hillvalley

Anyone know if a reservation is necessary for a Monday night? Have they hit Palena monday night fame or should we be able to walk right in?

Jill, can you do this again?

Jill and I have already discussed planning another tasting, although it may not be until the fall. If you are interested in joining in on one before then please let me know. I will see what we can put together if there is enough interest for the summer.

In the meantime sign up here for Jill's email newsletter for regular updates about other events at her store.

Sure, put the wedding in front of us. That's fine. We understand. See if we care

I will see you all aorund 6 at Cheestique. Jill is very excited to share what she has in store for us.

For those of you who couldn't join us take a look at the web page. Jill does tastings on a regular basis on a wide variety of cheeses.

Due to a plethora of cancelations I have a spot open for Sunday's tasting.

If you are interested PM me.

Next time you are there try the strawberry shortcake. We had to restrain ourselves from licking the plate clean.

Unfortunately we are going to have to cancel this event due to lack of response.

Please keep an eye on the calendar for upcoming events including a wine dinner at Tallulah in July.

Thanks to all of you who had hoped to have a wonderful evening of Indian food.

Chef,

Thank you for your tuna sandwich. It is a work of art. I never knew that tuna could taste that good. (Please don't tell my mother!) What is your favorite sandwich?

Sincerely,

A reformed tuna hater

The sign did not say anything but they must be hot house. Regardless of where they were grown they looked beautiful and am told they taste amazing.

I checked with my friend who is a farmer and she says the cherry season starts gearing up at the end of June.

Well the problem is that once you create something like that,  people are inevitably tempted to do really, really unnatural things with it.*

(*Kinda like free will. And genitals, obviously.)

 
When I tried to click on the link at school today the site blocker wouldn't let me view it. Even site blockers have better taste.

There have been a couple of questions about which events on the calendar are dr.com events and which are organized by an outside force. To eliminate confusion I have put a * next to the events that are ours and chats will be listed in green.

Enjoy,

Your local calendar diva

There is definately a different vibe there depending on who youa re with and how crowded the restaurant is.

I was there for dinner a couple of weeks ago for the first time. The startes or small plates (can't remember what she called them) were the highlights.

The standout was the carmelized onion and mushroom eggroll. I am not usually a fan of cooked mushrooms but this was a brilliant pairing. To take it over the top the dish was served with homemade fried noodles. I have craved this for two weeks now.

We also had the leek tart and buffalo wings. The wings, which were on the sweet side, were finger licking good. The tart had a perfect crust and was not quite big enough for the two of us.

As for brunch, I highly recommend the corn waffles. They are corn muffins after an identity crisis, but an effective one. And of course those donuts. My thighs thank the chef for making them as small as they are.

Arg, forgot to get definite answer about cherries this afternoon. I'll check with my usual source of when things will appear at market this evening.

New Morning Farm's market at the Sheridan School (36th & Alton) had their first Tuesday market of the summer today They had the regular suspects, beautiful sweet peas, asparagus, lettuce, strawberries. The exciting find du jour was heirloom tomatoes! The also had regular hot house ones but as far as I am concerned between the strawberries and heirlooms summer has arrived.

Fresh strawberries on a Tuesday may just get me through this week.

Cream of roasted asparagus soup and a sirloin tip steak I picked up at Sunnyside. This was the first time I was disappointed with their meat. It was chewy and not nearly as flavorful as their other cuts.

Could someone please tell me why I felt the need to turn on the oven on the hottest day of the year?

What time do they start serving lunch?

I've heard the same thing about the cherries. We're still a couple of weeks away for the good, ripe fruit. In the mean time sugar snap peas are as good as any fruit I saw today.

I picked up a crab cake to have for breakfast (topped with an egg, basil and parsley.) It was good, worth the $5 but a bit too salty for my taste.

Sunnyside didn't have any flat irons again this week so I picked up a couple of sirloin tips instead.

If you are on this list would you please send me an email using the account you want the paypal email sent to? It will save me more work than you can imagine.

Thanks!

I know, I know and I needed a damn good meal too. The bottle of Gragnano saved the meal and day.

Just realized I forgot to go on and on and on about what a great find that is. I rarely have more than a glass or two during a weeknight meal but the four glasses were worth the small hangover I had this morning. See, the whole post/experience wasn't cranky

The final list:

Jacques Gastreaeux

Heather

babka

brr

Rick Azzarano+1

dcpolicywonk

simdelish

mdt

Nadya

Shogun

Principia+1

Jacques is working behind the scenes to see if he can cook up a little surprise

There are a number of options around the Woodmont & Bethesda corner. On Bethesda Ave. there is your basic American food restaurant called Parkers. Good salads and sandwiches. That block also has a Thai and I think Italian Place.

Around the corner on Bethesda Ave. there is Levante. Good, basic medetterianian food. Nothing fancy but much better than HH or Legal Seafood. Austin Grill is next door.

Across the street is Thyme Square which has been around for almost a decade now. vegetarian food that used to be quite good. I haven't been there in years so I don't know how it is now.

That should get you started. Let me know if you need more suggestions.

Took a friend for dinner last night. She was tired of hearing me rave about it and wanted to see for herself. Fortunately she was thrilled to find good eats within walking distance of her place. I, however, was not that impressed.

We started with prosciutto and potato croquettes. If the menu had said potato croquettes they would have been the hit of the evening. Perfectly fried, crisp outside. The first bite reveals creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. Brilliant mashed potatoes. But there was no sign of prosciutto anywhere. I was quite disappointed.

We also had a plate of roasted olives which were wonderful. Perfect dish to linger over while catching up with a dear friend.

For our pizzas we both had the margaritas but I topped mine with the lamb meatballs. Finally, after a number of attempts I got there early enough to try the meatballs. Standing on their own they are amazing. If I had a Nona I imagine she would make meatballs like this. But as a topping for the pizza it did not work. The extra sauce make the dough soggy and the nuances of the pizza were overpowered by the meatballs. Next time I will have them separately.

Here is the current list:

Jacques Gastreaeux

Heather

babka

brr

Rick Azzarano+1

dcpolicywonk

simdelish

mdt

Nadya

Shogun

I have room for two more. Jill is excited to do a tasting for a group she knows will appreciate her special finds.

The current list. If you thought you were supposed to be on it please let me know, it's been a crazy couple of days

heather & sshorter

Jacques+2

crackers

babka

simdelish

shogun

mhberk+1

dcfoodie+1

alan7147+1

Mrs B. & Busboy

hannah+1

MelGold

mktye+5

Kathleen Michaels

Thanks to all of you who sent PM's letting me know you couldn't attend. For now, to keep things simple, please let me know only if you are definitely planning on attending. Those of you who can't will be forgiven after a reasonable penance

Hill residents are up in arms over the potential new owners: noise, traffic, cars etc. and their plans for a 300 seat restaurant/lounge/club.

[insert picture of hillvalley up in arms.]

Watching 8th street bloom over the past few years has been wonderful. If people only knew what it used to be like. But I do not think this is what the neighborhood needs. Parking was tight before the redevelopment because of the Marine Barracks and is now worse.

Friday nights on 8th & 9th between G&I are a nightmare because of the parade. This would not help. It's sad to see the church go.

Here is a link to last years street food dinner. I heard nothing but glowing amazement about how good the food is.

Just want to let you know that unless we have more people sign up in the near future this event runs the risk of being canceled. Please let me know if you are interested in attending. It would be a shame to miss such a special opportunity.

They are also opening one on the Hill. The sign is up and it looks like light construction was going on the last time I drove by a few weeks ago.

Right on Pennsylvania around 13th.

Can't wait to see the trendy Hill folk go that far down Penn. to shop