How would I grade the experience?
Eh...
Without question, I'll return for another visit before the end of the year. I'm quite positive the next time I walk into Church & State it will have evolved and progressed. And if so, this bar will be a worthy adversary in the DC craft-cocktail wars.
It wasn't a flop. But I wasn't fantastically impressed with the product either.
It wasn't a flop. But I wasn't fantastically impressed with the product either.
This den wasn't nearly as gimmicky as I feared. I never felt like the concept was bludgeoning me over the head. The atmosphere and music relaxed the senses. The single candle light made each table feel very intimate.
Frankly though, I thought the menu missed cocktails that spoke more to this kind of hideout. I felt like the list would have had more gravity with a Blood and Sand-type drink rather than a Mai Tai or a Daiquiri. However, many of the others seemed suited for the concept, like the Sophmoric Sazerac #2.
I ordered this libation wondering how it would play out with the hibiscus liqueur that they added. The flavors, it turned out, were quite balanced although the texture and body was a little watery for a sazerac. Nicole ordered a Manhattan and that went well.
As we drank, more customers poked through the door and occupied tables. I let the server know that I would have a Jack's Rose for my next sipper. Nicole stuck with water (she was still reliving the bowl of mussels that we had just devoured at Granville Moore's).
After a while we got restless and paid the bill. I liked this place, I thought to myself, but it needed to do more. There's a story this place can tell.
I swallowed the last half ounce in the glass and jumped into a taxi with Nicole headed back to Northwest. I'll be back to Church & State. It just needs a little time to grow.
UPDATE #1: The link I previously posted for C&S was wrong. It seems there is a bar of the same name in Los Angeles (thanks Ray). Mea maxima culpa.
UPDATE #2: The Hill is Home and DC Style is Real have their own reviews of C&S. It appears my luke-warm first impression was the exception.
UPDATE #1: The link I previously posted for C&S was wrong. It seems there is a bar of the same name in Los Angeles (thanks Ray). Mea maxima culpa.
UPDATE #2: The Hill is Home and DC Style is Real have their own reviews of C&S. It appears my luke-warm first impression was the exception.
love love love mussels and frites at Granville Moores. My perfect scenario..mussels/broth from Brasserie Beck with Granville Moore's superior frite dipping sauces.
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