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Rumors have long been circulating with the speculation that Michel Richard's Citronelle might close soon. Many of them stemmed from the planned renovation of the Latham Hotel, where the restaurant is located - renovations that are no longer happening. Citronelle has long been considered one of the most interesting and best restaurants in D.C. Now, according to a source at the restaurant, 10 employees have recently been let go, and the restaurant will soon be open only Tuesday-Saturday, instead of seven days a week. It's unclear when this change, an apparent effort to deal with the changing economic times, will take place, as it's yet to be formally announced. We certainly hope it will be sufficient to help them stay open. Photo by christaki.
Citronelle to Reduce Hours
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Didn't a second location of Citronelle open recently in Carmel, California?
No, you're thinking of Citronella. Completely unrelated. And it's an oil used as a natural insect repellent, not a restaurant.
Or maybe "$hit Ron Helles," the new concept restaurant where you can enjoy pale Münchner lagers in an authentic reproduction of Ronald Reagan's gastro intestinal tract.
Citronelle is overpriced and pretentious. Relic of the past, deserves to go and make way for less stuffy dining options with better food.
welcome to the down economy. unless, of course, mr. richard can manage to get himself bailed out by the feds...
He could set himself up as a bank. Then he could lend his customers money to buy his overpriced meals.
Overpriced? Mostly. Pretentious? Definitely not - it has a clientele and it caters to it. If you think it's pretentious, go eat elsewhere!
I agree with DreadPirateRoberts - I love Citronelle and I think the food is fabulous. Michel Richard has done a great deal of service to D.C. by bringing fine dining back to the city. Citronelle convinced numerous other restaurateurs and top chefs to give D.C. a chance. I hope this is just a symptom of a down economy and not anything more serious.
We ate at Citronelle about a year ago. The food was great but the service was atrocious. It started with them calling to ask why we hadn't shown up for our 6:30 reservation when in fact it was for 7:30 (thanks OpenTable for the evidence) and continued through service of either being ignored or treated like we were doing them a favor.
WaPo recently downgraded Citronelle citing the service as well.
I wonder how Michel Richard Central is doing. That seems better suited for todays economy. We've always had great meals going there.
idontwantadcistid: Richard opened a restaurant in California although I don't think it's called Citronelle.
I've never been to Citronelle or the gastro-pub that monkeyrotica mentions, Central is amazing.