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Fantastic! And I'm especially excited to try some of Chris' cocktails. It's been too long.

The restaurant formerly known as the General Store and Post Office Tavern is soon to become another outpost for Pacci's. It will be called "Pacci's Trattoria & Pasticceria". Oh, pastries! Just what my expanding waste waist line needs. I love the pies from Pacci's in downtown SS so looking forward to some excellent food only a few blocks from my home. We saw people working on the renos last week. Facebook page

Short follow up on the Saturday Jamaican breakfast. Saltfish and ackee was absolutely wonderful. Accompanied by fried plantains and dumplings. Sweetness and heat from various peppers and onions, along with mild saltiness of the fish was just perfect. A little pricey for breakfast ($11.75) but worth every damn penny. Can't wait until next Saturday.

Lisa just came back from a hair appt with crèpes in maple syrup for me from the Fenton Cafe (located at 8311 Fenton St). Could have been a little thinner and less chewy, but still a nice addition to DTSS. Much preferable to a Mrs Fields, Baskin Robbins, or some other corporate dessert joint. There's a short mention in today's Silver Spring, Singular And, yes, we've been eating far too much take out and restaurant food lately. What's up with that? ETA: Aw crap - how do I fix up my mistake on the thread title (DTSS, not DTWW).

Whoa....Danko Jones? Well done, my friend. Well done.

Also interested, and echoing goodeats preference for something that doesn't moo.

Dropped in last night for a quick "date night" dinner. There are few things I find more comforting on a windy, cold night than the bar at Beck. We didn't go to the well with the mussels with frites and opted for a number of small plates. Lisa raved and raved over her roasted beet salad (note: I was not offered any). The steak tartare was delicious (though I would have replaced the fried quail egg with a raw one and a little less mustard in the steak). The small charcuterie board was a steal - I hate to think how big the full size one would be. Almost completely sliced meats and a white bean spread. A pate or terrine and maybe a but more diversity in the meats (e.g. a spicy sopressata) would have mixed things up nicely. But the real treat were the fried sweetbreads on risotto. Oh, wow....the sweetbreads were crispy on the outside yet almost creamy on the inside. The risotto itself was rich with cream and flavoured with pureed squash (I think). Easily our favorite. Too much beer and a Caps game on the TV topped off the evening. Expensive, crowded, and noisy...yes. But there's something great about that bar that keeps me coming back.

As a matter of fact, I stopped by Island Hut yesterday and had some takeout for lunch. The menu is mostly stews and curries at this point. There's a seafood section with baked tilapia, salmon, jerk or curried shrimp, and escoveitch king fish. Chicken is served baked, curried, fried, brown stewed, jerked, or BBQ. Other entrees include roast beef, stew beef, stew peas, oxtail, meat balls, curry goat, jerk or stew pork, cow foot, bbq ribs, and various salads. Sides include fried dumplings, fried plantains, corn bread, rice and peas, mac and cheese, coleslaw, yucca, and bammy. Not on the actual menu but in clear view was a large case with beef and chicken patties. Rotis aren't currently on the menu. The chef explained to me that their rotis are supplied to them and none had come in yet this week. I'd love to see that as a regular menu item. I ordered the jerk pork, curried chicken, and a beef patty. The patty looked pretty big but the actual amount of filling was less than anticipated. It wasn't very spicy and the flavour somewhat muted, but the pastry itself was excellent and flaky without being oily. For $2, it was a very good way to take the edge off my hunger. The jerk pork was easily our favorite. Not too dry, lots of large chunks of what appeared to be pork shoulder, heavily spiced and with quite a kick - just the way I like it. It was served on top of rice (which I suspect was parboiled rice - not my favorite but you can't really complain too much) and they let you chose which gravy you wanted (curry, stew, etc). The curried chicken was a little milder than what I was hoping for - not quite the rich flavour that you get from the curry chicken at, say, Tropicana. My gut feel is that it was lacking onions in the gravy. I like the way onions can break down to add both body and sweetness to a curry. But still, not bad. I suspect a bit of scotch bonnet sauce would have perked this up beautifully. I had a very nice chat with the chef - a very friendly lady who is happy to take a few minutes to talk with her customers (a certain amount of irony, in this neck of the woods). The really exciting thing is that they're going to start doing a Jamaican style breakfast on Saturdays. The chef said they'll serve things like boiled dumplings, liver, callaloo, porridges, and my favorite - salt fish and ackee! They'll be open at 6am and I can't wait to try their breakfast. All in all, I'm VERY happy to see some Caribbean food come to Wheaton and the initial visit made Lisa and I quite happy. We'll be regulars.

The article states that the landlord was owed $160,125.64 and the court found in favour of the landlord on that account. I have no idea what weekly rent on that property is...but wouldn't you think that with $160K of back rent owed, they were more than just a few weeks late? Doesn't sound like "indian giving" to me. Sounds more like cash flow management.

Happy birthday to a most awesome guy - Jake Parrott!! Have a good one, bud.

Closed. It's apparently a tax problem according to the landlords, so no real cause for schadenfreude on the part of those who think less of the proprietors. Always sad to see a business close, even if it's not one that I was wont to frequent.

I thought it was RtC in Silver Spring that was closed on Sundays now.

Lived in Toronto for 10+ years and Montreal is one of my favorite places to visit. Many good times there. Montreal is the festival capital of Canada. You name it, they have a festival for it. The Montreal Int'l Jazz Festival (FIJM), Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, Osheaga Music Festival, and Pop! Montreal are just some that take me to Montreal. The food choices are good and there are some unique opportunities. Martin Picard's hommage to provincial Quebecois cooking (and over-indulgence) at Au Pied de Cochon are well documented. Old Montreal can't be beat for classic Parisian ambience. Then again, there's something to be said for the 3am trips to La Belle Province for a cheap steam dog, or Le Banquise for their outstanding poutine. You just need to be properly shitfaced before you do either. Toronto is quieter but there's still plenty to see and do. I love the lakefront and islands in the summer. Head down to wine country in Niagara for some under appreciated wines. Check out a hockey or baseball game. The breadth and depth of food in Toronto beats Montreal. David Chang is opening a new restaurant there. Susur Lee still has his joint (Lee) there. But the authentic ethnic food is what gets me. I've never had hot and sour soup as good as you get in Toronto (deep red colour, shrimp, peas, shiitake mushrooms, strips of pork). Go into the Portuguese, Italian, Indian, Caribbean, Greek, etc parts of town to get outstanding ethnic home cooking. Many say the dim sum in Toronto is the best outside of China (and even Vancouver and SF). The one place where Toronto has failed me is sushi. I've gotten very good, but never over the top excellence there. Oh, and street food. The street food sucks. But Toronto is also the only place I've seen where you can get marine delivery (straight to your boat) from a couple of pizza and chinese fast food places. Via Rail runs a train line from downtown Mtl to downtown Tor. Why limit yourself to one place? Otherwise, go to Toronto for food, Montreal for overall culture. There's a broad brush for you.

Lisa, Spawn and I went in there around 5pm yesterday for a few drinks. They have a limited menu for the next few weeks, which makes good sense. The pub is quite small and cozy, though the barren walls could be spruced up a bit. Maybe they use the same interior decorator as Landrum. While it's not the visual equivalent of John Cage's 3:33, it does seem a little Kenny G. Prices for drinks are very good and the beer selection is, well, OK. But who can beat $3 16oz cans of PBR?? There are dart boards (real ones, not the crappy computerized ones), the place is family friendly, there are three or four flat screens, and the music wasn't so loud that you couldn't have a quiet conversation. I liked what I experienced yesterday and if things stay that way, we may have ourselves a new local.

We lived in Derwood for a year before finding our house in Silver Spring, We hit Momo Taro at least once a week. The other posts are dead on - good quality, reasonable price, friendly service, yet nothing to make a special trip for. But if you live in the area, it would be a shame not to check it out.

We've had very uneven service and food from Nava Thai lately, so much so that it's pretty much off our radar now. Our one experience with their delivery service was abysmal - after two hours of waiting, we just gave up and told them to cancel the order. For the last hour we waited, they kept promising the driver was "on his way". Honesty works much better than keeping your customers waiting and hungry. We got take out from them last week and while the floating market noodle soup was OK, the portion size was about 2/3 it's regular size (price remains the same). The larb gai wasn't even the slightest bit hot (after asking for everything to be very spicy). The salted fish and chinese broccoli was in a cloyingly sweet sauce with what appeared to be large chunks of dried fish scattered on top. Our past experience with the salted fish at Nava Thai is that they at least attempt to hydrate it a little and cook it, so this was a little disappointing. As much as I used to love Nava Thai, the floating market noodle soup is about the only thing that keeps me coming back. I'll go back to Ruan for everything else. And, yes Daniel - Sabai Sabai Simply Thai is MUCH better.

Well, we have a sick infant on our hands and aren't feeling quite so hot ourselves. So our pair of tickets to Friday night's Beer and Oyster Festival are up for grabs. IM me and let me know if you're interested. The tickets are fully transferable and available for pickup at the door so we don't have to coordinate any exchange of hardcopy tickets.

I don't know about phenomenal, but I think Bell's is a top tier brewery for "everyday brews". I always have some of their product in my fridge and rarely does a day go by when I don't grab a bottle to enjoy while cooking, watching TV, etc. Oberon, Two Hearted Ale, Best Brown, and Winter White are my favorites (I don't get the hate for the latter - it's damn hard to find a good tasting low alcohol beer).Has the quality of Bell's beers really suffered in the past several years? (not a rhetorical question since I'm a Johnny-come-lately to Bell's). Or is it possible that the increased media exposure and overall availability has turned a cool discovery into something that every Tom Dick and Harry is drinking? Sort of like when the hipster music freaks abandoned The Arcade Fire for being too popular and getting Grammy noms?

are we taking volunteers for the 3/24 evening? If so, count me in.

Paul - how does one go about "dropping by" and picking up a six pack or two? Are there specific hours when you are sure to be open? Or is it best something arranged ahead of time?

I am NOT bringing anyone with me to the brewery. The +1.5 is for lunch only.

Whole Foods in Reston also sells growlers. Quite impressed by the selection and price. 64oz of Bell's Best Brown Ale was $9.99 (of which, $3 is the growler deposit). Not bad...

In case you see this, I'm going to brave the traffic and try to be at Ace this afternoon. I'd love some of the Oarsman and Hopslam. Please IM me if you think you'll be out of stock.

The secret is to find the stash of knives with the black handles. MUCH sharper than the others. We were trying to cut soft grapefruit with the white handled knives and it was like trying to pierce leather with a plastic fork (I was thinking of a more "graphic" analogy but good taste prevailed). Thanks to cjsadler for that tip! I believe the next volunteer stint is on Mon Feb 07 (Dan - can you confirm?)...Let's try to do some post work drinking (and eating, if that's your kind of thing). Monday night might make it more reasonable to get a group into some place like Proof, Passenger, Johnny's Half Shell, etc.

The method that I used is roughly what's here in this illustrated blog post: http://porcinichronicles.blogspot.com/2006/09/spaghetti-ai-ricci-di-mare-con-limone.html I just warm up the olive oil with finely sliced garlic and add that, along with the sea urchin roe to the cooked pasta. I add about a tbsp of pasta water to help distribute the flavour and get the sauce to be the right consistency. Personally, I like to stir it enough so that about half the roe breaks down into a sauce. I know that's not preferred by some but I like it that way. The only other thing I add is pepper. I decided to pass on the lemon and field balm, but may try it in a future attempt.