking our fingers at the time. They left "bites" unfinished.) Interacting with him was a major part of the experience. I impressed the hell out of him when he presented Eggs 147 (oh my god that was good) and asked if we knew what the 147 stood for. "That's the temperature you cooked the eggs to" I replied as if he had asked what 2+2 is. (5, right?) Little did he know I had egullet on my side.

I agree that the Foie Gras truffle, Conch fritter and cauliflower in textures were the highlights. The cauliflower is presented as three layers in a large shot glass. The first layer was steamed cauliflower that is pureed to a thick soup consistency. Next is basically a truffle jello. I'm sure if I was sober I could think of the right word, but oh well. It is topped with "cauliflower couscous". California couscous is bullshit for cauliflower flowerets shaved with a vegetable peeler. Damned tasty bullshit though.

The other stand out was Deconstructed white wine. This time it was wine jello topped with tiny flavorings" grated lemon zest, orange zest, pear?, fig, pomegranate juice, Parmesan cheese?, and the piece de resistance, freshly scraped vanilla beans. You eat a spoonful of the jello with one of the flavorings, all of which are often found in white wine. The final bite of vanilla beans is one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted. Tartness of wine balanced with the sweet of pure vanilla. Perfect.

No one has mentioned the plate. I am kicking myself for not having a decent picture. It is a big metal coil, that boings, with a plastic white modern plate. I don't get why the plate was plastic? It cheapened the meal, especially since they only needed a limited number of settings. The small plates each course was served on were fine, but could be better. I felt there was too much white throughout the meal. A definite absence of color.

I don't get the chocolate corn nuts. Frankly, there was too much corn. Nuts, chips, popped, baby, stalk. Enough already. And the trout row. Now don't get me wrong. I love caviar. All caviar. I buy salmon roe and eat the entire container in one sitting. But it got boring. Oh look, more trout caviar. Whoop-de-doo. Not.

I also am not going to shave for a long time. Thank heavens it is winter. All that f'***ing foam. It was cool once. Fun two or three times. Overdone after that. I don't want to see anything foamy for a while.

I hadn't read the whole thread in a while so it was interesting remembering what I had read as I was served it. Many of the platings have changed since Vengroff took his photos in October. The Cesar salad, guacamole, mango soup, and corn nuts were all presented differently. The nuts now come with passion fruit marshmallow kisses (oh my god that was good too) and a tiny cube of raspberry jello (like those jelly fruit candies you eat at Passover) with some kind of liquid in it.

Other changes: No potato/vanilla foam which I was looking forward to. The popcorn is now topped with cumin, which is fantastic. Mango soup looks different and had a lot of mint. The pop rocks were the same brand that I buy for my students at CVS. The Listerine pop is now a Halls pop. Gross.

For those of you who are still reading, here is info I got out of Josh:
*Jose is looking to expand to 12 seats with the chefs in the middle.
*Jose is opening two new restaurants in Virginia: a Jaleo, I think in Crystal City and a high end Mexican restaurant.
*I am pretty sure they are going through menu shifts right now. There was a third chef, I think the name was Ruben on his jacket, who kept butting in and changing things. There was a beet and scallop dish he changed the plating of a few times before it was served. They were also trying out different flavor combinations toward the end of the meal. I kept hoping the would try it out with us, but they didn't.
*Last, but certainly not least, Jose wants to install cameras so you can watch the chefs over the web!!!!!!!!. Can you imagine???????


All in all, well worth every penny, calory and moment of foam. We were celebrating a special occassion and the staff made sure we were as happy as could be. They even printed a special message at the top of the menu. I'm having it framed.

I apologize for the lack of pictures. I couldn't figure out how to turn off the flash and only one of the pictures turned out. If it's worth posting, I'll do so later. I got info on vegetarian meals, but it can wait until I sober up in a day or two.

Edited because I accidental sent it before I was done. That's what happens after a mojito and three glasses of wine

This post has been edited by hillvalley: 13 February 2004 - 11:05 PM

[bilrus]

hillvalley, on Feb 14 2004, 12:40 AM, said:

I hadn't read the whole thread in a while so it was interesting remembering what I had read as I was served it. Many of the platings have changed since Vengroff took his photos in October. The Cesar salad, guacamole, mango soup, and corn nuts were all presented differently. The nuts now come with passion fruit marshmallow kisses (oh my god that was good too) and a tiny cube of raspberry jello (like those jelly fruit candies you eat at Passover) with some kind of liquid in it.

Other changes: No potato/vanilla foam which I was looking forward to. The popcorn is now topped with cumin, which is fantastic. Mango soup looks different and had a lot of mint. The pop rocks were the same brand that I buy for my students at CVS. The Listerine pop is now a Halls pop. Gross.

Sounds like a lot of those have changes in the last two weeks.

[hillvalley]

bilrus, on Feb 15 2004, 10:49 PM, said:

Sounds like a lot of those have changes in the last two weeks.

How so?


They will work with you to make a vegetarian meal. Give them a call. Depends on what kind of vegetarian you are. Sounds like they have done it before. They also work with dietary restrictions of other kinds.

Sorry about the shots. My hats off to vengroff for his amazing pics above. Here is the only half way decent shot of the cotton candy foie gras.

[bilrus]

hillvalley, on Feb 18 2004, 12:05 AM, said:

bilrus, on Feb 15 2004, 10:49 PM, said:

Sounds like a lot of those have changes in the last two weeks.

How so?

I didn't have either a Listerine or a Halls drop. Just had the chocolate corn nuts by themselves. The popcorn was the standard chicken curry.

No major changes, but interesting that it looks like they are making some subtle changes to the menu.

For those who haven't been, behind the bar is a small video screen that shows the menu, but as it was when they first opened. There were dishes on there that I was looking forward to that never came. Oh well, maybe next time.

[Ellen Shapiro]

A few additional Minibar photos, to add to the already excellent album that has been assembled here by Darren Vengroff & Co.


Cone with trout roe & cheese


Jicama ravioli with guacamole (right) and with tuna seviche (left)


Deconstructed white wine

This is a forthcoming dish that Jose let us try. It's a "light bulb of flavor" made of thinner-than-paper sugar candy.


The light bulb of flavor


The light bulb is illuminated by a flashing blue LED


You are asked to place it directly in your mouth


Guacamole and tomato sorbet


The airy emulsion that tops the sea urchin


The sea urchin presentation


Jose, getting animated about the cuisine






"Wild pink" scallops


Sardines in a crust


Watermelon "air"


Presentation of the checks in a fortune cookie and an egg



If there is interest in seeing a photo of a particular dish, I think I have about 30 of them cataloged. I've posted just some selections here so as not to bury the thread in a mountain of jpegs.

There should be some comments from Fat Guy later this weekend -- we have a long drive today and I've used the good computer all morning. For me, though, Jose's Minibar was one of the most amazing and enjoyable culinary experiences in which I've ever had the pleasure to participate.

[hillvalley]

Beautiful pics. Are these recent? There are a number of dishes that I didn't have a week ago. Then again I'm not FG and Jose wasn't there.

What was inside the lightbulb?

[Ellen Shapiro]

There's nothing inside the lightbulb.

To respond to your other comment, Hillvalley, the pics are from the Feb 20, 2004. We ate the same food that was on the printed menu, which is what was served to the other four people at the minibar, which was prepared by the same cooks. On top of that, we had one off-menu dish which will be on the menu soon: the light bulb. Jose and Fat Guy, who had never met before, engaged in heated conversation for quite some time, but the only thing Jose himself "cooked" was the light bulb. Nor was there any special advance preparation done: we had no plans to visit the minibar (we had already eaten dinner!), we hadn't been able to get reservations when we tried in advance, and we only made our reservation 20 minutes before the event because a party of 2 had cancelled at the last minute. We didn't even have to kill them, which was the original plan.

[donk79]

Ellen, Those pictures are incredible. Is there someplace offsite where we could see the rest of them?

[Ellen Shapiro]

Donk, you don't want to see them all! The conditions were less than ideal, photographing and eating something like 30 dishes in something like 2 hours -- and for the first part of that time there were 4 other people at the minibar so I had to avoid flash and couldn't move around much. But I will try to process several more photos. The problem is that we're on the road for the next couple of weeks using mostly dialup connections. So it may take a little time.

[Fat Guy]

Last year when I visited Café Atlantico, Zaytinya, and Jaleo (all in a 24-hour period) I realized that Jose Andres is one of the most significant chefs in America today. Last week when I visited the Minibar I had to alter my assessment of Jose Andres: he is one of the most significant chefs in the world, ever. I have never, in the space of just a couple of hours, been exposed to so many flavor possibilities and such a diverse array of culinary stimuli. It was one of my most memorable meals.

It's not difficult to understand why Andres hasn't gained the recognition he so heartily deserves: he practices in Washington, DC, a town the gastro-elites have designated as firmly second-tier; he doesn't have a fancy restaurant to his name; and his food is "weird." More importantly, the community of critics is ill-prepared to deal with Andres: his cuisine doesn't fit into neat categories; he is too handily (and incorrectly) dismissed, marginalized, or bracketed as entirely derivative of Adria; and the plodding structural needs of today's restaurant reviews -- a thumbs-up/thumbs-down dish-by-dish approach to analysis, certain expectations of luxuriousness and comfort at different price points and levels of culinary sophistication, and easy comparisons to commonly understood flavors and preparations -- are not well served by Andres's approach. What I've seen written about Andres in the mainstream food press has been reminiscent of someone totally dedicated to Renaissance portraiture attempting to use those tools to evaluate Picasso.

Which is not to say Andres hasn't done well in the media. He has. He's smart. He knows how to play the game. But what you see in the glossy food magazines is a dumbed-down version of Andres -- the one that will be palatable to gastronomic trainspotters and others who want a neat package they can simply file away. Such coverage is not real recognition.

A new set of critical tools will be required to explain Andres, and it's not likely that we will ever be able to keep up with him. But the food media are at least somewhat fortunate in being behind the times: we can look to other art forms for a better understanding of how to get a handle on modernism and post-modernism in cuisine. Andres represents not manipulation of form for its own sake, but rather for the sake of elevating substance over form.

To call a meal at Minibar an "experience" trivializes it. But the term is still useful, because the mandatory first step in enjoying Minibar is to embrace it existentially rather than with the preconceived notions of a restaurant customer or reviewer. No serious observer questions Andres's skill or integrity as a chef. He has earned our trust; we can take this leap of faith with him. If you're not willing to let yourself go, if you're not willing to fall backwards into the arms of a different kind of adventure, Minibar will be wasted.

Like a series of still photographs strung together into a film, Andres's individual dishes are a collage of light and motion, flavor and texture, temperature and aroma. Yet Minibar is utterly unpretentious. Though the conceptual underpinnings are substantial, the meal is ultimately about fun: fun with flavor, of course, but also the pleasure of interaction with the talented group of cooks and servers -- not to mention the other customers -- with whom you share your space. It's a sensuous, tactile, interlocking, all-encompassing dynamic: the cooks hand you food and you eat much of it with your fingers while they talk you through exactly how best to savor each dish; at the same time, the servers move behind you, darting in and out of your peripheral vision as their arms weave between customers' shoulders to refill a glass of cava or remove a used plate; and you might also be discussing, praising, or arguing about the food -- this is food that demands conversation -- with your spouse, or the spouse of the next person over, or the servers, or the cooks, or yourself.

It seems inevitable that Andres will at some point set up a beautiful, luxurious, boutique restaurant somewhere and create an upscale version Minibar. And I'm sure it will be wonderful, along the lines of the more avant garde of the Michelin three-star restaurants of Europe. But for now I enjoy Minibar just as it is: the incongruousness of sitting at a counter in the middle of the bustling multi-tiered Café Atlantico, the ceaseless activity, and the effortless casualness of it all. And those of you who eat at Minibar this year will be able to say you were there at the beginning, because I assure you Andres is destined for greatness.