theakston

It is January, I would hope that they were using frozen peas - the only other alternative I can think of is canned or the hydroponic tomato version of a legume.

Actually to be an authentic British Fish and Chip accompaniment they should be dried "Marrowfat" peas (AKA "Mushy peas") But somehow I doubt these would go down so well on this side of the pond.

Last time we went to Birch and Barley it just happened to be Restaurant Week and we went with the special R/W tasting menu (along with excellent beer pairings all elaborately explained by Greg). We found it to be excellent value and would definitely do it again (intentionally this time)

I would try Slavin and Sons:

2710 S Glebe Rd

Arlington, VA 22206-2708

(703) 486-0400

Rehoboth

We just returned from a wonderful Columbus day weekend at Rehoboth. Can’t beat wall-to-wall sun and 80F weather in October!
We always like to take our dog – so we like the patio at DogfishHead – for the beer, and the friendly staff who welcome our Border Collie. The food is less inspiring but passable for lunch. Saturday night we attempted to get into Salt Air but they were jammed by 7PM and already had a 90 minute wait (they don’t do reservations). We wound up at Cultured Pearl for Sushi and had a wonderful appetizer of Hamachi collar. We returned to Salt Air on Sunday and we were able to get a table with minimum wait. But that is not all – Sunday evening is $19 for any 3 courses off their menu !!!! Even on a 3 day weekend! Food was good and service was good and a reasonable wine list to boot.
The stand out of the weekend was the new place next to Salt Air – Henlopen City Oyster House. Great selection of fresh and briny Oysters, steamed clams and shrimp, and a fantastic selection of beers. They had an impeccably kept CASK Hop Devil, a dark, wood-aged beer from the new, local brewery Evolution as well as the DogfishHead “Bitches Brew” that even the DFH pub had run out of. The friendly and knowledgeable staff great oysters and beer make this a place to which we will definitely return. Soon.

I would agree that Santiago is a very safe city. I would also second the recommendation to head to the fish market - try the picoroco (a large barnacle) it is unique! and also try the national dish of Congrio (conger Eel) from one of the market restaurants (such as Donde Augusto).

I was also very impressed with the food at the hotel we stayed in Restaurant Bristol in the Hotel San Francisco which was a "fine dining" twist on Chilean cuisine. These are both downtown - we also explored Bellavista as well as heading out to Las Condes area which is the more modern / affluent area with many more options. Also good is Borde Rio which is a modern complex by the river which - although it kind of looks like a strip mall at first - has some good restaurants (I think Zanzibar was the one we tried)

We have been here five times since it opened and it seems to get better each time around. To an extent it has been a victim of its own success - the brewer is struggling to keep supplies up to match the demand, although we have always been able to find a couple of tasty brews to enjoy - even if the type of beer on offer would not normally have been my first choice. Whenever we have visited in the evenings it has been slammed (lunch times are better).

The food is far better than it needs to be in a brewpub with its focus on the beer. For appetizers I love the frickles (made with their home-made pickles) and the pork belly app is also excellent. For mains I have tried both styles of pizza. The New York style was huge but the crust could, for me, have benefited from a little more char (that was my first visit so the chef was probably still getting used to the pizza oven). I liked the Naples style better with the fresh Mozz, especially the duck one! I have also enjoyed the Slow Smoked Brisket Sandwich, Pork Tenderloin and the (huge) Stuffed Meatloaf. All have been good.

Back to the beer: I've enjoyed Bill's beers at his previous locations so I was delighted to hear he was opening his own place. Bill has a wide range of beers in his portfolio, but he tends to specialize in British styles, so it is good to see that he has, I think, six beer engines behind the bar to dispense the traditional cask ales (such as a pale ale, a delicious English Summer ale, a porter, an 80 shilling and a wee heavy - that I have tried on my visits). Other beers that I have tried (not on cask) have been the Belgian style Saison and the German style Hefeweizen. The pale ales are gone almost as soon as they are brewed - but he is ramping up the brewing so there are many gallons if ale in the tanks.

I think Bill is a more conservative brewer than many of his peers - he picks a style and nails it consistently - he doesn't really go for the over the top hoppy or experimental. He does occasionally feature a "stealth" beer - which is usually one of the more extreme beer styles. These are not on the menu (but check out his blog or the madfox facebook). If you visit during the day you will probably see Bill at work and be able to inhale the aromas of his labor. While I love the smell myself it can be a little distracting -it makes it hard to appreciate the beer you are drinking while immersed in the aroma of the one you will be drinking in a couple of weeks.

Have you seen that a new location is going into Arlington?

http://dcmetrocentric.com/2010/03/04/courthouse-space-finally-leased/

Any news on this? the website says it will open in July....did it?

Dear Rustico,

When are you opening? Ballston needs your deliciousness and your ample beer selection immediately.

Thanks,

EatMore DrinkMore

I heard labor day

Sadly this place is no more....it is an ex pike..drove by today and noticed it is now just another chicken joint.

Can someone explain what "nutty" tastes like? Andrew describes many things as nutty, including in the Baja episode, bone marrow. I know what bone marrow tastes like and I don't get how it's "nutty"? The seafood cocktail concept is nutty - eating squid stuffed with balls is nutty, brain tacos, blood tacos, etc. all sound nutty - but they don't taste nutty!

It's a bit nutty

I've always enjoyed Mourayo. It's a nice space with a good take on Modern Greek food and the wait staff have always been great.

website

They no longer have a distributor in VA (they did a couple of years back when you could get their beers at Wholefoods among other places). The DC distributor is (or was) on the staff at the Georgetown Birreria Paradiso. They have some of their offerings on their beer list. They pop up around DC occassionally too. The guy at Birrerria used to drive a truck back from Indiana every few months with as much as he could load.

They have been known to host an occasional 3 Floyds beer dinner. I wish I could find some Gumballhead, - great Summer beer.

Did you know the current brewer (Barnaby) was the brewer at Rock Bottom Arlington about 7 years ago?

And now there's Marmite "XO" - Can't wait ti try this.I'm with tweaked on this one.

Marmitey

The current Sierra Nevada seasonal would definitely fit the bill. Called "Glissade" it is a golden bock with a good balance between the subtle hop spiciness and a biscuitty not-too sweet malt. Of course it gets slammed over at rateeer/ beeradvocate because it isn't a million IBUs in-your-face-hoppiness, but I would think it fits the OPs requirements as a light/smooth-drinking lager whose subtle qualities shine through.

They usually have it on tap at Galaxy Hut. They also have the bottles at Wholefoods in Arlington . I agree it is a tad pricy at $ 9-11 for a 4 pack (more than it was as a 6 pack!). Hopefully they will be able ot bring the price down if they are able to reach a wider market (but the initial sticker shock probably doesn't help that long term goal).

Draft prices seem to be more in line with other beers in that quality/style range .

I think this was the same Baladin that I had at Rustico on Sunday (although they had it down as “Elixir”). I really enjoyed the beer. It had some very interesting flavours that were hard to pin down (I wasn't aware of the scotch yeast connetcion).

As far as the style goes, until a couple of years ago a “Belgian pale” would most likely mean a golden ale or tripel (as a rule dubbels are dark triples are pale) such as Duvel or Westmalle. These are pale like a pilsner - much paler than an American pale (which itself had roots in the English “India Pale Ale” style). Over the past couple of years though a Hybrid has emerged where Belgians have incorporated the hops popular in US Pale Ales (Amarillo and other non native hops in much larger quantities than traditional in a Belgian ale) – with an eye to enhancing marketability in the USA. The first widely available version was by Chouffe – their “Houblon IPA Triple ” and there have been many, many similar versions since (of varying quality) as every other brewer jumped on the bandwagon (or the shark depending on your perspective).

I would say that this is probably being marketed as one of these latter beers (it is quite hoppy) but it is much better than most and has much more going for it. It isn’t simply a hopped up, more amber Belgian ale. Baladin beers are excellent. I was lucky enough to visit the wonderful little brewpub in the lovely picturesque village of Piozzo back in 2003. It was a good break from the tartufi and Barolo hunting that engaged us for the rest of the trip. The brewer (Theo) had me try several of his experimental beers as well as his wide range of (mostly Belgian inspired) staples. He is an eccentric but talented brewer who has some very adventurous recipes that usually work surprisingly well (much like Thomme Arthur of Pizza Port or Sam Calgione of Dogfish Head).Try the Nora, Isaac or the Super Baladin – they do sometimes show up at Wholefoods etc.

They always seem to have it on the lunch menu at Toscana (behind Union Station). I keep thinking I'll try it but get diverted by their sandwiches soups and pizza. By the way this place only has outdoor seating so it's going to be mostly a take out lunch option under current weather conditions. I'll post back if and when I eventually try it.

website

Working as I do in the culinary desert near Union Station, I've been glad to frequent the newly opened Toscana cafe. Now the colder weather is upon us I've been enjoying their soups recently too. Last week's Fennel really hit the spot and this week it is a lovely creamy winter squash soup.

Frozen fries are good enough for Keller.

Bouchon

"One of the top reasons Bouchon uses frozen French Fries is consistency. The quality of the frozen fries we use, and that of frozen fries in general today, is very good. We use fries which are 100% potato, which do not contain additives. The consistency in these fries is often better than that of fresh potatoes"

Are they open for weekend Lunch?

What about Essy's? Has anyone ever been?

website

There is now an Alehouse in Fairfax @ 13041 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy. Same menu and same beer selection as the others but it made for a good lunch stop on the way to the airport last weekend. I usually get the burger or the grouper sandwich, but the beer is the real reason for visiting.

There were Greek sardines at the Silver Spring WF a few weeks back, but I haven't seen them since. They were in stock for about a week and I did my best to clean them out. The manager said that they pretty much have a standing order and do their best to get them in whenever there's availability.

Last year, we were able to get sardines at the SS WF pretty consistently during June and parts of July. More often than not, they were imported from Portugal.

There's a deli / brazilian / portuguese store in Arlington at the junction of Pershing and Washington who have Sardines flown in from Portugal each week (It's diagonally across from Tallula). I think they usually arrive Thursday and you can reserve / order a bunch in advance if you wish.

And now they have a Website!

From my first cooking class at Sur La Table, which was spring pasta workshop led by Bonnie Moore, I was told that a pasta attachment for KitchenAid Mixer works well.