Bethesda restaurateurs are defending the local dining scene after being left out of The Washington Post’s Fall Dining Guide and being called “thoroughly mediocre” by Washingtonian’s food critic.
“There’s always been this sort of stigma that if you’re not in D.C., you’re a grade less, you’re one step down, which is BS,” said Jeff Black, owner of Black’s Bar and Kitchen in Bethesda and co-owner of the Black Restaurant Group. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion, you roll with it as a restaurateur.”
Black, who also co-owns several restaurants in the District, says he finds D.C. diners a bit more experimental “for whatever reason,” which may lead to District restaurants offering more innovative fare. But Black also points out that an ostrich burger was the most popular dish on the menu when he first opened Addie’s on Rockville Pike in 1999, confirming that local diners can also be adventurous.
Black said the local dining scene’s overall reputation may be the result of inexperienced owners opening in vacant restaurant spaces. These spaces offer a lower cost of entry compared to spaces that require full scale build-outs.
“In defense of critics, there’s a lot of mediocre restaurants that pop up because one guy goes out of business and then someone comes in and maybe he’s not ready to operate a restaurant,” he said. “The disrespect thing is not going to go away, it’s not going to change, it’s just the nature of the beast.”
“We’ve all cooked in D.C. before,” said Jeff Heineman, owner of Grapeseed Bistro in Bethesda, referring to chefs such as Black, the acclaimed French chef Yannick Cam at Bistro Provence and Damian Salvatore at Persimmon. “We all didn’t forget how to cook out here.”
Heineman, whose restaurant was called “an inspiration” by Tom Sietsema when the Post critic reviewed it in 2008, said the negative criticism is “mostly BS.”
“I don’t know what these [critics] are looking for,” Heineman said.
Heineman wondered if part of the problem is that D.C. critics don’t frequently review Bethesda restaurants.
According to the Post’s online Maryland restaurant news archive, a July review of Bethesda Curry Kitchen is the newspaper’s most recent review of a Bethesda restaurant. That review by Tim Carman ended by praising Bethesda, saying “this suburb has gradually trained its palate to savor the spicy dexterity of Indian cooking and become the ideal incubator for a place like Bethesda Curry Kitchen.”
The most recent review of a Bethesda eatery in Washingtonian’s online archive praised the new taco joint Gringos and Mariachis in a short review, saying the reviewers sampled “terrific tacos in Bethesda.”
Alan Pohoryles, who owns the bar Tommy Joe’s and the casual restaurant Roof, said the stereotyping is frustrating.
“It’s funny because Bethesda has some excellent restaurants,” Pohoryles said. “Obviously we don’t have the high profile of the D.C. restaurant and bar scene, but as far as different ethnic restaurants and American bar and grills, Bethesda as a whole matches up to anywhere in D.C.”
Pohoryles said discounting Bethesda is a mistake and invited Sietsema to try out his new restaurant, Roof. “Had Sietsema come here and eaten, he may have a different opinion,” Pohoryles said. “I don’t think this town gets the credit that it deserves.”