darkstar965

Wish I'd noticed this request sooner. Cacao in Cleveland Park is one of just two locations owned by the same French pastry chef/chocolatier. It's not a boulangerie in the Parisian sense since it's more sweets than breads with the exception of very good baguettes. The proprietor's name is Jacques and he's both very nice and talented. This is where I buy baguettes these days in NW DC.

Actually, have to offer another idea here that'll meet the recuperative need but not in NoVa. Wagshal's (Spring Valley/DC) chicken noodle or, on Tuesdays and Fridays, the matzoh ball version are my favorites in MD, DC or VA when not feeling well or, more often, when in the mood for the best possible chicken/matzoh ball soup I know of within 90 miles.

Beyond Asian, Cathal Armstrong (Restaurant Eve/Alexandria) is a soup magician. Whatever he has on the dining room menu is always outstanding and, at much more affordable prices, I've never had a bad soup at the bistro lunch in many, many visits. His veloutes are especially delicious and often interesting based on whatever vegetables are seasonal and available that week. With all the local, organic, cuisine and other concept specialization going on, do we not have a quality soup place in the DC area that just does soup? I'm not sure that we do but imagine such a thing would do well. Like the Seinfeld character but for real: SOUP FOR YOU! [edit] apologies I missed the OP's subtitle about soups when not feeling well. Not sure I'd necessarily recommend Eve for that but they do have fantastic soups that certainly couldn't make you feel any worse

Agreed here also. Seems like a pretty clear correlation between developed 'town centre' concepts and largely mediocre, cattle-car restaurants. And, of course that's not too surprising given the economics/rents with these places. That said, I think Pitango deserves a nod alongside PassionFish for RTC.

This just in: Cava Mezze is the best quick serve option in Bethesda. Tastier, healthier, friendlier, better value, honest. When I first went to CM, documented earlier in this thread, I appreciated what Brett and his partners were trying to do and just felt like a few things could be even better without too much additional investment. Now that I've been about 6 or 7 times for lunch and dinner, I'm pretty sure this is the best quick serve option in Bethesda. On one hand, Bethesda has always and unfortunately been a neighborhood of mediocre restaurant options. Of course there are exceptions: Jaleo, Raku at times, Mussel Bar (though can be hit and miss), certainly Blacks, Lebanese Taverna if you're okay with an occasional horrible service day and a couple of others I've neglected to mention. But then there are so many more mediocre spots that seem more targeted to tourists than sophisticated restaurant goers (spots like American Tap Room, Cafe Deluxe, or Parkers....there are many others). I've never really understood why this trend persists but it's tangential for this post. For quick serve options in Bethesda's core, we have 1) Five Guys, 2) Sweet Green, 3) Taylor Gourmet, 4) Potbelly, and a few others not mentioned here. Those four named in turn, IMHO, are 1) matter of opinion but clearly pretty unhealthy to eat regularly, 2) too unpredictable on food quality with absentee management and indifferent service, 3) pretty good but I still feel like they've betrayed our trust and then not owned up to it (see posts on that thread) and 4) well, Potbelly is a big chain with big chain quality. Then along came Mezze. What's different? Why is it my nominee for best QSR in Bethesda? 1. Value: prices are low, food is quite good, restrictions on toppings or changes are virtually non-existent 2. Food Quality: some of the proteins (ground beef and lamb especially) have been fairly knocked a bit for being dry or bland. but, I think CM has really worked to improve this. For example, I didn't so much enjoy the ground sirloin my first time there thinking it pretty flavorless. Last week, John (one of the managers) mentioned to me they'd changed the recipe. Sure enough, had it again today and it was very good with very nice flavor. Loukaniko has always been good and I'm waiting for news about a possible lamb 2.0 to give that another try. Toppings are always fresh, whether red pepper/eggplant, hummus, feta or diced tomato and onion. You can really eat here on a small budget and have food that's both tasty and healthy! go figure. Why can't all those other guys do that? (rhetorical) 3. Service/Staff: This is the one that most amazes me. It's really hard to staff a quick serve/fast food place with committed and friendly staff who stick around for awhile. Mezze really seems to have cracked the code on this. I suspect what they're doing to achieve this is fairly straight-forward with the longer term in mind but they should keep it secret because it's hugely differentiating from what poses as competition in the immediate area. The staff here do a better job than some at local, higher-priced yet mediocre, sit-down restaurants. In my visits to Mezze so far, I've consistently seen the staff 1) smile and greet customers with sincerity, 2) run up to the door with menus in hand if newbies enter and seem confused, 3) help customers exiting to easily sort their refuse into different recycling containers, 4) cheerfully add a little extra of whatever's requested or mix and match or basically do all they can to accommodate reasonable requests and 5) talk and act in ways that seem like they really are glad to be working there and serving customers; that shouldn't be so refreshingly unique but, sadly, it is. Related to #2, Mezze management actively solicits feedback AND USES IT. LOVE that!! Not everything at Mezze is perfect but the cool thing here is they really seem to listen and work to improve or at least communicate (to wit: ownership participation here on the board). Contrast that with the "Philadelphia" sandwich boys or even Sweet Green where there's rarely a salaried adult around to even talk with customers. There's also the green aspect of Mezze with many points of evidence besides the recycling. I've never been to the Cava sit-down restaurants but will definitely make it a point to give them a try soon. My bottom line on Cava is that at least to this point, they are an honest and authentic concept. The food they offer and the service all convey respect they have for the customers. I wish them a ton of success and a very, very long run at this and the other locations they open. They deserve our loyalty so long as they stay true to the path they've defined for what and how they run the business.

There are four or five different seasoning/heat levels from which you can choose. Sort of an apples and oranges scale with "lemon garlic" on one hand and "spicy" on the other. The top one is called "hot n juicy special" which supposedly combines all the options so we went for that. It was fine...good even. Our issue was around value relative to quality--especially in connection to the crawfish themselves, wings, sweet potato fries (regular frites were better) and service. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Funny name. Funny...but not so great...place. Six of us tried this new "local food" spot in Woodley with a bit of hesitation. It's the 2nd outpost of a Vegas based concept centered on crawfish, a product of the Gulf Coast. It's half bar, half restaurant. The tables are all covered in plastic. Most of the food is served in plastic bags dropped onto the tables. Crawfish: this is what drew us. The crawfish were a bit overcooked and not really in season quite yet. Steamed Shrimp: best item tried. A plastic bag full of decently spiced and sized shrimp cooked correctly. Chicken Wings: ok as far as deep frying can take a wing Sausage: also served in a plastic bag. forgettable. sweet potato fries: thin, oily OK, it's a bar and this is all meant to be bar food...I guess? All in, it came to $35/person including roughly one beer/person in our group. Ah, and top it all off: bad table service. We were there early before a crowd formed and still waited a long time for food from a confused waiter.

It definitely seemed operational earlier this week--owner and staff attending to it, beans spilling out of it and lots of noise. All in, I'd guess it the best coffee to be had in the Vienna area but I can't be certain since I'm more up on DC than outer VA.

I've always thought onsite roasting was a pretty good--if not determinate--indicator of a good coffee shop. Of course, to be sure, there are great coffee spots that don't roast on site because the machine is expensive and it takes up significant space (places like this would include Filter, Pegregrine and Chinatown here in the District). When it comes to opening up a coffee shop, the proprietor has to be at least a bit obsessive (and a bit capitalized) about the beans and the process to invest in a full-on roaster; hence decent litmus test on place to grab a good cup. My current favorite coffee shop in America is a place called Noble Coffee in Ashland, Oregon where they devote some pretty significant square footage to a glorious roasting room glassed in for all to see in front of the store. So, I thought interesting to list out those local coffee places that roast. I don't know them all but some include: - Qualia Coffee (3917 Georgia NW, DC) - Sidamo (417 H NE, DC) - Caffe Amouri (107 Church St NW in Vienna) All three of those serve excellent, better than most in this area, coffee. There are at least two more I know but can't think of now. P.S., How 'bout renaming this board "Beer, Wine and Caffeinated Wonders"?

While out in Vienna recently, I got a recc on a nearby coffee place for a quick pickup that I'd never have found otherwise and thought I'd share. Caffe Amouri is about 7 months old and is at 107 Church St NE in Vienna in a pretty non-descript strip mall. I'm guessing this is probably the best coffee spot in that immediate area and maybe top 3 in NoVa. I instantly give points to coffee shop purveyors who roast on site since you know the java is fresher that way and most don't do this due to the cost. Coffee was excellent. Owner very nice and there's a brand spankin' new, yellow and gleaming steel fairly high tech roasting machine right in the front of the cafe. My only pick, a minor one, is how they positioned and use the machine. It's set up like one might expect at a science museum and reminded me of the Way Back Machine. It has a velvet rope around it, a few scattered coffee burlap sacks for effect and it's connected to a laptop with its own stool. But maybe not so cool to run it during the day as they do since it's right next to the tables and makes a ton of noise. Amouri has a thread on Yelp (like every other retailer on the planet it seems) but I wanted to point it out here since it's very good and may help someone out that way desperate for a quality cup.

Thank you leleboo! I'll message you on the tech stuff since off topic for the thread (and shameful of me to have missed it--of course, Penn Quarter!).

Was just posting on a different thread about xiaolongbao maybe coming to The Source here in DC and was curious, put the term into the dr.com search window and found this--a discussion from last year about soup dumplings! How very cool--one of Asia's greatest contributions to international cuisine in my view. But, oh so very, very hard to find made well. Anyway, I must disagree respectfully yet strongly wtih ol ironstomach. DTF (of Taiwan, LA, and many other locations) does indeed make excellent Shanghai Soup Dumplings. But, make no mistake, Shanghai's (and the world's) greatest soup dumplings are found here: Jia Jia Tang Bao 90 Huanghe Lu, by Fengyang Lu
 Shanghai China
 If you like xiaolongbao (or think you might like it) and are going to Shanghai, please, please don't commit the crime of visiting the local outpost of DTF, an experience you can have on our own left coast. Go to Jia Jia Tang Bao. It's a foodie pilgrimage all should make...if you like soup dumplings..

Apologies up front. There MUST already be a thread for The Source already but I couldn't find it. Tried the search tool a couple of times and scrolled way down. No luck. Then went to the Dining Guide (see? now a grouper, I know more than I did as a shrimp or even as a clam ) and looked twice across all the DC sections and not just downtown, by smithsonian, east or west of 16th and K, etc. Couldn't find it. But I know it must be here somewhere so, again, my deep apologies to Rocks or whomever may have to combine this thread. Anyway--on the Source--have been a few times and it has been one of those 'second-chances are worthwhile' places for us. The first time I thought it was overpriced and tended toward fusion cliches on the menu. But, second and third visits were much better. It's been a couple of months since my last visit so can't review it substantively now. But, I do want to ask for a bit of advice from all the traveling foodies here. A few weeks ago, a friend and I went to an event at the Newseum at which Wolfgang Puck and Scott Drewno were the featured attractions. After WP spoke (much about his Austrian upbringing and jokes he has no doubt told a zillion times but were still enjoyed by the 100 or so there), they did a cooking demonstration using lobster wontons. Then those were served to all attendees and a very good lunch was served. Finally, a raffle was held. Somehow (this never happens!), I won the grand prize of about 14 prizes awarded: a gift card sufficient for two people to enjoy a really excellent, multi-course dinner and good wine at any Puck restaurant. So, two questions: 1. Should we use this card at The Source or at some other WP restaurant (Spago, Chinois or lots and lots of salads at the Puck Express spots in various airports) as we do travel? 2. Has anyone heard the rumor about Scott Drewno developing xiaolongbao (aka Shanghai Soup Dumplings) for the Source menu? Is it true and, if so, when will it be on the menu? LOVE, LOVE, LOVE great xiaolongbao and, when I heard this rumor I thought instantly about some of the best xiaolongbao I've had (London, Hong Kong and the BEST shop in Shanghai).

Grabbed dinner here last week and hadn't ever posted about it so... Have been to Brabo Tasting Room maybe 3 or 4 times since it opened. Brabo once. Butcher's Block 4 or 5 times (expensive but some really memorable steaks were had there). Like most of the previous posters, I'm a fan of BTR. Casual but excellent in the same spirit (and just a bit lower in food excellence) as Eve's Bistro, Central or Palena Cafe. BTR is a more limited menu than those (except the Bistro) but no matter. Agree with the others about the chorizo/fennel mussels and tarts--really excellent and good values. Trying to add a new angle, in my recent visit, I found myself thinking about Mussel Bar and why BTR seems so much better. After all, same owner and even some overlap in concept with BTR's menu basically a subset of MB's. I've posted on Mussel Bar separately so won't go down that road again here but I remain convinced that the two restaurants are sourcing different mussels. BTR consistently serves mussels that seem larger, tastier and all around better. I asked our server about this but, of course, she couldn't really speak to what Mussel Bar was doing. Had an onion soup last week at BTR which was also excellent (though I like that at Mussel Bar also). A chocolate dessert was a bit too rich, dense and heavy. Found a good, well priced sauvignon blanc which pared perfectly with our mussels. We really enjoy BTR every time we've been. Wish it was closer (they could switch spots with Mussel Bar?) so we'd go more often.

Curious: have you been in the last couple of months and was all well?

Yes--all restaurants deserve a second chance. Even third and fourth chances if there are clear reasons to expect something different and better from whatever drove you away. That said, we happened to have brunch at CD this morning in Bethesda. Blah, Bleh....or is it meh? Omelets tasted like they were made from the pre-broken eggs that many fast food/chain spots use so they can just be ladled from a metal container onto a grill or into a no-stick skillet. Potatoes were greasy and clearly not made to order. Kitchen was totally backed up; we waited nearly an hour for two omelets. OJ is from a carton. Couldn't bring ourselves to order coffee with Quartermaine just a walk around the corner. Of course, brunch doesn't necessarily mean a lunch or dinner would be the same. But, whether a place is lower priced or higher priced, either they're really trying to do something special and different or they're not. This place doesn't seem to be. Maybe the comparison isn't fair but, to me, it's not that much different from a Dennys; at least on breakfast foods. Can't imagine even talking about it in the same sentence as Two Amys for pizza.

We've been going for years. And, for most of that time, we'd have said it had the best duck to be had in the area, including Mark's Duck House. Really flavorful, crispy skin and always, always carved table-side by the chef if you ordered a full duck. He didn't do that for the half duck. Several of the other dishes (e.g., shrimp, fresh fish w/ ginger/garlic, stir fried beef noodles, eggplant with garlic) were very good but the duck was really The Thing. But, about 6 or 7 months ago we went and were pretty shocked. As always, we ordered a whole duck. But, this time it came out already carved and without the chef. It tasted like it might have been carved hours before and just scooped out from a warming bin in back. Kind of dry; tough. It had never, ever been like that in dozens of visits--we were pretty aghast. We of course asked about this--why the drastic change? That question wasn't taken well. The Chef was in that night we knew. We were told by a waitress that it was too busy for the Chef to carve table-side. That made no sense to us since he'd always, for many years, done this even when the place was packed. He didn't come to our table to explain or apologize. And, it wasn't busy at all. We noticed a quality decline in other dishes also. We were so disappointed and floored by this, we haven't gone back since. The Chef has tons of experience cooking for VIPs and the regulars. There's a picture of Ted Kennedy, among others, on a ledge. Previously we went once every other month or so. But, it seemed clear to us that he'd let his quality slip for whatever reasons and then there was no reason to go there; not with the great Asian to be had up in Rockville, Wheaton, Silver Spring, Annandale, Mark's and others. But, we are now again out of date since has been at least 6 months. Maybe others complained about what we experienced also. Maybe it was an outlier night (thought it happened to us twice before we pulled the plug). Maybe the Chef went back to doing what made him great and built the loyal customer base he had. Please report if you go. If you order a full duck and the chef brings it out and carves it in front of you, that'll be a very good sign. If it comes out already having been carved, I'd guess you won't be that excited about it.

Beef fest tonight. And it reinforced why I love Palena. Simply stated, Palena is cool. I posted a week or two ago to ask about the time typical for the head-to-tail. Waitman and HillValley both cautioned against trying to enjoy something so special before a show. They were right to caution that. I agreed then and agree now. But, sometimes you can't have things exactly the way you'd prefer. We had to do in two hours what should take at least 3. And Palena made it happen with great results. Sarah was great to fit us in and didn't lose a beat when she realized only today (no doubt my fault) that we had only two hours rather than two and a half recorded at the time I made the booking. Kelly, Kelli, Sean and other staff did a phenomenal job to keep us on track and make us feel very welcome as they always do. Was the time compression ideal? No. Was it delicious, great fun and totally worthwhile given our constraints? Absolutely! And, I'm quite sure we'll do this again the right way to even more fully appreciate it. I won't detail all the dishes since that's been done on the thread so much already. Loved most the carne cruda, brodo, beef cheek, ribeye, orange "medley" and shortbread. Palena as an organization and team cooks and serves with such confidence but warmly and without any pretentiousness whatsoever. They just worked with us to make our dinner successful. To me, that's the definition of cool. And, of course, the food was great. I love that Chef isn't and never has been a big sous vide, foam, molecular, micro or trend-of-the-month type. Always interesting, often new, always simple enough to be accessible and, most of all, delicious and all about great ingredients simply prepared. As Tom S wrote in this weekend's Post review, "A master of restraint, Ruta is his own best editor." Every item on the menu was listed with its source by name & location: Gretna Farms (VA), Roseda Farms (Eastern Shore), Horst Co-Operative (PA), Meadow Creek (VA) and Trickling Springs (PA) dairies. Pretty cool. As always, not everything was a home run. As example, I didn't so much enjoy the heart; it was a bit firm for my taste. And, I enjoyed the cheek more than the oxtail in the vaccinara though both were very good with delicious tomato sauce and equally delicious but simple vermicelli ("toasted" with garlic and olive oil). We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and that's always the bottom line. And the show (Arabian Nights at Arena Stage) was great fun also. It all worked out. Thanks DR.com for all the useful guidance as always. And thanks Palena for doing what you do so consistently. Now about all those leftovers....

Visited Cava again tonight and wanted to update my first reactions from a couple of weeks ago. Followed Brett's advice and ordered the lamb rather than the ground sirloin since I ws looking for more vibrant flavors. I did enjoy the lamb more. But, given the above braising method (which sounds fantastic), I still think it could be enhanced some. Maybe some thyme and tad heavier on salt with some fresh ground pepper? Something just to make it pop a bit more. It was tasty and I enjoyed it more than the beef but think the lamb, which is good, could be even better. Is it DR-verboten to quote oneself? Quoting because I wanted to again underscore the three likes above. Love that Cava Mezze staff are so accommodating and that so many options are allowed at such reasonable prices. Brett was totally right to gently question whether the harissa really was "bland" as I'd described previously lumping it in with the other toppings. He was right. I made sure to get this tonight and hadn't had it the previous time--my mistake. It has definite kick in the form of heat. I used it mixed into the rice bowl with lamb and that helped some. At the end of the day, Cava Mezze is a low priced quick serve concept, I totally appreciate that and think it's a great formula. While I do think a bit more might be possible to embolden the sirloin and lamb flavor profiles, I also realize that it may not be that feasible to do or I may well be an outlier on this. And, I'll definitely be back more. Not just to try the Loukaniko (the one I haven't yet tried) but also because it's an easy choice to make for a fast and easy meal one can feel good about eating.

Now THAT would be awesome. Wonder if anyone at Palena monitors DR.com--hint, hint

For what it's worth, I totally agree with Waitman also. Without getting into a lot of detail, suffice to say just sometimes have to compromise a bit on what one might ideally do given other constraints and others' preferences. Thanks Ericandblueboy, hillvalley and Rocks for sharing your experiences!

Wow--I'm sold and will be in asap for this! You do mean Lexington, VA, right? Also, I'm assuming the Angus are pastured and maybe grain finished? Finally, is this being served just in Arlington or also your other spots (Silver Spring, East River...). Sounds awesome. Please continue to promote--to me that's a huge bene of this board to know from the source(s) what they're proudest of so we can then take advantage.

I visited MusselBar this week for lunch. It was my third visit with the first last fall just before the Sietsema review came out. At that time, I had a a lobster roll I thought quite good. Lobster was fresh and generously portioned. Lightly dressed--that's probably mistake #1 for me with lobster rolls other places serve: too much mayo or butter. Thought mussels ordered then were okay but expected them to really be amazing. When I was there then, I asked about whether the mussels being served at Mussel Bar were the same quality/grade as those used at Brabo in Alexandria. I asked this because I was pretty sure they weren't, having loved the mussels I'd had at Brabo. But I was told they were and wasn't sure what to make of that. The mussels then at MB were smaller relative to Brabo. Both were fresh but Brabo's just much bigger, juicier, tastier, etc. To be fair, haven't had mussels there since but probably need to tive them another try after another Brabo visit to re-check I'd have thought that it'd make sense that RW would use different mussels at both spots since, after all, one is high-priced premium and MB is a lower priced bar concept. But maybe I'm missing something there and do notice noone on this board has ever questioned the mussels. Much more has been said about the frites, pilsner, sandwiches, etc. Yes and per my above comment, it was quite good so I'd recommend it! Finally, at lunch this week, I had a mixed experience with a simple onion soup and a caesar salad to which I added the optional lobster. Loved the onion soup. Rich broth with sweet onions and nicely baked cheese (I think provolone) atop the soup. Mmmm. But, the caesar salad was off. The dressing tasted like it might have been a day old or something like that and I didn't have time to send it back and wait for another. I did eat the lobster meat from it, which was the same great lobster meat I knew from the roll. Nitpick there: I'd have thought they wouldn't so directly use lobster roll meat in a caesar salad because it came as a split tail with light mayo and diced green onion so a bit in conflict with the caesar dressing. I'll definitely go back to MB again and try the mussels after I can check Brabo first to reaffirm what I think I've had there first. Just wanted to share my thoughts on MB here for others on the off chance they're even a bit helpful to at least one person

Can anyone who's done the head-to-tail advise on the typical time spent from start to finish? Thinking about doing this pre-theater if viable.

You'll have to report back how this works out! I lived in Korea years ago and learned there to appreciate and love kimchi. Chang's two weeks to "prime" time is interesting given the history though. This from Wikipedia: "Traditionally, the greatest varieties of kimchi were available during the winter. In preparation for the long winter months, many types of kimjang kimchi (hangul: 김장 김치) were prepared in early winter and stored in the ground in large kimchi pots." Yeah, yeah, I know. Refrigeration shimidgeration....