Pat

The red snapper bisque is a lovely example of Chef Power's skill in the world of soup. The first spoon can be a little strong, but each subsequent taste is very mellow and smooth.

I had a spoonful of the soup and wished I'd ordered it. It had a pronounced flavor but didn't seem too strong. I had wanted to get the softshell crab while it was on the menu, though, so I went with that to start. I definitely want to go back and get the local tomato salad while it's still in season. If they have the snapper bisque then, I'd definitely like to order it for myself. There are too many good things on the menu!

As I piece together my weekend eating, Saturday night we went with my inlaws to the bistro at Eve. The bread was fabulous. I thought it was the best of all three nights, though my MIL liked Corduroy's bread better. My MIL, who has been watching her diet for a long time, got the sweetbreads and loved them. My FIL asked for the pork chop done well, then it was really hard to cut and he realized that it was because he asked for it done well . He's a total sweetheart .

My husband got the olive oil poached tuna to start and salmon special. I got the tortelloni appetizer and halibut with potato confit. I enjoyed my food thoroughly. I don't think there was anything left on anyone's plate that night (or any night).

My FIL and I both got the chocolate lemon terrine dessert, and my husband got the pink fluffy birthday cake .

It was a great meal. I enjoyed it a lot. Plus we had a great waitress. And we had Todd Thrasher's advice on wine. It was a thoroughly satisfactory experience.

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I had a great meal with my husband and in-laws at Corduroy on Friday night. Of the three dinners on their visit (Firefly, Corduroy, R. Eve), it was declared the best restaurant by my MIL. That is, it was was declared the best despite her unhappiness over the chocolate ice cream she ordered. I liked the consistency, but everyone else thought it tasted like cold chocolate pudding She was looking for a way to email Tom Power to complain about the ice cream (she LOVES ice cream), but I said I would post something instead, since the website isn't up. It's hard for me to be adamant about it because I liked the bit of the ice cream I had, but everyone else complained about the texture. There you have it.

It was a great meal. My in-laws both had the scallops that came with the mashed potatoes. My MIL got the snapper (?) soup and the beet-goat cheese salad. My husband had the local tomato salad (wow!) and king salmon. I went with the lamb and goat cheese ravioli, with a softshell crab app. I loved my meal but thought the ravioli were different than before. They seemed stickier or something, but I still loved them.

And for dessert my MIL had the chocolate ice cream, which we all tried

Is it just me, or does this entree sound like a disaster in the making?

Nope, it's not just you. I was there for brunch yesterday (very good croque-monsieur), and I saw that they had the RW menu taped to the inside door of the women's bathroom. The rabbit and crawfish combination caught my eye right away. I don't think I'll be trying that. I guess I'm not as adventurous food-wise as I thought

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Corduory at say around 6'ish?

Maybe I'll wave as I go by. We'll be there at 7:30 for dinner.

We had a wonderful meal at Firefly last night with my in-laws. We started out going to Pizza Paradiso at Dupont Circle, which was really crowded and had a 45 minute wait. It was already 8 PM, and they were tired after being on the train all day (not to mention getting in two hours late) and didn't want to wait that long. So, I called Firefly to see if they had a table. They did, and we walked over.

There was not a bit of food left on anyone's plate at the end of the meal . Everything was fabulous. My MIL and FIL both got the roasted chicken. I cannot remember what else came with it, but the corn gratin was magnificent. I think it might even be better than the macaroni and cheese used to be (if I dare say that ). My MIL and I ate a fair portion of the two side dishes of that. My husband got the fettucine with swiss chard and enjoyed it. He also got the smoked salmon pupusa to start, which was good but constructed differently than I would have thought. It had a nice balance of colors and flavors, but I accidently took most of the salmon when I took a bite. I wasn't really hungry and just had a starter (the seared tuna with grapes and, I think, watercress) and the truffled Parmesan frites, which I had to fight for. I, however, was the only one who got dessert: a watermelon sorbet that hit just the right note. The flavor was just a little understated. It came garnished with chervil (I had to ask the waitress what it was, after my MIL and I tried unsuccessfully to identify it.) The bits of chervil were a good complement to the flavor of the sorbet.

The only complaint my in-laws had was that it was too loud. We try to pick restaurants to go to with them that aren't very loud because that's an issue for them, but I'm glad we decided to go to Firefly despite that. It quieted down over time. Tonight: Corduroy.

From my conversations with them, many of them do not.  In fact, it seems as if some of them expect so little that it makes them not like the food.  It is strange to see people's reactions when I discuss the restaurant's reputation. 

The only time I've been to the bar there (sadly, I've never had the spring rolls), I was trying to convince someone who was staying there for a convention that he really should eat dinner there, that it was one of the best restaurants in the city. He seemed unimpressed.

I guess a Sheraton is not a place conventioneers expect to find great food. It's a shame that people stay there and don't know what they're missing.

I haven't been in a few years now, but Pasta Plus in Laurel, at the center of the Route 1 and Route 198 tic-tac-toe board, has a warming, casual atmosphere, a charming owner, really good homemade pasta, tasty white pizzas and fresh fish specials worth getting.

Cheers,

Rocks.

I'd suggest Pasta Plus as well. I was hoping to stop there on the way back from an O's game last weekend, but it was a little too early for dinner and we didn't stop.

Watermelon with feta cheese and wild arugula with spiced crushed hazelnut and olive oil. This great little teaser is a perfect example of Chef Monis pairing the unconventional with terrific results – the flavors of every single ingredient are so pure and combine so well in your mouth without melting into each other. 

What a beautiful post. I've wanted to go there but haven't yet and this is an incentive.

I loved the description of this salad and did my best to duplicate it. It was crushed almonds instead of hazelnuts but otherwise the same. My husband enjoyed it and he doesn't even usually like watermelon. What an amazing combination. I hope to get to Komi soon.

I saw this website on google a while back, and I thought this might be Landrum's too.  Turns out it is for a Ray's Steakhouse out of Austin, TX.

I've eaten at that Ray's Steakhouse in Austin. The event and the company were memorable. The food and service were just okay. It doesn't compare at all to Ray's the Steaks.

Just returned from lunch with Sonoma's Wagyu burger, which is the best burger I've had in years: Deep red tomatoes, deep green greens, with grilled onions, taleggio and pancetta.

I've been on a really restricted diet for almost two years, eating very little red meat and fat. In the past few months, I've eased up a little. The first beef burger I've had since being on the diet was Sonoma's Wagyu burger. It was worth every bite. It was just wonderful. (I took part of my husband's burger at one meal, then ordered my own on a subsequent trip.) I'm glad that I like so many things on the menu, or I'd be tempted to get the burger every time

There's a place on H and 12th (or thereabouts) NE called "Philadelphia Water Ice."  Has anyone popped in there?  I LOVE water ice, but haven't made it there yet...

I read this article about the place when it first opened last year but still have not gotten there. I love Philadelphia- style water ice, or did when I was a child. I haven't had it in years.

(Edit to say that the article starts on page 11 of that pdf file.)

I went to Sonoma twice last night-- before the Nats game and after. Do yourself a favor and get over there to try the pizza. You can choose from several first rate toppings to go on your red, white, or green (pesto) pizza. I went for a white pizza with gorgonzola and speck. It was excellent.

I had a morel and mozzarella pizza there last week and it was delicious.

Had a lean cuisine for the first time yesterday. Nasty, Nasty & more Nasty

 
I hadn't eaten a frozen dinner in years before falling back on them recently as the quickest way of getting something to eat without getting any dishes dirty. I used to like some Stouffer's frozen foods (the mac and cheese especially) years ago, but I've never found any full meals that I really like. I can't imagine relying on these as the basis for a regular diet. They're also really expensive for what they are. The Whole Foods prepared foods, which are also high-priced, are a better deal for me comparatively. I've liked most of the grains I've tried there, but I don't think I've tried lemon couscous .

The absence of full disclosure can be a beautiful thing.

Of course the opposite situation can be true as well.  Read the ingredients on Whole Foods' prepared foods, and they look just fine.  One taste, however, is all you need to realize that - ouch! - that lemon couscous made with organic ingredients bites the high hard one, as does just about everything else there.

Since we've had no kitchen for the past month (and ETA for the new kitchen is realistically Thanksgiving), I've been buying Whole Foods prepared foods and have found them to be perfectly acceptable. They're a hell of a lot better than the Lean Cuisine I just ate for dinner. (I'm doing what I can with the microwave and toaster oven, but I've been working hard all day and I'm tired.)

I also buy the blackened salmon at WF and make salmon burgers out of them. Tomorrow I'll make Boboli pizza in the toaster oven. I'm quite impressed with how well that's been working out, but the pizza at Sonoma is an awful lot better .

It's only during school hours and when school is in session -- i.e. you can be served outside at all hours during the summer 

Ah, thanks. I don't generally drink wine at lunch, but it's helpful information to have anyway

I haven't eaten at Montmartre in quite a while and keep thinking it's time for a return trip. That photo of the duck confit is gorgeous. I used to order the duck rillettes whenever I went there but then went on a diet and haven't ordered that in a long time. I've never tried going there for lunch. It always seems like a good idea when I walk past and see people eating lunch outside.

Is the wine restriction outside only at lunch/during school hours? I'm pretty sure we've had wine outside there at dinner.

They seem to have finally opened to the public.  OpenTable appears to be accepting reservations for them.

Yesterday evening there was supposed to be some kind of wine event there where they were just opening the doors without any fanfare. I knew some people who planned to go but I didn't hear anything afterwards.

When I got the email preview invite on Friday, it was for reserving through Open Table, so that had been set up by then. The three preview dates they gave were Friday, Saturday, and today (presumably Monday was already blocked out for the wine event). So, I'm not sure which day is the official opening. From their last email, it looked like tonight was still preview.

Here's a scenario for you:  You discover a really nice recipe and it becomes a "company" dish you serve when you are looking to make people happy.

I have such a recipe, which was published in the Post years ago in the Food Section under the "Dinner Tonight" feature.  It sounded so bizarre, I had to make it.  I am talking the "Chicken with Peaches and Basil."  This stuff is just delicious and a perfect summer dish when peaches are at their peak.  (I long ago substituted raspberry vinegar for the balsamic originally called for.)

You haul peaches and basil on a plane and make this for people who have been enormously helpful to you.  Then you hear "I like PLAIN food."  What does this mean?  Am I being too "serious" about food?  Am I supposed to throw a chicken breast on a plate and skip the peaches, basil, shallots and cream?  Is this an example of someone not being serious ENOUGH about food?

I LOVE that recipe. I clipped it too. . I realized recently that I don't save anywhere near the number of recipes I used to save from the Post, even though the web site makes it easier than it used to be. With that particular recipe, I think it might be the combination of ingredients that throws some people. Peaches and chicken is not the most conventional food combination, but it's a really tasty one if you try it.

(And, yes, it is possible to be too serious about food.)

They're still in preview mode. I got an email yesterday and made a last minute reservation for last night. The food was fantastic. Their system seems not to be completely coordinated yet, and the service still has some glitches. It seems that they're waiting until they know they are absolutely ready before they open. It is going to be a fabulous restaurant when it is ready for prime time.

We had a two-cheese plate (gorgonzola and fontina) and salami charcuterie. Those truffled peaches are amazing. They really do look like olives! The nuts, the bread, everything was just right. The quality, the flavor, and the presentation were all spot on. I had the Amish chicken and my husband had the wagyu (which I cannot pronounce for the life of me) burger with fontina. I loved the polenta that came with my chicken. We drank a Sonoma sauvignon blanc by the glass.

We had ordered the wild boar sausage and realized as we were eating our entrees that we had never gotten it. I mentioned the omission to our server to make sure it wouldn't be on the check and said we didn't need to have it. (I'd ordered more food than we really needed because I wanted to try a range of dishes.) It was a technical issue, it sounded like, with the order going to the kitchen. They brought out dessert to make up for it: panna cotta, which had a perfect texture, and a delicious ice cream I couldn't identify the flavor of, that came with a butterscotch sauce.

It was a great meal at the end of a rough week, a week during which I've had very little appetite. That was the most I've eaten all week, and it was delicious. I look forward to eating a lot more meals there.

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Try turnip risotto sometime.

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Hmm. I will file this suggestion for future reference.

We had a great meal at Corduroy last night. I had the tuna tartare, which was fabulous, and the wagyu steak with turnip gratin. The jus/sauce for the steak was delicious, and the turnip gratin was wonderful as well. It never occurred to me that you could make a potato-type gratin with turnip, but there you go. The steak was more than I could finish, so it will be served sliced on top of mixed greens tonight as part of our dinner. My husband had the Caesar salad, which was wonderful--the anchovy flavor was just right--and the seared tuna with hajiki, which is what I usually get.