Agraria Changes Once Again
It seems like Agraria hasn’t yet settled into a good routine. The new hotness on the Georgetown waterfront has weathered the tumult of its head chef leaving just days after opening, as well as a crappy article in the New York Times; now it faces the prospect of searching for a new sommelier and restaurant manager just as its new chef picks up the cleaver. Derek Brown, formerly of Firefly, has been the front man in Agraria’s palatial bar and dining room for the last few months, but is preparing to spread his wings once again, according to posts on donrockwell.com.
This is indeed a loss for the restaurant, but I can see how it might have come about. From my experience there, as well as the reports of friends, it appeared that Mr. Brown was working overtime to manage service snafus, poorly timed entrees, or customer complaints. Not that a restaurant manager’s job is usually a relaxing stroll through a restaurant full of gleeful diners, but Derek was constantly on his feet, looking a little concerned.
That said, it’s not the death knell for the restaurant that many seem all-too-happy to classify it as. Agraria’s food—since it is a restaurant after all—is very good, if a little pricey. The pan-seared shrimp, watercress and fennel salad, steak frites, and burger are all quite delicious, and a sampling of every sublime dessert on the menu proved that the Pastry Chef, Robert Underwood, is extremely talented and worth a trip for a post-movie treat. I’m sure that Derek will be missed at Agraria, especially since his drink menu is one of the best in the city, but here’s hoping that the lemons of Derek’s exit will soon be the lemonade of another lucky Washington restaurateur.
Indigo Landing Sparks Complaints From Oppressed Washington Sailors
Indigo Landing, the restaurant perched on Daingerfield Island (actually a peninsula) just south of National Airport’s runway in Alexandria, has pissed off at least one area resident. Marcia Green, of Falls Church, VA, is so angry she penned a letter to the WaPo’s editors to tell them all about it. Ms. Green is peeved because the restaurant’s customers take up too much parking at the National Park Service’s site, which she thinks needs to be used for “legitimate recreation.” She goes on to assert that the restaurant is operating in contravention of the Park Service’s own plans and policies; DCist harrumphs at this notion.
Granted, it’s a little weird there’s a big-time restaurant on National Park Service land, but really only to the few folks who follow the policies on Federal lands. The real problem here is that the Park Service is renting out our public lands to the well-heeled so they don’t have to keep their sailboats at either their second home in Old Town or in the parking garage of their used-on-the-weekend-only Dupont Circle loft. One would think the trustee of the nation’s public lands wouldn’t go around removing chunks of it, thus preventing the non-sailing among us from using it, even if they do it for two grand a year. Everyone can go into the restaurant—which is classified as a concessionaire—but I’m sure they’d have a problem if someone started traipsing all around the slips. Just a guess. The ball’s in your court, Ms. Green, even though we assume you won’t let the neighborhood kids come into the gated community to retrieve it.
