CrescentFresh

You won't catch me laughing. I love the Chophouse. I don't agree that it's the best burger in DC, but they do a really decent job all around in food and drink. I also think their servers are very friendly and fun, and most are very attentive and efficient.

I've said before that the lunch sandwiches at the downtown Jaleo are a great and delicious deal. This week I enjoyed a bocata de calamares como lo hacen en Madrid (Madrid-style fried squid sandwich with alioli and caramelized onions). The squid is great. Meaty and tender. The batter is crisp and not oily. Served on a toasted roll. This is just a great sandwich at only $7.95. Comes with a side dish of your choice. I always go for the Spanish potato salad. Not just potato, but also peas, big chunks of hard boiled egg, and roasted red peppers.

Ok. Who else has seen the 2007 calendar featuring the male kitchen staff of Ceiba, DC Coast, Acadiana and TenPenh? A "friend of a friend" had one and allowed me to see it last night. To say the very least, it's disturbing. And the heterosexual females I was with agreed.

Doubtful. Haven't read the state constitution but methinks it's all for one and one for all here in VA.

Didn't eat anything, aside from some bar nuts, some light and airy gratis cheese puffs and a slice of some free onion tart/slice that was absolutely packed with flavor. Let's hope that Domino's doesn't get their hands on the secret recipe for that onion pizza-like thing. Outta this world. But after sipping a bit of mdt's too sweet (although later corrected) maple manhattan, I chose to have some glasses of Blusser Pilsner . I'd never heard of this beer before, although it comes from the same brewery as some other popular brews you can find around here. Bartender said that Central is the only place you can find this in the country. $4.50 for an 8 oz glass and it was really good. Light and refreshing, just like a pilsner should be, but with a wonderful slight honey finish. I really dig the big mirror above/behind the bar for discrete people-watching. I will be dining here sometime soon. Michel Richard was in da house 2nite, too.

RFD has to be the only place in town where heavy amounts of cigarette smoke would actually make it smell better. They've got the funkiest, queasiest, nastiest smells of godknowswhat -- death and decay? -- anywhere you sit near that bar. And always be sure to ask when they tapped their cask of real ale. With them, it's probably even more important than knowing what kind of beer it is. Let's just say that if you go in there tonight and they're still serving the cask of Centurion Ghost, don't order it. That ghost should have died a few days ago.

All the beer talk has put me in a beer mood. But I'm going to hit it at RFD, where they're pouring Centurion's Ghost from York Brewery on cask right now. Probably will stop off first to grab some Purell and rubber gloves. It is RFD after all.

Let me know when the Blue Bird is on the beer engine and I'll be moving in......

Wagamama rules!

Tivo thought I'd like to see Road Tasted with the Deen boys in Washington, DC last night. Call me an intolerant snob, but I usually go running from the kind of joints that are "proudly serving Vegans since 1957!" Whatever. Get on your flying saucer and go back to Vega. But I actually found myself strangely drawn to the sticky buns segment shot at Sticky Fingers Bakery in Columbia Heights. You know how Cheesetique gives you that "these are our kinda people" feeling? I got that impression from what I saw of the folks at Sticky Fingers. And for a dairy-free, egg-less sticky bun, it looked really good. I'm very tempted to make a run up there to see if they taste as good as they look. (And if only to hear the girl talk about the "goo" drizzled on top! )

A Sunday in Buenos Aires can, for many, mean a visit to the Feria de San Telmo where the main drag, Defensa, is closed to traffic and thousands of people descend upon scores of artists, craftspeople, antique dealers, clothiers, etc. sell their stuff in a giant flea market. It's a huge tourist destination and I'm not a huge fan because you're listening to more people speaking English than Spanish. There are, however, some very good bargains to be had. We went solely to find some quality steak knives but had no luck. We did have luck, though, when we popped into Brasserie Petanque in Defensa at the corner of Mexico. Open 18 months, we were digging the idea of a lively French joint for Sunday brunch. Rather reminiscent of our frequent Sundays at Bistrot du Coin. Petanque was lively and packed when we walked in the door. There were a handful of folks waiting for tables. We gave our names and were told it would be about 20 minutes. But in less than 10 we were seated by the man we later learned was Pascal, the owner. We dug into a steak frites (which we ordered sans sauce, the Mrs. preferring the beef unadorned that day) and a steak tartare. Tartare is rather rare in Buenos Aires. In fact I haven't seen it anywhere else. I think there must be a certain Argentine predilection against meat products that haven't had the life cooked out of them, so raw beef is something that probably wouldn't be ordered very much if you could find it at all. But it was an appropriate dish for Brasserie Petanque and the chance to try this fantastic beef in its "naked" state. The meat was not too finely ground, and there were definitely some nice chunks of beef in there, as if they blended in some meat that was finely diced rather than ground. A smattering of mustard atop the disk of meat provided a steady base for the raw egg in half of its shell that came on top. Mix it together yourself with a touch of salt and pepper and wow. This magic Argentine beef tastes just as good raw as it does cooked. Moments after we began our meal, a server came over and said to us, rather quickly, something to the effect of "the owner would like to buy us a bottle of wine and would we prefer malbec or cabernet." Our Spanish skills, not being top notch, made us question if we heard it right because we really couldn't understand why we'd be offered a bottle of wine in a restaurant we've never been to before. But, that was the case and we dug into a malbec to accompany our lunch. When the owner walked by our table later, I called over to him to thank him for the wine and we started talking for a bit. Pascal was having a bit of a rough day, I learned, as he had been hosting a party at Petanque until 7:30 that morning for chefs and other restaurant types from around the world. "Anyone from the U.S.?" I asked. "Daniel Boulud," was one of Pascal's answers. A Swiss national, Pascal moved to Buenos Aires only a couple years ago, having spent the previous 11 years in New York managing a company that offered French-speaking tours of the United Nations. A lover of food and wine, much like us, Pascal became quite familiar with many of the great kitchens of New York and friendly with many of those in the industry. And, just like me and my wife, a single visit to Argentina became captivating to him and he eventually moved there and opened the restaurant he always wanted to have. (With food and labor costs so low, and so little regulatory hassles, opening the bar or restaurant you've always dreamed of is a much more affordable possibility in Argentina than around these parts.) We spent about 15 minutes talking to Pascal about all sorts of things and by the time we left, we were the last customers in the place. Before we left, he gave us a business card with the address of his newest venture, "Taberna Sangria," a tapas bar he opened up just 3 weeks earlier smack in weekday, business-oriented Microcentro neighborhood [Taberna Sangria, Tucumí¡n 400, is permanently closed, and is now El Pulpo.] . Our meal at Petanque, with coffee, dessert, gratis bottle of wine, and tip came to $73 pesos. A short walk from Petanque, we found Gibraltar, a very comfortable, authentic-looking, English pub that we easily made a home in. Pints of beer were only AR$6, including a hand-pulled cask conditioned IPA from the nearby town of Pilar. The bartender said it was from Stone Brewery, but I may have heard that wrong because I didn't think CA's Stone Brewery was doing a venture like this. The beer was nice. Perhaps a touch too sweet and syrupy, but surprisingly (and pleasantly) not too hoppy for an IPA. We didn't eat, but a fish and chips looks really good and would only set you back 15 pesos. And a single malt Scotch is only 20 pesos. Local music fans would be interested in hearing that Thievery Corporation was heavily represented in their music mix. Another restaurant we've visited on every trip to Buenos Aires is Central, in Palermo Hollywood. [Central, Costa Rica 5644, is permanently closed, and is now Ceviche.] We really like it here, but for some reason, we only go for lunch. You'll either be sitting at high marble tables or on couches in front of large coffee tables. Help yourself to some reading material from the magazine rack that covers one wall. And be sure to check out the funky rest rooms. All the dishes were delicious and imaginative. The ingredients were fresh, hot food was hot, cold food cold, greens were crisp, and sauces provided a welcome tang. Salmon tiradito with a mango tartar sauce, passion fruit vinaigrette and homemade nachos: Salmon a la plancha, with broccoli puree, grilled mushrooms, corn flan, terra chips and tamarind sauce: Coconut and almond crunchy pastry with coffee ice cream: Dulce de leche crepes: This just oozed with sweet goodness once I stuck my fork in it. We had two other dishes there and I have photos of them, but for some reason I have no record of what they were! Dumb, huh?

Methinks it's time to write these two off.

What's next? A hot dog with the cheez whiz already inside for an instant cheez dog? Science rules!

I never thought I could walk into a cheese shop like Cowgirl and actually walk out with nothing. Well, it's possible. It happened today. I was on a mission first, for some Blue Ridge Farm yogurt because with the holidays I did not get a chance to visit him at the Dupont or Courthouse markets to get more. Cowgirl doesn't have his yogurt anymore. The only cow milk yogurt they have now is from Keswick, based in Maryland. Okay. I'll wait until Saturday and reload then at the farmer's market. "Hey, is this butter from Trickling Springs cultured/European style?" "I'm not sure." Okay. At that price, it probably wasn't. Ricotta. Now, I've said earlier that Cowgirl was selling ricotta cheese that was even better than the award winning ricotta cheese from the local Blue Ridge Dairy. Well, not anymore. Their former cow milk ricotta was, I recall, from California and to my taste it beat the pants off the local stuff. It's gone. In fact, they haven't had it in my last 3 visits. Now what ricotta do they have? Keswick. I was offered a taste. It was totally lacking that lactic, tangy flavor that the California cheese had....or even the Blue Ridge cheese had. Alright. Frankly. Keswick Creamery sucks. It really sucks. It's flavorless and their cheese may as well be clay. I had their free samples once at Dupont and never tried it again I thought it was that bad. I appreciate that they're a local dairy and they're trying and making a go of it, but if your product is shit then your product is shit and that's what I think of Keswick. I'd rather spend less money on better tasting cheese that was cryo-ed in Wisconsin. Everybody's taste is different, sure. But less than an hour away you've got a dude making cheese and other dairy products nationally recognized as the best in its class. Just don't look for it at Cowgirl. And if they can't get that great stuff from California, I'm having a hard time understanding why they're shunning the recognized national award winner that's made locally, for Keswick.

We may need professional help on this. Does anyone have a phone number for the Trekkies?

My third visit in the last 2 years and Buenos Aires hit on all cylinders once again. If you're like me and you don't have money to burn -- or you love Europe but $2 for a pound and $1.35+ for a euro makes you say ouch -- Buenos Aires is your place. You most definitely know you're in Latin America, but because of the immigrant history of the country, you also see so many influences from Italy, England, France and Spain. Throw it all together and this city, with a population humming about 10 million and, in many ways, defined by its diverse neighborhoods, and you have an incredible experience, food, culture, people, you name it. For me, it's not really the Paris of South America as many say. Frankly, it reminds me very much of New York City circa 1978 -- all the dog crap and graffiti, but none of the disco. And, if you're a fan of Madrid, you'll love the dining hours. Restaurants don't get busy until after 10PM and many don't even open until after 9. Most of the places we hit were in the Palermo neighborhood, where we rented an apartment. A few years ago, Palermo, particularly its subset of Palermo Viejo (and its two further sub-barrios Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood) became the locus of many of the hip and happening restaurants in BA. Here you will not only find many of the hangouts for "the beautiful people," (and believe me, just about everyone in Argentina is beautiful) but you'll also find traditional mom and pop parrillas, empanada take-outs, restaurants focusing on certain ethnic foods, and dozens and dozens of restaurants staffed by talented people showing off their artistry and innovation on a plate. And they've got great ingredients to work with, not to mention fantastic wines. You will not find many "chains" as we know them here. There are a handful of chain places that are more cafe-like, but not really for full-scale restaurants like a Morton's or a Maggiano's that you'd find here. Where you're eating in BA is very likely to be a mom and pop joint, or a local corporate restaurant entity, similar to the setup you find here with Jose Andres and his partners. Our first meal on the day we arrived was at a local parrilla just a few blocks from our place, Don Isidro [Permanently closed - now The Swagger Bar] at the corner of Bonpland and Costa Rica. We had one purpose in mind for this meal -- do something about our Argentinian beef withdrawal symptoms. Without going into much detail, beef in Argentina is grass-fed, not corn-fed in feedlots. It's also butchered slightly differently, so you don't get a specific Filet Mignon, Ribeye or Strip Steak, but you get something similar. Their cattle are also not slaughtered as young as they are here. And in an interesting note about how serious-ass they are about their beef -- while we were there, a strike was called for by some elements in the "cattle drive" from field to Buenos Aires and the government was ready to send in troops to ensure that the cattle would still come unhindered. If you'd send in the army to ensure that your population gets its beef....... We didn't take notes during this first meal and we only have one picture. It's my wife's matambre (skirt/flank steak) topped with a morcilla (blood sausage) so thick it could choke a giraffe. As noted above, this dish cost 14 pesos, or about $4.75 US. The mug of beer next to it probably cost about 2.5 pesos. (For brevity, I'll just list prices in pesos from here on out. Just divide by 3 and you'll get the approx. price in dollars.) The next night, we had dinner at Sudestada, at Fitzroy and Guatemala, about a block away from our place. I had seen this place a number of times, looking in their window and reading the menu posted at the door, and heard good things about it, so I made a reservation earlier that afternoon. It was most definitely needed. Anyone without a reservation was pretty much turned away. A rather small restaurant on a street corner (you can see some photos in the above link, as I don't have any. If you look at the middle photo, we sat at one of the tables near the window that looks right into the kitchen) Sudestada is recognized as having some of the finest southeast Asian fare in the city. For starters, we shared an order of Thai Fish Croquettes with Sweet Potato ($16) and for mains I had Thai BBQ Pork w/pungent Lemon Sauce ($30) and the Mrs. had Fish and Shellfish Skewers w/Rice and Mango Relish ($33). Our wine selection was a bottle of 2005 Escorihuela Gascon Viognier from Mendoza. (I don't recall the price of the wine, but it was very reasonable and very good. I'm unsure at this point where it may be sold nearby but I know the winery has a lesser label, Don Miguel Gascon, which is found locally rather easily). Sudestada did not thrill me. As for the food, it was good but not great. Everything we ate came out hot/smokey/crispy, as appropriate, and the vegetables were all fresh and the sauces were tangy. But two things struck me. First, this meal did not transcend anything you could get at a number of simple Thai or Vietnamese places around here. Secondly, they really don't like using chiles. Don't expect any fire-breathing dishes in Buenos Aires. While the food was perfectly fine, the service was just pitiful. Perhaps the worst we've ever had in any restaurant ever in Buenos Aires. Water glasses sat empty and, at one point, were never refilled again. Which really sucked when we had to wait for 25 minutes for them to bring the check after we asked for it. (BTW: You will never be brought a check at a restaurant in Argentina unless you ask for it.) When I have time to write more, I'll have more details on other restaurants and bars, an "it could only happen to a foodie" story, a hunt for real ale, and plenty of food photos, including one of steak tartare (made with that killer beef) served in a country that traditionally cooks the living daylights out of its beef.

If there's no course featuring Groundhog Cheese, I ain't goin'.

The last pasta-making gathering, perhaps one of the first-ever DR.com events, was a blast and was over 1.5 years ago. I'd be game.

Very, very interesting dinner, huh? February 3rd, huh? It's a groundhog tasting menu, isn't it, dude?

This reminds me to say something I wanted to note about Rustico. Bonaire is absolutely right. Rustico is, without a doubt, the best place in town that I can think of for true beer lovers to go enjoy a game. Every now and then, I hold my breath and go into RFD. I do it very rarely and it's only because I occasionally get struck with a beer jones at odd times and it happens to be the closest thing for me to hit. I remember being in there recently, during the day, after lunch but before dinner. It was relatively quiet and I asked the bartender to please turn up the volume on one of the televisions. She said no. They're not allowed to. If only that unsanitary, piece of crap bar could pay as much attention to keeping it clean and keeping their beer stocked as they do to such oddball "rules" as not turning on the television volume when the place is empty so all the customers who aren't there in the middle of the day could listen to the heavy metal in case they decide to walk in. Every time I've been to Rustico they have always been accomodating in hooking up sound to something I want to see on the TV. It's definitely my go-to place to watch a game if I'm not watching it at home. So, cheers to them!

Something is going in to the old Harvard's space. But I don't know what it is.

I've never had rude service at Bebo. But it goes beyond absent-mindedness. I went to brunch there with some friends on my birthday a few weeks back. There were six of us. When the family style plate of meatballs comes out, there are only 5 meatballs. Yes, that's a kitchen issue, but the servers should have caught that, too. Same meal, my wife informed the staff it was my birthday. They lit a candle and brought it to the table when it was time for dessert. There were only, maybe, five tables occupied at the time and they brought the dessert and candle to the wrong one. That's a couple degrees above absent-mindedness. More like -- just not paying any attention. Same as what happened with the 5 meatballs for 6 people.

MOST interesting........ Has this happened again in the last year at all, or do you think they've been caught with their bottles uncorked?

Let this be the line that finally points out that what Tom Sietsema experiences in a restaurant is in no way reflective of the rest of planet Earth. Speaking of Bebo, Tom writes: You can point your finger anywhere on the menu, augmented with a dozen daily specials, and come up with a success story. You can read that line here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?n...ies=Restaurants (I'd have embedded the weblink but I don't know how to do it anymore on this new setup on the board. Can anyone help?) Bullshit! Horseshit! Donkeyshit! Alpacashit! Wapatishit! I have eaten at Bebo with dozens of people since it has opened. I have also heard stories from people I haven't eaten with there, but have told me about their experience. Not everyone is a member of this board. 99 and 44/100ths percent of non-professional food critics will tell you, the menu, augmented with a dozen daily specials, is a minefield! And beyond that, the same dishes are sometimes completely different on every visit. For example, my favorite dish is the paccheri, which is served with a pork sauce. This dish has wavered between being the greatest pasta plate I've ever had, to one that gives new meaning to "rustic," the sauce being jammed with so many bones and chunks of cartilige you'd think it was made from robbing the elephant's graveyard. There are dishes that are done really well, and there are dishes that are done really poorly. And, frankly, you never know which dish is going to be the winner on any given day. But all of them are "a success story?" Later in the review he makes a most feeble qualification by saying, "give or take a dish." But, please! At least he had the common decency to deservedly blast their poor service. I'm sorry, but if this review does not, once and for all point out that Tom Sietsema is clearly a recognized individual who consistently is given experiences completely unlike the rest of us then....I'll eat my hat. Seriously, how many people on this board have eaten at Bebo and are right behind the statement that "you can point your finger anywhere on the menu...and come up with a success story" ?????

Shame it's nowhere near as good as post #51. But I gotta admit it was better than post #53. Sorry, Bilrus.