jca76

Three stars from the Post, which seems very generous to me given my two dinners here. (I've much preferred The Dabney or Tail Up Goat of late, both of which only got 2.5 stars.) My expectations were high given how much I love Red Hen, maybe too high. I'm not sure if my experiences were different than those above, or I just have different pizza preferences. Our first trip, shortly after they opened, left a general impression of "eh, it was okay, but I expected more." Our second trip, this past Saturday, left me unenthused to return for the pizza. The antipasti were generally very good. The cherry tomato crostini that Sietsema loved was still delicious (and vegetarian) with the whipped lardo omitted. Creamy straciatella was nicely punctuated with charred corn and spicy chili, although I personally would have preferred slightly thicker slices of bread to give a bit of chew rather than just crunch. Very much enjoyed the romesco and nicely browned fried cauliflower, but the few, large broccoli florets were inexplicably and rather doughily battered. My real complaint was the pizza dough. The toppings themselves were good -- I particularly liked the Seaside's clam and corn combination, even sans guanciale -- but the crust was . . . not. On all three pies, we found it flavorless (would never have guessed it was fermented) and thickly crunchy without any balancing chew. I find the 2 Amys Neopolitan-style crust a bit soupy at times (especially on tomato-based pies), but this was way too far in the other direction. I'd much prefer going to Timber, Ghibellina, Etto, or 2 Amys for pizza. Although we enjoyed a reasonably priced, nicely dry Lambrusco, I'd hoped for some more interesting wine options (another expectation raised by Red Hen). In fairness, the wine menu online bills itself as "approachable," so I guess it was a conscious choice. It didn't help that things had started off on a frustrating note. We showed up at 6:00 on Saturday night and were quoted an hour to an hour fifteen for a table for four plus highchair, which seemed within the margin of tolerable for the toddler in tow. (Luckily, the Columbia Room Punch Garden wasn't crowded and Adriana could not have been nicer about our underage tag-along, to whom she immediately brought a child-pleasing assortment of fruit garnishes and pointed out the ladybugs crawling on the herb garden.) At around 6:55, I called the restaurant to check in, and was told it was looking like another twenty minutes. No problem. We decided to pay our Columbia Room bill and amble back around the corner so that we'd be on site when the table was ready. Unfortunately, we didn't actually get seated until around 7:50, right as the parents were debating whether the kiddo could make it through dinner before melting down. (She fortunately did, but it didn't leave them a margin of error for dessert or even packing up leftover pizza.) Given that long waits are such a feature of the hottest restaurants in town, accurately predicting the length of the wait -- or at minimum providing reasonable updates -- can really influence the service experience. Better to overestimate than underestimate, especially by such an almost 50% margin. Once seated, our table server was very friendly and efficient.

Eek. That hasn't generally been my experience by that hour; hopefully you just got a particularly kid-crazy night.

You're definitely right that 2 Amys is "family friendly" -- to put a nice spin on it? -- early in the evening, a fact that I've appreciated on the rare occasions that we've managed to convince child-having friends that they can come out in public for a meal. But in general we go no earlier than 7:30 or 8:00, when the youngest/loudest kids have been taken home. Or you could ask to be seated upstairs, which tends to be much quieter.

No, it's the same one that the tables get. (I'm not sure why I think of it as the "wine bar" menu, actually. Because the dishes are plated behind the bar?) I hope that you enjoy it!

This time of year, we find ourselves driving up to 2 Amys about once a week, sometimes more. (For the record, it's not in the neighborhood for us.) Last night was another excellent seasonal dinner! Silky corn soup, well balanced with both salt and acid, was served cold and studded with four large chunks of perfectly tender lobster. A roasted peach, drizzled with honey, paired beautifully with pistachios and ricotta and hints of rosemary (infused in the honey?). I took a bite and then put it aside to save as a perfect summer dessert. (My taste in desserts runs toward cheese and fruit and away from chocolate.) I have never had a bad tart here, and the caramelized onion slice, dusted with shavings of a surprisingly bright aged goat cheese log, ably carried the trend. (The aged goat cheese has appeared on a variety of dishes and I always love its accent.) Marinated mussels and tiny fingerling potato were dressed in an herby spiced oil that screamed to be mopped up with bread at the end. A few other small plates and a funky bottle of natural rose wine off the reserve list rounded out a lovely meal. (At 2 Amys, the reserve list doesn't necessarily mean more expensive than their regular list. We've been told it is just that they don't have as much of the often quirkier/rarer selections.) Service, as always, was delightfully warm. So maybe you've noticed that we didn't order a pizza. (We only do one every fourth or fifth visit.) I have had a number of sad conversations recently -- both with friends and on this board -- in which the other person says that he or she isn't a particular fan of 2 Amys, usually citing a preferred pizza place around DC. (A defensible position, I agree, as much as I do like 2 Amys' pizza.) Invariably, the non-fan has not ordered off of the wine bar menu (the long white, daily-changing menu). And all too often, even fan friends tell me the same thing! Which is why I am posting. Check out the wine bar specials! I am not sure there is another place in town that does so well with super seasonal ingredients, often with little more than high quality olive oil and a health sprinkling of finishing salt. And they change so frequently that we could go back in a day or two and have an entirely different meal -- and probably will.

Can anyone think of a tasting menu in town other than minibar's that is more expensive? I can't. (Metier's includes tax at $200, making it a few dollars cheaper.) He's certainly setting expectations high with the pricing. Can't wait to see the early reviews.

grabbed them! looking forward to it.

We end up at The Dabney at least every few weeks, and were back last night for dinner. We've loved the bar from the beginning -- their cocktails, especially the brown liquor ones, are generally excellent -- but have found the food to be a little more variable. Sometimes a dish is amazing, but sometimes just okay. (Service is generally fantastic. I especially love sitting at the bar and getting to chat with Tyler, Frank, and others, although the host stand/table staff are also great.) However, since the start of the summer, the kitchen has been absolutely hitting it out of the park. The cucumber gazpacho (maryland blue crab, lime, pickled ramp, evoo, & mint) continues to be a refreshing way to start on a sweltering night; I particularly love the acidic punch of the slivers of pickled ramp. Last night's whole grilled black bass (cilantro-lime jalapeno dressing, carolina gold rice, kimchi, roma beans & benne) was delicious when we had it as a "small plate" a few weeks ago, and if anything it's better in its whole, "family style" presententation. (But then I get a lot of glee out of filleting a whole fish.) The cilantro-prominent sauce is bright and spicy, the charred onions and beans are satisfying, and the kimchi puree-dressed rice provides a respite of simpler (although not boring) flavored bites to punctuate the more exciting fish/veg bites. The ember-roasted beets (smoked & dried scallop, virginia peanut, basil, lemongrass, & pickled chili) were unexpectedly refined, with a thick beet foam on the roasted beet chunks and a lot of umami depth from the fishy and nutty elements, balanced by the bright basil. (I'd expected something satisfyingly homey, but this dish would fit easily on the menu of a farm-to-table restaurant with more fine dining ambitions.) And I I may love their thickly sliced, grilled ciabatta with sweet, whipped sorghum butter (which I've definitely licked off on the tiny serving spoon on occasion) more than Rose's potato bread. The only less-than-stunning dish was the side of charred corn on the cob (feta, black garlic, & popped sorghum). Maybe I'm too accustomed to lime-dressed elote, but I wanted more acid on this corn. Props to the staff for updating the online menu daily; we love seeing an exciting new dish that makes us want to pop in.

It's more that we didn't like it well enough to seek it out as it's not a convenient local option. If I'm going to take an Uber up to dinner in that direction, it'll be to go to 2 Amys or Tail Up Goat. If I want Indian, I'd go to Rasika or somewhere closer by. What counts as a savory cocktail? None of the three we tried struck us as notably savory, and the green one (I also can't recall the name) was particularly well balanced between its herby, vegetal, and spicy flavors. But it sounds like you and I have very different cocktail preferences. I love the shrub trend, enjoy herbs and spices in my cocktails, and if you're making something with tomato water, I will be ordering it.

I can't find a thread for Timber Pizza Co., so I'm starting a thread for the first time! The bf, two friends, and I tried Timber (in Petworth, on Upshur St.) about a month ago, shortly after it opened. For a place that had just made the brick-and-mortar leap from a truck-hauled oven, Timber was impressively strong out of the gate. It was crowded on that Sunday night, and we were wary when we saw that you order at the counter and then hope to find space at the communal picnic tables. (Unless you manage to grab seats at the small bar in the back, where you can apparently order from the bartender.) Luckily, our hovering paid off and we snagged a table before our pizzas arrived. (If we lived in the neighborhood, we'd be doing regular take-out.) Everyone was super friendly, and the woman at the counter was helpful in recommending how much to order. We went with empanadas, three pizzas, a sharing-sized salad, and two large-format cocktails. It turned out to be a pretty ideal amount of food; we ended up with a few leftover slices to take home. (Which definitely didn't make me sad.) I really enjoyed the corn, sweet red peppers, spring onions empanadas, because how can you go wrong with that vegi combination in a crisp pizza dough shell (especially with the spicy pineapple chups, which I used for my pizza crust as well). The friends like the pork ones too. The JMD salad (sugar snap peas, spearmint, salad greens, radishes, lemon-honey vinaigrette) was lovely, a bright, crisp contrast to all the dough we were consuming. With our friends deferring to our pescatarianism, we settled on the Asher (tomato sauce, smoked mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, roasted corn, hot peppers, smoked paprika, micro-cilantro), the Munday (olive oil, provolone, mozzarella, squash blossoms, sugar snap peas, honey ricotta, garlic chips, spicy honey), and the Ty Brady (crab, corn, potatoes, Old Bay). The crust had nice char and chewiness, and I loved the creative topping combinations. All were delicious, and we disagreed on how to rank our favorites, which is always a good sign. (I was particularly pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the spicy honey on the Munday.) We didn't linger so that others could have our seats, but luckily the Twisted Horn is just a few doors down and has excellent cocktails (if too many mosquitos on their outdoor patio that night!). But we'll be back.

I absolutely love Rasika (both locations), but I was trying to keep my expectations moderate in light of Tweaked's comment that Bindaas isn't at that level. Unfortunately, we were still underwhelmed. (At least the prices are more moderate that Rasika's; we spent under $45/person including tax and tip.) Our favorite dishes were the bhel puri, a bowl of savory, crunchy puffed rice punctuated with sweet mango and herby sauce, and the crab idiyappam, a simple, delicious plate of rice noodles dressed with crab and a coconut milk sauce. The seasonal vegetables, a heavily lentil based (it seemed) vegetable stew, were unexciting but satisfying over the two toasted, buttery rolls; a salad of onion, cucumber, and tomato (which came with a few dishes) added brightness. The fish in the chili salmon shashlik -- a simple kabob of salmon, peppers, and onions over rice -- was nicely cooked, as was the more-interesting (thanks to its tamarind/fennel/black pepper-based sauce) banana leaf-wrapped market fish (dorade). Carnivorous friends like their south Indian lamb wrap. Nothing we had was bad, but a lot of it was just okay. A number of starchier dishes -- including the shisito pepper pakoda, ragda pattice, and especially the spinach paneer naan (like an Indian quesadilla) -- could have used more salt and were a bit bland as a result. (The chutney helped the pakoda.) One friend also reasonably complained that the ragda pattice (essentially a potato cake with various sauce/vegi garnishes) was too sweet. From the reviews above, we probably should have gone with the shrimp uttapam, but our server recommended the sweet corn-pepper uttapam, which was a tender but kind of boring pancake with the advertised vegetables but not much else going on. We tried the same three cocktails as franch, and liked them all. I could see the Curried Away's being a bit controversial; the raw ginger spice is prominent. At $10/each, the cocktails seem like a bargain given prevailing prices for cocktails around town. My biggest complaint is actually a logistical one. Table crowding can often be a problem with small plates restaurants, but this was the worst I can recall. Upon being seated at our 4-top, we almost immediately commented that the table seemed a bit tight. Just how small became laughably awkward as our stream of dishes began to arrive in quick succession. (There seemed to be little effort to pace our meal, and it went quickly as a result; we were basically ready to leave by 8:15 after a 7:00 reservation, and we took awhile to order while we waited for our fourth diner.) For a small plates concept, the dishware itself is impractically large. At one point, three different servers arrived within the span of a few minutes to drop off a plate, each making the same subtle grimace as they struggled to find a bit of tabletop real estate. As a result, there was a lot of shuffling, consolidating of half-eaten dishes onto one plate, attempts to finish dishes quickly before more could arrive, and in one instance, even sticking an empty plate on a nearby shelf until someone returned to remove it. (And a near-constant anxiety on my part that I was going to elbow a glass -- crowded near the outer edge of the table to make room in the center -- onto the floor.) Doesn't exactly make for a relaxing dining experience, although service was very friendly. Cleveland Park was a bit of a hike for my friends and me, so we won't be rushing back to Bindaas. But if it were on 14th Street or I lived in the area, I could see it entering the rotation. Will be interested to read others' reviews as it evolves.

we routinely grab a table at the union market location for brunch with friends (including their now 22-month-old daughter), ordering drinks and a few dishes while someone goes on an expedition to get biscuits/coffee/smoked mussels/etc. from the various other stalls. (i don't recall whether someone has mentioned this upthread, but rappahannock is cool with bringing in outside food/drink so long as you're also ordering from their menu, making this a table service oasis from which to enjoy the entire market experience.) staff couldn't be nicer (especially given the messy toddler and detritus from the food we get from other stalls). oyster-loving friends are always happy with their offerings and i'm a big fan of the cured salmon -- a lighter, more vegi-inclusive way to get my brunch salmon fix than a bagel -- and various raw fish dishes. (we learned that toddler loves salty roe when she started picking the salmon roe off of the salmon plate!) i didn't love the crabcake the one time i had it, finding it underseasoned and just kind of okay for a place specializing in seafood. for me, the cocktails are the surprising star. it's a long list of excellent, classic-leaning cocktails, as well as a few creative mocktails for the preggers/nondrinking friends.

I've had this dish three or four times, and the potatoes have been slightly different every time. Always delicious, however. The current version with pickled fennel stems in lieu of the charred alliums that have rotated through previously (ramps, spring onions) may be my favorite, thanks to their hit of bright acidity. (Definitely didn't expect that! I'm a sucker for onions and not usually a fennel lover.) So much has been posted about how great this place is, how wonderful Bill and Jill both are in the front of the house, but I can't help but echo the compliments. I've been to TUG more than a dozen times since they opened, whether for a full dinner or just drinks and a few dishes at the bar, and it's only gotten better since the beginning (and as they get more great summer produce). The pici pasta with uni, squash blossom, and calabrian chili breadcrumbs was so good on our last visit that we ordered a second round. Rather than using lobes as a garnish, the thick spaghetti-like pasta (think buccatini without the hole down the middle) is dressed in a smooth, urchin-rich orange sauce. (I first fell in love with urchin at a years-ago Komi dinner, when a similarly pureed sauce garnished an early raw fish course. It was the first time I can recall relishing the flavor without being put off by the texture.) Fair warning, it's a bit expensive at $21 -- presumably due to the cost of the uni -- for the not huge size. But worth it. We'll be going back soon to try the ravioli; corn and sungolds are two of my favorite summer ingredients.

from the photo/description, they certainly don't seem to be. bagel bombs are delicious and lend themselves to variation -- i regularly make the milk bar recipe, subbing smoked salmon for bacon -- so no wonder that they inspire imitators. (i recall a minor twitter kerfuffle last year when david chang called out starbucks for selling the shark tank-funded version mentioned in the article above.)

Will you be able to accommodate dietary restrictions if given in advance? We're pescatarian (but no octopus), which hopefully isn't too difficult . . . .

We went back to P&P last night (with another couple who had been eager to try it). I'm not going to go into as much detail on the food (menu below) as I did for my first post, but I just wanted to highlight a couple of things. First, they've definitely worked out the minor pacing/service hiccups that we experienced on our first dinner in late April. (And in typical fashion, the staff were all extremely friendly, maintaining their composure and good humor even when the power went out, taking the a/c with it and forcing them to close Rose's early and cancel the second P&P seating for the night. Our hearts went out to the entire staff for having to deal with such a frustrating disaster!) Second, I applaud the kitchen staff for their creativity and constant innovation: the only duplicates from our first meal were the bonbon (a worthy signature snack), the egg drop soup (marginally different green veg), the chocolate souffle/ice cream, and the doughnuts. (The doughnut assortment included all the same bitter liquor varieties, and then a strawberry and a pistachio in the mix as well, presumably because we'd ordered two non-alcoholic pairings this time. Next time, I'll ask in advance to just get all non-alcohol doughnuts as Campari et al. aren't my thing.) That's an impressive level of menu turnover at a restaurant of this caliber and level of technical skill; it felt less repetitive in under three months than minibar did after two years. (Aaron says they turn a few dishes every week or two.) That sort of variety is definitely going to keep me going back. As a matter of my personal taste, I slightly preferred the first menu to this one. I liked the avocado ice cream more than the roasted potato. The egg drop soup was more green and less parmesany this time around, and I missed not getting to have the second egg. The fluke "Veronique" was a lovely dish -- I'm a sucker for anything that is heavy on the caramelized onion flavor, which the grapes balanced nicely -- but the Spanish mackerel with ramps was a star. The most heartbreaking loss was of the pecorino cake -- one of the best desserts I've ever had -- coupled with the addition of a coffee dessert (I'm not a coffee drinker). But I loved the bite-sized elote and the red curry (infused with aromatics through a coffee siphon) was AMAZING. And as I said, it's a matter of personal preference: the new fluke and fried chicken/sweetbreads (for which we got the squash blossom, a satisfying veg sub that wasn't quite as satisfying as the white asparagus okonomiyaki) courses were favorites for our friends (one of whom also happily ate my abandoned coffee kakigori). Even a favorite restaurant is going to have meal-to-meal variance. The menu was ever-so-slightly shorter (in addition to the solo egg, we got one fewer course), but it was still plenty of food -- we were stuffed by the end. (The mounting heat -- not their fault, of course! -- didn't help.) For those complaining about the cost of the non-alcoholic pairing, it's now $25 cheaper than the alcoholic one. Not a huge difference, but we had some lovely drinks (including an incredible pear cider to start). Non-drinkers won't feel like an afterthought. (We also confirmed that there's no corkage in the dining room if you'd like to bring your own wine in addition.)

Awesome, thank you! Can't wait to try it.

Does anyone know if the vegetable ramen is actually vegetarian? It's not clear to me from the menu, which touts the chicken stock.

I've been meaning to write about our dinner for weeks -- we went on April 19th -- but I've finally gotten to it. For the weeks between making the reservation and that night, I tried really hard to moderate my expectations, but this was the most excited I'd been about a meal in DC in ages. I'm relieved that I wasn't disappointed. My biggest complaint about the night was the early pacing of the meal. We stood around drinking our cocktails for a few minutes before being led behind the curtain (literally) to our seats at the kitchen counter; not a big deal, but I'd probably have been a bit annoyed if I'd been wearing heels. The snacks trickled out slowly, and we didn't receive a course more substantial than bite-sized until more than half an hour after we arrived, by which time we were starving. (I'll chalk it up to newness and assume that the pacing will improve as they get more settled.) The room itself is beautiful; the bf commented that it's like what Kinship should be. (Perhaps controversially, we don't like the Kinship dining room much. It feels too monochromatic, kind of cold. We much prefer Kinship's bar area.) P&P has plenty of white, but pops of colors (like the mustard chairs) and texture (like the strings in a sort of 3D mural on the right wall), plus the view into the huge open kitchen, make it inviting. I loved being able to watch what the chefs were doing only feet away, although our front-row seats didn't help my mounting hunger. The first real dish (after snacks) -- "Avocado and Osetra Caviar" -- was amazing: a perfectly balanced mix of salty roe with creamy avocado ice cream and creme fraiche, punctuated with bursts of finger lime. Next course: eggs two ways. I really liked the beautiful parmesan-infused "Snap Pea & Spring Garlic Egg Drop" soup. The egg-and-cheese broth, ladled over vibrant spring vegetables (including peas and nasturtium), had just enough chili spiciness to cut the richness, and an herby puree emphasized the dish's springiness. Unfortunately, the "Blue Ribbon Coddled Egg" was the only real technical (and service) failure of the night. Although the onion marmalade and morels on top were delicious (and would have paired well with the unctuousness of a runny yolk), our eggs were basically hard-boiled. We ate the toppings and left most of the egg at the bottom. (When a waiter came to clear these dishes, he asked which we'd preferred, and I said honestly that it had to be the soup because the other egg was overcooked. He didn't react to that comment at all, nor seem to notice that we hadn't actually eaten the egg.) Loved the "Spanish Mackerel with Wild Ramps & Virginia Bluebell," and mackerel is definitely not one of my favorite fishes. I badly wanted bread (which we didn't yet have) to mop up very drop of the ramp vinegar and puree. Visually beautiful, brightly oniony, nicely acidic from the vinegar, not too fishy -- just lovely. "Toasted Rice Bread with White Miso Butter" arrived a course too late to savor the ramps, but I was still excited to see it. (Years of excellent breads at Rose's have bred high expectations; no pun intended.) The rice porridge brioche (as it was described) didn't taste noticeably porridgy, but it was predictably tasty, fluffy inside its nicely browned crust. And the white miso honey butter was fantastic. Visually evocative of curled shavings of tete de moine cheese, it was creamy and sweet and had just enough funk; we ate it all. The "White Asparagus Okonomiyaki" was one of the few dishes that I noticed (from overhearing descriptions to other diners) had meat removed (as opposed to just subbing a course), but I didn't miss the chicken. White asparagus in a crispy crepe with dashi-soaked maitakes, bonito shavings, lime zest. So salty in a good way. (I could see some complaining, but I love salt, especially on crunchy carbs or mushrooms.) Excellent haute drunk food. One of the desserts, the "Pecorino Cake with Basil Gelato," combined elements of pesto -- moist pecorino cake, cheese crisps, basil ice cream, pine nuts -- and (slightly macerated?) strawberries into one of the best desserts that I can remember. Flawless. The chocolate souffle was well executed if not unusual; loved the "Crispy Buckwheat & Honeycomb Ice Cream" that accompanied it -- the roasted buckwheat groats' savoriness tempered the honeyed sweetness. I see Pineapple and Pearls becoming one of our favorite splurges in DC, especially if the menu changes frequently. There has been a lot of debate about the price -- $250/person is going to cause sticker shock -- but considering that it's all-inclusive, it's a bit cheaper than Komi, a lot cheaper than minibar (whose inflated price at the new location combined with too much of the same old menu really galled me), and generally a good value (to the extent such a thing is possible at this cost) in terms of food and overall experience. (Plus, prepaying allows for a certain charming seamlessness to ending the evening without the presentation of a check.) We both opted for the wine pairing at my urging, but we'll definitely do one non-alcoholic pairing next time. The wines were all good (and the pours so generous that we didn't end up finishing a number of glasses, which isn't our norm), but nothing stands out as a particularly unusual wine or an especially astounding pairing with the food, two features common to our favorite pairing experiences over the years. (I realize that when the pairing is the only option, you've got to tailor it to please as many people as possible; I assume this pairing will satisfy most diners.) In contrast, the non-alcoholic pairing sounded like it would include a number of very interesting drinks, and the hazelnut and pistachio nut milks that we tried in lieu of end-of-the-meal caffeine suggest that P&P will do them well. Next time. We'll be back, and probably pretty soon. Full write-up of all dishes with photos: fromagophile.blogspot.com/2016/05/pineapple-and-pearls.html.

finally tried momofuku tonight (will post on that thread later), which allowed us to order from the milk bar menu without waiting on the line (and at least lessened my annoyance with how disappointed i was in the cornflake-marshmallow cookie). as others have noted, the cookie came in a sealed plastic bag -- can't the restaurant go through the pretense of removing the plastic/heating the cookie? -- and tasted like a mediocre chocolate chip cookie (sort of like an oversized chewy chips ahoy in texture). i picked that cookie because i just made a batch last week, and the homemade version was infinitely better than this prepackaged disappointment. no discernible marshmallow pockets, the cornflake crunch lacked the buttery-salty addictiveness of the cookbook recipe, and this uniformly round, uniformly thick cookie lacked the delightful textural/flavor contrast of chewy center and caramelized, crystallized thin edges. we also ordered the crack pie soft serve, which was very tasty (but very sweet). it met expectations, but personally i'd rather have one of ice cream jubilee's or dolcezza's more sophisticated flavors if i'm in the mood for frozen dessert. unfortunately, my experience tonight echoed our last visit to a nyc location -- none of the magic of my first visit to milk bar years ago, nor of any of the recipes out of the cookbook. it feels very much like a chain bakery that's riding on its reputation. maybe this sounds overly harsh for one meh cookie, but i'm just so disheartened by it. tosi is so very talented -- the milk bar cookbook is one of my favorites -- but she seems to be more focused on expanding her empire (including through a second, very disappointing cookbook) than continuing to innovate (i think every cookie on the milk bar menu appears in the four-year-old cookbook). if you want to know what the hype is about, i'll second joshne's suggestion: buy the cookbook (or go online) and make something yourself. THAT won't disappoint.

For "How I Met Your Mother" fans, it's also the answer to the mystery of the pineapple from Season 1's "Pineapple Incident" episode! So looking forward to this opening, especially because Rose's roof reservations disappear in literally under ten seconds.

I thought the same thing when I first tried uni, and now it's one of my favorite things to order when it appears on a menu (especially at Sushi Capitol, where it's usually excellent). If you liked the flavor but just couldn't get over the texture, keep an eye out for it in non-sushi contexts where it gets mixed with other ingredients and the texture gets masked -- Morini has it in a bucatini dish, Seki's with quail egg is one of my favorites on their menu (both are ever-present items, I believe). My love of uni started with a few dots of uni sauce (so no texture issue!) on a Komi crudo dish years ago, and now I'll eat the raw lobes whenever I can. Uni/mackerel/herring aside, sounds like it was a successful meal? We still need to get to Sushi Capitol for the omakase; we've definitely done our part for the take-out business.

I really, really want to like Sally's Middle Name more than I do. Given all the raves here, I was hesitant to post after our first dinner (Saturday two weeks ago), but after last Thursday night's dinner left us with the same underwhelmed reaction, here I go. Overall, we've found both meals unsatisfying. The food is good -- and some dishes have been very good to excellent -- but it's too vegetable-focused (and I say this as a pescatarian who loves vegetables!), too much of the same (variations on green), too insubstantial. As a result, the whole has been less than the sum of its parts, and we've left, if not quite hungry, definitely unsatiated. (Friends who went last weekend had a similar complaint.) For a menu that only has about a dozen dishes, many of them are surprisingly small, with none approaching full entree size, and only 2-3 contained protein. (And marinated olives shouldn't really even count as more than a snack.) I don't recall how many dishes they recommend a person, but on the first visit, four of us ordered everything but the corned beef (eleven dishes, plus we doubled up on the peas). On our second trip, the bf and I ordered six dishes (after being told that they were out of two or three, as well as both pies). Both times, three per person wasn't enough for a filling dinner, but we'd already ordered everything (or everything that we'd wanted). Highlights first. The kiwi shrub is excellent, and it alone makes me excited to see what they'll do with cocktails once the liquor license comes through. (It would also be great if their wine list expands beyond the few basics to be interestingly quirky, like Rose's.) Like Mark, I loved the cuminy creamed corn (which was served alone rather than with salmon), which would be perfect cold weather comfort food. I just wished we'd had a spoon or some other way to sop it up. (Also, share plates. We felt silly, hunched over a tiny shared bowl, attempting to eat soupy corn with forks.) Grilled peppers and apricots, heavily garnished with cilantro (and the menu listed lime and salt), made for a unexpectedly good combination (although it fell victim to one of my big dining pet peeves, disparate plating but needing to have a bit of everything in the bite for the dish to really stand out). On our first visit, we quickly ordered a second bowl of the delicious fava beans, peas, goat butter, and mint. I'm still thinking fondly of the fried pickled chard stems with ranch -- a fantastic play on fried pickles, cleverly using an ingredient that I usually end up just trimming away and trashing. A number of dishes were very enjoyable without feeling particularly innovative; more like excellent home cooking. A delightfully oily dish of summer squash chunks and thick rings of red onion (both nicely charred, dressed in a spicy oil with a bit of basil) was satisfying, in a "this would be great side at a bbq" sort of way. A tasty cold salad of cucumbers, hazelnut, peppers, and horseradish got a nice sweetness from cantaloupe, but disappointingly I couldn't really make out horseradish flavor, just a bit of heat. (In SMN's defense, the bf had never had cucumber and cantaloupe together before, and therefore found the result more creative than I did. Regardless, we enjoyed this one.) Chipotle on pea and fava shoots was a bit one-note (the fault of omitting the lamb pancetta?), but it was a note that I liked. Ivory salmon (guaranteed not to turn pink!) was good both times (first with charred tomato suce, then with "spicy greens, cherry tomato") but not particularly stand-out, and expensive at $18 for the portion size. A dish of stir-fried snap peas and fava shoots, dressed liberally with sesame oil and ginger, was probably the most disappointing dish of our meals -- too much like an okay side dish at an okay Chinese restaurant. Two weeks on, nothing else from our first meal has left a lingering impression beyond the vague recollection of salads and vegetables. There have been numerous comparisons above to Rose's, but (at least so far), I just don't see it beyond the superficial (small plates on the eastern side of town). The best dishes I've had at SMN have lacked the wow-inducing creativity and surprise of my early Rose's experiences -- lychee salad, popcorn soup, oysters with dark and stormy granita, etc., all dishes that stand out over a year and a half later, when I can barely remember more than a few dishes from dinner two weeks ago. Service is friendly, but lacks Rose's welcome-to-our-home excellence, and is at times inattentive, including noticeably long gaps without server attention (even though the restaurant was half-empty). (My recollection is that the service charge is not included in the price of individual dishes, but rather added on by default along with tax.) So back to my overall complaint: the menu could use more protein options, or, at minimum, more carbs integrated into the vegetable dishes. And I think this would be relatively easy to do. For example, the creamed corn would have been very satisfying over a bed of polenta. (I'm jealous that Mark got it with salmon.) The peas in goat butter could easily become a sauce for some fresh fettuccine. There's definitely talent in the kitchen, and I hope that Sally's Middle Name continues to improve. (This is embarrassing to admit, but I can't figure out how to embed photos. Otherwise I'd have included some.)

Thanks for starting this -- I'd been meaning to write about a dinner Sunday before last, and the slight additional effort of creating a thread had deterred me. (Lazy, I know.) We'd had reasonably high hopes for the new Centrolina in City Centre -- interesting-sounding menu, throwing its hat into a ring that already has a number of excellent Italian restaurants. Unfortunately, it's not one of them. We almost didn't order the buratta because the bf isn't the biggest fan of eggplant caponata, but ironically the caponata was probably the best thing we ate all night -- perfectly balanced sweet-sour-savory. The burrata itself was the worst burrata I've ever eaten. I usually love burrata, whether it's the excellent simplicity of the 2 Amys', whatever composed combination Fiola Mare is doing, or just a run-of-the-mill version like shows up on so many menus these days. This one was served too cold, basically unseasoned, with an unpleasantly sour center that was almost mealy in texture. We didn't finish it, which I'm not sure I've ever done with cheese. The carota (roasted, fried & pickled carrots, lemon, yogurt, turmeric) was much better (not a high bar, admittedly). A creative idea, pretty plating, and carrots obviously went well with the yogurt (vaguely Middle Eastern). I'd have liked if the fried carrots were crispier and more salted so that they stood out more against the roasted ones. I went with the squid ink reginette with black cod (I think) and scallops, mushrooms, and butter sauce. I'd assumed that the sauce would be a mix of chunks of seafood and mushrooms, so was totally surprised when what appeared was three large stuff pasta pieces with buttery mushrooms on top. The pasta itself was too dense (almost gluey) at its folded edges (although it may have been entirely fine in a single layer), and the seafood puree interior was underseasoned. Disappointing. (Two weird notes on the pasta: (1) I'd asked when we were deciding what to order whether it was possible to do half-portions of pasta, and the waitress responded confusingly that the chef really didn't like it but it was probably doable if we want to share a few pastas. Either allow it or don't, but we were left entirely unsure whether we would be being difficult if we did want half-portions. (2) Google claims reginette is a lasagna-esque flat pasta, but these were definitely stuffed.) The whole grilled branzino was the best overall dish, presented head- and tail-on but deboned (convenient), stuffed with rosemary, on a bed of grilled scallions with a grilled lemon to spritz. Enjoyable but not as good as the whole branzino at Nostos or Fiola Mare. Minor annoyance: it was served on a plate that was too small, with the tail hanging over the side. I had to ask for another plate on which to put the tail/head to give me room to actually cut up the fish and scallions. We ended up with the pignoli tart served with a lightly creamy ice cream (creme fraiche, if I recall). I liked the tart -- essentially a pine nut variation on pecan pie -- but found the balsamic drizzle underneath to be overpowering. Service was a bit odd. The waitress was very nice and seemed to mean well, but also seemed sort of awkward and easily flustered. White wines by the glass were served much too cold. I think they've done a lovely job with the space, making it feel very airy despite the fact that it probably gets very little sunlight, tucked away in Palmer Alley. Oh, and fair warning -- Google Maps thinks that the address is located a block west of where it actually is.

Yes! That's the meal I couldn't remember when I posted. Beautiful slideshow.