vermilion restaurant & bar

vermilion can be found on king street in alexandria which is essentially a murderer's row of really good food. from hank's oyster bar to the majestic, there isn't a shortage of places to find an enjoyable meal. vermilion (for some reason i just like typing that out) has a lunch special called the ceo where you can get a starter and a main course for a discounted price and if you add a dessert, they take a bit off of that also. um...sold! i've noticed that most of the nrg's restaurants offer similar specials and while they're not fast food joints (i think the proper term may be casual fine dining though i would hope any place i eat is fine dining...), i think i "combo" meal is a great idea for anyrestaurantsince it gives more leeway to try bits of their menu.

excellent service, good food. the service staff didn't bat an eyelash asking for heavy cream in the coffee, knew the menu to a t, and were attentive without being intrusive.

the sirloin bavette was great--i had asked for "mooing" and received it with just a millimeter of sear, which was wonderful! the shrimp and grits was solid, and the desserts were hard to choose from. if you order the fritters, definitely get coffee with it, as it just works.

the house drinks are a little odd (this month's theme is the red hot chili peppers, so next month may be different) but my californication was fine. preferred the wine.

would definitely recommend, and if you have the chance to come duringrestaurantweek, do.

amazing family event. this is therestaurantyou want to go to if you want amazing food and to be treated like you're their most important customer. i coordinate a lot of dinners and gatherings for friends/family and have done so at many restaurants in the dc area. my experience at vermilion was the best i have ever had planning something like this.

i contacted vermilion to see if they could accommodate our party of 6 celebrating my parents 40th wedding anniversary on a saturday night. the general manager, dave, worked with me the week of our dinner to prep a selected menu based on the current weeks options, which they printed and had waiting at our table when we arrived to make the evening extra special. our waiter was extremely knowledgeable and explained in detail each item on the menu. he knew we were celebrating a special occasion and made sure to space our courses out perfectly to give us time to talk in between. we stayed for 3 hours and never once felt pressure to hurry up and leave as you do in so many other establishments.

the food was out of this world. my husband and i have been to vermilion before and have always been impressed by the food, but you do get a little worried when you are taking people out who have never been there before and are celebrating a special event. everyone is still talking about how delicious the meal was from the appetizers to the desserts. chef chittum is a magician with food.

it was a wonderful night that my parents will forever remember. whenever i have planned a special dinner out for a group in the past, i've spent days calling around to restaurants only to be told that i have to work with an outside company to reserve for a large group and sign a contract for minimums to be met (which are usually extremely high for a weekend). none of that was the case at vermilion. i simply picked up the phone to see if they would be able to accommodate a party of 6 for a special event and everything flowed perfectly from there. no additional fees or forms to fill out. just great customer service and food that we'll surely go back for many times over.

i wish there were more establishments out there like vermilion. it's now at the top of our list of restaurants in the dc area.

there is a "farm table" available two nights a week is an extension of chef tony chittum's commitment to the local farmers, purveyors and foragers who provide therestaurantwith an amazing array of regionally grown goods. the :farm table" is available tuesday and wednesday evenings and unfortunately we were off by a day. so that means i must go here again.

serious, fun food in old town. had a great dinner, after many disappointing ones in old town recently. terrific combination of ingredients, often surprising and creatively presented. the rolls in the bread basket very homemade and terrific. service is friendly, low key, non pretentious. waiter really into the food and ingredients. not cheap, but you are getting a lot for your money -- probably the bestrestaurantin old town.

always a pleasure. as always, the service and food in thisrestaurantrocks. the lamb chops, the pork, the chicken are always wonderfully prepared. and a great place for after dinner drinks.

it's not often that arestaurantwill be nominated for a rammy in the fine dining category one year and then upscale casual the next, but i guess such is the result of the nexus between vermilion's decoration and location. vermilion stands out on a walk d

i was pretty excited today when i read on metrocurean that the folks from neighborhoodrestaurantgroup are opening something up in d.c. even though i'm not the biggest rustico fan and i'm hot and cold with tallula (also i can never remember how many l's

what is it about summerrestaurantweek that makes it so different from its winter counterpart? is it the fact that the city is mostly empty as summer ebbs? fresher ingredients? people in less of a hurry to warm up? i pondered these and other questions as