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starfish

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About starfish

  • Birthday 09/15/1971

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    washington, dc

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ventworm (65/123)

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  1. I thought I had already replied, but apparently there is a difference between drafting a message and posting it, so please forgive the tardiness of my reply. Yes, you can follow the facebook page for notifications about the next dinner. The next dinner is 2 August (reservations will be made available on Monday.) You can also join the company mailing list here: http://cogitoergosaute.com/monthly-mailing-list/
  2. Point of clarification: the seven course concept had a run of three events (for the cost of a few fingers of good whiskey, I'll happily tell the story,) however, a few months later we introduced a four course concept that ran for a year until we lost our location, but have found a new (and conceivably permanent) location. "Cogito Ergo Sauté Is Thrilled To Announce the Return of the Pop-Up Bistro in Partnership with the Fine Fellas at Ivy & Coney"
  3. I hate that my first post in forever is some shameless self promotion, but I wanted to give y'all a heads-up that my personal chef service, Cogito Ergo Sauté, has launched a monthly supper club project. Hits & B-Sides is both a title and concept as each five course tasting menu will feature "greatest hits" and some experimental/one-offs/riffs. Each event is limited to 12 guests. The next dinner is 13 July (there are four seats remaining.) If you want more information, please visit the website - hitsandbsides.com
  4. Charlie Trotter had an immeasurable impact on my life and career. His eponymous restaurant, his management books, his cookbooks, and the time I was fortunate enough to spend with him, they all changed my culinary sensibilities. I will be forever grateful to his incredible contributions to the culinary world. As much as his legacy enriched the world, the sudden loss makes us all the poorer. Godspeed, Chef.
  5. I read this earlier today, and completely agree with Rocks' assessment - great read. I would have appreciated a bit more examination of the ill effects the fetishization of celebrity (and minor celebrity) chefs have on the broader food culture. That is, however, a minor nit and one that assumes the authors would agree with the argument.
  6. Not sure if cash is a factor for you, but I have found that a wash-dry-fold service is a more cost-friendly option. Sure you have to schlep all of your clothes to them and come back and pick them up, but I find that 40 minute sacrifice to be a good expenditure of time.
  7. Notwithstanding some the outstanding suggestions above, IMHO, the best eats in DC around midnight can be found at Cashion's Eat Place which offers a late-night menu on Friday and Saturday.
  8. It might be a bit late, but I recently had a rather pleasant breakfast experience at Teaism.
  9. While I generally agree with Rock's assessment, for my money Komi has a little extra weight on its side of the coin (or the other side, some physics major can correct my science later) as I prefer Komi's feel in a way that I wish I could truly quantify and qualify with words. There is just something else there, some indefinable quality that makes me leave there happier. Recently a friend from San Francisco was visiting DC and asked me to dinner. It was a random Sunday night and she said "I'm taking you to dinner, wherever you'd like to go." Being the over-thinker that I am, I offered five suggestions that fit the mood of our weekend. They were disparate places in their tonality, cuisine, and price point. She asked me to narrow things a bit. I provided a more in depth description of each place than I had in offering my initial choices. She declared the matter settled. We were going to X place because it "was the one that made you smile the widest." And that is why I vote for Komi - because despite the fact that Teatro makes me smile pretty widely, the Komi smile is just a bit wider.
  10. This closing saddens me. M&O's has been a reliable place for me to find good food, good conversations, and good service since the first time I walked in their door. I wish both namesakes the best of luck in future endeavors.
  11. What Mel said... if you have a sudden opening please let me know.
  12. I have had a complicated relationship with the new media landscape as it relates to restaurants. It has been both to my professional benefit (at times greatly to my benefit) and to my detriment. I am not unique in this regard as every good restaurant manager has an added component of his/her job that our predecessors could not even have imagined fifteen or twenty years ago. In the late 80s, the media landscape for restaurants had only the voices of the major critics to consider. Now a weekly Google search for blog posts and other references to his/her restaurant is de rigueur or should be. This doesn't answer the question of the relevance of these voices. How important are the blog posts of someone with no professional writing experience or restaurant reviewing bona fides? How important are the message boards like this one? I don't answer those questions because they are no longer relevant; there is no way to put the universal access of the internet back in its bottle nor should one try. That Yelp is a leading provider of this equanimity is unquestioned. Yet I still have philosophical questions with unqualified opinions being a high profile source of information regarding restaurants. In a culture obsessed with notoriety as a proxy for ability to inform, entertain or enlighten, I have seen the changes in guest behavior. There are too many people who would rather write their review (or submission to an online chat) in their heads than participate in ensuring their good meal and good time. Technology cuts both ways, however. OpenTable and various POS systems make it fairly easy to identify complaints on-line, to establish that the "30 minute" wait time was really ten minutes. That a manager touched a table several times rather than being "M.I.A." as stated in an online complaint. I can recall a dozen more examples without straining my booze addled brain, but knowledge of misstatements is small consolation as the words are there for any potential guest to read and opportunities to correct the record are few, and by management axiom, conciliatory. The majority of people who participate in online forums, discussion boards, restaurant & food blogs are like the majority of all people: good, honest, and honorable, as are their intentions. They are also the influence makers and when the bad seeds among them misrepresent their experience it has disproportionate impact. This newest information about Yelp does not shock me. For every emerging technological front there are always a few charlatans profiteering on the margins. I am only surprised that it took this long.
  13. Not that any of these places are particular hot-spots for the DR set, but the deals are worth noting in the event that you need some quick calories or a cup of joe the plumber (sorry, I couldn't stop myself.) Starbucks: free tall coffee, all day Ben and Jerry’s: free scoop, 5 - 8 PM Krispy Kreme: free doughnut, all day Chik Fil A: free chicken sandwich, all day Books-a-Million: free cup of coffee, all day California Tortilla: free taco, all day Daily Grill: free appetizer, Happy Hour Also worthy of note - 1/2 price services from the Christophe Salons
  14. While you could use the valuation from cellartracker, that would not provide a true estimate of the value of a wine cellar. A wine cellar's value differs from the value of the sum of individual bottles. Because of the time involved with selling each bottle individually, it would be incorrect to assume that the cumulative value equates. Feel free to drop me an email, or PM and I would be happy to discuss the matter further with you or your wife.
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