rolf and daughters

dining at rad is a little "hip" with a touch too much pretense for me,  but still a fun experience with some interesting, well prepared food, unique drink options andgoodservice.   the open warehouse look with many shared tables can get a little noisy but that's part of the hip vibe.  go with it and it's fine.  there's also a nice outdoor area in front.  their menu is non-traditional in that it's not organized into usual categories.  it requires the servers to explain it to diners, which they do with a smile.  (but it must get old.)  there is an extensive cocktail menu with interesting "mash up" types of drinks.  one of my criticisms is while the dining menu has several light dishes to share, it doesn't have items that really compliment the cocktail options.  so, we skipped that and did wine instead.  (more on that later.)  the small sharing plates do, however, agoodjob of building a unique overall dining experience.  the squid and gardenia we started with is warm, nicely spiced and topped with this extremely fine chopped herb/veggie mix that ties everything together.  more like a gremolata than a gardenia, but we liked it no matter what you call it.  the sourdough bread with seaweed butter and flaky salt is not to be missed.   the garganelli verde with pork ragu was fine, but a little soft and one dimensional for what we thought would be a bold tasting dish.  the squid ink bucatini with octopus and n'duja, however, was rich, full of flavor and one of the most interesting things i've had for a long time.  (no wonder it was featured in bon appetite magazine.)   the tomato and n'duja sauce has agoodspice that never gets out of hand, but continues through the dish.  great.  rad is very proud of their wines.  (i still can't understand these 3.5 and 4 times retail markups.)  we had a spanish red that was rather bland, and didn't support the food as was suggested it would.  disappointing.  our service, however, was very good.  attentive with out being obtrusive, and other than the wine suggestion (she was a server after all, not a sommelier) very informative about the food.   overall, rad is putting out some unique dishes and cocktails, but is also missing a few opportunities.  at this price point and with the recourses available to them,  they're coming up just a smidge short.   for the little misses, i've docked them one star, but i'd still recommend trying rad for yourself.

fabulous!. last minute trip to nashville to visit son in college, tried to get a reservation the week before, but knew it was unlikely. very helpful girl on the 'phone told me they have communal tables that are first come first seated (the bar is too). we waited about an hour for our table. husband wanted to go elsewhere, i made him wait. cocktails were delicious.

the hostesses had been very friendly and the waitress was friendly enough, she seemed a bit overwhelmed. steak tartare appetiser was delicious, i thought the salsa verde was a strange choice to go with it but it worked. squid ink pasta with shrimp and lemon was absolutely wonderful, perfectly seasoned. husband had the pasta verde with pork ragu which was verygood- he thought he won (he didn't). son very much enjoyed the roast pork, portions were way too small for his liking but then he's a 19 year old with the appetite of a small horse. desserts were great, the bombolini were a big hit - warm, crispy sugary pillows of yumminess. the panacotta wasn't really, it jiggled okay but the consistency was too soft, more like a creme brulee without the brulee.

pet peeve... husband and son finished their main course before i did and the waitress cleared their plates, asked about dessert and delivered the dessert menu before i had finished - super tacky and very rude, her actions made me feel as though they really wanted us out of there pdq. she did the same thing to the group of 3 sitting beside us. i know a lot of people don't like to sit with an empty plate in front of them (i'm one of those) but if someone in my party is still eating i can wait.

we'll definitely go back (but maybe have a reservation next time).

outstanding. the squid is out of this world. tartare wasgoodand lamb meatballs were lean but pretty tastey. stick with the pasta dishes. will definately be back to try the rest of the pastas.

i feel like a terrible food blogger.  rolf and daughters  had been on my must-go list for what felt like an eternity but i just finally made my way around to it last week. this is totally 100% my fault due to poor planning and begging for last minute reservations. but my last minute perseverance finally paid off last week with a table for two at a reasonable dinner hour! located in germantown, rolf and daughters is charming and beautiful. they have a romantic outside patio lit by fairy string lights. inside, it's dark and filled with lovely handcrafted wood pieces. the ceiling was even covered in wood planks. for a small place, they do seem to be able to fit agoodamount of diners at once. i did think that the noise level was a bit loud, so it might not be a great place to take your parents (if they're the type who love to complain about noise) or someone who is hard of hearing. of course we started off with cocktails! i chose the colony collapse which consisted of bourbon, honey liqu