Keithstg

To George Steinbrenner...it is fitting that Bob Sheppard will be there to announce his arrival...

As a Yankee fan he is responsible for many of the seminal sporting moments of my youth. But as a baseball fan, he changed the way the business worked for small (flooding teams with revenue sharing) and large (daring the other owners to spend to keep up) market teams. He will be missed.

Ditto. Will be at the game on Friday to toast the boss. Fitting that they will play the Rays. Love him or hate him, he did all he could to put a winning team on the field.

If Firefly is too fancy, perhaps Famous Luigi's?

I realize I will lose points for this suggestion, but if Firefly is too fancy, and Urbana might be too loud, Paradiso might be too loud as well. Seems like your friend might like a decent red sauce place...

No, they are the same - you can input your Giant Card # into the system as well. There is of course a delivery fee, which adds to the cost, but the actual grocery prices are identical.

Havana is pretty good, only open for dinner, good wine list. Burning Tree has been around forever in various incarnations - it's out of town on the road to seal harbor, and at last glance, was a vegetarian restaurant, but that may have changed.

No clue on McKay's, sorry.

Bar Harbor can be a tourist trap. Very crowded. You might consider driving or cylcling to South West Harbor. Much quieter and much more Maine. If you do, I have three recs --Cafe 2, Fiddlers's Green, and Red Sky. But while you are in Acadia, the carriage trails are really interesting.

This is true, although you will be ahead of the real tourist madness, which is all of August. In Bar Harbor I can recommend Galyn's, Michele's, echo the Cafe this way rec, and also throw in a rec for the Lompoc Brew Pub.

After spending 32 summers up here thus far I'd be hard pressed to call one spot on MDI "more maine" than another, largely because I am "from away". That said, NE and SW Harbor are quiet and have a nice feel to them. Most DR.com'ers would enjoy Sawyer's Market in SW harbor as well. Bassa in NE Harbor would be a great place for dinner, assuming they have opened again this season (haven't been up since March).

The Challenge: Lunch or dinner for 14 people, mixture of adults and teenagers/children (youngest is 11), below 14th Street. Other than Otto, what would work for a group this size? TIA.

I'd suggest Freeman's, although the kids might scare the hipsters. I've done a group dinner for around 14 there before - it was a good time and the food was good, although not revelatory.

To Joel Quenneville. Always a Whaler, now a Stanley Cup Champion. Next year hopefully it will be Evason's turn.

Assuming you got out at 5, you could take the train up and eat at Nougatine at Jean Georges, and make it back to Penn Station by 8pm. If you got out at 6 it could be too close for comfort, though. Alternatively, and this is kind of a hike, you could try and get down to Scarpetta.

And for lowbrow, you can walk across the street from Penn Station into a Brother Jimmy's.

From that article. If the chef thinks that speaking calmly "doesn't work" then he has problems. He has a giant ego that isn't matched by his business sense. His restaurant has only been open two years and has already had one name change. I doubt the restaurant will be there in a year.

I think that both parties are in the wrong here, but to be clear, the name change was due to a copyright claim on "Forge", nothing else. That said, I dined at Forge about a month after it first opened and wasn't terribly impressed.

Need your advice: going to be in NYC for a very important birthday -- yes, one of those with a 0 on the end. Want to have one blowout dinner for the celebration. Right now we are vacillating between Per Se and Le Bernardin. However, would really like your input. Also, would love suggestions for a less opulent dinner the second night. Open to all cuisines. Thanks so much!

I ahven't been to either Per Se or Le Bernardin since 2009, so things may have changed, but I would seriously consider having your blowout dinner at Le Bernardin, and trying a less opulent dinner at the lounge at Per Se, if they are still seating for a la carte meals there and you don't mind eating early or late. Alternatively, since you enjoy Austrian food, how about Wallse?

I wish I were still drinking the wines enjoyed at a table with friends last night. It all started with the always astonishing Agrapart and Fils Les 7 Crus, moved onto the Orin Swift Prisoner, Caldwell Rocket Science, and an Argentinean Malbec that almost made me change my mind about these wines (I think that I am forgetting at least one wine).

That Rocket Science is a lot of fun (that's the word my wife used to describe it, and I think it works). We'll be drinking some this weekend. Many thanks to Mark for selling me a case.

Brother and dad are coming into town Father's Day weekend, and while most of the time will be taken up by baseball, we're setting aside Saturday night for a special Father's Day dinner. I think I have it narrowed down to Plume or J&G, but I'm having a tough time making the final decision. Dad has good taste, but straightforward and somewhat safe--no curries or other "strange" stuff. I think he'd flip over the view at J&G (there IS a view, right? odd that none of the reviews seem to mention it) and love the decadence of the Plume tasting menu. But I don't see any recent reviews of Plume here, and the reviews of J&G are inconsistent.

Help?

Plume by a landslide, especially if your dad is into wine. If he happens to love madeira, then even more of a landslide.

edit: I have failed to write up my experiences at Plume (which I hope to remedy this weekend), but over three meals ( one tasting menu, two ala cartes) I have been more than pleased. Comparitively, I've only been to J&G twice.

Overall: good experience, even with some oddities. I'm sure the glitches will get straightened out in time, but I'd happily go back soon...except for maybe the cost.

If I may ask, what about the cost gave you pause? The only number I see is the $29 veal chop, which you thought was worth it (and seems more than reasonable). Just asking, as I rode by on my bike last night and didn't stop to look at the menu last night (stupid rain).

Are any other Rockers going to Mid-Coast Maine this summer?

I'm there every summer - unfortunately not for the entire summer anymore, like when I was little, but for at least a month. My place up there looks out at SW Harbor, actually. I've been to Red Sky in SW Harbor and enjoyed it. If you venture in to SW, check out Sawyer's Market. Also Red Bird Provisions in NE Harbor, if they open this summer - I had heard that they might not. If travelling by boat, you could always try the Islesford Dock restaurant on Little Cranberry Island. Great view, and Cynthia and Dan gave me my first summer job back in the day!

Last year for our anniversary, my in-laws offered to send us out to dinner to a place of our choice. (They did this several years ago and we had a great dinner at Citronelle.) Now, with just minutes to spare before our next anniversary, we have lined up a baby-sitter for the 22nd.

We are looking for quiet dining, really good food, a terrific cocktail or one perfect glass of wine and somewhere we probably wouldn't take our 3 year old. Ideally, it would be someplace we haven't been before.

Our first choice is Cityzen and we are on the wait list there.

So:

The Source

Proof (I've been twice, he's been once--I suspect I like it more than he does)

Marcel's

Vidalia (I've been a few times in the last year; he hasn't been since RJ Cooper took over the kitchen.)

Is there something I'm missing?

Thanks!

Jennifer

Plume in the Jefferson Hotel. I've been remiss in writing about my past few dinners there, but they have been superb.

Norm Metzger confirms that the Matchbox team -- in their bid to take over 8th Street/Barracks Row lock, stock, and milkshake makers -- are going to open a deli called DC-3.

Wow. Between that and the folks who own Cheseapeake Room, Lola's and Molly Malone's buying (or assuming the lease of ) the building currently housing the Cap Hill Vet Clinic, two restaurant groups will have the lion's share of Barracks Row.

My link

Seems as though Yelp has begun to alter its policies on reviews. One wonders if the deluge of lawsuits had anything to do with the changes.

We went to Liberty Tree on Friday evening for an early meal. Pidgey is right - the place is small, although the bar area (in front of an open kitchen) does provide some space for overflow. We were greeted warmly and seated immediately - at 5:45 we were one of two tables occupied, but when we left around 7:15 all tables were filled. We began with an order of the potato croquettes and the calamari. Both were excellent "bar food" - the latter were a big hit with our 21mo old. For mains, I had the cod entree, which was a very generous filet for $14. Our son had a pizza, which he enjoyed, and my wife had the lobster and scallop pot pie, which she enjoyed. I was able to steal a bite of the pot pie- and it was excellent. Just creamy enough, texture wise, but full of Lobster and Scallop flavor.

Our service was very friendly, although they are clearly still working out the kinks. Wines available are ok, but all priced at $8/glass $30/btl. I found the beer selection more varied. All in all, we really liked Liberty Tree, and look forward to having them in the neighborhood!

- Also, I was told that changing tables are forthcoming, and they definitely do takeout (no delivery - fingers crossed!).

I don't have proof Bourdain was paid directly....

I doubt that Bourdain is directly paid by Chase here....

Sigh. Best,

"one of those guys"

- I don't work for Chase.

Do you think he had a dark suit especially made for the day he went into the Chase offices to sign the product placement agreement? I mean, just to fit in with them, to be one of the 'guys'?

Sigh. Chase is business casual. Just saying.

Hmm...maybe Plume then?

I strongly second plume. I'm late in posting about it, but have had a couple killer meals there recently - and it certainly meets the quiet and elegant criteria.

Chesapeake Room, yes. From the Lola's and Molly Malone's folks ... which has mixed implications.

My thoughts exactly, but keeping an open mind.

So, what do y'all think--where will they be setting up the "Top Chef kitchen"? In a space in D.C. or in the 'burbs?

If it's in DC, will it be north NW or downtown? Arlington, maybe? They'll no doubt send them shopping at a Whole Foods. Which one?

Al Dente--have you heard about it?

Good God, I hope that Top Chef DC will actually be set up in DC - I am guessing downtown, as there are a number of production facilities there. It seems like past seasons of TC have been set up within the city they take part in, as opposed to say, the Real Housewives series, where many cast members don't live remotely near the cities they are "representing" (see the Atlanta cast, for one example).

Zagat Buzz has a good little blurb about this place ... have been eyeing the progress with every dog-walk down 8th Street and it's looking pretty good. Breakfast all day floats my boat, anyway; we'll see how the rest goes.

We've been doing the same thing - the sign looks cool, and the interior is extremely nice. Looking forward to both this and the chesapeake room ( think that's what it will be called) in the near future.

You have an expansive definition of the Hill. You must be a real estate agent.

I think it's actually in Trinidad.

At any rate, dropped in with the daughter about 6AM yesterday and was unable to fall in love. Should be regarded as a work in progress at this point. Lovely bones; fingers crossed.

Absolutely in Trinidad. We stopped in around 7AM on Sunday for an early bunch. We agree - totally a work in progress. Given time, I think they'll be able to work with the space constraints to turn out some good food in such a small space. Right now I think they are completely overwhelmed with the rush of patrons....