Jonathan

No Sunday is the only evening Palena is closed.

i feel bad for him, on one hand, because he is getting attacked, but on the other hand, i don't think he toiled away like many of the best bakers and pastry chefs in this country have....and he has in my opinion unfairly been handed a stint on oprah, people magazine and now a show on the food network. its like he is bourdain without the attitude. lots of style but little substance. a celebrity but not a chef.

this is a website i have used to make pancetta, and will use to make mortadella. the info is really solid and there are tons of recipes. enjoy. http://home.pacbell.net/lpoli/page0003.htm

Anyone been? http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?n...lon=-77.0957000

carolyn is at komi, evan i believe is now at eve.

i think their brunch is one of the best around; cool ambiance,m good food and a great bartender.

i think the idea of "1 star" being excellent, in the michelin sense, is lost on most americans; not just batali. many people i habe talked to that have been to starred restaurants in europe have said they have had their best meals in 1 or 2 star joints, because the 3 star joints, and to a lesser extent, the 2 star joints are worrying more about fax lines in rooms, and a parlor where a guest can use a phone. there are many restaurants in new york that didnt even get a star...so 1 star is an accomplishement.

in no particular order: pho any type of shank short ribs lentil soup my mothers beef barley soup polenta chili on sundays while watching football choucroute

to add fuel to this oh so delightful fire...i have inside info that keller was eating at cityzen just last week.... and another tasty tid-bit; i heard ziebold was already fed up with working in a hotel situation where getting toner for his printer is a headache; so imagine how fed up he is when trying to get a new purveyor. screw this mcrestaurant crap; lets give keller his due. i have heard from EVERY person that i have talked to that has eaten at both per se and the laundry, that per se was better. i have heard from EVERY person i know that has eaten at either bouchon, thatr it was great. so; if keller can grow with people that he can trust and have his standards...let keller grow...especially here in DC.

i havent been to bouchon (in vegas or napa); but i havent heard a bad thing about either one; and the chefs at each one have spent considerable amounts of time in kellers kitchens before becoming chefs at the bouchon. soomething tells me you can't compare olives or zengo to bouchon....those two original restaurants probably couldnt hold a candle to kellers spin-offs.

fruit flies are all over some of washington's finest restaurants. it has to do with the produce some of them get. heck, i saw fruit flies all over the cheese cart of one of washington's most expensive and prominent luxe-fine dining restaurants (they tend to like the creamier french varieties). i dont think it has to do with standing water. while i am not advocating this; it is better than cockroaches and rats.

my wife and i had the pleasure of dining at cityzen on saturday night for our 1 year anniversary. and while i dont need to go into detail course-by-course, I will say that this is a great restaurant. my overall impressions were that ziebolds flavors are clean and bright and singular; and his use of ingredients second to none (think sheepshead, pied de cuchon, lambs tongue, etc...). his dishes almost have a refined rusticness (if that makes any sense at all). to make a comparision just for reference sake, i will say that to compare ev erything i ate here to maestro, maestro probably had the best dish. cityzen's food however was a little more to my liking (not better, just his flavor palette more inline with my own). i would say that in dining at maestro you would be more apt to say "man, how did fabio do this?" or "what is going on in this dish?" but again, the flavors at cityzen, for me, outshine those of maestro, with a few exceptions. as for service, it was the best i have had. better than the Inn and better than maestro.impeccable. no hiccups. and lastly the wine service, also impeccable. every glass of wine i had, from the opening champagne, to the dessert wines were at just the right temperature. i am definitely looking forward to checking back in on ziebold in a year or so. it is an exciting restaurant and he is an exciting chef for DC to have. and think, he and fabio aren't even 35 yet...

i also had a gift certificate to the Inn that I received for my wedding. it was extremely generous, and since I had never been, I was excited to check out this piece of american gastronomy. my wife went just about 8 years earlier, and had since declared it the best meal she ever had. well times have changed...and the Inn apparently hasn't. what we had was a very nice meal. everything nicely executed, but nothing left me wowed; nothing left me scratching my head saying "what is this flavor?" or "how do they do this?" unlike maestro. and nothing we got i couldnt have conceived and then executed on my own. the food was good; but honestly, it was a price gouge. and i was not impressed with the pastries, petit fours and amuse bouches at all. the service was very good and extremely attentive, but with some hiccups. I was never given a wine list with my menu or asked if i would like wine...and the same goes for the table next to us (also a young 30s couple). we both had to inquire awkwardly to our server AFTER we had ordered "what about wine?" and for $400 for 2 people (only one drinking a glass per savory course) it is too much money.4 courses each for $128 is too much money for food that does not wow or overly impress. lets break this down....$128 for 4 courses is roughly: $20 first course (tuna sashimi with wasabi sorbet and a lamb carpaccio with tabouleh) $30 second course (tomato, mozarella and basil napolean and a lobster and grape and mucshroom fricasse with gnocchi) price gouge!!! $60 entree (beef two ways: short rib and tenderloin sous vide and sweetbreads in a port sauce) Price gouge!!!! $20 desserts (nothing spectacular: 7 deadly sins and peach 3 ways) After the meal my wife remarked to me how her meal at the Inn wasnt the best meal of her life; it was just her limited perspective that had led her to believe that; and she would rather go to maestro again than come to the Inn.

i thought it was the number of times derek looked at himself in the mirror and said "damn, i'm good..."

while totally biased, because i work at palena...i sat at the bar last wednesday to try the pojarski that we in the kitchen had been so intrigued by (i thought pojarski was a character from "Welcome Back, Kotter). I thought it was delicous. The type of food that the flavor just lingers in the mouth for a good while.

thought i would just highlight what a grizzled, old restaurant vet had to say about this whole mess...i think he has it nailed right on the head.

nothing new in the chat.

i heard joel robuchon, thomas keller and ferran adria are all opening fast-food restairants in a revamped food court at white flint mall in rockville, maryland. This will rival the Aol/Time Warner Complex.

wellthe news i heard might not be the same thing...but it is rather interesting news.

where did he say that?

i know what it it...but i guess i won't tell either.

i know a trio of very famous ladies that dined at a venerable cleveland park roost last saturday night...but i ain't tellin.

i'm thinking of heading there tonight around 6 or 7

where did that "can some people take food too seriously" thread go???

now we are getting somewhere. the snob would have ripped that wine to shreads and not just enjoyed the moment. they would have spent the time comparing and contrasting the wine to others they have had as well as the gnocchi (Is it better than Palena's?) and let the moment slip by. food is my work and passion, but it should be an accent or a harmony to lifes song...not be the song itself.