Wednesday, November 18, 2009

minibar by josé andrés

405 8th Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
(202) 393-0812
cafeatlantico.com/miniBar/miniBar.htm


Visited: May 9, 2009


My journey to minibar started with me huddled in my bathroom, sitting on a cold porcelain toilet with the door closed tightly and me whispering on my cell phone to a lady named Bonji. Yes, an odd beginning to any restaurant review but rest easy knowing that I was hiding in my bathroom not battling Montezuma's revenge, but secretly calling to make my one-month-ahead dinner reservation. The kind voice on the other end of the receiver belonged to Bonji Beard who took some key information and explained how the whole minibar reservation process worked. Hiding in the bathroom I felt like some sort of secret agent out of some 80's movie making plans to smuggle nuclear scientists across the West Berlin lines. The reason for the secrecy; to surprise my wife with a great Mother's Day dinner.

The wife (being a perceptive lass) soon wondered where I was and came searching for me. She knocked on the bathroom door and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah babe, just using the bathroom. I'll be out in a few" I said using my best bathroom voice. When I heard her step away I continued my conversation with Bonji who informed me that she would email me an application form that needed to be completed within 48 hours of the phone call. I had my mission, fill out the form, fax/email it back to Bonji and pretend (for an entire month) that I wasn't planning anything special for my wife's 2nd mother's day. How could I hide my excitement? Would I let plan for the surprise dinner slip out? How could I hold back my childlike enthusiasm and excitement for a whole friggin' month?!?!

Well, I successfully managed NOT to spoil the surprise. It took a lot of restraint and discipline, but I managed to do it.

Fast forward to a month later....

The wife and I left our two sleeping monkeys at home under the care and supervision of their two loving and most trusted babysitters; a.k.a. the Grandparents. We rolled outta the house all decked out in our best clothes, the wife looking stunning and me doing the best to hide the fat stomach with some cool neatly pressed shirt. Entering DC the wife's curiosity was going crazy as she tried to guess where we were going for her Mother's Day dinner. "Nope. Uh-uh. No. That's not it. Try again" were my only replies. I could see the excitement in her eyes as she was DYING to know where we were going.

Arriving at our location, she jumped for joy and said, "Cafe Atlantico! CAFE ATLANTICO!! That's where we're going. I knew it!"

Pulling into the underground garage, I turned to her slyly and replied, "That's not it babes...but nice guess"

Heading out the wrong garage exit, we came out right in front of Jaleo and she turned to me again in a very eager voice, "Jaleo! We're going to Jaleo!". I shook my head and just giggled a bit as I pulled her by the hand past Jaleo. Arriving at the entrance of Cafe Atlantico, she had a puzzled look on her face and said, "You said we weren't going to Cafe Atlantico? Wha..."

"Let's go inside and check in with the hostess." Walking inside I stood in front of the hostess and let the surprise outta the bag at the right time, "Reservation for two for minibar under **** ****"."

No sooner had I finished my sentence, I turned to my wife and saw a huge smile on her beautiful face.

"I knew it! minibar!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down like a young child pretending to have guessed my surprise.

It was her day so I let her have her victory and simply replied, "Yep, minibar."

We walked over to the Cafe Atlantico bar which was buzzing with a multitude of people enjoying drinks and watching the Caps during the Stanley Cup playoffs. We sat at the bar, eagerly talked about what we would be eating and enjoyed some tasty beverages. Soon a tall slender brunette dressed in black stopped in front of us and introduced herself, "Hi my name is Rhym and I'll be your server for minibar." Rhym began explaining the whole minibar setup to us and encouraged us to look through a special wine list to choose a wine that would go perfectly with the variety of food we would be experiencing that evening.

Wine was my wife's area of expertise so I let her pick out the wine for the night. She picked out a nice champagne that was slightly fruity and per Rhym's suggestion helped to cleanse the palate in preparation for the next course. By the time we polished off our starter beverages (a beer for me and a glass of white wine by my bride), Rhym stopped by and led us to our seats at the minibar bar. There was a ton of ingredients before us protected by a glass case. The chefs introduced themselves to us and proceeded to get things started.

Delicious treat upon treat was sent our way. From the hands of our chefs directly the artsy plates before us, we enjoyed every single morsel. The experience was definitely worth the wait and the money as we enjoyed ourselves and fulfilled every aspiring foodie's fantasy of tasting food with magnificent flavors combined with artistic flair and presentation.

Amazing, amazing, amazing are the three words I would use to describe minibar. This review cannot do it justice as it must be experienced first hand. But for those of you thinking of visiting minibar, here are a few tips/important things to remember when planning your first:
  1. Reservation must be made a month in advance (to the day) over the phone. There are only six seats at minibar and two services per night, so call early!
  2. The application form must be filled out and faxed back within 48 hours of making your phone reservation.
  3. Show up on-time or a little early and check in the the hostess. Enjoy a drink at the Cafe Atlantico bar and relaaaaaaaaaaaaaax until you're called.
  4. Savor the food, enjoy the experience and ask as many questions as possible. The chefs and staff are all amazing, very nice and eager to share any information.
  5. Crack the egg (see last picture), pay your bill, thank the staff and promise to come back soon. :-)
Here are a few pictures to make you folks salivate with jealousy over our 27 course experience. Enjoy!


One last word of advice.... After you crack the egg and pay the bill (which in my opinion is worth every single dollar!), don't forget to bring home a copy of your personalized menu. We were soooo stuffed and dazzled by our experience that we forgot to bring our menus home with us. Don't be like, us...remember your menus!!

If you do visit minibar, I truly hope you enjoy your experience and have as much fun as the wife and I. After the meal, the best reward was the wife's millions of accolades and compliments for such a wonderful surprise. Yes, for that single night the wife agreed that I was THE man. :-)

Viva minibar!!

Minibar By Jose Andres on Urbanspoon

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