darkstar965

Impressive!

Dammit, I can't figure out how to embed the link to save my life:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12834604/bryce-harper-washington-nationals-hits-home-runs-first-three-bats

Hopefully, Don will give me huge (and, we're talking very huge) points and other member benes for this but, here's how it works, Al.

1. Have to be on a computer.  Can't do on a phone or tablet.

2. Copy the url of the link you want to embed.  Can click on the url window and drag or 'select all' to highlight the entire url depending on whether Apple or MSFT

3.  With the copied url on your notepad (in the background basically), go to the post on dr.com in which you want to embed the link

4. Highlight the text within your post you want to become the hyperlink

5.  Right above the open text window, in which you type, you should should see a tool bar. One of the tools in a chain link icon with a small green plus symbol.  Click that.

6.  When the small, new "link" window opens, you'll see a place to enter a url. Hit Cntrl-V on a Windows machine or Command-V on a Mac to paste the copied url into that field.

7. Hit "OK." The dialog box closes and you should have your first embedded link.

Try it with the one just above. You can copy the link you already have there from here, without having to go back to espn.com.  Should take 5 seconds since you have all you need here for this one.

And, if this works, you're perfectly welcome to buy me lunch.  

The thing about baseball fans is they get giddy about stats. I love stats, but baseball people are just too funny.

Not ALL baseball fans, Pool Boy. Not ALL.  And, not this one so much.  I do enjoy the old math vs new math debate which is part of baseball fandom in the new millennium but think the fixation on math has gotten totally out of hand.  Baseball has great history, character and all kinds of cool qualitative.

Argh, why did you have to post that article???  I was a perfectly happy Braves fan, sitting over here, hating the Nats...but it's a lot harder to hate them when they do cool things like support the Caps. 

It's the same thing I said when they ran a piece on the news about the Nats players posing with their pets for a calendar - GAH, I can't hate on Bryce Harper when he's posing with an adorable dog!!!!  Here are some preview shots.  Kudos to all the players with rescue animals!

All rivalries and kidding aside, it has been really awesome to see all of the DC teams support each other during this super-fun time of year when many of the sports overlap.  Gotta love the spring!

Literally laughed out loud at this!   Suspected (but didn't know) you might be a Braves fan since you were in Atlanta and gave so many of us such great scoop on the food scene there. But couldn't suss out if you had roots in Atlanta.  The nature of the rivalry between the two teams isn't as healthy as other teams but that's mostly the more extreme elements.  Same as with a small segment of the O's fanbase.  I like to think that most people are just good, grounded, and kind, irrespective of whatever sports teams they like.

Still, very funny stuff, bettyjoan. Thank you!

Hello, I'm John. I live roughly 15 minutes outside of the city proper, in the Alexandria area near Old Town. I've been living here for 10 years but my home is still and always will be New York. Been reading DR for a while (few years) and finally got off my ass and signed up. My favorite cuisines are French, Italian, Asian (Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Chinese-American, you name it, it's all good) and, of course, American. Really I'll eat anything. Well, almost. It has to be edible. But my all-time favorite is pizza. Specifically, a classic New York style slice. If you offered me the choice of, say, a free meal at Noma or Joe's, I'd pick the latter every single time. To me, there is no greater pleasure on this earth than a perfectly charred, foldable piece of NY style pie, with that perfect balance of cheese and sauce melding together in blissful harmony.

My favorite DC restaurants are, in no particular order are: Le Diplomate, Central before it went downhill, Daikaya, Toki Underground, Donburi, Rose's Luxury, Osteria Marzano, the various Ray's establishments, Restaurant Eve and most importantly, WiseGuy's NY Pizza. It is the best pizza you can find outside of NY.

Anyway, glad to be here and to finally engage in the discussion. Beware, I have very strong feelings about pizza.

Welcome, JSnake!

Very big deal in baseball and Washington Nationals history yesterday, courtesy Bryce Harper.

Really great game, and those goals! Shazam!

...My only problem with the Post of late is that, with this being the playoffs, the Caps doing ok in the second round, when I get to the sports section, they are always BELOW THE FOLD! Why?! I mean, today they showed baseball above the fold. The Nats are great but they have months and months of games left ahead of them. THIS IS PLAYOFF HOCKEY!

...

Could have sworn that the Caps have been above the fold in the past week. Surely when they clinched the first round?  As for today, Pool Boy, while true baseball has "months and months of games left," yesterday was very notable.  Bryce Harper, the Nats' wunderkind who is still the 4th youngest player in the National League (after 3 full years in the majors), hit three homeruns in one game yesterday.  It's a huge accomplishment for any player, having only been accomplished twice this year.  Harper was the youngest to achieve it since 1969 and the youngest to hit 3 with 5 RBIs since 1955.  For baseball fans (and twitteres), pretty big deal relative to a very cool but non-clinching, Game 4.  If the Caps win in NY on Saturday, I'd bet you lunch that the Sunday coverage will be above the fold and probably front section versus just in sports.

On a related note, check out this piece which posted on WaPo about the Nats players (bunches of them) who were at Verizon last night.  The pics alone make it worthwhile but just really cool to see this kind of camaraderie between local pro teams.

Oh, totally.  Jonathan and I are in agreement about the quality of the pizza.  I just meant that even when I was in NY, I nearly always opted for the convenience of the mediocre slice down the block vs. the good slice a subway trip away, and Wiseguy fills that same role here in DC.

...You could definitely tell differences in quality even among the lesser spots.  Some had terrible sauce that was typically way too sweet.  Even though Wiseguy uses canned sauce, I don't find it to have that particular quality.

I was actually under the impression that Wiseguy made its mozarella fresh in-house daily. That's according to their website and also what they told me in person when I asked. Could that have changed or are they just fibbing? Or am I misunderstanding the comment about the ingredients entirely? Probably the latter.

Glad I'm not alone. I'm a big ingredient hound; fellow readers who've read my posts in other topics know that. But, this (NY Pizza) is just a realm I've given no thought to in years.

Surely, if Wiseguy does, in fact, make its own mozz, that must be better than the bevy of cheese-product type things that roll off Sysco trucks across the land?  And, likewise on the sauce.  I'm near certain homemade should be better than canned/jarred/boxed because that's true with most anything. But, all cans aren't alike and the ingredients label on the Full Red seems relatively honest.  Need some expert opinion on this. Maybe something like that guy making the truly awesome pies at Ghibellina?  

To me, anyway, the blocked shots have been the most noticeable (and positive) change in this year's playoff run. Of course, Holtby's performance has been absolutely stellar - but it's so nice to also see his teammates keeping things away from the net. Seems like they are all feeding off each other's success and confidence.

This is interesting to me, as a hockey neophyte who knows other sports much better. I, too, noticed defenders occupying shooting lanes and blocking many shots. But, shouldn't that be Hockey 101? Table stakes? Shouldn't defenders away be, well, defending?

I compare this to soccer (maybe wrongly). In football, goalies don't typically come under as fierce and as sustained assault as they seem to in hockey. Often, but not always, a goal scored in football is the fault of the defenders more than the keeper. But doesn't seem as much this way in hockey?

Rinks are smaller than football pitches and action moves faster so maybe that's part of it? But why not more blame on defenders when a team loses than the goalie?

A good example from last night was the Rangers' goal when Ovi was beaten by Brassard in a footrace to the Caps' goal. Why not more emphasis on the defenders in that play, rather than the talk about how Ovi, a winger, was out skated?

Full Red Fully Prepared Pizza Sauce

As for killer slices in New York, I often inhabited Bleecker Street (especially their Sicilian) when I worked at the Spotted Pig, and La Pino Forchetta in Park Slope when I worked and lived in BK. Also DiFara if you just take it for what it is...a slice joint, not pizza nirvana.

As for DC...I'm stumped. If have to compare Alberto's or jumbo slice with wise guys when sober or drunk to evaluate.

Really dumb question. Partly because my tastes shifted to Neapolitan-style pizza as an adult (from NY style slices years ago) and thus never really considered ingredients in NY style pizza as I do with most anything now.

Is Full Red "extremely low quality" because it's industrially produced and canned? Or, is it respectable since the ingredients are relatively few and clear? (i.e., seemingly no additives, artificial flavors or chem labs).

Can't expect NY slice type shops to be making their own sauce on site? Or should we? Honestly have no idea about this.

"Beautiful."

My out-loud comment to an otherwise empty space about the game-winning goal tonight.

This is the time of year when I start paying closer attention.  What a game tonight! This team has a serious goaltender!  Amazing 2-1 victory to go up 3-1 with Holtby beating the first penalty shot of the series.  Lots of fun. Can they close this out in Madison Square Garden on Friday???  That'll game should be must-see TV for any DC sports fan imho.

?..A work of art - or a story - should be its own length, whatever that length is, and should not be engineered to fit within certain parameters. That's my opinion.

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That said, a typical Hollywood film is designed to fit within a two-hour period, or thereabouts. I think that, with the advent of home viewing, longer films are more easily tolerated; it's sitting in a chair for 3.5 hours that makes me squirm (that's actually why I stopped seeing operas about ten years ago).

My biggest complaint about the movie industry right now is that you don't know what's computer-generated, and what's not - I've gotten to the point where I assume that everything is, and that everything is just a glorified cartoon which is a huge turn-off (literally) to me. This merits a separate thread.

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To me (and I know I don't represent any majority) "typical Hollywood films" have totally lost their way. I realize they respond to the broader market but great films should be great stories and artistic in composition and presentation. But, story is paramount. I cringe some just at the topic of computer-generated whatever. It has gotten so difficult for small, independent and talented filmmakers here in the US, and from around the world, to ever have their work reach an audience, I'm encouraged by the new web platforms enabling direct-to-consumer distribution. Great films educate, unify, inspire and change minds in a way much, much tougher for television and shorter-form content to achieve. I so wish more Americans would patronize cinemas like the Avalon and even LandMark so we'd have more options to see quality films instead of lamenting the latest closure like West End Cinema in favor of the national multiplex corporations selling synthetic, sci-fi thrillers.

Pretty disappointing for DC overall and particularly within the Outstanding Baker category. I wasn't familiar with Jim Layhey, the NYC-based winner for Sullivan Street Bakery so no opinion on him. But I am familiar with the Boston finalist who I think probably second best...in Boston. Was really hoping Mark Furstenberg at BreadFurst would win but probably just based in the wrong city and thus never had a chance.

Tried BBC this week with some friends. It was disappointing knowing what this chef is capable of. We had a large-enough group to try all the meats and a bunch of sides. Before detailing anything, important to state a few disclosures:

- We enjoyed some things at Newton's Table (the previous concept by the same chef/owner here) and remember the burger as a definite standout for its flavor, char, size and temperature. Maybe that's available here but we stuck with BBQ items so can't say.
- Totally respect Chef's background, including CIA training
- As always, this is based on just one visit, might have been too soon after opening and might have been an off night with a new chef/line cook/pitmaster, short staffing, one-off supplier or other problem(s), etc. Nothing like that was obvious to us but can't be sure.

One in our group thought the place "lacked soul." I think he meant the decor, which hasn't really changed since it was Newton's Table save some porcine artwork now adorning the walls. Personally, I don't care so much about that and have much empathy for trying to minimize the cost of the changeover. For me, it's all about the food. A subset of what we all tried at our table:

Mains:

Ribs: These were dry, stringy and just way too lean.
Brisket: A bit better than the ribs but also seemed like it had been under a heat lamp too long. Drier and less rich than good brisket should be. Also, served more like chopped/pulled beef but may be just my preference that brisket be served in thick slices
Pulled Pork: Best of the three meats with some moisture but not well seasoned

Sides:

Biscuit: decent; guessing these may be made in house
Collards: maybe the best thing we had but the standard version you'd expect at any good BBQ joint
Mac & Cheese: This was silly. Priced as a premium side (aka "Big Spender" side at $4, versus $2 for baked beans, collards, etc), the portion was smaller than all the other sides and was just shells with a weak/thin, one-note, cheese sauce. Pricing aside, just so basic as to come close to boxed.

Service was fine. Servers were friendly and available though the place wasn't busy. Prices are all reasonable for the type of cuisine if the quality improved.

We have good debates here about BBQ and how DC spots like Wagshal's new "Back Alley Pitmasters," DCity Smokehouse, Andrew Evans @ Union Market, Hill Country, Urban, KBQ v 2.0, Fat Pete's in Cleveland Park and Rocklands all rate. Again, just based on the one--and very possibly insufficient-visit, this isn't (yet??) in the same ballpark as any of those. We didn't complain or speak to a manager but, in retrospect, should have. Just wasn't so viable given the character of our group. May be good enough for the local market. I'm not sure. But, absent a few credible good reports of real progress, I probably won't go back.

Is that true? I couldn't imagine our waiter doing this, since he asked about food allergies as a sort of afterthought after we already placed our order. But if so, that is a great service.

I certainly hear your point about being upfront about restrictions, and while it's true that the waiter asked if we had any food allergies, I don't typically interpret allergies to mean religious or cultural objections. I will do so from now on. But my point was more about the quality of service at a restaurant that has been lauded for its service. Had we not asked specifically about the dish, and it just showed up with veal, I would have solely blamed us for not inquiring.

Totally true as we've had the same experience on several previous visits. That, the unexpected but systematically delivered freebies and a sincere, hospitable friendliness have been Rose's innovative service hallmarks. Bon Appetit wrote about all of it last fall. Less clear whether they still are firing on all cylinders to the same degree based only on a few recent visits in the ten or so preceding posts, including one of mine.

Good topic! We're big film/movie fans even to the point of regularly including festivals in vacation plans. I'm with you in being annoyed with movies that run three hours. Great storytelling (the most important aspect of a film for me) can be done in two hours or even less time. There are rate exceptions of a longer film I thought fine, given the story/material but, nearly always, I think filmgoers emerging from a 3-hour odyssey are more likely to be talking about the run time than the story. And, that says something I think.

All said, despite knowing the industry somewhat, I had to lookup Peter Jackson. And, that's because I've never seen any of the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings movies. Much prefer independent, foreign, documentaries, smart drama and comedies (that actually are funny-a small subset of the huge genre). By and large, haven't noticed creeping run times as a problem or trend within those genres.

Tonight's 2-1 loss to Miami perfectly illustrates the point that great pitching alone isn't enough. The staff tonight, especially the pen after Strasburg was pulled in the 3rd with a mysterious ailment, did a great job. But, the offense only had three hits and a single run. This is much more illustrative of the few-year trend and, with it, the team's big opportunity for this season.

Truth.

Freudian Wizards slip? Thought this thread was about the hockey team?   

The Nats won 2 of the final 3 games of the Mets series, while being outscored 4-2 (there's actually only 1 mathematically possible way to do that). I suspect winning 3 of the 4-game series might be looked upon as a turning point in their season - it's early, we'll see - but to win those final 2 games by a score of 1-0 must be a huge psychological boost, giving confidence to both the starters and the closers, and taking pressure off the hitters.

If the team goes on to 1st place in the division and postseason, I don't think anyone will cite the Mets series as a turning point. The turning point was when Dan Uggla hit the winning home run at Turner Field the week prior. They scored 34 runs in 3 games there and the starting pitching got back on track in the last game before NY.  The two 1-0 scores were great but not how you win sustainably.  Have to have a balanced attack with smart baserunning, solid defense, situational hitting and strong pitching. The Nats rotation is the assumed lead horse for the team. So a 1-0 shutout here and there is fully built into the expectations for the team. The relative unknowns are the bats and the pen.  The bats have been wildiy inconsistent for three years, along with the past month.  And, this year, the pen has only started looking good for about the past week.

They do seem to have turned a corner.  Wining this series against Miami would be great since most believe the Marlins are the most serious competitors in the division.  Just need one of two of the next two games to do that.  Then the Braves are in town, hopefully for some more pummeling.  And, then another serious test with the Yankees here for two.

Someone (Darkstar?) asked me to elaborate on my Ted's post in Where Did I Dine?

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I have ZERO need to go back.  ...

And that leads us to BL-2nd grader, who really and truly loves everything about the place.  ...

It was me and thank you!  Interesting.  Ted's works well for elementary school children but less so for adults and families. I guess unsurprising given all the posts above.  I never go here and this thread has probably saved me some $ and frustration.

Insurance for wine (which I have and highly recommend) will not cover "flawed bottles". Breakage, theft, cooling unit failure - yes. Heat Damage, TCA, etc - no. Standard whether through Chubb, Fireman's fund, or one of the online options.

Reimbursements/ returns are much easier for new/ recent release wines like the 2012 Chards dinwiddie is talking about, but often not on older bottles.

Still wondering about this.  Are your views about insurance coverage more reflective of the insurance market for consumers and private collectors than for restaurants with hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) tied up in inventory?  Again, I'm not sure but part of the reason why I thought higher end restaurants might have good protection from distributor contracts and insurance is the occasional news item when referenced like this.

To Don't point though, maybe this isn't a material expense for a better restaurant/wine bar like Proof?  And, if it isn't, then gets back to the the markups being unreasonable relative to nearly any other kind of product or service.

Also, I think this a great and useful conversation precisely because there was constructive disagreement.  Different from Don's statement here:

Keith, you and I are pretty much on the same page - honestly, I don't see anything we disagree about.

Maybe I misinterpreted what I read (wouldn't be the first time) but I thought it clear that you and Don had a civil disagreement about corkage fees and, maybe, markups to some degree?  Namely, that Keith was more tolerant of both than Don.

I'm not in the industry. And, I'm not suggesting that corkage is something that one shouldn't "take advantage of", but rather that many in the wine community expect more out of corkage policies than is reasonable - and that reflects poorly on the hobby as a whole.

Regarding "bad bottles", seems that as with many things, the risk increases with age. I was at Bern's in Tampa a few weeks ago and had a bad bottle - it was replaced without a second thought. Were I to have walked downstairs and pulled a similar bottle at my home (if I had the same bottle), it would have been a large, large, large bummer and I would be out my initial investment.

Thanks Keith. I understand the risk with age idea since applies to most things and have had that large bummer of an experience even with the smaller number of bottles (some pricier) I keep at home. But, reimbursement/return agreements with distributors and/or insurance may mitigate this significantly if it is even a material issue for a restaurant? Again on those things, count me as skeptical but admittedly ignorant.

I'm just going to rewind the DVR and watch the bottom of the 8th again...

Good decision.  We were at last night's game the first 7 innings were maddening. We almost left early and we never do that.  But, when the smoke cleared, it was a pretty amazing experience.  Watch the top of the 9th too.  Tanner Roark's first save was something to behold, especially given how he got the last out.  But, Yunel Escobar, Denard Span, Ian Desmond....wow!  The team is playing some really good baseball these days. It's a nice change after a terrible April.

Do they have a pre-game happy hour? I recall seeing that they were going to offer a happy hour but not when the Nats are in town. I'd like to see that change.

Didn't seem like it when we were there but the place was deserted an 90 minutes prior and was only a couple of weeks after they opened. I'd guess by now they do have something like that but, then again, their prices are so much lower than in the part, not sure a HH even makes sense for them business wise since they're primarily a restaurant?  Maybe.

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You mention risk briefly, but I don't think you are valuing it highly enough. As you note, If you open a corked or maderized bottle at a restaurant, they assume risk. If you take that same bottle from your home cellar, who assumes that risk? Sure, you can try and bring the bottle back through the supply chain and may well be able to do so with a recent release - but with a bottle bought at auction or on release and then aged for 15 years? Good luck, and good luck to the restaurant as well. Businesses have been charging premiums for absorbing risk for centuries - why should wine be any different (in addition to glassware, breakage, storage, and other costs that the restaurant absorbs)?

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Keith, I'm not sure if you're in the industry but I'm very curious to learn if the above is always true, usually true or more the exception.  It seems  a huge part of understanding markups.  I'd need to better understand what most restaurants do with corked or bad wine and also how often that even happens (whether it's a material risk for an average-sized restaurant cellar). I'm a bit skeptical about this risk but also admit to being largely uninformed about it.  It'd be great to hear from Mark Slater and others on it if they're willing.

...

I don't buy into the "corkage is a privilege" argument. Well, I do, but pretty much *anything* that isn't guaranteed by law is a privilege, so I think it's largely irrelevant. I have the opposite attitude: "If you're going to charge me 2.5 times as much as the liquor store down the street for the exact same thing, i.e., $100 for a $40 wine, you'd *better* have a corkage policy if you want my business."

So yes, a restaurant's corkage policies are a privilege to me, but my business is a privilege to them, and I'm more than happy to take it elsewhere (I haven't bought a bottle of wine at Proof in years). Sorry for the blunt talk, but I resent restaurants marking up their wines much higher than retail. Yes, there is stemware, ice buckets, service, etc., and that absolutely justifies a small markup. However, unlike what I could do with their miso sablefish, with a bottle of wine, I could simply walk down to my basement and get the exact same thing, and instead of paying $100 for it, I paid $25. Now, what am I expected to do?

Quite honestly, I don't see how restaurants sell *any* wine that's priced over $30-40, because anyone who knows enough to appreciate it, should know enough not to pay that much for it.

...

Exactly! Precisely!! And, absolutely. If I could "like" this post of Don's a thousand times, I would.

I'm not a wine expert by any measure.  But I do know a little. It is an interest for me if not a full-blown hobby.  I took several wine-tasting classes during and after my college years. I've been fortunate to have been able to travel to most of the world's major wine-growing regions; and have enough interest that a trip to Cape Town ensures a side trip to Stellenbosch, a trip to Auckland prompted a side trip to Marlborough.  A few months in Barcelona led to a couple of trips up to Bordeaux.  And, so on.

Still, have never worked in the industry. And, while I keep maybe 25-50 bottles in my basement, I have no "wine cellar" and have been thinking about getting a small wine fridge for a few years that I still haven't gotten.    I'd never call wine a "hobby" for me. But, I think i know the difference between excellent and swill.  And, I do have enough interest to seek it out and to learn more (as this site affords).

I don't know how representative I am of any group but I almost never buy bottles of wine in restaurants despite spending way too much money on going out/food.  One reason is my +1, who likes wine but can't drink more than half a glass or so. But, the bigger reason is the stratospheric pricing.  I think I've "taken advantage" of corkage policies maybe a dozen times...ever.

I'm someone who maybe understands restaurant economics a little better than the average diner.  And, I totally appreciate how incredibly tough it is to sustain a reasonable profit over many years.  And, how critical a bar program is to ensuring a positive bottom line.  Still, markups of 2.5X, 3X, 3.5X, 4X and higher are just offensive to me.  I don't normally post about this here.  It's not really one of my issues since I just don't partake when out very often aside from one-off glasses.  As an aside, most places don't have great wine-by-the-glass programs which makes my decision to not have wine in restaurants even easier at times.  I've wondered often whether that is a big missed market opportunity.

I fully understand, deeply appreciate and very much respect the expertise and passion that fellow members like PoolBoy, Dinwiddle, and Keithstg (Don too, obviously) have around wine.  It's awesome in my view as I love deep knowledge and associated passion in almost any realm.  And, I love good, great and exceptional wine.  But, count me as one customer lost to restaurants due to the very high markups. Maybe I'm unique (and an oddball) this way; I don't know.  But, if any others do see this as I do, this is why you should embrace great coffee!  All the same complexities, nuances, flavor palates and global relevance at $3-5/cup or $12-15/lb.  

Like Pat, we grilled last night too. Was that kind of night, I guess. The grill beckoned. :-)

In our case, it was a huge porterhouse from a local provider; the kind of nearly 3" thick steak one person could never finish. It was such a nice steak, I didn't want to mess with it too much. So, simple evoo and fresh herb rub with careful high-temp searing and indirect heat cooking to get to medium rare. Success! Served with a simple buttered orzo with herbs and a fresh salad with a lemon-caper vinaigrette.

Oh, and an Oregon Pinot.

Steak sammies and other TBD meals later this week with the leftovers.