Jttops

My better half and I have been going back and forth between Silver Spring and Rehoboth for many years. We are super fortunate to have a place to lay our heads at both places, and spend more time dining out along the Delaware shore than the DC areas the last several years. Henlopen Oyster House has been one of our favorites since the owners split off from Fins more than a decade ago. Chris and Joe have run a great ship ever since, with very little staff turnover in the last 5 years or so and it shows. The folks there make you feel at home, and we have never had a bad experience in the time we have spent there. That being said, there are many great things happening along the Delaware shoreline. And there are quite a few spots in Lewes and Rehoboth to pick from. SoDel Concepts has garnered a very nice collection of establishments, both organic and acquired (Lupo, BlueCoast, Thompson Island, Fish On, Matt's Fish Camp, Catch 54, Papa Grande's, Surf Bagel, Crust and Craft, among others). And they have a very creative pastry chef staff that creates some very tasty ways to begin or end your meal, depending on your vacation vibe while in the area. Heirloom, Raas, Kindle, Agave and Half Full are all wonderful spots to land for a great meal in downtown Lewes, and Pig & Publican along with Harvest Tide Steakhouse are just on the beach side of Lewes as well. And Rehoboth/Lewes is not the only destination. The Fenwick Island area has supported a couple of shining stars. Our Harvest and One Coastal are setting new trends in preparation, presentation and mixology on the coast. So many spots to make a great weekend, or week-long destination of some very nice dining options.

Baltimore Pit Beef is a such a great find, almost no matter where you cross paths IMO. I LOVE Canopy on any day Don. The location has been so very convenient on many journeys around the Baltimore area when visiting our job sites, but Pioneer has fit in nicely when the spirit has moved me. The process of ordering is very similar to an episode of Seinfeld and the 'Soup Nazi' at both spots, and I love that. We all suffer the uninitiated with a smile, and a knowing glance that they will be just fine once they have their order - almost always eaten in the car in a spot where they may be by themselves for the first time all day - is a good thing. The fries at both spots are such a good comfort food, and I find the fry on the spuds at Canopy are usually a bit crisper no matter how they are ordered. Which is always a good thing for me. And when we are in Rehoboth, we have found that the Chap's outpost there has a good comfort spot for all. Although, there isn't an Adult Entertainment spot right next door to set the mood like the Pikesville location!

I am a frequent visitor, but not a regular a poster as I should be, but I wanted to share my thoughts on 8407 with you. The addition of 8407 Kitchen Bar to my rotation of spots for dinner at the bar has been an outstanding in my opinion. I have made two stops in two weeks and had another nice dinner experience tonight. The space is a great repurposing of several different establishments over the last 25 years, and I for one hope that 8407 sticks around for awhile. My first visit last Tuesday was spent at the street level bar. The room has a great upscale and cozy club feel. The bar staff of two (one lead and one bar back, it seemed) were friendly and engaging, but tentative with the new cocktail list and menu. Both made me feel welcome as a lone diner and the overall happy hour/early dinner hour vibe was nice with the windows open, fresh air flowing in, and an outstanding sunset over the ditch across the street that will someday be the new transit mecca. The bar seats about 12-14. I ordered off of the daily menu insert, and started out with the Sardines. A stretch for my taste, but I was glad that I took the plunge for most part. I was not sure if the grainy crunch in most bites was cornmeal, or scales from the tiny little, whole sardines, or sand, but it was not a deal breaker. The flavor was nice with an added couple of squirts of lemon wedge, but the mayonnaise served with the app was pretty plain. I noticed tonight that the dip has been changed to a viniagrette. The Bibb Lettuce Salad was very nice. Simple, clean and great balanced flavors, this salad was a nice middle course and set up the Ravioli stuffed with Short Ribs that was a special for the evening. The sauce and and veggie ragout that accompanied the delicate ravioli was very tasty and will make a great fall dish as well. I ended my evening with a very nice, spring rendition of Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler and a glass of Pinot Noir. The Cobbler was topped with a nice homemade ice cream scoop that was melting over the warm dessert. I had a good time. Tonight, I came back for seconds. This time at the upstairs bar. The early onslaught of summer made the downstairs room uncomfortable because of the combination of afternoon sun streaming in, and the AC not working properly down there. Upstairs the air was running just fine, and the staff were again very nice, friendly hosts. I tried a few of the concoctions from the cocktail list, and the 8407 Pimms was a very nice 90 degree day drink. Who am I kidding, I would have this cocktail again just about anytime. I started again off of the daily menu insert and the Grilled Asparagus Salad was like a spring breakfast plate. Very fresh tasting, with the grilled asparagus topped with a mixed frisee and greens, and a nicely poached egg sitting on top of the greens. I liked it. I then tried the Gnocchi, which has been reviewed earlier and it was very flavorful. The Gnocchi were very delicate and were slightly browned on two sides which added a subtle crispness to the orbs of potato dough. I love mushrooms, so the sauce of butter and wild mushrooms added great flavor to the dish. I was very satisfied. I ended my dinner with the Chocolate Tart that again comes with a small scoop of ice cream. This little tart is melt in your mouth fantastic. Great, dark, semi-sweet chocolate depth with a dusting of cocoa powder on top. The ice cream was a smooth and tasty addition to the end of the evening that I paired with a glass of Joel Gott zin, that went well with dessert. I live close by and look forward to many stops at 8407 along with my other rotation regulars.

I am curious if anyone agrees with me that the bar stools in cafe area in the back are some of the most uncomfortable in town? The wicker, or caned stools have a sunken seat and the support rim around the edges dig into the back of my thighs. I love stopping by on the way home from work on nights that my wife is out of town and dining at the bar. The small plates prep area is great to gaze at while making selections and the bar staff is great. Do they make it uncomfortable to hang out back there on purpose?

Twins - I couldn't agree more with your observation of the Rehoboth spot. My wife and I have been going by the place since their opening, and in our three trips this season that included food (I stop for beers and a hit of sports on TV often), the food has been disappointing. The specials board has shrunk to where it shouldn't be called a specials board any longer. I went the pizza route, thinking it has always been good, and my 'Simple Inquiry' pizza was limp and pretty tasteless. The wait staff has been consistent, and the bar staff is always on top of things at the counter, but there seems to be unhappy look on everyones face most of this season. Especially the guy who looks like he is trying to run things there. The food in Gaithersburg has been better recently than Rehoboth. Maybe the mothership is bit rudderless?

It looks like it should be soon! I stopped for coffee this morning at the adjacent Starbuck's in Hillandale and the place is coming together, finally. About half of the furniture was in the space, some wall decoration, the soda machines, including two taps for hopefully Dominion Root Beer Employment interviews have been overheard in the Starbucks for perspective folks according to the Barista staff. But I hope that some contractor lost their job over how long it has taken to finish the kitchen and get this place open. Maybe there have been inspection delays, perhaps? The folks at the Rockville store had said long ago that they were shooting to open for Super Bowl weekend.

I'd try Amalfi in Rockville on Wilkens Ave. Very good white pizza, good solid tomato sauces and some of the best eggplant parm I've ever had. Also, Pines of Rome in Bethesda and Vicino in Silver Spring are along the same lines you are looking for.

Thanks to this board, and particularly to this thread, my wife and had our first experience at Corduroy to celebrate my birthday last night. I found this board while googling around looking for information about the opening of Ray's the Classics in Silver Spring, and I am really happy that I have joined on here. The information that you all share is excellent and very entertaining, and while I have more lurker tendencies than most of you that post frequently, I am looking forward to contributing as much as possible. Our meal was really nice. Mrs. Max and I both liked the cozy space and the second floor hangout. I made note that the bar area seems like a great place to have dinner when she is out of town three, or four times a month on business. Mrs. M works three blocks away and never had thought of going here, but that all changed last night as well. Our service was just right for us. Very informative, unobtrusive and very helpful. She coached me into trying the Pork Belly and I agree with the previous posts praising the braising talents of the Chef. It was a melt in your mouth experience. The sauce was really nice with it as well. My wife had the Rockfish and the accompanying sauce and potato creation was perfect for her. I had the best birthday cake I have ever had when I ordered the Chocolate Saboyan (sp?). I barely was able to share one bite with my date of 19 years. She had the berries to munch on after dinner, and had just as hard of a time sharing the mango sorbet with me as well. Thanks again for sharing your experiences.

Four of us went to Agraria this past Saturday night at the suggestion of the birthday girl in our party, who was very interested in farm goods hook of the place, as well as the website Agraria feel and the overall warmth of the interior design. My wife and I parked in the garage just beneath Washington Harbor. That was convenient and set us back 7 bucks. The place is well done architectually, as others on this thread have noted. The bar is a great space to hang out and the crowd on Saturday night filled every seat and it was standing room only along the rail. I thought the Maxwell McKenzie prints scattered through out the place was an added bonus. His photography is a unique look at the American landscape and goes well in the space. After dinner we took a walk around and the seperate rooms are very nice spaces for private parties. One of the room has a bit of a pre-function area for cocktails before moving into the adjacent dining room. My wife made some notes about the possibilities of our downtown office mates having a holiday function here. During this heat wave, the airflow through the space was very inconsistent. The bar area was very warm, as was the front dining room where we ate dinner. The seperate function rooms however, could have doubled as meat lockers. We each got an appetizer/salad course and an entree, and we shared a dessert and a selection of cheeses after dinner. Our table was a nicely done banquet with what looked like wicker privacy barriers from the rest of the tables nearby. The sofas on each side of the table were filled with loose pillows to help take away that "I'm really sitting too far away from the table" feeling. Just having glanced at this thread the afternoon before we headed to dinner, I wasn't sure if the permanent chef was in place yet, and I happened to mention that to our birthday girl as we were entering the restaurant. That made her pause, but we went into the dinner with great expectations anyway. Of the four appetizer/salads we had, the crab and guacamole mash was the winning taste. A close second was the Beef Carparccio. Those two had the most flavor and were the more reasonably sized portions. Oddly, both of the Caesar and Mixed Greens salads were about a half of a cup mound of greens that were nicely dressed, but seemed very small in size. Our entree's included the Rib Eye Steak, Sockeye Salmon, Scallops and Grilled Halibut. The fish dishes were served with a mixed grilled veggie medley that were done just about right, but a little on the crunchy side. The steak had mashed potatoes that everyone seemed to enjoy. I thought they were too creamy. The salmon was cooked just right and wasn't over seasoned. The Halibut had a nice crust from the grill but was overdone and just a bit on the dry side. The Scallops were the hit of the table. They were carmelized very nicely, and the sauce of creme' fraiche and caviar was a nice compliment Our food runner was the same guy each time and he was just winging it. He guessed which app or salad went to whom, and he had two plates down in front of us before we could tell him he had it all wrong. He did the same thing with our entrees. I don't mind someone not knowing who gets what food, but it was almost as if he was trying to make us think he knew, when he had no idea. Our server was a nice guy and seemed attentive, but he really had no answers for any of our questions that weren't simply re-reading the descriptions off of the menu. I know that we were very easy on him. The dessert that our server recommended was the Triple Chocolate Terrine. The depth of chocolate flavor was nice without overpowering, and I liked the mint accent. My wife can't take that chocolate/mint combo for some reason, so it wasn't her favorite. The cheese plate was a hit with the two of us that ate most of it, but the cuts of cheese on the plate were very small and when the plate was delivered (by the food runner, again), there was no explaination of which cheese was which. So we waited for our server to swing by and he clearly had no idea, but proceeded to guess anyway. I started laughing after he left and asked our table if we believed him. Nobody did. The cheeses were great anyway. We made it out of the restaurant for about $80 per person that included a round of drinks before dinner and a bottle of Australian Shiraz from Hugh Hamilton that was very nice with dinner. We then went to the bar for an after dinner drink and our server bought our birthday girl a drink on him. Very nice touch to a nice evening.

I am on cheesesteak number 5 on my South Street Steaks frequent flyer card, and Don is right on the money with his review. Most of my visits have been during the lunch hour, mostly on weekdays, and the wait has been about 15 minutes each time. Last Wednesday (their first day open after the Sunday Source article), there was a line of about 12 or so wrapped out the door at lunch time. Phone orders also get mixed in, and there was a delivery dude that lugged three loads out the door during my eat-in experience that day. The team there would definately benefit from a lesson or two in production efficiencies, but the folks work hard and are into what they are doing, which I think makes the wait feel better, and you forget about what you went through to get your cheesesteak after you've eaten it. I too got hooked on the cheesesteak train during my days in State College, PA and my roommates from the Philly burbs. Being from the better... er, I mean, other side of the state where the sandwich craziness involves piling lots of untraditional combinations together on the same sandwich (Primanti's), I have come to look forward to a great cheesesteak, and I think this place has it down. Previously my wife and I have settled for the cheesesteak from Cheesesteak Mike's in Hillandale just north of the Beltway exit on New Hampshire Ave. They make a good sandwich, but South Streets' version has become my favorite with about 30% more steak than what I have become used to at Mike's. I have to try the aging process on a take out order next, although I have a hard time thinking that the great bread does not go completely soggy after 30 or 40 minutes. Happy eating.