I do not consider myself in any way a professional expert on food. However, I like to believe that I enjoy fine dining and quality meals. I have a good knowledge of cooking and thoroughly enjoy concocting new delicious dishes. I actively seek new restaurants that have interesting and intriguing concepts. Most importantly I am a gourmand (I am Greek) and will eat gluttonously to excess.
To make a long story short, I brought my friend to MiniBar for her birthday and it was the most wonderful food experience I have ever had in my life. You leave the restaurant feeling like you ate food made by fairies and elves in a magical land of whimsy and sparkles
Minibar is the creation of master Chef Jose Andres. Andres can be credited with bringing ambrosial eating establishments to DC like Oyamel, Zaytinya, Jaleo and Café Atlantico. Oh and he also won Iron Chef America against Bobby Flay and has a slew of other awards. Basically he is god’s gift to DC, direct from Spain.
Minibar is a private dining experience within Café Atlantico. The menu is set and consists of 30-35 tasty treats for $120 per person. It’s capped at six people per session and there are two sessions per day.
Reservations are EXTREMELY HARD to obtain and you must call on a specific day and specific hour 30 days in advance.
Once you secure your reservation and arrive to your day of destiny, you are greeted by a server who explains how it will all go down and offers you some sparkling water and drinks. Now the food is already selected. However, you may choose from a variety of wines. The staff are extremely knowledgeable in this department and can help you pair the right wine with the food. Another good option (and what we chose) is a set of “pairing” drinks. If you choose this you get 3 drinks that correspond to what you will be eating a specific time. There are three separate options. If you don’t know anything about wine , then I would suggest choosing one of the pairings as its already determined it will be yummy.
Once that’s all sorted you are led upstairs to a bar with 6 place settings.
You are seated facing into the kitchen where the two chefs prepare, explain and present everything to you. Now, be prepared to be amazed and entranced by what they can do with food. They take food we are all familiar with- Popcorn, cotton candy, Caesar salad, corn on the cob- deconstruct it and refashion it into something you would have never imagined. They change the textures, the presentation –they even use liquid nitrogen!- to stir up all the senses. Everything comes in a bite size portion placed on a counter directly in front of you to be eaten at the chefs command ” Eat this in one bite” “Eat this in two bites’ ” Eat this and breathe thru your nose” ( to be explained)
I won’t describe every single dish as there are over thirty but I will give some of the highlights.
Olive Oil “Bon Bon”: This is a delicate capsule of olive oil seasoned to taste like the perfect dressing. It looks like a tiny liquid pill you pop and savour the scrumptious flavour exploding on your tongue.
“Dragons Breath” Popcorn: This is the coolest thing I have ever eaten. It’s made with that dry ice stuff you remember from childhood Halloweens. You have to eat it fast to get the full effect. “Eat this in one bite, look at each other and breathe” says the chef. Once this tasty morsel enters your mouth thick smoke comes out of your nose- you guessed it like a dragon!
Boneless Chicken Wing:Ok, this may sound boring but it was so delectable and succulent my mouth is watering at the mere thought. The juiciest piece of chicken is seasoned to perfection with a bit of coconut and tamarind.
Cotton Candy Eel- The name says it all. Who would have ever thought these two things could go together? Well, they do and they spin the cotton candy on their own machine right before you.
“Guacamole”: A frozen tube looking thing with tomato sorbet on the outside and avocado crema in side, with a bit of crushed chips makes this cold version of Guacamole different yet familiar at the same time.
May I add that besides being experts in what they were doing the two chefs were extremely nice and friendly?
One of them said the number one remark he gets from people at the end of the night is ” Can I take you home with me?” , which is no wonder considering he is a food magician. Oh, and he had no formal food education- take that culinary school!!
If you are looking for a unique culinary experience that will titillate all the senses, you have come to the right place.
Don’t expect to eat till you gorge here. You are eating art.
If there was ever a place to experience Avant Garde Foodism, its here.
http://www.cafeatlantico.com/miniBar/miniBar.htm
I saw a documentary on Andres which also reported on the minibar. I have never wanted to have $120 so bad in my life.
July 10, 2008 at 12:37 pmI have wanted to do this for so long.
In my mind-it is totally worth it.
Cafe Atlantico is pretty wonderful on the regular too, and they are one of the rare places that makes (good) pisco sours in DC.
I’ve always wanted to go there (and certainly will soon). The reason I haven’t yet been is that I know from other experience how painful it can be not to get more from the delicious taste you just had. It’s a tease. A mean one because you can’t repeat or recreate the experience.
Btw. I think US$120 is pretty fair. Taste menues in experimental restaurants usually cost much more.
July 10, 2008 at 12:58 pmI have no doubt it’s an experience, and no doubt the staff is talented, and no doubt the food is good.
But to me $120 for thirty bites of food you are going to poop out in 6 hours is ridiculous.
You just paid $120 for some turds is all…
You can buy and make a steak and feed 50 homelss people with the leftover $105.
July 10, 2008 at 1:26 pmI’ve been to minibar a few times and it’s incredible - far superior to wd~50 in New York and Moto in Chicago. It’s memorable, engaging, and pretty much everything served works from a pure taste/texture standpoint.
(Michael, lots of awesome things are ridiculous to you)
July 10, 2008 at 1:54 pmI’d do it if they dressed the kitchen staff as elves and had the waitstaff dangle from the ceiling in fairy wings. I know a guy who did this with a girl he wanted to impress and he raved about it. But I’m not crazy about the food at Cafe Atlantico. I’m a cretin, I know.
July 10, 2008 at 1:56 pmI’ve done this and it’s totally worth it. Just one tip, however….DO NOT go there on an empty stomach. Reserve your spot, eat a light din din, then slide on in and you’ll be able to truely appreciate the “menu”. The de-constructed selections are especially interesting.
July 10, 2008 at 2:01 pm“You can buy and make a steak and feed 50 homelss people with the leftover $105.”
I’ll remind you how many lifes you could have saved the next time I see you spending money on anything non-existential.
July 10, 2008 at 2:07 pmBrian, no, only awesome things are awesome to me.
July 10, 2008 at 2:13 pmBrian: a few times? did you pay for it each time?
this sounds awesome, but $120 can usually last me about two weeks as far as going out goes.
July 10, 2008 at 2:20 pmAmanda, it may sound much….but I, for instance, don’t eat out a lot - not because I cannot afford it but because I think the price-quality relation in most DC restaurants is completly off. So, US$120 is about what you spend at three eat-outs of mediocre and forgettable quality. It makes more sense to cook and save the money for dining experiences which are worth it.
July 10, 2008 at 2:52 pmI’ve never been and would love to. You could equate this with buying tickets to a concert, a sporting event, hell, to traveling. The experience has lasting value. $120 worth? For me, probably. Sooner or later, I’m gonna find out.
On a related note, the “Latin Dim Sum” brunch at Cafe Atlantico offers a $35 all-you-can eat parade of small plates. Many are good, a few are great and, well, it’s pure gluttony. They do pull out a few of Andres’ molecular gastronomy tricks, so it’s one way to get a little taste of the MiniBar experience without dropping all that loot.
July 10, 2008 at 2:52 pmIf you want something a bit more affordable, try the Latino Dim Sum Brunch at Cafe Atlantico on Sunday mornings. I get the vegetarian tasting menu ($25??); it’s 14 courses of fantastic foods (bigger than bites!) for suchhhh a good price. do it and do it now.
July 10, 2008 at 3:39 pmAmanda: I did pay for it. It was $65 when they opened, then went to $85, but I haven’t been since they made it $120.
They probably break even at best - two full-time chefs, a server, much higher than average food costs, crazy equipment, and only 60 meals served a week.
July 10, 2008 at 6:14 pmI’ve also done it twice- once when it was $95, once when it was $120. It was great both times but much better the second time. Totally worth the price. I was surprised to see that Komi was rated higher for dining experiences in DC- I just wasn’t that impressed with it.
July 11, 2008 at 12:01 amWaste of money if you ask me.
July 11, 2008 at 1:17 ami have been 3 times (actually, once - or twice? - with brian!). each time was a (dare i say) magical experience. and well worth the money - although as brian mentioned above, the first time i went it was only $65. i mean, yeah, $120 is a splurge for most people, but i don’t think you would regret it.
i do think i enjoyed the first time more than the others because of the chef. he was so engaging, friendly, interesting, funny, cute (i could go on…) and made the experience fantastic. since you are sitting right there with the chefs, it is so important that they help to make the experience a pleasant one. the second time, the chefs weren’t quite as charismatic or charming. but, the food was still amazing.
don’t go if you are a vegetarian. and if you don’t love foie gras before going, you will after. and i highly recommend drinking champagne and not doing wine - the idea being that champagne is light, crisp and will go with anything. it won’t clash with each bite the way wine will. you can do a wine flight, but i recommend the 1+1=3 cava (assuming they still have it) - it is delicious and pretty inexpensive comparably.
having said all that - michael, dinner at your place the next time i’m in town? you are a master chef in your own right…
July 14, 2008 at 5:17 pmBrian, probably better than break even as the space isn’t full restaurant sized and doesn’t boast any close to a full kitchen. Much of the prep work is done off-site — leveraging Jose’s mini-empire of restaurants and their kitchens — and assembled at minibar.
July 17, 2008 at 6:01 pm
$120 (+ tip and wine) for 30 bites of food?
July 10, 2008 at 12:16 pm