vinist

I've been finding myself there pretty regularly lately. Adam's specialty cocktails on Tuesdays are extraordinary, and very creative. And there are always good dishes coming out of the kitchen. Recent hits from their ever-changing menu: - Simply anchovies on grilled bread with olive oil. Irresistible. - Sauteed veal kidneys with bone marrow inside of them. - Braised calf's tongue a couple of months ago. - Roasted sunchokes. - Anything they do to scallops. I keep coming back here. I love what they're doing lately.

Pfeiffer's Hardware at 3219 Mount Pleasant Street is also accepting cash and check donations for the Columbia Heights Shaw Family Support Collaborative. They can be reached at (202) 462-1431. These folks are going to be displaced for a while, so it's going to be a tough time for them.

It sounds like it may be an independent bottling by Gordon & Macphail of a 50-year old Scotch produced by any one of the distilleries whose whiskeys Gordon & Macphail have bottled (if I'm not mistaken, they bottle whiskeys from now-defunct distilleries as well as some still in existence.) Any other names on the label that might help out?

I've got my issues with the current posted wine list- everyone will- but would you really suggest that they're "specializing" in "drearily insipid wines?" Jaffurs Roussane? Ridge Lytton Springs? The very interesting Tablas Creek Cotes de Tablas? Heidi Schrock's Muscat? While the list looks a bit strange to me right now, there's certainly some interesting stuff here that looks to be chosen with the charcuterie and cheeses in mind. Prices don't look out of control to me either.

Avoid.

When I was first getting serious about wine, and for quite a while afterward, I got great mileage out of Karen MacNeil's Wine Bible. At its heart, it's a reference book with sections on grape varieties, winemaking, wine & food pairing, and all of the major regions (slightly outdated but only from a true geek's perspective.) But it's an engaging read, easy to follow and colorful- a tough feat to pull off when writing about the nuts and bolts of wine. There are lots of interesting asides and cute anecdotes as well. ETA: jparrot's suggestions are all great ones as well. Adventures on the Wine Route is a classic from one of America's most influential wine icons.

That really was a fantastic time. Thanks to responsible parties for the amazing lamb, the smoked butt (I, um, went back 4 times for it), the gouda and great mild ale, curry lentil salad, farro salad, awesome fava mousse, and other goodies. OH the crepes! the rosemary pineapple filling! and the BACON! wow. the bacon. and I can't remember who made those irresistible little bread thingies with the pepper jelly, but thank you. I ate...like 5. Sorry if anyone missed out due to my gluttony. It was great to meet so many folks in person. See you at the next one!

Yes indeed. Every week I hope for something a little more interesting, from an conscientious importer, thrown into the mix with the Big Brands....and every week I'm disappointed. There are so many widely available, good quality wines from serious producers that would have fit nicely into this week's column- and been better values to boot. If they continue to have Constellation et al. feed them their wine recommendations, this is going to get stale really quickly.

I'm a fan of Adam Express as well. The sushi rolls are surprisingly good; I love the spicy tuna rolls and the interesting take on shrimp tempura rolls, with lettuce and mayonnaise. I tried the tasty Bi Bim Bap just last night. Cheap, tasty and a few blocks from my house. And the storefront is the size of a phone booth. The elderlyish couple running the place is extremely friendly. It's little joints like this that make me love living in an interesting and diverse neighborhood.

For about a year now, I've been getting coffee from Dean's Beans. The coffee is good. The company only purchases from "villages and importers that are committed to Fair Trade and working towards better economic opportunity, improved health and nutrition in the villages." They go far beyond Fair Trade and USDA Organic requirements, taking the economic and ecological vitality of the places they buy from into account, and the coffee is relatively inexpensive to boot.

Had a similar experience to that of AlexC last night. I ordered the burger med-rare, kind of excited about the Virginia-raised, grass-fed beef- I almost never eat beef. The sweet potato fries it came with were delicious, soft without being mealy and were nicely seasoned. The burger, unfortunately, was overdone and not at all juicy. It would have been fantastic; the bread was wonderful and would have been great with a bit of juice sopping into it... I didn't sent it back as I can't stand wasting food, meat in particular, so in fairness they could well have gotten it perfect the second time around. The friend I went with had the wood-grilled tuna which was just about perfectly rare but lacked a little something in flavor; haricots verts were a very good side dish.

I'm not at all inclined to believe any of the California or Bdx trophies mentioned there will be getting anywhere near a by-the-glass program, Enomaticized or not.

That was great. Andrés made a real attempt to showcase the ingredient, and Flay..... deep-fried some more peppers and made taquitos. Man I don't like that guy.

I'll second Mark's suggestions; Moscato d'Asti and Brachetto d'Acqui are both likely to satisfy your sweet tooth. A good Moscato d'Asti in particular has a bit more potential for pairing with some of the food. Though I'll add that sweetness can be a flavor that overwhelms just about any food. Those sweeter Rieslings may be great complements to, say, spicy Thai food, but they'll likely kill just about anything Italian. I'd look to Northern Italy's whites. Start with (if you can find one) a Gewurztraminer from Alto Adige, then maybe Pinot Grigio (or Pinot Gris) from the same region, and go from there. Get yourself accustomed to a slightly drier style first, and you may find that you enjoy both the wine and the food in Italian restaurants quite a bit more. I'll admit it takes a bit of getting used to; we're all brought up in the US with a bit of a sweet tooth. But once we turn that corner, a whole new world of flavors awaits, and food and wine start to make a whole lot more sense together. That said. A good, off-dry Riesling and fantastic Thai food is an amazing combination.

I'll add a vote for the Leitz Dragonstone Riesling. Johannes Leitz is a pretty brilliant young winemaker. 2005 was a wonderful vintage in Germany that produced rich, fruity wines that still have enough acidity to make them very food-friendly. And this is a solid value (assuming a fair markup.) I've tasted this several times and it has lots of ripe peach and melon flavors, a bit of minerality and nice acidity lending it a juicy mouthfeel. I've never served this to someone who didn't like it. For the red, I'd go with the Grand Veneur CdR "les Champauvins." Good producer, good vintage again, ripe fruit (think cherry, blackberry) accented by a bit of "garrique" (a sort of rosemary-esque herbal nuance on the nose) and decent acidity. It should please neophytes and wine types alike. Again, I've served this to a number of people, and they have all enjoyed it. My two cents.

I caught a bit of this last night. I think the host was pretty engaging and the show was interesting at points for sure. The angulas (baby eels) were served at Botin in Madrid and approached as if they were quite strange. I dunno, eel is pretty standard sushi fare and i'm not sure why it's any more "bizaare" in the case of these delicious little guys. I'm not sure how I feel about shows like this though. I guess Bourdain started it, but his shows have seemed to have more in-depth exploration of the cultures surrounding, say, the consumption of raw seal by the Inuit. With this one I feel it's a bit more like, "hey let's travel the world and check out the gross stuff these weird people eat!" I'm not sure what purpose it really serves other than to make Americans say "eeeeewwww!!"

I'll admit I can certainly get annoyed with loud/rowdy kids in any setting, particularly restaurants where I want to enjoy a relaxing meal. But for the most part, I like having kids around! They're fun! It kind of strikes me as odd that there's so much frustation with kids anywhere, as if parents are supposed to keep them locked up at home or take them only to "kid-friendly" restaurants where the food often isn't going to be very good. In a larger sense, I often feel like we Americans segregate "adult" and "family" activities too much; to me it seems we are a decidedly unfriendly society toward families and children. In other countries I haven't seen restaurants that "weren't for kids"; when parents went out to eat their children came along. Kids in Spain, for example, seem to be considered part of the society and are taken just about anywhere with their parents. I for one (and keep in mind I'm nowhere near being a parent) would want my kids to have exposure to interesting food as early and often as possible, and if that meant their presence might bother the occasional patron, so be it. What's the alternative for parents who want their kids to eat well? I'm happy to see a bunch of kids running around at 2 Amys. They're going to grow up knowing what good pizza is! Better than having the babysitter order Papa John's while the parents are out eating real food.

RaisaB, I think mdt and Dean are right on the money. Given your presence on this board, I'm pretty certain you can break down and analyze a dish to every nuance of flavor, texture, and aroma, and you can understand and vocalize why those elements work together (or don't work.) It's really no different with wine. We tend to get intimidated because we are describing flavors that don't come directly from ingredients. If you smell garlic in a dish, you know it's in there. With wine, it's just fermented grapes, and it can offer an endless variety of aromas and flavors. As said above, it just takes time and practice to recognize and name them. A wine class or wine tasting group can be a huge help, as you get to have a dialogue with other people to get your brain going. It's also a lot more fun that way. The vast majority of us are born with just about the same level of taste and smell sensitivity. If you're into food, you're already more attuned to those senses than most people (it's just about paying attention to what you're sensing, really.) The only way, I'm afraid, is to keep drinking lots of wine. It's a hard life, I know, but rewarding. This project sounds like a lot of fun, and could be very educational. Muscadet will be a great wine to start off with.

California is certainly capable of producing balanced, elegant Merlots, though they're few and far between. The right-bank inspired stuff from Havens can be quite good, though sometimes oakier than it needs to be. I've always been impressed by Mike Haven's Merlot made from Carneros fruit. The variety's future is in Washington State though, I believe. The good Merlots are full-bodied but fresh and elegant, with a wonderfully plush texture you only get from Merlot and pure fruit flavors. If you haven't tasted what Andrew Will Winery has been doing, get thee to the nearest shop carrying their wines. He has a vineyard blend philosophy; the Klipsun Vineyard is mostly Merlot. If you can find the Cuvee Lucia, still labeled as a Merlot, it's a very good buy.

Thanks to Grover, DanielK and everyone for organizing, and of course to the folks at Mandu who were great hosts. My first dr.com dinner was a very enjoyable one; I'll surely show up at many more. Hopefully I'll eat a little less next time. I probably will not.

This can't be happening. Somebody tell me America is not this pathetic.

I think I could make either date. I've been meaning to get to one of these forever...

This kind of stuff shouldn't be taken too lightly. Sure, the guy probably means no harm and is just a little flirty- there are certainly LOTS of guys out there who can't take a hint. And plenty more with no sense of what's appropriate vs. innappropriate. But as laniloa and barbara's upsetting examples show, occasionally it's way worse. Guys, I don't think it's really our place to say whether this is a big deal or not. The risks are different, and more frightening, for women. I think a call to management, anonymous if possible, is the way to go. Even then, there's always the possibility of the guy getting angry and having a good idea of who placed the call, but the guy does need to be called out.

Bell's is a phenomenal brewery. Glad to have them in the area (btw, I work for a retailer that just got some of their stuff in today- PM if interested.) A little bird told me that New Belgium is shooting for distribution in this area within a couple of years. Let's hope it works out! Getting reliable, responsible distribution on a nat'l scale isn't easy and can be full of pitfalls.

I love how every response is punctuated by a question mark. this is a tough one indeed. Amarone and Zin both make as much sense as anything can here...a more traditional, earthy, less raisiny Amarone might be a great match, especially if it's aged but it's a little late in the game to get picky... A good Syrah may work fairly well. I'd also imagine a good Mourvedre might work as long as it's not overoaked... the Small Berry Mourvedre by Cline is great stuff. But you know what I would love with that kind of turkey preparation? A really great Flemish-style sweet-and-sour ale like Duchesse de Bourgogne! Or a good Belgian brown ale. Corsendonk Bruin should be fairly easy to find. Both of those will marry well with the spices, chocolate and nutty flavors without overwhelming the bird...