My All-Time Favorite App from Lemaire

Tuna Martini a photo by pjpink on Flickr.

Tuna Martini - sushi-grade ahi tuna served raw with English cucumbers, avocado coulis, flying fish roe, and sesame seaweed salad. I request no cucumbers because cukes and me just don't get a long. The last time I enjoyed this app I was sitting on the new patio at Lemaire. Delicious!

Where I'm Coming From - Richmond Edition

Last Friday we and a few others celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary at Lemaire. A very memorable evening. Before Lemaire's renovation a birthday celebration had gone decidedly sour. On this night they were spot on. Chuck, our waiter extrodinaire, took care of our party of eight and made everyone feel special. Highlights included a wonderfully priced 2006 Grgich Hills Cabernet from Napa, Jumbo Scallops with White Beans and Ham Hock Broth, Ahi Tuna Martini, Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Cakes, and Grilled Beef Tenderloin. Thank you, Lemaire!

Breakfast at The Black Sheep. The Bay and Barn Breakfast Sandwich. Scrambled eggs mixed with crabmeat, country ham, green onion, and Swiss cheese on griddled Texas toast. We had not eaten here in a coon's age. We need to get our asses back soon for more scrumptiousness.

Bay and Barn at The Black Sheep

Last week a girlfriend and I went to Tastebuds American Bistro. While walking between my house and sitting down to dinner I lost an earring. This week Tastebuds contacted us to say they had found my earring! And get this. I had not told them I had lost it. This particular piece of jewelry was special. Hubby had given me the earrings on my 21st birthday. To reunite the pair was particularly sweet. And what a great excuse to have dinner. We enjoyed a black bean encrusted chipotle cheese cake that was stunning! And paired extremely well with the Millsreef Merlot/Malbec. The only possible improvement, according to hubby, would be to throw some crab into the mix. He also enjoyed the Pan Roasted Salmon while I had the Duck Spring Rolls. We always have a good time here.

Black Bean and Chipotle Cheese Cake

Pan Roasted Salmon

Duck Spring Rolls

I have finally joined the Twitter universe (@pjpink101). Still trying to figure things out. I started following Arcadia and mid-week they were offering a free Braveheart Beef Carpaccio. Wow! Twitter was already paying off. We went, enjoyed the carpaccio and went on to dine on rockfish and roasted onion soup. Very lovely. And the wine list is impressive because of the pricing. They feature a $20 list and a $30 list (they have a few higher-priced reserve items, too). We ordered an Alexander Valley Cab from the $20 list. This price is just a buck higher than retail. All of you restaurants charging exorbitant prices, listen up! Why would I want to patronize you if Arcadia has great food and much more wine reasonable prices? Speaking with the owner, who visited each table to check on the meal, he said because of his wine prices, most tables order a bottle and he has a constant turnover of wine.

Purple Rice Crusted Rockfish with Spinach Absinthe Cream

Last night after visiting the opening of Simply Photography 8 at Art Works, we headed over to Aziza's on Main for wood-fired oven pizza. We always like the Pepperoni and Peppers Pizza. It reminds us of the pizza we had in Florence, Italy. Yum. We also ordered a White Pizza and replaced the fontina with mozzarella and topped it with prosciutto. So. So. Good.

White Pizza with Prosciutto

Overindulging at Lemaire

Before heading over to the InLight Festival a couple of weeks ago, we stopped by the bar at Lemaire to enjoy a cocktail, appetizers, wine, etc. We were lucky to grab a couple of bar stools. A couple of the tables in the bar area were reserved. A big party was whooping it up at the front of the bar. We arrived early enough to take advantage of $5 Manhattans and the 3 appetizers for $20 deal.

The Manhattans hit the spot.

We then ordered wine from the Discoveries List ($30 or less a bottle) - A Redtree Petite Sirah from California. Not too heavy. Very tasty. A decent choice given the variety of food we ordered.

BBQ Pork Quesadilla - lots of flavor and very filling. It was strange for me to be eating melted cheese on BBQ pork, however.

Fried Calamari - a bit different that what we are used to. This looked like it came from a bigger squid. Very tender. Although the menu stated crispy, not so much.

Tuna Martini - my all-time favorite app at Lemaire. Raw tuna with seaweed salad and accompanied by three types of fish roe. The red roe is the best.

Hubby also ordered the Virginia country ham and pimento cheese sandwich which he thoroughly enjoyed.

The sandwich definitely hit the overindulgence mark, but, still, a great start to the evening. Photos of the InLight Festival are posted here.

The Bar at Lemaire

Seriously, eat here. It took me almost a year to do so. Shame on me. We went at 5 PM on a Sunday. Not crowded, so no reservations needed. We could wear shorts and we could order the 3 course prix fixe for $30.

We started with drinks - White Wine Sangria

and a Southside Cocktail

both contained herbs grown in Chef Bundy's urban garden. The bartender and waitstaff were pleased to talk about the urban garden and show various other herbal cuttings. A nice touch.

We then ordered a 2005 Napa Valley Franciscan Merlot. So yummy!

First course dazzled us with Cream of Vidalia Onion Bisque with Applewood Smoked Bacon, Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Meat, and Chives. We were in heaven. This has to be the quintessential Southern dish - sweet onion, smokey pork, and crab.

For the second course hubby ordered Sustainably Raised Loch Duart Salmon with Carolina Gold Rice Pudding, Grilled Fennel, Arugula, Pine Nuts, and Sauce Gaspacho. Yes, he loved it.

I had Buckhead Certified Angus Petite Filet with Roasted Garlic-Buttermilk Potatoes and Green Tomato Chow-Chow. The filet was so tender and perfectly cooked to medium rare. What really knocked me out was the chow-chow. While not a tomato fan, these cut up green babies along with cabbage had been bathing in a lovely vinegar brew that woke up my tastebuds. I actually ate chunks of tomatoes and raved about them! So far, Chef Bundy has been the only person to accomplish this formidable task.

The first and second courses were proportioned just right. If one is going to eat three course, smaller sizes should be the rule. But we had more wine to drink, it was early, and hubby decided to have a cheese course before dessert. He ordered the Tillamook Cheddar (only $3 for one cheese selection). It arrived with four hearty slices, a variety of crackers, and seasonal fresh fruit. He really liked the fresh raspberries.

For dessert we both ordered Butterscotch Brulee. And this course turned out to be larger than anticipated. Very nice brulee with just a hint of butterscotch.

We had a lovely time. Our food was superb. And the service most excellent. Lemaire may become another regular bar destination for us.

Industry Night at Lemaire

Last Sunday I was invited to an Industry Night reception/kick-off at the new bar at Lemaire. I was surprised to have received the invite - I'm an amateur blogger with no industry in sight and about a year ago my hubby and I had visited Lemaire with disastrous results (that were posted on my blog). But, I RSVP'd and was encouraged to attend. It's hard to turn down free food and drink and I was curious about the new space, so we went.


I have to say that I liked the centralized bar area with the sleek yet understated contemporary styling. And I liked how the dining rooms were located in the east and west wings - away from the bar and noise (and the carpets were oh-so-plush).

At the reception we tried a Farmhand with Jack Daniels, tea, and lemonade, good at first, but the melting ice really gave the drink a watered down taste by the end. We switched to red wine, that happened to be an Enotria Barbera from California and one of my favorites. It was also on the regular wine list for $38 a bottle.

To nibble we were offered a variety of free sample items that are featured on the Industry Night menu:

pimiento cheese / 5
white cheddar / olives / toasted sourdough

dave and dee’s oyster mushroom toasts / 8
goats "r" us goat cheese / local micro lettuces / billy bread

cornmeal-crusted chesapeake bay oysters / 11
upland cress / jicama-jalapeno slaw / green goddess

fresh gulf shrimp cocktail / 10
old bay / tomato / horseradish

pineapple curry-glazed chicken skewers / 5
honey / vanilla / brown sugar

spicy vine ripe hanover tomato gazpacho / 7
watermelon / blue crab / basil oil

All were very good. I really liked the shrimp and hubby really liked the gazpacho. Jennifer Crisp, the Public Relations manager chatted with us a while and confirmed that we were deliberately invited. We thanked her, praised the remodeling and the food, and made sure she was aware of the not-so-great-time we had last year. We also discussed the farm to table concept and the small urban garden that Chef Bundy grows for kitchen use. We picked up both a regular and an Industry Night/Bar menu. I think we will have to give the dining room a whirl in the future as well as the bar. Once again, it will come down to the quality of the service received.

For any of you in the restaurant industry, SHOW YOUR PAYSTUB AND GET THREE DISHES FOR $20 AND ENJOY HALF PRICE BOTTLED BEERS ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY EVENINGS.

It sounds like a great deal to me based on the quality of nibbles at the reception.

Lemaire - Doubly Disappointing

Last month my hubby and I went to Lemaire at the Jefferson to celebrate his birthday. Big mistake! He wrote the following letter to express our feelings that evening:

To the Management and Staff at Lemaire and the Jefferson Hotel:

My wife and I dined at your establishment last night and, frankly, our experience was less than stellar. In fact, sub-par is the word that comes to mind.

We did experience some good things. The hostess held out a warm greeting and seated us at a window. She also congratulated me on my birthday. It was very nice that you read my comments/request on the Open Table reservation and thank you for utilizing Open Table. Our cocktails were delicious and refreshing. We liked that the bar featured a Pimm’s Cup and a Tequila Sunrise. We ordered a 2005 Chateauneuf-du-Pape from your wine list. A 2006 appeared. For an establishment such as yours, not to have updated the list to reflect the change in year or at least for the staff to alert us to this fact is an oversight. The wine was presented to us and I was asked to taste it before I had finished my cocktail. A minor glitch in attention to detail, but still a glitch all the same.

For appetizers we ordered the Vidalia Onion Bisque and the Fried Oysters. Both were excellent. It shows that you take pride in your seafood selection. We definitely thought we were in for a real treat for the remainder of the evening. Alas, it was not meant to be. I was so delighted by the sweetness and quality of the oysters; I asked the waiter where they were from. He said he would follow up with the kitchen. He never came back with the information, even though he cleared our plates and delivered new dishes. The wait between our first and second courses was longer than it should have been. Another table arrived after us and had finished two courses and left by the time our second course arrived. This may have explained why our spoon bread was room temperature. If this dish had been served piping hot, it would have been the hit of the evening. My wife would have raved about it for months; instead, she took a few bites, commented on the lack of heat, and we took it home with us. This morning she microwaved it for breakfast and thought it was much better hot. My filet mignon, although a good cut of meat and cooked to my order, was lacking some of the promised flavors. Did you use bourbon and brie in the dish?

The most disappointing and to the point of downright annoying was the end of our meal. As we waited for second courses to arrive, most other diners had left. As we made our way through the second course we thought at least we will have a quiet romantic end to our meal. We never should have entertained this thought. Even though we were still eating, the wait staff began noisily setting up for breakfast the next day. This was at 9 PM. As we ate, all we could hear was clatter from silverware and dishes. In fact, one waiter clattered down coffee cups and 10 minutes later another waiter took them up again with the same vigorous amount of clatter. The noise bordered on rudeness as we hurried through the rest of the meal so we could escape to a more peaceful landscape. We did not hurry enough. The dining room next to ours also started setting up the breakfast buffet. We heard what sounded like pots and pans crashing down an interminable number of steps. It was so loud, my wife jumped and exclaimed about some potential kitchen disaster. 10 minutes later, we heard a similar cacophony. We then knew it must be some regular nightly ritual. But why would this occur when diners are still present? To top it off, my wife was presented a piece of birthday cake and was congratulated by the waiter instead of myself. The thought was appreciated but the attention to detail was again missing.

We moved to Richmond six years ago and always wanted to experience Lemaire’s storied hospitality, service, and cuisine. Unfortunately, at this point, we are not likely to return and we cannot recommend this place to others. I hope with the coming renovation, that not only the surface features will improve (particularly the fuzzy sound speaker tortuously sending out classical music), but that kitchen coordination, wait service, and attention to details will also be addressed.

Thank you for your attention,

About a week later an employee from the Jefferson (my husband did not catch his name, unfortunately) called and apologized profusely and then told my husband to expect something in the mail. We were pleased that we received a phone call and thought it would be some sort of gift certificate.

That was three weeks ago. We waited patiently, but three weeks seemed to be more than enough time to receive something in the mail.

Needless to say, we have been disappointed twice now due to lack of service and attention to details. Why would I or anyone else shell out big bucks for such a lousy experience?