tabindc

Yes, it is open for lunch weekdays. 

Edan Macquaid, long-time pizzaiolo at 2 Amys, is partnering with the owners of 2941 to open a pizzeria in downtown Falls Church.

Pie Tanza, a pizza joint on Harrison St. in N. Arlington, is also opening up a location on Broad St. Further, something called Dogwood Tavern is taking over the Broad St. Grill location. Or is that the space you are talking about?

Hey, check your local Safeway. I just picked up several bottles of 2003 Clarendon Hills Grenache Blewitt Springs for $3/bottle. Yes, 3$! It retails normally for $80 and is a very well respected producer and a well rated bottle which should age well for 10 years or so. I guess when Safeway wants to get rid of it, they want it gone now.

My Safeway in the Cherrydale section of Arlington on Lee Highway has a few bottles left in a shopping cart back by the milk. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it and a big $3.00 drawn in red marker over the label. I guess Gallo buying Clarendon can get it into a Safeway set, but can't sell it off the shelf.

I had several glasses of this in Boston today and cannot find it on WineZap. Wine Searcher shows several California locations but nothing in the East. Does anybody know anyone who carries it in the D. C. area? It is a very good shiraz, perhaps remarkably good for the price.

Its on the shelf at Whole Foods Arlington right now. I'm not sure if Curious Grape has any right now but they should have some more in by early next week as we've got another shipment coming in.

Have you also tried Maverick, Desert Eagle or Layer Cake Shiraz? They are all part of the same project of Jayson Woodbridge in Barossa.

I have heard that Harry's Essential Grille has closed. Anyone in the Tyson's area confirm this? Nothing to actually do with Harry's but building/space being sold.

Did these "informed persons" say when? I'm less than a mile from Seven Corners, so this is very good news indeed.

ETA: Never mind, found it - "we're hoping for a February opening."

They are taking over a Pizzeria Uno which is on the SW side of that crazy intersection.

Actually, I doubt growlers will be available since this will not be a brewpub. None of the beers will be brewed on site, so they can't sell growlers of beer to go per VA law. The DFH franchises are basically what are called "tied houses" in the UK: a place that only serves one brewery's beer. DFH does not own these places, but licenses their name and logo to the franchise owners in exchange for them serving their beer. They also have some say over decor and the type of food offered.

All they need to sell growlers legally is a ABC Off license which many restaurants actually have although not usually advertised to the public. Yes, the beer will have to be produced and packaged elsewhere, so not the "fresh" growlers many are looking for but could be in 64 oz. size none the less.

Personally, this doesn't really excite me and 7 corners is hardly a great location in my mind, not to mention the market saturation on DFH in recent years.

Had a late lunch there yesterday. Surprisingly the place was rather quiet.

I would definitely recommend the Pasta e Fagioli soup and the Fettucine alle Bolognese. Both were outstanding and quite a lot to eat for lunch. I just wanted a nap afterwards. Not sure the dinner prices, but were $5 and $10 respectively for lunch. Had a glass of way too fruity 2003 Barbera d'Asti.

I agree about the service. They need to tone it down a bit. Its a trattoria not Galileo. Service was very prompt, since there was no one else in the joint, but way too formal. Also, the food took a long time to come out, not sure what was up with that.

Easily a $1million+ build out for that space.

Interesting! Great to see things that are "locally" owned.

On a trip last month I hit a couple of newer places, Redd in Yountville and Press in St. Helena. Both seemed to be on the radar screen for new and trendy.

Redd was very busy on a Friday night in August. Menu was very diverse and eclectic. Several dishes with emulsion, aka foam, incorporated into them. Had a risotto starter which was very tasty with lemon truffle oil, which surprisingly wasn't over the top rich. The duck entree was quite nice. Had a $9 chocolate shake, which was in a shot glass, yes that small but ooh, so good. They have a great wine list with many unheard of producers. We had a wonderful Grenache Blanc and several great Pinots. There were lots of folks strutting their stuff with magnums under their arms for corkage. Nice they allow you to do that but we preferred to trying something new.

Press was more of a meat place. Lots of chops, heavier dishes. Very nice decor, right next to Dean and Deluca. Huge wine list with hundreds of CA Cabs to choose from. Some very small productions on the list, which was nice to taste things that will never make there was out here.

Anybody had this? how does it compare to brutal bitter?

FWIW, from Rogue:

15 degrees Plato, IBU 59, Apparent Attenuation 76, Lovibond 14.2 on the Brutal.

OG = 15.7 degrees plato, TG = 3.5 degrees plato, IBU are around 70 on the Integrity.

Yeah, I know chemistry isn't my thing either.

I find the Integrity to be a lot hoppier, much more pronounced grapefruit than the richer style of the Brutal.

And like the Lawnmower, this is a limited release in draft format.

For you hop heads out there, Rustico's Rogue tap is currently Integrity IPA. If you like hoppy, this is the beer for you! You should also be able to catch a taste of the Integrity at the Cap City Oktoberfest next weekend.

There is in fact a wine available in the US from Coopers Creek Winery called "Cat's Phee on a Gooseberry Bush." About $10 and a very good representation of that style.

Actually the winning cab was a 73, but there were wines from several 70's vintages. I believe the Ridge MB was a 70 or 71 and there was a Mayacamas of similar age.

Yes, I meant to say the winners, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet and Chateau Montelena Chardonnay were '73s.

Here are the other wines that were tasted:

Chardonnay/White Burgundy: '74 Chalone, '73 David Bruce, '72 Freemark Abbey, '73 Spring Mt. Vineyard, '72 Veedercrest Vineyards, '73 Ramonet-Prudhon Batard-Montrachet, '73 Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos de Mouches, '73 Roulot Mursault Charmes, '72 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles

Cabernet: '72 Clos Du Val, '69 Freemark Abbey, '70 Heitz Cellars Martha's Vineyard, '71 Mayacamas, '71 Ridge Monte Bello, '70 Chateau Haut-Brion, '71 Chateau Leoville-Las-Cases, '70 Chateau Montrose, and '70 Chateau Mouton Rothschild.

There is a film project in the works about the tasting. http://www.decanter.com/news/86251.html

Is Hugh Grant the only british actor out there?

That would have to wait for the famous 1976 tasting in Paris, where the '74 California Cabernet Sauvignons bested the '74 first-growth Bordeaux in a blind tasting (which wasn't really fair, since '74 was a watershed vintage in California, but Bordeaux was average) From that tasting emerged Stag's Leap Wine Cellar's owner Warren Winarski's famous quote that his Cabernet was "an iron fist in a velvet glove".

A slight point of correction. The wines at the historic '76 tastings were '73 vintages.

And my understanding of the White House is that the pres pays for his/her personal consumption but the fed picks up the tab for state dinners.

That has been the law in Virginia for sometime now!

I'm a sales represtantive for a distributor and I'm always needing people who love wine to pour at retail locations like Whole Foods, independent wine shops, Wegmans, etc. in Northern Virginia on nights and weekends. Work as much or as little as you like. We pay cash!

If you're interested, send me an email or pm.