610 Magnolia

I give our experience a solid 5 stars especially because our sever Chad was so charming I wanted to kidnap him. They were some high-highs and some misses but hey, all's fair in love and tasting menus.

We had a great bold bottle of red wine to go with the variety of veggie, seafood and meat dishes. While I can't remember everything my bf had, I do remember him raving about the wild boar chops.

My first course was a king crab dish with a banana mousse and spicy cashews, it was BANANAS in the best possible way. My second course a roasted winter veg salad fell a bit flat. I guess I expected it to be warm and savory but it was more like a cold salad with beets.

I had the duck for my main and everything side from the duck breast which was cooked medium rare was outstanding. It was served with greens and smoked sweet potatoes so I could forgive the rubberiness of the duck breast.

Last course was a lemon panacotta that completely made up for the duck breast mishap.

610 Magnolia is an experience, they know how to put out a great meal and the service is impeccable. I would come back simply to hang with Chad again. He was so great I gave him a hug at the end of the meal, who does that???

i would give 5 stars for the atmosphere and 5 stars for the server, Chad...he was knowledgeable, helped pace our meal perfectly, unobtrusive, friendly...i am giving 3 stars b/c i would have been fine with just 2 courses, but that isn't an option, i have had way better crab cakes (one was offered as part of the amuse trio-i lived in dc forever, and delicious crab cakes are all over up there) and was surprised that the lobster in the bisque was a lump of raw lobster...the main course, scottish salmon on leeks, was delicious, if oversalted and though the leeks were the best part, there were just too many of them...for a great foodie town, and having lived in other foodie towns, this was just ok...not worth the $$$ in my opinion

I truly enjoyed the private dinner menu at a business meeting in the "wine room" across the street from the main restaurant building.  Having our own chef was great.  Zachary, our server, was very attentive.  

I know this is a renowned restaurant with a famed chef and I clearly don't have Chef Lee's refined palate. However, I offer this treasure of a restaurant 4 stars rather than 5, as the dishes trended toward raw.

Seared tuna squares along with duck sausage bites were passed as appetizers during the cocktail hour.  

The black truffle parsnip soup was outstanding.  It was a wonderful dish served with great flair.

I opted for the seared beef rib-eye entree.  It was plated wonderfully, and probably seared to perfection, but because it was seared, the center was blood red.  Perfect, or not, uncooked beef just doesn't appeal to me.

The chocolate mousse with white chocolate ganache gel dessert was outstanding.  

Also the range hood in the "wine room" was so loud that it was difficult to hear each other speak.  

So, if you are a true foodie and appreciate the ingredients of each well prepared dish, this is a great restaurant.  If you are a burger and beer kind of diner, this level of finicky preparation will probably not be worth your money.