Mark Slater

Thompson Hospitality (Matchbox, Austin Grill, American Tap Room, Hen Quarter) is opening the Delegate 5 doors down from Corduroy as part of the new Marriott Courtyard at 901 L St. The Delegate features (surprise, surprise:) Chef driven, Brunch and "Crafted" Cocktails. 

36 minutes ago, curiouskitkatt said:

I always do a little happy dance when someone post to the Corduroy thread. I was wondering @Mark Slater if Chef plans on being open on Thanksgiving. I have yet to have turkey & stuffing as good as one that has been served at Corduroy. And the more pressing question, will I be able to have it the day after? Gives me a perfect excuse to stop in for dinner and visit the crew.

Yes, we are open Thanksgiving. 

1 hour ago, naxos said:

Looking for a recommendation for 3 red wines for a wine tasting group that has met monthly for 25 plus years.

Usually 2 price points - up to $50.

Hoping to offer something unusual and good- harsh critics here;)

Thank you

 

Refosco, Cot, and Xinomavro.

2 hours ago, NolaCaine said:

TJ's has noodle soup in a cup (miso ramen, chicken ramen). It's great, I love noodles in cups generally so that endorsement isn't really impressive. What bothers me is that it is a ...construction project with the flavor packet and something else in little bags that one has to open, pour into cup, and not spill all over. Terrible. 

They also have frozen wonton soup that I thought was tasty until I saw how much sodium it contained. I think it was more than 1200mg. 

16 minutes ago, naxos said:

Lamenting the loss of Mrs. Stahl's knishes in Brighton Beach. Never had one to come close in DC.

My first restaurant job when I was a teenager was flipping knishes and egg rolls at Mid Island Mall in Hicksville, NY. 

Es gibst es nicht hier. 

On 7/8/2018 at 10:50 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

The fragrant onions came from shoe string onions and they were good.  The Our Burger (@ Wahlburger) was actually pretty average - 1/3 lb cooked to order, topped with "government" cheese (i.e., American shit), pickles, tomato, onions, and house made blend of ketch-up and mayo.  Maybe losing $250  while watching Croatia tie Russia during regularly time affected me, but I don't think so.  

Here are some more unsavory practices that I find in Sin City.

Dopes dressed as "showgirls" and superheros for photo ops.  

Charging a $40+ mandatory extra resort fee for shitty wifi and fitness center access.

Don't offer in-room coffee/tea maker.

Overcharge for shitty casino food.

Not having signs in the hotel hallways telling drunk shitheads to be quiet at 4 a.m.

Shitty casino food.

I dont know what possessed me to order lobster at a terrible hotel one time. It must have been in the freezer for years. 

36 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Yes, but have you noticed that people have started to use the term "somm" quite a bit in this country?

Somm is the hipster word for sommelier. 😆

50 minutes ago, lekkerwijn said:

Alain Ducasse ... It was a totally memorable meal but for all of the wrong reasons. We arrived at the restaurant and they brought around the Champagne cart with, as Mark notes, 6 or 7 different luxe choices . A rather surly, older Somm showed up at our table clutching a huge wine list tightly against his chest. In haughty French accent-inflected English he says, "I understand you wish to drink Champagne by the bottle..." and then proceeds to rattle off what was in the cart as if we didn't hear it the first time. We explain, that yes, we want a bottle. I think he assumed we were being cheap Americans, so then he asks what kind of Champagne we are "familiar with". We explain that we prefer grower Champagne and in particular like Selosse, Prevost and Laval. He sneered. Cleared his throat and said, "A meal like this requires something a bit more, errr, refined." Then he recommended Taittinger Comtes de Champagne. 

This image is why I dont use the word sommelier much anymore.  I have always tried to combat that perception of the haughty somm. 

Selosse in this country is wildly expensive. 

At the restaurant in Le Bristol, they bring a Champagne cart to the table when you sit down with 6 or 7 bottles including Krug and Dom Perignon. 

Sebastien knows what he's doing. I haven't been there since I stopped working in Old Town. I follow his social media feeds and it always looks really good. 

1 hour ago, B.A.R. said:

Can someone explain to me why they cannot determine who cheated and who did not? Obviously they know the Master who gave out the information. Who did he tell?

That person needs to have the results stripped? Was there an unusual amount of people that passed the tasting? Did everyone pass the tasting? This seems to be an overly Draconian step....and there is NO guarantee that those that passed the test this year, legitemately, could pass the test next week, or four weeks hence.

Having tasted many wines blind and gone through numerous tasting classes with profile grids and deductive reasoning....blind tasting is a bitch! Theory is memorization (a ton of it). Service is rather silly if you ask me and too subjective. Blind tasting? Even the most educated of palates need a wee bit of luck to get through that

Brian, I generally agree with you. I have always considered blind tasting a parlor trick. Maybe because I'm so terrible at it. :) The article about this incident in this mornings Washington Post quoted several members who have been attempting this certification for 8 or more years at a cost of $70,000-80,000! I personally know several friends who have attempted it at least 3 times.  My somm career began in 1982- 4 years before the CMS began its program in the US. I was lucky enough to taste all the wines that people can only read about today. These days I don't even use the "S" word anymore- it terrifies people. Instead, I use "Wine Guy", it sounds less threatening. 

I agree 

7 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Just remember the Preludio (the orchestral piece before the curtain rises) vs. the opening of the final act (the conductor takes the bow just before this) - they're the two-most dramatically important things in the opera. In the former, the high-divided strings signal Violetta's frailty before living; in the latter, they signal Violetta's frailty before, well ...

(This has always been my own personal theory, so I'm genuinely curious what you think.)

Actually my favorite part of the opera, aside from the last act is the gambling scene in the 3rd act when the clarinets shift into ominous F minor. I love that part. I always have trouble deciding which is the greater masterpiece,  Traviata, Rigoletto or Trovatore. 

11 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I’m taking my kids...not sure if they’ll be able to see anything since we’ll be in the last row.

They should like it. Its exciting music right from the start.

15 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

or the high, divided strings, which are a metaphor for sickness, and appear both in the overture and the opening of the final act.

Don, Traviata is the Waltz opera. All the great scenes are scored in 3 

It would have been helpful if the author actually described some of the singing. There are some very beautiful and difficult arias in this opera. Starting in the first few minutes. 

3 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

Went for dinner with my brothers this week. We all enjoyed it. I had the meatloaf - which was delicious. I had some of my brother's french fries and I liked those a lot. I had the Pot Pie Poppers and they were quite bland and boring. My one brother really enjoyed the Fish Sticks and their take on aioli/tartar sauce. Other brother liked the Mujaddara but found the falafel over fried and unappetizing. Service was very good.

Still there is a lot to explore on the menu and I'd be happy to head back and try more.

I had dinner there last week. I loved the gougonettes (fish sticks). The poppers were a take on a Michel Richard standard : Cromesquis. Originally filled with duck broth and foie gras, I thought they were fun. The chicken parm was outrageously good, but I couldn't finish it. Go for lunch. Its much quieter. The meatloaf sandwich is great. 

1 hour ago, DonRocks said:

It worries me that you even know what this is.

I used to watch Red Dwarf on BBC. They always had Pot Noodle jokes. 

Every time I see Instant Pot, it makes me think about Pot Noodle. 

On 9/23/2018 at 9:20 AM, funkyfood said:

@LauraB

I probably would have mentioned his age regardless,  but i can't know for sure.  I thought it may help set the scene and advise others as to the crowd at the bar, at least on this Saturday night.

Apologies for the typo--I'm posting from my phone without the benefit of spell-check. Since we're on the subject, your quotation of my misspelling should be in quotation marks, not apostrophes.

Say hi next time. 

14 hours ago, ICD said:

We had a great meal for our  25th Anniversary the other week at Komi.  Service was personalbe and professional.  Highlights were the amberjack with berebere, the grilled watermelon, stuffed dates, corn tortellini, and of course the goat.  I don’t know how they got corn that sweet in the tortellini.  Also, bergamot soda was great for this non-drinker.  My only question was the mild flavor in the Italian summer truffle for the pasta course. I was expecting something funkier.  Kudos to Komi!

Summer truffles are never as pungent as Winter truffles, in my experience. 

18 hours ago, kieplangdu said:

I haven't buy meats from wholefoods for ages. I find their prices too high for the quality you are getting. Their air chilled chicken is pretty tasteless, their pork lack flavors and their beef is just mass market beef. There are much better options out there for cheaper prices.

By far the best value in the meat department are the chicken skewers. I find that one of them makes a meal with a vegetable or rice on the side. They usually cost me between $3.50-4.00. 

The most hysterical and outlandish part of this movie was the idea of someone getting fabulously wealthy owning a restaurant.