brr

same thing just happened to us w/ some Whole Foods guacamole...although to be fair they are very good about returns - we just called em - said it was bad and they said they'd credit us for it next time we're in

last night was tomatoes straight from the garden w/ just a touch of salt, and eggplant, also from the garden, sliced, battered and fried......yum

For my sins, I get to spend the weekend in Williamsburg with a 10, 8, 6 and 4 year old. While Busch Gardens is likely to feature prominently in our agenda, I was wondering if folks has any tips for family friendly, but good eateries in the Williamsburg area. TIA

it was extremely busy - I thought service was quick and efficient but was too absorbed in my little ipod universe to realize if it was friendly or not

just finished the chicken dalliah, spicy (blazingly hot to my sensitive irish palate) chicken, caramelized onions, peanuts and plantains great flavor/texture combination - everything worked together really well although the aforementioned spice did dominate a little more than I'd like - recommended $8.25

heading out in a few mins to pick up a sandwich at Breadline

sounds like its time to move onto the folks on the waiting list

hopefully this is only slightly off topic - a magazine I subscribe to has started including a free DVD with each issue, with varied content from music videos to sneak previews to short films One of the short films on last months DVD was a documentary called "The Great Cheesesteak Debate", and amusing and informative look at Philly cheesesteaks and which purveyors native Philly-ians consider to be the best - I enjoyed it for the passion and conviction (and trash talking) displayed by the folks interviewed and suspect most other folsk on the board would as well and I agree with tripewriter - I don't see why we 'have' to have a regional specialty dish

yes, the dumplings are excellent I also like the boiled peanuts and the tripe soup

we did.....twice.. ...and it was very very good...the rind washed Hooligan was probably my favorite, closely followed by the Rogue Blue and the Old Chatham Camembert thanks to John and Rachel for their hospitality, great meeting Jacques again, and nice to meet jmchen, ustreetguy and "he who shall not be named" who proved that contrasting colors and patterns are indeed "the new black"

will anyone be at Firefly around 5-ish - I don't know if I can wait till 6!!

not much to add I read the article and thought it was "fair and balanced". I know Joe, have participated in and enjoyed two of his "blowout" dinners, and enjoy his passion for food and dining out. That said, he needs to learn when a horse is dead. I hope he starts to post on DR - I especially enjoy his posts from overseas although I'm not sure whether that falls within the DR paradigm. my 2c

did someone say interesting questions?? Boxers or briefs? Manchester United or Liverpool or.....? Coke or Pepsi? Chocolate Chip or Oatmeal Raisin? Guinness or Smithwicks? Sorry, its Friday afternoon and I'm a little stir crazy. Thanks again Cathal (and the various questioners). Your answers have been great, and a real insight into the inner workings of a top class restaurant, and your passion for food. edit: and with that, I'm a grouper - yay!

yeah, decent food (not much of a wow factor but good) - parents are not adventurous eaters so often take them here when they visit - at the Bethesda branch I convinced my Dad to order some type of lobster dish only for him to discover he didn't like lobster - they switched entrees for him at no charge which I thought was pretty classy given that strictly speaking there was nothing wrong with the original dish

demand had outstripped their ability to supply their own bread to their stores its now all baked by Uptown Bakers at a commercial facility - interestingly, about a week before MM switched to Uptown, the WaPo Food section had a big article on the accomplished young baker that had just been hired by Uptown bakers MM now also carries Breadline baguettes, which, for anyone who knows the whole history of MM, has a nice bit of circularity/closure to it....

Grilled flank steak w/ a salad of heirloom tomatoes, fresh picked basil and mozzarella cheese

Cathal Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Hopefully my question is not too off topic, as strictly speaking it does not pertain to the Washington DC dining scene. <Begin shameless asskissing>Your cooking is without a doubt the best I have ever tasted from an Irish chef and I admire the way that you integrate traditional Irish food such as black pudding into top notch dishes worthy of any table<End shameless asskissing> I'm wondering if when you return to Ireland on visits are there are other chefs whose work you admire/would seek out. One of my favorites is Neven Maguire, who operates a top class bistro in the wilds of Co. Cavan, using many local and organic ingredients like you do.

um, why don't you give the guy a break - he prefaced his statement with "as far as we know" clearly the guy is passionate about his work and his new restaurant - I like his enthusiasm

50% off is from 3-6 on weekdays, which is even better!

I was not only planning on being in the vicinity, I was also planning on being at Sonoma......until I realized the freakin DC United v Chelsea game is at FedEx field instead of RFK....needless to say I am not happy about schlepping out to Landover

cross posted in the Bucks thread last night at Bucks a server indicated that it 'should' be open by Oct/Nov - take that with as many grains of salt as you wish...

we had a nice meal at Bucks last night 4 of us arrived at 7.30, and the place was, to put it mildly slammed - but we did manage to get a table in about 20 minutes service was good, but a little overwhelmed - we were seated about 7.50, had our apps by about 8.10 and didn't get our entrees until about 9.05 - its nice not to feel rushed but we were STARVING by the time the entrees came out we ordered the house rose which was good for apps, two of us had the tomato and sweetcorn gazpacho topped with some lobster - a wonderful dish bursting with flavor - it also had great texture and a satisfying crunch as it was not liquidized/pureed with lots of tomato, corn and then some juices in the bottom of the bowl my wife had the mozzarella w/ heiloom tomatoes and pesto - this is one of our standby dishes at bucks and it was good, particularly the tomatoes, and generosuly portioned as well - however the mozzarella did not appear to be quite as tasty as previous visits - 4th app was the iceberg wedge w/ blue cheese for mains, two ordered lobster topped w/ a corn souffle and two ordered steak - both expensive at $34 and $33 respectively - the corn souffle was sublime, and the lobster was pronounced as 'good' by our dining companions - but at the price I don't know that they'd order it again steak was excellent - I ordered mine medium and it came out perfectly done - nicely charred and very very tasty - its also big, filling the whole plate and served with a very small tomato and bread salad by now it was almost 10 so we skipped dessert and sashayed off into the blessedly cool night air bill excl tip was $211 - not cheap but with 4 entrees in the 30s thats gonna happen they are clearly doing a roaring trade which is good to see - I also inquired about the new pizza place and was told that staff are sworn to secrecy but that it should be open by Oct/Nov and will be serving "Neo-Neapolitan" pizza

we probably buy 90% of our wine at CW and deal with Pepe who usually steers us in the right direction - its close to our house, albeit not as close as Ch Ch Liquors but we haven't been back since some arrogant little twerp there insulted my wife and daughter - pity, as I love their beer selection

not that I have the recipe but restaurant Eve does one of the best Mojitos I have ever tasted/drank Todd Thrasher is da man when it comes to cocktails

I can vouch for their willingness to accomodate large groups of people at the bar for happy hour (and many hours after happy hour) When I changed jobs a few months back a large crowd of us descended on Corduroy for drinks (lots of em) and snacks - we were treated splendidly throughout and my only hope is that we didn't get too rowdy