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 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.

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.)

For a long minute, there's no one to welcome me at the host stand. At the table, it takes seemingly forever to get a drink. Then, in the middle of explaining a dish, my bored-looking waiter is interrupted by the maitre d', who whispers something in his ear while my companion and I wait. Throughout a recent dinner at what used to be a four-star experience, an unmistakable joylessness courses through the fading underground dining room that bears the name of one of the country's most esteemed chefs.

Well, yesterday, I had a chance to talk to Mel Davis, PR coordinator for Richard and Citronelle, and she said the big man took it hard. "How would you expect?" Davis says. "It's a blow, but it's a blow that we're paying attention to. It's the kind of feeling of being hurt..."

Richard had no heads-up about the star shaving, so he read about it along with everyone else when the dining guide came out on Oct. 12. "It was very sad" on that Sunday, Davis says. "We were all very sad."

As you might expect, Richard and crew have taken the slap as an opportunity to look at all points of service. They're asking themselves all sorts of questions, Davis says. How did this happen? What time did Sietsema visit? And how many people were working at the time? They've also invested in some remedial wait staff training, and they're already interviewing for another host position to make sure the stand is never, ever empty again.

But has anyone been fired over the star docking?

"Oh, no," Davis says. "We're all in it together, and we'll fix it together."