RWBooneJr

I have no doubt that you employ the highest ethics in running your business, and don't need to look at your website to confirm that. The partcipation of you and other restauranteurs in this forum clearly demostrates that you care about what goes on beyond the doors of your establishments. So please accept my apologies if my last post seemed to indicate otherwise. When I noted that "you" need to do a better job in letting customers know what they are eating, I meant it as the collective you, or restauranteurs generally. Anyway, I suspect that many of your competitors list producer information, not because they care about any of the issues discussed in this thread, but because it makes it significantly easier to charge $35 for pork chops.

Having your menu or waitstaff tell me that my pork chop hails from Manor Farm does not let me know that it was "raised in ways that don't pollute the environment or exploit the farmworker." If you want me to know that, you should tell me that, and also tell me how it is that you know, so that I can gauge for myself the quality of the information. And, whatever you do, please don't use words like "humane," "organic," or (worst of all) "natural," because we all know that those words are meaningless. Don't get me wrong; I care that you care about these issues. But including the name of a producer in a menu description only tells me that you want me to think that you care about these issues. You have to do more, because soon the Tysons and Smithfields of the world will start their own "boutique" brands (if they haven't already) and most restaurant customers won't know the difference.

All kidding aside (and yes, I was kidding), the point is that listing producers does absolutely nothing to ensure that animals were treated humanely or raised a certain way. You may have personal knowledge of a few producers, but for every farm that you know of, I'd bet that there are 10 that you do not (or at least that is probably true of most people). You just assume that the product is superior when you see the name of the producer on the menu, just like we all assumed that the "Corinthian" leather in our K car was special.

You mean the boutique meat producers don't name their livestock? I guess that I can see why a restaurant wouldn't publicize the fact that it is serving meat from animals that the producers treated like inventory. Tell me again how this stuff is different than what you get from Tyson or Smithfield?

I don't mind when a waiter or waitress recites the source of various ingredients to me, but I would also like to know the name of the animal that I am about to consume. Why don't they ever know that when I ask?

Poste used to have a bloody mary with bacon in it, but they got rid of it because god hates me.

I will second the nod to PS7s, but add that there is much to like here beyond the cured meats and general pork products. This is becoming my go-to spot both as a lounge and a fine dining restaurant. I am not sure why this place hasn't yet been flooded (it is only a block away from the Penn Quarter mess), but I'm not complaining.

Or a bistrot tour: Central to Cafe du Parc to Brasserie Beck.

Raisika to Oyamel to Jaleo. Three continents, one block.

I had a very nicely done lunch today at PS7's, which was part of their extended restaurant week deal. As starter, I had their winter chopped salad, with romaine and frisee, butternut squash, pumpkin seeds, currants, and a "brown sugar and spice vinaigrette." As a main course, I had rainbow trout, with collard greens, sauteed onions, cornbread and a mustard sauce. And for dessert, beignets. Everything was very good; amongst the better restaurant week meals I've had. I would highly recommend everything to anyone who wants to take advantage of the special menu, which runs through Saturday.

I wonder what he's going to do with the truck? I suggest that he keeps it, but moves it to DC. Right outside of my office.

Isn't there already a guy in Leesburg selling currywurst from a truck?

I happened upon the Delle & Campbell cart at Mass and N. Capitol at noon today and decided to get a shawarma. Unfortunately, the meat in what I received was rather dry, particularly the chicken, and not even the tzatziki on the sandwich could compensate. It wasn't quite warm enough, either, and the service was excruciatingly slow. Overall, I wasn't that impressed, but I may give them another try. Has anyone else had an experience with this cart lately, either good or bad? Are any other carts around town actually delivering something worthwhile?

I saw it at the German Gourmet on Columbia Pike about two weeks ago.

I second the slider recommendation and will add my own recommendation of the beignets. I haven't had them, but I have had the mini doughnuts, and they are my favorite dessert item anywhere. In fact, I don't usually get dessert, but can never pass on the mini doughnuts.

I am on a quest for decent food near Greenbelt. I have already been to Siri Chef's Secret and, like some previous posters, I think it is a solid option for Thai. Hoping to branch out, I ate at Beijing of Greenbelt tonight, which was recommended in Kliman's chat last week. The restaurant is located in the center of Greenbelt, next to the old theater. It's in an interesting art deco building, but inside it is decorated like virtually every other Chinese restaurant in the U.S. But what the room lacks in charm is made up for by the staff, who were friendly and attentive throughout my meal. As for the food, I was very happy with what I got. I started with some spring rolls, which were fairly standard, but good nonetheless. After that I had Crispy Chicken with Seasond Salt, which Kliman also mentioned in his chat. The dish reminded me more of Chik-Fil-A than Beijing, but it was delicious nonetheless. The menu described it as "boneless tender chicken pan fried until crispy, with green onion, hot pepper, and salt," but the dominant flavor was regular salt and pepper. That may not sound all that interesting, but it made for a tasty coating, which was indeed crispy. And the meat itself was perfectly tender and juicy. The net effect was a dish that is definitely worth returning for. All said, I liked this place and plan to return soon to try some of the more traditional dishes. I also would like to try their special vegetarian menu, which has about two dozen meatless versions of the typical beef and chicken dishes.

To complicate the question, I'd like to hear people's thoughts on the oddly-named Honk Kong Palace in Falls Church. I have never been to Joe's or Great Wall, but HKP's Ma Po Tofu is the single best Chinese dish that I have ever had. I actually had it for lunch today along with their Chengdu Kung Pao Chicken, which was shockinly more complex and flavorful than any Kung Pao Chicken I've ever had.

I just got this in my email: To all of The Friends of The Inn at Easton: Hello, we wish you and your families very happy holidays! We wanted to keep you informed about the exciting news about the "Inn" . Andrew is opening a new restaurant a block away from the Inn called "Thai Ki ". He will be closing the restaurant at the Inn for Dinner service for January, February and March.The Inn will still be open , and we have some very exciting packages that will include Breakfast as usual ,but Dinners at the new Thai Ki. restaurant. This is a dream, he has had since he spent many years in Australia and the Far East. Please go to oour web site to see our exciting specials for the upcoming New Year at www.theinnateaston.com Andrew Evans & The Staff at The Inn at Easton

Cheese on Wheat. I had a friend in college who, almost literally, lived on these. To this day, a box still qualifies as a legitimate Christmas present for the man. They are my Lance of choice as well.

It's not what you asked for, but, as the recent "Dining in Frederick" thread indicates, there is plenty of opportunity up I-270. Lots of people and zero competition. And plenty of buldings for lease on Market Street.

I moved to Frederick from Penn Quarter in September 2005, and it was a rude awakening. But Tasting Room is a quality restaurant, which I would prefer to almost all of the restaurants in DC in its price range. The lobster chowder, lobster whipped potatoes, and filet are consistently the best things on the menu. Firestone's (next door to TR) is also much better than it needs to be, because it is also a great bar. The steaks and wine list are surprisingly good, and the burger, which is always available but not on the dinner menu, is among my favorites anywhere. Finally, Brewer's Alley has some good beers, but the food is nothing special.

Thanks for the help. I used the "True Brew" nut brown ale kit, which had a combination of malt and malt extract, and which listed the expected OG and FG in the directions. Aside from the SG, everything with the beer looks and smells great. (I also calculated about 4% ABV, which is fine with me and, I believe, fairly normal for a British beer.) Anyway, I was not planning to bottle the beer. I currently have the beer in a keg, off the lees, and I waited a full 7 days before touching the primary fermenter. I have not carbonated it; but I did add enough CO2 get rid of most of the oxygen in the head space of the keg (a typical soda keg, that is apparently a little larger than 5 gallons). I am planning to let everything sit for another 2 weeks before carbonating the beer. And I am planning to do this slowly, at low pressure, rather than force carbonating. Then, I was going to wait an additional week before tapping the keg (4 weeks total from the date I brewed it).

The temp was good - about 68 degrees throughout. And, if you count the brew day as day 0, it bubbled like crazy on day 1, moderately on day 2, slowly on day 3, and then stopped. Everything besides the SG looks good, and when I popped it open for the first time on day, I was almost knocked over by what I think were alcohol fumes. So you think I should just chill for a few weeks and drink? It is already in a keg, but I was going to wait til this weekend to carbonate.

I brewed my first batch of beer, a brown ale, a week ago and, when I went to bottle it, I discovered that the SG was a bit higher than anticipated. I started with a SG of 1.053 and finished with a SG of 1.022. I was expecting something in the neighborhood of 1.015. Anyone have an idea of what I should do? Nothing? More yeast and ferment again? Thanks.

That is too bad, because there are some very good wines to be found in Virginia, particularly from around Charlottesville. The real problems with Virginia's wines are (1) most of the good ones are not availble widely in the DC area, and (2) these wines are, at least, $5 to $10 overpriced, (3) there are a lot of mediocre wines out there, and they cost as much as the good ones, and (4) there are still a few wineries turning out some god-awful stuff (though, thankfully, these are now very much the exception). Until some distributor decides to locate, "import," and champion the worthy Virginia wines, my suggestion to all would be a tasting trip to Charlottesville to hit some of the less obvious producers. King Family, in Crozet, is one of my personal favorites. In addition to some good wines (I particularly liked the "Michael Shaps" Viognier and "Crose" Rose on my last visit), it is one of the most beautiful places I've been. My wife and I enjoyed some wine, cheese, and a polo match there this September. After that experience, I have no problems occasionally paying $25 for a bottle of their Viognier, even if it is probably worth only $15.