Pete

I can think of nothing better than a discussion with Bobby Flay and Rahael Ray followed by dinner at Sequoia. "Great Restaurants" near the Kennedy Center

I will second the recommendation for Frank Family. The people are very friendly and they make a very nice Chardonnay (not your typical CA Chardonnay). After you pick up lunch at Oakville Grocery, head over to La Famiglia winery, buy a bottle of their wine, and enjoy one of their picnic tables [marriage proposal is optional, but it worked for paula and me ]. Jarvis is probably the CIA of Napa vineyards. You need to make an appointment for a tour, and the whole operation seems clandestine; however, the tour was pretty cool since the entire winery is built into the side of a mountain. We missed the tour of Joseph Phelps. However, we did a tasting that included a very generous (and very free) pouring of their Insignia wine, for which they normally charge $10 per glass.

I have a mini weber grill that I can bring if anybody needs. All you need to supply is the charcoal.

Just kick back, relax, and enjoy the ride. You won't be disappointed.

Dude, I have to find out that you may take the job by reading donrockwell.com? Maybe I shouldn't read this board first thing in the morning.

I love this place. My wife and I took our mothers to Corduroy on Saturday night for an early Mother's Day celebration. Rissa was nice enough to have menus printed up for us without prices so that the moms would not order based on price alone. Although Ferhat had the night off, we had fantastic service from Pamela (?), who recommended a fantastic Pinot Noir (Morey Saint Denis, Domaine Lignier Michelot, Aux Charmes, 1er Cru, 2000). While three of us ordered dessert, my mother was too full. However, Rissa brought her some sorbet so that she "wouldn't feel left out". Oh yeah, the food was great. All of the dishes that we ordered have been praised here before; however, I wanted to echo the praise of others for the Peppered Rare Tuna with Sushi Rice which was fantastic. We left full, happy, and, as usual, wanting to come back soon.

Hey, you get what you pay for.

I actually had a good hamburger Saturday night at, of all places, the Old Dominion Brewery brewpub in Ashburn, VA. The burger was cooked to the appropriate temperature, and the accompanying fries were not bad, either.

Koji, Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. There are many sushi restaurants in the Washington, DC area that are extremely popular and well-known. However, what places are serving good, quality sushi that most people do not know about? Since my wife and I live in the suburbs of Virginia, we are especially interested in places that are in northern Virginia, but we are willing to travel.

Ugh....today's chat was equivalent to listening to fingernails on a chalkboard.

Looks like this show had a short shelf life. NBC cancels "Celebrity Cooking Showdown"

My wife and I went to Bazin’s last night. At 8pm on a Tuesday night, the place was pretty well packed (and loud). We started with a couple of glasses of wine – the Joseph Phelps “Pastiche” for Paula and a Grenache for me, which was served WAY too warm. I ordered the Jumbo Lump Crabmeat Spring Roll with Asian slaw to start. This is not your traditional spring roll as it contains huge chunks of crabmeat (think Corduroy’s Mozzarella Porcupine but with crabmeat) and is delicious. The ginger vinaigrette put it over the top. Paula had the Spring Salad, which she enjoyed. The braised veal is still on the menu; however, I wanted to try something new. My entrée was the Pork Chop with vanilla sweet potatoes, braised Swiss chard, and apple-chile chutney. The pork chop was juicy and cooked perfectly, with the chutney providing a nice sweet/spicy contrast. The vanilla sweet potatoes tasted like vanilla pudding – good if you are eating dessert, but not so good served with an entrée. Paula ordered the Seared “Dry” Scallops served with corn polenta, kimchee, and a shiitake-soy sauce. She really enjoyed this dish as the scallops were perfectly seared on the outside with a tender interior. There were at least 6-8 scallops in the order, which was a very generous portion. The corn polenta was not creamy, but more of a polenta cake, and was terrific as well. Service continues to be friendly and efficient. No room for dessert this time, but I am looking forward to trying the rest of the menu.

According to their website, they do not have any locations in Maryland. The closest Sonic is located about 100 miles from Washington, DC in Ephrata (?), Pennsylvania.

I, too, want to extend a happy anniversary to donrockwell.com. Although, my waistline and my wallet curse this board, I have learned a great deal by being a part of this community. To Rocks!

If anybody is interested, Minibar had a cancellation, so they have an opening for 4 people on Saturday April 22. I cannot make it, so I figured I would let you all know about it. I doubt the opening will last long.

Nah, you did a better job than I could do. The only thing that I want to add is that the Sablefish was one of the best pieces of fish that I have ever eaten. The sablefish was wrapped in caramelized onions which complimented the fish perfectly without overpowering it. I'm betting that Michel Richard is a shoe-in for the James Beard award!

This probably is of no help right now, but perhaps you could coax Mark Slater in getting you the recipe for the Sablefish wrapped in caramelized onions that they are currently serving at Citronelle. It is truly a brilliant dish.

I love bread. Bread, and bread products, have always been a staple of my diet. Growing up my mother would go to the bakery every Sunday and would bring home a fresh rye bread, which I would tear into as soon as she walked in the door. This is why Passover is 8 days of torture for me. All of the foods that I enjoy the most are "off limits" - testing my willpower to no end. Sure, I can eat matzah, but I generally avoid eating foods that taste exactly like the container that they come in. In the spirit of sharing, I wanted to get a thread started where we can share any favorite Passover recipes. The recipe below is a rich, dense dessert that will elevate your cholesterol by about 100 points, but it is darn good. Chocolate Espresso Torte for Passover * 1 cup butter or margarine * 1 cup sugar + 1 Tbsp. sugar * 1 cup espresso + 2 Tbsp. espresso ** * 16 oz. semisweet chocolate (large package) * 6 eggs, plus * 6 egg yolks * confectioner's sugar (garnish) NOTE: can use margarine if good quality ** : brewed espresso or very strong coffee Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 9" springform pan. Place wax paper on bottom of pan. Grease and flour (use Passover cake meal to dust the pan); set aside. Place butter, sugar and espresso in the top of a double boiler and heat until sugar dissolves. Pour hot liquid over chocolate and stir until dissolved; set aside. Beat eggs and yolks until frothy; add to the chocolate mixture and pour into pan. Bake for 1 hour; edges should crack slightly. Remove from oven and cool; cover and refrigerate. Remove from pan and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar (must be kosher for Passover) IMPORTANT: this cake is rich and has no flour. It is almost as creamy as cheesecake. You should only serve tiny thin slices. When you remove this cake from the oven it looks like it is NOT set; and it isn't. It should go in the refrigerator at least for 12 hours; so make ahead of time.

Last night we sliced up the leftovers, wrapped them in foil, and put them in a 275 degree oven for about 10 minutes. The steak was nicely warmed, but did not dry out or overcook. We added the steak to some pasta w/garlic and oil. Fantastic.

....mmm....burp...... What a fantastic meal enjoyed with fantastic company. It was great to put screen names and faces together. Lots of laughs, lots of wine, and, of course, lots of food. Thanks to Michael, Hillvalley, and everyone else who pulled this event together.

I'm sure that Firefly would suit your needs. They have a separate room in the back where your group could be very festive without disturbing anyone. Plus, it will be very friendly on your budget.

My wife and I had an early dinner at Bazin's last night. We did not have a reservation, which did not seem to be a problem for a Sunday night. We started with a couple of wines by the glass. I had the ’03 Joseph Phelps “Pastiche”, Rhone Blend which was very good and wound up going well with my entree. My wife had a glass of ’04 Luna Pinot Grigio, which was fine if not spectacular. Appetizers consisted of the Ricotta Ravioli for my wife and the Vidalia Onion Soup for myself. The Ricotta Ravioli, which looked like potstickers, came in a Meyer lemon sauce. The sauce did not overpower the ravioli and the couple of bites that I had were very good. The Onion Soup was fine, but nothing extraordinary. I found it a little too restrained. Our main courses were apparently identical to what Chris ordered. I had the braised veal with leeks, asparagus with homemade gnocchi. This dish was fantastic, with both the meat and the gnocchi melting in my mouth. I know that this is definitely a "comfort food" dish, but I would have no problem eating this in the summertime. My wife ordered the flat iron steak with the mozzarella-potato puree. The flat iron was nice, but fell short in comparison to my veal. Feeling pretty full at this point, we managed to share the "Michel’s Hazelnut Crunch Bars" with cappuccino sauce. They were very good, but not as good as the "orginal" or the ones served at Corduroy. Service was very friendly and efficient. The restaurant started to fill up by the time we left but the staff handled everything well. This restaurant is a fantastic addition to Vienna and one which we will be returning to often.

Jose Andres, your websites are killing me! Why the heck do I have to download a zip file to get any information about Minibar? Oh yeah, the fancy flash pages do not work on many work computers, so I can't see anything on your website other than headings!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is terrific news for us fairfax county folks. My wife and I have been in a "culinary rut" with restaurants in our area, so I am excited to have a new place to try.

Thanks to everybody for your advice. My wife and I have finished installing our cabinets and, if I do say, they look terrific (well, anything is better than our old 70's-style kitchen). The countertops will be installed this weekend and I am looking forward to cooking again. I definitely recommend the IKEA cabinet system. About 95% of what we ordered was in-stock, so we were able to take it home the same day. There were a couple of pieces that were not in-stock that we were told would take 10 days to come in. 4 days later, they arrived! We were initially going to hire someone to do the install, however, our decision was made easier when our calls were not returned. The installation itself is fairly easy as long as you own an electric screwdriver and a level. However, some of those cabinets are darn heavy, as my wife's bloody foot proved after she dropped a cabinet on her foot. Also, be prepared to make several trips to IKEA to replace damaged/missing parts. Nonetheless, considering how inexensive the system is, I wouldn't hesitate to install them again.