squidsdc

boiled, not grilled?

Anyone in the vicinity of 18th and K St NW owes it to themselves to stop in to Café Grande and get a Trickling Springs Creamery Soft Ice Cream Cone. I've been wanting to try it for some time, and decided today was the perfect day to do so! (FYI they also have Counter Culture Coffee.)

I thought BurgerFi went in the former CakeLove space across from Whole Foods?

I hate to say it because I can't pin down exactly why, but TK gets on my nerves. I don't like to admit it out loud as I keep hoping maybe I'm reading him in a bad mood or I need to give him a second chance. Or Third. Or Fourth, or.... I keep reading his chat weekly hoping my feelings might change, but finally have given up. I read this article for reference to the conversation and to hope that maybe I'd like his viewpoint in a different setting, but no such luck. His writing comes off to me as pompous, and bears attributes of what he disses others about. And he cuts down on other critics--why is it necessary for any food writer to undercut another in the same field? Maybe it's the manner in which he does it. Really bugs me that there is no "agree to disagree" viewpoint as his is always right, instead of being his view. I think he could have stood up for what DC represents well, and why is it that the multicultural aspect is not "seen" by others? Why try to justify that DC doesn't have a culinary viewpoint? Because he thinks it so as well? I just think there may be a better way to get the conversation started.

I dunno, Don. It seems that the "coming soon" sign has been on the door for quite some time!

Note-thread title needs to be updated with current Chef John Melfi, and Kelli Walbourn (formerly of Palena) steering the ship.I apologize for the wordiness in advance, and for not seeing the note to ask about what coffee they are using! We jumped on the chance to try out Oval Room before the Lead Belly tribute at the Kennedy Center this weekend. Kelli was looking out for me with my allergies and flawlessly keeping everything together. This restaurant needs to get more attention! I'm game to try the $20 lunch that Tom Sietsema raved about in his article, after having a wonderful, yet filling, meal. Tom S. mentioned the bread basket was unexciting, but the bread we were served was light, airy and impressive. I overheard a server telling our neighbors that it is baked in house each day. And the butter served with it was noteworthy. (Frankly, that is one of the markers for me that a restaurant is paying attention to the little things.) We shared an app of Hawaiian Kampachi Amberjack Ceviche with Avocado Puree, Uni and some sort of lemon ice, I believe? Doesn't matter, as it was an unbelievable melding of flavors that really sang. They actually brought it to us on two plates, which was very nice, or else we may have fought over it. Mr. S then had Grilled Octopus with Chickpeas, Olives and Vindaloo Emulsion, and I had an altered Burrata Salad with Shaved Artichoke, Fennel (instead of cucumber) and a Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette. Oh my, this was refreshing, again, with a melding of flavors that made me use the bread to soak up any remnants of dressing that was left in the dish. And the serving size was quite large as well. Note for future: this could easily be a shared app, since all the dishes are decent sized, we were quite full at the end of the meal. (I would have expected something much smaller.) Mr. S proclaimed the grilled octopus to be delicious, but alas, I was unable to taste. I had for my main, (Olive Oil) Poached Icelandic Cod, except done in butter instead of Olive Oil. A huge portion, perfectly cooked and served with radicchio, fried capers and lemon vinaigrette. Mr. S had the Pan Roasted Duck Breast, with Quinoa stir fry, Bok Choy, Kohlrabi, Kimchi and Ginger Beer. (Again I was not able to sample this one, but again, was told it was delicious.) We shared two sides- Coconut Grits (who knew?!) and Lollipop Kale. The grits were a surprisingly tasty compliment, almost like a savory dessert-very rich, yet not, at the same time. Kind of resembling a rice pudding. The Lollipop Kale were the Kale Sprouts that were crispy fried (similar to the Rasika dish?) These were very, very, good, but had a bit too heavy a hand with the sea salt. There was one other dish that was heavy-handed on the salt, but I can't recall which one at the moment. It wasn't enough to sway me from eating or enjoying it though. For dessert we shared the Coconut Cheesecake, which is actually a deconstructed dish. The "Cheesecake" was actually three squares of very light, almost mousse-like scrumptiousness, surrounded by toasted coconut and a creamy Ginger Beer ice cream. If we weren't so full we would have fought more over this dish. One and a half squares each was plenty! Having never had siphon coffee before, I had to go all out and order it. It was quite the production, and yes, definitely labor intensive. But very tasty. Would I order it again for $12 for two? Probably not. As a favor to the staff and because French Press would I'm sure be fine for me. All in all, it was more expensive than we had anticipated, but we did order more than we usually do. We would definitely cut back ordering in the future based on the serving sizes, and definitely want to go back for the $20 lunch.

Daniel will know more than I, but from experience in trying to find a Kosher place to send food to a grieveing family, the Kosher caterers are also few and far between. We ended up using Shalom Market. But that was many years ago, and there may be a few more caterers out there now.

Daniel, you forgot the Kosher Pastry Oven (unless they've closed?) And they do serve breakfast there IIRC. Located in the same shopping center as Ben Yehuda. Can't recall if they are directly next door or not.

They've been in the area for years. One in Wheaton and used to be one in one of the malls--maybe it was Lake Forest?

Well as usual I am late to the game. Often I am only getting time to do in depth reading on the weekends! So I will put this out there, in hopes that it may not be too late. Thank you for taking your time to do this Joel. Your passion truly comes across the screen. Though a lot (frankly, most) of this conversation is well over my head. I know that I have always like strong, bold and balanced flavor of my coffee. However, I have become extremely sensitive to caffeine and can no longer drink caffeinated coffee. I've even now found that decaf, as I do like it flavorful and thus strong, can sometimes be too much for me as well. What I've found is that organic decaf seems to be my best solution. I'm glad that decaf has come out of the bane of existence and is being given some attention, but still feel like it is the bad stepchild that will never get the attention it deserves. I'm sure there are many others out there who drink decaf for other reasons, so I would like to know your opinion on the lack of offerings and attention to the decaf drinking public. Are we just a niche that no one wants to address? Or to follow Don's wine analogy, are we decaf drinkers looked upon as the boxed wine drinkers of the coffee world and I should just go bury my head in the sand? Additionally, I appreciate the must to have just roasted beans, but in reality, I don't drink enough coffee to be able to drink it fast enough. (In my defense, I am NOT a fan of the k-cups) So I resort to freezing, and drinking a coffee that could taste much better. Most independent coffee shops are not near my home or work. I did try Filter, but must have ordered wrong as I was not a fan of the decaf I had. And would have appreciated more assistance in trying to order correctly to find the coffee and method of brew that would work best for me. I'm not encouraged to go back and try again, as that was an experience where I felt looked down upon. Bourbon Coffee has much better customer service, but the decaf offered has just not been strong enough in flavor for me. (I tried it several times there.) Swings, when I went there, was also not offering anything of substance in the decaf variety. Maybe that has changed but again I was not inclined to go back after a few visits. Mayorga was the first roaster I found to offer a really good strong and flavorful decaf, and is how I found that organic was a better product for me. Unfortunately, I don't get out to Rockville that often when they are open, and even when I purchase their smallest bag, it has to be frozen and lasts us a very long time. I own an AeroPress, a few French Press pots, and a stovetop Espresso maker, but frankly our Braun drip coffee maker (which must be at least 20 yrs old by now!) I find gives us the best results. What's a gal to do?

Well I can add one that should be on the list-the fantastic burger I had last night at Penn Commons. With none of the add-ons, just a simple burger with lots of flavor, medium rare, with lettuce and tomato. It was the perfect temp and on a buttered bun that holds up to the juiciness.

A new Red Robin Burger Works location just opened on 19th St downtown (near L) where the BoLoCo used to be. That's certainly a chain, and a division of the Red Robin full service restaurant. Not sure whether they "cook to order" or not.

just curious why this event is not appearing on the calendar?

As will I (and Mr. S)

The last time we ate at Pete's there was a children's party happening in the back of the restaurant, so I'm sure they would be able to accommodate your requirements. I don't know if you are open to Asian food, but when my family group dines we often eat at the Vietnamese place upstairs, whose name escapes me at the moment.

FWIW, when White Flint opened, and when I worked there in the 80's it was in Kensington, MD. Didn't need to have the North Bethesda moniker initiallly but that eventually changed. But where Korvettes was, and where Pike and Rose is now, at the intersection of Old Georgetown Road and Rockville Pike, it was still considered Rockville. (Rockville, like Silver Spring, covers a large expansive area that includes areas beyond the city limits.) Having spent many a Saturday afternoon after religous school at that Korvettes, that area will always remain just plain old "Rockville" to me. Now I feel like such an old fart, stubborn and resistant to change, reminiscing LOL.

The new Pike & Rose area is Rockville, to those who grew up in this area, but now totes itself as North Bethesda. (I see Don has noted it as South Rockville in the City Perch thread) So I am wondering if anyone has been to any of the restaurants there yet. A couple from the Lettuce Entertain You group, Stella Barra Pizzeria and Summer House Santa Monica, plus Del Friscos, the aforementioned City Perch, and a one "coming soon" from the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Also a ShopHouse Asian KItchen is there--that's quite an assortment in a relatively smaill footprint, compared to the RTC. Thus far I've only had a snack or two at the theater, and I understand the food is catered by City Perch. I'm seeing a film there this afternoon and will post if we eat dinner at any of these places. If anyone else has tried any of them out yet, I would love to have the input!

^ they are always very helpful in navigating around my allergies!

Sorry I didn't see this earlier, but the teen woudl probably prefer BTS. I loved Beefsteak. It's kind of like Sweetgreen, where you make your own salad, but with veggies instead. The veggies you select are dropped from a basket into a water bath that cooks them perfectly. (like a fryer basket.) I like my veggies with a bit of crunch and this was just perfect. One can either order a pre-set menu combination, or just select as many veggies as one would like. Rice, quinoa or bulgur are added, and then you add your choice of toppings. Too many for me to remember to list here. There are upcharges for premium and proteins, such as avocado, poached egg, roast chicken and salt cured salmon. And then you select your "sauce" to top it all off. With all my allergies I was in hog heaven, and selected any and every veggie I'm not allergic to...and then topped it with lemon juice, avocado, roast chicken AND poached egg. Needless to say I won't be repeating that expensive combo again soon, but will order maybe one premium topping at a time. Total damage was over $16. If I had not added all the premiums, it would have been in line with the cost of a salad combo from Sweetgreen. It was lalso arge enough that I should have eaten half and saved the rest for later. (But didn't)

Experimenting with steel cut oats in the pressure cooker

The reporting I've seen say they suspect the cause to be from an electrical source. The first reports were mentioning the living space above the Chinese restaurant (illegal and with many occupants) and now it appears the reports are focusing more on Bombay Gaylord. Only time will tell.

From the WaPo, Ellie Krieger's recipe for a flatbread pizza with broccoli pesto, sun-dried tomato and egg. I don't post what we've had for dinner, since we get home from work so late that there is rarely time to really prepare anything. Cold cuts, Costco chicken, and the like is our norm. But this recipe warranted a post! I was so thrilled to find a pesto recipe that didn't have any garlic and could actually benefit from my allergy alterations-and I was suspicious that it wouldn't taste right, but this was really very good-even Mr. S liked it. He was doubtful as I was, of seeing a pesto without some more of the "standard" pesto ingreditents. I did add some lemon juice to the pesto to brighten it a bit, and would definitely do that again. I also subbed roasted walnut oil for the olive oil, which was also a good choice. I made the pesto last night, and it was quite quick and easy to make for dinner tonight. Definitely will keep this in rotation. And trying to think what else the pesto would be good with, say as an hors d'oeuvre...

All the images in this thread viewed on my Macbook Air with Firefox are right side up. I'll have to go to the other thread to check the other images as well--and those are all upside down.

To the Key Theatre in Georgetown. And to The Rocky Horror Picture Show at said venue.

The surprising truth about what you eat...