Joe H

Are you actively involved in overseeing the pizzas that come out of the new Reston location’s ovens?

I must add an addendum: look closely at the photograph of the open kitchen above in reedm’s expressive post. Enlarge it. All of the woodwork was done by hand by the owners. From the ten inch beams to the carving-this is a hand built two hundred year old exquisitely restored Inn in the Alps. Note the soft lighting and candles throughout the photos. Character, romance and quiet comfort. I know of no other restaurant in America like this. It is an extraordinary escape for this side of the Atlantic. And worth the journey on the other side.

This is the most difficult reservation in America and worth the effort. We have been twice since they opened (including two weeks ago) and have two more upcoming reservations-one night next month and one in January of next year. This is my favorite restaurant in the U.S. in part because of the extraordinary ambience, incredible presentation of John and Diane and having now sampled 15+ dishes the honest belief that the overall experience rivals The Inn which is only five miles away. But we prefer Three Blacksmiths. On the website you will see instructions for how to make your on line reservation. Generally they open up 205 days in advance and after you log in at exactly 10:00 AM you will have two, perhaps three minutes to reserve. At 10:02 or 10:03 the 16 seats will be gone. Sixteen seats three nights a week. Occasionally they may add an additional two or four seats but the reservations assume 16. Again, it is worth the effort and extraordinary wait.

https://www.restonnow.com/2017/02/09/boston-properties-impact-of-town-center-paid-parking-far-less-than-claimed/ above is a post with Boston Properties response.

This is different. Bethesda involves meters and perhaps a credit card. If Reston had done this, probably this thread wouldn't exist. They have an "app" which involves a number of steps to use along with several minutes each time it is used. At Reston Town Center you need a smartphone.to park on the street (although not in a garage where you can use a kiosk although not every garage has one). As I noted above there are "terms and conditions" which you have to agree to if you use it. There are also other complications such as $3.00 an hour to park on the street including Saturday while a garage is $2.00 an hour and Saturdays are free. Please read the "terms and conditions." They are breathtaking. There may be more than 1,000 posts on Reston Town Center's Facebook page with virtually every one negative. https://www.facebook.com/RestonTownCenter/?fref=hovercard There are no meters, no gates, no tickets. Nothing traditional. This is parking for the 22nd Century. Except we're in the 21st.

Boston Properties' representative said late last week that 70,000 people have downloaded the app. I wonder if all 70,000 read the following in the next to the last paragraph of the "Terms and Conditions": https://www.restontowncenter.com/parking/parking-terms-conditions/ "By using the Platform, you agree that the statutes and laws of the United States and the State of North Carolina without regard to conflicts of laws principles, will apply to all matters relating to use of the Platform and the Services, and you agree that any litigation shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state or federal courts in Wake County, North Carolina, USA." It actually says that the "laws of....North Carolina....will apply..." So...how many people parking at Reston Town Center know that if there is a legal problem, by using the app they have agreed to resolve it legally in North Carolina? And, for all those reading this, have any of you ever parked anywhere that you would have to agree to "Terms and Conditions" like these before you could park? The "Terms and Conditions" are 13 pages long when printed. A meeting of merchants this afternoon: http://patch.com/virginia/reston/reston-town-center-merchants-organize-against-paid-parking

This is a huge issue locally and will probably go national: Boston Properties (BXP) is a publicly traded company which reported after 4:00 on Tuesday and had their conference call on Weds. morning. There was no mention of any problems at Town Center. There are also 1,600 or so apartments and condos at Town Center who must be having similar problems. The result of both is that this afternoon @3:00PM (when street parking was $3.00 an hour and a complicated app to pay it) there were, perhaps, 35-40 people around the skating rink. I would guess that a similar day a year ago would have had well over 100, perhaps 200. Bottom line to everyhting is that Clarity, Red's Table, One Loudoun and Tysons are among the beneficiaries of Boston Properties decision.

One of the advantages of Early Mountain is that they also carry wine from a number of other wineries. On a stop a year or so ago there was Friends and Family which is RDV's third label (and well worth the $35 or so dollars it costs) along with Ankida Ridge pinot noir. Ankida Ridge is especially interesting since the winery is only open to the public for five hours on Saturday afternoons (one day a month in January and February), It is also an experience to visit- both the setting and also the trip there. This is one of those handful of wineries (Stone Mountain, Moss Vineyards also) that are truly interesting once you turn off of the main road (i.e. one lane gravel road on steep mountainside). They are considered by some to have a legitimately good pinot noir. And, all three (Ankida Ridge, Stone Mountain and Moss) are well worth the sometimes heartstopping adventure of getting there.

We just returned from our annual January O. C. visit (New Year's Eve four out of the last six years). Sello's in West Ocean City is now O. C.'s best Italian restaurant-it would do justice to the best in Little Italy and I am serious in saying this. It's also enormously popular with locals and is full on most weeknights-even in the middle of January. Liquid Assets and Hooked continue with their similar popularity and excellence. We also included the Henlopen Oyster House in Rehoboth which I believe is so good that we build our trip around when it is open. Both Ocean City and Rehoboth are interesting in early January: there are a handful of restaurants which have loyal, long standing followings. Coincidentally, they are among the best of all whether open seasonally or year round. I should also mention the Narrows on Kent Island which we always stop at on our way home. I believe it continues as Maryland's best overall seafood restaurant. In fact it is interesting to be able to eat at Black Salt, Henlopen and the Narrows several days apart. The Narrows sits on an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay (Maryland's best cream of crab soup, best crab cakes) while Henlopen is in a factory like room with brick walls, a 20' pressed tin ceiling and Comcast's Blues channel piped in-great character especially in the evening. Phenominal oyster stew along with fried oysters where there is art in the frying and homemade mayonnaise in the tartar sauce. Black Salt now has a back room to challenge for the best seafood dining experience in the D. C. area. Incredible New England clam chowder. I believe that Jeff Black continues as D. C.'s Maestro for seafood. Having said all of this I understand that Rappahannock River Oyster Company has an all season, outside oyster and seafood bar which may challenge anything in America. I am told it is not only legendary but worth sitting in chairs, at tables with portable heaters and the more snow falls around you the better. The name is Merrior and it is in Topping, VA. For several friends of ours they insist it has achieved legend status. We will find out soon.

Forgive me but I will make the serious and respectful argument that any tasting that is free is not the wine that you would judge a Virginia winery by. Linden's '13 Hardscrabble Red is perhaps the best young red that Jim Law has made. It's $50.00 a bottle but you can also buy it by the glass. '14 Delaplane Williams Gap and Petit Manseng are outstanding. Williams Gap is $50 or so but you can also buy it by the glass. (the view out the floor to ceiling plate glass windows of the mountain side tasting room is breathtaking.) Glen Manor's '13 and '14 Hodder Hill, Petit Manseng, Petit Verdot (one of the best PV's anywhere) -all are well worth the price. Their cabernet franc may also be Virginia's best. In warmer months it is like an Austrian mountainside that the tables in the rear overlook. Hangliders from near Skyline Drive float down the hillside which has vines climbing to 1,500 feet or more of elevation. A number of Virginia wineries are making seriously good wine these days. Perhaps, appropriately, it is more expensive. FWIW earlier vintages of all of the reds above are delicious right now. '10 was a landmark vintage and is drinking beauitfully. I'd add RDV Lost Mountain, Muse Clio, Barboursville Octagon and King Family's best red (forgot it's name) to the above. There are also several new Virginia wineries which have beautiful settings: Stone Tower near Leesburg and Blue Valley in Delaplane which is literally next to Barrel Oak and far superior with a gorgeous top of a mountain setting. Early Mountain (now four or five years old) also has a beautiful setting off of route 29 between Culpeper and Charlottesville and further south of C'Ville is the excellent Pippen Hill which is really a "winery themed" restaurant. Maryland also an excellent new winery, Big Cork (open several years) which along with Black Ankle may be the state's best. --- Early Mountain Vineyards (dracisk)

Dooky Chase had serious fried chicken in the '80's but this is like Kansas City's "Chicken Betty" who Calvin Trillin made famous in an early '90's New Yorker piece. She cooked at auto auctions sometime in the '80's and was legendary for her skillet fried chicken. I read about her on, I believe, Roadfood and tried to track her down at this auction on an '80's trip. She wasn't there that day but everyone I talked to told me how good her chicken was. Sorely disappointed I reluctantly went to the original Stroud's which was my first visit there. I knew Stroud's was suppose to be good but it was Chicken Betty whose legend I was chasing. Stroud's (original was closed many years ago) was incredible. I forgot all about Chicken Betty. In fact the original Stroud's became something of a semi annual pilgramage for me until they closed their original in the early 2000's. I never did find Chicken Betty but for me Stroud's and another place called Boots and Coates became the stuff of dreams. And that converted chicken coop and its 50+ year 0ld crusty skillet just west of Wichita. Buster Holmes in New Orleans was sort of like this: on a visit in '80 or '81 I fell in love with it. Plus the place had a lot of character. But overtime I found other places to visit in NOLA substituting stops at Buster Holmes for stops at the line which backed up for a block on Chartres street for K Paul's in its first few years of operation.