Josh

Dr. Christopher Linstrom. A skilled surgeon, inspiring teacher, and most importantly a kind and largehearted human being.

As is our custom, we showed up for our reservation about 20 minutes early to have a drink at the bar. The hostess suggested that if we'd rather, we could sit in the lounge, a small room just to the left of the entrance with cushioned benches and a fireplace. Not a minute after sitting down, a bartender stopped in with drink menus and suggestions. I went with a gin cocktail called Midnight Sun that deftly balanced the dryness of gin with herbal notes from aquavit and Cocchi Torino, and a touch of sweetness from Benedictine. Perfect aperitif. My wife had an equally delicious cognac-based drink (Champs-Elysee) that included green Chartreuse and Lemon. At the appointed time, the hostess came over to tell us our table was ready. Unlike an earlier annoying experience at Washington's #1 restaurant, she said straightaway that the tab would be transferred. Our server greeted us at the table, noted we were still enjoying our cocktails and conversation, and pretty much left us alone for 10 minutes or so. I haven't stressed so much over what to order in a long, long time. We started with the Path Valley Sunchokes with clementines, pepitas, and cilantro chimichurri, and the Sautéed Moulard Foie Gras with duck scrapple and bacon vinaigrette. The sunchokes haunt me. Impossibly creamy, with a nicely browned, caramelized exterior offset by the bright chimichurri. Seriously, we woke up this morning, and my wife looked at me and said "Sunchokes." The foie was a nice foil to the brightness of the sunchokes, with an extremely rich bacon sauce. Now, because we are dealing with Chef Ziebold, even a dish with foie gras, duck scrapple, and bacon came off as rich, yet somehow not a gut bomb. These both paired well with glasses of the Francois Diligent Brut Champagne and the (oh-so-delicious) Donnhoff Riesling. The next course brought the Oeuf A La Brick Au Thon for the wife, and the Hungarian Sauerkraut with shoat and creme fraiche for me. We had to do a bit of sleuthing to figure out what the hell my wife's dish was going to be. (For those who, like me, aren't in the know, "Brik" is a Tunisian and Algerian pastry with a savory filling, often egg.) The dish is served as a semicircle of crisp fried pastry with a perfectly cooked egg enveloped within, runny yolk and all. Neat trick. Several slices of rare "tuna confit" lay on top, with a pepper and olive "marmalade" (more of a salad). This worked very well together, though I think the subtleties of the flavors were a bit lost on me going from my richly-spiced dish for just a bite or two of the tuna. The shoat was served as a pieces of braised pork molded together in a cube, with a bit of delciously gelatinous skin on top. The sauerkraut was bathed in a meaty wine-y sauce that was rounded nicely by the quenelle of creme fraiche dusted with paprika. This was a killer dish, balanced in every way. Both of these were paired with a bottle of Cab Franc (Chateau de Villaneuve, 2001). Kudos to Kerstin for a fine recommendation that, at $60 was well-below the ceiling I gave. Our server checked in briefly after the dishes were served, and we were left to our food and conversation. I'm not much a dessert person, but Earl Grey ice cream that came with the sticky toffee pudding was nice. Nicer still was the Butler and Nephew white port. We had a 9pm reservation, and are old and tired, so we skipped the coffee service. I told my wife about our discussion on this board about what constitutes "good" service, and my belief that it's best when you never want for anything, but don't notice the wheels turning all around you. That is exactly what we experienced last night. Everyone was warm and relaxed, and allowed us to enjoy our time together without injecting themselves into the evening to generate some kind of "experience" or whatever. As Don and others have noted, while not "cheap," the menu at Kinship is set up in such a way that I can see myself heading back many times without breaking the bank. I think I'll follow in Bart's footsteps and head back very, very soon.

Hmm...one of us is misreading the label, because my understanding is that the "tropical flavors" are indeed coming from the variety of hops they use in the beer, and not the addition of any fruit.

I go to the gym on that block, and I must have passed by there over a dozen times before realizing Ray's was actually open. It seems aggressively un-marked/advertised. I can't remember any signage to speak of, and the inside looks quite bare.

A real review will follow at some point, but this is the restaurant in DC right now. No one is close to what EZ is putting out. The plan now is to figure out financially how to eat here as many times as possible without losing my house.

I believe it. I've had amazing meals there. But I have to say, the inconsistency of his restaurants (amply documented on this thread) is pretty crazy.

I wasn't going to write anything about my experience at the Rockville location today, but it seems like maybe I wasn't the only one to notice they weren't firing on all (or even 1/3rd) cylinders. I called in a few items for takeout (bamboo fish, grandma noodles, house special fish, and smoked tofu with celery). That list of dishes wasn't what I started out ordering, but as it turns out, the online menu bears only passing resemblance to their actual current offerings. I think most of the issue is that some dishes have slightly changed names, but the person I spoke with did not have a deep enough knowledge of the menu to know what I was asking for. I showed up 20 minutes later to pick up my order only to be met with complete confusion. I was asked 4 separate times what my name was and what I ordered. I was met with incredulity when I explained for the 3rd time that I was not Sean and had not ordered Kung pao shrimp. After several minutes I was able to surmise through hearing bits and pieces of hushed conversation between staff, and one side of a phone conversation, that they had mistakenly given my to go order to "Sean" and had asked him to bring it back. To be totally clear, I asked twice for clarification on what was up (to give them a chance to be honest and up front with me), but both times I was told it was simply "still cooking." Lo and behold, Sean returned about 15 minutes later. The bag with my food was quickly swept away to the back after the manager said something to a waitress in Chinese. Less than 2 minutes later, my order came out in another bag, but without a receipt for me to double check its contents. So at this point, perhaps irrationally (though I don't think so), I asked if they had simply repackaged the food Sean just returned. (Sean joked that I wasn't supposed to see him bring the food back, and though we laughed, I think he was right.) They said no, that my food was freshly cooked, and it was just a coincidence that it came out shortly after the other order was returned. I remain skeptical, but at that point I wanted to get out and on my way home, paid my check, and headed out. The bamboo fish had great flavor, but any crispness was a casualty of the trip home. The noodles were a gluey mess, and lacked much of any flavor. We've had these and loved them in the past. This version was virtually unrecognizable. The fish was much milder and less complex than the last time I had it. Not bad, but certainly not something I would order again or recommend in its current version. The smoked tofu dish was a bummer as well. The only flavor was from the seasoning on the tofu, which was quite one note. A much better version of this can be had at Panda Gourmet in NE DC. Looks like for now I'll be switching back to my old haunt Sichuan Jin River for Szechuan in Rockville. (My experience at PC in Arlington was fantastic about 1.5 months ago.)

The goat cheese and herb biscuit I devoured after a long run today was absolutely delicious. I've been quite happy with the vegetarian options here.

Not sure if this'll be useful to anyone, but in case someone wonders at some future time: I contacted Etxebarri in preparation for a trip back to Basque country, this time with 2 kids in tow. They were delighted to have kids in the restaurant and assured me it wouldn't be a problem. (And it should go without saying that if you find yourself anywhere near it, you are doing yourself a huge disservice if you don't make a reservation for lunch there. 5 years later, still the best meal of my life.) Do you happen to remember the name of the Sidreria? We'll be heading back to San Sebastian in June, and that sounds like a worthy excursion. Thanks!

When in doubt, I turn to comedy. Clickhole to the rescue!

Yeah, I can't say for sure which restaurants in my list actually have changing tables. I can think of one memorably frustrating episode, but that was at Dino's, where the excellent kid's menu made up for the lack of changing table.

We've done both of those with good results. Just make sure you have reservations for Seki.

Speaking as a dad of 2 kids, I can say: Literally everywhere. If the kids are well-behaved, you make a reservation, and eat on the early side (I'd say before 7 to be safe), everywhere is fair game. We frequent Thip Khao, Red Hen, Maketto, Boundary Road, Dino's, & Sushi Capitol. We've had great experiences with kids at Garrison, Etto, Le Diplomate, Estadio, Ghibellina, Osteria Morini, Menomale, Daikaya (upstairs), Casa Luca, Mintwood Place, & all of the Jose Andres places.

I've always thought that good service is invisible, and goes unnoticed until after the meal, when you realize how great of an evening you had.

Fiona at District Fishwife has had them in the past. I bet if you call over, she could order some for you. --- Teff Flour (porcupine)

What counts as an "ethnic dish?"

If you're craving the fried chicken, but can't make it for dinner, I was happily surprised last week when I saw that the Num Pang (Cambodian sandwich) is now offered with your choice of pork, chicken, or vegetarian. I opted for chicken, just for a change of pace, and bam. Each half had a sliced fried breast with a drizzle of that delicious sweet, funky sauce. Highly recommended. The ginger kombucha was a perfect, bracing accompaniment.

For whatever reason, I've been thinking about this topic for a while now. And the more I think about it, the more ridiculous I find the idea that if only moderate American (or whatever country you'd like to add) Muslims would denounce terrorists, or really talk really badly against terrorism in general, we would be closer to a solution. The Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS/Daesh...these guys are fucking sick. They are crazy. Can there really be a connection between the reasonable, law-abiding, family-loving Muslim folks I work and socialize with...who I call my friends, and these monsters? No. Just because the crazy assholes claim there is a connection does not make it so. We empower them by granting that relationship.

There's no blood in a medium rare (or even a raw) steak. But it's an interesting question for American carnivores to address. Why is muscle and skin ok to eat, but blood is gross? I happen to love blood sausage in all forms, and recently enjoyed a bowl of Dinuguan from Manila Mart in Beltsville. I actually had to convince the nice lady behind the steam table to sell it to me, as she assumed that all white Americans thought cooking with blood was gross.

Eric has them again at Union Market, and they are delicious.

No idea where to get it, but I eagerly await finding out, so I can jump on it.

I also had this to say about the beef chow fun at East Pearl (at least back in July 2014): Posted 22 July 2014 - 08:13 PM While I have Rockville on the mind, I should give a shout out to East Pearl for another great lunch. The beef chow foon was really killing it yesterday... acomically large portion perfectly cooked. Mixed throughout were noodles with just a touch of char, giving the whole dish that "wok hei" that is so often missing.

Not strictly Chinese, but I found the wok-fried noodles at Maketto to have that delicious smokiness last time I had them.

Don, Was this a home tasting, or from a restaurant? If so, where did you buy the ham? My wife and I nerd out from time to time and challenge each other to blind tastings to see if our preconceived notions of what we like (and tend to order) really pan out. We've largely done this with alcohol before (turns out I really do prefer Asahi over all other common Japanese beers, but secretly like Corona better than Modelo Especial), but a ham version would be a lot of fun.

Last night was a tapas feast of Gildas (olive+anchovy+piparra pepper on a toothpick), Rioja-style potatoes and chorizo, blistered Padron peppers, setas al ajillo, and cheese (Valdeon and Manchego). All went down nicely with a bottle of Rioja Reserva. Turning my parental warnings back on me, my 3-year old looked at me and said "Daddy, if you drink all that wine you'll pee the bed." The wine was drunk and happily the bed remained dry. His didn't. Glass houses and all that... Tonight will be lima bean gratin and...something. And more wine. And probably bourbon. Tomorrow I'll roast the chicken I have dry-brining in the fridge, and make some cauliflower soup that has been a crowd pleaser for the adults on down to the 6-month old.