Please Introduce Yourselves

[sak20011]

The first time I ever went to Komi.

Aww, that's right. I remember you telling me that the chef was freaking amazing, but not yet of legal drinking age.

[peepers]

I'm just lurking!

[Johnf]

Jason here. A serious eater very frustrated with sites like yelp that have every crap restaurant as 4'stars, rated by people who seem without any sense of taste. Living I Arlington Virginia and recently eating mostly in dc due to many disappointments more locally.

[DonRocks]

Jason here. A serious eater very frustrated with sites like yelp that have every crap restaurant as 4'stars, rated by people who seem without any sense of taste. Living I Arlington Virginia and recently eating mostly in dc due to many disappointments more locally.

Welcome, Jason. I just wrote you (before I'd realized you'd written this). You're among friends here, and we'll do everything we can to make feel at home here. This community consists of wonderful, educated, interesting people. I hope you stick around - you'll find it most rewarding, I assure you. I do use Yelp as a model - a model for what not to do, their money be damned.

Cheers,

Don

[MrSmithDC]

I've seen this site referenced in numerous food/restaurant blogs, needed to check it out.

[alpinepaq]

Lyle here. DC by way of NYC, Boston, SF and other scattered spots. Home (sous) chef and enthusiastic consumer of food-related media. Critic but not cynic. Very interested in supporting local economy with my dollars and my (limited) power of persuasion.

[DonRocks]

Lyle here. DC by way of NYC, Boston, SF and other scattered spots. Home (sous) chef and enthusiastic consumer of food-related media. Critic but not cynic. Very interested in supporting local economy with my dollars and my (limited) power of persuasion.

Welcome, Lyle.

I have a wish.

That everyone here, now that Facebook has made it feel safer to do so, will put their names in their signature file in their profiles (*). I know virtually everyone in this community (yes, thousands of you), and sometimes I forget that I'm the only one who does. I see a list of member names, and I can rattle off every single one: 'Jane Fisher from Bethesda, Steve Thompson from Arlington" (these are made-up, of course) ... but knowing the real people behind the noms de plume makes this entire forum seem like an actual town to me, rather than just a bunch of pseudonyms.

I'll never require people to use their real names, but I wish more people would. Think about it?

(Lyle, your post has nothing to do with this, btw - it's just a convenient topic for me to write in.)

(*) 1. Go to the top-right of the screen, and click on your member name

2. Click on "My Profile"

3  On the right side of the screen, click on "Edit My Profile"

4. On the left side of that screen, click on "Signature"

5. Type whatever you want to type

6. Make sure to click on "Save Changes" when you're done

[lhlofton]

Hi, first post for me.  My name is Lane and I live in DC.  Love food and finding out about new places.  I've joined Don Rockwell to hopefully learn about more obscure places, so any recs beyond the well-knowns in DC is much appreciated.  I love eating alone, so am open to good bar menus, etc.  Thanks and I look forward to getting familiar with the site! 

[Bread Furst]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Violeta and I will be managing Mark Furstenberg's new bakery in Van Ness called Bread Furst. We look forward to becoming part of the DC food community and sharing our delicious bread and other goodies with you starting this spring! If you want to read about the process of opening our bakery, you can follow Mark's blog at:

www.breadfurst.com

[ToniBurnham]

Washington Food Folks! I am so glad to meet you!

My name is Toni Burnham, and I have been a beekeeper here for about a decade. Now I am president both of the DC Beekeepers Alliance and the Maryland State Beekeepers Association. The former is only a couple of years old, the latter has been around for 106! In the past, we have shared honey with Corduroy Restaurant.

Beekeepers see ourselves as a critical part of the farm to table movement, because we both contribute to the yields that get your fruits and veggies to market, and we produce a ludicrously wonderful local honey.  Urban beekeepers are not pollinating huge crops, but we are supporting community gardens and, in several locations, kitchen gardens used by chefs.

And that is why I am here today.

Beekeeping only became widely legal in DC last year, and we are only now graduating our first bumper crop of local beekeepers, some of whom live in condo or apartment communities where they cannot have hives. I will post on that elsewhere here, if that is OK, but you can see a link to us in today's paper:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/budding-beekeepers-swarm-to-courses/2014/03/11/d9a1efec-a56d-11e3-a5fa-55f0c77bf39c_story.html

There are really two main reasons why people are taking up beekeeping now: they want to help the environment, and they care what they put in their mouths. We are natural allies with you, and already your customers!

Cheers,

Toni

[ALargeFarva]

Hi, my name is Michael.  I live in the DC area and have been lurking on DonRockwell for a couple months.

I was hooked once I tried the Laotian menu at Bangkok Golden after reading the thread on here.  Looking forward to contributing to the site and discovering some more gems.

My favorite restaurants in the area are the Inn at Little Washington, Blue Duck Tavern, Little Serow, Bourbon Steak and the Laotian menu at Bangkok Golden.  I haven't been to CityZen or Komi yet but they are on my list to knock out this year.

[beerismysavior]

Introducing myself...  My name is Brett and I'm the bar manager over at Republic in Takoma Park.  I'm here to learn, share stories and network with some folks in the industry.  I'm a huge beer nerd and a novice collector/advocate of fancy and rare whisk(e)y.

[dragonfruit]

Hello!  I'm Tas from Chevy Chase.  I grew up in the area, and can recall back to when there was a Hot Shoppes at the corner of Wisconsin Ave and East-West Hwy in Bethesda, and a Shakey's Pizza across the street (which I thought was the greatest place on earth when I was a kid)!  Dining options have sure flourished since back in the day.  Or perhaps they were always varied and good, but I didn't realize it as a 10 year old? 

Looking forward to reading about all the great places I should eat in the area (and living vicariously through your experiences)!

[SarahPette]

Hello all,

My name is Sarah Pette, and I am a foodie-holic.  I'm always on the look-out for restaurants that are completely authentic - the more grandmas and grandmas' recipes in the kitchen the better.  I love fine dining too, but haven't been as blown away by area restaurants that are critically acclaimed in the Washingtonian or on Yelp, so I'm looking for another resource for recommendations.  Some of the things I'm always looking for a perfect version of are tacos al pastor, Japanese yakiniku and beef tataki, authentic Japanese ramen, authentic Neapolitan pizza, thick-cut marinated ribeyes, Korean beef anything, pad Thai, deep-fried Brussels sprouts, champagne fondue, and butter chicken.  Happy eating!

Sarah

[DonRocks]

Hello all,

My name is Sarah Pette, and I am a foodie-holic.  I'm always on the look-out for restaurants that are completely authentic - the more grandmas and grandmas' recipes in the kitchen the better.  I love fine dining too, but haven't been as blown away by area restaurants that are critically acclaimed in the Washingtonian or on Yelp, so I'm looking for another resource for recommendations.  Some of the things I'm always looking for a perfect version of are tacos al pastor, Japanese yakiniku and beef tataki, authentic Japanese ramen, authentic Neapolitan pizza, thick-cut marinated ribeyes, Korean beef anything, pad Thai, deep-fried Brussels sprouts, champagne fondue, and butter chicken.  Happy eating!

Sarah

Welcome, Sarah! It's almost like you've picked a list of DC's Greatest Weaknesses (a couple items excluded). However, people here can direct you where to go - even if we don't have "Best Of Type" for some of these items, we do have people who really know them.

Start with Taco Bamba, and 2 Amys, Pupatella or Il Canale (all DOCG pizzas), and with Ren's Ramen, Toki Underground, or Daikaya; then, get to know Zora Margolis, Michael Landrum, grover, Cizuka Seki, fishinnards, and Sudhir Seth for advice on these particular items, or cheezepowder as your one-stop shop for just about anything. One or two of them have me completely stumped (champagne fondue, for example: I've been to Champagne, and I've been to Haute-Savoie, and I'm not even sure what champagne fondue is!) - calling Eric Ziebold. It's really a shame Chung Dai Kam closed because as far as I know, that was the only charcoal-grilled (as opposed to gas-grilled) Korean barbecue in the DC area, and it was by far the best. Honey Pig is fun and all, but if it wasn't called "Honey Pig," not as many people would rave about it (and on a similar topic, the Bon Chon Chicken in Rosslyn is nothing like what the Annandale branch used to be). As for deep-fried Brussels sprouts, well, that's one thing that a crowdsourcing of experts is really going to come in handy for - they could be just about anywhere (Paragon Thai has them in Cleveland Park, for example, but you may be looking for something more Etto-like).

Just start posting and asking questions - don't stress about titling or tagging your threads perfectly (I'm really anal about that, and usually do it myself). I also suspect you already know quite a lot about cuisine, and your knowledge will be most welcome here. You'll find people, and people will find you, and I hope you find this community to be the nicest, most knowledgable one you've come across. I'm hardly the greatest expert, but I am the moderator, and it's my job to make sure you're happy here, so please write me anytime.

Cheers,

Rocks

[CSRoute1]

Hi,

I'm Charlie. I grew up in this area on Route 1 in Alexandria. I now live in Falls Church.  I'm of Lao decent. Growing up here in the 80s was tough in terms of ethnic food. I'm so excited and proud to see so many options in this area in the last 20 years.  I've gone in spurts in dining habits. When I was young, I mostly sought out hole in the walls.  Most of these places had one or two dishes they were good at, and that would be all I would order at that restaurant.  Most of the restaurants I frequent then was SE Asian, Chinese, and Korean. Then, I went into my fine dining phase when my career finally came together. Now, I think I'm kind of in search for both.  I go back and forth. I mostly dine in DC and VA. At the end of the day, I'm always looking for a good deal which is so subjective. If I'm on the low end, I will rate the flavor of my food to the price. If I am paying on the high end, I will factor in atmoshpere, quality of ingredients, service, and so forth. I have my go to places just purely from living here for so long.  I do feel like I need ideas to step out of my comfort zone. I am really looking forward to the posts on this site for possible new places from dives to fine dining.

[Laurel]

Hello.  My name is Laurel and I moved to the Washington, D.C. area (North Bethesda, to be exact) from Cleveland in January.  When we moved here, I was recuperating from a fall that broke my foot and I've spent the last several months confined to the end of a sofa in the apartment.  Now that I've been cleared to walk, I'm anxious to explore my new environment.  I'm a reader and a foodie and in my case, the two are not mutually exclusive.  

[ColinPeacock]

Hi all,

I'm following my girlfriend to DC for the summer. She has a internship at the Environmental Defense Fund, and I am not sure what I am doing yet!

Hopefully I will be able to find something through the forums here, if not I am still happy to be a part of it for my brief time here.

Cheers,

Colin

[GrassfedMedia]

Hi--I'm Sacha, DC native (since age 7, anyway), founder of Grassfed Media, and equal opportunity food lover. I've been in DC most of my life (grew up in Cleveland Park) and have seen the food scene go from blah to pretty extraordinary. I used to be a writer and editor, and occasionally wrote about food for a couple local publications and some national ones as well. Basically, I love to eat good food. My husband and I eat out A LOT, mostly in DC and VA (we live in Clarendon). We like highbrow, lowbrow and pretty much anything in between. I used to be obsessed with burgers and fried chicken (giving up Bon Chon was not easy) but have recently become a pescatarian, so that went out the window. I try to eat healthfully about 80% of the time, and spend the other 20% on pasta, breads, desserts, delicious fried things, and of course, wine. I've known about this site for eons, and I probably joined years ago, in another lifetime. Now, I'm back both as a local food advocate (s/o to Fresh Farm Markets!), restaurant supporter, and yes, also as a PR person for some smaller local food businesses. Some of my favorite spots include Bar Pilar, Estadio, The Green Pig, Liberty Tavern, Leonora Bakery (try the raspberry tart), Blue Duck Tavern, Bangkok 54, Takorean, and the Red Hen. 

[luchauer]

Good afternoon everybody!
 
My name is Erik and I'm new to the forums. I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello!
 
I don't work in the food industry, but I am a foodie and a DC resident. Been in the district for a little over 2 years now and it's felt like home since day one. I'm a web developer at USA Today, I'm married to my best friend, and we have 2 cats; Beedie and The Zo.

I'm currently planning the 2nd Annual DC Donut Crawl and wanted to invite you all to join us on our trek for torus treats. In short, it's a bike ride to 3 of DC's best doughnut shops in an effort to raise dough (get it!) and awareness for a local non-profit called Food For Life. They're a wonderful organization that provides culinary training through a work-readiness program for 18-23 year old young adults in DC. You can find out more about Food For Life here. You can register for the DC Donut Crawl here.
 
See you around the forums!
 
Peace!
~Erik

[DonRocks]

dc-logo-small-white.png

See you around the forums!

Peace!

~Erik

Welcome, Erik, and people should be pretty stoked here for the donut crawl. Anyone who is interested, should PM ErIk.

And hello Sacha Cohen! Happy to see you here!

Welcome also ColinPeacock, Laurel, CSRoute1 Geez! I should go away more often!

Welcome (actually re-welcome) to one the hubs of our H Street Cru: Mark Dedrick (formerly) DCDuck.

I'm nudging people I know behind the scenes to consider switching, in some way, to their real names, but will never require it. I know it does good for the community as a whole, and it has become completely accepted with the advent of Facebook. If anyone ever asked me to change them back to do privacy issues, I would, instantly, so ... nothing is permanent!

Welcome to you all. I'm very happy and proud right now.

Cheers,

Rocks

[ElGuapo]

Hello!

I'm Dave, and currently living in (and from) Cleveland, Ohio, but will be relocating to Gaithersburg in July. My wife Jennifer, a foot & ankle surgeon, is joining a practice in Gaithersburg beginning August 1.

We have family in the Baltimore area, so we visit quite a bit. We have had great meals at Jackson 20, Chinatown Express, and Shanghai Taste. I look forward to getting to know you, and welcome any and all suggestions of places to check out!

Cheers,

Dave

[foxfire]

Hey there, my name is John and I currently live in Virginia Beach with my wife, Shirley.  I'm originally from the Northern Virginia area and miss the food now that I'm down south.  I'm half Korean, and my wife is Chinese and we are really missing our Asian Food fix!  Since we need to travel to dine in DC, we have to make our visits count!  We are really interested in authentic Chinese, Korean and Japanese, and are open to any other authentic food that is good in the area.

Thanks,

John

[DonRocks]

Hey there, my name is John and I currently live in Virginia Beach with my wife, Shirley.  I'm originally from the Northern Virginia area and miss the food now that I'm down south.  I'm half Korean, and my wife is Chinese and we are really missing our Asian Food fix!  Since we need to travel to dine in DC, we have to make our visits count!  We are really interested in authentic Chinese, Korean and Japanese, and are open to any other authentic food that is good in the area.

Thanks,

John

John, we have some people here that know Virginia Beach pretty well, and I'll alert them to this post. Welcome!

[jetton999]

First time posting!

My name is Jeff Jetton, I'm a Washingtonian/New Yorker (lot's of commuting). I am an owner of Toki Underground and Mockingbird Hill and a few other as of yet unnamed ventures. I spent fifteen years working for Marriott International in all parts of the globe and did a seven year stretch at their headquarters in Bethesda, MD. I live in Mt. Pleasant, DC and Crown Heights, Brooklyn and am enjoying watching the transition that both neighborhoods are making into dining destinations. I love motorcycles. That's a bit about me. Trying out this forum. Thanks, Don!

[DonRocks]

First time posting!

My name is Jeff Jetton, I'm a Washingtonian/New Yorker (lot's of commuting). I am an owner of Toki Underground and Mockingbird Hill and a few other as of yet unnamed ventures. I spent fifteen years working for Marriott International in all parts of the globe and did a seven year stretch at their headquarters in Bethesda, MD. I live in Mt. Pleasant, DC and Crown Heights, Brooklyn and am enjoying watching the transition that both neighborhoods are making into dining destinations. I love motorcycles. That's a bit about me. Trying out this forum. Thanks, Don!

Jeff, thank you for joining, and for posting about the Mockingbird Hill coffee program here. Incidentally, I recently wrote that Mockingbird Hill was my favorite wine bar in the city right now.

It's very satisfying seeing unused space (which Mockingbird Hill had mid-day) being put to good use. The landlord charges 24 hours a day, so a restaurant may as well figure out how to make the most of things.

Please keep us informed about your restaurants - people here want to know what's going on, and you'll find our community to be chock full of wonderful people. Sure, people here are honest when it comes to writing about their experiences, but it's never, ever done with malevolence as the driving point.

Yelp claims their members "are the coolest," but our members are the most substantive. And the most fair. And the most decent. And the most educated.

Cheers,

Rocks

[DonRocks]

Gang,

Please PM our new members and welcome them. It helps to know you have friends when moving into a new community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq9oR9x171w

[IanBoden]

Greetings All!

Figured I'd jump on and say hello.

My name is Ian Boden I'm the Chef/Owner of The Shack in Staunton VA.  I'll do my best to post every couple of day's to help keep those that are curious of the goings on at the restaurant informed.

Currently we have some exciting guest chef events in the works for this summer and fall, if you'd like to keep up with it in real time feel free to jump onto our Facebook page where we post our menu daily, generally about an hour before service. You can also check out what we do in the kitchen by following me on Instagram and Twitter.

If your interested in any recommendations for dinning or wineries to check out when you come out to visit us - HINT HINT - i'd be happy to help guide you.

Look forward to speaking with you all, and having you be my guests!

[Cajun]

Hello, my name is Dean and I love food. I grew up in Louisiana and learned about eating delicious food at a very early age. When I moved to the DC area many years ago, I found if I wanted good Louisiana food, I had to cook it myself. It's been a wonderful journey ever since.

My wife (a New Orleanean) and I love to cook and experimenting is one of our great pleasures. We got ourselves a sous vide machine for Christmas and have cooked some amazing meat dishes with it. I also love smoking food. Ever had deviled eggs with smoked yolks? Herbsaint (a Donald Link Nola restaurant) served one as an amuse bouche and I couldn't wait to get home and try it. In fact, anytime we have something spectacular at a fine restaurant, we are committed to reproducing it in our kitchen. Even our failures are generally very good.

We love doing wine paired dinners for our friends and use the occasion to try new things out. I stumbled on Don Rockwell surfing food and look forward to learning and sharing

[DonRocks]

Hello, my name is Dean and I love food. I grew up in Louisiana and learned about eating delicious food at a very early age. When I moved to the DC area many years ago, I found if I wanted good Louisiana food, I had to cook it myself. It's been a wonderful journey ever since.

My wife (a New Orleanean) and I love to cook and experimenting is one of our great pleasures. We got ourselves a sous vide machine for Christmas and have cooked some amazing meat dishes with it. I also love smoking food. Ever had deviled eggs with smoked yolks? Herbsaint (a Donald Link Nola restaurant) served one as an amuse bouche and I couldn't wait to get home and try it. In fact, anytime we have something spectacular at a fine restaurant, we are committed to reproducing it in our kitchen. Even our failures are generally very good.

We love doing wine paired dinners for our friends and use the occasion to try new things out. I stumbled on Don Rockwell surfing food and look forward to learning and sharing

Welcome, Dean. Have you found Bayou? Obviously, it's a facsimile of a facsimile, but it's one of DC's better imitations - I rather enjoy their catfish po boy, I unearthed this place courtesy of an alert by our invaluable member, dcandohio. I can't promise you Leidenheimer rolls, but I've been there several times (not in the last year, however), and they had them each time. I can find you some mudbugs as well, when the time is right - anytime you need help, just post in the Help Needed forum, and people will jump in. I think you'll be very happy with how smart and friendly our membership is - usually it's one or the other; we're blessed to have both. CajunJason can probably steer you to a couple of places as well. There's a wealth of information here, with a wealth of people willing to help you find it -  we're a community of people first and foremost; an archive of massive amounts of knowledge secondarily. I hope to see you around. Cheers, Rocks

[henglestad]

Hi all,

I am excited to be a member of this blog. My fiance always finds the best restaurant recommendations from reading everyone's posts. I am not in the restaurant industry but definitely enjoy dining out and trying new restaurants. My new favorite is Bartlett Pear in Easton MD.

Looking forward to learning to being a member. Thanks!

Heather Englestad

[DonRocks]

Hi all,

I am excited to be a member of this blog. My fiance always finds the best restaurant recommendations from reading everyone's posts. I am not in the restaurant industry but definitely enjoy dining out and trying new restaurants. My new favorite is Bartlett Pear in Easton MD.

Looking forward to learning to being a member. Thanks!

Heather Englestad

Thank you for joining and posting, Heather. I *really* look forward to trying the Bartlett Pear - I've never heard anything bad about the place.

[Cajun]

Welcome, Dean. Have you found Bayou? Obviously, it's a facsimile of a facsimile, but it's one of DC's better imitations - I rather enjoy their catfish po boy, I unearthed this place courtesy of an alert by our invaluable member, dcandohio. I can't promise you Leidenheimer rolls, but I've been there several times (not in the last year, however), and they had them each time. I can find you some mudbugs as well, when the time is right - anytime you need help, just post in the Help Needed forum, and people will jump in. I think you'll be very happy with how smart and friendly our membership is - usually it's one or the other; we're blessed to have both. CajunJason can probably steer you to a couple of places as well. There's a wealth of information here, with a wealth of people willing to help you find it -  we're a community of people first and foremost; an archive of massive amounts of knowledge secondarily. I hope to see you around. Cheers, Rocks

Thank you for the warm welcome. Though we don't get into the district as often as we would like, we have checked out  Bayou and were pleased. Regarding mudbugs, we have an annual boil with 60 to 80 people. My source is LaCrawfish.com, a farm raised crawfish business owned by an old friend. Their specialty is excellent quality and customer service and they can deliver directly to your door for a reasonable price. They are in good supply from Dec/Jan all the way through July and  they have become the largest shipper in the state. I recommend them highly. I'm sure there are members of this blog that are already familiar. The best cajun food is served at our house , but we enjoy finding good seafood, especially shellfish, and well prepared food of any kind.

I look forward to using this blog as a resource and hope to be able to contribute as well.

[BKFrank]

I am Barbara and lived in The DC area for 20+ years. Have retired south of Nashville, TN and love it here. My son is a chef in DC and I'm always interested in knowing what is going on with the restaurant scene.

[DonRocks]

I am Barbara and lived in The DC area for 20+ years. Have retired south of Nashville, TN and love it here. My son is a chef in DC and I'm always interested in knowing what is going on with the restaurant scene.

Welcome, Barbara! Lucky you, living the life of leisure now. I hope you like meat and three.

(My brother and his wife both went to Vanderbilt, btw.)

[vogelap]

I'm Drew, and I work at Cincinnati's #2 restaurant, Jean-Robert's Table (www.jrtable.com) where I've been since we opened in 2010. I'm excited to be on this board as my travels take me to the Baltimore-Washington area from time to time. Plus, it's always nice to interact with other food professionals.

[DonRocks]

I'm Drew, and I work at Cincinnati's #2 restaurant, Jean-Robert's Table (www.jrtable.com) where I've been since we opened in 2010. I'm excited to be on this board as my travels take me to the Baltimore-Washington area from time to time. Plus, it's always nice to interact with other food professionals.

Welcome, Drew. You're talking with someone who has actually been to La Maisonette twice!

(Nobody under the age of 30 will know what it is.)

[Mclellmg]

Hi, all.   I'm Michael; I've just moved to the district (after nine years in Arlington) and thought it worth registering, since I've spent a lot of time on the board without doing so.  I'm not in the restaurant industry (minus a 2 year stint in kitchens in the late 90s), but love the gossip, largely because it lets me figure out where to eat.  In my day job, I play lawyer, just like 90% of the rest of the city.  Looking forward to poking around the site and (hopefully) contributing something of value every once in a while.

[Smassey]

Hello all. I joined this forum in preparation for a trip to DC tomorrow. I live in Chicago and participate on www.lthforum.com, and on Chowhound but under even more of a pseudonym. As my husband will be at a conference during the day, I will explore town on my own and likely eat more spontaneous lunches. We have evening reservations at Rasika, Fiola Mare, and barmini, and Sunday brunch at Founding Farmers. While some of our favorite meals have been epic tasting menus (e.g., Alinea, EMP, and every season of Next), we often prefer a la carte experiences, where we don't feel as much like a captive audience and we can keep easier track of everything we eat and courses don't seem to run together as much. We also indulge in ethnic and cheap eats. The only food I can identify I absolutely don't like is bell peppers. Anything else is fair game...including all game. In addition to dining out, we also cook at home quite a bit, and like to challenge ourselves with new techniques and ingredients. My husband proposed by turning our apartment into a surprise, I guess you'd now say pop-up, restaurant called "Chez Amour", complete with printed menus and romantic descriptions of each course and pairing

Although I now work in health care, my first job was at Baskin Robbins, I waited table through grad school, and food has always been a huge part of my family's life. In fourth grade back in the 70s, my class took a field trip to the one Mexican restaurant in Louisville, "Por Que No", I came home and told my family about the lunch, and we went back for dinner that very night. I remember I had cheese enchiladas, and my parents ordered sweet sopapillas with honey as an appetizer. Let's just say Louisville's dining scene and my own experiences have come a long way since then, but it was not my last meal that began with dessert!

Thank you for this forum. Cheers to all!

[DonRocks]

Hello all. I joined this forum in preparation for a trip to DC tomorrow. I live in Chicago and participate on www.lthforum.com, and on Chowhound but under even more of a pseudonym. As my husband will be at a conference during the day, I will explore town on my own and likely eat more spontaneous lunches. We have evening reservations at Rasika, Fiola Mare, and barmini, and Sunday brunch at Founding Farmers. While some of our favorite meals have been epic tasting menus (e.g., Alinea, EMP, and every season of Next), we often prefer a la carte experiences, where we don't feel as much like a captive audience and we can keep easier track of everything we eat and courses don't seem to run together as much. We also indulge in ethnic and cheap eats. The only food I can identify I absolutely don't like is bell peppers. Anything else is fair game...including all game. In addition to dining out, we also cook at home quite a bit, and like to challenge ourselves with new techniques and ingredients. My husband proposed by turning our apartment into a surprise, I guess you'd now say pop-up, restaurant called "Chez Amour", complete with printed menus and romantic descriptions of each course and pairing

Although I now work in health care, my first job was at Baskin Robbins, I waited table through grad school, and food has always been a huge part of my family's life. In fourth grade back in the 70s, my class took a field trip to the one Mexican restaurant in Louisville, "Por Que No", I came home and told my family about the lunch, and we went back for dinner that very night. I remember I had cheese enchiladas, and my parents ordered sweet sopapillas with honey as an appetizer. Let's just say Louisville's dining scene and my own experiences have come a long way since then, but it was not my last meal that began with dessert!

Thank you for this forum. Cheers to all!

Hi Smassey,

Don't go to Founding Farmers; you'll do well, however, with Rasika (which is inexplicably overrated by certain critics, but still good), Fiola Mare (where you'll drop some coin), and BarMini.

If you can lay out your specific dining schedule, i.e., list when and where you're having lunches and dinners, we can give you some better guidance. Also, where you'll be staying, what kind of transportation you'll be taking, etc.

It's nice to have you here - LTHForum is a wonderful resource, and any friend of theirs, is a friend of mine.

Cheers,

Rocks

[ebandook]

Hello All !

After reading through the posts and living in the DMV area for 9 years , I truly have missed out on a lot of great food & reviews by not signing up for DonRockwell earlier ! ..

That said , I've been scavenging food spotting/foursquare/yelp for the best places to eat in the DMV area . I go for hole in the wall experiences that are owned by mom and pop's .. the latest find was a Taqueria Juquilita which really was someone's house (apartment) turned into a taqueria ! or gharer-khaber which I'd been reading about for a long time.

Since this is a local community , Im sure you guys must have meetups / crawls and such ( if not I'd be happy to organise ) . Could someone point me to the right place for such events / posts ? Does this forum have a meetup group or something similar ?

Since the best food can often be had in people's houses (not necessarily restaurants) , I'm big into finding such people who cook because they are passionate about it . I like eatfeastly.com (and I'm also a host there) for meals that you normally wouldnt find else where - for e.g. I'd been to someone's house out in manasas who took us on a forage hike and made us everything from fir soda with vodka to lavender cheese and wild onion & chive crackers . I myself put out food that is based on my ethnic mix of indian/yemeni/egyptian .

I look forward to talking / meeting with you fine folks here at DonRockwell

[DonRocks]

Since this is a local community , Im sure you guys must have meetups / crawls and such ( if not I'd be happy to organise ) . Could someone point me to the right place for such events / posts ? Does this forum have a meetup group or something similar ?

Hi ebandook!

We have scattered meet-up groups, but nothing formal - but there has definitely been a groundswell of demand. You might be the right person at the right time if you want to step up and organize some events.

Cheers,

Rocks

[Sherry'sWineandSpirits]

Hello!

My name is Ryan Wegman and I'm the director of wine and outreach for Sherry's Wine and Spirits in Woodley Park. I'm excited to share and learn on DR.com, especially given I'm somewhat of a prodigal son to the site! I used to be the director of communications for the French Wine Society and we found DR to be a very valuable, resourceful tool, particularly in having meaningful exchanges with the trade and savvy wine and food vivants. I hope to enjoy the same again in my newest capacity.

If you've been to Sherry's or have an interest in stopping by and learning more, I'd love to hear from you and welcome you as our guest for a tour. Any friend of Don Rockwell's is a friend of mine.  We deliver, cater, etc., and our reputation has become "if we don't carry it, they don't make it!" as we specialize in lots of hard to find specialty liquors, whiskies, etc. Our wine collection is quickly becoming the same way.

And if you do stop in, please introduce yourself!

Cheers and best,

Ryan Wegman

[Jimmy Chandler]

BTW on Twitter I'm @uxprinciples. 

[magnadoodle]

Hi everyone,

My name is Eric and I currently live in Rockville after moving from California.  I have found that this forum to be tremendously more accurate and up to date on the latest new places compared to the other more popular food review sites. I look forward to getting the most out of this site and hopefully will be able to contribute in the near future.

[midnightscoop]

Hi Everyone. First post here.

Love everything about this site. Cant stand that yelp is now extorting businesses to remove negative reviews etc. Who can we trust?!

I currently live in the Michigan. I love to travel and when I do, I like to eat at places in those areas. I feel like you really get to know a place by the food in the area. Look forward to my visit to DC.

I really enjoy all things food. Heck, I even work at a company making ice cream scoops!

Thanks for having me!

Best,

Michael

Big Food Fan

http://midnightscoop.com

[DonRocks]

Love everything about this site. Cant stand that yelp is now extorting businesses to remove negative reviews etc. Who can we trust?!

Hi Michael, and welcome!

You can trust us.

Yelp has built their critical mass, and they'd be foolish at this point if they jeopardized their valuation by continuing to extort businesses. Will people remember five years from now that they achieved growth partially by shaking down businesses? Probably not.

Let us know where you live in Michigan - we have several members there, and if they see this, they'll probably contact you.

Also, post about your upcoming DC trip in the "Help Needed" section in the Washington DC Restaurants and Dining forum - give as many specifics as you can think of (dates, number of people, allergies, preferences, transportation, areas, types of diners, etc.). People will jump in and help you - the more detail you can give, the better.

Cheers,

Rocks

[midnightscoop]

Thanks for the warm welcome Rocks!

I am in the suburbs of Detroit. Just a few miles north of Ann Arbor. I would love to hear about dining suggestions from other members in my area.  Thanks everyone!

Best,

Michael

Big Food Fan

http://midnightscoop.com

[DonRocks]

Thanks for the warm welcome Rocks!

I am in the suburbs of Detroit. Just a few miles north of Ann Arbor. I would love to hear about dining suggestions from other members in my area.  Thanks everyone!

Best,

Michael

Big Food Fan

http://midnightscoop.com

RJ Cooper is from Detroit (Google him).

I assume you've been to Zingerman's Roadhouse? I'm not a fan, although I do like their drive-thru coffee in the mornings.

[Allen Hinman]

Allen Hinman discovered Italian food when he (I) moved to Passaic, New Jersey, an area where the native indigenous cuture is Italian.   No longer would Chef Boy R Dee be exotic and wonderful.  Since I appreciate good food,  but not white tablecloth expensive, will soon be looking for the perfect crabcake in Baltimore in November.  I look foward to learning from youses.

Allen Hinman