DonRocks

Based on the average age of the clientele when I was last there, they could have gone home and bragged about it that night! Cheers, Rocks

Overheard last night: "It's formal dining for people who like The Olive Garden." "It was the worst restaurant meal I had all week except the one at Subway." Out with it, lackadaisi!

Click here.

I have some good news, and I have some bad news: The good news is that Kotobuki is no longer a secret, and that chef Hisao Abe is finally getting the recognition he deserves for running the greatest bargain sushi restaurant in the Washington area, the bad news is that Kotobuki is no longer a secret, and on any given evening, there may be a line halfway down the stairs, I arrived at 5:15 PM on a Sunday afternoon, people had started to trickle in, the phones were starting to ring, Eleanor Rigby was playing in the background, and by the time I left with my carryout order at 5:30 three chefs were working the sushi bar, I went home and gorged on some of the best scallops, flounder, white tuna, eel, and rolls in town, it’s amazing that the sushi here remains a dollar a piece, and I stay up nights fretting about how long that can possibly last, every once in awhile you stumble across a food-and-drink pairing that’s perfect, and so it was at Rustico, a decadent pizza with Duck Confit, grilled onions, arugula, and brie ($15) isn’t going to work with an ice-cold Bud, but it was truly special with a bottle of Boon Geuze, a bitter, lemony, earthy-mushroomy lambic that’s as sour as any beer you’ll ever drink, almost tasting something like a Persian doogh, frighteningly priced at $17 for a 12-ounce bottle and darned near undrinkable on its own, but just plain stunning with the fat of the duck and brie, and especially with the slight sweetness of the grilled onions, it’s worth the splurge in the name of scientific exploration, Ann Cashion won the 2004 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic Region for her terrific neighborhood restaurant, Cashion’s Eat Place, but what made Cashion’s such a special place was Ann Cashion herself, these days, you’re not very likely to see her in the kitchen because she’s so busy with other projects, and the restaurant has suffered because of it, a Charcuterie Plate with Head Cheese, Foie Gras Torchon, and Pork Rillettes ($10) was a meager presentation of foie gras and substandard rillettes, and was saved by the head cheese alone, which had an interesting cooked-down mosaic-pot-pie complexity to it, Fried Sardines with Arugula, Oranges, Arebequina Olives and Fennel ($9.50) was a dish both acceptable and forgettable, Greek Style Fisherman’s stew with Mussels, Red Mullet, and Lobster ($12.00) had a decent broth but just didn’t seem lovingly integrated with the seafood, the star of the evening was the Roasted Wild Kentucky Turkey Breast ($22), served with parsnips, salsify, baby onions, chanterelles, and pancetta in a turkey jus, it was really a very simple dish, with the sliced breast presented on top at a perfect medium-rare, Cashion’s Eat Place is still a very good restaurant, but it’s no longer the cross-town destination that it was ten years ago, “I swear this place was good when it first opened, and Ann Cashion was the head chef,” a friend just told me, but he wasn’t talking about Cashion’s Eat Place, he was talking about Austin Grill, which has shrunk from being a single, good restaurant in 1988 to being a chain of six locations serving disgusting, industrial food products for the uncritical masses, exhibit A, the Texas Sampler ($14.29) at the Silver Spring location, “a platter of wings, taquitos, beef nachos, chorizo quesadillas, and queso,” was about ten-pounds of cholesterol-ridden glop, to this day I cannot figure out what was inside the taquitos, nor do I want to know, however dismissing this food as “pig slop” wouldn’t be accurate, mainly because I would never knowingly eat any pork product where the pig had been inhumanely treated by being raised on this swill, the last two times I had been to Ella’s, it was shortly after 9 PM, and I was surprised that their kitchen was closed both times, but now that I’ve been again, it’s probably a safe bet that their evening clientele has chosen to get their pizzas down the street at Matchbox, the crust used to be thin and delicious, and now it’s just boring, a Sopressata ($12.95) was topped with bland chunks of sausage, shaved fennel, flavorless roasted peppers, a sweet tomato sauce, and parmesan, a Calzone special ($12.95) was clean, but ultimately too clean as it, too, was bland, and the Fresh Seared Salmon Nicoise Salad ($11.50) needs a hyphen between “fresh” and “seared,” I was optimistic about the housemade desserts, as Ella’s touts having their own pastry chef, but the Ice Creams ($4.50) were too cold and too sweet (although the mint chocolate chip was good), and the Assortment of Biscotti ($2.25) was a plate of, soft, sweet, dense, doughy cookies that were simply not worth eating, Morou Ouattara has assumed an enormous responsibility at the newly opened Farrah Olivia, because the dishes he’s offering are so complex and nuanced that I’m skeptical they could be properly executed in his absence, the Black-Eyed Pea Fritters ($9) are even better than they were at Signatures, mealy and flavorful, served with refried (yes, refried) tomato and tail-pepper honey, the flavorful tail-pepper being imported from Africa, Hangar Tartare ($12) was two small cylinders of a beautiful, red, hand-chopped steak served with a presentation of “65 egg” (65 degrees is the temperature at which an egg will congeal), grated radish, and a hefty streak of berbere oil, which I thought overwhelmed the delicate beef, it was a bold dish that needs some tweaking in order to be integrated, the Anise Spiced Salmon ($24) was a spectacular dish, served with a little pile of yucca couscous with a surprising crunch to it, and a “smoked shrimp essence” which was a terrific foil to the anise in the salmon, this fish was perfectly executed, and as a result was one of the best plates of food I’ve had in quite awhile, it needs to be said that the wine list at Farrah Olivia is quite possibly the single worst of any area restaurant aspiring to serve cuisine at this level, for now it’s best to stick with Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale ($4.50), a local microbrew from Frederick which, fortunately, worked better with the intricate spicing of these dishes than any wine could have, eveyone loves Pho 75, especially the one in Arlington which seems to invariably have broths of great depth, but not many people know about their addicting “Black Bean” dessert, a sweet rice-based paste mixed with black-eyed peas and (on request) topped with a layer of condensed milk, perfect to pick up at the register while you pay your bill and scarf on the ride home in order to cool the fire induced by the Sriracha hot sauce you squirted into your Pho, I really like the organization of the one-page Fall dinner menu at Firefly, Roasted Yellow Beets ($9), served with creamy horseradish dill dressing and market greens, needs to be priced lower, the Cured Salmon Gravlax ($9.50), with roasted lemons and fennel, was great as always, with the fennel an important textural component, Seared Salmon ($17), with Spanish garlic sauce and potato gnocchi, was a good, well-cooked piece of salmon, but the gnocchi came across as too large and pasty, the peasant Spanish garlic sauce seemed almost yogurt-like, which made it an absolute delight alongside the dish of the night, Gratinee of Flounder and Cauliflower ($16) with curry-lemon sabayon, a heavily Indian-influenced dish that reminds me how much I miss John Wabeck’s curried eggplant, Slow-Cooked Pork ($19) with garlic mashed potatoes and whole-grain mustard is good and satisfying, but the Roasted Half Free-Range Chicken ($19.50) with garlic fries falls solidly in the “great” category, one of the best roast chickens in town, the fries themselves ordinary but the garlic adding an interesting twist, Firefly’s cheese course is underrated, the cheeses always well-chosen, in good shape, and properly served near room temperature, Wabeck is a talented chef, having a keen sense of how to combine flavors, and I’d love to see what he could do if he ever got his own restaurant, as I’m typing this, I’m suddently realizing why I wasn’t attacked by a vampire as I slept that evening, how was your week.

Red Sage closing isn't significant other than from a sociological perspective. What is interesting is Tom basically saying, "We're going to put an end to Kliman scooping me on his Tuesday chats right here and now." Cheers, Rocks.

One that refuses to say the pledge.

I frequent Falls Church, Arlington, and Langley Park fairly regularly. I've been to Rockville twice, but not in a couple of years, and have never been to Herndon. My sense is that, among these three, Arlington is consistently the best, and Falls Church and Langley Park are both running closely, but clearly, behind. I'd put Pho 50 and Pho Tay Ho about where I'd put Falls Church and Langley Park. This is a tenuous little guessing game I'm playing, because I have no side-by-side perspective, but it's my best shot at midnight. Cheers, Rocks.

[Overruled ]

You people are disgusting. Nevertheless: Click.

Izza gonna suchen.

7 PM!

So I talked with Bebo today ... Roberto is coming up with a special menu for this dinner. $75 including tax and tip for a Roberto-Donna prepared meal? With good, inexpensive wines available by the bottle and glass? Dudes, there's still time. Maybe I'll even put a little menu-tease up, but I think it's safe to say you're going to want to be there. Cheers, Rocks.

Thanks for the plug, crack-o. Yes, the Dining Guide is there as a reference tool. Mktye has spent hour-upon-hour keeping it current (and I mean truly: hours and hours), and I've spent more time and money than is sane, feasible, or within the bounds of rational human thought. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good. But I want people to keep asking the "what's in the neighborhood questions" - it's the difference between being a reference tool and a community, not that we can't be both. Cheers, Rocks.

San Marco would be perfect; don't do Mandu.

I'm so glad this restaurant is finally getting the attention it deserves. Here's a picture of Jamie and Carolyn: And a stillshot of Jamie from today's program:

You just know she's been dying to say this! (Thanks for the Madam's Organ lead, btw!)

Hoppy Hour.

Sysco Truck Robbed At Knifepoint Masked robber flees on Segway By RIMLEE LIVINGSTON The Associated Press Wednesday, December 6, 2006; 3:04 PM SILVER SPRING, Maryland -- Police are looking for a masked man who held up a Sysco truck today, wielding a butcher knife and making lewd remarks toward the driver. The man reportedly loaded over 100 pounds of beef into a burlap sack, then exposed himself and screamed "Age THIS mothafuckaaaaa!!!!" just before mounting his Segway and gliding away into heavy traffic. CityZens are advised to keep their doors locked and windows shut.

Still undefeated. Untested. Bored for wont of competition. rrrrrrRRRRRack 'em! Rocks. The Origin of "Win or Suck" Competition A buddy of mine and I had a pretty intense rivalry going. Basically, it devolved into "win at all costs," or more accurately, "don't lose to this chump under any circumstances." Nine ball was our game of choice, so naturally when there were just a few balls left on the table, the person not shooting would start jawing, trying to ratchet up the pressure and make the shooter choke. A typical comment: "Oh my God. A third-grader could finish this game! I can't believe you have such an easy run ahead of you!" It had gotten to the point where we were ready to kill each other, so rather than come to blows, we invented a new rule: "Win or Suck." It's so simple it's beautiful: Whenever the person not shooting feels that the shooter should run out what's left on the table, he's entitled to call "Win or Suck." At that point, the shooter has two options: 1) Accept the challenge and try to run the table. If successful, he wins (obviously). If not, he loses. 2) Pass the challenge back to the challenger, who now becomes the shooter. If the challenger successfully runs the table, he wins; if not, he loses. Either way, the game ends after this turn. Our conversations now went something like this: "My grandmother could finish this sequence blindfolded. And she's been dead for twenty years!" "Are you calling Win or Suck?" "erm ... no." "Then ... Shut! The Fuck! Up!"

[There is no difference; it's purely organizational and trying to make it easier for people to get together. Maybe the $20 Tuesday and On A Whim threads are good enough by themselves? It could become annoying to have 15 different threads regularly popping up that nobody is interested in reading.]

[You don't need to live in these areas; just simply be there. This TMB stuff will evolve over the next few days and weeks - we'll see where it goes, if anywhere. I'm not even sure we'll keep the name "Party Central" for this forum - I'll worry about that later when I have more time. Who knows, maybe we'll end up making these TMB threads into yet another forum or sub-forum. Feel free to discuss - this can be whatever you guys want it to be. Just keep in mind that we want to reach out to all members. Cheers, Rocks.]

The following posts have been split off into separate threads: Bilbo Baggins (Escoffier) Geranio Ristorante (monavano)

This isn't "bad" so much as it is annoying. Click

And here I thought it was "Aunt Hair Net."