I always hold off a few months before I review a restaurant, in hopes that it will be stable by then. But readers want to know about new places, and a review takes several weeks to get into print. The timing is a balancing act. I reminded Carole Greenwood that I'd already waited and that, after all, the restaurant was charging full price. If the dining room was too busy for her to cope, she might cut back on the reservations she took.
Greenwood is one of the most loved and hated restaurants to have opened in recent years.
It's one of the most popular. This chef has found her true home after bouncing from restaurant to restaurant, then opening her own with a misguided almost-vegetarian menu in a dreary downtown mall. Now, in Cleveland Park, she's located among financial backers and an enthusiastic audience, though the raves have been tempered by complaints, mostly about service, prices and the slow pace of the kitchen. I had been hearing both sides of the story for two months, by phone, mail and e-mail. I decided it was time to judge firsthand.