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Surprising no reviews for The Bazaar yet. Note it is tough to get reservations: had to book 2 months in advance through the Capital One restaurants program to land one. Our family of 5 went this past weekend. All I can say was this was an outstanding experience, maybe better than Minibar and Jaleo. It's tapas based- some more traditional like Jaleo and some with molecular gastronomy like Minibar. The big advantage if you like a concept like Minibar is that you can order a la carte. There are over 50 items to order. We put together a menu with 23 unique items (some needed an order of 2-3 as they were individual-sized portions) which brought us to 30 items in total. Nearly every item was super-delicious and in typical Jose Andres style, beautifully presented. Expected to spend about $100/person without tax/tip, was just a bit higher than that. They do offer tasting menus with 12 items each which are more expensive. Recommend going with a group of 4-6 to maximize number of selections at a lower cost per person. I wish I had time to give you a review of all the items but will mention some highlights: boneless buffalo chicken wings, philly cheesesteak, potatoes pal gasol, conch fritters, onion soup, not your everyday caprese, neptune's pillows, spanish octopus, eggplant escalivada and oxtail croquetas. We also had 3 desserts which were great and had a delicious Ultimate G&T cocktail. Service was friendly and all this food was staged nicely so it came out in 4-5 stages and not all at once. Finally, The Bazaar is in the atrium of the Waldorf Astoria. It's beautiful in it's own right but the underrated positive is that with the high ceiling and essentially no walls, we could actually converse with each other in a normal voice. The Bazaar is another Jose Andres treasure in DC!

Another anniversary, another wonderful celebration at Kinship. We have never had a less than amazing meal at Kinship but this dinner may have topped all the rest. We are still thinking about the amuse bouche summer garden granita with summer garden consomme the kitchen sent out. This consisted of a cold broth of tomato water, basil, lemongrass, and chile poured over a "slushee" of the same broth. Chef Ziebold stopped by our table and explained the inspiration behind the taste as well as how it is made. I am jealous that @MichaelBDCfor taking the whole thing as a shot and therefore got seconds while I restrained myself and sipped it like a classy lady and did not get seconds. The current menu takes advantage is heavy on the summer produce and we took advantage of it. We ordered the Kinship Saganaki, the Grilled Quail for our appetizers and then followed it up with the Corn Milk Poached Halibut and the Grilled Blue Fin Tuna for our entrees. Everything was perfectly cooked, especially the fish which were both so tender we didn't need a knife. Although we were pretty full after the entrees, I couldn't get enough of what this kitchen was putting out and ordered the Valrhona Carmelia Swirled Parfait for dessert while @MichaelBDC stuck with a digestif. Not too sweet or rich, the parfait was a perfect ending to another amazing meal at Kinship.

2Amys was on point last night. The specials menu was packed with delicious things. One of the best nights in a while. We enjoyed: Sicilian anchovies with bread, butter, and olive oil Oven roasted spring onions wrapped in prosciutto Arrosticini with lemon (lamb skewers. Amazing) Capicola cotta tonnato (shaved capicola with tuna sauce. Also amazing) Shaved artichoke salad with pecorino, lemon, and mint Dairy cow carpaccio the harry's bar way (also, also amazing) A surf and turf pizza of our own creation with cockles and pork sausage cooked well done Strawberry ice cream and a cookie plate We didn't have room for the grilled squid salad, pork liver terrine, potato and prosciutto croquettes, nor Tuscan steak night.

Unfortunately there was no popcorn soup. The server said something about how it would be back when the weather got colder.🤷‍♀️ The bread (challah with rye toast and caraway seed butter with honey) was as spectacular as it's ever been, however. We asked for a second one and ate most of that too. I'm going to attach a menu. The Fois Gras Tart is listed under small plates but was brought out first as an amuse bouche. I personally enjoyed the pasta courses (i.e., Cacio e Pepe and Stuffed Gnocchi) the most. For the main course we had the Eggplant Parm, which was my second favorite course. Chocolate Souffle for dessert. The malted vanilla ice cream that came with that was fabulous. They even packed up the tiny bit of souffle that was left for us to bring home. For our $150pp+ we had leftovers, plus they also gave us 2 half sandwiches for later and Capri Suns. I think the meat was lamb but not sure. (My husband had them for lunch.) They gave us tote bags to carry it all home. It seemed like a pretty classic Rose's experience, except we didn't have to wait in line . It certainly hit the memory notes just right for a 10th birthday/anniversary dinner. The thing about Rose's that has always struck me is the generosity of the hospitality. That is basically their mission statement. This had that, where our previous visit--which was still very expensive just not quite as much--didn't have that feeling so much. I don't drink Capri Sun. (My husband drinks them when we get them there.) It's a 90s thing, which tracks with the ownership and management of the restaurant and is one of their distinctive features, along with the pork and lychee salad. The intentional branding has been there since day one. Aaron Silverman knows what he's doing and turns out great and creative food. I'm hoping that post-pandemic they can continue to thrive. I felt like they really nailed the hospitality element again with this. The experience, the feeling--those are hard to conjure.

Pascual opened a few weeks ago. https://www.pascualdc.com/ It's a Mexican restaurant by the team that runs Lutece (one of my favorites in DC). Despite some occasional new restaurant hiccups, it's strong right out of the gate. Definitely not cookie cutter Mexican food. The menu is interesting and includes a lot of vegetable dishes. All very well executed. My only big nit is the dessert menu. In my view, the desserts at Lutece are the best in DC -- conceptually interesting and perfectly executed. Given that incredible pastry talent, I expected Pascual to have great desserts too. But, unfortunately, the desserts at Pascual are a bit dull and far less delicious than the savory dishes. I'm hoping that once the restaurant hits its stride, that will change.

https://www.atxondo.com Tried a new to us place today. Our usual 4, so enough of us to try a decent portion of the menu, although there are still things we want to try that we did not get to tonight. And not to spoil the review's conclusion, but, well, we WILL be back. 14th Street NW, just south of Decatur, so close to home. Right across from the old bus barn. Opened in the pandemic times as a takeout only place, and I heard about it... and didn't get to it. And then once dining out became a thing again, I remembered it, but didn't get to it. Talking with a friend who lives over that side of the neighborhood this week, she was telling me how good it is. So I remembered it, and put it on the list for SOON. And so, after ensuring that they were OUTSIDE the boil water zone we have going around here right now, off we go tonight for dinner. Started with a round of drinks. A sherry cocktail, a vermouth cocktail, and 2 variations on hot toddies. All tasty. Then we move into food, accompanied by a pitcher of delicious red sangria. Cheese plate. Tasty. Tortilla. Also tasty. Crispy fingerling potatoes, AKA patas bravas. More tasty. Snack chorizo with house made potato chips. VERY tasty. (And this is the point where if you do not know that the owner is a former Estadio chef, you begin to suspect. Perfect clone of the chorizo and potato chip thing there. PERFECT.) Garlic shrimp. The seafood eaters LOVED it. They kept talking about how the lemon was so good. Said it was better than Jaleo, where they have always said they totally loved the garlic shrimp. We have many more things to try on future visits. For example, we did not get to the cauliflower. The seafood folks want to try the scallops, and the boys want to try the grilled octopus. Then, dessert. There are three items on the dessert menu: Churros with chocolate and "condensed milk" (More like a dulce de leche), Flan with coconut milk, Basque cheesecake. So we ordered one of each, along with more drinks - 2 glasses of cava, a sherry, and a hot toddy. Everyone had their favorites. The churros were puffy and very light. And while the other 3 really like the skinny Spanish churros (I like ALL churros!), these were a little fat, but so light! We all loved them. Cheesecake - we all liked it. I think it was a little drier than it should have been, but soooo tasty. Flan - 2 of us don't like coconut, but it was coconut milk, not coconut pieces. And so, we all liked that. Everyone had preferences, but we all agreed that all desserts were well worth eating. We may well just order dessert this way every time we go. Prices reasonable. Food delicious. Service lovely. Space - clearly a neighborhood place, but clean, and nice looking. Neither too bright nor too dark. Really, the only flaw is that there is no bar seating, and we are all barflies! We like to eat at bars. OK, there were 3 stools at the end of the bar, but clearly a service bar with a few seats rather than a bar. Also, we all miss being able to sit at the kitchen counter at Estadio and watch this food get made. And finally, we hope that when we get to summer, the corn from Estadio is on the menu. So, go. Eat. Drink. It's a good place.

Hope these pictures are each worth a thousand words:

We hadn't been here since before the pandemic. If you were a fan of Obelisk but haven't been there in a while, or if you've never been, I encourage you to go now! We thought it was better than our last visits! Glad to see some unfamiliar things on the menu, beyond the squab and porcetta that they often featured! Good as they were, it was nice to see a change. We've maybe been priced out of the restaurant scene the last few years, but we had a special occasion and decided on a splurge. So nice and comforting that the atmosphere and service were just as we remembered! The small plates come out quickly, right after you're seated in fact, and you wonder whether you'll make it through the whole meal, but they pace you really well! I was amazed that we could handle it all! Kampachi amberjack with radishes! Arancini rice balls with shrimp (they called them croquettes). Crostini with roasted red peppers and caramelized onions and olive oil. Broccolini with anchovies. And of course their awesome burrata! Gnocchi with gargonzola was the star of my wife's meal (or ONE of them!). SO light and tasty! I had the most delicious chicken raviolini in brodo with chantrelles! I hadn't had a brodo that good since the old Palena days with their famous consommes! Our main courses were rockfish with clams! I was afraid the clams would be tough but they were tender and delicious! Lamb chop with succulent fat, just the right amount! Eggplant puree and artichoke accompaniments. Toffee ice cream and chocolate cake. The wine pairings we split were all Italian, often from northern regions. I didn't get their names but everything went so well with the dishes! Hope this is a good steer! We plan to be back for another special occasion before the end of the year!

NUE was recently reviewed by Wapo. We had both the raw and grilled oysters. We also had the seafood cha gio (springroll) and the whole fried fish (flounder I think, some kind of flat fish). Our only complaint is the oysters come in orders of 3 - hard to split btwn 2 people. The cha gio was fantastic - served with lots of lettuce and herbs (as they should be). They also have fish in 1.5 lbs or 3 lbs. 1.5 lbs was plenty for 2 people, and they debone it for you. When they first opened, I didn't fancy their menu but the current menu looks great. More detail in the Wapo review. At this point, they're better than Moon Rabbit at Bryant Market.

Coming out of retirement briefly to put folks on this forum onto what is, IMO, the best lunch deal in DC right now. Chef Uchi, who is about the loveliest gent you will speak to, has taken up residence on a small 5 person counter on the outer edge of Casa Teresa, which is open from 11am-3pm Monday - Friday for the next 2 weeks, after which time Casa Teresa will take back the space to make part of its larger bar. The menu is a set Quick Omakase, consisting of 7 pieces of sushi, a bowl of miso soup, and a handroll, all for the preposterously low price of $45 per person (!). On Friday, the sushi was a piece each of amberjack, spanish mackerel, flounder, scallop, king salmon, lean tuna, and fatty tuna. Each piece seemed better than the last, perfectly adorned by Chef Uchi with the right hits of acid, salt, and wasabi. I can't remember having better quality sushi in DC outside of Nakazawa. The miso soup, which is usually an afterthought for me, was amazing, with a rich broth of mackerel and flounder stock and a generous amount of green onion. Umami heaven. The handroll, which is also usually not a favorite of mine, was a very good spicy tuna, although I still found this version (like most others I have had) to be a bit overwhelmed by the wrapper. I would be tempted to just ask for the fish and rice next time I go, and I will most certainly be back. Fantastic experience and I'm looking forward to what Uchi can do when he gets his own restaurant, which he told me he was hoping to have in the next 12-18 months, but will be doing some more pop ups in between now and then. In the meantime, get to the Square in the next 2 weeks to give this a try, he is certainly a chef worthy of your support!

“A Gay Couple Ran a Rural Restaurant in Peace. Then New Neighbors Arrived” by Tim Carman on washingtonpost.com This isn’t an “article” so much as a well- researched, written, and edited short story that is almost surely going to win some type of award. It’s not about the restaurant; it’s a microcosm of what’s going on in the world. I spent at least an hour reading this story, and it was so good that, when I was well into it, I jumped back to the beginning and mentally sorted out the characters in my mind so I could fully engage in the second half. However much work, revision, and last-minute panic it took to publish this piece, it was worth it. As of this writing, there are about 11,000 comments, and if any one of them complains about “the Post no longer having any credible writers or editors,” I’m going to show up at their home at 2 AM in a clown outfit. I may just show up at the Washer’s home at 2 AM in a clown outfit.

Delayed post with the holiday activity ramping up... Hosted a Friendsgiving for Foodies two weeks ago. Started by stuffing some small sweet peppers with a mix of stovetop stuffing, minced jalapeno, and cheese, then topped with more cheese and broiled. Surprisingly good. Then did mashed potato croquettes with a molten gravy center and cranberry dipping sauce. It's Friendsgiving, calories counts were abandoned... Main course was a turkey ballotine from Food and Wine. De-boning a turkey is no joke, and I don't believe it can be done by reading text instructions. This youtube video did a decent job of walking through the process, which took me over an hour, and left me with a bird that looked like it had been mauled by a pit bull, but WAS deboned and still intact. The stuffing itself was so-so, next time I would add some acid or perhaps dried fruit, but after drying the skin overnight and roasting, this had some serious crackle. It was impressive and unique, and I'll never do it again! Also sous vide a whole beef tenderloin - 138 deg for about 2 hours until my Meater said it was at temp, then seared off in a pan with a port wine reduction sauce. Served with hasselback creamed potatoes and a brussels sprout salad. Poured a 1993 savennieres, a delightful chenin that I forgot to write down before the bottle was tossed, and a Sta Rita Hills Pinot. Dessert was my first attempt to cook out of the Eleven Madison Park cookbooks, which I've owned for years and was too intimidated by to cook from. I made the Chocolate Palette with Peanut Butter and Popcorn Ice Cream. This dessert took me most of two solid days to cook. The palette was layered with peanut butter shortbread, a chocolate peanut butter mousse with sweet crispy french crepes (like the crispy kitkat filling but... better), a salted caramel layer, and some peanut butter chocolate situation, then draped with liquid chocolate that hardened when cooled. Served with a homemade peanut caramel corn, popcorn ice cream (which I will make again, daaaaamn), a cocoa nib syrub, caramel corn powder, topped with a chocolate curl, and gold leaf. There were about 10 times I was ready to walk away from this dessert, but it was fantastic. Served with a Schloss Johannisberg Trockenbeerenauslese. Then I ate salad for three days straight.

I made my annual holiday visit to my family in New Orleans. The Friday after Thanksgiving we had lunch at Clancy’s, in an old wooden building on annunciation Street uptown, close to Audubon Park and Zoo. This is traditional, old-school, New Orleans dining, with bread brought to the table in a white paper sleeve, and tablecloths, and men wearing sports jackets at lunch. It’s not a tourist place, and it doesn’t get the love or attention of newer and fancier places. But if you are in New Orleans, and looking for a true New Orleans style meal, including an excellent homemade turtle soup, check it out.

https://www.urbanhawker.com/ I took a trip to NYC mainly to check out Urban Hawker. They have several vendors serving the most iconic dishes of Singapore. I was especially intrigued because I haven't been to Singapore. The first dish I had was the Laksa with shrimp. It's about $20 before tax and tip but it's a big bowl. I loved the broth instantly. The few shrimps were perfectly cooked. You have an option between egg and rice noodle but the rice noodle is the traditional noodles. I then had the Chili Crab. At $59 for a whole crab, it's a bargain since buying a crab from a grocery store is probably $40-$50. The sauce is sweet and spicy. They give you a bib because it will be messy. At one point I think some sauce landed on my head. They cracked the claws but nothing else. I used my teeth but you can use the cracker they provided ($5 deposit). Not my favorite dish but I will have to try it when I go to Singapore. You could order Hainan chicken with just rice but I opted for a set meal with some greens and soup. The chicken is moist and tender but not particularly flavorful. But I loved the rice cooked in chicken broth and aromatics. The Laksa was so good I ordered it again with meatballs. They taste like lionhead meatballs but breaded and fried to add some texture. Really really good. The last dish is char kwai teow. There's some shrimp and Chinese sausage in there. Overall it just wasn't a good version. I actually like the Makan version better. There were 2 kinds of noodles used, both flat rice noodle and egg noodle. There were other places in there worth checking out but I couldn't spend all my meals there. There's a bar that opens at noon.

Example number 1,000,000 of why this community is invaluable. Was in Leesburg for my sons hockey game at ION, and after a tough loss he didn’t want our usual postgame Leesburg/ Ashburn meal at Ah So. Remembering MELT from the posts this week we headed over. Fantastic. Excellent burgers, cooked to order on a freshly baked roll (reminiscent of when Miami Subs was a chain and served freshly baked rolls for their burgers). Massive portions of fries (the poutine fries were great, if salty), and milkshakes/ floats. All left happy. Miraculous that we found seats at 5:15. Best burger in recent memory - easily one of the area’s best.

Last night: Porchetta di Testa with local white beans and salsa verde. Porchetta di testa is a deboned pig head, the various fleshy parts (neck, jowl, etc.) are rolled and stuffed with herbs and garlic like a porchetta. Served thinly sliced with the salsa verde, white beans, and some salad greens. Mind blown.

Recently got back from several days in Rome. We had some great food and some ok food. The highlights were: 1. Caffe Doria - small, fancy cafe connected to the Doria Pamphilij gallery. Great intro to Rome when your small cafe has a fountain inside it. Lots of fancy cakes and a few types of gelato to choose from plus cafe drinks and also looked like a great place for cocktails (big selection of different gins) - we skipped the cocktails since it was early afternoon. A nice hidden find that we happened on by accident. Very friendly service too. 2. Mastrociccia Osteria Bistrot - near Piazza Navona, very popular place in a busy part of town so I recommend a reservation. Great Roman style pizzas made fresh in the wood oven in the back. We especially enjoyed the rosemary focaccia (more like plain pizza dough). Also had a nice fish and oxtail ragu gnocchi. 3. Two Sizes - really popular Tiramisu place across a tiny street from #2 that serves a few types of small and large tiramisu and cannolis. The large pistachio tiramisu was really good but they only had nutella cannolis that night which weren't great. The filling was simply nutella (which I like but was hoping for a blend with usual cannoli cream). There will be a line but it moves pretty quick. 4. Fior di Luna -in Trastavere - probably the best gelato in 10 days in Italy. (however the runners up were close, there is just so much good gelato). The flavors here seemed to be fresher and the consistency was creamier but still light which is why I say this was the best. It has won several gelato awards too. Small place with a good selection of 10-15 flavors too. They also have good macarons and cannolis (didn't try the cannolis). 5. Capitoline Museum cafe - the food was pretty good - cacio pepe tonarelli pasta, bresaola with rocket and parm, and spritzes. The best part though is the great terrace view of the city. 6. Antico Forno - in the back of the Trevi Fountain piazza - this is actually a small but fully stocked grocery, deli, and bakery with pizza by the slice. We only got a few baked goods, but wish we had come back for more as the mini sfogiatella pastries were amazing. One word about gelato - we read a lot of advice to seek out the places where the flavors are covered and not displayed in big mounds as these are supposedly better. We ended up eating both and didn't find this advice held true. What was better was simply researching which places were more popular and which were labeled Gelato Artignale - meaning artisan/homemade vs. mass produced. That being said the worst gelato was still very tasty. The other bit of advice I would share which holds true from prior trips to Italy, stick to the fruit flavors or more traditional nut (like hazelnut or pistacio) or stracciatela (vanilla with chocolate drizzle) as they are usually better. Some places have unusual flavor which may also be great too - I had a really nice coconut in one. In the separate forums I'll share food from the rest of our trip in Florence and Liguria.

https://www.tonaridc.com/ Tonari is the Japanese-Italian restaurant by the Daikaya group. I've been wanting to go there for quite some time but it was closed during Covid. We finally made it last night. They have substantial outdoor seating as they built a wooden shed on the street. From the specials, we ordered (i) GRILLED BROCCOLINI infused with soy, basil, and mushroom served with agrodolce, kezuri bonito flakes, tama arare, chili threads, oregano, (ii) pork & beef MEATBALLS, tomato sauce, bread crumbs, Parmesan, and (iii) BRUSSELS CHIPS. The brussels chips were $3 and were on the happy hour menu. These were good but small. Order more than 1 if you really like crispy brussels sprouts leaves. The broccolini was tasty. The meatballs were nothing special. We also ordered 2 pizzas - (i) MUSHROOM shiitake, brick cheese, Parmesan, dandelion greens, yuzu kosho, mushroom besciamella, maple syrup, ichimi, and (II) GYUNIKO shaved prime rib marinated in soy & mirin, brick cheese, provolone, Cheese Whiz, red onion, ichimi. These are Detroit style pizzas, with focaccia-like crust and toppings pushed to the edge of the pan. Both taste pretty traditional - I didn't really taste much sweetness in the mushroom pizza notwithstanding the maple syrup. I did prefer the prime rib over the mushroom but would order both again. Finally we ordered 3 pastas - (i) MENTAIKO tagliolini, cod roe, butter, chili flakes, tsuyu, lemon, shiso, shredded nori, (ii) MISO ALLE VONGOLE bigoli, clams, miso, garlic, butter, oregano, lemon, olive oil, and (iii) UNI UNI UNICO tagliatelle, sea urchin beurre noisette, tsuyu, creme fraîche, butter, lemon, aonori, bread crumbs. The Mentaiko was a bit sweet but I enjoyed the flavor the shredded nori added to an otherwise rather bland dish. The clam pasta was the best, great texture to the pasta but don't bother eating the chunks of tough clam (could've been surf clam). The uni pasta didn't taste sea urchiny enough. Our dish didn't look bright yellow like the picture on the website. The service was a bit lackluster. They forgot our wine, brought out wrong food and served things as they were ready. We expected the food to come out in the order set forth above but that didn't quite happen. Service charge is included (stated on the menu). On the other hand, it wasn't particularly expensive and the food was enough for 4 people.

I've walked by Pisco y Nazca downtown numerous times but never had the chance to try it before lunch today. It was overall a really enjoyable experience. It is a nice, comfortable setting with an open kitchen tucked in the corner. Service was very good and attentive but not intrusive. The lunch menu is huge with lots of options (it may be the same as dinner menu) but I had seen online they also have a regular lunch 3 course menu for great price $26 with a few upcharges for certain items but still a lot of variety in the apps and entrees. I had to ask for the 3 course menu, but they brought it right away and we ended up ordering from it. The table next to us had a really good looking and they said really tasty and ample Japanese style tuna ceviche from the regular menu that I'd try next time. I started with the ceviche of the day, which was a small portion of the cremosa ceviche - raw white fish, onions, disk of roasted sweet potatos, what appeared to be plump large size corn and tigre sauce. It was pretty good but I think I'd try the tuna or another ceviche next time. They were fine with leaving out the usual shrimp from the ceviche when I requested that since I don't eat it. My fellow diner had the Causa de Pollo which is a chilled, whipped potato dish with shredded chicken, mayo, avocado, and sauce all layered - it was a large portion. She said it was very good. For main course, she had the Chaufa de Pollo - essentially peruvian fried rice which was really big and she said it was tasty. I loved my lomo saltado (biggest upcharge at $11 but worth it) - perfectly medium cooked cubes of steaks, great steak fries, sauteed onions and slices of tomato with a mound of rice with a great thin, soy based sauce that was delicious - tangy, sweet but not too sweet. I'd eat the lomo saltado again anytime. It was a really big plate too. We finished with the two dessert options - a small slice of cheesecake and a small piece of flan. I had the flan and it was really good caramel flavor, with the right amount of slightly dense but still not too heavy. It had small pieces of grilled pineapple around the base which were a nice complement but a bit overpowered by the rich caramel. I'm going to have to add this to lunch rotation and check it out for dinner sometime too. It was nice to see the restaurant more than half full downtown on a Friday - and this is without any sidewalk seating. I have hope for downtown just yet as I expected it may be deserted.

This place opened up about a month ago and I've already been there 3 times. The dumplings are very fresh (the lone exception being the soup dumplings but probably a 1-off issue). They don't have their liquor license yet but hope to have it by Christmas. I highly recommend the Tiger Signature dumplings, Tiger Signature potstickers, scallion pancakes, cod dumplings, fried fish filet. I haven't ventured out beyond my current favorites yet. It's a very nice looking place too. Service is friendly and kind. https://www.tigerdumplings.com/

We went on the last night of service. Apparently all of Falls Church and environs did too, since they ran out of pizza dough fairly early, and I couldn't get my mission fig pizza (though I'd gotten one the night before, and so subbed in the excellent chopped salad for the pizza). The place was packed. It's a shame that they had too many nights when there were only a few customers at the tables (we usually sat at the bar and chatted with Denise while she poured our cocktails) and not enough nights like closing night. I get that there are lots of places to spend your $, and always new places to try. But please don't forget your old favorites that still need some love, now that they're not the flashy new kids on the block.

Pretty sure I understand village life in the Piedmont. To clarify by "governing itself in a normal fashion" I mean the town being able to conduct any business - free of distracting lawsuits, endless meetings and general mayhem. It is hard to adequately express the time sink this (and other Washer related issues) have been for the village.

Our meal (December 2nd) was excellent as well. From start to finish with personal touches from Chef Ziebold. Curried halibut was the highlight of the meal for me. All the desserts were great including the mignardises. I really loved the downstairs lounge where we had drinks and appetizers. There was a Hungarian bread with some sort of paste and that bread was amazing.

This place is cute and small. I counted 18 seats. Both the food and drinks menus are also small and it they only offered wine by the glass and a few mixed drinks. They didn't appear to have any beer on the menu, but we didn't ask, so they may have some. They also include a 20% on all bills which was never mentioned to us at any point before, during or after the meal. Other than that, the service was great and friendly. The prices seemed reasonable and refreshing. We weren't going to get the bread service, but the table behind us raved about it so we got it. It was good and interesting (see the menu and photo below). They probably should have included one or two more pieces of bread to accommodate the amount of spread they gave. ($12) Next was the Spicy Awaze Galbi Ribs. You used lettuce leaves to make a wrap for the meat, tomatoes and sauce. Unfortunately, the meat that was on top, and that we chose first had bones in it which made it difficult and messy to eat. The lower levels of meat on the plate didn't have bones and was much easier to eat, but the first attempt at eating this sort of tainted the dish for us. We even asked the server how to eat it with the bones in, and said just eat around them. I wish he would have alerted us to the fact that most of the meat was boneless before we started! Eventually this turned out to be a good dish, but it was still very messy - think licking your fingers to get the sauce off. ($24) From the "Large" portion of the meal we got the Jollof Risotto and the Fried Catfish and Spaghetti. Both were excellent and I'd order them again. The risotto/cabbage was unique and interesting and I wish I had more of the bread to clean and sauce from the plate. The fried catfish was perfectly cooked - crispy crunchy outside and moist and tender inside. In retrospect, we should have skipped some of the early dishes in favor of one or both of the platters. Next time! The photos are of the menu (somehow I managed to take two pics of the drinks menu and none of the food menu so I took a screen shot from their webpage). Bread, Ribs, Risotto, Catfish The final two pics

I had dinner at Duck Chang's two nights ago, and the Peking Duck is still fabulous. My two big criteria for Peking Duck are 1) crispy skin and 2) rice crepes that smell like rice, not shortening. Duck Chang's pretty much rated a 10/10 on both of these. However, be prepared for a $68.95 sticker shock (for about 10 pancakes-worth). It was really good.

I roasted a whole Bell and Evans chicken last night in the oven, using the convection roast setting. I roasted a couple whole sweet potatoes at the same time. (I poured a little maple syrup on mine because I love maple syrup on sweet potatoes.) The chicken roasted on a bed of sliced onion and a mixture of quartered bell and poblano peppers. Some of the peppers were more to the side. I took the pepper and onion trimmings and mixed with some cubed stale striata baguette (improper storage = hard bread. Gah.). That mixture went into the cavity for an impromptu stuffing. Otherwise...melted butter over the chicken, plus lemon juice, salt, and pepper. I cut up several of the season's last tomatoes from the farmers market and threw them into the mixture closer to the end. It all melted together nicely. The roasting pan was left to me by a friend who passed away 7 years ago. It's a well-loved and-used Descoware Belgian pan. It is perfect for a roasting a whole chicken with veggies around. I think of her every time I use it. ❤️ The Descoware, after cleaning:

Or, government can provide basic work/life benefits (healthcare, higher education & childcare being the most onerous) so that employees don't need more cash in pocket at the end of the week. It appears to work in more developed European countries with faster internet and more efficient indoor plumbing which still have a robust hospitality industry where tipping is a welcome but curious bonus. Relying on a customer's charitable mood to fulfill an unwritten paycheck subsidy in the 21st century in the wealthiest country in the galaxy is the height of absurdity.

I got a Dutch oven for my birthday and I've been experimenting with bread recipes. So far these are my favorites: Basic bread with all purpose flour Italian herb and cheese bread

We were here for Sunday brunch on Mar 5, and had the “Tour of the World” for a very reasonable $40 each (they also have a vegetarian version at $38). Squash and Labneh (Lebanon) - you get six, but I forgot to take the picture. Shakshuska (North Africa) Chicken Kebabs (Tunisia) Khachapuri with Breakfast Sausage (Georgia) - this dish is presented, and then mixed together tableside. It’s delicious, but more photogenic before it’s stirred together. There are also some delicious beignets, but we got them to go because we were stuffed. Absolutely recommended.

Some friends were in from out of town and we felt nostalgic....which is how I ended up making my first visit to Filomena in about eight years. We were pleased to see nothing really had changed, except the prices. Service and food are still excellent. Only real difference noted: bottles are no longer left on the table with the amaretto/sambuca service. Instead, the waiter asks what you'd prefer and brings over a heavy pour. The room is still over the top, doilies abound, and portions are enormous - entrees big enough for at least two meals. Pasta all made in-house (you can see it as you walk down the steps), the fried calamari still reigns supreme. Side vegetables are nothing fancy, but compliment the heavier dishes well. We must have heard six choruses of "happy birthday" during our meal - all accompanied by a free (according to the waiter) slice of cheesecake or other dessert. A quick scan of the tables on the way in and out showed a lot of happy faces.

The first time I truly remember meeting Joe was when he organized his first blowout dinner at Laboratorio. 30-some foodies all getting together to dine together, many had never met before. I seem to recall that the staff at Laboratorio didn't really know who we were or what the food board scene was all about. At the end of the night they told us that we had drank the most wine of any group they had hosted. I know that Joe could at times be a polarizing guy...he was certainly opinionated...but he had a joy for life that is rarely seen these days.

Went for our last DINK dinner last week. Food was very good, service was very not good. We started off with two glasses of sparkling wine, the escargot en croute, and assiette de rillettes. The escargot was amazing, especially the pastry dough that wrapped around the shells. I could have gone for another order. The plate of assiette de rillettes consisted of two slices of bread topped with with a sizeable amount of rillettes and a healthy amount of sliced sausage, some mustard, and two cornichons. It was enjoyable, but hard to mess this up. For our entrees, I had the duck l'orange while @MichaelBDC had the seed crusted tuna with maitake mushrooms and beet bordelaise. Both dishes were perfectly cooked and I especially enjoyed the duck breast. Our only nit was that the tuna came with two small-ish slices of tuna. The dish was beautifully composed and the mushrooms were excellent, just wished there was another slice of tuna to make it the main event, not equal to the radish and mushrooms. Service was really slow, with a long and unacknowledged wait between the appetizers and entrees. This was especially annoying because our wine glasses sat empty and one of us would have ordered another glass sooner if someone had stopped by. Another aspect of the service that was less than great for this level of restaurant was the "pushiness" of our server. For example, after putting in our orders she asked us if we'd like any bread to start. We declined without giving a reason, not that we needed to provide a reason to pay for bread we didn't really want but both appetizers already came with carbs and we felt more bread would be overkill. Her response was "Really?! REALLY?! It's just that the bread here is really good." We got a similar reaction when we declined dessert. This time I said I had too much leftover Halloween candy throughout the day, which prompted her to tell me that their sorbet is a really digestif. Pretty off putting way for us to end the meal. We'll be back, only because I still want to try those foie gras beignets. Hopefully service will have improved by then.

We've eaten there 3 times, all since Cherry Blossom Festival. My friends wanted to eat there after walking around the Tidal Basin. I groaned because I thought it was one of those ripoff expense account restaurants. I was so wrong. It was great. Since then, we went on our anniversary in May and just Saturday for hubby's birthday. We had tapas all 3 times. Our favorites are: eggplant chips, shrimp in garlic oil, squid ink on risotto, crab cake, and fried calamari. The 2nd time we went, I was bracing myself for disappointment. It was great. Saturday I braced myself for disappointment. Again the food was great. I do get nervous ordering wine as their cheapest bottle of red is $55. I managed to pick a good one so we will just order that one in future. Their bread was really good too.

I went to Truong Tien awhile back. Knew nothing about it except that it was new, having replaced a Bolivian restaurant that replaced a long time Cantonese restaurant. I tried the Banh Khoai, which looks like banh xeo. They did make it very to easy to eat by wrapping it in lettuce and putting it on a taco stand. It was pretty good. I also had some banh beo with shrimp that were delicious.

I have been wanting to go to Truong Tien since getting a tip from a friend of my SIL that it was serving some really solid Hue cuisine. @MichaelBDC and I headed out there this rainy Saturday and had a great feast. We started with orders of the banh bot lot la (tapioca dumpling w/ pork and shrimp wrapped in banana leaves), banh cuon thit heo mam nem (steam pork rolls with fish sauce), and vegeterian banh beo (steamed riced cake). The banh beo was the clear winner here and if we didn't order so much food we would have gotten more. The banh bot lot la was also super good but @MichaelBDC couldn't have any because he is allergic to shellfish and I only ended up eating one, saving the rest for leftovers tonight. The banh cuong thit heo was good but nothing special. For the main event, @MichaelBDC ordered the bun bo hue and I had the banh canh cha ca. @MichaelBDC really loved the BBH. I had a sip of the broth and thought it was good, but prefer a more aggressive broth so didn't think it was the best I've had. I haven't had banh canh in over a decade and really really really loved my bowl. The two soups really hit the spot in the rainy weather. A few service notes...get there early on weekends if you can. Although the place only recently opened over the summer, word has gotten out and it is very popular. We arrived around 11am and got one of the last four tops (About six or seven total). There was also one big center table for large parties that was occupied and a circular 6 top that was kept empty for another large party. Twenty minutes later and there was a line at the door with people willing those of us inside to hurry up and finish. At first they told us they didn't have anything available from the vegetarian menu but then later came back and said they had the vegeterian banh beo, so we added that to our order. Not sure what the hold up was, but it would have been nice to get more vegetarian options so @MichaelBDC could partake in more apps. Finally, they don't have any drinks other than hot tea or water. No Vietnamese coffee or other drinks sadly. Hopefully they will add it soon.

The Sfeeha is also available in the evening at the Georgetown location of Yellow. @MichaelBDC and I went there last month when they were still testing out their (not) pizza concept and had a great meal. Pizza crust was made with their pita dough and the toppings were top notch. We split the sfeeha, an order of Beiruti hummus with an extra pita, and their summer squash pizza. It was all delicious. Dessert was not necessary, but also very necessary, if you know what I mean. I got a soft serve (baklava + pistachio brown butter) while @MichaelBDC had the Turkish coffee affogato.

https://www.dokidokihospitality.com/concepts/moonrabbitdc Moon Rabbit is currently in the Bryant Street Market. The menu is smaller but delicious. We tried all 9 dishes - the mussels are musselly (so don't go for for it unless you like them pungent), the salmon was overcooked, and the carbonara's sauce is a bit weird. Other dishes were smashing. When I asked if they have wine, the answer is no but you can bring your own right now with no corkage. So we brought 3 bottles and then ordered some after dinner cocktails. I think few people know this place exists right now so it's not very busy yet.

Last night was left over grilled steak (when I bought and cooked way too much for an earlier dinner party) which I reheated in a low 250 degree oven for 20+ minutes and then seared in pan on the stove for about a 1 min or so a side. Great tip for reheating from Food Network. I then sliced the steak, warmed tortillas and turned into make your fajita night. Sauteed some bell peppers and onions, made some rice, a few jarred salsas from the store (red and green), plus some chopped jalapenos and cilantro. Plus tortilla chips for more dipping. Everyone was very happy - including our guests. This was a big point because despite it being a quick, causal weeknight meal with good friends and their kids, but my wife really hated the idea of serving leftovers to guests. My thought is they don't know they were leftovers and if I can make it all into a delicious meal, no one would care. I'm taking the win.

The pork liver terrine last night was extremely tasty, kinda like meat butter, perfect for smearing on bread. Served with pickles and mustard.

A friend who had always wanted to go here organized a group of four of us (none who had ever been here) to go for a Restaurant Week dinner. Wow, was the food good. The service was quite accommodating and fairly efficient considering how busy they were. Having not been here before, I can't say, but the physical space appears to have seen better days. I sat at the upstairs bar for a glass of wine while waiting for the others to arrive. (I walked so allowed extra time and then arrived well early.) The bar looked a bit worn; I'll go with rustic. The back room upstairs looked like maybe it had been rehabbed more recently, though I didn't give it a close look. As to the $40 menu...First course: the salmon tartare was a big hit, and the person who got the escargots ($5 upcharge) liked but did not love them. Bonus points for serving in a special vessel with a slot for each snail so they didn't have to be removed from the shell. (It reminded me of the plates for deviled eggs.) I got the Salade Bistrot Lepic, which was assorted baby greens with fried cherry tomato. I was a little uncertain about the fried tomato in this, but it was all delicious. It was a simple salad and the dressing was just right. For the main courses, there were either 2 or 3 Trout Amandine, which were plate-clearing popular. I got the salmon in potato crust, which was magnificent. I had just made salmon the night before that I thought was pretty good, but this blew that out of the water (so to speak ). It also came with nicely dressed greens, so I got lots of salad. There was a change to the dessert menu so the chocolate cake was a chocolate tart with creme anglaise. Everybody but me ordered it. There was also a fruit tart with strawberries and raspberries. I went with Ile flottante - "Soft meringue served with sliced almond, caramel sauce and 'crème Anglaise'." I had no real hopes but ordered it because I didn't want either of the other, but it was spectacular, creamy and sweet and probably something that gets taught in pastry school. Floating island, I assume? I thought of it as the outlier on the dessert menu, but I would get it again. We either (1) completely negated the value of a $40 RW meal; or 2) leveraged the RW price to get more and better wine by ordering two bottles of Muscadet...(My friend who knows the wine well selected it. It was very good and must have been this one: MUSCADET de SÈVRE & MAINE, Bedouet Vigneron 55). The wine I had prior was this one: ALSACE, Pinot Blanc, Bestheim, Chasseurs de Lune 13. We also went through the better part of two baskets of (gratis; refilled when empty) sliced sourdough bread. This is the link to the RW menu.

Was cooking for a potato and wine situation on Sunday night for some friends. Some dishes were less successful, but Anthony Bourdain's vichyssoise from Les Halles was absolutely delicious and not terribly difficult to make. I did use the recommended additional broth to thin it a bit, but was a great indulgence on a warm day. Paired well with the 2020 Michael Shaps L'Accord (65% Chard, 35% Aligote) Speaking of indulgences... I decided to combine a fondant potato and a Croque Madame, which turned out surprisingly well. Made a Mornay Sauce with Gruyere and spooned some onto the plate, then topped with a small round of french ham. On top of the ham went the potato fondant, and an over-easy quail egg. I was a little hesitant about the Cote Du Rhone Villages pairing but it worked nicely.

After Rome, we recently were in Florence for 4 days. Some of the highlights: 1. Trattoria Za Za - north end of historic area near Mercato Centrale. A reservation is essential here as it is super popular with tourists. They have a whole system for seating people where non-reservation people wait in a pretty slow and long line. Reservations wait a few minutes in a short line (just go up to the host and tell them you have a reservation as it isn't apparent at first). The place is known for their pastas and we enjoyed a nice pesto. The porcini mushroom crostini was only so so. We also learned about bad bread here. I don't know why but many Italian and Florentine especially restaurant serve you slice Italian white bread in a paper bag which is either almost stale or definitely lacks any salt or flavor in it. While we thought this was odd, we had the same experience at a few restaurants that we thought ok maybe it is just us and this bread is solely for mopping up pasta sauce. However as we went to better restaurants we learned that was a bad assumption - other places give you nice soft bread with good flavor, perfect for a swipe through olive oil. So beware the tourist places with their bad bread. On the positive side, we also got a grilled beef filet which was super flavorful and good. Florence loves steak and my kids ended up eating steak almost every night. Note this was one of the more reasonably priced filets of beef for one person and not the big Bistecca Fiorentina. The nice thing about the filet was they cooked it medium like the kids liked vs. the big Bistecca's are almost all rather rare. This place is busy and loud but most of the food was good so I would still recommend it. 2. La Gelateria - very good gelato near #1. Again so many good gelato places I didn't keep track of them all but we did manage to hit 1-3 each day in Italy 🙂 3. Nino and Friends - we happened upon this place on a busy street in the historic center. We were drawn in by the strong A/C and literal wall of chocolate waterfalls. Glad we did as that night they were giving out many free samples of small chocolates, creme filled cookies and little bon bons filled with limoncello. We bought a few different things for later. Good place for some food souvenirs. Everything was tasty. 4. I Fratellini Sandwiches near leather market - well known cheap but big focaccia sandwiches with a variety of options. I had them customized the bresaola with rocket by adding truffle cream. Really good. Lines but they move quick and they actually have two separate lines for identical storefronts next to each other so pick the shorter line. 5. Pizza O Vesuvio - pretty good pizza across from #4. It looks like a dive but like most places in Italy the pizza is made in a real deal pizza oven and surprised us how good it was. Not a destination place but good if you happen by. 6. It took us a while to get into Apertivo - happy hour but it is great. For the price of a drink you get free snacks - depending on the place you may only get some chips at a tourist lunch spot or you may get almost a full meal of specially made apps. We stayed at the Westin Excelsior which has a well known but really pricey restaurant/bar on the roof top. The views are amazing and for a really overpriced but good cocktail (20+ euros vs the usual 8-10) they provide a mini meal of snacks - cheeses, fried bits, nuts and chips. 7. Fumo Fiamme - we finally had a huge bistecca fiorentina here. You walk in past a case of sides of beef ready to be cut and cooked. They roll out a trolley with a scale and your mammoth steak and then like most places they will serve it cooked rare and presliced. The steak was seasoned a bit too lightly but still very good. Also it was served on a sizzle platter so my wife had the smart idea to turn some pieces and let them continue to cook a bit more for the kids. We also enjoyed a simple but good pasta pomodoro and mostly pecorino cheese plate. 8. Caffe dei Fossi / Caffe New York - on via del fossi - large variety of gelato - all homemade by the very friendly family who runs it. Some unusual flavors like passionfruit and vanilla with a pistatchio top, really good mint too. They also serve pastries that looked good and have a small bar. The friendly server encouraged us to take taste and made my wife a mint mojitio with mint gelato (it looked cool but the regular gelato was better). 9. Caffe dell'Oro - slow service and we missed the buffet at this hotel restaurant on our way to the Ponte Vecchio which is very close by, but ended up having a very nice continental breakfast with a variety of muffins and pastries and excellent pancakes. Breakfast was suprisingly hard to find unless you want a quick so so pastry at a grab and go so this was a nice find. 10. Osteria Pastella - a really popular and very good place made more so by Instagram as everyone wants their famous fresh made in front window tagliatelle pasta that get finished with truffle cheese sauce made in a giant wheel of grana padano set aflame. Definitely make a reservation. There is a long slow moving line for the non-reservations. The pasta was really good but definitely strong on truffles and is very rich. I'd suggest one portion to share and then get other things too (we did a double portion and it was a bit much). We also had a very nice pasta stuffed with smoked eggplant and tomatos and mozzarella. The steak fillet with wine reduction sauce and mashed potatoes was a hit too. They also provide some little drinks, amuse bouche, and ending limoncella which were nice touches too. The desserts are more creative and while I liked the two we tried, the rest of my group was ready to go out for gelato afterwards. 11. Antico alla Vinaio - probably most famous sandwich place with multiple locations in Florence and elsewhere. Long line at one near Galleria de Academia where the David sculpture is. Didn't move that fast, but the sandwiches were very good even for the vegetarian ones we had. #2 veg was crisper and thinner bread but great whereas the caprese style we had them made off menu was a puffier bread. All of the sandwiches are made to order with hot bread fresh from the ovens in the back. The #2 veg had the famous pistachio creme which really did make the sandwich. 12. Bandolino - really wonderful. Unclear why it is not packed except their AC could be better. Services was very nice and the food was exceptional. Second best meal we had in Italy. The bread was very good. The pastas, meats, risotto were all very good. Great wine too. 13. Gilli - historic candies and dessert and bar on the Piazza Republique that is open very late. Great cookies, cannolis and candies. The bartenders look legit too but we didn't have a drink as it was very late and we got desserts to go. Some of the candies are so beautiful, another great place for a food souvenir. Final recap will be of Liguria that I'll add in a separate topic soon.

As mentioned, arrived back in town on Saturday afternoon, headed to the Front Porch for Brunch on Sunday. We hadn't been in about three months, and the brunch menu has changed a bit. More variety, and new cocktail options. There's plentiful street parking in The Plains, and we were able to find parking just around the corner past Doppio Bunny. The Front Porch's patio and front porch (duh) were packed with nice mix of locals and visitors, and live music on the patio. We were seated inside and heard a number of people comment that the Washington Post article had brought them in. Appetizer was seared scallops. Scallops were three U-10's, wrapped in prosciutto and on a bed of arugula and goat cheese, topped with some bacon lardons. Scallops were well-seared and while the bacon was kind of superfluous, a nice dish overall. Our mains were Caesar salad with Salmon and anchovies, and chic Chicken and waffles. The Caesar was served in wedge form - the salmon was slightly over my wife's preferred temperature, but she enjoyed the salad nonetheless. Chicken and waffles were solid - two chicken thighs relatively lightly breaded served on top of waffles, with lemon thyme butter and maple syrup served alongside. Not sure that the butter and syrup were very complimentary to each other, so left the syrup behind. All in all a nice brunch. My prior opinion of the Front Porch was that it's a solid neighborhood bistro, and that opinion was confirmed on Sunday. Note that the Plains Farmers market is just down the street, right off of 66 - could make a nice morning of the two. One final note: Another business was mentioned in the WaPo article - a sandwich shop called Two Kyle's. Two Kyles is a nice market run by good people - their landlord is an ahole, but that's not Two Kyle's fault. Hope that the business and landlord aren't painted with the same brush.

We haven't been to the Front Porch in a while, but it's a solid neighborhood restaurant. Will be heading over as soon as we are back in town. This and the Red Truck situation have been the talk of the area for a while now. Sally Jenkins did a great job with the article. Also were I looking for a financial advisor, I'd probably aim for one successful enough to have an office separate from their home.

OK, made it here last Friday. I've been having a bumpy few months with too many things going on at once. So it was only me and the boy on Friday and we decided to splurge, and to go see Kevin at the bar. Delicious cocktails. Nice wine by the glass, but my goodness the bottles are expensive. Food was excellent. The boy had soft-shell crabs and roasted halibut. I had beets and tagliatelle. I had the pretzel dessert, and he had a nice dessert wine. Service was fabulous, and no, it was not really affordable. But.. It goes on the special occasion list for sure.

If you want to treat someone to an entertaining (but pricy) dessert, I've gone twice to sit at the bar and order their Tiramisu flambe. A plate arrives with a chocolate shell sphere, onto which they pour a blue flame until the shell melts away, revealing the tiramisu. Their Negroni Fumo cocktail is also interesting, accompanied by smoke and a negroni jello shot molded to an orange rind.

L’Ardente was a LOT better than I thought it would be, cuisine-wise.The dessert was a miss (pre-prepped, soggy rice, brûlée cold to the touch), and I wouldn’t mind if the service traded some friendly enthusiasm for more efficiency and synchronization, but those were the only two things that didn’t meet expectations.

Therein lies the fundamental problem with Homo sapiens. Also the reason why poverty will exist until species extinction, and why that beach house is destined for the ocean floor. 🙂

I typically head there once a month, so a LOT since the last post! Chef is still named Jonathan, but Jonathan Martin, coming from Goodstone Inn. Believe he has been in place for a year and a half or so. Food remains solid, though lunch is offered only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and is a three course prix-fixe. Dinner retains a la carte and tasting menu options. We have enjoyed our meals there over Jonathan's tenure. The the fare skewed more straight ahead farm to table new American over the winter - the spring menus have shown some more asian/ mediterranean influences, though still farm to table. Stephen Elhafdi is the sommelier, also coming from Goodstone, has been there about a year. List now skews more old-world, and is comprehensive - especially deep in Champagne. Wouldn't hesitate to celebrate there. Please drive slowly in the village.

Is there a better restaurant in the DC area right now?