treznor

I hadn't realized they had opened another one. I actually haven't made it to the one on King St in a while (living in NC will do that and even though I work in DC almost every week I'm pretty sure my wife would kill me if I went to Cafe Salsa without her). I definitely don't remember an olive-based salsa from the King Street one. The chips and salsa was fried/baked plantains with a decent, standard tomato-based salsa. I've always thought their mojitos were among the best in the city and haven't found one that I like hands-down better than Cafe Salsa's. The caipirinhas are pretty good too, though I have a much smaller base to compare to. The area of Cafe Salsa that I've always thought was lacking was their entrees. After the first time or two we stopped ordering entrees altogether and almost exclusively order a couple of appetizers each as we've always thought the appetizers were pretty awesome. We've never tried any of their desserts that I remember other than the tres leches cake, which we've always thought was outstanding (though, really, how could you screw up tres leches? Even when it's bad it's still pretty good).

Better than the $44 bottle of Ecco Domani and the $56 bottle of Hess that I saw last night... Granted it was room service at a hotel, but still shocked the sensibilities a bit.

Couldn't happen to a better place. I've worked for almost six years two blocks away from Cafe Mozu, and I've been twice. We go to places in that price range occasionally but make sure to go elsewhere (which means Metro-ing somewhere considering there is nothing else around there comparable other than -maybe- the restaurant at Loews). Food was always decent, but way overpriced. Can't wait to see what transpires here.

I've looked at Restaurant.com a few times and never found any restaurants that I really wanted to go to, at least that I was certain enough of going that I would purchase a gift certificate. Though if they are $3 for a $25 certificate, the level of certainty would not need to be as high.

I fear I'm straying too far into the morass, but here goes. My thoughts are that it is up to the individual to determine the mastery of said chef to determine if the reinterpretation is valid for you. Just my thoughts. Unfortunately, never having had Vongrichten's or Puck's food (Wolfgang Puck Bistro/Express/Cafe not included) I have little personal experience to determine this.

It's been discussed at quite some length on eBob and on a local blog (Varmint Bites). The closing of Caroline Wine Company isn't the largest blow in the world to me (though understand that others had extensive orders outstanding and would be very mad in their position). However, the larger blow to me is that it took Enoteca Vin down with it since the same guy (Chrish Peel) was an owner in both. I mourn the loss of Enoteca Vin much more than the loss of Caroline Wine Company.

We did our rehearsal dinner at Pat Troy's and loved it. They are able to separate off the raised floor area and were very accommodating with us. More laid back than some of the other suggestions so far, but that's what we were shooting for. Don't remember the exact prices but it was decently priced.

Watching it right now (via the miracles of DVR) and the biography was immediately noticeable. I'm like "What the hell, I know good and well he was in DC for years!"

I would advocate following Mark's advice regarding Sea Urchin (Uni)... try it at a sushi place first. It's cheaper trying just a piece or two than an entire dish, plus you are trying it unadulterated. Personally I had it once and it was... an acquired taste. That I hadn't acquired. I think it was just that it was so much different than anything else I've had a sushi restaurant that I wasn't prepared for it at all.

So it's a bit of short notice :-)

If the hotel you are staying at in Rosslyn is the Key Bridge Marriott, then that side of Rosslyn really doesn't have much going on culinary-wise. I've never really found anything all that good anywhere in Rosslyn until you start walking towards Courthouse, and by then that's a pretty good hike if it is the Key Bridge Marriott you are staying at. The good thing about the Key Bridge Marriott though is that it's right next to the Key Bridge... which is right across from Georgetown. It's also a bit of a walk, but it's a nice view from the bridge while doing it. Again, check the Diner's Guide for Georgetown, but the places I can think of that I'd check out are : - Pizza Paradiso which has some pretty good pizza as well as some good beer - Agraria, near the waterfront. There are some other restaurants near the waterfront that you can check out... Just know that they are popular for the view, NOT for their food. - Hook Of the three I've only personally been to Pizza Paradiso, but when I'm staying at the Key Bridge Marriott I do try and head to it occasionally.

The Crystal City Hyatt is separate from most of the other Crystal City stuff. It's a bit of a walk to the Metro (not ridiculous, but it's 5 -long- blocks). Also, don't believe them when they say the address is on Jefferson Davis Highway, there's no way to get to the Hyatt directly from Jefferson Davis (though I assume the conference people are handling that for you). As for eating directly in Crystal City, Bebo is an option. Sit at the bar (as table service is erratic at best) and if the pizza oven is running seriously think about ordering pizza. If the pizza oven isn't running I don't know that it's worth eating at. As far as serviceable places to eat go, I personally like Ted's Montana Grill. It's nothing special, but on nights when I'm staying in Crystal City and am looking around for something to eat, more often than not it wins. Legal Seafood is also right in Crystal City. It's a chain so there's a chance you've eaten there before somewhere else and thus aren't interested in it. However, it does seafood pretty well so is also an option. Once you get outside of Crystal City there are plenty of options (and I'm sure someone else will point out something in Crystal City that I forgot). Maybe peruse the Dining Guide to get an idea? It's so broad of a field that I'm having trouble narrowing it down :-) One place that I would try to get to would be either Ray's the Steaks or Ray's Hell Burger (or both!) in the same little row of shops in between Rosslyn and Courthouse, it has the best steaks (for a decent price) and the best burgers, respectively, in DC.

I second Sushi Zen as a good everyday sushi place. It's not particularly fancy so maybe not "Date Night" quality, but we always liked going when we lived in the area (passing up at least 2 sushi places that were closer).

Only 160 miles from me in Hickory, NC :-) And more to the point, only 70 miles from my family's mountain house in Hillsville, VA :-) We're definitely planning on getting up there soon.

Who -doesn't- have a centrifuge at hand?

I'll second that about their delivery service. I swear I've had them show up before I've hung up the phone a few times.

It's very hit or miss at Great Wall. Earlier up thread I wrote about a time that I ordered two nights in a row. One night was very good (though I haven't had the chance to try Chang's food so don't have a great barometer), the next night was as you described; heat from the Szechuan peppercord and extremely salty to the point that nothing else can be tasted. I've taken to ordering from other places that aren't nearly as good as Great Wall on the times I've gotten good food, but much better than Great Wall on the nights I get bad food from them.

More towards a traditional 5 course, at least when we went. What I remember most from our meal, and my advice to you, is that if you like cheese at all, make certain to get the cheese course. It really is something to be experienced. The cow cart (with moo noise and all) are over the top. The guy manning the cheese cart the evening we were there was quite possibly the most knowledgeable person I've met regarding cheese.

The last (and only :-( ) time I've eaten in the Tasting Room was with my girlfriend (at the time, wife now). We were at a table that only had booth seating on one side and no chairs at all, in the corner of the room. I don't like sitting on the same side as the person I'm there with, but in that situation I thought it worked very well. It allowed us both to see out into the room, for the waiter to talk directly to us both basically at the same time, and helped set an intimate feel.

Stamey's is the only place I've ever eaten in Greensboro. Good, honest NC barbecue; definitely worth visiting if you like NC BBQ at all. There are better places in NC, but not in Greensboro :-)

Lebanese Taverna? Definitely not in the same realm as Fyve. Personally I'm a huge fan of Noodles, which is also in the outside courtyard at Pentagon City, but it's not anything to go out of your way for either. Sine is decent; not great, but decent if you want some Irish food.

Agave Syrup and Agave Nectar are the same thing. It's also sold in a number of health food stores as it's minimally processed. I think my bottles saw they are processed at less than 114 degrees so I think the people following the raw food diets can use it.

I ordered some a week ago to try out some variations on a Margarita (also using Patron Citronage instead of Cointreau) but haven't tried it out yet.

Yeah, okay, so you managed to sum up my entire post in one line. No one ever said I was concise :-)

I have no qualm with the second and third tier awards. For the most part they are indicative of a very well put together wine list. The Award of Excellence (the bottom tier) is the main problem. "Excellence" does not entail just not serving Sutter Home, it entails actual thought and work and not just being "better than average" but being a cut above your competition. My problem with the WS awards is two-fold: 1) The list is by no means inclusive, i.e. there are quite a few places in DC that have much better wine lists than those that won the WS awards. However, those places didn't feel the need to apply for an award and thus didn't end up on the list. I don't really have a fix for this problem, but it does limit the usefulness of the awards for me. 2) The lowest tier is called "Excellent" but the standard is anything but. The standard stated by WS for the Excellent award is quite low. Take a look at the restaurants that won the second-level award (as DC has no restaurants that won the top level award, with the Inn at Little Washington being the closest to DC I believe). Are these the best wine in the city? No doubt that they are very good; I've eaten at about half of them and enjoyed the wine service all around. However, they are a number of places in the city that aren't listed that are as good or better. #1 is my main problem with the awards, but #2 dilutes the prestige of the set of awards and thus restaurants don't apply as it's just not all that prestigious (or don't want to pay for an award), so in the end #2 is a large part of what drives #1.