Stretch

Three pages and no love for Stoney's? That's some good drunk food in decidedly modest surroundings.

It's spruced up now, and the drinks were never that cheap, but my work local used to be the odd little bar behind the German deli on the 1300 block of H St. Proper liter steins, an ancient, wheezing Swiss bartender (now sadly serving nectar and ambrosia somewhere up above), a morose Georgian (Caucasus, not cracker) guitarist doing Sinatra covers and our reprobate office IT manager drinking dinner and gambling online on his laptop at the bar. Once the whole "excess inventory" unpleasantness came to light, I almost felt bad about all the rounds he'd stood me...

Haven't been to 2 Amys for awhile. Going tonight though with a crew that doesn't eat pork, any suggestions? Any new specials that are worth trying?

Thanks.

They could do worse than consider the Etna. Eggplant confit, olives, capers, oregano, grana. I never ordered it for years because I thought I didn't like eggplant. Then I did, and now I do.

The menu is here, by the way.

Here comes the kicker, folks:

"Am I still going to get my OpenTable points???? Even if I don't dine here tonight? All you  have to do is press the button, right??"

Speaking of pressing buttons, doesn't OpenTable let you add comments to a diner's profile? I suggest: "Notorious nympho. Major thing for busboys. Don't forget to tell your guys."

That should ensure memorable dining experiences going forward.

I'll be there too, sans balls.

I didn't know you were getting married. Congratulations!

Washington, D.C.: Went to Galileo last night for Restaurant Week. I checked the Post's website and found that all four of the user reviews were negative. They said the service was poor and snooty and the food wasn't up to par. Well, as a poor federal worker who could only do Galileo this week, none of that was true. The service was perfect and polite and the food was divine. So much for the reviewers!

Tom Sietsema: Yeah, I'm not a big fan of online reviewers, either. I mean, who ARE they? I have no idea whether JaneLovesFood or BobLikes28 know anything about food, or if they have hidden agendas."

Which is why, of course, I have long given them both of them and their anonymous bastard offspring free rein to hurl all sorts of imprecations at various restaurants through the medium of ... erm ... this very chat.

Chef,

Don mentioned in his intro how your path in life was influenced by your parents' love of food and travel. Now that you're a parent yourself, what's your take on how best (other than opening your own restaurant named after them) to get kids enthused about food and cooking and accustomed to eating out?

Looking back on your career so far, what would you most like tell your younger self just starting out in the business if you could meet him today?

What's next for you and the family? Do you see yourselves mainly concentrating on Eve in years to come, or are there still other things you'd like to do?

Many thanks.

PS: When are you on Iron Chef?

Welcome to DR.com, mxyzptlk. I like your blog. Post more.

Tosca treated us like crap on RW and we've never been back.

How long ago was this? I got the impression they crapped in their nest the first time they took part, but subsequently realized the mistake and mended their ways. It was good last year.

Suck it hard, Rockwell.

Great lunch at Montmartre today. They were totally slammed but we managed to wait for a seat on the patio so we could leave Whopper Jr. in his stroller to catch the passing show. Despite the crush, the service was quick and the food was as good as ever. Don't pass up the yellow beet salad with goat cheese and pine nuts -- simple, fresh and wonderful. The croustillant, a pastry purse stuffed with braised oxtail, is another hit. Be aware that the kitchen closes at 2:30 p.m., lots of would-be late lunchers were being turned away hungry and disappointed. A couple of Stellas and some first rate people watching completed an excellent outing.

Hahahaha. Thrasher wins in a landslide despite stiff competition from a mortgage banker with a Robert Smith haircut, a gelato-shop guy on a Band-era Bob Dylan kick and Latin America's two finest Siegfried and Roy impersonators. All in all, that's one of the weirdest things I've seen online in a while (and that's saying something.) Why should I scruple to provide a fine publication with editorial content this well thought out with all my contact details?

Mixed bag at lunch at Oyamel today. Good tacos (duck confit and suckling pig), good service, bloody awful sides. Slack, tasteless refried beans and half-cooked patatas al mole. Bleah.

Smallorado Bitchin'

Colorectal Itchin'

Cafe Melayyounow (assuming you're rich and/or famous, that is)

I saw mdt out dining on polenta crostini with salt cod puree this very afternoon and all I got was this lousy glass of hefeweisen.

(Actually, the beer was pretty good.)

Di Majo Norante, Sangiovese, 2003, $9.99. From Molise. Noticeably porky nose, very plummy palate. Nice with pizza.

Will there be an Illinois theme? That ought to bring in the punters.

How's the beer list? I was in a while back and they said they were going to keep trying to expand it. Mmm, Belgian beer.

It is, however, puzzling. Why go to the effort of repurposing the perfectly serviceable Kuna as the muddled Opera only to pull the plug barely a couple of months into the new place's run. Anyone know what happened?

... a server indicated that it 'should' be open by Oct/Nov...

Hey! Just before Ray's Classics!

Hey, is Dino's doing lunch yet? I got a teething baby here wants to check out how their tables taste.

Already looking forward to the next meeting, when we will hopefully have the donrockwell.com song finalized. 

This one won't do?

So it's true, fine dining in this town ain't what it used to be:

Washington, D.C.: Le Pavilion, haven't thought of that in years, I remember going there right after the premiere of "GoodFellas" in l990, Monsieur Cam came out to meet me and I got groped by a member of the waitstaff in one of the alcoves. Those were good old days.

PS: Didn't a certain acquaintance of ours use to wait tables there around that time? Charles?

Leesburg, Springfield: "High-profile lifestyle centers." You heard it here first.

I need a keg (actually a quarter keg) of decent to good beer (that means no Bud/Miller/lite products, but something along the Old Dominion/Yuengling persuasion).

Must have been a really bad day. A six-pack is usually plenty to take the edge off for me.

Just tried some new South African wines today: Kumala

In short, they were dreadful, all new oak from inner-staves, and the guy actually mentioned how many grams/liter of residual sugar they had, which was up to .9!

They are inexpensive - probably retail under $9, but beware, they are not worth trying.

It's sad, because South Africa has some of the coolest, hippest wines on the market, and the dollar is so favorable against the rand, that they tend to be excellent bargains.

This company obviously puts profit above quality.

Yes, these are sh*tty. Sticky, gutless Yellowtail clones. Sadly, they are also currently by far the biggest-selling S.A. wines in Britain, to the tune of 3.5 million cases a year, and will no doubt do just fine here too among the segment of the market that likes that kind of thing.

Quick rule of thumb for South African and Aussie wines: If the name is self-consciously "indigenous" and there's any kind of funky animal theme going on on the label, save yourself the heartache and pour it down the sink.