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😍 5/5 - Another Amazing Culinary Journey With Great Wines
By 👻 @The_Loup_Garou, 02/22/2020 3:00 am
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In March, we returned to dine at Minibar by José Andrés in Washington DC. This was our second visit, and it was as good, and as exciting, as our first, over a year before.
Some things had changed a bit, and I think I liked the scheme a bit more, on this visit. Before, there were two “seatings,” at the same time, in the dining area, but staggered by about half of the meal. The seating is around a bar, in the kitchen, and previously, the earlier group was about half-way through their dining experience, when we were seated. On this visit, the entire bar seating area was our “group,” of about 12 diners.
Before, we started off in the adjacent BarMini, then proceeded to a “living room” area, to wait for the curtain to be drawn back, for us to enter. When finished with the Chef’s Counter part of the experience, we returned to BarMini, to complete the meal. On this visit, we were shown to the living room area, but did finish in BarMini, after the main meal at the Counter.
I liked the new arrangement, as the chefs were focused on just one group of diners, and there were not presentations going on, for the previous group. It was a lot easier to concentrate, when the presentation was just for one group of diners - and concentration is required, as so very much is happening. Each dish is being prepared, or at least finished, right in front of the diners, and a lot of detail is going into that work. It’s almost like a science experiment, with each dish - lots of detail, and lots of science.
At MiniBar, there is one tasting menu, but my wife’s dietary restrictions (no bi-valves, so no Oysters, Clams, Mussels or Scallops) were easily handled, and confirmed by our host, while sipping Cava in the living room area, prior to entering the kitchen.
There are also three wine pairing options: Sommelier’s Pairing (we did this one on the previous visit), Spanish Pairing (we also did this one previously) and Chef’s Pairing, which is the most expensive option, and mostly poured via Coravin. We did the Spanish and the Chef’s Pairing this visit, and were greatly rewarded - while not inexpensive, by any note, we found the Chef’s Pairing to be a good value, and both wine offerings great, with plenty of time spent by the Sommelier, with each pour.
The menu, though it can change nightly, was interesting, to say the least:
Olives (not really olives, but they looked like olives)
Matcha and Gin Mare
Coca de Cebolla
Butterfly (again, not really butterflies, but they did look like butterflies)
Beet Pizzelle w/ Osetra Caviar
Cod Milt Tempura
Crab Banh Mi
Unagi Salmorejo
Parmesan Danish
Snail Caviar
Chicken Shawarma
Sunchoke and Hay Cheese
Gigante Bean (not a bean, but it looked like one)
Pancetta Ibérico and Osetra Caviar
Squab Chawanmushi
Squab and Huckleberry
Squab Leg and Foie Gras Miso
Huckleberry and Hibiscus
Egg Yolk Custard
Fried Doughnut*
Café con Leche*
Coconut Wheel*
Key Lime Bon Bon*
Honey Comb*
Saffron Apple*
Yogurt Leaf*
Passion fruit Caterpillar (OK, not really a caterpillar, but it did look like one)*
Red Rocks (again, not really rocks, but looks can be deceiving)*
Golden Egg*
One thing, which we had learned, having dined at é by José Andrés, and MiniBar before, is to always ask what is edible, and what is not - as I said, looks can be deceiving - a stone might, or might not be edible. Same for a branch, a twig, a butterfly, a caterpillar, and so on. Even olives are not olives, but edible, and very, very tasty. Also, with the banter, and demonstrations, plus the pacing, note taking is impossible - one would miss so much of the discussions and the demonstrations - just sit, relax and enjoy both the culinary aspects, and the presentations of each dish. Also, the bowl/container for each dish was unique, and my wife commented that she would love the task of heading to the restaurant supply store (or hardware store) to pick out all of those.
* All served in BarMini
Some of the wines from the two different pairings:
Gramona La Cuvée Grand Reserva Brut ‘13
Pazo Señorans Albariño de Añada ‘09
Alphonse Mellot Génération XIX (Dix-Neuf) Sancerre ‘13
Domaine William Fevre 1er Cru Vaillons Chablis ‘07
Caves Sao Joao Quinta do Poço do Lobo Arinto Colheita de ‘95
Domaine Blain-Gagnard 1er Cru morgeot Chassagne-Montrachet ‘13
Château Musar Gaston Hochar Bekaa Valley ‘91
La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 ‘09
Bodegas y Viñedos Vega Sicilia Tinto Valbuena 5º Ribera del Duero ‘07
Amabuki Junsui Junmai Daiginjo Sake
Clos du Marquis Saint-Julien ‘00
Château Latour 1er Cru Pauillac ‘90
Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Tokaji ‘13
Royal Tokaji 6 Puttonyos Tokaji ‘13
d’Oliveira Malvasia Madeira ‘94
Blandy’s Terrante Madeira ‘76
Most of the wines were served in Zalto stems, with a few Riedel stems thrown into the mix. As for the wine service, it was completely flawless.
The food service was mostly done by the chefs across the counter, and there were no issues there. They interacted with all of the guests, and never skipped a beat.
The food portions are quite small, but there were 28 of them. Maybe it is because we do so very many multi-course Chef’s Tasting Menus, but we did not leave hungry. Now, if I had one criticism, it would be that I would have loved to have had maybe two more savory courses, and two fewer of the sweet courses, or maybe a cheese course, prior to the sweets?
The venue is lovely, and though one is seated at the counter (there is a table for 4, against the back wall), elegant. The décor is a tad eclectic, and especially so in the BarMini side, with some very bright patterns. The lighting is very good, with pin-spots to illuminate the dishes, as they must be observed in good lighting.
Though open to the kitchen, and though a smallish space, the noise level was moderate, and the chef’s descriptions of the dishes and the “science” behind them, could easily be heard.
Just another excellent meal at MiniBar, and though there were some changes from our first visit, we enjoyed every aspect - especially the “dinner with a show.”
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