Keithstg

The restaurant at the Goodstone Inn?

I'm thinking of flying my wife and I first class out to Napa for her birthday. Does anyone know of any good domestic first class dining experiences?

Anyone have any tricks for paying less than $2,000 a ticket?

I highly recommend Virgin America's first class, and there are multiple IAD-SFO runs per day. They have become our go-to cross country carrier, and I think are best from a service and amenity perspective. Unfortunately their first class tickets have jumped in price since they debuted - it used to be possible to fly from IAD-SFO for ~$1200 first class. Now it's right around $2k...

Here's a menu sample: Click

I He was a brilliant financial analyst, and a pleasure to communicate with.

At any rate, I join you in toasting Bill Meehan. He was a good guy.

To say the least. Bill was an incredible person, and as you mention, a brilliant analyst. After dinner at Rogue24 last night, I came home and popped open a can of bud heavy to toast Bill's memory. Dick was no less special, and from my hometown. The consummate family man, I am sure he is happy to see all of the kids participating in the after school sports that the foundation named in his honor supports.

To Dick Keane and Bill Meehan.

On 8/30/2011 at 9:42 AM, DanCole42 said:

Any tips for getting a res at Laundry?

Here is a pretty comprehensive list.

Amex Concierge works well, as do some well-placed concierges at local hotels. These methods seem to have the highest hit rate - can't speak to Open Table...

Wow, that was brutal. Even when they were gracious enough to offer you another dish gratis, and you blasted them? And you were a former regular? And during Ramadan, no less, when the kitchen staff and the front of the house can't even sip a drop of water during the day. Wow....!

Allow me an attempt at rewriting your post for you....

I tried Mount of Lebanon last week. I was a regular at their old place before the fire and was looking forward to their reopening. The dining room was mostly empty, and I experienced some of their early growing pains. My shwarma was not quite up to their old standards, but they graciously offered to comp me another meal to compensate. That's the kind of people they are, and during Ramadan when they are all fasting during the day, it really impressed me. Despite today's hiccup, and given how many enjoyable meals I've experienced there in the past, I am looking forward to giving them another shot.

Wow, are you serious with this? The OP's review was FAR from a blast, and I don't see how re-branding something that was "inedible" as "not quite up to their old standards" helps anyone...

This is and should be a forum for the exchange of all relevant ideas -- not just those ideas that don't make people uncomfortable. And, if you don't want to be "judged" don't comment.

That being said, I think that some people doth protest too much. No one called anyone (except themselves) a monster or attacked anyone viciously. Points were made and countered, information exchanged and opinions -- ahem, "judgments" -- expressed. As someone who whored themselves out for the DR special, but afterwards felt a little unclean, it was interesting for me to read the various opinions and I intend to go forth and sin no more. I may even have learned something. That's what we're here for, right?

And, as an aside, it should be pointed out that it is impossible to say "you're judging me" without sounding like teenage girl arguing with her mom about being grounded. If you are judged for committing an act with ethical implications, either defend it or repent.

Well said, sir.

And Bonino owns a company run by Donna's wife. I said all that I have to say about this topic right here, and can't profess surprise at anything Tim wrote in the article.

What an unfortunate situation, although sadly unsurprising. I hope that all who have left G3 collect what they are owed in full, and find new jobs quickly.

If nothing else, this episode shows what some folks will overlook in the name of a discounted meal.

So how is the food?

Hopefully great, we'll weigh in after our dinner on 9/10. Had no issue signing the contract whatsoever - just looking forward to the experience!

From what I gather, there isn't anything like it in DC proper or even outside it. How could it hurt?

Maybe the Italian Store? How could it hurt? It couldn't.

As someone who resides in DC and NYC, the outright hostility toward anything or anyone associated with the NY restaurant scene on this board is frustrating, and in my opinion, misplaced. "Invasive Species" or not, Eataly or other ventures will succeed or fail on their own merit. I highly doubt Eataly or others are crowding "locals" out of the market.

Didn't Coca Cola buy Sterling winery years ago, and then end up selling it back to the original owners? Or am I disremembering...

Yes, but Coca-Cola did not sell back to the original owners, they sold to Seagram (now Diageo, as Vivendi<who bought Seagram/Universal> sold most of their wine/spirits holdings to Diageo in the early 2000s)....

I guess it isn't that hard to miss cook a steak and I probably would have given them a good review because the service was very good and they tried hard to please me.

Really? A good review despite an incorrectly cooked steak, twice?

People like to talk about the importance of buying local and quality ingredients, but, in reality, the vast majority of the people notice price more than anything else. AF is expensive. It's even more expensive if you consider that many people consider it to be in the pizza market. I can either get wonderful flatbread that feeds one person (maybe two) for $22 or two good large pizzas that can feed my entire family (five people) for about $25. If I'm just looking for pizza, that can be a no-brainer.

If I'm being honest, I didn't notice the price. My visits to the Clarendon location were good, and I enjoyed the flatbread. My visits ceased once the Clarendon location closed, largely because I rarely find myself west of Tyson's unless I'm flying out of Dulles. While I seem to remember issues with the building that AF was in in Clarendon, I think that the relative remoteness of the Broadlands location could not have helped. Honestly, were AF located in Tenleytown or Cap Hill - assuming favorable lease terms, I bet they would still be open.

CONGRATS!

Heading to Komi tonight and I wanted to bring a bottle from my Napa wine club.

What is the etiquette? Is it an insult to the sommelier to bring outside wine? Should I tip on what I would have spent on a bottle?

Have you called to see if Komi allows corkage? That's the first step. Second (IMO) would be to determine if the wine you would like to bring is on their list. If so, I personally would not bring my bottle.

I'll open a '96 Cos tonight to toast Ger A., 1996-2011. Seems appropriate to drink something too early in memory of someone gone too soon.

Ne Cede Malis, Ger.

what kind of budget are you looking at?

Depending on the answer to xdcx's question, I'd recommend a Big Green Egg...

clickity click click

Like the thread topic says, my friend has enlisted my help to look for a restaurant to host a private luncheon for 12-15 people in May. Obviously, the restaurant needs to have a private area large enough and good food, but other than that she left it wide open. Any suggestions?

Central's Jean-Louis room would fit the bill.

Next question: Would anyone mind if I made it on, say, a Tuesday night? 6:30-ish? (I suspect this may be popular enough to have multiple tables or multiple nights.)

We (me and spouse) can make it on a Tuesday, but with travel logistics and sitter logistics would be better at 7pm (if possible). If not, we'll make it work for 6:30 as best we can.

If I'm honest, one of the reasons why I'm grousing about this is because I have to listen to customer complaints about D.C. sales tax EVERY....SINGLE....DAY. Especially from the Virginia and Maryland customers who have a lower tax rate that they pay on alcohol.

Ask them if they would like to pay a commuter tax instead. Now there's one tax I could get behind*!

*sadly, this will never come to pass.

I am very interested as well.

Is it just me, or are others apathetic about the new vendors as well?

Does anyone really think that just because a food-service kiosk has the name "Shake Shack" on it, it's going to be any good? Case in point: my Max's falafel last year consisted of pre-made falafel balls, had extremely limited toppings, and was one step away from lousy.

I'll wait until they open to be apathetic. If the Shake Shack in Citifield Madoff Park is any indication, it will be far and away the best option among the ballpark eats. I've lived within five blocks of the original shake shack, and didn't find much of a difference between the ballpark version, if any. Time will tell, but Danny Meyer's previous success is some cause for optimism, no?

That is almost exactly my point. Can you say "Buyer's Remorse?"

I believe many people are saying just that, or expletives to that effect, anyway. The fact that a majority of our residents voted for this "One City" nonsense is beyond frustrating. Sales tax on alcohol is the least of our problems (and for what it's worth Joe, would not give me pause from buying wine in DC at all. Now the extra ~1% of my income that Vince wants is another matter....)

Got free tickets along the 3rd base line for today's game with the Braves (go Braves!) but no parking pass. Good news - parking in the garage is available for $40 but there's a $2 convenience fee, and another $5.25 processing and delivery fee. The delivery fee is for printing the damn parking pass at home.

Good news! Metro runs right to the stadium as well. With the early start time and the cherry blossom 10 miler, driving in will likely be rough.

No more 5 Guys, but it appears that Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, Box Frites, and El Verano Taquería.

Link to National's press release

This is a massive upgrade! Nice. About to head to the game now...hope it's not called off.