What Does Todd Kliman Think About America Eats Tavern?

A lot of people wanted to talk to Washingtonian critic Todd Kliman about America Eats Tavern in his chat this morning. Even though Kliman says (spoiler alert!) he's going to be writing about the two-week-old José Andrés pop-up later this week, he just couldn't help himself from dropping a little preview in response. It is not, shall we say, glowing.

On bang for your buck: "I had — just for the sake of comparison — a dish of creamed corn with grilled baby corns. Price: $12. For corn. And not a lot of it."

On the pot pie: "It was presented to the table as if it were a Dover sole, about to be deboned by a bowtie-wearing waiter, and then — I couldn't believe what I was seeing — the server did just that! Just — disemboweled the thing. Removed the crust, then the veggies, then the meat, and then arranged all the cooked, component parts on a square white dish. Pot pie she did this with."

On the service: "I pointed out that their website said lunch was being served. The hostess was not at all put out by the discrepancy. 'Yeah, no — we're not doing lunch this week.' No apology. No wincing expression of sympathy. On my way out, she let me know I could return in five hours for dinner."

On the key lime pie: "When the dessert described as key lime pie arrived, my sister-in-law looked at the plate and, seeing only a piped-in line of cream and two tiny piles of what appeared to be the remains of a hastily-eaten cookie, said, in her Middle School teacher's firm, upbraiding tone: 'No, we ordered the key lime pie.'"

· Kliman Online [Washingtonian]
· All Previous Todd Kliman Coverage [-EDC-]
· All Previous America Eats Tavern Coverage [-EDC-]

[R. Lopez]