JLK

Guess what? People in Williamsburg have kids too. Plenty of them. Brunch at Radegast is very baby- and kid-friendly. Communal seating, wide aisles, live music. Oh, and beer for the parents. There are always a few kids and babies at Modca. It's one of the more spacious coffee shops. Both are in central Williamsburg.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that the food was spectacular

Magnolia now has multiple locations including one on Sixth Avenue just south of Radio City, another in Grand Central and one embedded within Bloomingdales on the side facing Third Avenue (which was way too close to my office - good thing we moved). I wasn't initially a fan (at all) of Crumbs but certain cupcakes there are OK to good. I really like the one that's like a raspberry jelly doughnut in cupcake form. But the ones studded with candy, along with their enormous size, don't work for me. I like Sprinkles a lot. The only NYC location I have visited is the one on Lexington and 59th (or 60th). Good flavors including seasonal changes and a much more reasonable size than Crumbs. Butter Lane's cupcakes are, IMO, divine. The web site describes Butter Lane's offerings as cupcakes for grownups - I agree. The flavors aren't kooky although certain trends (e.g., salted chocolate frosting) are represented. Not sure why the web site is so lame.

Good new spot just south of central Williamsburg. More seating than most of the area's [many] coffee shops and free wifi. I do wish they offered some sort of food for those days when I'd like to linger longer, but can't stomach more coffee.

I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn now and what a treat that is food-wise. What bonaire said about Smorgasburg was spot-on. I love browsing there, whether it's for something to eat immediately or something to take home for later. Other neighborhood favorites include Pies N Thighs (I'm eating a chicken biscuit right now - they deliver), Fatty Cue (which I'm going to be if I keep drinking Malay micheladas there) and Ella (for brunch). I also like Fornino (excellent salads, pizzas and calzones), Bagelsmith on Bedford and M Shanghai (oh how I missed Chinese when I lived in DC!). Most places deliver which is a shock to both the waistline and the wallet.

Our first morning in Austin happened to be Easter Sunday. Figuring most places would be crowded I booked us a table at Lambert's hoping 1. that it would be good and 2. that it wouldn't be crazy holiday expensive. We did great on both accounts. Lambert's Easter brunch set up was brunch plus entree. Oh, and both were all you can eat, not just the buffet. Order as many entrees as you like, our server told us. Wow. Right after we ordered the entrees and a round of mimosas, a bread plate containing hot cross buns and lemon-ginger scones arrived. IIRC, the price was $32 per person. We picked three entrees to share: French toast with strawberry butter, a crispy-edged fluffy inside blueberry pancake and biscuits with sausage gravy. The buffet wasn't large, but well-edited. I ate a lot of ham, and even more mac & cheese. The latter was the best I have ever eaten. The only "secret" ingredient we were able to wheedle out of our server was that goat cheese played a role. We ate, and ate, and ate some more. Eventually the bill came. Upon realizing that mimosas were just $3 each, we ordered another round. If I lived in Austin, I'd eat there weekly. Swear.

gnatharobed and I had a girls' weekend in Austin a few weeks ago. I kept hoping she would post in all of her food-wise eloquence so I could just chime in with a few "yeah!" and "me too!"s but alas, I am the first to cave. We secured tickets to the Mumford & Sons taping of Austin City Limits and quickly planned a trip based on food, drink, music and a little sun. Mission accomplished. I love traveling with someone who, like me, has never uttered the words "I don't usually eat breakfast." After arriving and dropping our stuff at the hotel, we went straight to Stubb's BBQ. There are no photos of this meal which was consumed relatively quickly and silently. We both had the "minor plate" consisting of two meats and two sides. Mine were pulled pork, sausage, mac & cheese and beans. Other than the casing on the sausage being a little tough IMO, everything was tasty. I added a piece of cornbread, which was the lone disappointment - dry and bland. Several hours of rambling about downtown Austin later, we stopped for a drink at the W Hotel. We found room for a half-bottle of bubbly and some chili-lime popcorn. Dinner that night was suggested by gnatharobed: Odd Duck. It was a great pick and not just for the food. You stand in what I understand is typically a long line, order and then grab a seat to chill while your food is cooked to order. Expect to wait 45 minutes or so. Amuse yourself by running across the street to the convenience market across the street which sells beer, wine and any accoutrements you might want. We happened to arrive when the kitchen staff was ready for a beer - in return for one free dish, I got them some beer with their money while picking up ours. Everybody wins. I'm fuzzy on the food details (probably because of the time that has passed as well as the alarmingly caloric dessert that came later), but recall grits, quail and...other stuff (sorry!). I was hungry enough that I also ordered a few items from the non-Odd Duck trailer on the property. Nothing was bad, but nothing was good enough to post about. Dessert came from Gourdough's. Some genius - aka me - decided three doughnuts would be a good dessert, mostly because I had trouble making up my mind regarding flavors. We had a chocolate-coconut concoction (overkill but I liked it, possibly because it was the only one we ordered with chocolate), the maple bacon and a simple cinnamon-sugar. I was disappointed by the maple bacon, probably because I have been spoiled by Birch & Barley's wonderful offering. This one came with full, too long strips of bacon atop a maple doughnut, making it challenging, not to mention messy, to get a string of perfect salty-sweet bites going. We took a somewhat long walk back to downtown Austin. I suspect we burned off 5% of the calories consumed. And that was night #1.

Milkshakes are yummy. I recommend the black cow.

Who has joined the Kitchen Klub thus far? What's the ETA for the opening?

At Maialino, there were several open seats, but one could not simply walk in and sit.

Who's joining the Kitchen Klub? web site I'm on the other side of Union Station so I'm thrilled about the location.

Cranberry slushito, tortilla Espanola, croquetas, patatas bravas, crema Catalana. Not a miss in that bunch tonight. My date and I arrived at 6:30 and easily scored seats at the bar. Within an hour, the joint was jumpin'. PS Maialino in NYC has a wait list for bar seats. I vacillate between thinking it's off-putting and wise.

Any more recent reports from Proof on Main or recommendations for an alternative within walking distance?

Hello all. I'm heading to Atlanta this weekend and looking for a dinner spot for Saturday night. Three ladies, low-key girls' night out (one had a baby this year so she's psyched to get out of the house, but not exactly planning to dance atop the table). Home base will be the Dunwoody area. Price isn't really a determining factor - we're not looking for cheap eats, but don't feel a need to go fancy either. While the three of us love margaritas and all kinds of Latin food, that's not a must. A lively atmosphere would be nice, but we'll be fine so long as we avoid stuffy and formal. Vague, yes. But we're open minded. I look forward to any recs you can share.

Bump! I'm heading back to Dallas and looking for a mid-week dinner spot pretty much anywhere between the Galleria and Plano. There will be 8-10 of us. It's a business dinner so price isn't a big deal, but convivial atmosphere and good food are. Suggestions?

The new croquetas are similarly awesome.

Maple Ave has added a mobile food truck and today it came my office neighborhood (full disclosure: Joey, the GM is a friend of a colleague - I had not met her before today). What a treat to have such interesting lunch options come to us. I have worked out here at Tysons for over four years now and feel bored with most of the options. Add traffic and long-term construction projects, and you can see why I often bring leftovers from home. Today was the first visit from the truck and it offered bulgogi, pulled pork, fried cauliflower and a chicken salad. Three of my colleagues got the bulgogi (which looked a lot like the buns I had at Momofuku Ssam about 10 days ago) and I had the pulled pork ($7). I was very happy with my lunch and my colleagues devoured theirs without sharing.

Well! That explains it.

Any recent visits?

fyi - the link to this establishment's web site is amusingly wrong in the dining guide.

Is this the spot that is in (or near) the Admiral Fell Inn?

I'm ecstatic to have Taylor in my neighborhood (the MVT location). YMMV but my rule is to get any sandwich with the aged provolone. Personally I love its strong flavor. My go-to sandwich is the 9th Street Italian (hold the lettuce). Usually I'll get the 12 inch sandwich and it makes two meals for me.

Brunch at Birch & Barley today was terrific. I was lured in by word of maple-bacon doughnuts, but everything that followed was worth the visit too. Generally speaking, I don't seek out lemon flavors with food, and never understood the appeal of poppy seeds (although I eat them). Imagine my surprise when I loved the lemon-poppy seed doughnut almost as much as the maple-bacon one. The small dark chocolate dipped doughnut was nice, but dull in comparison to the other two. My friend devoured her Croque Madame. For my main, I had the terrific sausage and egg sandwich on a creme fraiche biscuit. Along with the sandwich came two delicious little hash browns and a generous side salad. I couldn't finish it all - largely because I ate more than my share of the doughnuts. With tip, the bill for two was $42 and we left stuffed. I'm looking forward to returning, either for another brunch or to try dinner.

I used to eat at a D&B location by my Rock Center office building at least 2x per week. I really liked the soups, especially when paired with a small sandwich (made on a bagel stick). Come to Tysons please, D&B.

I picked up dinner from Hell Burger on my way home from work last night. Little did I know that my commute from Rosslyn to downtown DC by the Verizon Center would take a full hour. I was very glad to have the seven cheese mac & cheese to nosh on while I waited, seething.