Restaurant-Dining Critiques

Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert
The Ritz-Carlton, Washington D.C.
1150 22nd Street,
N.W., Washington, District of Columbia 20037
Tel. 202-974-5566
Lunch
Monday – Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Dinner
Sunday – Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday – Saturday, 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Eric Ripert the 3-star Michelin chef and co-owner of New York’s famed Le Bernadin restaurant specializing in seafood, has partnered with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel to open venues in their various outlets. Westend Bistro is a vibrant, casual American-style bistro where Ripert believes in using only the freshest and highest quality produce he can find supplied by local farmers from surrounding states. Westend Bistro offer a bar menu and inventive cocktails accompanied by the cool sounds of up-tempo music from the lounge.

Pre-Theater Dining at Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert

Available seven days a week from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Westend Bistro is the perfect place for an unforgettable meal before a show at the Kennedy Center. Enjoy a three-course dinner from select menu for $35 per person, not including beverage, tax and gratuity.

For reservations, please call (202) 974-5566 or email info@westendbistrodc.com.

Westend Bistro is closed Saturday and Sunday for lunch.

In addition there are other restaurants partnered by Eric Ripert & the Ritz-Carlton: 10 Arts by Eric Ripert at the Ritz Carlton, Philadelphia and Blue by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton, Cayman Islands on the incredibly beautiful Seven Mile Beach, which is one of the most spectacular beaches I have ever seen however, it was a few years back and I hope that that things have not changed too drastically since then. Of course, the Ritz Charlton is a magnificent structure and would certainly be an exceptional inclusion no matter what!

Cork oak trees

I am happy to say, that the Wine Cork is making a rebound after a downturn that caused a loss of 25% market share during the 1990s.
Amorim, a Portugal-based company, who is the largest supplier of cork with 3.2 billion units sold last year, suggest that the cork forests around the western Mediterranean have a positive effect as a neutralizer of greenhouse gases, and that after being stripped of their bark they will regenerate it within 10 years. They also claim that incidences of “corked” wines are in decline. At the same time, certain wineries have experimented with using the screw caps exclusively for the last 10 years and have found results to be favorable, with wines maturing elegantly on the same level of what you would expect with having 100% fault free corks.
On the other hand, current  prevailing thought on the subject, believe that screw caps are fine for use as shorter term sealants on wines that will be consumed early although, too tight for long term aging as the microscopic pores in natural cork are necessary, due to the gradual entry of minute amounts of air, which, help in a positive way in the development process of wines over longer periods of time.

The old saying, “The best thing since sliced bread”,  was never a great idea, it was coined in a marketing campaign aimed at selling poor quality bread that would never become stale, but why make an unhealthy product more convenient or less costly. How long does it take to slice bread? Pre-sliced bread is filled with preservatives, dough conditioners and chemicals to keep it from drying out and becoming stale. Natural bread becomes stale quickly, as it should; that is why the French bake three times a day. The benchmark I use is, if a loaf of bread does not get stale I will not buy it again, it means it is filled with artificial ingredients.

Buy authentic, genuine bread and avoid trans-fats as well as preservatives.