kturkey88

I wish there were restaurants in the area doing Thanksgiving menus for like...a week. I LOVE thanksgiving food, but am blessed but a wonderful family that um...can't cook for you-know-what.

I wonder if I'm the only person out there who would love to eat these thanksgiving menus on say, Weds night, or Sat/Sun of the weekend.

FWIW - last year, RJ went out of his way to give us a mini-T-day meal the night beforehand at Vidalia, and it was excellent and much appreciated. Anyone know of any quality restaurants that have a great turkey/etc. on their menus this time of year?

(I enjoyed the roasted turkey at Ashby Inn a few weeks ago, but am really looking for something closer and plates that are more "gluttonous" - stuffings, mashed potatoes, gravy (lots of it)...the works!)

I thought I read in the Post that there was going to be an auction related to its closing tomorrow, Oct 22.

Anyone know anything about that?

Not sure of your entire schedule, but I feel that you can go to Bottega and experience it for not a lot of money. The dinner for two of us, with tax and tip, was about $170. We could have gone and spent much less, or much more, and that is one of the things that I liked about this place, you can turn it into almost any kind of evening that you like.

Seconded. I was pleasantly surprised with Bottega's prices. We really enjoyed our dinner there, in the bar (if that matters) as we don't usually like sitting and feeling more formal than we have to. FWIW though, I didn't get think the restaurant was at all stuffy or anything though - it looked as relaxed as we felt at the bar. We jumped around the menu and tried enough great things that we ended up going back for lunch another time that week.

My "not to be missed" entree suggestion would be the Black Cod.

For what it's worth, I'm a total novice when it comes to Indian food and don't tend to like curries, etc...so this dish may be considered mild - but either way, it's delicious. Simple, moist fish with beautiful and unique flavors - it's my go-to.

So we're in the process of renovating our kitchen and just heard that the ceramic floor tiles we custom ordered from Home Depot have been discontinued...so the search continues. When we went through the bathroom reno project, we liked the showroom of Architectural Ceramics in Rockville but found the prices too expensive. We ended up getting floor tile from the now-defunct Expo, and marble tiling from some place behind the Merrifield Home Depot which I think only sells to contractors/businesses now - not to individuals.

Does anyone have any recommendations about where to get some funky, relatively inexpensive floor tiles?

Thanks in advance -

Sorry I did see the q about soapstone sooner (and be curious to know if you/anyone actually went forward with it with their kitchen), but we installed soapstone in our bathroom maybe 2 years ago and based on our experience with it, I wouldn't use it my kitchen. It looks sharp if/when it's oiled (which we've done less and less as time has gone on), but on the daily, it's looks dull (not boring, but not "sharp") and easily leaves watermarks/spots until you give it a good scrub. The watermarks haven't stained, but I find the maintenance/wipedown needed for even the random drops of water between the faucet and the hand towels to be annoying.

Zucchini quiche - made with mozzerella and mustard in a crescent roll crust. So good! My grandmother found the recipe years ago when it won a Pillsbury contest and I love it - it tends to be a big party hit too.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1850,159169-232206,00.html

Yeah, parking sucks, but O.E. is by no means "dead" after work hours. We often go for the late happy hour (post 11pm) and the dining room is still packed.

My family loves Filomena.

http://www.filomena.com/dinner.html

Oh dear god - I got 10 of 10...MUST START DIET IMMEDIATELY!

Does anyone have any favorites/recommendations for an excellent Balsamic to be given as a gift to my MIL?

Neighborhood?

Just got back from a longer than anticipated (thanks blizzard!), but excellent ski trip to Park City.

Went to the “strip” once and ate at the Wasatch Brew Pub. Food wasn’t memorable but the beers were nice and at $4.75 for 20-oz pours, we left happy enough.

http://www.wasatchbeers.com/

I don't understand the locals’ love for Davanza’s Pizza. The crust tasted like a thinner version of what I'd associate with a school cafeteria. FWIW - the margarita pizza was topped with what I think was fried basil (although it could have just been cooked onto it…either way-not what I was expecting).

The St. Regis hosts Jean-Georges' J&G Grill. The pork chop with pistachio pesto and cauliflower was so juicy and flavorful that I ordered it again two nights later.

J&G also seem to make the food served at the St Regis bar which ended up being a very adequate place to watch the super bowl (for people only mildly interested in watching the super bowl). Chili was good (I’m not really a chili person) and the beef carpaccio pizza was great – beef layered over a thin spread of cheeses topped with arugula: yum. It was light, but still had a lot of beefy, salty flavor and wasn’t at all chewy/difficult to eat.

http://www.jggrilldeercrest.com/

I was admittedly reluctant to go to off the "fine dining" list of restraunts we were provided with for fear of overpaying just to feel like a tourist, but really enjoyed both Mariposa and the Glitretind. I think we ordered a little too assertively and were therefore served our courses a little close together, but other than the slight rush, Mariposa was excellent. The pancetta wrapped quail stuffed with sausage and mushroom stuffing was the taste of the week and of course opened up the “I wish our thanksgiving tasted like this” discussion. Might sound seasonally inappropriate, but was perfect after a long cold day of skiing.

http://www.deervalley.com/dining_shopping/mariposa.html

The Stein Eriksen Lodge came off a little too kitschy for me, but the food at the Glitretind was also worth the hype. Bread basket was excellent with a variety of focaccias, a honey/sesame lavash and some plain sourdough. The lobster chowder had a good amount of lobster meat in it and was milk based, so it had a lighter feel but was still indulgent. I had a really nice veal dish served with whipped parsnip – sweet, salty and the right amount of gamey – it was delicious.

http://www.steinlodge.com/dining/glitretind/dinner

We snacked in their lounge another night and it wasn’t really our bag. The lounge singer was too loud given the size of the crowd and while it was kind of cool that the restaurant let a group of men play poker in the bar, again, it got loud and at times, obnoxious. French onion soup and a tuna app were good, but again, that bread basket was the hit. It saved the baked goat cheese and fig dip, which would have been too bland without the golden raisin and garlic (?) focaccia served that night.

Is there a coralary then? If you live in MoC, but you're willing to trek to Ray's the Steaks because, truely, Mark is so worth that drive; is there a reason to go to Ray's the Classics instead? Since I understand the fried chicken is off the menu, I can't imagine why I would go to RTC instead of RTS.

Liquor

Oh I SO hope they try to make that fried calzone!

I wonder if the cart will stay when the restaurant opens..? Sounds like we have some time before it becomes an issue but I really hope it does for those of us who work around there. Looks a little too far to walk to over a lunch break..

FYI, mentally prepare for yourself (and allow planning time) for your plane to be diverted to Montrose for the arrival or departure. The runway is essentially on a shaved mountaintop in a box canyon. Thin air, wind, and other weather disturbances lead up to 20% of the flights to go to Montrose. Landing in or taking off from Telluride a can be quite an experience.

click

Awesome pictures and good to know if we get to go to Telluride in the future, but this year we're going to Deer Valley, flying into SLC.

Thanks for the suggestions! Telluride in particular sounds great, but Park City (Deer Valley Resort) is now booked - based mostly on the airfare options available to us. I'm very excited for the trip and hoping for the best wrt food and drinks. Will report back in early Feb!

Most of us have had the experience where we imbibed a bit too much, and rather than risk the dreaded DUI arrest, we cabbed home and left our car behind. I recently saw on a bathroom wall a poster for a service that provides a ride home in your own car for the cost of a round-trip cab ride. How convenient! If only I could recall the name of the service or the bathroom where I saw it, I could program it into my Blackberry for just such an occasion. Can anyone help?

I think I remember reading that at Tallula/EatBar...?

ask and you shall receive

So I went, and I asked, and I received.

Thank you again Chef - the turkey was awesome. And I loved that gravy - although, as you could see by my plate - if it were really 'game day', I'd have probably asked for more (it was just that good!).

Happy Thanksgiving - and good luck today!

Any chance you're also making the turkey tonight? I would love to have some good turkey before going home for some bad turkey

http://www.dupontcircle.biz/tasteofdupont.htm

Happened to walk down P St last night and saw a flyer for this.

Might be a nice way to sample some of the new places on P St - Eola, Scion, etc...especially if the weather's nice.

I would love to take a long weekend this winter to ski out west. Anyone have any recommendations for cities/mountains/resorts where the restaurant options have made the trip?

We’ve started looking into Park City but nothing has been bought yet. Anyone been?

I stopped by last night for a solo dinner at the bar. I don't know how much influence Orlando has had yet on the menu or preparations, but everything was quite good - crab cake, shrimp and grits, and a very rich coconut cake. Will be interesting to follow how things evolve over time here.

For what it's worth, all three of those items were on the menu pre-Orlando, but preparations may have changed - I look forward to checking it out.

The Prime Rib:

http://www.theprimerib.com/dc/restaurantweek.html

ETA: Sorry, probably should have elaborated...Price is $39.95 for adults and $17.95 for kids 12 and under and the hours are 1-8pm. And fwiw (since I'd be curious), the Thanksgiving menu features Roasted Turkey, not Prime Rib. Not sure if other menu items including steaks will be available.

Where's T going?