JSnake

Ron is a pure gentleman. He's never been anything but extraordinarily gracious and kind to both me and my mother. We're proud to be customers but also to consider him a friend. Please support this man. He's not just an expert pit master with a fantastic product but he's also extremely generous and worth getting to know personally.

Now, Ron, let's talk about this craving I've had recently for smoked rainbow trout.

Speaking of Baseball and Japan: Nintendo (yes, that Nintendo) owns the Seattle Mariners and has since 1992. A videogame featuring Ken Griffey Jr was published by them in 1993 on their Super NES console.

I still think the best fried chicken out there for my money is Popeyes.

Erik Bruner-Yang to step down from Toki Underground with Johnathon Uribe taking over.

Not sure how to feel about this. I always felt Daikaya was the better ramen joint but Erik certainly deserves full credit for the DC area ramen boom of late and I look forward to any and all of his future projects

Why the hell did they sous vide it for three and a half hours? Of course the texture was messed up. *slaps head*

RT's

I had no idea that people actually sous vide fish. Never heard of it. If anyone knows a restaurant please let me know I am very curious to try.

The French Laundry?

Don, let's just agree to disagree. /copout

On 3/29/2016 at 7:54 PM, DonRocks said:

JSnake, I'm not going to get into this all over again - there are hundreds of posts here about this. My problem with sous-vide is primarily one of texture - especially with animal proteins - secondarily one of temperature, and I'm going to leave it at that - your picture showed me nothing.

Ponder this, and then I'll let you have the final word: There have been *dozens* (I was going to say "hundreds," but I decided to be conservative and say "dozens") of times when I've been served a dish - often fish - with a texture that shouldn't be there. I've asked my server, "Do you know if this was cooked sous-vide?" And the answer has invariably been, "Yes."

Again, and I mean this respectfully, I truly do, but the only thing you've demonstrated to me is that you've only experienced misuse of the technique. Saying your problem with sous vide is with the texture only tells me that you have a misunderstanding of the very mechanics under which this cooking method operates. Sous vide allows the chef to cook the food at a precise temperature for a precise period of time. It's not the same thing at setting your oven to 350 degrees and walking away. Oven temperatures cycle up and down and vary because when you set an oven you're basically telling it to cook at somewhere averaging where you set it.

If you set a sous vide circulator to 135 degrees for a medium rare steak, it will stay that temperature. It won't go above or below for even a second. Not even by a tenth of a degree. But food texture and doneness is not just a measurement of temp, it's dependent on time too. A fish cooked longer than, say, 45 minutes or so at 118 degrees absolutely will come out mushy and kinda gross. Cook it for roughly 20 mins though and there's a world of difference.

Here's another.

The only point I see you're making is that like any other technique, it's up to the individual to use it properly. That's a fine point but it's also one I never disputed, nor is it one I disagree with.

The newly renovated Cedar Knoll. It used to be an absolute dump. Everything was pre-cooked and thrown in plastic containers and reheated in a microwave. It's under completely new management now and the difference is drastic. We had Easter dinner here and had a fantastic time. Our food was expertly cooked, the service was efficient but also knew when to stay away. Plus we had a great view of the lake and a cozy fireplace near our table.

I'll look into it.

Here's a good example of what sous vide can do

Well, the chicken might have been cooked sous-vide before being finished in the oven, but it was still delicious roast chicken, brined for 24 hours before being cooked, and moist throughout - including the thickest portion of the breast meat.

The sous-vide technique is why it was as delicious as you say. (Well that and it was likely very high quality chicken, I would imagine). I don't mean to be overly harsh here, Don, but you might want to do some further investigation into the sous-vide method and how it allows food to be cooked ahead of time and then finished in the oven without any degrade in quality. The reason they finished it in the oven was more than likely to get a nice sear on it, which sous-vide doesn't allow for on its own. That's why when cooking a protein sous-vide you either blast it in an oven preheated to hot as Hades or in a cast iron skillet that is, again, as hot as a goddamn volcanic eruption. Because of the extreme temperatures being used during these final steps, you don't end up cooking the meat any further. Meat cooks from the outside in, meaning that the skin gets a browned, crispy exterior before the inside even has a chance to heat up any further. And since you have cooked the meat to a precise inner temp already during the sous-vide process, you get the best of both worlds every time: Juicy, tender and flavorful meat with a perfectly browned crust.

Mamma's Kitchen. Whenever we know we want to grab a leisurely family lunch or dinner but don't know where, we inevitably end up at Mamma's. Nice cozy neighborhood joint where everyone knows everyone.

I'd be interested in:

Best Italian

Best Fast Food

Best Fast Casual

Best Atmosphere

Best Value

River Bend is walking distance from my home, so we go there pretty regularly for a glass of wine or dinner. Since they've been open, we've tried pretty much everything on the menu that wasn't a gout trigger for me. The staff has been very helpful about eliminations and substitutions. My one complaint would be that I was hoping they would switch some of the entrees out for more seasonal items. They do daily specials, but the rest of the menu seems locked. There's the ribeye and the salmon with lentils and the roast chicken and the same sides since they opened.

They had an awesome coq au vin on the menu for a week or two last year and I'm still waiting for them to bring it back. Similarly, I hope the ribeye never leaves because it is the bomb and at an affordable price. Otherwise I agree with you.

Does Drift have a drinks list of any sort posted? Can't find anything.

Change me from +3 to +2, please.

JSnake & Daniel,

We actually changed the seating layout and have only tables(no more booths) and bar seats. There is not a lot of room to push the tables together maybe only 2 of them can be combined. In addition, it would be really hard for me to serve a table of 8. I prefer that you all have a good experience and not suffer with delayed food.

However, your enjoyment comes first. If you really like to sit together and don't mind the timing(some will be served some will be delayed at the same table) I`d be happy to do the table arrangement to your liking.

Let me know please.

thanks,

Ah I shouldn't even have said anything. Whatever makes your job easier is fine by me

Is it possible to push a few 4-tops together so we can all sit at one table?

I literally just scrolled up and saw the dinner talks/plans. Let me know with date, how many of you and other details please.

Like I said earlier, I'm in.

Pan roasted whole chicken with thyme and lemon pan sauce

Sous vide butter poached lobster tails. This is lobster you can cut with a fork.

I love my Anova. It makes better steaks than any steakhouse I've ever been to. Poached eggs are a breeze and it transforms chicken breasts from dry, stringy wastes into juicy, perfectly cooked morsels. Sausage? Yeah it cooks that. Duck breast? No problem at all. Fish? Ohhhh boy, you better believe it, buddy. Want to make chocolate like your favorite specialty chocolate shop? Go right the hell ahead. And while you're at it, try some corned beef, a whole ham, risotto, dulce de leche, any vegetable you can throw at it, pork belly, a full rack of ribs, the biggest pork butt you can buy, butter-poached lobster, shrimp, Thanksgiving turkey, foie gras -- just cook it. Put your stuff in a bag, fill a container with water, set the temp on the Anova, wait for the water to reach your desired temp, drop the bag in the water, take a nap, take food out of bag, sear if applicable and eat it. Just do it! Cook the food! Put it in your mouth! What are you waiting for, go! Food! Eat!

Now does it cook everything? No, but for what it does cook, it's the best tool for the job. Your favorite special occasion restaurant? At least one of your dishes was cooked via sous vide. Thomas Keller cooks arguably his signature dish, the butter-poached lobsters, in a gigantic container of melted butter with a sous-vide circulator inside. Take a tour of The French Laundry's kitchen and you'll see probably over 50 of these giant tubs of melted butter with sous-vide circulators sitting in them and a bunch of lobsters getting swirled around in the butter by the circulation. Imagine a hot tub filled with melted butter held at a precise temperature, never wavering, with more lobsters than you've ever seen in one place taking a swim in the hot tub.

.The results that I got so far hasn't been mind blowing, but pleasant enough.

Have you tried mi-cuit salmon and 48-hour short ribs? Or poached eggs? Because you need to try mi-cuit salmon at the very least.

Thank *you* - it's posts like this that raise places in the Dining Guide. I've never been to Mamma's Kitchen, and goodness knows when I'll get there - I've got to rely on posts from trusted members, and I pay attention to things like this.

Have lunch with me there!

So in for a dinner