Lydia R

If there were "snacks" for the crew, then I'd totally understand 90 minutes of filming.

/bump/ Does anyone know what's going on at Grape Legs? It's been closed each time I've been in the neighborhood. Did Franco move on to another ad-venture?

I was able to attend in October and wish I could make it tonight. The collard greens are full of porky goodness and would soothe a cold and rainy night. One thing not really mentioned is Robin's interesting selection of beers on offer. I was with folks from work on the 24th and they're beer drinkers. Cool that they were impressed with their tall Flemish beer, pumpkin stout and German apple beer. Too bad the fluffy sweet potato pie recipe isn't in the book.

Thanks to NB for finding a table for 7 of us close to closing last night. We walked over from the Tony Bourdain program at GW and tucked into some pasta including well prepared papparadelle. So close to closing it was understandable that they'd be out of agnolotti. I only took a taste from other folk's desserts, but understand the gelatto with the desserts rocked.

This place serves really good Afghan [that place in the news] food in the heart of the Bethesda's restaurant ghetto. Either this Thursday or next week would work for me.

Maybe this Beer Brain Trust can explain why the Sheraton Four Points hotel chain needs a Chief Beer Officer and if any of you were among the 7,500 applicants for the position. From today's WSJ:

A major plus for G&M is their proximetry to BWI Airport. I've used it many times to feed my just landed, jet-lagged and hungry masses. I doubt I'd make a special trip there, but it's good for catching up conversation [though I'd avoid on Mothers Day] and refueling before the hour long drive back home.

El Tapatio, one of Riverdale's Little Mexico restaurants, opened a Gaithersburg location on Oct 19th. The owner's son, Roberto, said their original location had customers from Montgomery County and his family is trying this additional location out "for a while." I haven't seen many customers at the new location and even though they have an industrial-sized jukebox it's been silent during my visits. This restaurant doesn't have beer/wine yet and are breaking in new FOH staff, but that's what happens with most new places. The food is the same as their original location. The Caldos are large steaming bowls of soup that are very popular in Texas, even during 100+ degree summers, and great for our first cold days of fall. They're in Gaithersburg, three blocks north of the intersection of Rt 355 and Shady Grove Road (a block north of New Fortune) and open from 10 to 10 everyday. El Tapatio 2 615 South Frederick Ave (Rt 355) - Gaithersburg, MD 301-208-2607 (may not be connected yet) El_Tapatio_Menu_Oct2007.pdf [[ I realize the menu is scanned upside down - I'll fix in the AM ]]

Sounds like they're in the home stretch. Hopefully during the hectic preopening they'll find time to give the whole first page of the bar menu some serious proofreading . Given the errors in laying out these pages there may be some really good items missing [additional beers, hopefully] from Version 1.0 of this menu. Looking forward to seeing how it all turns out. bar_Oct30.pdf

Jacoby Ellsbury bought us a Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco. Too bad they're stranding batters on base tonight. Miss you already Curt.

OK it's really raining here in DC for the first time in weeks, TS's Postcard includes Matt's and now Brian posts this. It's the Trifecta. Has anyone familiar with Matt's eaten there since the expansion? The format of TS's postcards doesn't allow for more than a brief mention and no comparison of old v. new. Matt's recently finished taking over the next door space and almost doubling its size [detailed here]. They're no longer cooking on two Butane burners and have added both a co-owner and new chef. From their website: Seattle is San Francisco on a more accessible scale. Seattle's lack of jaywalkers and abundance of drivers who yield to pedestrians in crosswalks is initially confusing but ultimately delightful.

Chef will guest host Todd Kliman's Washingtonian Chog tomorrow Tuesday Oct 23rd.

No, he can't haunt China Doll 'cuz it closed over a year ago. Red outlived it by about four months.Edit: Just to circle back to Full Kee. It's located a nice walk from the National Building Museum. Several starry weekend afternoons spent this way.

There was a short mention in this week's Baltimore Sun that included an update on their expansion plans: The Chowhound thread has been updated with several significant service issues. Given that some pies take more than an hour, this [currently] may not be a good choice for a quick roadtrip refueling stop.

Thankfully, there's an update from TS: Given how long other new places have taken to open, this sounds like it's on track.

Our own Joe H posted in CH. I was also told, by another board member, that their lounge-menu pizza is good -- we'll see about that Wolfgang.

David Hagedorn's posts above [originally in the Restaurant Kolumbia thread] would be fine: 1. If he had advance permission from the Stachowskis to post them because the posts reflected on RK [the crux of his beef with the OP] 2. If, after the exchange with other members of the board grew more heated, he contacted the Stachowskis for guidance regarding how they would want him to manage his posts on the snafu with the auction house [check the Used Restaurant Equipment thread - we click around Rasmus too] 3. If Mr. Hagedorn [as this board's rules require] included his industry affiliations in his signature, then his comments could have been taken in context by our members. Few industry folks would openly tussle on this board with a Washington Post columnist [ok, Michael Landrum exception proves the rule]. The food section could quote WSJ folks even more often... If not, this is just a replay of his outrage as seen in the Agraria thread: Pesky editors click around here too.

I wish the entire Restaurant Kolumbia crew well. This closure affects everyone who works there and I hope they all land well.

With fond memories of La Caja China: Restaurant Kolumbarium RIP

Some upcoming events and closures: Friday 10/12: Special event - no regular dinner service Wednesday 10/24: Inaugural Burger, Fried Chicken & Collard Greens night. Thurs 10/25 through Wednesday 10/31: Closed

Today's Wall Street Journal article details restaurants' tactics to sweeten their relationships with on-line writers. While most of the article wasn't surprising, the information on Chowhound's apparent double standard regarding comped meals was.

Thanks to a Chowhound thread there's news of a coal-fired pizzeria closer than New Haven or NYC. Phat Pug is located about 2.3 miles outside the Baltimore Beltway (Belair Road - exit 32B off of 695). The Phat Pug Coal Fired Pizzeria 8814A Bel Air Road Perry Hall, MD 21236 410 256 5700 These websites are registered, but aren't populated yet: www.thephatpugcoalfiredpizzeria.com www.thephatpug.com Their hours are 11:00 to 04:00 seven days a week - they're only scheduled to be closed between four and eleven in the morning. Today, they were closed for a large chunk of the afternoon to make dough. Words to the wise: Call Before You Drive. I was heartened to see 40 pound bags of Reading Anthracite, but also a quartered piece of wood in the oven. For a moment I thought it would be cool to see the coal bags prominently stacked, like the potato bags at 5Guys, noting where today's coal was "sourced." My pizza (mushroom & prosciutto) was one of the first out of the oven that day - crispy with minimal char and blonde bottom. It was chewy, but not bread-y. It was also sturdy enough to hold up to some overly generous toppings that over powered the prosciutto - there was too much of really good moz and a homemade, though sweet, sauce (not soggy at all). They probably planned on mostly carryout. There is no beer/wine and few tables. I was glad that the place is laid out so I was able watch my pie come out and convince the staff to send my pie back into the oven. The owner arrived later and explained that they usually do a heavier char and would, if asked, in the future. Pies have the potential to be better if they'd been full tilt with a ton of pies ahead of mine and someone tending the oven to the exclusion of other, non-pizza, tasks. The owner then explained an eyepoppingly ambitious plan to open a Federal Hill location in late October and a Little Italy sports-bar themed location sometime around January. He is from Florida and uses the coal-fired pizzas in South Florida especially Anthony's in Ft. Lauderdale as his inspiration. I wish Mr. Depasquale and his wife great luck. They've only been open a month in Perry Hall with many of the issues every new place faces (e.g., trying to get consistency with core products while establishing staffing and looking forward to rolling out new items like gelato). Here's their menu - everthing from mussels/clams to subs, wings and cheesesteaks. PhatPugMenu_Sept2007.pdf

Based on a news report tonight, Silver Spring's loss is College Park's gain. Doug Duncan [birchmere champion while MoCo Executive and now an Administrator at UMD] seems to have been involved in getting the Birchmere to look at a location north of the University on Paint Branch Parkway and Route One. A WaPo article highlights the Fillmore/Silver Spring deal and briefly mentions the Birchmere/College Park agreement. On September 12th there was an interesting article in the Gazette that read like the coroner's report on the Birchmere/Silver Spring/Montgomery County deal.

Thanks for posting this. I also remember you stating the the Hershey Pantry is an independant and not owned by Hershey Corporation. Their website also has information on their catering company with a good directions page to their locations across the street from each other.

Thank you Joe H for putting this evening together. It was a good group and we received great service from our "well-anchored" bartender Stephanie. This was my first visit back to Bebo after a flurry of visits just after he opened last October. The "Chef's Choice" pie put together by Chef Donna was Bleu cheese, smoked moz, onion, olives, basil, garlic and ?chili flake - an unexpected and really pleasing combination. My +1 had a Margherita pizza to try a fair comparison with memories of 2Amys and favored the flavor of Bebo's pie. A bite of the proscuitto and fresh mushroom pie from the pizza menu "will command your full attention and wipe any other thoughts that may be bouncing in your head." It's been a while since I've had food that really messed with my higher cognitive functioning.