Ruta emerged from Palena's kitchen, pictured with Maddy Beckwith

So how unique was last night's opening reception for Sou'Wester? So unique that Frank Ruta showed up. In all the years Y&H has been covering the dining scene in D.C., I've never seen the semi-reclusive Palena chef and owner at an industry event. I barely recognized him out of his whites.

"This is only the second time I've been to one of these," Ruta told Y&H.

"Only the second ever?" I asked Ruta, knowing his years on the scene.

"No, this is the second time this year," he responded.

Ruta's presence wasn't the only unusual thing about this dual-themed party, which celebrated both the fifth anniversary of CityZen and the launch of Sou'Wester, the latest project from Eric Ziebold, chef of the City Paper's reigning Best Restaurant. There was a tattooed DJ spinning rap and funk tunes in the CityZen dining room, one of the most formal spaces in town, where food stations had been set up to pass out samples of Sou'Wester's menu. That's right, people were dancing in the CityZen dining room (including Y&H, but it's best not to think about that). The cognitive dissonance was palpable.

Avert your eyes, restaurant industry folks are getting down

Not that Y&H enjoys playing the role of Reliable Source, but the list of restaurant players was pretty impressive. Aside from Ruta, other attendees included Vidalia chef R.J. Cooper, Cork chef Ron Tanaka, Rasika chef Vikram Sunderam, Clyde's Group chef John Guattery, baker and G Street Food's  Mark Furstenberg, Inox sommelier John Wabeck, The Source's GM Adam Crocini, Bourbon Steak GM Mark Politzer, FreshFarm Market's Maddy Beckwith, Bistro Bis and Vidalia owner Jeffrey Buben, Bourbon Steak chef David Varley,  and Cork owners Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts.

The media/blogger types were out in force, too. Aside from Y&H, other attendees included Nycci Nellis, David Hagedorn, Jennifer Barger, Monica Bhide, Erin Hartigan, Michael Birchenall, Melissa McCart, Don Rockwell, and Carol Blymire.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I know I'm still having trouble adjusting to the new name for the Southern-inspired restaurant in the former Cafe MoZu space. If you'll recall, the operation was originally dubbed South by Southwest, which Y&H ridiculed and which Ziebold defended. Because of a legal threat by certain festival organizers in Austin, the Mandarin Oriental switched to the current Sou'Wester, which rolls off the tongue like...rock candy stuck in the back of your throat.

I have much higher hopes for the restaurant itself, which is under the direction of CityZen sous chef Rachael Harriman, who will serve as chef de cuisine at Sou'Wester. Her menu will include blackened bluefish, chicken and dumplings, rabbit sausage with cheese grits, and a unique take on pork and beans.

Scratch that.

During a phone conversation yesterday, Ziebold said that South by Southwest, which replaces Cafe MoZU at the Mandarin Oriental, wouldn't open until September. The problem, Ziebold said, is that the original designer envisioned a "bold, bright" space. Unfortunately, that wasn't Ziebold's vision.

"We were looking to make a statement by not making a statement. You know what I mean?" Ziebold told Y&H. "I'm a less-is-more kind of person...It wasn't going in that direction."

But it took the SXSW team six weeks to pull the plug on the first designer, Ziebold said. The new designer, based in Los Angeles, is working out far better, helping put together a space that doesn't feel so designed, the chef added.

Still, the new designers have run into delays, too, whether learning that the curtain fabric they originally wanted was no longer in production or trying to design custom-made china for South by Southwest. The china maker is apparently based in Colombia, Ziebold said. "So the process of getting samples is not exactly efficient," he deadpans.

Photo courtesy of the Mandarin Oriental

Ziebold was not at all defensive. He even agreed with my basic premise: that MoZU's new name, South by Southwest, said more about the hotel where the restaurant is housed than the cuisine itself, which presumably will funnel Eastern Shore flavors. But he wanted me to understand where he was coming from. His concept, as you might expect from the City Paper's top toque, was pretty well thought out.

If you walk outside the hotel, he says, and into the D.C. neighborhood that is SW, you start to get a sense the slower pace that once marked this sleepy Southern town. You might feel it down at the Maine Avenue Fish Market, where folks still haggle over the price of rockfish, or along the Tidal Basin, where you can still take a leisurely walk.

South by Southwest will capture, in part, "this mindset of Southern hospitality and Southern ease and comfort, but in Southwest Washington," Ziebold says.

Photo courtesy of Mandarin Oriental

CityZen's second-in-command in the kitchen, Rachel Harriman, will be the chef de cuisine at the revamped MoZU, which will serve, according to Sietsema, "blue crab soup, chicken and dumplings, braised rabbit leg with grits and hush puppies with honey butter," not to mention desserts like "carrot cake, strawberry shortcake, peach cobbler and grasshopper pie."

Simply put, Y&H loves the idea of a white-tablecloth restaurant embracing local/regional flavors. We can only assume Maryland fried chicken will have a place on the menu, too.

What Y&H doesn't love?

The name of the place: South by Southwest, a reference to the hotel's location in the District. I'm sorry but it's a terrible name for a restaurant looking to funnel the Eastern Shore. It's more about the hotel than about the cuisine. South by Southwest doesn't make me think of the Chesapeake. It makes me think of overzealous indie bands trying to impress a bunch of asshole A&R reps....oh, and puke in the middle of Sixth Street in Austin.

It's not too late, folks. Give us a better name! The restaurant is not expected to relaunch until early this summer.

Photo courtesy of Mandarin Oriental