Tom Sietsema Approves of The Source's Makeover

Tom Sietsema dines at a renovated The Source for his full review in the Washington Post and awards the Wolfgang Puck restaurant two and a half stars. Chef Scott Drewno has changed about 75 percent of the modern Chinese menu. Sietsema writes of the new hot pot table:

"The multiple courses — beef short ribs, pork shoulder, shrimp, cod and even egg — would have benefited from more coaching by the servers as to cooking time.. Still, the evening resulted in some of the best leftovers of 2015: containers of a broth that had gotten richer with the introduction of each course to a large pot in the center of the table."

The critic's other favorite dishes include the hot and numbing pork dumplings, wonton soup, whole roasted duck, blue crab fried rice and fried quail. [WaPo]

For his $20 Diner column in the Washington Post, Tim Carman ventures beyond BonChon in search of Korean fried chicken. His first stop is the clubby DAK! Chicken in Shirlington, where he has mixed emotions about the bulgogi tacos but dislikes the other menu items. He also finds the fried chicken inconsistent. He then tries several items at Momo Chicken & Jazz in Bethesda. He concludes:

"Here’s the thing: You can probably find a place that does every one of Momo’s dishes better than Momo does, whether pork buns..., seafood scallion pancakes... or the fried chicken itself. Momo’s birds are passable, sometimes more than that, but they can parade the defects as much as their delights." [WaPo]

David Hagedorn files a review of Garrison on Barracks Row for DC Modern Luxury. Chef Rob Weland impresses with his seasonal and veggie-forward cuisine. Hagedorn gushes over nearly every course— from the "divine" fluke crude to the pastas like corn tortellini and spinach and ricotta ravioli. He writes of one of the entrees:

I weep for dear readers who love peaches as much as I do because they have to wait until next summer for the chef’s Long Island duck-breast dish that features them. The bird’s skin is rendered to crispness just right and cooked on the medium side of medium-rare, just they way I asked for it. Lavender, correctly used in moderation, balances the meat’s game quality with a hint of perfume." [DCML]

Don Rockwell visits The Dabney in Shaw on their first day of service. He designs and orders a so-called, two course "egg tasting dinner" complete with wine pairings. He starts with a glass of Sherry and the baked farm egg with creamed celeriac, farro verde, kimchee. The second course is a buttermilk biscuit with fried egg, foie gras, country ham, apples and maple. He writes:

Two components in the dish itself needed work: the egg was slightly overcooked (I wanted runny), and there was no discernible foie gras, anywhere I looked or sniffed – there might have been a thimble-full mixed into the sauce, but none that I detected. So I would suggest the restaurant either up the ingredient, or the diner should not assume it’s going to be there."

Despite a few problems, Rockwell gives chef Jeremiah Langhorne the benefit of the doubt because it's the restaurant's first night after all. He leaves with high hopes for The Dabney. [DR]

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