Rhone1998

3 hours ago, Marty L. said:

There will be porchetta--get it if there are two one or more of you. 

FYP 😉

Yea the 18th won't work for me either unfortunately but we will try to hit it up another time.  Enjoy!

I'd be interested in getting in on this! Thanks for organizing...

22 hours ago, DonRocks said:

If I could take any two people from past history, and have them talk with each other for two hours, I'd pick Einstein and Newton: The first ten minutes would be Einstein thanking Newton for all the groundwork he laid, and the next 1:50 would be Einstein bringing Newton up to speed on 20th-century theory. To me, that would be more significant than introducing Beethoven to Bach - boy, I wish I could be a fly on the wall, watching that conversation: There would be some serious tears shed.

I wonder if he would get it.  Or even if he got it, believe it.  My guess is that Einstein would probably come across as a science fiction writer to Newton, with the nearly 200 years that separate them proving a pretty tough obstacle to overcome.  But it would be fascinating to watch for sure.

Caliphate (though not if you're in the mood for something uplifting).

7 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I'm looking at the Ring 2.  Do you need the Ring Chime?  I assume I can install the Ring app on my phone and iPads so that when someone presses the doorbell, I will be alerted by one of my devices and I don't need an actual chime?  

If everyone who you want to hear the doorbell always has their phone with them then no need for the chime. Just hook everyone up with the app. 

If you already have a hardwired doorbell though I’d recommend just replacing it with the ring pro.  That way it will chime like it does now.

We added a chime for the basement just because we can’t always hear the bell from down there and don’t necessarily always have our phones with us 

32 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

The doorbells have motion detectors.  So they basically are security cameras.

Yes, they are security cameras. For a small fee Ring records and saves video of triggered motion and doorbell rings to your account so you can review it later. 

2 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I have that concern. How long from the doorbell ring to notification on your phone? 

Nearly instantaneous even on the slower phone. It was making the video connection that was slow but that problem went away with the new phone. 

I have a lot of experience with the Ring Doorbell, both at our house and my brother-in-law's two houses.  I would say that with one possible exception it has been  glitch free and works as advertised in any environment where you want to capture all motion that appears in front of the camera (i.e., most suburban or rural settings where the doorbell is far enough away from the street and/or sidewalk).  In front of a DC row house facing a busy sidewalk/street situation, though, there are way too many false positive motion alerts (even optimizing the sensor focus and sensitivity).

The one potential exception is the speed with which the app connected to the phone on my old iPhone when I wanted to connect to it live (like if someone rings the doorbell and you want to see who it is and talk to them, or if you just want a live view).  To my mind it was too slow, sometimes taking 15 seconds or so to connect.  But when I got a new phone a few months ago that problem went away so it may just be an issue with older, slower phones.  

On 7/23/2018 at 1:40 PM, DIShGo said:

My first Peter Chang experience was a huge disappointment. We had a sampling of signature dishes last week at the Arlington location, and all were poorly seasoned and extremely greasy. The worst offender—the cilantro fish rolls—oozed grease with each bite. They were inedible. Also oily and bland were the dry-fried eggplant and the bamboo flounder fish. The Dan Dan noodles were less greasy but lacking any real flavor aside from “heat.” The best dish, for me, was the scallion bubble pancake, but it was scant on scallions and oily on the bottom as well.

I had a fantastic lunch at the Rockville location recently, about a month ago, which included the dry fried eggplant - it was as good as I remember ever having it in previous tries in both Fredericksburg and Arlington.  Seems like consistency is a big issue across the empire, though.  Who knows, it could change tomorrow but maybe Rockville is the place to go these days for your Peter Chang fix.

Rose's Luxury?

3 hours ago, Poivrot Farci said:

The USDA does not deem celery juice powder and other vegetable derived sources of nitrates to be reliable curing agents and by law can not be called "cured".  Marketing dept takes advantage of that and calls it "uncured" because that sounds so much healthier.

Right, but what I find interesting is they go beyond saying "uncured" to having a second label that explicitly says it's "not preserved" and to keep it refrigerated below 40 degrees at all times.  Maybe there's some reg that they have to say these things but I wonder if it's marketing ... that they're emphasizing the (false) impression that there's no nitrates by pushing the idea you have to be more careful handling this product that you would have if it had contained curing salt.

D'artagnan Bacon

On 2/8/2018 at 7:02 PM, Poivrot Farci said:

“No nitrates” is nothing more than a marketing ploy, like the “no growth hormones” on chicken labels.

Your post was really eye opening for me and now I can't not notice all the "no added nitrates" labels on the bacon options in stores. In fact I would say options without that label are in the distinct minority and it's not uncommon to have the entire shelf of bacon options be in the added celery powder category.  I was even surprised to see a brand like d'Artagnan adopt this ploy.  

But one thing I don't get - if adding celery powder has the same effect as adding curing salts, why do the labels say "not preserved"? Is it just more marketing schtick?

3 hours ago, DaveO said:

Actually I wouldn’t mention any of these folks by name and of all periods of time this would be the worst.

a) not all immigrants are illegal immigrants

b) I don't think reporting "had an amazing meal from chef Cheng at XXX last night" is going to get anyone deported 

c) my bigger point is really that we owe as much praise and recognition to the unknown chefs out there as to the ones with lots of money and good PR departments behind them, and that a sizable percentage of those guys (and women) are going to be immigrants.

I don't think any of us have to go much further than this website to start making a difference in terms of recognizing and appreciating the immigrant labor that creates so many of the amazing meals we eat.  I don't think anyone would argue that the "known" chefs we talk about and celebrate here are much less likely to be immigrants.  But next time we have a fantastic meal at that Chinese hole in the wall in Rockville or that Ethiopian place in Arlington, why not ask who the chef is and mention them by name in our reviews here?  Not a huge thing but maybe collectively it can make some small difference.  And it's probably not just ethnic places either.  Who's the chef these days at Dino's Grotto? Or Rays the Steaks?

8 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I've done this exact trip, but in reverse. If you do this, don't forget to spend a night in Carcassonne (inside the ramparts). Also, visit the Dalí Museum in Figueres

The north side of the Pyrenees sure is a lot prettier than the south side, isn’t it?

23 minutes ago, astrid said:

 Basque/Catalan parts of Spain? 

One of the best vacations we ever took I think would fit the bill for you.  We did a big loop from Barcelona with a rental car, up into France, across the Pyrenees into the Basque area, and back through Spain to Barcelona, over ten days.  There are so many places to see and explore but you can set your own pace.  We explored Barcelona for a few days (great food and museums) before renting the car and heading up the coast, saw Dali's house in Cadaques (I still think the view of Cadaques from the top of the mountain you have to drive over to get down to it rivals the Taj Mahal as one of the most beautiful things I've seen in my life), did some wine tasting around Chateauneuf du Pape before heading west, saw Lourdes, then spent a few days eating very, very well in San Sebastian (and seeing the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao) before driving back to Barcelona. All the driving was easy, and there are plenty of fun, memorable, but not too adventurous activities to do along the route.

9 hours ago, dslee said:

LE GRAND AIOLI, chilled shrimp, mussels, assorted vegetables from Le Diplomate

That’s right. One of my favorite things to order at the bar there  

This should be easy but the plate was too pretty not to post.

https://imgur.com/a/3FvXovz

Four of us ordered 1 of everything from the skewers and small plates portion of the menu, plus the chicken yakitori and a few extra orders of things we especially liked.  Everything was good to excellent with the possible exception of the durian curry, which was the only plate that wasn't returned clean, and the cocktails, which I thought were a bit of a mess. Standouts were the trumpet mushrooms (ordered 2x), the bloodcake, the chicken breast (believe it or not...super juicy and flavorful), the prawn, the short rib skewer (ordered 2x) and the chicken skin dumpling.  Every element of the yakitori was excellent, though I wish they'd grilled the livers instead of making a mouse out of them.  This is a fun space with very much a chef's table feel (you are steps away from the chefs) with enthusiastic service all around.  Though just a word of warning before going in you are STANDING throughout this entire meal...the entire space kitchen included can't be more than 400 sq ft and there is no room for chairs.  

We debated ordering the duck.  $100 seems pretty steep but now that I see dslee's pictures above I'm regretting we didn't try it.  Something to look forward to next time.

13 hours ago, DonRocks said:

All day long, unless there's something I don't know. One thing people haven't mentioned about the wine bar menu is that the foods are largely pre-made - sometimes something will need to be warmed up, but more often than not, the wine bar menu features room-temperature items. If you aren't sitting at the bar, simply walk up to it, and take note of what looks good - I had a frtitata there last time that was the best I'd ever eaten (and I must surely have had frittatas (frittati?) fifty times in my life).

Go early, go often - you won't believe how much you enjoy it, even when it isn't perfect. Regarding the anchovies, get the cheapest of the three (Sicilian, I believe, and I think they're $6 (if I recall, the other two selections are $7 and $8)) - they're large, *and* they're darned good - put one on a piece of buttered bread (I think they come with bread and butter; if not, make sure something you order does). You'll think you're in heaven, and may just put in for a second order.

I once asked a waiter there if he thought the more expensive anchovies tasted better and he rolled his eyes and said it was barely possible to tell the difference so I've never ordered anything but the Sicilian ones since.  They are great, and do always come with bread and butter.

I'm in Philly for two nights next week.  Night one I'm having dinner with friends, who made a reservation at "The Love."  I know nothing about this place...will we have a good meal here?

Night two I'm solo and don't have reservations.  Was thinking of walking in somewhere early where I otherwise wouldn't be able to get reservations.  Does Zahav have a bar?

I really enjoyed the first episode.  One of the more interesting moments to me was watching one of them fold a slice of Neapolitan pizza, a method which made me realize why people might not mind the "soggy" interior of this type of pie as much as I usually do -- they cut a wedge then folded the innermost portion back toward the crust, then made anothr fold perpendicular to the first with the crust itself, creating a nice dry pocket to consume the whole thing.  Did anyone else notice this?

I stopped by Stan's for the first time today.  Interesting place, friendly vibe.  The bar was full at 4:30, but they were happy to let us order a drink and a couple of appetizers at a table.  I asked simply for a gin martini, not wanting to appear so pretentious as to specify a brand, and the waitress offered four options - Tanqueray, Bombay, Bombay Sapphire, and Gordon's I think.  My martini came in a medium sized snifter -- I'd say a good 3/4 of a cup -- filled nearly to the rim.  It was a lot of booze.  I also ordered clams casino, which were 6 small, tasty clams topped with crispy bacon and sitting in a pool of melted butter.  

Everyone was friendly and I also really appreciate not feeling rushed even though it was getting crazy busy by the end.  I can definitely see myself coming back here.  

I was working in McLean today and stopped by Organic Butcher on the way home to try the tri-trip on your advice.  I've never (knowingly) had this cut before.  I didn't call in advance, just saw it sitting unwrapped in the case and bought about a pound of it, adding some dry rub myself at home, pan searing it then leaving it in a 375 degree oven for about 11-12 minutes.  Here's what it looked like after resting.  I thought it was good, but maybe prefer the (to me) meatier flavor of hanger cut by a hair.

There's a lot of beautiful product in this store.  I also bought some blood sausage and bacon...I'm eating a lot of meat these days doing my low carb thing, can't wait to go back. Thanks for the heads up about this place!