JLK

I got an email from my condo association announcing that LeeLoo had extended a 10% discount to residents of the neighborhood. And it's a good thing! I just looked at the menu on the web site and it ain't cheap.

Thursday night, I was able to sample the dessert that will (or has by now?) replaced the nutella crepes. Although I love nutella, I had been lukewarm on the crepes. I am, however, in love with the nutella mousse. Thursday night it was served with bourbon-soaked cherries in the bottom of the cup, and the "mousse" seemed more like a pudding to me (a good thing in my book). Creamy, rich and heavenly.

March Madness!

Not to be confused with Cafe Mozu. Official web site.

Here's a good reason to visit LoveCafe. Love_Cafe_E_Card.pdf

Near Tysons, it's Cafe Deluxe at the bar.

A simple sandwich costs $7 (or more) at most places these days. I wish we had Naan and Beyond out near Tysons!

Tuesday - pizza at midnight at the Tavern on Rush in Chicago washed down with cheap white wine in even cheaper glasses. The pizza was tasty because I was very hungry, the conversation was lively. Wednesday - yucky panini from a mini-Corner Bakery in O'Hare. "Napkins are in the bad" she said. They weren't. Greasy fingers. Late Wednesday/early Thursday - midnight room service from Harrah's in New Orleans. Due to a power outage they were only offering desserts and club sandwiches. I had one of each and the club was better than the bread pudding. Overall, fantastic for weight gain. Thursday lunch - business meeting with two business contacts who have become friends at Herbsaint, also in New Orleans. A shared salad of arugula, beets, burrata and chopped walnuts was delicious, my gnocchi was the perfect portion size (small) but boring, but the Champagne and company were excellent. Thursday dinner - catered food at the Audubon tea room connected to the zoo for a Hornets' fundraiser. After photos with the elephant, I lost my appetite a bit. Good thing because the food was nothing special. Again, thank goodness for the company. Friday breakfast - a most excellent plate of room service French toast, just what I didn't need. Friday lunch - Copeland's outpost in Kenner with a client's wife. Nothing special. Saturday lunch - a meal with a family that has recently and successfully completed the Habitat for Humanity program. They don't have the luxury of eating in restaurants often so I was sorry to take them to Gordon Biersch. I was even sorry for the looks of contempt received from our surly server when they didn't know what potstickers were and when they ordered everything well done. Tipped 15% instead of my normal 20%+ for business meals, but I doubt he even noticed. I still have heartburn from those #$% garlic fries. Trying to rally for another late night meal with another client now that I'm back in DC. Is it any wonder that I have gained 15+ pounds since I took the job two years ago?

Now accepting Euros.

The Tackle Box (I think I remembered the name correctly!) will be, according to the contruction site signage, a New England style lobster shack. Given its proximity to Hook, I'm wondering if it has the same ownership.

Anyone know what's going on at 1414 9th Street NW? Tyler Cowen's web site lists it as an Ethiopian buffet called Habesha (albeit in 2006), but it looks loungier than any buffet I've ever seen and there's a sconce outside that may or not be a "V."

Now open.

According to "The List: Are You On It" Equinox has done away with the Chef's tasting menu in favor of a "market table menu." Discuss.

I don’t know. Thus far, I just don’t get the hype about Cork. And I wanted to be as swept up as everyone else, but after two visits I’d give the food a B, and the service a C. The way I’d describe my experiences with the service at Cork would be more toward friendly, but flaky than aggressively bad. The servers who have handled my tables in two visits (both very good looking as noted by another poster!) started strong, showing an appropriate level attentiveness and seemingly displaying knowledge of the menu. But in both visits service issues cropped up as the nights went on. During my first meal at Cork, our server offered opinions about the cheese selections and helped us create a nice plate of five cheeses. We chose one of the options he gushed about and four others we identified as interesting. When the plate arrived, it was clear our blue cheese was not there. We asked our waiter to ID the cheeses; he could not. We pointed out the lack of blue cheese so he went back to the kitchen for it. After that, he seemed to hide from us. We were seated up in the mezzanine, a very intimate nook that I wouldn’t recommend to the claustrophobic. Given the proximity to the other tables, we were hard to miss and yet he studiously avoided eye contact in spite of our efforts to reach him with “excuse me”s and raised hands. The rest of our food ranged from fine to very good. I really enjoyed the braised lamb and the oil cured roma tomatoes on grilled bread with chevre. The French fries arrived and all I could think upon seeing all of the garlic was Gordon Biersch. Although the three of us like the fries, we all hated the housemade ketchup. Part of it is, I’m sure, our being accustomed to Heinz, but I have had other housemade ketchups and they didn’t end on such a sour flavor note as this one did. We ordered other dishes including the mushrooms, but I'm drawing a blank on the others at the moment. Without asking if we wanted dessert, the server brought the check. We did want dessert and asked for the apple walnut crostada which was fine, nothing tremendous. The second visit didn’t start off at all auspiciously. We tried and failed to signal the [very busy] barman for about ten minutes. When we did manage to order, he was out of two of our three wine selections. It was loud and crowded in there so we almost left, but decided to have one drink and then our table was ready. I’d had a late lunch so I mostly picked at my friends’ dishes and drank wine. One of my friends, on the other hand ordered a boatload of food including a five cheese plate, calamari (he ate every last bite), the tomatoes and grilled bread to share and the duck confit. Our other friend had mussels which he ate without comment (I think he liked them). The duck confit never did arrive so we pointed that out and asked for it to be removed from the bill. He said “of course” but did not in fact do so. Because my friend noticed this AFTER we paid the bill, we debated whether or not to mention it. Our server saw us hesitating and, to his credit, addressed the situation. I certainly don’t hate Cork. It has lots of potential in my opinion, but I’m less likely to seek it out between the crowds, how loud it is in the main bar area and the fact that neither the food nor the service blew me away.

Piadine The menu has remained largely static over the last few visits with just a few additions and tweaks. I don't mean to speak for Mark who's enjoying some well-deserved rest, of course, but my guess is that the menu will see more changes as spring (and spring ingredients) roll around. I was also at Proof Saturday night, on the early side. Lots of "tried and true" dishes were ordered because I brought my parents, uncle and exceedingly food-fearful aunt. She is the same aunt who likes to order French Martinis and then complain that there's never enough chambord/pineapple/whatever so I always brace myself when dining in a restaurant with her. This time, she was about to ask our wonderful server Max if she could have the white tuna crudo, but cooked. Not kidding. Sadly. Managed to head her off at the pass and refrained from throwing flatware at her. There's a new addition to the dessert menu involving a grilled banana and bread pudding. I recall liking it and that my mother and I cleaned the plate, but otherwise it's a blur. I drank a lot in order to get through the night.

That was not my take-away after a few days at Couples Sans Souci (Ocho Rios).

If you have your heart set on Proof, best call first thing tomorrow. It's a really popular place. Otherwise, maybe Hudson? It's getting mixed reviews. Tom likes it. Not necessarily easy on the budget, but perhaps easier than Proof.

Entrees at Proof start at $21. Problem is that 1. the menu is so tempting that you will not be satisfied with just one plate and 2. portions are, shall we say, "moderate."

I think Proof is beyond your budget.

Anyone know about this seemingly soon-to-open place? The website shares no info.

Trust me, I know! Remember my long day spent there when my flight was canceled? Even better, it's outside security. MSY

I find Memphis' airport a tough spot to locate breakfast. The B Gates' (?) food court is better for lunch with Neely's Interstate BBQ, but it seems like every establishment has the same, sad re-heated eggs and sandwiches made from the same. I usually end up getting a mediocre bagel from Einstein's Bagels near the US Air gates. Flying on Northwest, instead of my usual US Air, out of Greensboro (NC), I found that the options by those gates are pretty much as lackluster as the gates where US Air's flights depart. One of those miserable "Sam Adams" pubs. Heading back to New Orleans on Wednesday--that's truly an airport to avoid in terms of food selections. MEM GSO MSY

I did not enjoy my food delivery from Jackey tonight. Pan fried meat dumplings featured ridiculously thick skins and filling that was nothing special. My Szechuan beef appetizer was nicely flavored though I suspect they held back on the heat, but the meat was inedibly tough for the most part. Long thin pieces of beef that were strangely tubular.

Nutella and sliced green apple sandwich on toasted 15 grain bread. I'm sick and that's the only thing that had appeal.