No Paper Crowns for the Guests
The Majestic—the latest addition to Cathal and Meshelle Armstrong’s Alexandria empire—held its preview party last night, and DCist was in the house. The King Street restaurant was packed with all your various foodie types mauling the chef and owners, mugging for the roving photographers, and swilling both wine and gossip. With such a high density of gastronauts, I’m sure Majestic’s owners would have rather been serving up their food for business, rather than giving away free drinks, wine, and mini crabcakes. I have a sneaking suspicion it will make little difference in the long run, however, as the place has been generating a good deal of buzz already.
Opening for dinner next Tuesday, May 1, Majestic will walk the line between current Armstrong offerings. Majestic is self-described as “casually swank,” and to underscore that, co-owner Meshelle told DCist that Majestic “will be our ‘wedge place.’ It’ll fit right in the space between the Bistro [at Eve] and Eamonn’s; we think it’s going to be a lot of fun.” As a fan of the old Majestic Café under Chef Susan Lindeborg, I’m happy to hear that Majestic will aim to retain its neighborhood character and delicious comfort food under new chef Shannon Overmiller (an alumna of Eve). According to Meshelle, Majestic will offer homestyle favorites similar to the old Majestic, but she was pretty excited about the prospect of keeping things simple and delicious. I’m particularly excited about Majestic’s Sunday feature, “Nana’s Dinner,” which will feature a family-style meal for four priced at $68. Armstrong said she wanted it to be a family style event with a main course, a few side dishes, veggies, and a whole pie. At $17 a person, that’s a complete steal.
Majestic opens for dinner between 5:30 and 10:30 on May 1, for lunch on May 15, and for brunch on June 3. They’re taking reservations now, so you better start dialing. Since they’ve followed a naming scheme to honor their children for their other restaurants, we’re waiting to see if a third Armstrong child will be named after the restaurant, just for consistency. If so, we humbly suggest it be a middle name.
Best D.C. Food Event EVER Tomorrow Night
We went nuts over this event last year, but it ended up being completely worth it. The Montana Society (with a little help from their neighbors in South Dakota), is throwing the 4th Annual Testicle Festival tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. at the Arlington American Legion Hall (3445 Washington Boulevard; this is just two blocks north of the Virginia Square Metro).
If you’ve never had mountain oysters, you should really try them; they’re a rare delicacy here in the East, and one that purportedly has special powers to increase your, well, potency. And ladies, don’t think you’re not included here. Though they’re a traditional test of male bravado, you should feel empowered to use them to convey your own message. What better way to show men who’s in charge than taking a handful of sliced balls and chewing them up? Well, there’s another way, but we already talked about that today.
Photo by La Tur.
