Principia

I've actually seen His Honor at Bangkok Joe's, although I don't know how often he frequents it.

See, now that's interesting. First you (ostensibly) apologize for this guy being rude, and then you take swipes at Nadya/Bistro Bis. I don't believe it's necessary to imply that Bistro Bis' management dislikes Segway users (or the handicapped, for that matter) when trying to get your point across. I'm sure that there are some individuals who use Segways who also happen to be handicapped. However, that is clearly not the primary intent of the larger models, which is certainly what Nadya appeared to be describing, given that the man towered over her like one of the NBA's taller denizens. I might suggest that Segway users, if they would like to be accommodated when trying to enter an establishment that would normally disallow bicycles, skateboards, or roller skates inside its doors that they try the p133 model instead: http://www.segway.com/segway/model_pseries.html That having been said, I don't find it in the least bit reasonable to expect a restaurant (or other public accommodation, for that matter) to let someone run a motorized vehicle with a top speed of over 10 miles an hour through their premises. I can't imagine how that could possibly be considered safe.

Why am I picturing a year or two from now when some dim bulb driving a Smart thinks they get to park it in your lobby? I am also highly impressed that none of your staff took the thing for a joyride while George, Jr. was in your establishment. cue Yello's "Oh Yeah"

And so did the +1 and I... thanks for the fantastic tip! numnumnumnumnumnumnum

I have to confess I was a little concerned to see salads and whatnot listed. I mean, I thought the entire point of SKI was that it was all soup, all the time. I have to admit, though, if they're going to make a serious effort at enforcing "the rules", that I anticipate comedy on par with a 1930s William Powell vehicle. The franchise menu concept, in fact, sounds suspiciously similar to that of Hale & Hearty. Not to trade-redress level mind you, but similar enough that I don't see how they could work it into a food court layout. It'd run the same problem Five Guys already has with backups, only worse.

The +1 and I wondered the same thing after sampling their wares on our recent trip to NYC (you can see my post under that subject). Unfortunately, we didn't get to try the original Soup Kitchen International, as it was closed for refurbs while we were in town... but we did notice the sign about franchising on its front window. Tysons, eh? I wonder if they're sliding them into a slot in the food court - last time we were at Tysons, there was still one slot left unfinished.

Just returned with the +1 from our first ever trip to Corduroy... and I must say it did not disappoint! We saw Jacques' 6-top there, and presume the folks sitting next to us were fellow DRers as well (since he stopped by their table on the way out)... plus I think at least one other 6-top, so it would seem we were occupying over half of the front room! My +1 had the buffalo mozzarella porcupine (or as he put it "the cheese tribble"), which looked quite delicious. He followed that up with the peppered tuna steak, and ended with the white chocolate tart with caramelized bananas. I had the cauliflower-parmesan soup, the mélange of seasonal vegetable, and the dark chocolate tart with caramelized bananas. Ferhat was terrific. He was thoroughly patient with the +1's questions, and was even considerate enough to enquire about my vegetarian status, as the soup has a chicken stock base - which doesn't offend me, since I know just about any soups from a restaurant will have something other than a vegetable stock base. The soup was excellent, a perfect balance of the constituent flavors. In the vegetable platter, for those wondering, came the goat cheese mini-raviolis, haricots verts, garlic mashed potatoes, sautéed baby orange and yellow carrots, sautéed mushrooms, and last but not least, the sushi rice/hajiki dish that also accompanies the tuna. All of the vegetable preparations were excellent, but the rice dish was a particular stand-out. I adored the dark chocolate tart, particularly for the chef's clear respect for the main ingredient. I can't tell you how many restaurants at which I've had dark chocolate desserts that were sugared to within a millimeter of supersaturation, presumably to "fix" what the kitchen perceived as a too-bitter taste. The cocoa ice cream was similarly unabashed. And the caramelized bananas alone would serve as an admirable dessert (mmm, banana brulée). I hope that our trip tonight will represent the first of many such visits. The bar menu looked like fun too.

Are we supposed to be noting in OpenTable if we're from here? Does that help the board out in some fashion? If so, I'll go tack on a note.

I'm looking very forward to trying Corduroy for the first time on Saturday night. The +1 and I managed to nab a 2-top at 9:30, thanks to Roo's heads-up.

If they're hand-beating it, I can't say as I blame them. I wouldn't want to have that wrist at the end of Restaurant Week, let me tell ya...

How can you have mini pigs-in-blankets? Why am I envisioning them being served in the hands of a Barbie doll? My personal enemies: the inevitable soup troika of French Onion, Clam Chowder, and Creamy Potato - the latter of which is inevitably guaranteed to consist mostly of chicken stock and bacon.

I'm not sure if the Bangkok Joe's RW dinner is the same as the lunch was, but two coworkers and I had the lunch yesterday, and this is what was available (approximately): Course 1: Shrimp Satay Beef Curry in Roti third option I don't recall Course 2: Chicken Panang Chicken & Shrimp Drunken Noodles third option I don't recall Course 3: Black Rice Pudding with Young Coconut

For those interested, Jose Andres is on the Kojo Nnamdi show on WAMU (88.5 FM) right now.

I think someone ate your rezzie immediately, but thanks to your post I was looking and a 9.30 had opened up!

I'd love to, but sadly la Metro takes a good half an hour just to get me there.

Domino magazine recently had a spread on a few different people having redone their kitchens a la IKEA. The main gist being that they're decently constructed, easily customized, and best of all, leave lots of room in the budget for buying pricey appliances. If you'd like a scan of that article, PM me. I subscribe and as I've just gotten the January/February issue, I don't believe the issue with the article is still available in the stores.

Yep, another DR member who spent Christmas (or just before it, anyway) in NYC. Due to the transit strike, we couldn't easily get to a lot of the places we wanted to try, but a few highlights: Amy's Bread - Hell's Kitchen We actually ended up here as a second choice, because we'd originally been trying to hit Soup Kitchen International - which was closed for renos. Grargh! Anyway, I'm glad I was able to talk the +1 into heading here. We actually ended up at AB a couple of times, once for lunch and then later in the trip on a desserts run. The sandwiches were excellent, on breads that were sufficiently assertive to be tasted with the other ingredients and stood up well to grilling. This meal also led us to another purveyor of the yum: Hale and Hearty Soups, who provides said substances for AB. Two of the more unusual items we sampled: sourdough chocolate twists (chocolate croissants are for the weak! ), and lime cornbread cookies. The latter precipitated our second visit - at which we sampled their layer cake as well. Not to drag mention of His Sugar Rushness into another thread, but I will note that the composition of the cakes at Amy's Bread were quite similar to what Cakelove avers are its ingredients... only Amy's didn't feel the need to put theirs in the deep freeze. Perhaps we're talking an order of magnitude's difference in the expected turnover of product? The cakes were very moist and thoroughly flavorful - as a basis for comparison, I'd estimate the crumb was about half again as dense as that of Baked & Wired's. I'd say the red velvet cake itself was the best I've ever had, although I prefer a buttercream frosting that's a bit less BUTTERcream (if you take my meaning). No sooner did we finish our cakes and pick up some of the aforementioned lime cornbread cookies to take back with us to the QT than we smelled this absolutely evil ginger aroma wafting towards us as we headed out - at which point the +1 spun on his heels and headed directly back indoors where we picked up some freshly baked ginger snaps. Hale and Hearty Soups We hit the Rockefeller Center location for lunch before seeing the matinee of Spamalot. They had a few dozen varieties available - I had the Chunky Potato Leek, and the +1 had a Chicken and Tomato with Orzo soup. Both were exemplary. I wish we had more places like this around here, as I love soup and can't seem to get a decent bowl to save my life (with the definite exception of SBC Cafe). Otto Christmas Eve lunch was here. We had the Cauliflower Alla Siciliana, Brussels Sprouts and Vin Cotto, Penne con Noci e Zucca, Pepperoni pizza, and a selection of their gelato. If you go, you must definitely try the Hazelnut Stracciatella and Chocolate-Chili flavors, which were truly transporting. And I actually managed to get the +1 to eat brussels sprouts! Hah! Our server was tremendously helpful and engaging, and the atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. I could definitely see hanging out there a lot if I lived in Manhattan. Locally, I'd say that Matchbox might start to pick up that vibe after its expansion, although I don't know that they'll ever have quite that broad a selection of wines. Ack, I almost forgot the Mocha Hot Chocolate... whoa nelly. When they mention it's served with a coffee crema, they mean a giant helping of coffee whipped cream.

"Why certainly, m'am, I'll be glad to do so. I'll just make that card hold for six meals instead of three."

Ditto on the Metro accessibility... I'd love to be able to make it to one of these some time.

The +1 and I have a Matfer. The MSRP is a little steep, but when they're on sale they can be had for under $100. We've never had a problem with ours either in the sharpness or safety departments, and it will also do waffle cuts if you are so inclined.

Hey, somebody's gotta say it. If the Powers That Be at the Washingtonian didn't want to see some changes, they wouldn't have hired him. The Best 100 list was getting to the point where it was about as creditable as the judging in an Olympic ice dancing competition.

No, the letter (et al) are still up on the site, although he's commented that folks' time would be better spent reading about the positive happenings at Komi than picking over the bones of this particular incident. For what it's worth, I've yet to partake of BF&C precisely because of the oft-repeated tales of this ilk. If I'm signing up for that kind of abuse, I can get it at the Vienna Inn.

I'm glad to hear someone has had better experiences there than my and my +1 have had. Perhaps they've changed substantially for the better since their opening days.

I only hesitated to recommend Coastal Flats because its waits are notoriously ridiculous and she's got a show to get to (DM! so jealous). If one calls well ahead, though, it may not be undoable.

I suspect that places with outdoor bars (a la the back porch on the Fairfax Coastal Flats) will start to do mad business after the ban goes into effect.