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I thoroughly enjoyed that wonderful performance. If you enjoy Brahms and challenging piano parts, watch this; Brahms - Piano Concerto #1 in D-Minor (Op 15) played by Hélène Grimaud

I've been to Hilton Head a few times for golf trips with friends, but I'll just say they were not as interested in trying some of the better spots. I found HHI a bit lacking in better restaurants, to be honest. It's too late now, since it's closed, but I enjoyed Robert Irvine's Eat a couple of times. Dec 20, 2013 - "Robert Irvine's eat! Closing on Hilton Head Island" by Dan Burley on islandpacket.com Pomodori is well-regarded, but I didn't have a chance to try it. My daughter attends school in Savannah, and while it's not a dining destination either, she and her mom enjoyed The Florence a couple of weeks ago. The food was creative and tasty. I've not heard of Local 11 Ten--will have to check it out. A few months ago, we ate at the Olde Pink House, and while it certainly draws tourists, I was pleasantly surprised. You might enjoy the basement bar, which is lit by candles only. Southern hospitality is alive and well, and that goes a long way in my book.

It has been several months, but these are my highlights from Chicago: Bavette's: Book a table in the parlor (basement). Very dark and inviting, and the food was excellent. They also have a unique corkage policy (easy to find details with a quick google search) Pequod's pizza: Not necessarily close to downtown, but worth a trip. It's a popular spot for locals--more of a dive bar/pizza place. Delicious. Eataly; Yes, it's touristy, but they have a wide variety of dining options. Mr Beef: Great spot for lunch. It's a few blocks from the Merchandise Mart. Kinzie Chophouse: We enjoyed cocktails there before Bavette's. Great atmosphere and drinks, and also well-regarded for their food. Bonus: If you are there for vacation, I highly recommend a free Chicago Greeter tour. It was the highlight of our trip. (Ask for Bill) www.chicagogreeter.com . It does require advance planning, however. Chicago is a great food town, and the people are extremely friendly and helpful. Can't wait to return!

Did your trip take place? Would be interested to hear about your experience. Cheers.

My go-to source for most of my asian ingredients is my local Super H Mart, but they didn't have the fresh rice noodles I was looking for today. Does anyone know where I might find them? BTW, the recipe was Jet Tila's Drunken Noodles. Fantastic.

I hope it was good, and if so, they deliver to Fairfax City...

Recently received a sous-vide device, and thus far I've used it for steak, chicken breast, seafood sausage, and pork chops. By far, I enjoyed the steak the most. I'm certainly a novice, but the nuances of time and temperature are important to the results. Lobster tail is now on my list.

Whenever TK is up to the task, I sure hope his chat returns. His chats are informative, and provide welcome perspective. Despite some technical issues, it sure seemed like he was willing to spend time taking and answering just about every question. As a side note, I think the Washingtonian's new format is horrible. I've lived in the area only 4 years, so I don't have the perspective of many here, but I used to find the magazine and website useful at times. (I even subscribed for a year.) Now, TK's chat is the only time I think of the Washingtonian.

You went again?

As a rule, I never venture out for dinner on Valentine's Day. This year, however, my wife wanted to go Maketto for lunch, and the lure of a Sunday Dim Sum brunch made it a request I couldn't refuse. Parking was an adventure as usual, so it was 1145 by the time we walked in the door. The frigid temperaturesdidn't deter many people, and we were greeted by a line of at least 30 people that snaked around clothing area. The wait was estimated to be 60-90 minutes, which turned out to be quite accurate. (They don't accept reservations for lunch/brunch, btw.) I eventually wandered upstairs to get tea and coffee, and was very tempted to stay there after I noticed a kimchi and pork belly croissant in the display case. Instead, I resisted and ordered a flat white, which turned out to be one of the best I've had in memory, as well as some black tea for my wife. The upstairs area offered a couple of dishes other than pastries, by the way. As we stood in line, I assumed we would be seated when we reached the host stand, but I learned that was required to simply get on the the list. It seems like a somewhat inefficient way to do things, but I'll know better next time. By the time we were seated, we were both quite hungry. I really wanted to try the Taiwanese fried chicken, but my wife more interested in a number of other dishes. In the end, we selected the Char Sui Bao, Salt and Pepper Oysters, Mala Cucumbers, Anchovy Brittle, Turnip Cake, Chicken Gyoza, and Braised Beef. Like others here, I became a big fan of James Wozniuk during his pop-up days at Union Market. More often than not, I was drawn to his soups and sandwiches, since everything he produced was superb. I've also been to Toki a number of times, and I think Maketto is a welcome addition to the area. While my wife plays it a bit safe with gyoza, bao etc., I'm more likely to order dishes that are harder to find. (In this area, of course). In any event, everything we ordered was delicious. My personal favorites included the fried oysters and the turnip cake. The oysters, which appeared to be breaded in a light panko crust, were perfectly cooked, with crispy and greaseless exteriors and creamy interiors. They were lightly drizzled with what appeared to be a bit of mayonnaise, and served on a shredded cabbage mixture, and accompanied by a smear of spicy sauce. I also thoroughly enjoyed the turnip cake, a traditional dish I first tried while I was in Taiwan. Three generous slices of the cake, which had small slices of sour sausage throughout, were served in a soy based sauce, and were topped with XO crumbles. (Turnip cake is somewhat similar in texture to a fried potato cake, and it's a savory dish in no way resembling an American dessert cake.) The peanut anchovy brittle was delicious as well, and the sweet/umami/salty combination was a nice treat. Service was fast, efficient, and friendly once we were seated, and our server was quick to provide her own suggestions. Prices are very reasonable for this area, and the total for our 7 food items was $52 before tax and tip. (We didn't order any additional drinks). Looking forward to a return trip so I can finally try the fried chicken!

And as someone else mentioned, there is relatively little foot traffic in this mall. The place caters to the very wealthy; Nieman Marcus, Saks, Tumi, Omega, and even a RItz Carlton. My wife works for a well-know a retail kitchen kitchen company which has stores in Galleria and Corner. The Corner store is magnitudes busier. (As is the Starbucks, btw) I haven't been to America Eats Tavern in some time, but I haven't read anything that indicates it is a destination restaurant. I like Isabella's restaurants (with the exception of the now-closed Bandolero), but barring some sort of amazing transformation, I don't see how this concept will work at the Galleria.

My wife and I enjoyed an incredible meal early Saturday evening. Don and others have provided their incredibly well-written recaps, and as I'm not in their league, I'll just provide a few highlights. For my tastes, the restaurant is ideal. It seats somewhere around 80 people, so it retain an intimate feel. There is a comfortable waiting area just past the entry way, and a spacious bar featuring plenty of seating, as well as a few small tables and booths. The dining area is beautiful; sparsely decorated, and the tables are far enough apart that we didn't feel cramped at all. The noise level is nice as well. We were able to carry on a conversation without raising our voices--a rare treat these days. The tableware was absolutely beautiful, and as we found out the dish ware is made for the restaurant by Cloudterre. Kinship exuded genuine warmth and hospitality from start to finish. Without exception, everyone we encountered seemed to love their work, including "our" dining room attendant. Our server, Liz, was delightful, helpful, and extremely knowledgeable. If you are interested in wine, certainly consider speaking with Kerstin. She is also a wealth of knowledge, and recommended a nice burgundy to match our food choices. We were also fortunate to meet Eric as we entered the restaurant (we had a 530 reservation) as well as Celia, who was a continuous presence in the dining room. Both were incredibly charming and genuine. I would have loved to invite any of these people to sit and chat during dinner! Oh yes, and the food and drinks were incredible! Many have provided wonderful descriptions of most items we ordered. A surprise hit was the sunchoke dish, which was a creamy, tangy, and bright dish accentuated with a bit of crunchiness from pepitas. To end the meal, as others have suggested, we ordered tea and coffee service. The toffee was indeed outstanding, and was matched by an equally delicious latte. Random notes: My thanks to Don, who is responsible for a bit of "edible hospitality". I noted a table of four who brought in a couple of their own bottles of wine. They appeared to take their wine seriously, bringing their wine in nice looking leather carrying cases. It's very possible to dine at Kinship quite reasonably. It's also possible to spend a great deal of money if your circumstances allow. ($100 Armagnac, etc.) In our case, we were celebrating a birthday, and we intentionally over-ordered a bit. For $290 (plus gratuity), we received two cocktails, four smaller plates, the Kinship roast chicken, coffee, tea, (toffee included) and pineapple crumb cake and an $85 bottle of wine. While the smaller plates were shareable for two people, the chicken was easily enough for four, as was the cake. Smart casual seemed to be the prevalent dress. They allow for a small number of walk-in customers. Most importantly, you must believe Don when he says this is an important restaurant.

Overall, I think Tom has allowed his chat to devolve into pointless bickering about finger licking, napkins, leftover boxing, etc. A shame, really, since some of the other discussions about noise, uncomfortable seating, and even food, are far more useful to most of us. I'd bet there are a number of trolls, attempting to evoke a response with their fictional comments/questions. It's not unreasonable for people to know a bit about restaurants before they go, and noise level is a consideration. I recall reading about Mike Isabella's fondness for very loud spots. Great if you're up for it, but not so great if you're looking for a quiet evening. Missing Todd Kliman's less structured, but usually more substantive chats. d

That looks great, but due to work committments, it will have to be in DC or the surrounding environs.

With another birthday rapidly approaching, the wife and I are thinking about spending the night in DC next weekend in order to avoid the long, sober drive to the Virginia suburbs. Price is a consideration, so I'm thinking semi-high end. Who has opinions regarding the Park Hyatt, or similar properties? I'm also open to restaurant recommendations. Our friends can't join us this week, so I don't want to go all out. Leaning heavily towards a Trabocchi spot, but I'm open to other ideas. While I'll eat just about anything, my wife has somewhat simpler tastes, and typically avoids seafood (with the notable exception of Fiola Mare) She's also not keen on bar seating, but I'm willing to try to talk her into the Kinship bar. Many thanks!

As soon as I saw "golf" in your username, I was in. I'm a relative newcomer to this site, but I can assure you it is the most comprehensive (and best) in the DC metro area. It would be extremely helpful if you outline your likes/dislikes, number of people, willingness to travel, etc. Cheers.

I have celebrated a few special family occasions at Fiola and Fiola Mare, and always had a wonderful time. The hospitality was exceptional, as was the food.I certainly don't warrant any special treatment because of fame or fortune. (sigh) Neither restaurant felt corporate or stuffy, and I felt quite at ease. Coincidentally, my wife and I were just discussing plans to celebrate my birthday next month, and Fiola Mare is on the short list. If you'll allow me to piggyback on your topic, I'm open to other options as well.

Eater was never great, but the website change seemed to have made it even worse. I rarely see readers comment on any of their "articles". Ever since I discovered your site, it's my primary reference for all things food in the DC metro area.

I haven't been in nearly a year, so I only know from public reports that that Scot's family suffered a loss. I do happen to know the long-standing beverage director Andrew moved on, and he is currently at Dino's. (Ask him about his ginger beer efforts--he used to make an incredible dark and stormy with it at GPB) Truthfully, I'm not surprised the place continues to put out great food. I need to plan a return visit.

I also asked about their plans to move, and was told that plans were still up in the air. There was no indication they would be closing anytime soon. I'm not involved in the restaurant industry, but it wouldn't make sense to stay open for only a month. Similarly, it wouldn't make sense for Jen Carroll to move to the area, and then work for only a month. Who knows? Since I live in Fairfax, I'd certainly like them to stay in Mosaic as long as possible, and from comparing my experience to those of others, it sure looks like Requin is only going to keep getting better. Can anyone comment on their Happy Hour offerings?

Thanks for providing the link. He does a nice job of explaining the real reasons Rose's has been so successful.

Tired of cooking, and in search of a nice dinner out to celebrate the fact the kids were home from college, we paid Requin a visit 26 December. Similar to Lotus125's experience, the service was not always smooth, but I wrote much of that off because of the holidays. During our experience, the quality of the food and drink more than made up for the service hiccups. No doubt they are refining their flavors and service, since my experience was a bit different than Lotus's. Chef Carroll worked the pass during our visit, and we noticed she reviewed every dish, and tasted many of them as well. It was obvious that a lot of pride and care went into the food. Despite a late afternoon decision, I was able to obtain a 730 reservation. (Oddly, I had called to reserve a table, but they didn't have any bookings available, but I was able to secure the same time through Opentable.) The menu, while relatively small, makes it possible try a variety of dishes without feeling obligated to order an appetizer, a main, a side, and dessert. Our server, who I learned from conversation was highly experienced in establishments ranging from diners to fine dining restaurants, did a nice job of explaining the menu, and as a result, we ordered an appropriate number of dishes. The four of us were were quite satisfied with one planche, four small plates, one large plate, and one dessert. To begin, the three of us old enough to enjoy cocktails ordered a Clean Slate, a Winter Sour, and a La Louisiane. The last drink, a play on a Sazerac, hit the spot for me; it was well-balanced and delicious. The vegetable planche offerings, as described by Lotus, were all delicious. I too would have liked a bit more pastrami flavor in the celery root. (My daughter provided a bit of unplanned humor when she found the lone spicy shishito.) The vegetables were served with crostini, which were refilled without request by our server. Our server recommended two of the small plates as "must haves", which were the escargot and the fingerling potatoes. In addition, we selected the legume salad and the prawns. Unexpectedly, the escargot arrived before the vegetable planche, but that didn't really concern any of us. The dish arrived luke warm, and while I would have preferred a warmer temperature, the textures and flavors were great. The legume salad was a refreshing mix of cannelini beans, haricot verts, watercress, and a lovely vinaigrette. The prawns arrived next, a serving of two large head-on prawns accompanied by fennel confit. The citrus glaze was sweet and sour as described, and topped with grated lemon zest. The prawns were perfectly cooked as well. Since we opted for the cote de boeuf, prepared medium, we took our server's advice to have the fingerling potatoes served with the steak. The beef, a 28oz portion, arrived carved into two large pieces, as well as the rib bone. It was served with a small bowl of potato puree, shishito peppers, and veal jus. The beef was prepared a perfect medium (a table compromise), and it was outstanding. Perfectly seasoned and extremely tender, the steak could not have been any better. The veal jus and potatoes were incredible as well. For some reason, the fingerling potatoes arrived after the beef, but our server made up for the delay by providing us with an extra serving. They were certainly worth the wait, as they were simply one of the best potato dishes I've had in recent memory. The potatoes were combined with thick-cut salami slices (there's undoubtedly better a culinary term for the method), dried tomatoes, and a whipped raclette. Our server explained that the raclette was turned into an ice cream, so that explained the light, airy texture. Really just a perfect potato dish... To end the meal, we shared an order of profiteroles. The pastry was crispy and airy, and served with a delicious brown butter ice cream, candied kumquats, and a sprinkling of chopped pistachios. It was a great way to end the meal. We enjoyed a reasonably priced bottle of cotes-du-rhone domaine santa duc. While I enjoy wine, I'm not well-versed in its description, so I'll only say it was delicious, and complimented the steak quite nicely. Despite being overloaded with tables, our server was wonderful, and it was apparent that he was knowledgable and skilled. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed Requin. There's enough variety for me a pay another visit soon, and I'd like to try their happy hour as well. I have a hunch Requin will improve while still a pop-up, and it will be interesting to see how it does when it moves to a permanent location.

Good catch. In retrospect, I should have provide more detail, and I may do that tomorrow. I meant to type brie en croute with fig jam and marcona almonda. So delicious...

It was just my immediate family, and I kept it simple this year. For our snacking pleasure, I purchased some incredible charcuterie from Red Apron, and it shared the table with a fig and almond from Whole Foods. Both were wonderful. I combined a couple of porchetta-style pork roast recipes, using this recipe from the NY times, as well as one by Anne Burrell. ( I placed the roast on a bed of potatoes, root vegetables, and inspired by the second recipe) For a vegetable side dish, I made roasted brussels sprouts with pomegranate seeds and vanilla pecan butter. (Courtesy of Bobby Flay). The porchetta-style roast was incredibly delicious, and I already look forward to making it again. It's important to find a pork shoulder with the skin on, since the cracklings are so, so good. I've made a brussels sprouts previously, and they provided a sweet and tangy counter to the pork.

Don, Thanks for your great website. While I'm a relative newcomer, I have found to it to be an incredibly useful resource. Your writing skills are spectacular, as are those of quite a few of your readers. There is no doubt your website flies under the radar, and that you are under-appreciated. I've learned a great deal about restaurants, cooking, and even shopping. To top it off, it is apparent you make it personal, and that's something that resonates with me. Thank you.