blakegwinn

Just to help anyone wondering the same thing, table situation is tough. We stuck to 5 people and I am glad. I think it would have been tough for anything larger than 6. Due to the format I don't think tables turn very quickly and even with 5 we couldn't really wait together at the wine bar due to the crowd. We did the call ahead, showed up about a half hour later and waited for a little over 50 minutes. I have to imagine this is a really tough gig for the hostesses because I think due to the small plates and variable after dinner wine consumption, the turnover times are all across the board and it is tough to gauge wait times. Also I think it would be tough to fit a party larger than 6 without splitting up. The only place I think that would be possible is that back room and you would have to wait for 4 or 5 tables in a row to all leave. ANd like I said before you never know when you will have one holdout two-top chatting over a bottle for a few hours. All that said, food was COMPLETELY worth the elbows received while waiting at the bar. Everything was just fantastic. I think they mixed up our table number with someone elses and they kept trying to deliver them to our table. I am assuming our selections were going to that other table. Instead of letting them know they weren't ours, in hindsight I wish we had just kept our mouths shut and had them rack up the charge dim sum style at the end. I would have liked to try everything on the menu. The waitress was sweet as could be and with the wine flowing, we honestly didn't even notice the wait while they got us back on track with our dishes. The higlights (as mentioned in the where are you eating thread) were the chilled pea soup, flat iron steak and even though it was extremely simple, the asparagus dish. It may sound like I was ripping on the service but as a former server I don't think mess ups make bad service (they happen to everyone), but I think handling them poorly does. The waitress and runners were calm, collected and polite and I probably wouldn't even have noticed if I didn't habitually pay attention to these kinds of things.

Highlights from my 2 and a half day, 4th of July romp through DC: -1 Saltena and 1 Turkey and Spring onion Empanada from Julia's (perfect drunken AND hungover treat) -Assortment of slices from Pete's Apizza (winner was the Sausage and onion) -Hell Burger with Amish Cheddar, bacon, grilled onions, lettuce and tomato (half with mustard half without) -Too many fantastic things to list at Cork (will throw a shout out to the Asparagus, Pea soup and Flat iron though, how the HELL do they get a flat-iron steak so tender??) -Way over-priced cocktails at Tabaq (my little sister wanted to see the roof deck) -3 pounds of assorted Mayorga coffee beans -Teaism for a French toast, salmon and eggs breakfast with a chai shake/salty oat cookie combo to be consumed during the sad drive back to NJ...

Probably not a good idea to accept free mint soup from these two....

My thoughts exactly. I was thinking about it when I was eating, why do we always eat fries with burgers anyways? I know there is a pavlovian response burned into most of our brains from years of the combination but in most other circumstances if I eat something greasy and/or heavy I like to pair it with something lighter to keep my stomach happy. If I had a plate of fries in front of me I would have finished my burger and cleaned off the rest of the fry plate. But I ate the watermelon instead and my stomach was full but I wasn't "wish I could puke to stop the pain" full like I would have been if the watermelon had been a plate of fries*. I am curious how this will change through the seasons though. Only other thing to add, the amish cheddar definitely worth the 4 dollar upgrade.*Disclaimer: I did eat an empanada on the way there...

I don't have any garden space so I can't grow my own but I have noticed whenever I buy the stuff at a farmer's market it withers in a day or two whereas the stuff from the Whole Foods or Wegman's lasts up to two weeks sometimes. I use mint a lot (I always have a mint, shallot, lemon, yogurt dipping sauce on hand for veggies and drink lots of mojitos) and this has pretty much led me to stop buying from the markets even though I would like to. But back to the topic story, WOW the ICU?? That must have been some crazy strong pesticide.

I see upthread from about a year ago some people were trying to recreate the Teaism salty oat. Anyone ever have any luck with that? Being banished to New Jersey, I would kill to be able to make some whenever I want. All we have up here are crappy black and white cookies.

I used to always say pretty much the same thing about Two Amy's.

If I remember correctly that Chadwicks (FH) is under different management than the other two. I could be wrong but I had a few friends who did a turn as servers there and I believe I remembered them telling me they were not really related. Maybe someone else could correct or elaborate on this it was awhile ago and told over a few beers. I might have "misremembered".

You know I have never tried John's. I have been meaning to go there though. I think it is because I am usually looking for a slice and I think John's might be pie only. Not sure if that is factual or not, I want to say someone told me that at some point but I can't remember. And you are right, if I am looking to have a sit down, whole pie meal I would be headed to Una.

For the moderate lunch you could grab a slice at Bleeker Street pizza. Depending on where you are at on Perry it shouldn't be more than a 5-10 minute walk. Stick to the one with fresh mozz and tomatoes, it is a cut above the other varieties. 2 slices and a beer shouldn't run you more than 8-9 bucks. I am not sure if they are open for lunch but Mercadito at 4th and Grove is great people watching and they have some really good new agey (not necessarily authentic) mexican food. If you want to go light just get the ceviche sampler or one of the taco selections. Believe it or not the tacos are actually pretty light. Beth and I shared a ceviche, guacamole sampler, and two taco plates and didn't leave feeling stuffed like you do at a typical cheese/rice/bean heavy mexican joint.

New Green Bo on Bayard. They don't call them dumplings on the menu. They are under buns. I was confused the first time when I ordered a bunch of dumplings and none were of the "soup" variety. Cash only and be prepared to sit with strangers. Get cash before you go because the only ATM's around are more than a little sketchy. I had to use one a few doors down and was checking my bank account obsessively for the next few days to make sure nothing was awry.

I completely second Katsu-Hama. Stick to the pork specialty though. I tried one or two other things and they weren't that great. I love how you make your own condiments with the sesame seed setup.

I have this picture in my head of all the RTC/MD regulars descending on the place this weekend. They all walk in as a group and everything goes quiet as the RTS/VA regulars stare at them from across the restaurant. Everyone is frozen except for a few innocent bystanders who topple over their chairs in a hurry to get out before all hell breaks loose. Then both sides start doing the two handed West Side Story finger snap and start advancing toward each other. Right before the two groups meet and the fight begins a round of burgers comes off the grill and everyone happily digs in together. The conflict is avoided, but not forgotten...

I know there are already quite a few posts on here about getting tables already but I have another. I am going to be back down in DC for my birthday this weekend and my brother and his girlfriend are taking me out to dinner on Saturday. I decided on Cork but I have never been and don't really know the size of the place, and the table setup so I am trying to figure out where I should put the limit on my crew. We have 5 of us right now and I have a few others I might invite if it doesn't jeopardize us being able to easily get in. Do any of you who have been there a few times and know the layout have any thoughts? We should get there before 7 if that helps.

My guess is that the kid was halfway through scraping your plate off into the trash and realized "Oh FU**. I was supposed to box that up...." Then whipped out the no take out containers line. I have done the exact same thing on several occasions up to the no take out containers part. When you make several hundred trips to the kitchen to scrape off a plate sometimes you just go on autopilot and accidently throw out something that was supposed to be saved. The line about take out containers though, I doubt. Even if we didn't have any I probably would have offered to wrap it up in foil at least. Even a salad. It is not ideal, but as a server at least you could say you tried. By the way the couple of times I did throw out a substantial take home portion, I just owned up to it and we ended up making another one to put in a to go container (as opposed to taking it off the bill). The customers were more than cool about that. The manager wasn't exactly thrilled with me, but what are you gonna do? One of those times actually was a salad also, which was nice because we just made a portion that was about the same size as what I tossed instead of having to remake a full dish. Ok there. I just had to add something. This seems to be the only string anyone cares about lately and I was starting to feel left out.

Rice to riches is good but how bad is it for you? Their whole marketing campaign is like "Who cares if it's fat? Live a little" Always made me curious just how bad it actually is. Try to find the Yogurt land next time. I know I have mentioned it in this thread a few times but I assure everyone I do not have any financial ties to the company. I just really like their product and hate to see pinkberry get so much play. I used to love pinkberry but after going to Yogurtland I am a complete convert. It is about a block from bleeker street pizza. Two weekends ago when it was like 98 and humid Beth and I got a few slices, a few bottles of beer, and just sat on the "patio" at bleeker street for at least an hour. Then we walked over to pinkberry and knocked back some fro yo. Great way to beat the heat. And as far as pommes frites goes I have to go with that pineapple one or the war sauce. Mmm. The last time I was there though my fries were a bit limp. They were really busy so I was thinking that maybe the oil just got too cool or something. I am sure it was just a one time occurence.

In NY a tangy fro yo stand has popped up on every block now and all of them have the exact same toppings/layout/decor. Many of them are chains but even from chain to chain there aren't really any distinguishing factors. The only slight difference is one I mentioned over on the NYC thread that you can pump your own. By the way Mr. Yogato is a freaking SWEET name.

I definitely think she deserved it but did anyone else feel a little awkward when Stephanie won Top Chef? It felt like there was a really uncomfortable silence on the set. Traditionally it has seemed to be a consolation prize of sorts. I think a lot of the other contestants were hoping for a little redemption were pretty deflated when Stephanie took that home also. Maybe the winner should just be disqualified or something.

Finally found it!!! Only took me 20 minutes. http://www.yogurt-land.com/ Restuarantgirl ranked it the second best yogurt in the city behind bloomingdales. http://www.restaurantgirl.com/restaurantgi...york-citys.html

I don't know about it being "healthy" maybe more like the lesser of two evils but either way, I gotta say I love it. I like the tart taste. I just really like that flavor. Plus I like that you get fresh plain chopped fruit instead of the fruit "toppings" that come canned in the syrup. This one is actually right around bleeker and cornelia. Around the corner from Perilla. It's not a Red Mango but for the life of me I can't remember the name... Fat free according to the nutritional info.

I definitely met a few girls who are, well ummm....not my wife.

The times I have been to Craftbar the food has spanned from below average to good the worst being what was supposed to be a fondue with molten cheese and toast points for dipping which was a cold nasty coagulated mess when we got it. Some of the food has been quite good sometimes. The service however, always terrible. A bunch of wannabe actors and models, pretty to look at but fairly inept.

I too have a Clyde's softspot. While I was at AU the one in Friendship Heights used to have a ridiculous special Thursday nights after 10 at the downstairs bar - 2 dollar pints, and a crab cake sandwich with french fries and coleslaw for 6 dollars. This one summer I went there almost every Thursday night. I was trying to scratch together enough money to be able to register for the fall so I was doing under the table construction work for my rugby coach (who still probably owes me a grand), living on an old couch in the chapter room of my friend's fraternity, sneaking into the residence halls amidst a group of summer interns to shower, and sustaining myself by way of pasta or cashing in one of the 200 or so fully stamped subway club cards I had (don't ask). Anyways I would look forward to Thursday all week because I would always hold back just enough for a crab cake sandwich and a few beers. Maybe my taste was a bit off due to the context, but I remember those crab cakes being really freaking good.

There is also a pinkberry knock off that is better than the original right around the corner. I am blanking on the name but it looks just like a pinkberry. It's basically the exact same product, but with 10-12 different flavors of yogurt (not my thing, I go for the tangy everytime) and you get to fix it yourself with anything or amount you want and then pay by weight. This is awesome for us because at pinkberry you pretty much have to get that huge size and 3 toppings.

I hear the waiters are now covered with only house-tanned leather and furs, drinks will be served in bladders and all the silver has been replaced by bone implements. Waste not, want not.This article actually made its way around my office up in New Jersey today and the chicken leg thing immediately jumped out at me. Maybe I am just having one of those "I walked 10 miles in the snow to get to school" moments that seniors often have, but in all my years on restaurant staffs I don't seem to remember a steady supply of free chicken legs coming my way. At least ones that weren't slipped to me by friends on the line.