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Seanchai

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Everything posted by Seanchai

  1. Seanchai
    New season is starting up January 7. Out of all the non-old school TV network shows that have gotten so much acclaim the last few years (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, etc.), this is the only one I've really gotten into. SInce I only watch TV for movies, sports, Top Chef and the Daily Show, maybe I haven't tried that hard. Much like many of my favorite thriller/mystery writers, the show takes the stance that the plot of any given show/season is just a mechanism to deliver multiple three-dimensional character studies, witty dialogue, and thrilling scenes. I was a big fan of Deadwood with Olyphant and it's fun to see how many alumni of that fantastic, short-lived show have made it over to Justified to banter with Olyphant's Raylan Givens. Both shows have/had a love for language which makes them so much fun to watch and quote the next day. Well done low art, backwoods noir.
  2. Seanchai
    Just made a batch of green chili/stew; not sure what it is. I basically take the recipe for Rick Bayless' roasted tomatillo salsa from his Salsas That Cook (an excellent little cookbook),and sub in homemade chicken stock for water in the recipe and puree it. I brown about 3 or 4 pounds of cubed pork shoulder in olive oil/bacon fat, add the salsa and additional quart or so of stock, thrown in some cumin and brown sugar, and let it bubble away for about 2 and half hours. Whatever it's called, it's dang tasty.
  3. Seanchai
    The fun part of working for a tourist cash cow of a restaurant in the late 80s/early 90s. If you worked nights, you had as many shift drinks after the restaurant closed as the manager closing up. Working Saturday nights, the bartenders and wait staff would be loaded by 10 o'clock, last call for customers at 2, leave the restaurant when the sun came up. We would go through a case of Bass Ale after closing the restaurant on Saturday nights. Looking back, I can't believe that this was allowed to happen from a management perspective. Of course, the bad double standard was that the kitchen didn't get to experience any of this, strictly front of the house.
  4. Seanchai
    Fireworks is not going to set the pizza or beer worlds on fire/generate hype, but both programs are very solid and as SeanMike said, well-priced. For instance, Pizzeria Paradiso gets more hype in the beer world, but their expensive pizzas are merely decent and not a good value at all. For the pizza/beer value, I think Fireworks in Courthouse is probably the best deal in the DC area.
  5. Seanchai
    Ah Garretts; my first "local" in DC the summer of 1987, before I knew better. Never ate there, would get faced nearly every Friday afternoon after the last law class at GW, drinking pints of Rolling Rock. Would slip the bartender 5 bucks to play the new alternative cassette I had just purchased at Tower Records. My buddies and I would stagger out of there around 8 o'clock, grab a couple of slices at the disgusting pizza takeout place on M Street with the bouncer standing in front, and stagger across the bridge to Arlington. Glory days
  6. Seanchai
    OK, had my culinary adventure this past weekend. Stopped by Union Market early Saturday morning, dumped the car off in Arlington at the hotel and wandered into DC from there. I ended up eating at Churchkey for lunch (weather was too threatening for Garden District) and Ghibellina for happy hour/dinner. Much to my surprise, I enjoyed lunch more than dinner. I had the porchetta sandwich with ramp pesto at Churchkey and it was phenomenal. The best sandwich I've had in a long time. I had the escarole salad and a margherita pizza at Ghibellina and both were ... pretty good. The cheese was scanty so it was more like having a marinara pizza without the extra seasonings. The crust was crisp, slightly chewy and perfectly acceptable, just not transcendent like I hoped it might be. Ghibellina was slammed and the pizza took a while to come, which was fine. Service was very friendly if a bit slow and inefficient at the bar. Speaking of transcendent, I did make it to Pupatella yesterday and while it's not fair to compare different kinds of pizzas, I did enjoy my arugula/prosciutto pizza at Pupatella much more . Thanks for all of the suggestions.
  7. Seanchai
    Trying the Fregola Risotto recipe from the Michael's Genuine Food cookbook. Including shrimp, fresh corn, and leeks, it seems nice and summery.
  8. Seanchai
    Like the food scene, I've noticed the gastropub (for lack of a better word) environment in DC is improving but still lacking when compared to places like Philly, Chicago, and NYC. In Philadelphia there are a ton of good neighborhood taverns that have excellent food. Meridian Pint is attempting to do this although some say the food is lacking (I've liked what I've had there). It's hard to create these places in the well-established neighborhoods of DC because of what I assume are significant rent issues. I think H street NE and Petworth among other "edgier" areas have the potential to be the equivalent of the Northern Liberties area of Philly where you do have that concentration of neighborhood food and drink artisans along with the ethnic places that preceded them along with what I'm assuming are lower rents.
  9. Seanchai
    I don't know about shade, but historically the great late afternoon outside drinking location with the great view of the human freakshow on 17th st. NW is the patio at the Fox and Hounds. Ahhh, my misspent youth ...
  10. Seanchai
    OK, because of working in education I can't accompany my wife and two sons to the beach for a week in early August. Naturally, I snap into action and plan for at least a stay-over Saturday/ come back Sunday mid-day trip to DC. I'm coming from central VA and will be staying near Courthouse in Arlington. So, despite living and working in the District many years ago and visiting DC with family for the last 10 or so years, this is a rare chance to explore and maybe eat stuff my family doesn't like to eat. Tentative plans are to go to the Standard/Garden District for lunch, wander up and down 14th/U having the occaisional malted beverage, and maybe got to Etto for pizza/snacks. Sunday morning maybe hit Bayou Bakery for breakfast snacks, hit Pupatella for lunch and maybe stop by Mad Fox for a growler on the way back to get the dog out of the kennel before 4 p.m. I don't want anything more than moderate in price (up to $20 entree) and I want casual. Sounds great, right? Having typed that out, it feels too much in my comfort zone. So, various things come to mind. Izakaya Seki. El Chucho. Room 11. Ghibellina. What out there should I push myself towards yet still stay casual and moderately priced on a Saturday?
  11. Seanchai
    Very well stated, exactly how I feel.
  12. Seanchai
    This could very well be a fine representation of the style, and it could be I just don't care for the style. I'm usually a huge Founders fanboy but this beer didn't do it for me. My taste of it was like it was a "light" version of one of those over-the-top West coast IPA bitter bombs with little malt balance. If I'm going lighter with lower ABV, I'd rather have a good pilsner like Victory's Prima Pils or a clean pale ale like Blue Mountain's Full Nelson.
  13. Seanchai
    I've taken the name of my late, lamented antiquarian book business (still limping along in cyberspace, but not really).
  14. Seanchai
    Making this post pizza-specific, I've eaten some of the best pizza of my life this past year: Apizza Scholls - Portland (number 1, the others in no particular order) Pizzeria Mozza -Los Angeles Motorino - NYC Pizzeria Orso Pupatella And yes, despite the seeming consensus of this community, Pizzaria Paradiso (Dupont)
  15. Seanchai
    On a trip to NYC with my family that was filled with great eats at casual restaurants, the duck lunch at the Ssam Bar was the clear winner. The rotissiere duck over rice with chive pancake, the duck wings, the duck duck noodles, and of course the obligatory steamed pork buns were all amazing.
  16. Seanchai
    Please explain to me this concept of leftover red wine. It confuses me; have I been doing it wrong all these years?
  17. Seanchai
    It's a beer place, but I've found the casual pub food at Double Mountain Brewery in Hood River consistently delicious. And the beer fantastic, should you partake.
  18. Seanchai
    If you're thinking semi-local brewers, maybe Blue Mountain Brewery with their new Barrel House line?
  19. Seanchai
    Lot of good suggestions there as well. One note; SSips (not a typo) on the Downtown Mall has closed and is being replaced as of next Friday by the Citizen Burger Bar, supposedly a gourmet, locavore burger place with lots of local beer/wine.
  20. Seanchai
    Back in the day (late 80s/early 90s), I could testify that sitting at the nexus of the then Sheraton and the Omni Shoreham hotels, Murphy's of DC would be the recepient of tour buses full of German tourists all armed with 6 words of English: "One steak, one beer, separate checks". As a former waiter there, I still wake up in the middle of the night screaming, sweating and swearing at them.
  21. Seanchai
    On the higher end you have The Ivy Inn, Fleurie, and C&O with solid wine lists. Mid-range i would suggest Maya (Southern farm-to table), Orzo (Mediterrean wine bar) , Tavola (ingredient driven Italian), The Local (casual modern American) and Mas (Spanish tapas). On the less expensive end: The Whiskey Jar (Virginia roots food), Contintental Divide (southwestern) and Beer Run (eclectic American).
  22. Seanchai
    Although everyone always kills Mario's on Wilson Blvd. in Arlington, their meat pizza along with the same pie at Trio pizza in Adams Morgan were great hang-over, so-bad-it's good-pizza for a younger, drunker version of me.
  23. Seanchai
    Just finishing up a trip to Nags Head and I have to say, I've been pleasantly surprised by my casual food options down here. Good, fresh and not prohibitively expensive seafood was had at the Red Drum Taphouse (Nags Head), Fisherman's Wharf (Wanchese), Tortuga's Lie (Nags Head and probably the best of the bunch), Outer Banks Brewing (Kill Devil Hills) and the Black Pelican (Kitty Hawk).
  24. Seanchai
    Whoops, thanks for the catch: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid= 215708338021784773667.00047ab13215d859a1a3b
  25. Seanchai
    I see your map and raise: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=217347424247373284335.00047c4e2b29fb8e5a0bc&msa=0&mid=1325292031
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