sunshine

On a recent trip to St. Ex, I had their mussels with chorizo and their green tomato BLT with fries along with some Chimay. 3 excellent reasons to go again and again.

I attended one of Agraria's "soft opening" events and thought it had lots of promise. I thought the bar and bartenders were top notch - best Sidecar I've ever had. The appetizers they served were pretty good. I've been waiting for the exec chef to come in and finalize a menu before I go back. I really want to support the Farmers Union and the restaurant's concept, but I hope that the place isn't going to be geared only to high end lobbyists like the NY Times article insinuates. If this is their market and mission, they are bound to fail. DC Politics and restaurants shouldn't mix, i.e., Abramoff and Signatures. Good food and drink should be their primary mission. If they do this well, they'll get my business.

The Brewer's Art is a favorite reason for driving to Bmore from DC, although I do not recommend driving back to DC after more than a few of their brews. (I'm always the designated driver -- lightweight.) The Ozzy, the Resurrection, and their pale ale are fantastic. I prefer their dark, dungeon-y basement bar where you can still order from their upstairs menu as well as the bar menu. Their menu has changed some, but we love their bar menu classic: the garlic rosemary fries with mayonnaise. Their burgers and sandwiches are good, and we miss the long-departed sausages and radish plate.

Lucky Three is a favorite lunch destination because it's cheap and the selection is impressive. The main buffet has beef chow fun, sauteed rice noodles, chinese greens and green beans, sweet and sour pork, crab, curry mussels, shrimp stuffed tofu, eggplant and mushrooms, vegetable stir fry, dried tofu in spicy sweet sauce, hot and sour soup, salt and pepper shrimp, shrimp rice noodle, and pork and scallion dumplings. In addition to this, the steam cart has piles of traditional dim sum offerings like haw gao, pork dumplings, spare ribs, tripe, chicken feet, duck and peanut dumplings, bbq pork buns. Then there's a section with roast pork, chicken, duck, steamed fish and fried things. There's also a separate dessert section where you can get sweet bean-filled rice balls, custart tarts, almond jello, fruit. They also offer some vietnamese summer rolls and sides. (Should I be embarrassed that I've memorized their offerings?) It truly is a great deal. The clams are definitely extra. I'm glad they took this away from the buffet because as soon as they were put out, one or two people would pile their plates with the clams and hog it all. Seriously, the comment about fights breaking out is not an exaggeration. (Bad buffet etiquette in my opinion!) The caveat is that when it's crowded (which it often is) the pickin's can be slim and the kitchen lags behind on replenishing items. Either get there at 11 when it opens or after the main lunch rush around 1. They also offer takeout from the buffet.

Surprised that no one has mentioned Full Kee (in Chinatown and Bailey's Crossroads). Their tabletop menu has all kinds of great deals: All the Hong Kong style noodle soups are under $6. The shrimp dumpling noodle soup is my favorite - 4 good size dumplings in a clear broth with thin, chewy noodles and scallions. Add a bit of the chili condiment and soy sauce that's on the table to it. The rice and noodle dishes are also under $10 - beef and vegetable chow foon and singapore style noodles ($8.95), beef and vegetable over rice, shrimp and egg over rice, roast pork over rice are $5.75 (they do not skimp on portions here). The special lunch menu in the regular menu has options for around $5. (The best is the combination lo mein with beef, chicken and shrimp. ) Also in the regular menu, the appetizers are a great deal: red roast pork, quarter duck, quarter chicken for $5.75. Consistently, Full Kee is a great place for a cheap meal. Also recently discovered that Clyde's at Mark Center has $4 happy hour specials: crab and artichoke dip, chicken sandwich and burger for $4. Don't know if there are similar deals at other Clyde's. Tonic in Mt. Pleasant also has $5 burgers for happy hour. Served with tater tots. 4.50 for a pint of Stella Artois or Magic Hat #9.

I grew up on Guam, and I remember the first trip to Taco Bell back in the eighties. Any new business, especially mainland chains, did big business on the island. My mother was the adventurous eater in our family and always dragged us kids to the newest fast food place. To this day, I still remember what we had that first time: the mexi-pizza, a tostada, a bean burrito, hard-shell tacos and a taco salad. It was my first taste of "Mexican" food ever, and it was GOOD. I know it ain't the real deal, but I still occasionally crave the classics -hard shell taco supreme, the burrito supreme - as well as the newer stuff like the gorditas and grilled burritos. Yo Quiero Taco Bell!

Good one, Rocks! We actually inquired about buying the Comet sign when we saw that the liquor store was closing. The owners told us that they had had several offers already, starting in the $1000s. Now we know who ended up with it.

Creme Cafe serves chicken and waffles on their brunch menu. I 'd wondered what the fuss was about, hearing about all those LA chicken and waffle places. I really liked it. Simple really -- Crispy salty fried chicken on a waffle with maple syrup, perfect marriage of savory and sweet. Go early, there were already people in line to get in on Saturday morning before they opened the place.

I'm not a huge fan of this cooking method although it seems to be in vogue. On a trip to Blue Hill at Stone Barns with friends, the duck, chicken and pork were cooked sous vide. While it results in a very tender meat, I found it too bland and the texture funny because the meat is just barely cooked. The meats also look so plain and naked. Where's the crispy skin? I guess I lprefer my meat fried, grilled, seared or braised.

On a recent visit to New York, we tried Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village. The restaurant is literally a long counter with an open kitchen in front of it. You sit on square stools and can watch your meal being prepared like a traditional ramen shop. David Chang loves his pork and it is featured heavily on the menu. We tried the pork buns (truly succulent and excellent with hoisin sauce already on the pork inside), the oysters with kimchee puree (ok), the shanghai porkneck noodle soup (thick noodles, really meaty broth), momofuku ramen (thin noodles with poached egg and sliced pork), the chilled somen (thin noodles and picked shiitake mushrooms and white pear, with a chilled, pork flavored, gingery broth to either dip or pour on top) and the chicken with rice (huge bowl of rice with grilled chicken, poached egg and scallions). The meats were all very tender and nicely seasoned, but the overall impression was salty. We were gulping down our water. There were many interesting menu options, like crawfish, asparagus and short ribs, but since it was our first time there, we stuck with the noodles. It was definitely a bustling busy place. Interesting but not spectacular. We also tried SriPraPhai in Woodside, Queens. This place deserves its praise. Cheap, authentic Thai. Perfect balanced flavors with real heat. We had the papaya salad, the drunken noodles, crispy pork with basil and chili and the curry noodle soup. It is worth a trek out to the dumpy area it's in. They have a nice garden and fountain out back with outdoor seating. It was fun to also people-watch. Cash only. Last but not least, a fantastic meal at Perry Street, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's newest place in a Richard Meier -designed building (Vongerichten reportedly lives in the building). Very modern, sleek yet sterile setting. Suprisingly small restaurant. For an appetizer, I had a very simple yellow and cherry tomato salad with 2 tempura-fried softshell crabs on top (a special). Hubby had an endive salad with poached egg and walnut flavored dressing. I had a crispy chicken dish with meyer lemon gnocchi and chopped broccoli rabe with a smoked jus poured right before serving. Hubby had the rabbit with sriracha chili and soybean puree. For dessert, a banana chocolate caramel thing. There's definitely more experimental cooking going on here - saw foam on the menu, and there were many interesting flavor combinations. The soybean chili rabbit was mind-blowing. My only complaint was that the coffee was weak.

The latest issue of Food & Wine features several best new chefs, including Restaurant Eve chef and DR.com member Cathal Armstrong. The article features a recipe for bouillabaise from Armstrong, and he gives a shout out to Davon Crest Farms. Congratulations!

I attended a private reception at Agraria last nite. It's a simply decorated, modern space with plenty of warmth, especially in the private dining rooms with sunflower murals and fireplaces. Apparently, North Dakota has lots of sunflowers. The reception had an open bar with a couple of featured wines. I had a glass of Albarino - nice and dry. Also tried the Agraria cocktail (Bulleit bourbon, sunflower bitters) and the Sidecar. The Agraria was sweet and the Sidecar was just right. The best version I've had in DC. Hooray for the return of classic cocktails. The hors d'oeuvres were bacon-wrapped asparagus, fingerling potatoes with sour cream and caviar, assorted bruschetta with tomatoes, olive tapenade, beef and peppers, and an assortment of others. All fine. The ingredients came from several states, Pennsylvania, Missouri, North Dakota, to name a few. It was cool to watch the prep of the food in the open kitchen. Agraria has a lot of potential. A nice, classy place with a great bar in an area known for mediocre food and drunken bar scene. I hope it does well. If they can get a great chef to work some magic with the farmers' products, people will come. They're serving a bistro dinner menu only right now. Re parking: There's a $5 evening parking lot across from the movie theater, about a block from the restaurant.

Hello, I'm sunshine, a relatively new member and still a shrimp. My husband and I love reading your posts. We are not restaurant industry folks or food writers. We're both stereotypical DC professionals. He works on the Hill and I'm a guv'mint lawyer. We both enjoy great food (cooking and eating it), farmers markets, and found Don.Rockwell through chowhound. I'm always thinking about my next meal. And I love natto too! hillvalley, i knew I'd find someone in this community who loves it also. One day we'll get the gumption to attend a DR event. We live vicariously through a lot of you.

Second the 2 Amy's donuts. They were selling them for a buck 25 on Mother's Day. They are covered in granulated sugar, soft and warm when you bite into them, with a little cinnamon and what i think is apple bits inside. I've also had the greek style donuts at Komi and prefer them to the version of donuts and chocolate that they offered before.

To add to the CityZen reports, ate there for the first time this weekend and concluded that I had set my expectations too high. Not because it wasn't delicious, but because I expected to be blown away. We had the three-course, $75 prix fixe: I started with the chilled globe artichoke soup with roasted tomato petals and grenouille croutons as an appetizer, the shoulder of shoat with shiitake mushrooms, english peas and some type of cabbagey greens as entree, and the toffee semi-freddo dessert with fresh navel orange and coriander sugar. One of my companions had the rabbit appetizer with coriander carrots, the pan-seared sturgeon with flageolets and the torchon of valrohna chocolate with brioche. The other two had selections of offal (calf's liver, ugh) and the vegetarian options so I don't remember as much about these since I didn't taste them. Bread choices were bacon-cheese, guinness rye and sourdough served with both sweet and salty butters from Pennsylvania and Vermont, respectively. The appetizers and desserts were distinctive, but I was underwhelmed by the entrees. The shoat is some mighty fine pig, but I kept thinking of the pig shank at Komi. The sturgeon was ok, but we had a grilled sturgeon with lentils and sweetbreads at BlackSalt that kicked its ass. My dessert was the best one - semifreddo with thin crispy layer of toffee, covered in rich chocolate sauce to like an ice cream sandwich. The chocolate torchon dessert was interesting - thick disks of what tastes like an "upscale version of rich nutella," served with cinnamon brioche toast and blood orange marmalade. The amuse bouches were the absolute highlights, especially the first one: a small mushroom morsel (fried maybe? and dusted with spices) with a white truffle sauce - heavenly. The second was a cute little bowl of thick, creamy vichysoisse with a crispy wafer crouton and minced pickled red onion on top. The third was a mini passion fruit ice cream, vanilla creme soda float. yum. The mini parker rolls in a box are fantastic, and the mini-cookie plate that comes after dessert was also a pleasant surprise: pairs of macaroons, truffles, coconut crisps, blood orange gelee, chocolate cookie. After all this, we were glad we did not get the 5 course tasting menu. Service was good but not flawless. I guess I just don't see the value of multiple servers descending upon you to lay the plates down with flourish as they describe the food. Seemed to be more show than necessary, and some servers are more dramatic than others, so you notice it when one just plunks it down versus the other guy who does the flourish. Plus they're trying to avoid running into furniture and each other. Even with all that, it was still hard to catch the eye of our head waiter for the wine list or the check. Perhaps next time, we'll skip the dining room and do the lounge.

my husband and i were there last nite and had potato and prosciutto croquettes (crispy on the outside, smooth and rich, parsleyed potato puree with prosciutto pieces on the inside), then the Abrusseze (meatball) and the special bresaola, garlic and arugula pizzas (salty brined meat and the bitter arugula are a great combo). the other special of the day pizza was an anchovy, asparagus, grana concoction that i shied away from because 2 amy's does not skimp on their anchovies. have to be in the mood for that much salty fishiness. while cutting our pizzas, we had a good chuckle over Don's post about the dull knives. ah well, it's a good way to tone the arms.

Surprisingly or not surprisingly, I find some great deals on spices at Cost Plus World Market. I've been able to find good saffron, cardamom seeds, dried chiles, bay leaves, etc. there at decent prices. I'm always surprised that they carry stuff like Vegemite, Marmite, european mustards and Indian pickles, seasoning such as thai curry pastes and Maggi, in addition to japanese nori and wasabi. The only downside is that they're not always well-stocked with the stuff.

Perhaps it's because I gave up meat for Lent and I'm craving them right now, but I love the wings at Tonic in Mt. Pleasant. They're deep fried (i think) so they're crispy, but then they are smothered in a tangy, spicy chipotle flavored, vinegary sauce. Served with bleu cheese dressing and celery, it's a balanced meal. Even better washed down with a pint of Magic Hat #9 or Stella. Sigh, only 2 more days until I can eat them again.