arleneivana

Oerbier is my new go-to for cold winter evenings.

I'm making a bunch of homemade ice cream and want to give some away as thank yous and hostess gifts. Anyone seen any tasteful pint containers for storing ice cream? Thought maybe Amazon would sell bulk cardboard tubs but alas they do not. I did find one store selling something like four for $8 which seems outrageous to me. On a related note, I'm excited to try the vietnamese coffee ice cream from The Perfect Scoop, the first two chapters of which you can find on Google Books. I'm shocked that a good and highly informative chunk of the book is available there free but glad for me because now I'm set unless I feel compelled to see what's in granitas, sorbets and mix-ins.

Dined at Beast this past weekend, which I highly enjoyed for the comfort food, the execution, the atmosphere and the price. Carrot soup with saffron and fresh steamed mussel (HUGE mussel, btw), charcuterie plate, braised shortribs with raisins and baked pumpkin, three fine cheeses (one from VA whose name I misremember and can't seem to find via Google), and then chocolate pots de creme with coconut sorbet and almond cookie. It's not the most innovative meal but it was very very good. I thought it was actually quite a deal for five courses and wine pairings. Note that if you get the five instead of six courses, they are more than willing to allow two people to share the cheese and then dessert plate AND will split the wine tasting among both of you as well. It's a great way to stick with the five courses/wine pairings price but still try all six things. Here's the charcuterie plate, if you click through to my flickr page, I noted each individual item. Otherwise spent time at Horse's Brass, Henry's Tavern and Rogue Alehouse, sampling beers. I thought the food at Rogue was quite good, standard bar fare but executed well; had a beer cheese soup and a meatball sub made with "kobe" beef stuffed with blue cheese that was killer. The only problem is they only have Rogue beer, granted a much bigger selection than you can get in DC. Henry's was fine for what it was but nothing special except for the beer tap selection. Horse's Brass was "british" food and generally unremarkable, plus they were out of a lot of listed beers when we arrived, which was annoying since it was a good $15 cab ride from where we were staying. But the list was full of a lot of rare beers and cask ales. If only they'd actually had them. Love Portland. Highly highly recommend for anyone interested in food/alcohol. Looking forward to returning and trying Le Pigeon (which our tablemates at Beast highly recommended. Apparently they make only five burgers a night and they are supposedly AMAZING).

At first when I just skimmed during lunch I got annoyed by yet another person decrying foodies and locally grown items because it divides us into haves vs. have nots and yadda yadda yadda Upon closer inspection, I agree that using sourcing merely as a means to drum up buzz and add another facet to the diamond of exclusivity is a hindrance, both to the food world and the new movement designed to encourage the "have nots" to explore their local food market and spurn those processed items at the store. However, I don't know if comparing restaurants such as Blue Duck Tavern (a sourcer) to Ravi Kabob (non sourcer) is fair. Restaurants like Blue Duck Tavern encompass a wide variety of experiences: celebrating your relationship with food, via plating, atmosphere, and yes, source. Look at it this way: if I'm buying a diamond I want to know the technical aspects of it - cut, color, etc. - and whether it's obtained ethically (source). Same for if I'm paying a ton for food and for the experience. This isn't to say one can't celebrate food at a place like Ravi. But I have different expectations for the place and demand a different experience from it: I want it to be cheap. I want it to be fairly quick. I want it to taste good. If they tell me where my food comes, my god that would be fantastic. I'd love to know that they were buying locally or from farms that celebrated sustainable farming and organic produce, but if they aren't I'm not going to get my panties in a bunch. I don't go to Ravi Kabob any less because of it. I've enjoyed both places equally, for what they provide to my dining experience and my life. Good food is just...good food. Isn't that the true goal of being a "foodie"? Furthermore it's not like places CAN'T do it. I remember being 13 years old and reading the "Today's French Fries are from Gibbonsville, ID" in the original Five Guys, WAY before sourcing was even important. They wanted to show you that "hey, we don't have to buy frozen McDonald's fries to give you a good, cheap, fast meal." Saying the Mom & Pops can't do it only furthers the haves v. have nots mentality.

Not TV, but Todd Thrasher just called in to the Eliot in the Morning Show on DC101 (101.1 FM) to advise Eliot on the new Wayne Gretzky wine. Eliot: "Who's this?" Todd: "Todd Thrasher." Eliot: "And what do you do?" Todd: "I own three restaurants and am a registered sommelier." Eliot: "Oh really, which restaurants?" Me: [Hand to forehead] Okay, so maybe I'm a snob in a bubble but I thought everyone knew about Todd Thrasher! He's been profiled in every city paper... /irrelevance. Return to your regularly scheduled program.

Is the bar so crowded that one shouldn't depend on it for space for dinner? Would we look silly just getting a table for a meal of beer and moules frites or is this the sort of place where they expect to serve you three courses if you get a table?

I'm taking my boyfriend there for his birthday. We've done (and loved) RTC, but I've never been to RTS, and my boyfriend hasn't been in over a year. Given the "No Reservations" policy, what day/time is the best to avoid long waits? Can we feasibly show up on Saturday and not wait two hours (well, would we probably get drinks, but 2 hours is a bit long, and kinda ruins the birthday mood)? Or should I take him early during the week?