LIMA Prix Fixe Dinner

Here's more spam that i get. I'd love to go to something like this, but it's proably not going to happen anytime soon, maybe one of you will be interested? the title isn't a misprint either. at first i assumed they meant to say the lima prince fixes dinner, but that can't be the case since the text of the message dosen't mention any princes cooking. I think it must be french or something. :shrug:

Uhhhh... Houston (ok its really Washington) we have a problem -

Friday and Saturday (31st and April 1st) are SOLD OUT after 7pm. There are spots available 5:30-7pm Fri and Sat but that's it. There have been alot of people calling for reservations, so I am going to give it to you straight, PLEASE CALL ASAP for spots Mon-Thursday next week. However, you can always try to give a call the day of the dinner and book a spot if there are some available. Either way - just let them know you are there for the Tastings Journal event so they can get a good count on the numbers, they all know about the event now! You will still need to ask for a special menu when you arrive do not forget that one! Thanks

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Every month we do our best to pick some of the greatest places to eat at an amazing price plus throw in some free wine. Well this time we have one of the hottest new restaurants in Washington. This one will sell out every day, so please make your reservations as soon as you can. If you call early in the morning and have to leave a message, make sure they call you back, until you receive confirmation on your reservation you don’t have one!

Ok, it’s going to be at LIMA next week, Monday the 27th thru Saturday April 1st no fooling! (That’s a ha-ha right?) Anyway we are expecting this one to go to capacity almost every night so I personally will be there every day of the event to manage any problems. Feel free to ask for me (James). Remember, there will be no walk-ins. To make sure there are no problems, we will have menus for everyone that has a special Tastings Journal reservation; just ask for one when you come in. Sometimes it just doesn’t “trickle down” to people running the phones that we are having an event there. Just make a reservation no matter what since this one is going to be a sell out and then ask for me when you arrive and get your special VIP “Tastings Journal” Menu. No menu = No Discount!



Menu, Information and Reservation Numbers –

http://www.TastingsJournal.com

Curious about what we are all about? We offer 4, 5 and 6 course prix fixe dinners by Washington's hot new restaurants. Each month we will be offering an exclusive menu at a different restaurant. Since we book so many reservations, we can offer extraordinary deals. You will receive this email 2 times a month, Monday and Wednesday before the event. Reservations are required; the events always sell out fast.

Review: Washington Post

Dinner with a twist: Does Lima want to be a restaurant or a nightclub? The velvet rope outside the entrance suggests exclusivity and an emphasis on drinking rather than eating, but general manager Daniel Hatem insists the new, next-door neighbor to DC Coast aspires to be a dinner destination.

"We see ourselves as a restaurant," he says, speaking for himself and three partners, including Masoud Aboughaddareh, the local club promoter known as Masoud A. "Which is the point of three floors" at Lima: a first-floor cocktail area, a 90-seat dining room upstairs and an underground lounge with a deejay booth (and its own velvet rope, with diners getting priority access). Hatem, who comes to Lima from a manager's position at the trendy Gua-Rapo in Arlington, sees the ground floor as a "buffer" between those who want a full meal and those who want to party.

En route to Lima's dining room one recent weeknight, we navigate our way through a gaggle of cute young things sipping and posing in the bar area. Milk chocolate-colored banquettes and sage-green walls greet us on the second floor, where the faces are older and the tables are set with champagne flutes, as if the only way to begin an evening here is with something festive. The prices reflect a special occasion, too.

The venue takes its name from the Spanish word for "lime," which finds its way into many of the dishes. "The idea is to get Latin American flavors into everything," says the Cuban-born, French-trained chef, Raynold Mendizabal-Betancourt. Most recently, he consulted at Ceviche in Silver Spring. His experience includes a two-year run at the fish-friendly Pesce in Dupont Circle.

Lima's eclectic menu is evolving --- eventually, the chef hopes to offer 20 or more seviches (up from just four now). The lineup currently runs to cumin-spiked scallops; sea bass paved with a crust of cilantro, cashews and Parmesan cheese; and filet mignon offered with Peruvian potatoes and black olives. Beef- and mushroom-stuffed empanadas are based on Mendizabal-Betancourt's grandmother's recipe, and they're delicious. The appetizer underscores another of the chef's aims: "to get as close to home food as possible."

-- Tom Sietsema (March 8, 2006)