captcourt

Another vote for Proof here, but I haven't been to Komi, Eve or the back room of Palena, so take my vote FWIW. My two meals at Proof were stellar from the arrival to the departure.

As a non-expert in pork belly, my only thought is maybe the extra curing time. I can't see soy sauce making it bitter, just maybe too salty.

We're currently doing a recipe per weekend from Thomas Keller's "Ad Hoc at Home," and this weekend's recipe is the braised pork belly - brining, braising, pressing, and more braising. Btw, the brine recipe is simple but amazing, it made the whole house smell wonderful.

Since the Keller recipe is a 3-day affair, we brined/braised today, are pressing tonight, and are braising/eating tomorrow. Will report back. (If someone else has made this, please tell me it's wonderful...)

k.d. lang, for having a perfect voice, for wearing a three-piece suit at the opening ceremony, and for giving me a brief reminder of my late 20s.

If you didn't see it, here: "Hallelujah" at the Vancouver opening ceremony

I'll simply note that Tuscarora is Native American for "hemp gatherer"....

If the menu has nothing but desserts on it, that'll be the sign I'll be kissing my security clearance goodbye...

Thanks for the responses. I have a reservation and will report back. It'll be interesting to see how they do for V-Day - OpenTable had nothing before 9:30, but I'm going to call tomorrow to see if they have any openings earlier. If not, I'll bet it'll be hopping!

I was wondering whether anyone had been here recently. Considering heading up to the Lansdowne for Valentine's and having dinner at Tuscarora, but would like to know whether it's gone downhill before finalizing the plans. (And if someone has a better rec for up there, let me know that too - I did a search but this seemed like the most likely candidate.)

TIA.

Apparently, people shopping at the Virginia Square Giant really like to snuggle up with bagged salad during a snowstorm.

(I guess it's because bagged produce wasn't delivered, because there were few bags of chopped kale, too, but it's mildly funny to think of people saying, "SALAD! I must get my bag of European Greens to fortify me for shoveling the next foot of snow!")

Simmered some marinara sauce while watching the Superbowl last night. Turned out really tasty. The not-so-secret ingredients? Fennel seeds and balsamic vinegar.

+1 and I discovered fennel seeds as a key ingredient in sauce/pasta when making this recipe a few weeks ago: Laura's Best Recipes Meat and Mushroom Lasagna. Then, we made Ina Garten's billiard-ball meatballs and spaghetti recipe over this past snow weekend and threw in the fennel instead of nutmeg. Spectacular.

Not sure why we had a fear of fennel, since we like the actual vegetable, but we're now over it.

Fennel, granny smith apple and blue cheese salad with a garlic vinaigrette

Alton Brown's pressure cooker chili, to break in the new kitchen appliance. Tasty, but pretty salty (and I like salt); next time, in lieu of store-bought salsa, I'll make my own with no-salt-added canned diced tomatoes and put that in.

Kona's Pipeline Porter

Went to B&G for lunch a couple of months ago and loved it. Really nice assortment of oysters, the fried clam platter was the best we'd ever had - not at all greasy, light breading, extremely flavorful clams - and the greek yogurt panna cotta was to die for (I think it might have been passionfruit at that time, now it looks like they've got pear relish with it). Portions are normal size, based on the clam platter and what we saw other people order, so if you go really hungry, it won't be cheap. It's a small place, so you should probably make a reservation, though we walked in for an early lunch around 11:45 AM and got seats at the bar.

Next time I'm hoping to try Neptune for a comparison.

Tofu pan-fried and then simmered in dates and tamarind sauce from Stonehouse27 (www.stonehouse27.com). I prefer to make my own sauces, but I'm putting in a plug because I found these folks at the Metropolitan Cooking Show this past weekend and loved their stuff, so I'd like them to succeed. They're a new outfit from Tennessee, their sauces have no artificial junk in them and no added salt, and all are vegetarian (some vegan). Plus, the people were super pleasant without being pushy.

Side dish of Moroccan chickpeas with apples - recipe from the Washington Post a few weeks ago (this made the house smell even more fantastic than the simmering tofu did)

When you know that you get paid whether the service is good or bad, why bother with good?

1) Because you can still get fired? 2) Because it's possible (and preferred) to take pride in one's work no matter what you're doing? I realize these can be little motivation when you're working for a rotten boss but that's true in any profession. And customer service is automatically fraught with stress and unfairness, perceived or real.

Last night:

- deep-fried softshell crabs ith a chili basil sauce that was pretty freaking hot, and I didn't even use all of the serrano I chopped

- pad thai (from the True Thai cookbook)

- a very non-Thai peach cobbler

La Piazza in Alexandria. Bucatini all'amatriciana, mmm. (Note that I haven't been there in quite a while so I hope others will correct me if it's gone downhill.) But it's counter service, you order and they deliver to your table, so that may not fit your bill.

And I just checked their website (http://www.lapiazzaoldtown.com/) - the "low-carb sampler" on the menu is a heart attack waiting to happen. I need to go back there.

And of course that's the one that's going to close.

Wayne Rash

Are you saying this as a known fact? Did I miss something upthread? I always liked stopping by to pick up some chowder in the winter, so I hope you're just engaging in some good NY-style cynicism.

Winelibrary.com is doing a free shipping deal on 100 or so wines, until 9 AM Monday. Since I'm not well-versed in wine (I just drink it and hope it's good) I don't know if any of the ones that are $15 or less are decent, but thought I'd mention it.

The months of May through September find me almost exclusively in shorts and my Teva sandals. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Tevas are the Armani of flip-flops. Hmm, maybe if I wear mine with $300 jeans?

Stopped by for lunch yesterday in between errands, a little before 1. Not at all crowded. We were greeted at the door by an earnest, concerned woman letting us know that "food would take a while, maybe 20-25 minutes" because they were training a new chef in the kitchen. No problem, it's 300 degrees outside, we'll hang out in the A/C. We got a couple of Stella drafts, a burger cooked on the rare side of medium rare, and the garlicky kielbasa with peppers and onions. The onion rings must have posed a challenge, as our attentive, pleasant server arrived with the food saying "I brought you fries for now so you can start on your burger, I'll bring out the rings in a couple of minutes." Nice touch so the burger doesn't get cold, and again no problem, since both the fries and the rings, which did arrive a few minutes later, were great. The thin layer of batter on the rings was incredibly crispy.

$40 later, we went home and took a nap. This place is dangerously close to our house.

For the record, there was auto racing on one of the TVs (Speed channel?). And a couple of people working behind the bar, though there were only five or six people sitting at it.

at Planet Hollywood, Commander's Palace

at Mandalay Bay, Burger Bar, rm seafood-downstairs

i think Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse is across the strip from the Monte Carlo

Commander's Palace is currently closed because it's moving.

I'm not sure you can get out of either rm seafood or Smith & Wollensky for $50/pp without alcohol, much less with. Burger Bar is better-priced, but it's also less of a restaurant and more akin to 'wichcraft; not sure if Spiral is looking for a "work dinner" sort of place, or if it's a bunch of colleagues who are okay with just going to grab food. If so, then Burger Bar is a good choice.

I'm sorry to be so negative - I just got back from Vegas and was stunned by the prices at places on the Strip. I know, I know, it's a captive audience, Vegas isn't the same as it used to be, etc., but unless you're going to someplace that's not intended to be a "restaurant," you're looking at nearly $100/pp with tax and tip for dinner, including an appetizer, entree, and dessert or coffee, not necessarily including alcohol. Two grandes at Starbucks - no extras, just the joe - cost $7.

On a more positive note, I do plan to mention all the great off-strip eating (including a favorite of yours, Bonito Michoacan) we did when I finish writing up my trip report, which will include food porn photos - though nothing approaching DanCole's meat shots!

And if anyone can indeed list something that comes in at $50/pp with alcohol that's decent, I'd love to hear about it since of course I plan to return to win back the money I lost...

And, apparently, under no circumstances should you park in the lot of the little strip mall on the corner of Columbia Pike and Glebe, to the left as you're facing the restaurant. I guess you'll be towed before you even get to order your sun-dried beef. (Often, before you are seated, the servers will ask if you have parked there.)

On Maui, go to Saigon Cafe for Vietnamese - it's in the "downtown" area of the island, and happened to be close to where we were staying, but it's totally not near the tourist areas. Definitely inexpensive for Maui, and good.

On Kaua'i, I can't say the food was stellar. I do remember the first place we ate upon arrival, which was a literal hole in the wall taqueria near Poi'pu Beach, and I *think* it was called Taqueria Nortenos, that was cheap and tasty. Basically takeout only, but there were a few chairs around so we sat. The place is very close, but on the opposite side of the street, from the mall that contains Puka Dog and Roy's, if I remember correctly.

Have a great time, both islands are beautiful!

I know nothing about this place and have never seen it, but I encountered the menu/web site while searching for something completely different

http://www.sweetmangocafe.com/

I can't even guarantee that it's still open, but someone is paying to keep that site up there.

It's still there - my +1 drives past it on the way to work every day. At the moment, neither of us can provide any info other than that, though!

We will give it another try, but stay away from the fried foods the next time and maybe ask for "Thai Spicy" so they know we mean business. It seems like you have to become a regular at traditional Sichuan restaurants for them to believe you really can handle the heat. I guess it's the same with Thai places.

In my experience (and from what I've seen on the board, many others'), Thai Square is one of the places in the area that does not dumb down the spiciness. One night I had larb gai that turned me into a dragon. So I suspect you were the unlucky recipient of an off night.

Mmmm, reading this thread made me realize I haven't been there in a while...

Spinach, feta, tomato, and artichoke hearts in 1 omelet and 1 scramble

Lots of Nueske's canadian bacon

Colombian coffee from Intelligentsia

Thanks. Does it cook like rice? I was thinking of using chicken stock to make it.

Yes, it does cook like rice, and I agree with Monavano on using salted water or stock if you're just going to use it as a basic side dish (you can add a little shallot or a few pieces of dried mushroom too). If you're going to dress it, though, then no need.

Definitely rinse the quinoa before you cook it, because it has that soapy thing going on.

I have finally decided to conquer my horror (those icky germ rings...) and try cooking quinoa at home. Any suggestions?

IMHO, the germ rings don't really detract from (or add to, either) the texture, which I like a lot. In fact, I don't really notice them at all (but I don't think I had the same issue as you when I first tried it, I just thought the rings were funky). If you want to go with something safe for your first time, try using it in your favorite tabbouleh or pilaf recipe instead of bulgur/rice. I did it with my last batch of tabbouleh and really liked it - I used some of the leftover to stuff a vegetable that I can no longer remember (maybe acorn squash?), but it was tasty.