Jump to content

ASL

Members
  • Posts

    22
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Location
    Falls Church, VA

ASL's Achievements

clam

clam (23/123)

  1. Just went in July and had two exceptional experiences in Palermo: Osteria dei Vespri and Bye Bye Blues (good, despite the English-language name). In Taormina, we thoroughly enjoyed Vicolo Stretto. Reservations strongly encouraged at all three during peak travel season.
  2. I believe this is in the Idylwood Plaza shopping center at Rt. 7 & Pimmit Drive -- in the space formerly occupied by Burrito Brothers, next to Jason's Deli.
  3. A few weeks ago we had the special pizza with duck confit, dried apricots, pine nuts and a pungent cheese (gorgonzola maybe?). I think it may have had a cream base as well. It was freakin' delicious. I've enjoyed their spinach pizza, too, and the margherita is as good as the other area standouts (2 Amys, Orso, etc.).
  4. Last month, we spent the night in Naples before an early AM flight. We did not want to miss an opportunity to try some of the world's best pizza, so we took a taxi to Da Michele. We had two margheritas, which were quite good, although I regret not getting doppio (double) mozzarella. You just get a small handful of melted curds on the regular pie. Several people who sat at adjacent tables ordered theirs "doppio" and the proportion of cheese on those pies was much closer to what I would have expected. Don't get me wrong, the pies were delicious, but I was surprised how little cheese we had on ours. I clearly did not do enough research. 2 pizze, 2 birre, 1 Fanta: 12 Euro Taxi ride to and from airport hotel: 25 Euro
  5. I agree. Church Street's pizza is the closest in flavor and texture to the pizza I had growing up on Long Island. I find the Italian Store's crust to be too thick. We always order a whole pie, so I'm not sure how the individual slices compare.
  6. Back in the day, they used to be open on Saturdays. When hungover, we used to go and get egg sandwiches in the morning, which were served on the same slices of white bread that they serve their fried chicken "sandwich" (toasted, of course). Nothing out of this world, but cheap, egg-bacony goodness. They also have fried bologna as a meat selection on the breakfast sandwiches. The fried chicken with hot sauce is delish.
  7. That duck ragu is fantastic, as is the tomato and leek ravioli with pesto. Very light, but extremely flavorful (the ravioli, that is). Starters included lobster with baby corn and swiss chard, and crudo, which included tuna, sea bass and halibut each dressed/prepared separately. Dessert was a delicious pineapple and kiwi strudel with an intensely-flavored scoop of pineapple sorbet. Dinner at the bar here never disappoints.
  8. Lovely meal at Cafe du Parc last night. Started with a delightful bowl of chilled pea soup that was brightened with basil chiffonade and a swirl of goat cheese mousse. Entree was roasted chicken with a light jus - one piece each of white and dark meat with crispy skin. Moist and flavorful. Dessert was an old throwback: peach melba. A crisp disk of meringue topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, accompanied by half a poached peach covered in raspberry sauce, sprinkled with toasted sliced almonds. I practically licked the plate clean. ETA: Almost forgot to mention the best part of the meal: the gratin of potatoes that accompanied the chicken. Piping hot creamy potato goodness.
  9. Friday: Tosca. Dinner at the bar with the ever-affable Jay serving. Apps: prosciutto & melone and fried squash blossoms stuffed with crab. There was a fantastic garlic sauce under each blossom that made this dish. Entrees: tortelli stuffed with Sheep's milk ricotta and the risotto with lemon and aged parmesan. The risotto was outstanding - tasty and rich without being overwhelming. Tortelli were lovely and light - perfect for summer. Dessert: coconut panna cotta with banana sorbet (yum!) and strawberry/rhubarb cobbler. The latter was a non-traditional preparation, but very good regardless. Jay paired glasses of wine with each course. This place is just top-notch when it comes to food AND service. Saturday: TackleBox. Fried scallops as an app. Tartar sauce here is just okay -- much better at Eammon's. One Maine meal with grilled tilapia, grilled asparagus and mac 'n cheese. I prefer the creamy consistency of this mac 'n cheese, but it needed more seasoning (salt?). I had the shrimp roll with fries. The roll was good, but the seasoning on the fries didn't do it for me. It had an odd sweetness to it. Surprisingly busy at 10 pm. Liked the vibe of this place and will return. Sunday: 2 Amys. Lunch on the patio. Special pizza with chanterelles and roasted garlic was great. The spiked lemonade was perfect for that time of day/outdoor setting. Suppli and deviled eggs were good as usual, but the simple bruschetta with tomato fondutta was the standout small plate.
  10. Mio has an extended RW menu, so we decided to give it a go. Having been to Maestro several times, I thought this would be a good opportunity to try Stefano's cooking in a less formal setting. First, this is a beautiful restaurant - the decor is contemporary, but striking, including the signage outside. We had a 7 pm reservation, and when we arrived the place was vitually empty, causing me to worry slightly, but I was optimistic. Happy hour is from 4-7 including Saturdays, so by arriving 10 minutes early, we were rewarded with $5 cocktails at the bar. The food was quite good. I had the rabbit terrine, the polenta filled with braised beef, and the chocolate banana cake from the RW menu. The polenta filled with beef was presented as small dumplings that were quite tasty. Others at the table has the scallops (which was actually a single large scallop) sea bass, semolina gratin, and the key lime pie. The sea bass was well cooked and came with a light fennel salad, and the semolina dish included slices of polenta layered with a mushroom ragout. The cake was like a brownie with subtle banana flavor, and the key lime pie was reported as not too tart or sweet, with a cheesecake-like consistency. One general comment: the portions were too small (for example, I think the sea bass was 3 oz.). While I think this is okay in a Maestro-like setting where you're eating 5-7 courses interspersed with amuses (sp?), a few more bites of each dish probably would have done the trick here. Plating was beautiful, but again, a little too precious for the setting. Maybe I'm overreaching here, I believe Stefano needs to adjust slightly to the diners' expectations, which I suspect are different here at Mio than they were at Maestro. Service was great without being overbearing. After dinner, the manager introduced us to the chef and took us on a tour of the kitchen. This is clearly a lovely place that is trying hard. An hour later we found ourselves at the bar at Tosca sharing a half order of the tagliatelle with swiss chard and potatoes. That is one fantastic dish!
  11. A special on the small plates list that's not to be missed: fava bean crostini. A pale green puree of beans with a texture similar to hummus generously spread on two toasted baguette slices, topped with olive oil and parmesan shavings. Like spring (summer?) on a plate. Although I love the pizza at 2 Amy's, I always, always enjoy the starters and small plates more. Haven't had a clunker yet.
  12. I had the prawns a few weeks ago and found them to be a bit mushy inside. The texture was a little strange. Needless to say, one try was enough for me. Love the cod and chicken bites, tho.
  13. Also hit Eamonn's this weekend, and if we didn't have our 4 year-old in tow, we probably would never have tried the chicken bites. Holy cow, they were awesome. There were probably about 10-12 large "nuggets" in the bag, which was far more than I expected. The leftovers were re-crisped in the toaster oven for dinner last night. I'll probably stick with the cod on future visits, but it's nice to know that this delicious option exists.
  14. Went for RW last Tuesday and had a great experience. Service was great and the food very good. They seemed well-prepared for the RW onslaught. To start, I had the sun dried tomato and proscioutto (?) ravioli, which were packed with tomato flavor. My SO had the smoked duck appetizer, which he also enjoyed. Mains were the duck confit for me and (drawing a complete blank). The duck had Asian accompaniments and a nicely-spiced sauce that had surprising heat. Meat just falling away from the bone, as it should be. Desserts were the passion fruit mirroir for me and cheese plate for my SO. Both pleasant endings. Knowing it was RW, we didn't want to linger too long over coffee, but our waitress encouraged us to stay and relax as long as we wanted to. Although the restaurant was full, I believe they were on their last round of seatings (this is the suburbs, after all) and thus didn't have to turn our table. I have to admit, the appetizer and dessert portions WERE small, but I was happy to leave the restaurant feeling content and not full-to-the-gills (like I felt after eating at Acadiana on Thursday night). RW all month long at Colvin Run. I would definitely go back.
×
×
  • Create New...