Pat

Tomorrow's Ask Tom below the Acadiana review It's hard for me to imagine that people would show up at a restaurant with a homemade birthday cake without checking with the restaurant in advance. It just seems rude to show up with your own food without clearing it with the restaurant first. I wonder where they have been dining for all of these past birthday meals that they've never encountered a problem before with that approach.

I've taken a few and enjoyed them. I can't really add much to the description above. He is quite entertaining. It's actually quite a good value considering the food and wine you get as part of the class, in addition to the hands-on instruction and booklet of recipes. Take a pen so you can make notes on the recipes. What he does varies from what's written, and it's helpful to be able to keep track.

I love the Alpine, but it's largely for the atmosphere, I suppose. It's old-fashioned the way A-V Pizza is, but it's so much nicer. They have a lovely fireplace in the one room. I loved every meal I've gotten there, but mostly that's been lunches.At some point I was told that the owner was going to be closing it down, but I have no idea if that's true or what the timetable might be.

I don't know if it's still as good as it once was (I haven't been there in a while), but I've always liked Marathon Deli.

We got to Sonoma a few minutes early last night and our table wasn't quite ready, so we took advantage of the opportunity to visit the upstairs lounge. I'd only briefly gotten a peek at it once, so it was enjoyable to sit, enjoy a glass of wine (a Russian River chardonnay) and the impressive view. Downstairs, I started with the oyster mushroom-cauliflower ravioli, which I'd had once before and enjoyed. I like that flavor combination, though it's not one I would conjure up myself. My husband ordered the bucatini with pancetta and tomato sauce, and we shared. He got the steelhead trout filet for a main course, and I got the Wagyu burger, with roasted mushrooms and gorgonzola. That seems to be the way I always end up ordering it. I'm such a creature of habit . The restaurant was not as loud as it has been in the past. It seems like maybe there have been acoustic tiles put in. The lower noise level made the evening even more pleasant.

I don't know if there's much I could add to the finer dining recommendations. I've enjoyed 1789, which has just changed chefs, if that has not been mentioned. I might suggest Bistro Bis for French food and/or its American sibling Vidalia. Also for French, try Montmarte, on Capitol Hill near Eastern Market. It's small and cozy and has wonderful food. I'd also recommend trying at least one of DC's many Ethiopian restaurants. I like Dukem, but I know that Sodere and other places have a following. There should be a thread on the forum somewhere specifically on the topic. Additionally, maybe you would want to try particularly good pizza. I still have never gotten to 2 Amys , but that's probably considered the best. (Rereading, I see someone has mentioned it.) I'm a fan of Pizza Paradiso at Dupont Circle (haven't been to the newer Georgetown location). I wouldn't want to think of having to go on an indefinite/permanent liquid diet. I hope something comes along that remedies your situation in the future.

We had a wonderful experience at Notti Bianche last night, our first time there. As someone had noted, it does seem as though there is a bit more room between tables than when Nectar was in that space. On the basis of the comments here, I went with the chestnut pappardelle for an appetizer. It sounded great, and it was even better than I expected. I can't wait to get back there and order it as a main. My husband started with the mixed greens, and we both got the hangar steak. That salsa verde on the steak was exquisite. I did the wine pairing for the meal, which is, indeed, a great value. For dessert, my husband had the zuccoto and I had the port wine poached pear, which I loved. The wine pairing of port with it took it one step further. We will definitely be getting back there soon, definitely before the pastas on the menu change

Ceiba had some nice dessert-type treats (caramel corn? damn my bad memory!) when I was there a number of months ago. Maybe that would fit the bill?

We had a wonderful (non-RW) meal at Montmarte last night. We had taken our one out-of-town visitor there last time he was in town alone, and he loved it and wanted his wife to experience a meal there. They both enjoyed it quite a bit. The restaurant was fairly busy but not quite full, and we enjoyed a relaxing meal and great conversation until we were only one of two tables left. For starters, the table ordered a chicken liver salad special (I got one of the livers and wished I had ordered it), fish soup, a house salad, and I got their belgian endive salad, which I love. We also all shared a plate of pate de campagne. To drink, we had a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (2003?). For mains, my husband got the braised rabbit, which came with a spaghetti/long pasta. Our friends got the calves' liver with potato puree (him) and the beef bourguignon (her). He loved his meal, and she loved the beef but not the pasta that came with it. I had the brochette of scallops and shrimp, with wild rice, grapes, and almonds. It was fabulous. I used to love to order the salmon with leeks and wheatberries they no longer have on the menu, and I think this dish is my new favorite. We all split dessert: creme brulee and a slice of magnificent blueberry tart. Whenever I eat at Montmarte, I always feel fortunate to have such a restaurant in the neighborhood. It's good to have the specialness of the place reaffirmed by people from out-of-town (who were already talkingduring the meal about the next time they would go there).

We had a very enjoyable meal at Rasika last night with some friends who are in from out of town. I had wondered how RW would be there since they opened not that long ago, but everything went beautifully. They really have a smooth operation running there. I loved the design of the space. The web version of the menu doesn't have the descriptions of the items, so I'm not sure I can reconstruct everything. The descriptions on the actual menu were quite helpful. For appetizers, two of us had the potato patties, radga pattice, which were delicious. My husband had the bhel puri, which I had some of, and it was light and crisp. I think I'll try that next time we go there. I got a bite of the galouti kabob, which was an interesting preparation of lamb. For the main course, two of us got the mixed grill, which I was too full (the bread!) to finish. I got a bite of the lamb dahiwala, which was good, but I think I preferred the mixed grill. I didn't get to taste the black cod, but the person who ordered it really enjoyed it. I didn't think there was any way I was going to manage dessert, but since it was part of the meal, I gave it my best effort. I got the fig and walnut kulfi and it was so wonderful that I forgot how full I thought I was and polished it off straight away. The kulfi was creamy and delicious. My husband was not as happy with his bread and butter pudding but said that it was all right. There was also an order of the sorbet/ice cream at the table, and the last dessert was apple jalebi with cardamom ice cream, also proclaimed delicious and described as an unexpected and good mix of flavors. There was a decent amount of variety on the menu. I had a dilemma for the first two courses over what to order because multiple things looked so appealing. I thought it was a good RW value. (Our friends had a couple of glasses of wine and we had beer.) [Edit for typo and factual error, both in the same sentence .]

OK, I'll chime in, with a question that's probably naive. Thanks for being here. I love duck but had not made it at home before because of the incredible amount of fat. I save these treats for restaurant meals, where they are made properly. I finally decided to do it and made the Julia Child (Mastering the Art of French Cooking) Duck a l'Orange this weekend. It came out pretty well, though I thought I'd never get all of the fat drained off. The sauce was magnificent. Do you have any particular tips for preparing duck? I've been told to parboil the duck. Is that good idea?

When you click on links, things slide sideways across the page. Or the page slides sideways. I'm not sure quite how to describe it.I would like the design of the site if it just stayed still. The individual components are attractive. It's just hard for me to want to go eat at a restaurant when its website makes me feel nauseous . That said, I did make restaurant week reservations.

It made me want to gouge my eyes out. I guess I'm not alone

I'm late, but you might like this recipe next time. It's fairly quick to prepare and flavorful. Chicken Thighs with Creole Mustard-Orange Sauce.For most of this year, I had no kitchen while it was being renovated, and I came up with a simple preparation for microwaved skinless boneless chicken thighs. It's good enough that I'm sure I'll prepare it again even now that I have a kitchen. I think I'll wait a bit for that, though, as I was making this at least once a week In short, I seasoned the chicken thighs with black pepper and cayenne, put them in a casserole dish and poured some soy sauce (tamari) over them. I put some preroasted garlic cloves and some pickled sushi ginger around the chicken pieces and cooked, covered, on high for 6 minutes. Then I turned the chicken over and cooked 6 more minutes. At that point I put several handfuls of baby spinach over top of the chicken and returned it (covered) to the microwave and cooked 2-3 more minutes. It was quite good, required hardly any prep, and the only cleanup required was for the casserole dish. On the preroasted garlic cloves: This is an ingredient I would never have imagined buying prior to this renovation. When I saw it at the store, I was intrigued enough to try it. I found it worked better for quick preparations than did raw garlic. It's nothing that even approximates real roasted garlic, but since it's parcooked, I found it produces a better flavor than starting from raw in a quick microwaved dish.

Thanks! I'll pass the information along. I think she'll be especially interested in the information on the Monastrell. I gathered that was the one she knew least about of the two.

A friend of mine is trying to get information on the relative quality of a couple of inexpensive wines she is considering for an event. I tried to get her to register here (she knows more about wines than I do--I'm a wine dummy). Maybe next time I hope I've got the spellings right here. She's considering at a Lan Riga Crianza 2000 and a Travitana 2003 Monstrell. She's looking for a general evaluation of the two and trying to decide on one, both, or looking for something else. She wants value Spanish wines in the range of $12 a bottle. She needs it to serve along with cheeses, breads, and other small plates. Thanks for any guidance.

The Red Sea

My recollection from Chef Power's one post was that they had cut it back to 2 bottles per table from an unlimited policy after people were abusing the privilege. The 3 bottles a table was a special arrangement worked out for an egullet dinner, which they extended to the infamous party in question as a courtesy since another table there at the same time was permitted three. Checking with the restaurant would seem to be a wise idea.

We have something like that that we got at Ikea years ago--a microwave cart with cabinet space underneath. I'm not sure of the dimensions, but it's probably within the size requirements given. Of course, we keep ours in the dining room, but that's another matter entirely

Fannie Farmer (I rely on a 1970s edition but have some older ones) is the one cookbook I could not do without.

When I needed to be out there working, I would go to Tastee Diner. It's not the absolute best quality, but it was a nice start to the day.

I just bought some nice fresh buccatini there last week. Before, I had had stuck with the raviolis. There is a good selection.

That was my reaction when I went there earlier this year. Afterwards, I wondered if I was getting jaded, because it was basically a fine meal, but it didn't do much for me. The risotto was gummy, which detracted a little from the experience, but the food was good otherwise (as was the service). I remember liking the bread quite a bit.My feeling was also that the three course tasting menu didn't provide enough food. I usually take food home from a restaurant, so it's unusual for me to think there's not enough food. (It's tasting menu only, or it was in the spring when we were there.) If I went back, I'd have to spring for more courses so I didn't need to eat when I got home.

What about Bistro Bis? If you ask for the upstairs, it's quieter than downstairs in my experience. (That's been an issue dining there with older relatives.)

Corduroy, Kinkead's, Sonoma