Rice is cool-hot: Excellent food, simple elegance
By Corina Lothar
Friday, January 30, 2004
Good things do come in small packages. Rice, on the booming 14th Street corridor, just above Q Street NW, is small, sleek and elegant in its simplicity.
A discreet brass plaque on the gray brick wall at No. 1608 announces the restaurant. (You might think it a Boston investment bank). A single window gives a glimpse of the narrow room with a small bar at the end of a warm brick wall, the old bricks in differing shades of red. A long wall at right is the palest of greens. The bare wooden tables are adorned with small pots of flowers. It's cool and contemporary - a nice contrast to the heat of much of the excellent cooking. ….[more ]
Thai with a twist
Chic and lively with a New York feel that attracts city dwellers and the downtown crowd, Logan Circle newcomer Rice adds a unique spin to Thai cuisine.
By Aaron Fynn
Friday, January 23, 2004
FOR THE MOST PART, you can take a menu from any Thai restaurant, travel across town, up the block, or across state lines to an entirely different Thai place, order something to eat and not notice much difference. But at Rice, yet another product of the Logan Circle renaissance near downtown D.C., there were quite a few things that I’ve never seen anywhere else.
This restaurant offers a mix of classic Thai favorites along with unique family recipes. It’s exactly what a restaurant should do.
And did I mention how chic Rice seems, with its minimalist décor and the works of art they leave on each plate? I’m talking birch floors, teak chairs with that handcrafted, rustic-yet-modern vibe. And it’s all snuggled into what feels like a miniature Soho loft. ….[more ]
Rice Dream
By Tom Sietsema
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Rice is not your father's Thai restaurant. It may not even be the kind of Thai restaurant that you are most accustomed to, given the dozens of glossy look-alikes that fleck the Washington landscape like so many grains of sticky rice. With rare exceptions -- Thai Square in Arlington, for example, or Sakoontra in Fairfax -- the menus at too many of them are largely interchangeable, right down to the tame flames of the dishes billed as "spicy."
You heard it here first: The leaders of the Thai pack just got some much-needed company. And it's just a short walk from the Studio Theatre in Logan Circle.
Finding Rice, the newcomer in question, can be tricky. There are no obvious signs announcing its presence, just a small, brushed-nickel plate with carved letters too small to read from a passing car. The dining room, visible through the single front window, is equally subdued. There are zero distractions on the alternating red brick and pale green walls, and furnishings are kept to the bare minimum, just some dark teak tables and chairs and a small fountain to one side. The music of choice -- classical guitar on most of my visits -- matches the restaurant's Zenlike mood. ….[more ]
The Weekly Dish
By Tom Sietsema
Wednesday, November 12, 2003; Page F07
THAI, WITH SOME TWISTS: The city's latest Thai restaurant, Rice (1608 14th St. NW; 202-234-2400), is good news for residents of Logan Circle, who desperately need more quality restaurants, and also for everyone who has grown tired of all the lookalike, taste-alike Thai eateries that blanket the Washington area.
From the burnished nickel nameplate out front to the calming green palette used in the dining room, Rice distances itself from the pack with a decidedly demure style. The menu takes a different tack, too. While it's possible to order such familiar Thai dishes as green curry beef and larb gai, those plates share space on the list with such innovations as (believe it or not) spaghetti with anchovies. The pasta is combined with lemon grass, galangal, chili pepper, bacon and Thai basil for brassy effect. ….[more ]
