plunk

And if I had Willow's million dollars, I'd buy lots more gourmet goodies from the Rosemont location. I cannot recall the brand name, but the baba ganoush is, hands down, the best I've ever had in pre-packaged form. Bacon, cheeses, yogurts, everything from their coolers has been top-notch, at it's prime, and quickly delighted.

With all that cash, however, I'd continue avoiding by-the-cup coffee. I've had several different blends at Rosemont and place them firmly in the "brewed too strongly for my taste" bucket. Beans by the bag are must haves, again top quality, an exceptional and dynamic selection.

I'd also drop some dollars in friendly greeting training for the staff. Granted, we're usually in "where do they think they are, the AT?" urban hiking gear when we traipse in, but we are rarely greeted with a hello, even in an otherwise empty shop. We've noted that whenever David is on site, the service picks up dramatically, quicker hellos and offers to assist after we've been browsing for a while. He's always at the top of his customer service game, offering to help us out with whatever obscure or hard-to-pair flavor request we have in mind.

Definitely agree with the poor, slow, inattentive service at the Rosemont location.

^{& if you combine the two, in a smoker, it produces an amazing result-a consistent, even temp w/ wood smoke accents to the meat. I know I constantly sing the praises of the Weber Smoky Mt. Smoker, but it's just SO easy to produce good food w/ little effort, I almost feel like it's cheating when people say the ribs or pork or turkey or whatever tastes great, because it's just a little prep & then just time....}

^{Love the WSM. Mine is old, weathered and the vents are locked in place (some open, some closed), but it still makes great barbecue.}

Agree that Kingsford is consistent and burns well for slow cooks. Also, its readily available. Have tried various brands and haven't been impressed for reasons mentioned above. Royal Oak was the best lump I've tried.

I'm sorry to hear this. I never went to the wine shop part, but the kitchen was one of my favorite places for lunch. I was just there Friday and didn't see any indication of a place in trouble. Perhaps they decided to pull the plug before it got to that point though.

Agreed. Great lunch spot. Too bad.

Isn't this just nose-to-tail eating? Cosentino or somebody should incorporate it into a themed tasting menu.

Duffys for some wings, ice cold PBR, and a great crowd.

When I went there last week I felt that service was a bit slow, though certainly friendly.

I had the pho and my wife the pork bahn mi. The pho was very good, but I still prefer places like Pho Hot and Pho 75. I felt that the broth here was a bit too sweet, and that they were a bit skimpy on the meat. In fact, I asked for tendon and I don't think I came across any in my soup. However, as others have said, definitely a welcome addition to the area and I look forward to returning and trying some of their other offerrings.

I've always gone by 2 tablespoons of fat, 2 tablespoons of flour + 1 cup of liquid will give a cup of gravy.

Great tip. I always make sure to have some Wondra on hand, too, just in case.

That is a seriously impressive set up. Way to go.

Like Thistle, I use a WSM (but I think I have the smaller one). I used to be hyper-paranoid about the cooker’s temp: I used a double probe Maverick and seriously thought about upgrading to one of those bbq guru dealies. I’ve since relaxed a bit (bbq is not about stressing out), and no longer care about the temp. In fact, two of my lower vents are rusted shut. The thing still turns out some pretty good bbq.

darkstar, I tried the milkshake at Dolcezza. It was very thin but utterly delicious. I kinda wish you hadn't told us about it, though, since it's going to be a continual temptation. Also, the milkshake I had at DG this weekend (Mozambique) was so thick it was barley drinkable, so I guess alot depends on the clerk who's making it. I think but am not sure that I overheard that the pumpkin milkshake will be back the first weekend in October, in time for the Del Ray Art on the Avenue festival.

Is the pumpkin milkshake available all the time in the fall, or only when "pumpkin" is the Flavor of the Day?

I also put some fresh dill in the bottom of the jar sometimes, before putting the cukes in. Occasionally I add some other pickling spices besides garlic and bay leaf: a couple of whole allspice berries, a small dried red chile,coriander and mustard seeds. Really, the only must haves are garlic and fresh dill...

Forgive my ignorance here, but because they are not "put up", there is no need to do the whole sterilization thing, right?

BBQ Shop is great, particularly the ribs. Also, while my wife and I went to Memphis for a weekend a few months ago just to eat barbecue, the most memorable meal we had was at Gus' Fried Chicken. Great breading (which stays on the chicken) with just the right amount of heat. Wash it down with a 40 ounce bottle of Bud.

Perhaps the staffing issue is part of the opening of Virtue Feed & Grain. You have to think that some of the lead service staff came from other EatGoodFood operations to insure a smoother start there.

TSchaad

Was gonna say the same thing. We were at VF&F recently, and noticed some familiar faces from both Eve and Majestic.

Oh my. We're booked on a trip to Florence in August (I know its not ideal timing, but work schedule dictates that vacations be taken in August). I've done a bit of research and - to my great sadness - it looks like La Sostanza and Il Pizzauolo are closed for the entire month. Are we going to have a restaurant/dining problem? I knew August was the big month for euro vacations, but I somehow assumed that that didn't necessarily apply to the hospitality industry. Any info and/or up-to-date recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Tether? Portable 4G hotspot? Whaaa??? Y'all sure know your technology. I bring a book.

Friends and I dined at the cafe several weeks ago, and although the food was uniformly good, I found portion size on the cafe menu to be unpredictable. My companions had the burger and the meatballs with polenta, both of which were satisfyingly meal sized. I ordered the cod cakes, and left hungry--these were most definitely an appetizer-sized portion. Had I known, I would have supplemented with side dishes, but we were dining with a child and so didn't want to prolong our meal by ordering after the rest of the table had finished eating.

Haven't been myself, but my wife had the same issues with portion size when she went. And she doesn't eat a lot.

Mind a tip, just in case you've never been to a monster truck rally? Bring earplugs. Really.

Thanks, Porcupine! They'll also help in drowning out the banal dinnertime chatter.

Sounds great! Thank you both for organizing. My wife and I would love to attend both lunch and the tour. Looking forward to it.

Thanks for the thoughtful suggestions. Of course, Hooters is the perfect choice. Though the wives - who will be attending - might balk at this. Therefore, the "crazy umbrella drinks" at Kanlaya Thai sounds like it might work. Thanks!

Thanks, Goldenticket!

Do you know if New Big Wong takes reservations? Does it serve alcohol? As I noted above, we are going to see monster trucks afterwards, and I don't think they let you in unless you've already had a few.

I feel like this has to have been asked previously, but for the life of me can't find any thread on it.

Anyway, we're looking for a place that can accomodate a party of 8 near the Verizon center. Very casual. We're going to see monster trucks afterwards, and somehow, a place like Proof just doesn't seem right.

I was thinking one of the chinese restaurants with their shared plates and lazy susans and such. Any specific suggestions on which ones? Any other ideas? I suppose Capital Q might fit thematically speaking, but I just spent this past weekend in Memphis eating barbecue, and am not up for D.C.'s version.

Thanks!

Are your beers available for purchase locally?

Had the Chivito today. Love the saltiness from the ham and olives. There are a ton of ingredients on this enormous sandwich, but thankfully, it all stays between the bread. I think this is a great quality in a sandwich.

Would love a different type of lettuce or something else to give it more crunch. The green leaf lettuce on my sandwich today was perfectly fresh, but lost any crunch it may have had due to the warm ingredients from the rest of the sandwich (took it "to go", however, which likely played a role in the lettuce's demise). Definitely up there with the Pattison Avenue as one of the better sandwiches in town (we need more - ANY - of these places in Alexandria).

I thought this was a bit weird, though: I felt like some ingredients (roasted red pepper, mushrooms, rosemary) were decidedly on one half of my sandwich, and not the other.

Love the 2011 Hopslam. Super grapefruity; but sorta sweet, too. Better than last year's, in my opinion.

Works great for any type of meat where you are roasting to a specific temperature. I also use mine when roasting or smoking meat on the grill.

Click

Yeah, I use this same unit in my Weber Smokey Mountain cooker. It has two inputs so you can keep track of the temp of your cooker as well as the temp of the meat. Works pretty well most of the time, but I use a Thermapen for my final temp check. If you search around on the serious bbq websites, you can find more expensive units.