RWBooneJr

I am, apparently, not nearly as funny as I think I am.

Do certain sodas change from year to year? How long do they age?

The sign may say Lyon, but the menu is mostly Alsatian, so there is a very strong German influence here. Aside from this (heavy) accent, the food is very similar to what is offered at Liberty in terms of quality, execution, price, and size. The wine list is mostly French and looks worth exploring (but does not include varietal information, which is is fine for French wine, but a tiny bit annoying for the few German wines offered). The beer selection is also solid, and features one of the better collections of European brews on tap (the Weihenstephan's tap handle says dunkel but it's the regular hefe, which is better anyway). I'm interested to see how this place develops and what kind of a crowd it attracts.

It was a sort-of cornbread on Friday, so I'm guessing he's just mixing it up a little. I doubt it's a permanent change, but you could always ask him. I'm not gonna.

Say hello next time. I was one communal table over.

Both of these make perfect sense. I think I might be stupid.

Chef Cooper, After a particularly tough week, Pork and Pinot sounded like a good idea. So I headed there tonight and, sadly, learned that it was not happpening. I could have cared less at that point. You and your staff treated me to some excellent German wine (for which I have a particular affinity -- a Riesling and a Rieslanar), and you have, possibly, the best bar snacks in the history of the genre. I have no complaints. I'll definitely be back. But people rely on your website, so please keep it up to date. RWBooneJr.

There is really no great value to this post, but a good friend from NYC was visiting me tonight and the first thing he asked was how close I was to the 5 guys. I'm thinking they've found an audience.

A "reasonable person standard" is, by definition, NOT subjective. It is an objective assessment of how the hypothetical "reasonable person" would or should act in a given situation. It is the correct standard. In this context, if most people wouldn't have been offended by the poop and spit conversation, the person overhearing it was wrong to call the guy out. And, regardless, the guy stopped and the person nonetheless left Rustico because he or she was so upset. That betrays a certain hypersensitivity that is the antithesis of the "reasonable person."

There are some great chefs and restaurants in this city. But it is, admittedly, a little pricey to experience them in the context of a full meal. Fortunately, there are places like The Source, where you can experience them for a much smaller cost. Tonight, I revisited the lounge for the first time in a while. I used to live and work nearby, but have not been back since I moved. In the meantime, they have changed their lounge menu from its former hodge-podge of flavors to an Izakay-style menu that is somewhat more focused on the regular restaurant's Asian theme. I was a little sad upon my return to see the pizzas gone, because I had enjoyed them in the past -- particularly the shrimp pesto -- but the few items I tried from the new menu soothed my disappointment. I started with a Grey Goose martini ($15), which seemed a tad expensive, but it was well made and fully two drinks. It also came with three large olives -- pimento, jalapeno, and blue cheese stuffed -- that were fresh and a nice little snack by themselves. I next ordered two dishes, the Mini Bahn Mi ($8) and the Crispy Chicken Wings ($10). To go with them, I got a glass of the Dr. Loosen "Dr. L" Riesling ($8). Bahn Mi are one of my favorite things to eat around town, but these were the best versions I have had. An order has two small sandwiches that appear to come with two kinds of pork, roasted pork and pate, a salad of lightly pickled vegetables, and a spicy mayo (maybe Sriracha-based) all on fresh, soft rolls. It also came with a light dipping sauce that was somewhat superfluous. The six or so chicken wings also made a nice dish and were very similar to the General Tso's Chicken wings on the old lounge menu. In fact, they may have been the same as before, but seemed somewhat less spicy. And the Riesling was off-dry and a nice compliment to both. The total bill was $45, pre tip, which certainly isn't cheap for one. But it was a good-sized meal with essentially three drinks and a nice showcase of Scott Drewno's food. I would recommend a visit if you're looking for a top-tier experience at a more gentle price.

You mean like American Flatbread and it's locally sourced, organically grown, humanely slaughtered, and generally well-coddled ingredients? (Which will, of course, need to start serving Belgian beer to fulfill my dream.)

Note to would-be restauranteurs: please open a salad place or gourmet burger shop in Zoso Flats so that we can have every food trend from the past decade housed under one roof.

This line made me laugh.

I was actually thinking Tapalbees. I had my first meal here tonight, largely because it is the only place in my neighborhood besides Cheesecake Factory that I hadn't been to yet. The staff was great, the place looks nice, and everything was cooked properly. But to call this stuff tapas does a great disservice to the genre. I almost wish the place wasn't decorated at all but the food was good. But, if it were, then I'd guess it'd be called Ray's Los Filetes.

It's available online. Otherwise, you may need to go to Philly.

These are the things I'd want to have if I were a tourist and somebody gave me a bag: An actual plastic Metro Smartrip Card Salty Oat Cookies from Teaism Fleur de Sel Caramels from Artisan Chocolates Decent water. Hotels are really chintsh on water. Everything else should be special to you.

I never sat at the chef's table, but I ate at the restaurant both before and while Chef Fargione was there. It was a terribly decorated space, set up in a decades-ago era of expense account silliness, that never modernized. The service and management always seemed disinterested when I was there. And the chef's table never bled into the dining room. It sounds like the chef's table was essentially it's own restaurant and now deserves to be. People, like me, will pay for that experience, we just won't if we're turned off by the place that houses it.

The Slate article is a bit off base in its premise, in that neither the Trillin article nor the Kliman article focus on "authenticity." And as I noted in my post about my trip to Taste of China, I personally have no idea what authentic Chinese food is or whether Chang's food is authentic. But the article does pose an interesting question: is anybody out there doing good "American Chinese" food? This is the Chinese that most of us grew up on, and probably still love even when it's bad. Are there good versions? I don't know of any great, or even good American Chinese places in DC (or elsewhere, for that matter), but I have had good versions of some familiar dishes around town. The Source's General Tso's Chicken Wings and Hong Kong Palace's Chengdu Kung Pao Chicken immediately come to mind. What else is out there?

Like a lemming, I followed the press coverage to Charlottesville yesterday to see for myself what the “Great Peter Chang” has to offer. In fact, I believe that I was seated right next to Escoffier – unless there was another large table of VIPs with a habit of photographing their lunch. And I have to say that the “Chang Experience” was worth the drive, but almost surreal. The drive to Charlottesville is beautiful, and one I know well, having spent three years in grad school at UVA and having returned countless times both for the University and for the sometimes great little wineries that dot the surrounding areas. Yesterday was a perfect day, and the snow covered mountains in the distance only added to the scene. My ambitious plan was to have lunch at Taste of China, to head to the campus (pretentiously called “the grounds” by the students), and, maybe, if I had time, to hit a winery or two before heading home. What I hadn’t planned on was the restaurant itself. I knew, of course, from Calvin Trillin’s New Yorker article and from Todd Kliman’s Oxford American article, that Taste of China was a thoroughly average looking strip mall Chinese joint. But I was not prepared for how average it really is. The place is big and new and clean and bright and terribly busy – far more Marriott than Chinatown. It looks like a place that should have a large buffet of Americanized Chinese glop steaming away at one end. It doesn’t have table cloths or cloth napkins. And it has the cheapest disposable chopsticks I have ever encountered, which you must request from your server. Taste of China is certainly not any place that you’d expect to find the exquisite, transporting, perhaps life-altering meal that I felt I had been all but promised by the fawning Chang has received over the years. Charlottesville may be the heart of Virginia’s wine country, but this is certainly not its French Laundry. My first indication that there was something more to Taste of China was a line twenty people deep just inside the door. The second was a couple dozen nice photographs on the wall of Chang’s specialties, which certainly looked more appetizing and intricate that the mounded plates of stir fried brown that greet you at most Chinese restaurants. The last, of course, is Chang’s oft-discussed glory wall, which hangs to the left of the visual menu and which includes not only Chang’s awards and photographs with dignitaries, but also a few inartfully framed reviews from his tenure in Northern Virginia. In an admittedly naïve attempt to miss the lunch crowd, we arrived at Taste of China at about 1:45. After a relatively short wait given the crowd, my party of two was seated at a four-top and our server immediately appeared to take our order. To buy some time we sent him for Tsingtao and tea, and considered our options. The menu has four basic sections: Appetizers, which are further divided into hot and cold options; Chef’s Specialties, which include the items pictured in the photographs at the restaurant entrance; regular Chinese dishes; and American Chinese dishes. We quickly decided on three appetizers: Fish Rolls with Cilantro and Scallion Bubble Pancakes from the hot appetizers and Hot and Spicy Corned Beef with Cilantro from the cold appetizers, and three entrees: Roast Fish with Green Onion and Scallion and Chili Hot Pot with Chicken from the Chef’s Specialties and Mapo Bean Curd from the regular Chinese menu. The restaurant was out of the fish rolls, and supposedly out of Hot and Spicy Beef Rolls when we asked for those instead (though the aforementioned VIPs were served an order about half an hour later ), so we ended up with five dishes. Each dish was served as it was ready, and the Scallion Bubble Pancakes came first. These are basically fried dough that puffs up when cooked and they reminded me of a lighter version of Navajo Fry Bread. Next was the Roast Fish with Green Onion, that many have noted are really battered and expertly fried pieces of a white fish with a great salt, chili, and cumin flavor that again seemed more southwest, or maybe Cajun (dare I say Popeye’s), than Chinese. The Mapo Bean Curd came third and was an incredibly spicy and head-numbing bowl of bright red, gelatinized tofu that was so much better than I describe it. It was almost like some culinary cousin of napalm except that it had an inexplicable balance and depth of flavor. Our cold “appetizer” came fourth – Hot and Spicy Corned Beef with Cilantro, which were little slices of lightly cured beef with plenty of soft connective tissue, cilantro, chilies, Sichuan peppercorns and more cumin. These were great on their own, but made amazing little sandwiches when paired with pieces of the now cold pancakes. Finally, we received the Scallion and Chili Hot Pot with Chicken, which was basically cumin and chili-spiked chicken, onions, green peppers, cilantro, and jalepenos that were served in a flaming, sizzling contraption that sounded and tasted like a refined version of fajitas. When describing Chang’s food, it has become rather trite to say that – with the exception of the Mapo Bean Curd (mapo doufu), which is one of my favorite Sichuan dishes – this was not Chinese food as I have ever experienced it. I have no idea whether it is “authentic” Sichuan cuisine or whether his is some kind of fusion cuisine that borrows flavors that are more typically associated with the American southwest. But it was damned good, and almost addictive – meaning that I couldn’t stop eating it. It was not only tasty, but the more I sampled it, the more flavors I discovered. Even the Mapo Bean Curd had more layers of seasoning and spice than I have encountered in the best versions that I’ve tasted. We ended up staying an hour and a half and eating so much that we required a long stroll around the grounds before we could even contemplate wine. By the time we were done, we had just enough time to make it to the Kluge winery before they closed at 5:00. At that point, they were done giving tastings, but gave us enough free samples to convince us to bring a couple bottles of sparkling wine home. Sparkling wine that, by the way, was delicious with leftover Sichuan food.

I'm actually now a little disappointed in my last meal there which, though fabulous, did not include a Clown Sundae.

I saw a somewhat anemic version on CNN about an hour ago, but I'm guessing that you did too and that's what jogged your memory.

Sounds like this place must be about twelve steps away from your work.

Bardo Rodeo. It had some of the best, and worst beer in DC, depending on what batch you got. Dremo was never really as cool.

Really? Because I was hoping this meant that Don was going to start reviewing manicurists. He seems like the type that would be particularly knowledgeable.

Add a bit of fish sauce to any marinade. The reaction you get will make you a believer in umami. That said, there is no reason why "umami" needs to mean MSG.