zgast

Grubhub and Seamless are the same.  I loved the service when I lived in NY and continued to use it when I moved back to DC, but have stopped. Why?  They take a phenomenal amount of the gross order - and the results get prioritized based on what percentage you fork over as the restaurant.  Here's a decent article describing the conundrum that restaurants find themselves in when they consider moving away from them: http://tribecacitizen.com/2016/03/01/why-restaurants-hate-grubhub-seamless/

Happy to see that restaurants are developing their own solutions and that some competitors to Seamless are trying to establish a more symbiotic relationship with the restaurants.  Aden Pizza in Bethesda has an app that's been developed by a software developer that's explicitly targeting Seamless's market by using a flat fee structure.   Would love to hear about how restaurants view the quality/value of this type of competitor.

Also begs the question of when (not if) Opentable moves into this space as well.

On 7/29/2016 at 0:43 PM, Tweaked said:

And then of course, do what Londoners do, get a pint at a pub and hang out on the sidewalk.  The Cock, a Sam Smith owned bar in Fitzrovia and The Footman in Mayfair were two of my favorites (the smoked salmon plate at The Footman was amazing). 

 

Totally agree with this as well.  For those in the Notting Hill neighborhood, I always suggest the Churchill Arms for a few reasons.  First, it helped lead the gastro-pub revolution by introducing high-quality Thai food to replace the fare that was typical in British pubs back when.  The Thai food still doesn't disappoint here.  Second, you can get a glass of Pol Roger NV for 7 or 8 pounds.  That's near US retail prices and far below UK retail.   The pub is just a couple blocks from the Tube stop.

2 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Oh my God.

To its credit, the post did elicit two comments.

To its credit, that chicken rice is phenomenal.  Every time I go to Singapore, I attempt to eat every meal at a hawker stall.  Tian Tian is my usual chicken rice as it's only about 5 minutes from the Marina district where I usually stay. Laziness generally wins when it's 90+ degrees.

51 minutes ago, Simul Parikh said:

A little cramped, but don't have to move our stuff around that many times. The one thing I keep reading is that Bologna is sort of forgotten, but is AWESOME. Maybe cancel one of the days planned and do a whole day in Bologna? It's only 35 minutes by train. 

Thanks again, and there is a few PMs I will have to send!

Italian saying:

If you want art, go to Florence. If you want history, go to Rome.  If you want love, go to Venice.  If you want to eat, go to Bologna.

Bologna is a collection of individual things you won't remember.  But it is quintessentially Italian, which is what most people remember and love.  I'm biased - spent a year at the University of Bologna - but I've spent time almost everywhere you're looking, both as a student and as a non-poor person.

Other than Siena on a peak travel day, I don't think you're going wrong with any of those options, though.

4 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

The education profile of adults who are unauthorized immigrants differs markedly from that of U.S.-born adults and from that of other immigrants because unauthorized immigrant adults ages 25-64 are disproportionately likely to have very low education levels.

Nearly three-in-ten (29%) have less than a ninth-grade education; an additional 18% have some high school education but have not completed high school. The proportion of unauthorized immigrants with either less than a ninth-grade education or less than a high school education is roughly double the share of legal foreign-born residents with those educational levels. It is far greater than the share of U.S.-born adults—only 2% of those ages 25-64 have less than a ninth-grade education, and only 6% have additional years in high school, but no diploma.

In my experience, this is true.  What I would argue - strenuosly - against is the idea that they are the 'dregs' of society.  In most of the cases I've seen, they are people who've made a rational decision that despite the relatively low wages they work for in the US, they can still create a better life here than the ones they had in their home countries.  That's what I'd also thought of as 'The American Dream'.  Just like your ancestors, except with new federal bureaucracy to oppose their wishes to enter the country.  Don't you oppose federal bureaucracies?  That's the impression I've gotten from your previous posts.

I'm not going to claim that every undocumented immigrant is the patron saint of x - hell most of the great ones I know were working under stolen social security numbers (paying social security, federal, state and local taxes that they had no expectation of collecting benefits on) - but they were still great people.  Their home countries sucked - and they fled.  Even being an illegal here was better for them and their children than staying where they were.  I can't fault them for that.  Plus - I know a lot of highly educated a&%hats that I'd love to throw out of the country relative to these people.

What happened to that whole content of their character thing we always espoused as Americans?  (George Wallace aside)  If you come here, want to work your ass off in exchange for honest wages, I say bring it!  

Honestly, you're a bit east of the action for Virginia's better vineyards.  If you're willing to do a drive of just under an hour, Linden Vineyards and Glen Manor are very good wines (not for VA, but on an absolute basis).  The former doesn't allow groups of over six - I'm not sure of the size of your group.  RdV is very good wine, but the $50 expense does put it out of 'just a fun afternoon' range for many.

On 6/10/2016 at 3:49 PM, goldenticket said:

Even thought I haven't been to either Angles or Little Fountain Cafe in many, many years, I was saddened to read over on PoPville that they will be closing at the end of next month. They are great neighborhood spots, that stuck around through a lot of changes in Adams Morgan. I'm sure they will be missed by many current and past customers.

Oh man, this one hurts.  We've only been once in the last five or six years after moving out to the burbs, but for the first five years I was in DC, this was my go to great meal.  When my wife and I rolled in on Wednesday (poor non-profit workers have to go on half price wine night), the waitresses knew us, our wine order, and favorite seats.  Such great food, ambiance, and that feeling of being completely welcome.

Patrick - if you read these forums, please know that you, Lauren and the rest of your staff were responsible for so many of my best memories in DC.  I proposed to my wife in your restaurant, we celebrated our legal wedding ceremony with friends there, and that doesn't even speak to the countless nights helping close down the place with one last glass of wine.  Thank you for all of it.

5 hours ago, johnb said:

I would not be surprised if this becomes such a well-known problem that it starts to have a negative effect on Italian tourism's image (a story on CNN would get the ball rolling) that the national government finally steps in and curbs the worst abuses.  But it apparently hasn't happened yet.  

For now, maybe the south of France is a better option, certainly for those who wish to enjoy the countryside and need their own transportation to do that.

Careful with France too - particularly the countryside.  There are speed cameras in all the tiny villages where the speed limit slows to 35 kph - you will get nailed and the fines are quite large for tourists.  Again, they go through the rental agencies. It's not just Italy.

So - the daughter is turning sixteen shortly and wants to go out for a fun, mostly upscale dinner with the family on her big day.  Any suggestion from the galley?  I lean towards more food-centric places, so this is outside my wheelhouse.  Hoping to pay ~$50/person with only 2 drinking wine, so most places are game.  Georgetown to Chinatown areas are game.

Thanks!

Well - the building is getting torn down - so I guess this had to happen sooner or later.  Just sucks to lose a good restaurant option in Bethesda for those of us that live here.  How do the mediocre places do so well while the really good ones struggle?

Barrel & Crow is a great option - particularly in sunny weather.  Grab tables outside by 4:30 or so and you're good. We got 15 people there just last week and barely hit $150 for drinks and food due to the great happy hour specials.

Also check in with Grapeseed - they might be able to do their bar menu for you in addition to cocktails, beer & wine.  They lean more heavily to wine, though.

Food Wine & Co. I would hesitate on.  It gets crowded early due to the southern location.

4 minutes ago, pras said:

Can you link to the article?

Here you go:

"DLC To Make Changes To Wine Wholesale Prices" by Andrew Metcalf on bethesdamagazine.com

DLC is raising pricing for deliveries of 'special delivery' wines.  Jeff had a quote in the article I saw on the issue:

"Jeff Heineman, owner of Grapeseed restaurant in Bethesda, said Wednesday he depends on a fine wine list that can differentiate his restaurant from his competitors—90 percent of his restaurant’s list is special-order wines that cost more than $18 per bottle. He said the change would likely negatively impact his restaurant by either hurting his bottom line or by causing an increase in price to customers."

This is absurd.  I get that Applebee's is going to benefit by selling more Franzia at a lower price, but the impact on real restaurants is going to be awful - the level that this becomes punitive is $18 - where you should be getting a lower percentage markup, not higher.  I actually thought we were making progress towards ending the DLC earlier this year.  What happened?

With less than six days, I would not really recommend trying to do a large number of towns.  My family and I did five towns in seven days last summer and all felt we should have just stayed one place and done road trips by car.  You could easily spend all those days in Rome and not see all the 'must sees'.  If you want to range, though, I'd suggest Orvieto as a good base camp from which to explore so that you aren't packing/unpacking every day.  Ton of great places within 90 minutes drive.  You can also get there by train.

For while you're in Rome, my favorite restaurant is Colline Emiliane.  I'm biased toward Emilia Romagnan cuisine, just to warn you, having gone to school in Bologna, but this restaurant is rarely crowded with tourists, has some great Emilian dishes, and is easy to find.

Enjoy the trip - I'm jealous.

41 minutes ago, rockcreek said:

Anyone else been there?

Yes - for lunch.  Had a veggie sandwich with salad and fruit for desert.  Was good, but the larger group said some of their things were less than exciting.  Looking through the menu, would have to agree that it could use a little more pizazz.   You're competing with the memory of Addie's, so try to offer something(s) to match that Oyster Po Boy or Pulled Pork sandwich.  Can be simpler than dinner, but more than basic sandwiches.  

3 hours ago, Tweaked said:

I think the above is actually a Sietsema First Bite column, not a Top 10 New Restaurant (today's was Convivial)

You are correct.  I saw it on the front page and just assumed it was the latest in the Top 10.

Was just included in the Washington Post Top 10 New restaurants - which I think is a prelude to the Spring Dining Guide: 

What caught my attention was this, referring to the Tagliatelle Bolognese, "...its recipe based on the classic at the revered Ristorante Diana in Bologna." Loved Diana when I lived in Bologna, so may just have to go to try it out.

5 hours ago, DonRocks said:

The seasons have changed since my review, so I suspect it will completely different.

On Apr 9, Frank showed a picture of some house-corned tongue with charred ramps and asparagus, crispy barley and Rick's manila clam dressing on his Facebook Page (Friend me and you'll be able to see it - it's available to "friends of friends"), but it wouldn't surprise me if this was long gone by now.

Hazards of seasonal cooking.  I'll have to wing it going in!

Menu is down - any recommendations from those that have dined recently?  Just made reservations for Wednesday.  Saw Don's recent review, but wondering if there are other 'must eats'.  

Grapeseed any time, not just the special dinners, but Passage to India is also worth the drive.

Agree with both of these.  Kapnos is also worth a drive (I've only been twice is the caveat) if you don't mind a quite noisy environ.  Barrel & Crow is great too.

But Grapeseed is the one that should get far more love than it does.

Going to be expecting a haka next time I come in for dinner.

Updated article.  Evidently Nick Palermo is headed to Clarity.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/going-out-guide/wp/2016/03/29/nick-palermo-is-leaving-barrel-crow-in-bethesda/

Tried out the newish Kapnos in Bethesda.  Have to say it was a very good meal.  Group of six, so got to try a bit of everything, but the highlights that I had were:

Fried chicken: slightly spicy breading, moist meat, and a sweet/spicy dipping sauce.  I ate most without the sauce.

Zucchini fritters: These were great.  Several cheeses, but still a great zucchini flavor.

Spreads: All of these were quite good, although the hummus was probably my least favorite.  Ever since I discovered Perfect Pita, I need a bit more tahini in my life!

Place was rocking from 6:30-7:30, but then seemed to slow a bit.  One of these days Bethesda will learn to stay up past 8 pm.

Loved the movie. I'm intimately involved with a lot of what went on the mortgage market during that time, but really appreciated that it made so much of what went on accessible.  Steve Carrell and Ryan Gosling were great in their roles.

Thanks all for the fantastic suggestions.  Much appreciated.  

Second Thip Khao just up 14th St. in Columbia Heights.  It's Laotian, but don't let that throw you off - it's oh so very good.

L'Enfant at 18th and Florida is great for sitting outside on a nice evening and having a glass of wine and an appetizer.