Rieux

Since I work in International Development, I was fortunate that most of my meals this trip were cooked by abuelas over fires in remote mountain areas - they were delicious, but not likely to be places others will visit. That said, I did have the chance to visit the new Azul restaurant in the Centro Historico, and it was great - I think I like it better than the one in Condesa. It is in an old building that is now a hip boutique hotel. It's amazing how much the Centro Historico has changed for the better in the last 5 years. So, I add that to my recommendation above. Also, if you have time (not food related) the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Xochimilco is wonderful. She was a prominent art collector (think a Mexican Peggy Guggenheim) who was great friends with Diego Rivera and Frieda Khalo. Her house (which is wonderful in itself with its gardens, live peacocks, and hairless Aztec dogs) is now a museum with the largest selection of Diego and Frieda in the world. Off the beaten track, but worth it. Other reflections - uber has made the city so much more easy to move around in. It is safe, quick, and cheaper than the sitio cabs. Use it! Also, if you can, stay at the Four Seasons (one of my favorite hotels in the world) and enjoy their patio. Pro tip - they will give you the government rate if you have an ID even if you are not on official travel.

I travel to Mexico City regularly. It is one of my favorite places to eat in the whole world. Actually in Guadalajara now and in MX on Friday. In the meantime some of my favorites are Pujol, Azul (excellent traditional), Dulce Patria (high-class traditional from one of Mexico's best female chefs, and Merotoro (which is wonderful and rare food/wine from Baja California). I have found Izote, which will probably be recommended to you by someone to be underwhelming the two times I've been. On a Saturday it is great to visit San Angel for the craft market and you can eat at San Angel Inn or the courtyard of the market area - both of which are great. The inn is a spectacular old hacienda.

We recently got back from two weeks in Japan. It was overall amazing, as was the food. We ate at so many wonderful places I can't even begin to write about them all but I wanted to specifically mention three: Takayama In Takayama we stayed at Wanosato an amazing ryokan about 15 minutes out of town. Our room, which was traditional, was amazing, as was the 160 year old farmhouse setting, and the hosts. But, of most interest to the group here would be the fact that I had two excellent meals there (three if you count the breakfasts). The Kaiseki dinner we had (in a private laquered room) was probably one of the top three meals I have ever eaten in my life. The service, presentation, and food were utterly divine. We had so many courses, and so many little plates I can't list them but every dish was a highlight. If you are in Japan go to the Alps, stay at Wanosato (in any room except the cheapest), and eat the kaiseki. The second night we had sukiyaki with Hida beef, which was also delicious, if not as special. Each night after dinner we would sit around the communal fire/tea kettle and have warm sake with the owners, who would do magic tricks and talk to us (even though we speak no Japanese) about the history of the place. Utterly charming. (http://www.ryokancollection.com/eng/wanosato/ryokan_story.htm?ryokan=wanosato) Tokyo Generally, I recommend getting the Louis Vuitton guide (I know, who knew they made guidebooks? It was suggested by a friend before our trip) and looking at their restaurant suggestions. Almost uniformly every place we tried from the book was great. One find from that book was Kanda Matsuya which is a traditional soba restaurant, which had the best soba we had during the whole trip (http://www.kanda-matsuya.jp/p01.htm) Finally, a Japanese colleague recommended Kusiage Isa, his favorite kushiage restaurant. It is not in a scenic part of town, but the restaurant is nice inside. They probably never have Westerners eat there, but we loved it. We had a progression of seasonal one bite fried skewers, including the best lamb, baby squid, and tofu we have ever eaten. Highly recommended - make a reservation. (http://www.bunkyo-isa.com)

I always like having lunch at the dining room of the Musee d'Orsay (the sit-down, nicer restaurant, not the restaurant behind the clock). You sit in a beautiful room, and can ask for a table looking out over the rooftops of Paris. The food is solid (not amazing, not bad, but solidly good), it is not expensive, and it is a really nice way to rest for an hour while out doing museums/sightseeing. It won't be a culinary revelation, but I always find it really really pleasant.

I just got back from 2 weeks in Japan (I'll report on some amazing meals later). The one thing I wanted to bring back was a good knife, so I went out to Kamata (on the kitchen street) http://www.kap-kam.com/index_english.html and got myself a carbon steel santoku (this is the one - http://kap-kam.com/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=565). It is a beauty with a magnolia wood handle and buffalo horn at the top. It is my first carbon steel, andI want to take care of it. I know I should wash/dry completely every time I use it, and of course I won't put it in a dishwasher. Any help on what else I should do to make this a forever knife?

Thanks! We had told them shabu shabu but will switch!

We are staying two nights at Wanosato (a ryokan near Takayama). They have offered us a choice of sukiyaki or shabu shabu for our second night's meal (both with hida beef). Which do you all think we should choose? Leaving tomorrow and very excited. We've also got a reservation at Shiba Tofuya Ukai in Tokyo- any recent reports?

I'm surprised there is no thread for Each Peach. I was ecstatic when this opened in my neighborhood. It's a truly great local market with a nice selection of cheeses, charcuterie, dairy, wine, beer, staples, and prepared foods. They have Trickling Springs dairy, which I buy weekly, great bread from Panorama, good pastries, excellent prepared salads (I like their hummus, and am addicted to their farro salad), pie crusts and biscuits frozen from Room 11, house-made pastas, organic meats, etc. Their finocciona and chorizo are delicious. But, the best thing there is their Dude sandwich. Now, all of their sandwiches are good, but the Dude could be one of the best sandwiches in the city. For $8 you get a huge sandwich filled with Genoa Salami, Ham, Hot Capacolla, Mozzarella, Tomato, Banana Peppers, Arugula and Balsamic Vinaigrette on a baguette that is then put in a sandwich press. I probably eat one of these every week, and it is enough for two meals. If you like sandwiches, you should try this one out. I sometimes call about 10 minutes before to order it, because some times they are slammed. http://www.eachpeachmarket.com/products/sandwich-menu/

It seems that most in DC (politicians, at least) have no morels.

The Atlantic is far saltier. See this article: http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/The-Ocean-in-Action/Science-Ideas-and-Concepts/Ocean-salinity

Good to hear, I get my box tomorrow. I have been doing it similarly, taking only the boxes it looks like I will like (which is most of them). I've only had about 2 or 3 meals I really didn't like in all my boxes so far from Blue Apron.

A rimjob would make ME laugh.

He just posted this, and I almost died. Q: Annoying Waitstaff Hello Tom. I am a reasonably attractive female (so I am told) who dines alone in The District fairly often because of my schedule. I went to what I would consider my favorite restaurant one night last week and the food was tremendous as usual, but a new waiter just about spoiled my evening. Have you ever encountered a situation where your server was so intrusive he/she tried to be the focus of the meal instead of the food? Thankfully, his actual service was top notch, but I was constantly battered with jokes and attempts at humor. Maybe he was just trying to pick me up, but one time, after a silly play on words he even gave me a rimjob - like that would make me get the joke and laugh for once! Should the restaurant know about this kind of behavior? I am sure I will return because it's a great place, but I will definitely make sure I am not seated in "Servando's" section. Love your chats! A: Tom Sietsema RimSHOT, honey. When someone tells a joke and pretends to hit a drum, it's called a rimshot. But I digress. Did you try the old airplane trick and bury yourself in a book or on your smart phone to send a message you didn't want to interact beyond a sentence or two?

Visited Saturday night. The interior and the ambiance is lovely. I really like the new decor. Crowd-wise it was funny - many more older couples than you would ever have seen at Napoleon (I think all the foreign service/USAID folk who lived in Afghanistan in the last decade must be trying it out - me and my spouse included!). So, less of a 20s party-time vibe than Napoleon, which is nice. The menu reads well, and all the dishes sounded great, as did the cocktails and mocktails. I ordered a gin/egg/cardamom cocktail and my husband ordered a cardamom mocktail. We waited a while for our drinks and ordered when the waiter came back (without our drinks) several minutes later. We then ordered several dishes - the Kaddo (pumpkin with yogurt sauce), the Aushak (leek dumplings), a beef kabob, a stewed bean dish, and a lamb stew and rice. Our waiter was very pushy, and was an off-note for the evening. He seemed aloof, while at the same time constantly upselling us - he was also distant, inattentive, and slow. He also left the menus on the table, so I had to eventually drop them on the vacant table next to us. Our food came out (well, 90% of it) within 4 minutes of ordering with still no drinks. We started to eat and the cockatils came maybe another 10 minutes later. So, total wait time for one home made soda and one cocktail was 20 minutes and the restaurant/bar was only 1/3 full. The soda was excellent. My cocktail was wan, weak, and not good. The food, however, was excellent. We had ordered dishes we know and love from other restaurants for the most part. We ate everything except the kabob (which still had not arrived) and agreed that it was delicious, better than the Helmand in Baltimore, as good as the Helmand in Cambridge, MA. My spouse, who lived in Kabul when Americans could still get around in the city, said it was all authentic and as good as what he had there. When we were almost done with everything the kabob arrived, and it was delicious too. We each had a dessert (cardamom custard for me, havla for him). The custard was better. The havla could have used some honey on it. All in it was $118, which seemed reasonable, except for the fact that the portions on the "mains" are TINY. For my lamb stew, which was around $12, I got 1 piece of lamb. 1. I was hungry later. The appetizer and kabob portions were better sized. The thing I didn't like was the service. The tables are small, and everything comes in a small bowl/plate so it is important to constantly bus the table. That didn't happen, and we had to pile things up as we ate them. The female server who stepped in a couple of times (when we sat for 15 minutes with dirty plates at the end of the meal as our server kept walking by) was really nice, so I think I just really, really did not like our waiter. Reading this now it sounds negative, but we both had a good time, and liked the food and felt positively about the meal. We will definitely go back, and hope for a different server. Had we felt more taken care of we would not have cared about the size/value ratio of the food, as it was great. It is a good addition to the neighborhood.

I just want to say I agree 100% with squidsdc above and feel the same way. But she expressed it in a way I never could quite get right.

I had it at a friend's and tracked it down at the liquor store in Union Market. I also love that it is made with Cardoons and Blessed Thistle, as it is just fun to say both of those ingredients!

I am now addicted to Cardamaro. So delicious!

Room 11

I love Qualia, it is perhaps one of my favorite places in the city, and I think the Rwandan coffee you have is truly amazing. I work in international development and have visited several small family coffee growers all over Latin America. Which leads me to one question -- I have done several projects to help small producers adapt to the scourge of coffee rust "roya" which seems to be getting worse with climate change. Have you detected any impacts from increased rust? Smaller supplies, higher prices (mainly thinking Central America here)? We have worked to map the coffee genome, and to help farmers plant resistant varieties, improve ventilation, etc, but the problem still seems to be getting worse and the producers I speak to are worried. Also, I love your horchata. What made you add it to your product line? Do many people buy it?

We just switched from Hello Fresh to Blue Apron to see if we like the variety and recipes more at BA. Hello Fresh was good but the recipes slanted a little middle American for me. BA seems to be a little more adventurous. We will see.

Yeah, love was a strong word. I should say that I "love" them because they are the closest thing to a decent bagel that you can get at a corner shop in NW. Still, whenever I go home to the CT suburbs of NYC I bring back a dozen local bagels. They are just better. Also, can I just say that there is a major lack of good scallion cream cheese in most bagel shops in DC too. That said, the Santa Cruz bagel I had at Tryst on Saturday (a bullfrog poppy bagel with cream cheese, parley, chives, sage, and cilantro) was also good.

Yes. This semi-New Yorker loves them.

It's definitely a curse word in Spanish (depending on where you are). I've heard it in the context of chinga tu madre, which means what you think.

WTF has an excellent veal, broccoli rape, and aioli sandwich on special right now. Just had one and it is wonderful.

Thanks. I saw that on their site, but I also had heard of charm offensives working. Appreciate the inputs!