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B.A.R.

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Everything posted by B.A.R.

  1. B.A.R.
    The kerfluffle caused me to miss the first goal, which was the only necessary goal in a 4-0 Boston win. I was just hoping to watch a good game, so no big loss.
  2. B.A.R.
    Well, I could post a middling review of Silver Diner or Viet House, or other such banalities, but I will just post this TRUE story in the hopes that it will make you laugh (I'm Dad, originally posted to my FB 2 years ago) THE VAGINA DIALOGUES The Scene: 9:15pm. A dark and cool house in suburbia. Two children, Thing 1 (age 8) and Thing 2 (age 4) are "asleep" upstairs. All the lights are out in the house and Dad is desperate to have a beer and watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Mom is at a Board Meeting. Dad is reclined on the coach, when he hears the gentle creek of the stairs. Thing 1 is creeping downstairs. Dad gets up and meets her in the darkened foyer. Dad: What's up, sweetheart. Thing 1: I can't sleep. My pillow smells like vagina. Dad: (*blink*) The house is dead silent as the two stare at one another for a seeming eternity that lasts all of 5 seconds. Dad: Excuse me? Thing 1: My pillow smells like Thing 2's vagina. Dad: (*blink*) Thing 1: (breathlessly) Thing 2 took of all of her clothes and touched herself and didn't wash her hands and then touched my pillow and now I can't sleep because my pillow smells like vagina. Dad: (meekly) Go to bed. Thing 1: (exasperated) Daaaad! I can't. It stinks. Dad: Let's go to your room. The two march upstairs, Thing 1 leading the way while Dad follows behind, wondering just how the hell he found himself in this situation, and how was he going to resolve it. They enter the bedroom, where Thing 1 ups the ante. She removes the pillow from the bed and thrusts it at Dad. Thing 1: Smell it! Dad: (scared shitless and flustered) I don't think that's necessary, just go to bed (he's pleading now). Thing 1: (yelling) I CAN'T SLEEP WITH MY PILLOW SMELLING LIKE VAGINA! A high pitched, shrieking voice comes out of the darkness. Thing 2 has awoken. Thing 2: (screaming defensively) I DON'T HAVE A SMELLY VAGINA! Both girls begin shouting over one another Thing 1: Wash your hands Thing 2: I did! Thing1: Did not. Don't touch my pillow! Thing 2: I didn't touch myself. Thing 1: You're not allowed on my bed. You're not a good wiper! As the situation devolves, Dad lifts the offending pillow to his face, and proceeds to do something heretofore unimaginable. He sniffs. Dad: (thankfully) Smells like Downy. Thing 1: It does not Thing 2: Apologize! Thing 1 grabs the pillow and methodically sniffs all four corners of the pillow, like a drug sniffing dog. Thing 1: It smelled a minute ago. From the darkness Thing 2: SAY YOU'RE SORRY! Dad: Both of you go to bed right now, and I am telling your mother. Both Thing's go to bed, and Dad slinks back down to the couch, thoroughly shaken and perhaps permanently scarred.
  3. B.A.R.
    I eat there 2-3 times a week and never wait more than 10 minutes, if that. Something was amiss
  4. B.A.R.
    ahem......I don't want to be nit-picky, but surely the release of this slipped your mind?
  5. B.A.R.
    To Jose Bonilla, one of the owners of La Malinche in Silver Spring. An extraordinary kind, gracious, and hard working man; always smiling, always laughing. Jose was a fixture in the restaurants at Marriott Wardman Park and I had the pleasure to work with him for years at our hotel. Like many immigrants, he worked tirelessly at multiple jobs to support his family here in the States, as well as at home in El Salvador. Last year, he realized a life long dream of opening his own restaurant, with his brothers, in Silver Spring - an American dream fulfilled. He tragically passed away in a car accident late Tuesday night, leaving work to go home, where he cared for his mother. My life is better to have known him, and he will be missed. Rest in peace, my friend.
  6. B.A.R.
    ^ That's excellent. Cara and I might need to take a little trip.
  7. B.A.R.
    Take advantage of the NYTimes paywall being down and read Eric Asimov's list of the 12 best (most interesting?) wine lists in NYC. And a nice article on Rieslings from the Finger Lakes as well!
  8. B.A.R.
    This is truly a treat and I can't hate to hear your report. Enjoy!
  9. B.A.R.
    It was Bodegas Avanthia Godello, which retails around $30+ (information courtesy of Larry Page and Sergei Brin)
  10. B.A.R.
    Nope. I was paying more attention to my wife and just skimming the list but it was in the "Drink this before it's famous" section and it was a $19 BTG/ $70 something bottle of Godello. Cara said, "that probably sells as much as the premium Gewurztraminer at Ruths Chris" Done. Loved it.
  11. B.A.R.
    I saw it in IMAX 3D and this first thing I said to my wife was 'I almost puked twice". It is taut, riveting and intense; probably the most engaging and enjoyable film I have seen in years. It is a fabulous experience in IMAX 3D, just extraordinary. As I am neither a astrophysicist or an astronaut, I cannot comment on whether or not this is "realistic" in its portrayal, but DAMN was it fun to watch. And the feeling you get while watching in IMAX 3D is similar to that of a mild thrill ride at an amusement park. I was clutching my wife's hand or knee from the 5 minute mark until the end. Go.
  12. B.A.R.
    Looking for a quick bite to eat yesterday before the IMAX showing of "Gravity", my lovely bride and I popped in to Seasons 52 yesterday as I assumed it was the place I would "hate the least" in Tyson's. Unfortunately, it did not turn out that way. They have a nice special for $15, where you get a flight of three wines and a flatbread. You choose your favorite of the flight, and you get a glass of that. The flight pours were generous (about 2.5oz), so this was about 2 1/2 glasses of wine and a flatbread for $15. As mentioned above, the flatbread is impossibly thin, and although the toppings were well seasoned, balanced and flavorful, ultimately the flatbread needed more bread. Other than that......everything was bad. Our server was very nice and helpful, but we ordered four items from the menu and all four were terrible. The tuna and avocado roll tasted as if it had been rolled the day before. It was dry, cold, with indistinguishable flavors. And they don't use nori to roll their sushi, rather it was bound by a thin white something that resembled rice paper but tasted like nothing. My wife ate one piece, and I ate two pieces. We ordered a side of edamame which was overcooked and mushy. We ordered a side of Tamale Tots. No corn flavor, just little squares of some unknown dry paste flash fried and served with two cloying sauces. I had the turkey burger. I eat a lot of turkey burgers. I LIKE turkey burgers. Hands down the worst turkey burger I have ever had. Pre-made patty, brick hard and devoid of any moisture, lathered with maybe teriyaki sauce. If this was the first turkey burger you ever had, guaranteed you would never have another. Just awful. There are many people on this board and elsewhere who really, really like Seasons 52. I respect their opinions and concede that I may have just ordered the four shakiest things on the menu, executed by the B team. Other food coming out of the kitchen, like the trio of tacos and the snapper filet, looked really, really good. Wine program is solid, and God bless them for offering a $19 Godello BTG.
  13. B.A.R.
    When I first met Spike Gjerde, he and his brother Charlie owned the eponymous Spike & Charlie's, across from the Meyerhoff. He was a very talented, ambitious, energetic and generous Chef; always willing to help out a competing restauranteur when purveyors or random happenstance conspired to sink your night. "spike, it's Brian. Any chance I can borrow two sides of salmon?" "Sure. Whole or cleaned and fileted?" would be the response. After a long day exploring the city with a date (in shorts and a T-shirt) and in need of a good meal, who did I call? Spike. And I'd show up and be seated in the best table in the house. Spike & Charlie's suffered because of the ebb and flow of theater business (more like a tsuanami when Meyerhoff was open) and perhaps the brothers expansion (Joy America Cafe, Atlantic, and maybe another restaurant that I have forgotten). Regardless of those restaurants ultimate closings, Spike was a huge talent. Vineyard Brands used to hold a week-long Wine and Food Festival at the Cap Juluca in Anguilla. I remember Danny Haas would bring in winemakers from across the globe, anchored by Jean Pierre and Francois Perrin of Chateau Beaucastel, and pair them with invited Michelin starred and JB award winning chefs for individual dinners. And Spike Gjerde was routinely one of the chefs, because, despite the relative anonymity in which he toiled, Danny knew Spike was great. Over the last 3 years the ONE restaurant in the area I have been sad not to have tried has been WK. I am always so delighted to see the accolades heaped upon Spike and his team, because I know they deserve it. So Don, if at anytime you want to head back up to B'more just to be super-duper sure, it'll be just the excuse for me to dine there the first time. And I will drive.
  14. B.A.R.
    A friend brought over Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale the other night. We both were leery, consider traditional Blue Moon blows. This bottling, my fellow Rockwellians, was beyond awful. It's as if they steeped all of the returned Blue Moon from 2011 in a vat with half-dozen pumpkin pies from Giant, and a few aromaticused sweat-sock pouches stuffed with nutmeg. Seven days later they bottled it and then haughtily laughed "Carpe Diem!" I would have poured it down my toilet, but I thought it would be bad for the septic tank. For real.
  15. B.A.R.
    This pretty much sums up my experience.
  16. B.A.R.
    I have had several quick meals at Matchbox Mosaic over the last few months. It has now supplanted every GAR restaurant as the place I'll go for a casual meal with family and friends in and around Fairfax. Everything I've had has been solid, and I particularly enjoy the proscuitto, fig, and arugula pizza
  17. B.A.R.
    Although the issue was obviously not handled well, there *could* be a less malicious explanation. In many POS systems, when a manager accesses and open guest check, he is presented with a screen of all open checks in the system. If Server A asks the Manager to auto-grat Table 43, the manager might pull up all of the open checks and mistakenly auto-grat Check 43, which is actually Table 12 belonging to Server B. Follow me on that?
  18. B.A.R.
    whew. Thought it was gonna be Roberto.
  19. B.A.R.
    I will. Happy to sacrifice. My wife is travelling on business from Monday through Friday, so you can be guarenteed an update by the latter date.
  20. B.A.R.
    Cathal in the kitchen a definite positive. Having a more traditional menu arrangement, with an optional tasting menu seems also a positive. In short, IMHO, all of their strengths are enhanced with this.
  21. B.A.R.
    I took it as they were doing something (as a small plate wine bar) that everyone else was doing as well, so they changed the concept to something that was not available in the area and that they enjoyed doing. That's smart business, as far as I'm concerned. If more restauranteurs paid attention to market needs rather than just doing "what they want", I'd guess the attrition rate would be a bit lower. I would also argue that what the Red Hen is doing is both what they want to do and filling a void in the market. Whether or not Oliver Speck succeeds or not, who knows. But on the night I was there, it was well executed and charming.
  22. B.A.R.
    Spent a debaucherous night in Baltimore over the weekend and was lucky enough to pop into Oliver Speck's for an early dinner at the bar. Details are a bit murky, but it was a well designed space with wine bottles and pickles in racks all over the place. The Pulled Pork sandwich was excellent, as were the housemade pickles. The bartender was very friendly, and beside the bar on the chalkboard was a list of signature cocktails. Sadly, I believe a sampled them ALL, and vaguely remember being duly impressed. I had some kind of mojito with candied bacon and apricot that was very good. The Berry, Berry Bubbler made with a rhubarb syrup and a bunch of other stuff was very tasty indeed. Website here and definitely worth a try if you are in the 'hood. Pro-tip: To maximize your enjoyment, don't drink every cocktail on the menu.
  23. B.A.R.
    I've eaten plenty of "Lao hot" at Bangkok Golden; it is fiery, but not out of balance. Any fool can make something blazingly hot, but to provide that intense heat and keep it flavorful is a gift.
  24. B.A.R.
    I told her Komi (if money is no object), 1789 (old-school, intimate, great cooking right now), and Corduroy (Intimate, elegant, Tom Power). Marcels was my odd man out (not everyone gets excited by great French fare), and Cityzen was bumped from my list for the intimacy factor. ETA - Happy Anniversary The Delicious!
  25. B.A.R.
    A colleague from out of town is coming to DC for her first anniversary and asked me to make some restaurant recommendations. She wants something intimate, with great food (preferably local), and someplace where "I won't feel silly in a new dress". Although I have come up with a short-list, I'm sure the DR.com crowd will have some suggestions that never even crossed my mind. Thanks in advance.
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