Vidalia - RJ Cooper's "24" Course Tasting Menu with LOTS of pictures!

[petercoolz]

I took a lot lot LOT of pictures when we went recently to try out Chef RJ Cooper's "24" course tasting menu.

The full review is here:
http://www.corystyle.com/blog/2010/03...

I have to say though that I was a bit unsure about dining at Vidalia for the 24 course tasting as I have been 3 times in the past 5 years and would have to say each experience was terrible in both the food and service, but we figured we'd give it another shot at feeding us -- this time with 24 bites.

The meal began promptly at 7:30pm, and the Chef introduced himself. RJ Cooper is one of the best chefs in the area -- having claimed a James Beard award in 2007. His personality is a fun one to have around the dinner table because he fills the guests with not just food, but sumptuous stories about his life.

We had a lot of fun listening to the chef talk about how he got started cooking. RJ Cooper, without the food, would be fun to listen to for four hours. When you add the yummy food, he's got a hit on his hands. With only 8 seats twice a week (Friday and Saturday), we'd recommend you check it out and hope you'll enjoy the chow and chatter as much as we did.

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Vidalia
1990 M St NW # 2, Washington, DC

Vidalia
1990 M Street, Washington, DC 20036

[Steve]

I have a hard time processing these two statements:

"each experience was terrible"

"one of the best chefs in the area"

[coweepooh]

id have to say each of our previous experiences at Vidalia had been during restaurant week/summers...and it seems that many chefs take off during the summer time to explore other restaurants, track down new ingredients and produce to use in their dishes...

so i guess with Chef RJ Cooper cooking right there and having his hand in each plate...that made a difference!

(sorry for the confusion...also my bf and i both give a little input in our "dining outs" and obviously we dont always see eye to eye on each plate 100%)

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Vidalia
1990 M St NW # 2, Washington, DC