Mark Dedrick

I can report that as of two weeks ago the Miami location was still fantastic. I remain a huge fan. So while I would much prefer a local stand alone restaurant here, I'm more OK about Yardbird than most other offshoots.

I'm really glad my office isn't down there anymore.

A few thoughts from our recent visit: Cocktails Regent Cocktail Club - Currently closed for renovations. Should be open in the fall, but not sure when. Sweet Liberty - I really enjoy this spot. It's much more casual, and much cheaper than most spots in South Beach, but the drinks are great and the staff is incredible. Rose Bar - This bar, in the Delano, is basically my replacement for the Raleigh bar until that one re-opens. It feels very old school, and they do a good job making drinks. Food Taquiza - It's back! They have moved across the street and maybe one block south of where they used to be located. They're now in a different hostel, and have a slightly expanded space including a full bar. But the tacos are equally delicious. Stubborn Seed - My favorite restaurant in Miami right now. Everything we had was delicious. Annoyingly they don't even try to keep their online menu close to current, but the Warm Celery Root was fantastic, with basically tempura maitake mushrooms. There was also a crudo of some sort that was delicious, and a suckling pig with carrots. Every dish I've gotten here has been great, beautifully plated, and with interesting textural differences. Byblos - I hadn't been here before. We had a very nice meal, and with good service. I won't be rushing back, but I would be happy returning. Pubbelly - I continue to love this place. Yardbird - And this one.

I'm considering purchasing one since I live about four blocks away, and we quite enjoy the restaurants.

I'll post more thoroughly soon, but we just returned from Portugal yesterday. Ate at Alma Saturday night. I'd definitely keep that reservation, it was quite delicious. His other restaurant, Tapisco, is also quite good. We stumbled in there one night when the line for Ramiro was completely insane.

I've been now three times, and once for the pre-opening pop up and I like it. The service (all three times at the bar) is extremely friendly and attentive, and I've really liked the food. I feel like several of the things I've had could/should have been spicier, particularly when they're described as such on the menu, but the flavors have been really good.

Yeah, this really sucks. Loved that restaurant.

The closures have definitely been discouraging, but I haven't given up hope yet! Thamee, which is replacing Sally's, could/should be really good, and not just a casual spot. We've still got Maketto, Sospesso, Stable, and Fancy Radish. But yeah, losing Sally's was not great!

Good question that we're still trying to answer! We'll be at Maketto more often for sure. I'm curious about the restaurant replacing Sally's, and we're going to try one of their pre-opening dinners later this month. And we probably need to give Sospesso more of a chance. Otherwise, I'm not sure. It's a huge hole.

I'm headed to Montreal next month as well, so any current recommendations are definitely welcome! I'm reading through this thread now as well. Thanks.

Reading this and realized that I hadn't posted anything about where I ate when I spent the week before the election there last fall. Here are a few spots I'd strongly recommend: Cured - Best fine dining meal I've had in San Antonio Carnitas Lonja - The best food I've had in San Antonio. It's amazing and you should 100% go. Supper - We had a very nice dinner here as well I'll try to type up my notes in more detail soon.

We ate there last night to pay our final respects. It was, as usual, a wonderful meal. I'm really sad to see it close. I'm excited about Thamee, but there are many other restaurants I'd have rather seen them replace.

I've been very sad since I got their e-mail earlier this week. What a blow.

We still go to Market Lunch fairly regularly. Huge fan of the crabcake sandwich (and the fried oyster sandwich).

I'm traveling to Portugal in early July for a wedding in Porto. I'd appreciate any recommendations, either in terms of itinerary, restaurants, sights, etc. Current thoughts are to hit Lisbon, Porto, and the Douro Valley.

I'm going off of memory, so my details won't be quite as sharp. I ate there once with me and my wife, and then a second time with three friends. It's plates designed for sharing (of course, because every place is), but you could easily turn it into an appetizer-entree spot. There are about four larger, entree-sized plates, and then eight or so smaller offerings. Also, unlike a lot of spots like this, after you order they'll course things out for you, so you don't have the all too common problem of every plate showing up at the same time, or you getting your steak before the crudo shows up.Or at least that was our experience with two different servers. Service is also wonderful. I don't remember what exactly I had, and I know that they change their menu frequently so the webpage isn't super helpful. The chicken dish on the menu, with truffle butter, brussels sprouts, and gnocchi sounds like what we had, and seem to remember it being mentioned as a signature dish for the restaurant. It was fantastic. But really everything was good. I'd happily go back. Sorry I can't provide more detail, my memory isn't what it once was!

Just a note that they're also available for delivery via Uber Eats. I actually didn't realize they were on Postmates as well.

The best ceviche I've had in DC recently was at Poca Madre. It was fantastic. I've enjoyed it at China Chilcano as well.

Bullfrog Bagels has them, at least at the H Street location.

We were visiting with a friend on this trip, so our dining wasn't as well planned as it normally is when we travel. That said, we still ate wonderfully in Portland, and really enjoyed it. Fore Street - We tried to get into a number of places that evening, but there were serious waits at both Street & Co and Central Provisions when we stopped by. So we ended up at Fore Street, which was able to get us in quicker. It was fantastic. The Portland Hunt & Alpine Club - Great cocktails downtown, we killed time here while waiting for our table to be available at Fore Street. Grace - This restaurant is in a former church, and we had a wonderful meal. The kitchen is where the pulpit would be at the front of the church, and it's a very visually striking restaurant. Eventide - It was awesome. I'm still dreaming about that lobster roll. Great oysters as well.

I just realized that I've been to Miami a few times since I last posted in this thread. Taquiza unfortunately lost their lease and are closed. Earlier this year we had perhaps our finest meal in Miami at Alter in Wynnwood, which is a neighborhood I hadn't spent any time in before that visit. We also had a great time at the J Wakefield Brewery, who we've experienced before from their collaborations with 3 Stars here in DC. Also in Wynnwood, we had a fun lunch at 1-800-LUCKY, which is a food hall with a number of different vendors serving different types of Asian food, as well as a record store and two different bars. Habitat, which comes from the Pubbelly folks, is solid, but my favorite non-Pubbelly restaurant in Miami Beach these days is Stubborn Seed, from Top Chef winner Jeremy Ford. I've eaten there twice, and both time's it's been fantastic.

We had a fantastic time in Maine last month, and did a ton of hiking around Acadia during our stay in Bar Harbor. I wouldn't say that it's a great food city, but it was far better than I was expecting given what friends had told me, and it's far better than most touristy beach towns I've been to elsewhere in the US. Maine Beer Company - We flew in and out of Portland, and hit this place up on the drive up to Acadia. It's a nice taproom, and their beers are killer. Thurston's Lobster Pound - In Bernard near Southwest Harbor. We paired lunch here with a visit to the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. It's right on the water, and the lobster was fantastic. Jordan Pond House - I think this is the only restaurant actually in the National Park. Parking here during the summer can be very scarce, as the first time we tried to go here we had to change plans as we couldn't find any parking. Our second attempt worked better, we arrived early, and then did the hike around Jordan Pond before grabbing lunch. It was good. I had a very nice oyster stew, along with the signature popover, which fueled our hike to the Bubbles immediately after. Mount Desert Ice Cream - Very good ice cream. Side Street Cafe - We ate lunch here twice, and they have a fantastic lobster roll. They claim that there are two entire lobsters in each roll, and given how overstuffed they are I believe it. Havana - This is a Spanish-style restaurant on the south side of town, and we quite enjoyed it. The seafood paella was enormous and delicious. Parilla - When dining at Havana we noticed their outdoor less formal restaurant, Parilla, and returned there later in the week. It was very good. The menu is smaller, and more tapas-style, with a lot of the food coming off of the grill. West Street Cafe - We did dinner here, and this is the sort of place I expect to find in tourist beach towns. But my fried clam bellies were good, as was my clam chowder, and they had a nice beer list. Mache Bistro - Probably our best meal in Bar Harbor. Wonderful food, great service. The closest thing to fine dining that we experienced. Reading Room Restaurant - My least favorite meal. The dining room was felt really stuffy, and while the food was good, it was good enough to justify the high prices. You can tell that you would have wonderful views, but that's not a feature when it's dark out. This is probably the one place that I wouldn't recommend. 2 Cats - Good for breakfast. Atlantic Brewing Company - Cool brewery, and worth a visit if you're into that sort of thing.

We had a great time in Toronto last weekend. Extremely pleasant and walkable city. Our hotel, the Bisha, was very nice, and in a great location. Here are a few of our dining and drinking experiences: Dandylion - Absolutely loved this spot. It's a tiny restaurant, with a very small (focused?) menu, but everything we had was outstanding. There are only three appetizers and three entrees to chose from, which means that you can make your way through most of the menu without really straining yourself. There menu is not online, so I'm having trouble remembering exactly what we ate, but they had a grilled squid "steak" with piquillo peppers which was outstanding, and a pork with chanterelle mushrooms which was also great. DaiLo - Asian-Fusion in a very trendy-feeling setting. We liked it a lot. We were seated at the bar, and if I remember correctly at the time I made my reservations a regular table was not available, I was given the option of the bar or a high top table. Service was fantastic. There was a lot on this menu that looked great, and we ended up going with the tasting menu ($65 Canadian) primarily to avoid having to make any tough decisions. For us, it was the right decision. We were able to actually try more of the menu this way, and it was the correct volume of food. Highlights, for us, were the Crispy Octopus "Tacos" (the tortillas were actually slices of jicama), Torched Tamari Glazed Beef Carpaccio (served with a Vietnamese-style salad on top), and Sweet and Sour Pork Hock. Bar Raval - I loved this place. As mentioned above, it's not appreciably better than other tapas/pinxto places I've been, but it's also exactly the style of food that I like to eat, and I also just loved both the look and the feel of the restaurant. This is the place that we went that I most wanted to move to H Street. It's actually right next door to DaiLo, and it's pretty tiny. The menu is relatively small, but everything we had was good. They have a canned section which we did not explore. The Squid with Artichokes and Romesco was awesome, as was the Octopus a la Planxa. I was also a big fan of the Bay Scallops from the Raw Bar section. They were incredibly sweet and delicious. Good and relatively inexpensive wine list, and very good cocktails as well. Dumpling House - We had dumplings at this Chinatown spot (of course). It's a pretty small spot on Spadina. I'm not an expert in this type of food, but I thought it was delicious. The fried pork and chive dumplings were my favorite. Assembly Chef's Hall - We hit this place up for lunch, and it's a pretty large food hall with 18 different vendors. I think it's probably a better bet during the week, as a majority of the options were closed on a Saturday. We got ramen from Ramen Isshin and tacos from Colibri, and both were quite good. I'd definitely recommend this for lunch if you're in this part of Toronto. Torteria San Cosme - Really good tortas in the Kensington Market neighborhood. The esquites were also great. NU Bügel - I don't think I'd ever had a Montreal-style bagel before. Given that, it's hard for me to rank these bagels within that category, but we did enjoy them a great deal. BarChef - This is a very cool cocktail bar that comes very close to bordering on obnoxious, but they save themselves by having outstanding bartenders and really well made and creative drinks. They get into molecular mixology a bit, and have a "Modernist" section of their menu where they get into this. These drinks are more expensive (the Vanilla Hickory Smoked Manhattan is $50, although most of the drinks in this section of the menu are in the $25 range). We went with one from this section because we thought we needed to have that experience, and it was a whole ordeal. There were tree branches and smoke, but also a very good drink. The rest of the drinks are more normally priced ($16 Canadian), and fantastic. Our bartender was wonderful, and I'd definitely return. El Rey Mezcal Bar - This place was actually recommended to us by Alvin, our mezcal guide in Oaxaca. They don't have a huge mezcal selection, but it is a good and thoughtful list, and it's a cool space. Craft Beer Market - A friend had recommended this spot. While it's not the best atmosphere, in that it's cavernous with no personality, they do have 97 beers on draft from Ontario alone, so it's a good spot to sample some local beers, and worked well for us as we wanted to rest our feet for a bit during the middle of the day. Kensington Brewing Company - Very cool brewery, and they make some wonderful beers. Amsterdam BrewHouse - I didn't enjoy this brewery as much. It's also enormous, as I think I read they have seating for more than 500 people. The beers were fine. I also had to respect the fact that, on a Sunday afternoon, they weren't showing any football, and instead had every single television in the place tuned to the Blue Jays-Yankees game. Horseshoe Tavern - We went to a show here, and it's not a bad rock club. Pretty tiny, but good sound and sightlines. It's also insanely hot.

It's actually quite good. The tiki drinks are obviously the draw, but the food is also quite good. It's not destination dining, but I really like the chicken buns and the dan dan noodles. They have a fantastic happy hour as well, and it's usually easy to get a seat.