B.A.R.

We're not even sure YOU exist, so how can we trust the veracity of this newbie...uhhh.....never mind..... I'M IN!Looking forward to meeting all you at the dinner, and this seems an exceptionally fair way to handle the process. A community grows when new people are welcomed in as equals. I enjoy the opportunity to meet people that come from various walks of life and share a common passion. And I hope people like meeting me too!

Ummm...what happened?

I imagine there will be absolutely, positively no take-out. Too little control, what with the possibility of careless red peppers flake additions, a few casually strewn chiffonades of basil ruining the masterpiece. Not to mention pictures.

Count me in, plus 1/2!

If you knew nothing, you learned nothing. If you knew little, you remained stagnant. If you were even somewhat educated, you didn't even bother. Sad.

Saturday AM my wife has yoga, so I'd be bringing my daughter, who is two. She's pretty good for a two year old, but Timothy Treadwell thought those bears were pretty good too. If there are no objections to bringing my daughter (we usually go there anyway around this time), I'd love to. Unfortunately I have to decline the kind offer of sushi at your house afterwards, but hopefully another time.

Count me in! I'm there every weekend and generally spend $20 just experimenting. Love the kim chi section and would show up anytime for a guided tour. A weeknight might be better, as unless it is early Sunday morning the place is insanely crowded on the weekends.

Would love to!

Gone on a regular basis is much different than off for a night (or two).......back on topic, the food & wine section of now attracts my attention every month, whereas six months ago it never crossed my mind. Far more educational, informative, and entertaining, even if I don't always agree with the reviews or articles position.

They could organize it alphabetically for all I care, as long as the selections are, well, somewhat inspired. I am not hopeful, since it is a chain, but I'll give it a shot since I generally drive from my home in Fairfax to Rick's in Alexandria when I wish to purchase wine not sold by Brown Foreman, Cliquot, Diageo, et. al. (although Total does have a nice variety of Kacher wines)

It really depends on how they ring it up in their system. Say you have a bill of $100.00, and they discount it by 50% to $50.00. The actual sale is only $50.00, and you should be taxed accordingly. But, if they take the $50.00 deduction another way, say by charging it to an in-house promotion account, the sale is $100.00, with Galileo "paying" $50, and the patron paying the remaining $50, plus the 10% tax on the total ($100). I believe it's merely how they choose to handle the accounting. Then again, I'm no tax lawyer, so I could be wrong. ***edit: I'm not saying they are handling it properly, just that if they looked at it from the perspective that I mentioned above, they might believe they are doing it propoerly. They obviously don't have a firm grasp on the whole "tax thing".

My trusted wine outlet (Rick's wine and gourmet, Alexandria) consistently provides me with great service, educated suggestions, and interesting selections. They will always be my go to shop for most of my purchases. They give a 10% discount on all mixed cases, and a 15% discount on full cases. Their prices are reasonable and I appreciate them, especially now that I live in Fairfax. I wouldn't feel right if they turned me on to a wine I was unfamiliar with, and then buying from someone else. To me, it breaches the trust of my relationship. However, if I went to a restaurant and found a bottle of wine I enjoyed, you bet I'm checking to see if it is available at the Wine Library first. Price, in this instance, is paramount. A big thank you to Joe H., as I hadn't heard of this place and you probably just saved me a few hundred bucks over the next 12 months.

I'm heading to Costco Fairfax tomorrow and I'll grab a few bottles of their private label. I've been pleasantly surprised by some of the Kirkland products in the past (the olive oil's not bad, if you like a grassy, herbal style) so we'll see about the CnP, Shiraz, and others.

I've been to Mannequin Pis several times and my experiences (fortunately) always mirrored yours. Yes, the place is small and quirky (such as when they have live Elvis music) but that's what makes it fun. Glad to hear it is still humming along while Bernard is away. Thanks for the news and welcome!

Last night, Oxtails braised in Red wine with parsnip puree. Tonight, DiGiorno Supreme pizza, six-pack of Stella Artois (long day)

This isn't about disabilities. I haven't seen anyone say that they think the disabled shouldn't be able to use a Segway anyway they please. This thread is about the inconsiderable people in our society that choose to glide their Seussian thromdimbulators anywhere they please. Pass the ketchup, and I am rollerblading to Bis for happy hour. [edited at B.A.R.'s request]

I've never heard of a restaurant allowing patrons en masse to pre-reserve food. If they allowed it before, I doubt they will continue the practice. It's never a good idea to lie to anyone, much less someone who you rely on arbitrarily deciding your wages. It sounds to me like they handled the situation poorly, and will learn from the mistake. Had that same server told me they were out, and was subsequently recommending them to the tables next to me, that's different. I don't think that the lie was designed to give preferential treatment or deny the patrons the pleasure of Chef Power's scallops. A server (or several) made poor decisions under duress. To me, not a big deal.

Restaurants sell out of things frequently, and it is always a difficult process to manage. It is generally a clusterfuck, as when servers are told there is a limited quantity of an item, they do one of two things: a) Tell their patrons there are only two orders of scallops left (does anyone want them) or tell the table the restaurant is "out of scallops" to avoid taking an order, running to the POS system, placing the order, only to find out they are already gone. A server is much more likely to tell a large table that the restaurant is "out", because then you have to stand there idly as the seven of them discuss who is going to get the last two. When you (the server) are extremely busy, especially during restaurant week, it's human nature just to lie. Any chef want to chime in how many times they have sent word to the FOH that there are only two orders of "X Entree" left at 7:00 on a Saturday and the same two are sitting there at 11PM? My problem is with the guest looking around the restaurant checking off who got them and who didn't, and then assuming that the restaurant was discriminating against them and showing preferential treatment to the "distinguished gentleman". What is the point of that? Why can't some people just let it go and enjoy the evening for the companionship and the meal? *edited to try and get rid of the smiley face. No can do.

The scallops "incident". My God, people. Order your food, converse with your guests, enjoy yourself, and quit staring at other peoples table trying to figure out how you got screwed. I wonder if this guy likes duck calls?

I can't believe I've read the whole thing. Never take vacation the first week in January. CHEF Carole Greenwood is tremendously talented and a PR nightmare. I absolutley feel horrible for her employees. Mr. Alefantis is in the worst possible position, trying to apologize to customers for her zany behavior while financial bound to her lunatic "cooking artistry". The Washingtonian bit was hysterical, but was unneccessary piling on, IMHO. Now, off to the Gerard Pangaud and breastfeeding threads.

What is Rocks' column about?

In order to be rude, one must first be stupid.

Mitigating factor - You ordered more wine. No harm, no foul.

The only thing I have ever had from Cakelove is one cupcake. When I think of a cupcake, I think of soft, light cake topped with fluffy, rich icing. What I got was a terrible rendition of a wedding cake in a "cupcake" form. The execution of such a basic dish was so bad, I wouldn't consider going back. As for the owner's fame, good for him.

Worse than the intro is how when you click on a link in the website the view pans aroundthe screen and then zooms in. I immediately felt unbalanced and thought I was going to become seasick. Websites should not require Dramamine in order to view them. Terrible. **Upon further review, I thought the section they had labeled "CRITICAL ACCLAIM" was amusing in its presumptuousness (is that a word?).