darkstar965

I'm so sorry, blb. We were there today with family from out of town. What a horribly played game in almost every way save Scherzer, who wasn't quite himself at $210M but did fine, and one reliever (Thornton). My one family member who knows the game but doesn't follow it closely now basically thinks the Nationals are like a lower-tier college team and won't be dissuaded of that until and if they're on national tv in October playing at least in the LCS, which they've never achieved. Unseasonably cold and windy today too. Geez. Errors, comatose bats and bad baseball. Hope you weren't also an object of scorn from Mr. BLB or confusion/boredom from BL-2nd grader?

It's been 8 months since the last post on Caffe Aficionado but that's not why I'm posting. I did stop in today. The shop is now roughly a year and half old and going as strong as ever, with very good reasons, mostly documented above. But, that's not why I'm posting either. Had a pourover, a shot and a cortado during a maybe 30 minute visit (yeah, I know, that's a lot of caffeine). Not what I normally do at all. Just worked out that way. And, this isn't why I'm posting either though all were superb. Ryan (the barista driving the espresso machine is a true craftsman), just as an FYI. Nope, none of those reasons explain the reason for the post. It has to do with the RiR (Roaster in Residence). CA tends to rotate among very high-quality roasters from time to time and I LOVE that they do this. Always new things to discover. New flavors and nuances. Since they opened with Handsome, a fine LA roaster, they've offered a number of others, mostly covered upthread. Today, I was introduced to a roaster I'd never before encountered and that's just a bit notable because I do travel a fair bit and always seek out the better shops wherever I am and have the interest so always ask and learn about small and superregional roasters. I probably know more US based roasters than the average bear, which isn't necessarily exceptional or anything, it just is. So, the new RiR, based in Berkeley, CA is called Supersonic Coffee. And, it's good. Very good. Did you know the best known 'Supersonics" were the pro team that won the NBA Championship in 1979 and then left to become the Oklahoma City Thunder? And, that the Supersonics (shortened later to just "Sonics") were named for an ill-fated Boeing supersonic jet program? Not sure that has anything to do with this newer Berkeley roaster but the name intrigues me a bit. Anyway, I had this one as a pourover. From Burundi, the flavor notes for the "Sehe" varietal mention "peach," "orange blossom" and "delicate." I got more orange than blossom. Not highly acidic but bright, interesting and maybe notes of tea. Even an elderly, Starbucks-loving relative I had with me, expressed his distaste for it as due to it "tasting like tea" which I took as a very good sign. For other coffee hounds on the board, I'd encourage you to swing by and give these coffees a try. They're interesting and delicious. And, only available at two shops in the northeast. CA and another in Astoria, Queens. All the other praise and other positive commentary about this shop above still very much applies. I just continue to be impressed with what they're doing with the coffee program and this was news in that vein. P.S., The people here are still incredibly nice and the WiFi still fast and reliable.

Definite pooch screwing today. When the offense plates 5, it takes a bad day from the starter or pen to make it a loss. Today both were culprits but that's baseball Definitely can't win 'em all though over .500 would be nice. Max on the hill tomorrow for what would be a confidence-building series win against the team which is arguably a Top 2 nemesis. Surest thing going in the first three weeks.

Excellent question. Not sure anyone before you mentioned there had been a change of ownership. When did that happen and any reports since then?

Interesting. TS clearly a fan but didn't mention service beyond the wine pairings. Hopefully they get that on a more consistent track to realize the GM's ambition. ""We don't want to be thought of as a typical hotel restaurant," general manager Alex Obertop said in June." This review will increase the interest significantly.

Thought Daniel posted on this. A group of us were the second or third table seated for the first meal served (Monday lunch). Largely agreed it was quite good for the first day with no disasters if not quite the same as PC's best. Forgetting some of the names but the numbing pork belly and meatless ma po tofu and dry eggplant...what was that..were all good/tasty with just a bit of variance around the table. Our scallion pancakes weren't greasy and were summarily devoured. Oh, and the fried fish swimming in chili peppers and oil was nice as well. Only one of the dishes had more serious heat and I can't recall which. Heat more understated on the other dishes.Maybe PC moved on after that lunch to open up the next location and the sous in Rockville just ain't the same?

Was a bizzare-o game. We were there. The sluggers didn't slug when we needed them to (bottom of the 9th). The starter barely got through his innings but didn't allow a run. The insanely error-prone shortstop was a defensive hero. The closer couldn't close. And the lighter-hitting, OBP guy hit the walkoff homerun. Not too many games are won with two runs but we'll take it!

OK, I'll play! Northside Social? Guessing more likely than Peregrine thought could be others too.

Very cool you've been there too! I'd remark "small world" but that seems ill-suited to the topic? Not sure about the two-way (one-way?) mirror over the wash basins but agree on the mainland. As for cleanest restrooms on earth, that's a topic I'm woefully unqualified to answer but might stay regional. Singapore? Everything there is pretty spotless and modern.

We were going to shut this chat down Monday but have extended it a bit since it wasn't available over the weekend. So, this is the REAL LAST CALL for questions for Joel as we'll be closing this first-ever coffee chat, "A Chat with Joel Finklestein..." down on Friday. I'll thank Joel more properly then but, for now, wow! This chat now has an insane amount of great advice, knowledge and useful information about coffee. From the coffee growing regions of the world, food pairings and thoughts on bean quality to terroir, brewing methods, satirical coffee-themed t-shirts and the best shops for some joe in Seattle, there's some great stuff here. We'll close down Friday afternoon. Any final questions on any coffee-related topic? Bring 'em on! And, for Don, Joel and myself, thank you!

The New York Times is pretty good and they're not so much about making money. That would normally be an issue for investors/shareholders (who are very much about "making money") but the Times has a fairly unique legal organizing structure that 'protects' it from non-family investors, causing much consternation over the years. Whether or not interested in the business stuff, the book "The Trust" by Susan Tifft is a pretty thorough telling of one of America's more dysfunctional families intertwined with the country's history.

Perusing the linked thread carefully, could say the feedback was mixed with those against a bit more fervent than those who approved. That said, the Old Europe thread is more unanimous in its positive reports. Reading both though, two things really came to mind. First, neither has many posts despite both being decades old. And, second, are there really no newer and decent German/Austrian places in the DMV? In full disclosure, the only reason why I haven't already booked Old Europe is because we took him there once before, several years ago. Maybe he won't remember or care.

No but probably only because I was too young then to be thinking about that. Just thought it was really cool and probably extended my stay in a rest room by 10 or 20% more than the average, very brief, duration.

Many thanks, Lion. Hadn't thought of Cafe Berlin for this but might be a better choice than Old Europe.

Maybe 20 years ago, I was so taken with a mens room in Hong Kong, it has stuck with me to this day, despite never returning to the place since then. It stuck with me because the urinals afforded some of what I still think must be the best views in the world...from a urinal. I'm near certain I've mentioned this before on a thread somewhere on this site but now have no idea where. I've always remembered the name of the place. But, with Google now making Everything knowable within seconds, I found it. So now all of you too can regale in what so amazed me at the time. The very existence of the website on which this exists is itself kind of amusing, in a new-millenium sort of way. "The World's Largest Collection of Urinal Photographs Ever Assembled". Wonder if they'll be going public soon?

I wouldn't have walked out and it wouldn't have bothered me much after leaving (due to generally low expectations on foolish stuff like this) but do think it really inappropriate, whatever the agenda behind that comment was. It would impact the tip I'd leave and I would have also let a manager know. That kind of mindset isn't good for the business imho.

I have a very soft spot for Lepic though, in full disclosure, haven't been in more than three years. When I moved to DC a bunch of years ago, well before we were anything resembling a serious restaurant town, a former colleague of mine told me his Uncle (career CIA) loved the place and thought it one of the best in the city. At that time, maybe it would have even been on Don or Joe H's top 10 list. Anyway, I appreciated that recc and earned some points taking some friends and my +1 there semi-frequently until just too many oer places eclipsed it. Also in the area and fully respectable and even interesting is Cafe Divan, still one of the few Turkish places in town.

MLB is making presidential political candidates and consumer product companies look shy with how heavily they're promoting this. Guessing most assembled at Nats Park tonight would be oblivious we're it not for the likelihood it'll be all over the scoreboard and who knows where else. Statcast brews, dogs and giveaways maybe?

I really like Niko and Oana Adamopoulos, the young couple who own the cool "Mediterranean Way" shop in Dupont. This past weekend, we stopped in and picked up a few products (one exciting and new; will try to post on that thread soon) including some really wonderful oregano, imported Greek Feta and orzo. So, over the past couple of days, for dinnners made quite delicious thanks wholly to Niko and Oana's wonderful ingredients: - Grilled lamb chops in an oregano marinade with roasted potatoes and a fresh greek salad - Grilled Greek lemon chicken thighs with warm orzo tossed with sliced kalamatas, diced tomato and more of the feta. It was all enough for three nights' worth of dinners but now, the feta and kalamatas are gone so we'll be moving from Greek cuisine to a few nights out with guests coming into town.

And a fourth. No other website out there like donrockwell.com.

I like this topic! I was actually wondering some about your "grey sink..." reference in your post yesterday from W&W. Couple of thoughts: 1. Of course there are plenty of exceptions but I'd hypothesize that referencing bathrooms in reports written here might hew more to gender lines with women doing it more often than men. 2. #1 notwithstanding, I'm male and have referenced loos on occasion here. Two references I do recall were about hand dryers and basins. On hand dryers, I disike when paper towels aren't also offered though appreciated the green aspect of those however skeptical I may be of an offending restaurant's real motivations when I see that. Also, some dryers are so freakin' loud they dry well but probably bring on tinnitus. With basins, I get annoyed with the few restaurants that feel the need to install the European basins that have hot and cold dispensed from different faucets. I know how to work them and have no such reaction when I'm in Europe but c'mon...here?

Largely agree and no point hashing out Palena's last year. You and I are clearly two of the strongest Frank Ruta bulls on this board. My split there, just for reference, was probably opposite of yours, so 70/30 in favor of the cafe. Because the cafe more than doubled its footprint, staffing became more challenging and they lost several great servers in the final year along with Kelli. Also not certain who controls the Grill Room FOH but strongly suspect it isn't the Chef. Grill Room, to me, isn't so much a "reboot of a restaurant" as it is a new act by one of our area's very best chefs in a very different context where his control is likely much more limited. Like you, we loved our one visit for dinner a month or so ago, as I posted upthread. But, those not happy with their experience here are not one-offs and highly experienced diners. Same page there as you with "...they need to own up to this and work on fixing it." Precisely.

After much consultation with family and the restaurants, decided to book Obelisk. This is for next week. It felt like it might be the best in terms of specialness and formality given the 8-decade milestone. A little risk in that they won't take a request for a specific dish, even for an 80th birthday (sacre bleu! kidding.) but do have a veal chop on menu from time to time, including the night last week I called. If that's on the menu when we go, I'll be deemed a genius. If not, I may be regretting this choice but we'll see. Decided to also do a second night with my Uncle's 2nd favorite (or maybe first depending on what day you ask him) cuisine: German. We actually have an old thread here on the local German options but it hasn't been updated in 5 years. For my uncle, a spot like Old Europe could work but I'd love to find something better/newer. Leopold maybe a bit too hip for him and Cafe Mozart (downtown, if even still there?) and Old Europe are kind of the same bucket. Have we made no progress as a fast-transforming restaurant city in German/Eastern European cusine...in five years?!?! Any ideas? Thank you all once again.

Having been a huge fan of Chef Ruta (and now Aggie too) and Palena for so long, the string of recent reports is especially concerning. I just don't think the issue here is that he has been "romanticized" so much as Palena may have been. Rhone1998 is closest to it for me, speculating that "The Grill Room will never be able to compete with Palena's ghost." We know Frank Ruta has been an exceptional chef for a very long time here. That's no different today imho. Most also know that Palena was a wonderful and consistent restaurant for most of its long run, maybe wavering a bit just in the last year as the business began to struggle. So, this is an entirely different situation. Chef Ruta at the Grill Room is an employee of the Capella Hotel. The kitchen he nominally helms is on the hook for breakfast, lunch, dinner...and room service...7 days a week. I personally think the service issues are every bit the responsibility of the Capella and, to the degree any pattern is emerging, those are inexcusable. Dinners are a different issue...or when Chef Ruta is clearly in the kitchen. I don't know when his day(s) off are but not likely they'd include Friday and Saturday, so those might be safer nights for the full dinner experience for those still inclined. I'm guessing that there has been some struggle to even staff up a kitchen with that scope and scale to ensure consistency. I'm not sure about off-peak times for the simpler but typically-amazing chicken, burger, etc but more reports there will help. None of us fully understand what authority Chef Ruta has but it's surely less than it was at Palena. We have to have different expectations but the Capella also needs to get its act together if it wants to build any kind of local and loyal clientele. And, I'll say again...I pine for the day when Chef Ruta again hangs out his own shingle, hopefully for a smaller restaurant along the lines of what he did for years so successfully in Cleveland Park.

Is this something that can be advance booked or we just show (aka "crash")? Either way cool; just curious.