The Presidential Inaugural Committee figured out a way to watch the parade and get something to eat besides sidewalk pretzels and half-smokes: The members rented out Central Michel Richard for the afternoon, according to General Manager Brian Zipin.

Committee members will be noshing on a luxuriant buffet spread, prepared and served by Central's superb cooks, as the parade rolls by the restaurant's front door, located near 11th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue. Zipin says the committee should have an okay view of the parade from Central's front windows, though it may be significantly blocked once the sidewalk starts to fill up. At around 11 this morning, there wasn't "a lot" of people out there, he says.

By 2:30, the start time of the parade, Zipin figures that will change. "So many poeple may be outside the restaurant, I don't if we will be able to open the door," the general manager says.

Assuming they can open the door, will Zipin let his hard-working cooks and waiters take a break and watch the historic parade? "I don't think the chefs will want to come out," Zipin says. As for the servers, though, Zipin says he "shouldn't have a problem with that, as long as it's civil."

Zipin says he may even let the cooks out, should they want to leave their buffet stations for the parade. He understands, after all, the importance of the day and its events. "It's exciting," Zipin says. "It's amazing."

The most troubling talk about Michel Richard Citronelle has nothing to do with lost stars or with the dress habits of pre-pubescent diners. It has to do with a persistent rumor that it will be closing or moving out of the District.

The rumor, for once, has a basis in reality. Citronelle's dated dining room has been facing a major overhaul for years now, but since 2007, when Interstate Hotels & Resorts of Arlington and Harte Holdings of Ireland bought the Latham Hotel, the renovation talks have progressed into real action. Designers and contractors have visited the hotel, says Mel Davis, PR coordinator for Citronelle.

The rumor is also based on recent history. When Roberto Donna closed Galileo for "renovations" in 2006, he was supposed to move back into a new-and-improved space at 21st and L streets. That hasn't happened yet---and looks like it never will. Some fear the same fate could befall Citronelle if the Latham closes for renovations.

Davis says Richard is "always looking" for new spaces. It's almost part of his DNA. He's looking for places for a possible burger joint, for a steak joint, perhaps even for Citronelle. Davis doesn't know when renovations will actually begin or even really how long they will take, but the makeover could start early next year.

OK, but are the rumors true? Will the renovations push Citronelle out of the Latham and maybe out of the city? "I don't think Citronelle is leaving the city, and more than likely, we'll be staying right here," Davis says.

Eddie Gehman Kohan, one of Los Angeles' cheeky Haphazard Gourmet Girls, e-mailed me this afternoon to share her recent experience at Michel Richard Citronelle. She was on the war path, clearly. She wasn't after Richard's head, but that of the maitre d', who stopped Kohan on the way out of Citronelle and said that her young companion's denim wasn't appropriate for the Georgetown institution.

Writes Kohan:

How, we wondered, had our dinner turned into that scene in Pretty Woman, y'know, the one where Julia Roberts, ultra-fetching whore, gets dissed by the shopkeepers on Rodeo Drive because she's dressed "wrong?"

Kohan told me that the Haphazard Gourmet Girls "agree with the loss of that star in the Wash Post dining guide." She went on to say this at the end of her hilarious rant:

Dining, these days, is as much about having a good experience as it is about good food, and Citronelle fulfills only half this equation. We'll not be returning any time soon; the very special Crow a la Hubris tasting menu that's being offered is not to our liking. We didn't get food poisoning at Citronelle, we got mood poisoning. And sometimes, that's far worse.

OK, let's hear your thoughts? Is this Haphazard Gourmet Girl being too harsh? Or is she right on the money? (Oh, and please read her whole rant before commenting. It'll make the discussion so much more interesting.)

Ever since Tom Sietsema docked Citronelle a star in this year's Washington Post dining guide, I had been dying to know how Michel Richard responded to the demotion. I mean, Sietsema took no pity on the city's most famous restaurant, a perennial four-star performer no more. The critic wrote:

Read More "Citronelle: Still Seeing Stars, Just One Less Than Usual" »