Commonwealth Indian - North Bethesda Gets a Winner

Commonwealth Indian

11610 Old Georgetown Rd, Rockville, MD 20852

www.commonwealthindian.com

240-833-3055

Sunil Bastola already owns and operates Bollywood Bistro (X2) in Northern Virginia. Apparently he's taken what he learned in NoVa, added some area-specific tastes after spending some time in Rockville-AKA North Bethesda, and provided and exceptional dining experience named Commonwealth Indian.

 The restaurant, situated right next to the soon-to-open Fogo de Chao, is gorgeous. Sunil spent a lot of time on this build-out, considering colors, textures, and art work. It doesn't disappoint for looks or comfort.

 I really appreciated the fact that they offered some non-alcoholic cocktails. They were excellent NA versions of some of the drinks they had on their cocktail menu, though they weren't listed on the menu as being available sans booze. If you're into this kind of thing be sure to ask.

 We started out with Garlic Naan. Two pieces of tender cloud topped with garlic, olive oil and cilantro. Just enough of everything in the right proportions, prepared with years of practice. Do not skip this.

 Next on our order was the Kavak aur Swarn Aloo. Little puffs of golden potato with truffles and gold leaf. Its served with crackers and some excellent chutney. 

Next up was the yellow crab curry. Just enough heat to liven the dish up. The crab was hidden in the pic, but there was plenty of it. All of the entrees we had were served with perfectly cooked jasmine rice and their house chutney with crackers. 

 Next we tried the Butter Chicken You sometimes get the feeling that butter chicken is an afterthought dish that Indian restaurants put on the menu because it's supposed to be there. That is not the case with Commonwealth's. The chicken was not trimmings that had been simmering for hours, or leftovers. It was fresh, trimmed, boneless, and perfectly cooked. A very pleasant dish that was thoughtfully prepared.

 As I do, when I can, I popped into the kitchen to see what it looked like. Very high-tech, contemporary, and clean. That's what I like to see.

 The expo side of the line was also well stocked and clean. You can see the Micros Kitchen Display unit hanging from the center beam.

Overall, an excellent dining experience. It brings some much needed upscale (not just up-priced as we've seen from other restaurants in Pike on Rose) product and service to an area that really wasn't turning out to be a promising dining destination. 

General Manager DJ Joshi was very hospitable during our visit and it's clear that under his and Sunil's guidance this will be a very popular place on the Pike. Worth a visit. Take your time, enjoy the atmosphere and the food. It's like a little breather in the middle of the craziness of Rockville.

If you go, tell them where you heard about it!

Bolt Burgers - Not Just Another Burger Place

Bolt Burgers

1010 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.

Washington, DC 20001

(202) 320-9200

http://www.boltburgers.com

Just a little background here - Bolt Burgers has been in the works for a long time. It's a creation sprung from the imagination of a few different groups headed by Mike Davidson, Joe Spinelli and Troy Clayton.

Mike is an optician by trade, Joe is the man behind the scenes in the Mid-Atlantic restaurant business (trust me, you've been somewhere he's touched, likely on a daily basis) and Troy is a chef/owner of a restaurant in Alexandria.

What's different about this burger place? A lot. Anyone can cook a burger, but not everyone can cook a real (read not-fast-food) burger to the same temp over 1000 times a day without breaking a sweat. Not everyone has custom blended spices and sauces, and not everyone uses this much technology to make it happen.

As always, I head straight for the kitchen. I like to see what's going on and what it looks like. Shiny stainless, employees with clean uniforms, nothing on counters that shouldn't be there. Check. Looking good.

You may have noticed the screen to the right of the manager in the previous picture. That is a Kitchen Display Screen. It's more than just a representation of a ticket, it's information. From glancing at the screen you can tell how long any ticket has been in the kitchen, which prep area is finished with a given ticket (or not,) how many orders aren't currently showing on the screen yet, and which orders are done and waiting to be delivered to guests. The oldest done ticket is always in the upper left-hand corner with a blinking border so it's always the first one to go out and you don't mix up peoples' orders.

It can also show trainees how to assemble a certain dish, handle prep work, show nutritional info/ingredients, or display training videos. Cool stuff.

Bolt Burgers lets you order your way not only with regards to food, but in the way you actually get your order into the kitchen. 

You can walk in, get your table number, and walk up to one of the kiosks placed around the restaurant and order yourself. Once you've gone through it once, you may decide to stick with that route as it's easy and if you mess up your order you only have yourself to blame!

 You can go to the walk-up counter and order from a person. This might not be a bad idea the first go-round as they've got some specialty burgers you might want to know about. I had one and it was pretty darned tasty.

 This is the Mr. Truffleupagus. As my frequent readers know, I'm a fool for truffles, so I had to give it a shot. It comes with truffled Pecorino cheese and sauteed mushroom. Nicely done. Good beef and a very nice bun too. It was cooked to a perfect medium. I'm sure they'd custom cook one for you if you ask.

 

These are cute, aye? The fries/rings come in a mini-fry basket. They were good too! I tried a little of each of the custom spice mixes and I particularly like the curry and the chili-cumin. 

Below is a video of the final piece of tech that rounds out the in-store ordering options, and that is the MICROS mTablet. It can be programmed for servers in a table-service restaurant or used as a terminal on the counter and can be wired or wireless. Take a look at the video:

 

After you input the order and swipe your card, a receipt prints out at the host stand and they bring you a copy and collect the mTablet. Very slick.

The final option for ordering is web, which is coming soon. You'll be able to order from your phone, desktop, iPad, iPod Touch, Tablet, however you interact with the web.

These guys/gals involved have put a lot of thought into what they're doing and it shows. I'd expect to see more of these rolling out in the near future. If you stop in, tell them where you read about it.

If you've got questions about the technology, feel free to drop me a line.

Thanks for reading.

Fanfare Eatery - A new concept by Glory Days Grill

Fanfare is a new concept by the folks who bring you some of the best sports-bar food and entertainment.  Their IT director is a pretty forward thinking guy.

This is a view you see as you walk in the front door and look left.

This is looking towards the kitchen.

If you turn around when you enter the front door, you'll notice this on the wall.

It's a self-service terminal on the wall.  If there is a line to get in you can just order your own stuff!  Pretty cool.  They will also be using online ordering shortly, so you can use your smartphone to order a couple dozen wings and a shake to go!

Lots of screens in this place.  This looks like a standard menu board, but it's actually large flat-panel displays that show a rotation of different pictures and specials.  Easy to keep up to date and you don't have to get it re-printed every time you change a price or add an item.

More screens in the kitchen.  These tell the cooks what to make, how many, and how fast to do it.  It also ties into reporting so that the managers can tell which cooks are getting it done quickly, and which are not.  It can also alert the mangers to things like particular menu items taking too long, which can prompt them to re-configure how they prepare particular items.

Another shot of the digital menu boards.

The terminals on the counter have a big touch screen in the back so you can confirm your order and they can tell you about specials or promote specific items.

 

I like the look on the bathroom doors.  They were pretty clearly labeled, though it's apparent the fun-police came and made them use the universal symbols for men and women over their much more creative, though completely legible signage.

Another view of the dining room.

Lots of tasty sauces available, including a few of their own.

You can see my order on the screen!  This screen tells the cooks exactly how long my ticket has been in the kitchen.  After a preset number of minutes the ticket will turn yellow, and then after several more, red, which alerts the kitchen to the fact that they better light a fire under that puppy and get my food out!

You'll notice the production items (items that are ordered frequently) on the top row reflect my order.  There may be so many tickets that the cooks can't see them all at once without scrolling, but they can always see how many of their most popular items they need to have working at any given moment.  Notice the burger spot has a 2 in it, and there are 2 on my order.  Same with the wings.  The fry-guy knows exactly how many wings he has to have either in the fryer or in the drawer at any time.

Here's one!

Can't leave Fanfare without some wings in ya.

And there's the other.

If you have any questions or comments about the technology, writing, pictures, or restaurant please get in touch.  I'd love to hear from you.

The Hamilton - Revisited

The Hamilton

600 14th St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20005

202-787-1000

12/18 and 12/20/2011

You've seen my posts about this place before.  It is a monster. Lots of seats and a music venue.  Open 24X7.  Serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sushi!  The picture above is of their stairs leading down to the music venue.  I hadn't seen these lit up before.  Very cool.  Strangely enough, it doesn't have a cavernous vibe as you might expect in something this big.  They broke this restaurant into many small sections and bars in order to keep it feeling intimate.

The sign isn't lit, but you really can't miss it.  It covers half the block and is where the old Border's was.

So, to move onto my favorite part:  the food.  These are some cheesy potatoes that one of my fellow diners had.  I didn't dig into her dish, but it looked good.

I went with the Sushi/Sashimi combo.  All of the fish was prepared nicely and was extremely fresh.  They offer fresh-grated horse radish, but you have to ask for it.  It's worth the upcharge.  I love that stuff. 

Artful and tasty.

This was a nice touch...fresh jumbo-lump crab in the California Rolls.

Everyone likes happy chefs!  David Moran and his crew found a very talented sushi crew.  Looking around, it seemed like every table in the restaurant had sushi of some sort on it, but they have a full menu of  regional items as well.  The sushi is going to be popular as there isn't a good sushi place within several blocks.

Nice variety of fish at the sushi bar.

Huge, glossy scallops.

This is the crudo.

I just happened to be snapping pix when this came out.  Not my food, but it looked good.

I'm pretty sure this was a firecracker roll in front and something spicy behind it...

On the 20th I went back with my wife and son so I could try some of the turf, as opposed to just the surf. 

The Hamilton is following a local trend here that I love:  house still and sparkling water at no extra charge.  I love sparkling water with dinner, but hate being charged $10.00 per bottle as I've seen in some restaurants.  This is also much more environmentally friendly as the bottles are washable and reusable.  No wasting plastic and space in a landfill. 

I got the Dancing Manhattan.  Balanced and well made.  Here is a link to the Drink Menu.

The bread is served with a cube of butter topped with what appears to by Maldon Sea Salt, which as you may or may not know is what I smoke a lot of for gifts this time of year.  Tender and crisp.  Interested in a bottle of hand-crafted, Smoked Maldon Sea Salt from Pleasures of the Table?  Let me know.

Let me show you how deftly I handle my chop stix!  Alex is a sushi fiend and has been since he was about three. 

This plate was actually enough to keep him from asking for dessert.  Amazing.

As before, the fish was tremendous.  I'm sure they are burning through their inventory on a daily basis here, so no worries about freshness.  Here is a link to the Sushi Menu.

Cheryl got the crab cakes.  I had her get the double because I knew I'd want one.  Jumbo lump, just enough filler to hold it together, and that's it.  This was sweet and well prepared. 

This was the Pork Chop.  One of the better ones I've had in a restaurant.  It was big.  Nicely crisped on the outside/tender and juicy on the inside.  Just hot enough to get past pink.  Speaking of hot, my wife and I both noticed that the food came out together, and everything was hot.  That may not seem like a huge feat in a diner, but in a restaurant of this size pulling food from different stations with different cooking times, it can be a challenge to get everything out at the right temp and cooked properly.  If you'd like a glimpse of the magic behind that, look at this link.

I'll post again when I've had a chance to try the music venue, the late night menu, and the breakfast menu.

Keep in mind when you're viewing the menus that this is a new restaurant, so they may change.

In summary, I feel that this place is going to rock.  They have the formula down from many years of experience, and they have a very well-seasoned management staff to keep things rolling.

I will be back to cycle the everything they have to offer over the next few months, so stay tuned.

Thanks for reading.  Questions or comments?  Let me know!  Thanks.