dracisk

That may have been my building -- the Boston House? The front entrance was on Mass, but the back entrance was on 17th about a half block south of P. I didn't get to the neighborhood until the late 90s, but there were pretty slim restaurant pickins even then. Sushi Taro may have been the best nearby option. I also lived above Trio's/Fox and Hound's for 2 years.

Wow. I lived a half block from there for more than a decade. I can't believe Skewers and Cafe Luna are gone (not that either is any great loss). What I would have given to have a quality Peruvian restaurant nearby when I lived there. P.S. This is definitely closer to 17th and P than 16th and P.

I went to Dol Ho a few years ago (2011?) A friend of a friend who grew up in San Francisco's Chinatown recommended it as a dim sum place where my friend and I would be the only white people in the place (thus it was supposedly authentic). Yep, we were. We went at an off hour, so it wasn't crowded. Given the passage of time, I don't remember much, but I do remember some other tables of older Chinese people. I can't remember if they were cranky. :-) I think we had a menu and they brought a cart, like Sundae in the Park described.

Call me lazy, but I have little to no interest in switching seats multiple times during my meal.

"Room" is one of those movies that I want to see and I don't want to see at the same time. I'm sure I'll see it eventually, when I'm ready to have my gut wrenched. Or maybe I'd be better off just reading the book.

I'm watching, but my movie watching (especially in theaters but at home, too) has dropped off precipitously since my daughter arrived in 2014. I haven't seen any of the best picture nominees. In fact, I think the only movie I saw that's been nominated for anything is "The Hateful Eight," which I quite enjoyed, although I didn't think Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance was anything special (she was nominated for best supporting actress and lost). I still like watching the awards, though, I guess for the spectacle and the pop culture. I look forward to when I can watch movies with regularity again because I do love them. I've seen bits and pieces of "Mad Max: Fury Road" on cable, and although I know a lot of people thought it was a really good film, it's sooooo not my cup of tea. Just based on the bits and pieces I've seen I know there's no way I could sit through the whole thing -- and I'll force myself to watch certain films that aren't my cup of tea if they're culturally important (like westerns), but with this one there's no way. Life is too short.

I enjoyed dinner at Wit and Wisdom quite a bit, but as with Fork and Wrench it's been a couple of years.

What about Wit and Wisdom? I liked Fork & Wrench when I ate there a couple of years ago.

"State Delegate Wants to Allow Bulk Beer and Wine Sales at Wheaton Costco" by Aaron Kraut on bethesdamagazine.com

Funny, I was just thinking this morning how nice it is that our almost 2-year-old eats most of what we eat at this point. I still make her separate meals sometimes if we're having leftovers or for her breakfasts and lunches at daycare. She loves yams -- I give them to her with black beans and maybe some cheese. (She also LOVES cheese -- hmm, where did she get that from?) She also likes peanut butter, hummus, pasta, blueberries (LOVES them -- eats them like I eat M&Ms), bananas, applesauce, strawberries, and grapes. She'll eat carrots, peas, mushrooms, and other vegetables in other dishes but not so much by themselves. We don't have any known allergies, either, thankfully. Lately I've been making baked omelettes (the last one had cheese, bell peppers, and chorizo), and she likes those (although the one time I gave her omelette for her lunch at daycare she refused to eat it -- sigh). She's getting better at feeding herself with utensils, but I'll be happy when the messy stage is over!!

Yes, I can now -- thank you!

I wanted to provide a very belated recap of my experiences in the Culpeper area in this thread, but I don't have the option to reply.

I just watched the first season but forgot to mention it above! Agreed, very good -- especially the last episode of the first season. I want to go to that place (I believe it's Dorset?)!

My husband and I watched several episodes of "Master of None" on Netflix last weekend and enjoyed it. I also really liked "The Affair" on Showtime. About a year ago we watched all of "Bloodline" on Netflix in a couple of weekends. I agree "The Sopranos" was great (as was "The Wire"). My husband likes "Archer," but it's not really my cup of tea. Of course there's also "Mad Men," which I loved. --- "Narcos" (DonRocks) "Broadchurch" (bettyjoan)

Jaleo for outstanding restaurant.

Yikes, that's never happened to me. Maybe because I'm most often looking for an Uber car in downtown DC or at the Forest Glen metro, which is a couple hundred yards from the Georgia Avenue exit on the Beltway (so even if a car is a few miles away the car could still get to me in a reasonable amount of time)? Or maybe I've just been lucky.

I didn't realize the Portland outlet was a chain when I ate there, but I recognized the name here and checked the website and learned of the three locations. Definitely odd.

I had dinner at their Portland, OR, location a few years ago. Details are fuzzy at this point but I remember an amazing cheese cart and a knowledgable fromagier (if that's a word).

Funny, just last week a friend recommended Culinary Backstreets to me. She recently went on a tour with them in Mexico City, and she said it was amazing. I think she said she's also done tours with them in Europe.

Crab dip with crackers Buffalo chicken dip with tortilla chips and celery Tacos: homemade tortillas with carnitas, carne asada, and chorizo with cilantro, onions, and limes Chili with Fritos, shredded cheddar, and sour cream Pulled pork sliders with cole slaw Cannoli dip with Nilla Wafers Homemade brownies Homemade apple pie Tons of beer

I was very confused about the HOA organizing a date night at a restaurant. What is that about? (I know what an HOA is, though I thankfully don't have to deal with one.)

I was in San Juan from October 14-19 (so long ago now; I wish I'd gotten around to this report sooner!). I didn't make it to Jose Enrique (*sob*) -- it was too hard to corral five other people who wanted to eat in the Italian restaurant in our resort because it looked cute, and as it turns out it would have been weird if I had struck out on my own. Anyway, as noted above, we went to La Madre in Old San Juan per the birthday girl's request for her birthday dinner. The service was great (a very competent and friendly waiter), and they made cocktails with very fresh, delicious juices. The food, however, was just OK. We started with three appetizers: cheese fondue with house made corn chips (I mean, I love cheese, so I enjoyed this, but it was really just a bowl of melted cheese that got more and more rubbery as it cooled; the corn chips were good and our waiter happily brought a second basket when we finished the first), duck quesadillas (these sounded so good, but they really weren't; the duck was flavorless and mushy), and at this late date I can't remember the third one. For my entrée I had pork ribs marinated in beer, chili, and chocolate served with fried yucca and chipotle mayo (I'm translating from the menu online and I'm not sure if "marinated" is really the right word "“ they may have been marinated in beer, but they had a chili chocolate sauce). The fried yucca was amazing (crisp on the outside and soft on the inside), but the chili chocolate sauce was gloppy and sickeningly sweet. We also split a bunch of desserts and none of them were memorable; in fact, they all seemed remarkably similar to each other. We also went to El Jibarito thanks to recommendations from this board (thanks!). I'm no connoisseur of Puerto Rican food (I didn't even really know what mofongo was until this trip), but I really enjoyed it. Especially after the sterility of our resort, I really liked the atmosphere and the fact that the clientele appeared to be a mix of locals and tourists. We started out with beef and chicken empanadas. I don't remember them that well at this point, but I know we all scarfed them down. For my entrée I had pork in a plantain sauce with mixed mofongo. I really enjoyed all of this. The pork was very tender, the sauce was delicately flavorful and not overly sweet, and the mofongo was tasty and minimally greasy. We didn't have to wait for a table for a party of six around 7pm on a Saturday night in October. Since I was the one who'd steered us to El Jibarito, my dining companions asked what "that foodie website" recommended from the menu, so I brought up this thread on my phone, and while I was reviewing it I realized that our resort was right across the street from Mi Casita, so I went there for breakfast on my last day. I loved my banana pancakes, which was a huge portion and contained just the right amount of slightly caramelized bananas. I have now had my husband replicate this for me several times since I've been back.

I had the same exact thought, and, yes, Blue Duck Tavern is indeed in the Park Hyatt. I've never stayed at the hotel so can't comment on that.

I just had a fifth anniversary of a first date. I'll drink to that. :-)

I'm sipping on some coffee milk in honor of Buddy Cianci, the legendary two-time mayor of Providence, RI, who passed away yesterday at the age of 74 after battling colon cancer.