Restaurant

Awesome Seafood in Ashburn

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Ford’s Fish Shack
44260 Ice Rink Plaza
Ashburn, VA 20147
571-918-4092
https://fordsfishshack.com/ashburn/

Seafood | $$

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This is one of three Northern Virginia locations. Addresses and directions can be found on their web page.

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Home-made corn muffins is always a great way to start any meal. They were great tasting and perfectly moist.

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Our Rhode Island Calamari appetizer was wonderful. A nice light flavorful batter and ginger aioli. More thank enough for two people.

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My wife loved this Lobstah Bisque with a Sambuca Cream and Chives.

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I had to go for the Crab Cakes with Chorizo Mac & Cheese. The Crab Cakes were excellent, better than any I get at the shore and almost a good as what I had at Lemaire in Richmond. The Chorizo Mac and Cheese was wonderful, not overly cheesy and the Chorizo gives it just enough spice for my taste.

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My wife’s seafood platter gave her a selection of perfectly cooked shrimp, scallops, clams, and oysters. All are some of her favorites and delicious. It’s a large portion of seafood and the sides, while very good, didn’t get touched much. When asked she quickly said she would order it again in a heartbeat.

With the calamari, soup, and two sizable entrées there was no room for dessert. Based on our overall experience with dinner there is no reason to think dessert would not be tasty. The noise level was moderate. Service was excellent, attentive and welcoming.

Quality well prepared fish is hard to find, even in places where you would expect all seafood to be spectacular, like the shore. We have been meaning to try Ford’s Fish Shack for some time. I have heard good things and our experience proved them  true. The day we visited Chef/Owner Tony Stafford was overseeing operations and everything ran like clockwork. Before you decide to drive to the Eastern Shore or go to Passion Fish in the impossible to park Reston Town Center, find the nearest Ford’s Fish Shack and give it a try. You will be impressed.

Childhood trauma. Drugs. Alcohol. A chef who chose recovery hopes his story can help others.

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This is an excellent article from the Washington Post toll substance abuse are taking on the restaurant industry.

Ashish Alfred: “I want for someone to read it and say, ‘I have a friend who needs to read this.’ ”

Source: Childhood trauma. Drugs. Alcohol. A chef who chose recovery hopes his story can help others.

Anniversary Dinner at Lemaire

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Lemaire
101 West Franklin St. (Inside the Jefferson Hotel)
Richmond, VA 23220
804-649-4757
www.lemairerestaurant.com

American | $$$

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Located in the stately Jefferson Hotel, the dinning room with all it’s dark wood reminded me of the Edwardian Room at the Plaza Hotel in New York. A nice change from the modern era flashy noise enhancing decors of many restaurants.

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Whipped butter and home-made bread are a nice start.

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We started with this Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Cake that was the best I have had. For a whole host of reasons it takes a good bit to get me to order seafood when I can’t see the sea from the restaurant. I am glad I ordered the crab cake, it was extraordinary. When I mentioned how good it was to the waiter he told me the chef adds a pureed scallop to each pound of crab. I asked the waiter 2 more times about this thinking I did not hear him correctly.

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When you order steak you get a serious knife. It really wasn’t necessary, the steak was so tender you could cut it with a butterfly.

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I enjoy a Sous Vide steak.The asparagus was perfect, just a little bit of crisp to it.

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My wife had the Pan Seared Rockfish. She really enjoyed it and said she would order it again.

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For my dessert I chose the Fluffernutter Candy Bar with a Brownie, Peanut Butter Marshmallow, and Salted Caramel Brittle. Chocolate and peanut butter, you can’t go wrong.

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My wife had the Peaches & Cream dessert. It is a light White Chocolate Cheesecake with Peaches and Hibiscus. She is not a big cheesecake fan but said this was one of her favorites.

The wait staff was excellent on par with what you would expect in a better restaurant. The noise level with low making it a pleasant romantic dinner.

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Consider arriving early for your reservation to take the opportunity to wander the beautifully restored 120 year old hotel.

Mike Isabella’s Restaurant Group Is Closing

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Mike Isabella’s Restaurant Group Is Going Out of Business less than a year after a sexual harassment lawsuit rocked his restaurant empire. The once $40 million company will go out of business by Dec. 27.

Source: Mike Isabella’s Restaurant Group Is Going Out of Business

French chef first woman to earn three Michelin stars in US

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French chef Dominique Crenn on Thursday became the first woman in the United States to earn three Michelin stars for her modernist San Francisco restaurant Atelier Crenn.

Source: French chef first woman to earn three Michelin stars in US

The Inside Story of Mike Isabella’s Fallen Empire

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Washingtonian Magazine has a great overview of the collapse of Mike Isabella’s restaurant group. A cautionary tale for chefs about how poor personal choices can destroy years of work.

“When Isabella Eatery opened, no one imagined it would close nine months later—and certainly not like this.”

Source: The Inside Story of Mike Isabella’s Fallen Empire

TOP 10 CITIES FOR FOODIES IN THE US

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Portland or

 

WalletHub.com has ranked the top 182 cities in the country for foodies. Using 29 key metrics, including food friendliness, average cost of groceries, affordability and accessibility of high-quality restaurants, and food festivals.

Here are the top ten:
1. Portland, OR
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Miami, FL
4. New York, NY
5. Los Angeles, CA
6. Orlando, FL
7. Las Vegas, NV
8 Seattle, WA
9. San Diego
10. Austin, TX

Check to full list here to see where your city ranks.

Here Are Washington DC’s Michelin Stars for 2019

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Congrats to Chef Patrick, the Inn at Little Washington becomes the DC-area’s first three Michelin-starred restaurant The larger Washington D.C. area can finally boast of a culinary status symbol held by Chicago, San Francisco, and New York: the presence of a three Michelin-starred restaurant.

Source: Here Are Washington DC’s Michelin Stars for 2019

Mike Isabella Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

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Top Chef The chef tells the Post: “ We want to stop the bleeding” Top Chef alum and restaurateur Mike Isabella filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today in federal court, the Washington Post reports . This is the latest development in Mike Isabella Concepts’ recent business struggles, as Chinatown restaurant Graffiato and his massive food hall at Tysons Galleria both closed over the summer and he’s reportedly trying to work on a payment plan with the landlord of his College Park restaurant Kapnos Taverna .

Source: Mike Isabella Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy