theparkerfamily.org

Tag: Eats

  • Wedding: Beacon Jumps into the Lead

    So, my parents are up in town to take advantage of the birthday present I gave my mom last November for her birthday: tickets to the Kennedy Center’s production of Copeland’s Rodeo.

    With them in town, we decided to have dinner at Local 16 (a current contender for the rehearsal dinner) which was kind of my pick for the one they would like the best. It has a great atmosphere, is a little more old-world and traditional, and it’s been open in some form or the other for nigh on a decade.

    Boy, what do I know?

    We arrived a couple of minutes before our (early) reservation to find the front doors locked. Peaked inside and people are sitting at the bar drinking, but no one at the host stand and no one seemed to be interested at me peering through the window.

    After about 15 minutes of waiting in the Starbucks next door for the restaurant to unlock its doors, we sat down and ordered some drinks and an appetizer. The drinks (mercifully) were strong and helped everyone get through the rest of the meal.

    I don’t even remember what was ordered, but whatever my mom wanted was out of stock. The waiter came back, explained the problem, and she picked something he recommended. About five minutes later, the waiter popped back out to say THAT was out of stock too.

    When the food finally DID arrive, the fish was small and flat, and the pork looked like it had been pumped with something. To make matters worse, dessert didn’t come within 35 minutes of us placing the order, and we had to flag down the waiter to cancel it.

    Now, truth be told, I love Local 16 … love the service, love the food, love the locally-grown mission. And, truth be told, they comped the ENTIRE meal. That being said, if the experience had (pardon my french) sucked even a LITTLE less, it might still be in the running for the rehersal dinner.

    I will happily take my chances with the new kid on the block (Beacon Bar & Grill), because after three meals with three different groups of people, we have absolutely zero complaints. Amen.

  • Wedding: Dueling Dinners


    Beacon Bar and Grill

    Local 16

    We have been scoping D.C. restaurants for the last month or two, working with a very patient, and gracious pair of friends (Sue and Jeremy) to find a couple rehearsal dinner spots that here located close to the church, that served good food, and had space for a private party.

    We are under this strange delusion that we might actually be able to walk from the rehearsal dinner, to the church, to the reception site (which doubles as the hotel) and back. Not sure it will happen, but that’s the goal.

    To make matters more interesting, my family has a strong background in dining (my father was a Chef for a number of years) and so mediocre food does not pass by an Parker unnoticed.

    Finally, D.C. isn’t exactly known for large spaces with plenty of private rooms for parties and events. Especially large spaces with private rooms that don’t look like the basement of the Hinkley Hilton.

    Anyway, what would be the point of the story if there was no happy ending? Probably to make you suffer as we have suffered, but fortunately that isn’t the case… Sue, Jeremy, The Lady Sparkler and I have two possibilities for rehearsal dinner spots that are looking promising.

    The first is the Beacon Bar & Grill, which is located at 1615 Rhode Island (the hotel/reception is one block west). BBG serves what it calls “Fresh Contemporary American Cuisine,” and (in some sort of incestuous irony) plucked its current executive Chef from 15 RIA (our receptions site) about a year ago.

    We took my parents her for a test dinner just this week (my mom was in town for her birthday) and the quality of the food and the service was just great. I had the pasta, and The Lady Sparkler had the fish. The place was a little empty for a Saturday night, but how many restaurants shut down in their first year of business anyway?!? (For the record, 25% in the first year. 60% within three years.)

    The other restaurant in the running is Local 16, a local, slow food, organic restaurant which is about four blocks up 16th street. We will give that a try in January.