SURVEY OF MARTINIS: MINETTA TAVERN DC | LUCY MERCER BAR
It’s not certain for how much longer, but you’ll often see McNally at one of the booths facing the entrance, eating his manager’s shift meal with an open laptop, I should hope shit posting on Instagram. His top generals spend much of their time on the Washington campaign as well, and they’ve put the genuine effort to cultivate regulars and make guests feel seen, to a degree that more colossal restaurant empires (Starr) cannot match. This group wrote the playbook that so many taverns/brasseries for the past 3+ decades have strived to emulate, so I expected they would have the confidence in their own brand & clout to produce a new concept. But one can appreciate that after covid era closures, the safer bet perhaps was conceding to investors demands. (I will just say there were conversations between the restauranteur, commercial broker, and local chef that shall remain nameless, that envisioned a proverbial international hotel bar & restaurant in a certain OPEC member nation, during a period of tumult as its inspiration.)
I never dined at Minetta Tavern in New York, so it feels less of a simulation that way. As a broke ass architecture student in Brooklyn, my sister snuck me in to Schiller’s a handful of times, and often walked past Lucky Strike in Soho, thinking to myself, I’d like to meet a date there once I’ve graduated and started my career (the 2008 recession had other plans), and some years later I dined at Le Cherche Midi, his Bowery bistro more suited to my ilk than the posh set at Balthazar (the former three have have since closed). These experiences sufficed to set my expectations for the McNally ambiance, soundtracks, touch points and steps of service, so meeting the man during his third act, has been a fulfilling ‘meet your heroes’ moment.
Setting aside their successful stylistic replication of the original, the site selection and interior plan are of note. I would imagine the retail brokers begged them to anchor one of their brand new luxury apartment buildings, but instead they gutted an old warehouse space off an alley in the remnants of DC’s ethnic meat packing district, and the space itself, rather than a sprawling double story soulless glass and concrete shell, with virtually no natural light, and compartmented within more to the scale of traditional urban construction, so both the bar and dining room liven up at a more natural pace, that doesn’t require a fully packed house to maintain vibes. The glaring counter examples to this include St Anselm (compared to its namesake pint size Williamsburg neighborhood steakhouse attached to a white gravel filled courtyard for drinking German lagers), and the very big Pastis, both a block away… aka Disney NYC.
Lucy Mercer
Upstairs they have conjured an immaculate rendition of an old ritzy hotel lounge - adored with with heavy gold framed paintings, velvet upholstery, fringed tassel lamps and a wood burning fireplace, ‘oriental’ dress uniformed servers, and bartenders fitted with black ties and white coats. No photos permitted to give everyone a moment of sanctuary from the Tiktokers. The lights get incrementally dimmer and music louder upstairs on the hour, encouraging folks to loosen up. And I’m always keen to see how spaces pull off the transition from comfort in low-slung furniture, to getting out of your chairs for the potential to sing and dance a little. The mid-century ‘cabarets’ did this very thing, but with a dedicated standing/dancing area in front of a live band (or a dj table in our times). Even downstairs, they are not chicken shit afraid like too many DC restaurants that Tom Sietsema at the Post will ding them for loud music. You can expect a savvy mix of brassy cool jazz, bebop, Peggy Lee and various gems from old Tarantino soundtracks downstairs. Upstairs the jazz is cut up with lots of Bryan Ferry, Gainsbourg, French new-wave, Piero Umiliani, Sade and so on. Inexplicably, Candy Dulfer is in rotation on both floors (and not just “Lilly was here”); so good.
Much like the hotel bar experience, drinks on-menu are $$$, but feel free to order the classics you would otherwise (priced the same as downstairs). The food menu upstairs leans into luxury ingredients - think wagyu steak tartare zhu̇zhed with caviar that will cost you about the same as steak frites downstairs. I’m not opposed to some oysters & canapes or dessert, but it's a less ideal setting for food that requires more than a fork or spoon (low slung furniture and tables). They have an opportunity here to offer un-elevated, low-brow snacks to contrast to its sumptuous ambiance, in ways true to form of posh Mayfair hotel bars; imagine a trays of house-made chex mix, cornichons, breakfast radishes and ranch dip (an American mother sauce), even tarte flambée (basically french tavern pizza). From my vantage point at the bar seats, it doesn’t matter how elevated your cocktail program is, the squad is still ordering back to back rounds of Espresso Martinis and Old Fashioneds; this town is basic AF and the fascists have breached the palace… why bother with luxurious/aesthetic Tiktok food once you’ve vanquished the Tiktokers? Serve us chicken nuggets with Béarnaise and Sauce Polynésienne… and as I write this it's apparent I’m describing Frog Club, if it was actually competent and not just a shameless grift.
The Martini
This is a Tanqueray 10 house, not my favorite (standard Tanq is preferred), but you’ll get more spirit in your blood than the other options. Downstairs: a chunky stemmed but correct v-shaped martini glass (same as at Pastis), is filled with crushed ice to chill. Upstairs: they are sporting a complete arsenal of Richard Brendon glassware. Their martini glass is a deep V, ultra-thin from lip to stem, taken from a dedicated chiller (along with coupes for daiquiris). The rocks glasses are hefty with sharp chiseled edges. At times the supply of RB martini glasses gets depleted, and you get a coupe or chunky martini glass from downstairs, so that's a bummer. Gin is measured, probably 2.5 oz to +/- .5 oz free poured brine. It's a more clean and vegetal than filthy brine here. All lightly shaken. 3 olives - colossal un-stuffed Spanish Queens, pre-skewered throughout the night, set in an uncovered plate, where they seem to dry out and intensify in flavor. Save for this one quirk, it's an otherwise straight laced, sufficiently chilled and refined martini. Take it with a cheeseburger, moules frites, or tartare downstairs, or for a more indulgent escape from the ‘days of thunder’, head upstairs to Lucy Mercer.
Under their own Martini menu (downstairs), the ‘Avant Vesper’ (Gin, Islay Scotch, Salers, Drambuie, Bitters) is the one to order, though it drinks more like a peated white negroni served up, than a martini. What I did not expect here is deep selection rhum agricole here; daiquiri game is strong. Deep cuts on offer include Perry Labat 59 from Guadeloupe, HSE VSOP from Martinique. Planterey (Plantation finally changed their name) overproof is clutch until the local distributor finally restocks Wray & Nephew. They’ll make you a proper whisky sour with egg white (order with Sazerac rye and a dash of Angostura). They’ve got a solid crew of chaps and dames running the bars - upstairs & downstairs, so don’t be a dick and order whisky sours for the whole table.
Dining at McNally’s:
Features that have endured to the present day - you can book a reservation for 1, and you're seated at a dignified table (even a glass of crémant on the house), freshly pressed napkins are laid before you at the bar counter in lieu of a ‘white tablecloth’, Peugeot Bistro pepper mills at every table, a full ficelle (more of a ciabatta than baguette), with Maldon salt and a slab of cultured butter (not whipped commodity butter), and hefty Messermeister (unserrated) steak knives arrive with your meats. Guests may not appreciate all of these details, and many restaurants have deemed them an anachronism or too costly, and they’re wrong. Sometimes a burger needs more salt, or you’re craving an extra fresh grind of pepper on your steak tartare, or you just want to fatten up the lentils with more butter, or you have some extra mussel broth to soak into bread and devour, and your experience can proceed with joy, instead of suspending your meal, and waiting for a server to arrive and retrieve these supplements. It’s all important.
Le Burger
There is a rationale for restaurants adopting the multi-patty smash burgers for the past decade or so - quicker, more consistent, less re-fires, but some folks act like we didn’t all grow up on tavern style burgers before that, and practitioners of this (superior) style are less common. The Black Label burger sounds elite on paper, but it gets a few demerits. Where the Minetta burger covers the whole bun like a thick hockey puck, the Black Label is usually more plump and vertical… this brings challenges with seasoning an an even cook to the center. Most “dry aged” beef burgers are normal beef mince cut with the discarded, rotten trim off of dry aged steaks. Its literal steak trash, but if the ratios are dialed in, you get a pleasant sour-savory funk to your otherwise fresh beef. My understanding is Pat La Frieda exclusively dry ages whole beef chucks for Minetta and grinds those into the mince, along with a few other cuts, rather adding dry-aged discarded for flavor. I expected more funk from the Black Label burger, and the underseasoned patty in part due to less surface area exacerbates this, but see for yourself. The Minetta burger gets the same schmear of caramelized onion, with a slice of melted Gruyère, bibb lettuce, beefsteak tomato, and a dill pickle spear; ace burger. Top tier fries (up there with Chez Billy Sud, and the Petite Cerise fries done in beef tallow); browner, crunchier and saltier than most, possibly fried in peanut oil (like Five Guys)?
The Rest
Piede de cochon is a must; laboriously deboned and cleaned pig trotter is stuffed with pork sausage and served over Le Puy lentils mounted with foie in a hot cast iron skillet, feels old school Lyonnaise, but finessed for modern palettes and something you won’t see at every Tom, Dick & Harry bistro. Coq au Vin, a big pot of braised meat, is something I never order out; it's too easily produced at home. Minetta is the exception - here made with guanciale and chantarelles, generously portioned in a Staub oval baker, and for your starch, a side skillet of buttered gnocchi covered in shaved black truffles. I wouldn’t countenance any of this flourish at home, but at Minetta the guild the lily for you and make coq au vin worthy of the occasion (and would easily feed two with an added plate of haricot verts).
The Final Boss, their dry-aged Côte de Boeuf - cooked correct (looks pan seared, butter basted, and finished in the oven), with fully developed dry aged complexity, fantastic beef. This is served a green salad, and a Fred Flintstone tray worth of footlong marrow bones, again cooked so they are just crisped and warmed through, but not liquefied, and a condiment of braised cabbage; ist gut. Accompany this spread with sautéed spinach, champignons poêlées, pommes frites and pommes anna, and this should satisfy four guests.
The issue of wine…
By-the-glass offerings include a Chinon for $18 (whole-sale price at $14/bottle, maybe less at a volume discount), a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir for $26 ($18 wholesale), a generic Bordeaux rouge for $22 ($10.66 wholesale). I expect heinous markups on btg Sancerre and rosé, but these are AGGRESSIVE across the list. Maybe I expected too much from a Keith McNally restaurant wine list in DC opening in 2024. On the bottle list, you’ll find “Jura & Alsace & Loire” rolled up into one meager sub-list, that's otherwise dominated by high-priced, mostly young Bordeaux and Burgundy. I’m sure this plays well in the West Village, but it comes off more cynical in Union Market. I enjoyed a bottle of Lapierre’s 2nd label with my meal, marked up more than 4.4x wholesale. 4x has become the norm in this town (without interrogating how it has impacted wine sales overall), high volume restaurant groups can theoretically offer better value - the Clydes Group is making a compelling case for this. And I’m certainly not asking for natty bullshit on this list, but more soulful Bordeaux from Graves, not just classed growths, and more bistro wines (Kellogg Selections and Becky Wasserman’s books come to mind) as easter eggs, marked up closer to 3x would go a long way. The lawyers from the Tiktok offices around the corner may take the bait, but look around the bar and dining room, you see far more cocktails in peoples hands, and it's a shame as this food deserves good wine.
gonna go listen to Sade at the upstairs bar now thanks
This is phenomenal