JLK

Taco madness

Beautiful family! Congratulations.

[welcome dcandohio!]

...or a slightly phallic dog treat.

Is there a web site?

Sorry to hear that. I had crepes with nutella and raspberry jam at L'Enfant.

Score! Jacoby is a client of the company I work with. He's eating lots of tacos these days.

Wait...huh? I'm confused.

If you check out my post from August (?) under Notti Bianche, you'll see I have an aunt who also orders French martinis. The order gets responses ranging from raised eyebrows to a roll of the eyes to a shrug. I have seen it enough (plus her dissatisfaction) to think that the only place one should order it is in one of those faux martini bars with 31 flavors. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll manage to hang on for a week. I'm serious about the extra grits. Never, ever throw them away. My number is 202...

I would have taken those excess grits off your hands, by the gallon. <swoon> I think I have to head over this weekend.

Aroma in Cleveland Park was granted the first exemption under the smoking ban, citing a decrease in sales of more than 20%. I'm disappointed to hear that smoking will again be allowed there. Due to the smoke, I had all but stopped going there, but was glad to return under the ban. Oh well, I still have the rest of the city!

Binni, those look FANTASTIC! Way better than the bowl of cereal I had this morning.

That Lower East Side store is just massive. It was so weird to see how the neighborhood has changed. I grabbed a late lunch at the WF in the Time Warner Center. Check out lines there are so long that it is someone's job to stand at the end of the long, winding single line that feeds into all of the register with a tall sign saying "End of the Line" or something like that.

Red visits from the afterlife for Chinese food??

I had a so-so meal at Notti on Friday. Two friends were trying to be sweet and take me out for my birthday. For their efforts, they called no less than six restaurants, all of which were booked (Beck, Central, Cashion's, Proof, Sonoma and Cafe Atlantico are the ones I recall), a full hour of travel time (thank you IMF/World Bank protesters) and food that generally made us say "oh...hmm." For our appetizers, two of us had the pumpkin soup with hen confit and balsamico and one had the scallops. The scallops were scarfed happily. The pumpkin soup was so bland. We both added liberal amounts of salt, just to make it taste like something. Entrees were OK. One friend's pappardelle bolognese was fine. Cooked just right and all, but dull. The biggest compliment we could give the dish was that we could tell it was fresh, housemade pasta. I stuck with the agnolotti, remembering how I had really enjoyed them last time. Yes, dull ordering the same thing again, but I have been sick recently so...it's just what I wanted. Most of the agnolotti tasted great, but ever so often I'd chew and bite into something gnarly in a fatty/cartilaginous way. But the oddest part of the meal was my friend's "rack of pork." It arrived looking more like a very small (no more than 3 ounces) pork tenderloin. The pork was somehow too tender, gelatinous really. Like pork jello. The flavor was good, but the texture was off-putting. Still, he ate it and due to the teeny tiny size, he finished a good fifteen minutes before my other friend and me came close to finishing. None of the four or so desserts appealed so we got the check. I have always really enjoyed Notti, but after this most recent meal, I can't say I'll rush back.

You might have to head to NYC to find what you seek.

I have a business lunch in Frederick, scheduled for Monday. What are my best options (I know the major players in town, just not who is open at lunchtime)? There will be three of us. Although I'm not too price conscious, I'm looking for a relatively nice-casual option.

Thank you! Happy Birthday, shogun.

That sounds awful. I have had much better luck with the bartenders (particularly the female one with the very cool cherry blossom tattoo on her arm) downstairs.

New places to reminisce on (or not): Mama Maria's and Enzio's and Zebra Cafe, both on Wisconsin, have closed.

Travel + Leisure on NOLA

I don't think Aroma will hold the back room on Saturdays.

One of those faux bagels from Panera (cinnamon crunch; it's more like a bun) with an iced venti skim latte from Starbucks.

Aroma in Cleveland Park. And you can bring in your own food.