cgarden
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The iced coffee at B&W is also fantastic -- no unpleasant bitterness, nice caramel-y undertones -- a result of the cold-brewing process, or so I'm told. Worth the $3.25 they charge for a large one. -
I believe the bistro special is more extensive at RTC (it might also be offered more often, though I'm not sure about that). I also tend to find the atmosphere at RTC to be a little quieter, though that might just be me.
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This is very interesting. By any chance, do you work with (or do you have plans to work with) group homes for foster kids or kids in the delinquency system? As I'm sure nobody will be surprised to hear, the nutrition at some of these places (even the ones that house younger kids) can be really terrible.
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Dining in Napa, Sonoma, North Bay, and Sacramento
cgarden replied to brr's topic in San Francisco Restaurants and Dining
We spent a couple of days in Sonoma on our honeymoon last summer -- my favorite small winery was Christopher Creek, in the Russian River Valley; Preston of Dry Creek also stands out in my mind. (Preston also sells some food of the bread/cheese/olive variety if you want to picnic.) -
I wish I'd seen this thread before trying Sticky Rice a couple nights ago. I think its the first time I've been angry about a restaurant meal the next morning. On the upside, our waitress was friendly enough, though the service was incredibly slow (I got the impression this was mostly the fault of the kitchen). As others have mentioned, food came out in a haphazard order, with some people getting food long after others for no apparent reason. A spicy tuna roll and a couple vegetarian rolls were basically inoffensive; yellowtail sashimi was bland. Rice and/or noodle dishes: were cooked within an inch of their lives; the noodles they call "soba" definitely aren't; the sauce was gloppy and too sweet; and the shrimp and vegetable add-ins clearly came frozen out of a bag -- I think we would have been better off with $1.99 frozen noodle bowls from Trader Joe's. Also, another table ordered sake bombs that were delivered with a loud bang of a gong, which pretty much made us jump out of our skins. I cannot imagine this place gets repeat business.
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This may not be the kind of thing you're looking for, but there is an Open Table app that can come in handy.
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Had extended-Restaurant Week lunch here today -- the space was disturbingly quiet (by the time I left at about 1:30, the front room was more than half full, but the rest was empty), but the food was very tasty. I had the smoked salmon salad appetizer, the seafood soup (which was a thai-style thick broth with crispy udon noodles, some sort of white fish (can't remember - maybe snapper?), and shellfish, on top of a noodle cake), and the cheesecake. The dessert was especially good -- attractively presented with raspberry sauce, fresh pineapple, and pickled grapes (the grapes were not my thing, but were easily ignored) -- and the brule-ed sugar on the top of the cheesecake was a stroke of genius. If anyone is looking for something to do tomorrow for lunch, I highly recommend taking advantage of the last day of the deal!
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I think Bravo has previously identified her as the owner of a catering company. She's also mentioned that she is classically trained - perhaps at L'Academie de Cuisine?
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Brasserie Les Halles - Closed.
cgarden replied to CrescentFresh's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
There's the WARN Act, but LH probably isn't big enough for it to apply. -
In response to Rocks's post, I just thought I'd mention that Vegetate has some good happy-hour specials (including, if I recall correctly, half-off several of the small plates). I think it runs from 5-7, but don't quote me on that.
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I went for lunch last week - hits included the deviled eggs and the grilled cheese with tomato soup (the latter was easily big enough to be lunch for two). The biggest miss was the flatbread with tomato jam and parmesan cheese - it was actually sliced baguette (not a problem, though I imagined "flatbread" would be a pizza crust or focaccia, not just bread that happened to be cut flat), spread with sugary tomato jam, olive oil, halved cherry tomatoes, and the cheese. Maybe it is a matter of individual taste, but I really reacted negatively to the sweet jam with the rest of the ingredients. The 17-veggie salad seemed uninspired - the 17 vegetables (of which some were actually fruits) just weren't that interesting, and the dressing lacked salt and acidity.
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Mai Thai, Downtown and Alexandria
cgarden replied to cheezepowder's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
I haven't been in a while, but it was virtually identical to Thaiphoon (which is to say, serviceable, but not fantastic). As compared to Pasara, I'd say that Pasara used fresher ingredients and probably less oil, but Mai Thai/Thaiphoon has stronger/more spicy flavors. -
Zaytinya has a private or semi-private room. Actually, I may be wrong about this, but I believe there is one "special events" person for all of the Jose Andres restaurants, so maybe you could find out about Oyamel at the same time. (When I looked into rehearsal dinner spaces, I got her number off the Zaytinya website.) Finally, it would be out of the way for you, but for what its worth, I ended up having my rehearsal dinner (also for 20 people) at Dino, and it was fabulous.
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Good, Maybe Even Great, Microwave Popcorn
cgarden replied to hillvalley's topic in Shopping and Cooking
Interesting - I'd always heard that you should leave the lid slightly open because the air would make the popcorn more crispy. I'll have to experiment and report back. -
I went with two friends on the early side (like 6:00) last Saturday and there was no wait for either inside or patio. I can't say what it would be like at a more typical dinner hour. We enjoyed the puttanesca pizza -- it is on the saucier side, which my group preferred, and the mussels and capers added good flavor. Conversely, we were not particularly enamored of the funghi pizza - it was too heavy on cheese (with no sauce to counterbalance) and too light on mushrooms.