Lydia R

I'm not sure if we have enough chili chefs...

Hmm, giving sides some serious consideration.

DonRocks said:

Another restaurant that I neglected include was Azi's Cafe.

Don't forget to give these places your business!

For those reading this in the future -- I'll save you searching the ToddChogArchive:

Quote

Don Rockwell: Hi Todd,

Last Saturday night I attended a charity Gala put on by Emmaus Services for the Aging (www.emmausservices.org), a wonderful organization based in the Shaw neighborhood that supports our city's elderly in many ways.

Part of the fundraiser was a silent auction, and I'd like to recognize the area restaurants who were donors:

Polly's Cafe ($30)

Vegetate ($50)

Irish Inn at Glen Echo ($60)

Arucola Osteria Italiana ($75)

Tabard Inn ($95)

Maestro ($150)

Indigo Landing ($200)

Cafe Milano ($250)

And then:

Ben's Chili Bowl, who donated between $1,000 and $2,499 in cash.

Ray's The Classics, who donated an eye-popping $5,000 in cash.

And as for your humble wine columnist, I was bidding furiously at the silent auction in a successful attempt to drive up the prices, but I kept getting outbid. There was one thing I did win, however, because I simply wasn't going to let myself get outbid.

Dinner for two at Ben's Chili Bowl, of course! Yeah, it set me back $100, but you gotta do what you gotta do, know what I mean? (Not to mention that I got two t-shirts, two baseball caps, and a tote bag out of the deal.)

Anyway, I just wanted to thank these restaurants for their generosity.

Cheers! Don

Todd: Don, thank you. These restaurants are all wonderfully generous for taking part, and I'm happy to give them the recognition they deserve.

Thanks for writing in.

actually I would find it hard to believe Drew setting up shop here in DC.

please tell me that there is decent pizza nearby.

If looking for delivery, you may need to resort to TJ's imported, frozen pie with some minor "modifications."

A Passage to India in Bethesda has a menu that seems really interesting, though, because it highlights foods from different regions of India. Has anyone been there and ordered dishes from the Eastern side of India? If so, what was your opinon of them? Did they taste substantially different from the same old, same old chicken tikka, etc?

Chef Sudhir Seth’s Menu DINNER MAY 7th, 2006

NORTH - Punjabi

Chicken Kabab-3 ways (tandoor grilled chicken in three different marinades)

Shalgam Goat Curry (goat curry cooked with turnips and turnip greens)

Paneer Simla Mirchi (low-fat pressed Indian cheese with bell peppers)

Pulao/ Kulcha (rice pilaf and freshly baked onion breads)

Garlic-Chili chutney; Onion-Yogurt chutney

WEST - Parsi

Patrani Machhi (cilantro marinated fish filet, wrapped in banana leaf & baked)

Murgi Dhansak (ceremonial Parsi specialty- chicken, vegetable and lentil stew)

Dhansak Rice (star anise and stone flower flavored rice pilaf)

Aloo Hara Pyaaz (red bliss potatoes with scallion greens)

Mango chutney; Peanut/Sesame chutney

EAST - Bengali

Shorshe Bata Maachh (fish filet simmered in freshly ground mustard)

Kosha Mangsho (lamb cooked with cumin, coriander and cardamom)

Chorchori Torkari (medley of vegetables with Bengali 5 spice tempering)

Steamed Basmati (long grain fluffy rice)

Tomato chutney; Date chutney

SOUTHERN - Kerala

Kunjhe Varuval (shrimp sautéed with roasted spices and coconut flakes)

Kozhi Ishtoo (British influenced south Indian chicken stew)

Payar Thoran (stir fry beans with curry leaf and mustard seeds)

Kachil-Ethekka Kalan (yam and raw banana in n a seasoned yogurt sauce)

Sambar (toor dal ‘pigeon peas’ and eggplant cooked with tamarind & asafetida)

Lemon Rice (lemon flavored rice with cashews and curryleaf)

Idiappam (steamed rice and lentil string-hoppers)

Vendakkai Pachadi (crisp fried okra in a yogurt dressing)

Inji-Puli (Ginger-Tamarind chutney)

Milagapodi (crispy tart chilies)

Appalam (lentil wafers)

based on a review of the current cadbury inventory in my house

I remember English guests shocked to see a Twinings tea in my pantry that they'd never seen before -- Irish Breakfast. They promptly bought several boxes to take home...

I was just home this weekend and my mother still has a few jars of spices from IGA. The IGA by our house closed in 1977 and I sincerely doubt she bought those that year.

Basically, the spice pictured is almost old enough to drive...

I couldn't find the WaPo article on Blooms

So, how does Food Lion decide which stores stay the same and which morph up (Bloom) or down (Bottom Dollar)? An article on the Acxiom website describes how this company allocated customers into 70 (seventy) market segments and matched them household by household with Food Lion's member discount card database to determine merchandise mix. Now, it was probably used to determine whether your neighborhood gets a Food Lion, Bloom or Bottom Dollar (quick, helpful house-hunting flags when scoping out a neighborhood).

Two FLs in Gaithersburg have morphed; one each, Bloom (behind Costco) & Bottom Dollar (same center as New Fortune). Haven't checked either of them out -- sticking with TJ/Costco/SFW, but eager to see Harris Teeter when it opens out on Rt 28.

Does anyone know if Bloom is a nice chain or is it just more schlock?

Premium, Full Flavor Hot House Tomatoes $1.99 per pound

Edited to respond to upthread query

This week the Washington Post had a couple of interesting RTC mentions:

On Wednesday, I saw the RTC Pastry Chef's name in "print" for the first time. Leigh Weinfield is late of Citronelle, Charleston, and Palena(?) and my new dessert hero. I remember Yi Wah (the bartender) singing her praises when I had a light, solo dinner at his bar (2 apps, dessert and bar pairings), but neglected to get the spelling of her name. Recently, someone I work with took his hometown honey to dinner and commented that Leigh's Peach Charlotte was better than Mom's version (to Mom's total dismay and request for a recount).

Buried in Thursday's Montgomery County Extra (local edition) was a mini-review of RTC.

Although the Ray's restaurants are owned by Michael Landrum (a.k.a. Ray), the only similarities are the high-quality meats served at both. Ray's the Steaks is something of a fast-food steakhouse; occupy your seat for 90 minutes and be ready to turn it over to the next diner. Ray's the Classics has an unhurried, luxurious feel with a much broader menu.

They're baaack. A sure sign that summer's over. There was a nice photo of a relaxed and smiling Chef included with their eNewsletter, but I haven't gotten permission to post it here.

Hey Folks,

Didn't those weeks just fly by? We've been through twenty states all the way to the Pacific Ocean and now we're back East and ready to fill the fridge at Colorado Kitchen and fire up the old stove.

Hope you're hungry. Chef was gazing out the window in the long drive across country and saw things growing and grazing that set the wheels turning. This season and as the leaves turn we're in for menus the celebrate the great products that come from our "fruited plains".

Just a preview...The red barns of Wisconsin said, "cheese" so Chef is rolling some ricotta in her fresh pasta for a delicious canneloni. Hudson Valley Duck is back, with Black Currants harvested from New England. The ham is from Virginia. And beef--so much of it roamed onto the road in Wyoming--is slow simmered with carrots and onions.

Come celebrate America with us. Chef will be toiling away at the stove tomorrow for opening night. Her aim...to make you feel like you're looking at Mount Rushmore when the plate is set before you.

See you soon,

Chef & Robin

Colorado Kitchen

5515 Colorado Avenue NW

(at 14th & Kennedy Streets)

Wed - Sat 5pm to 10, Sun 5pm to 9pm

Friday lunch 11:30 to 2:30

Sat & Sun Brunch 11am to 2:30pm

Bastille was one of the new restaurants mentioned in an article titled "Chefs Check In" from today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required). While the article focuses on big-time chefs opening outposts in hotels (with tough performance/attendance clauses in their contracts), it describes Bastille in a text box along with other new restarants around the country (e.g., BLT in DC):

Chef Christophe Poteaux calls his food Franco-Mediterranean - not fusion cooking, but a blend of similar regional tastes. One example: steak with pommes frites and long-pepper sauce with a touch of chocolate. Entrees $16-$25. 703-519-3776

There is also a place in Beltsville that had great prices

http://www.beltwayrestaurantequipment.com/

The Restaurant Association of Maryland site has a pretty comprehensive equipment supplier list (includes DePalo and Martin Bamberger in Baltimore).

I went to the All Clad seconds sale, held in the Washington County (PA) fairgrounds, last year and was greatly rewarded (lots of 70% off stuff) because I was one of the first 10 (yawn) in line when they opened. A great adventure (usually early June & December) -- call the AC corporate offices for sale dates.

/Bump/

Thought y'all would like to get some follow-up on this situation.

Not sure where Fran O'Brien's is with getting a new location -- but the Wounded Warrior dinners live on in rotating locations. Hal Koster and Marty O’Brien still participate and are greatly aided by the generosity of Washington's restaurant community.

There's a good article in last Friday's Stripe (Walter Reed's weekly newspaper).

When Fran O’Brien’s lease was cancelled and the restaurant closed in early May, the dinners literally became a moveable feast. ‘‘We go from place to place,” Koster said. ‘‘The Italian ambassador hosted one. We’re going to be at the former Taiwanese ambassador’s residence next week.

The Capitol Hill Club does one a month. The Hamilton Crown Plaza Hotel does one a couple of times a month or whenever we don’t have a place.”

Fortunately, there is a bottomless coffee urn in the lobby at work. Fortunate because I was able to partially caffeine-resuscitate myself before eating the cannoli I carefully toted back from today’s lunch. It was still touch & go, but I survived the bolus of sugar and crispy shell without falling off the Glasgow Coma Scale. Don’t know what would have happened if I started with the Chocolate Hazelnut (w/Mini-Jimmies) instead of the safer Cherry Pistachio side…

It was a great lunch made even better by sitting with some familiar faces in the back patio. Hope this wasn’t the last grill, but really glad I made it if it was.

JimRice said:

[As an aside, when the charge came through on my card, it was billed as Hamburger Hamlet. I checked their website, and sure enough they list Portner's as one of their restaurants. I had no idea. Have they always owned Portner's or is this a recent development?]

No, HH has always owned Portner's. I think they opened in something like 1983-84 and got their initial manager from the Chevy Chase HH.

Come see me,we drink some beer, eat some food

I've noted your place driving on Rt15 by Mount St Mary's College (near the turn for RoundTop Skiing). Looks like a big ole barn of a roadhouse.

What's weekend lunchtime like for a designated driver on the road towards Gettysburg trying to avoid chain fastfood?

The announcement that the Boston Globe's Joe Yonan will be joining the WaPo Food Section mentioned an article he wrote on food shopping in Montreal. Excellent read and thought it should be linked here.

Indeed, Montreal is peppered with single-themed food shops that are so focused as to seem obsessed. They offer tourists a glimpse of a European-style passion for high-quality ingredients, and the chance to take home a taste of it.

I've had luck going early. Like (waiting in line) before they open on the weekends or arriving before 5p during the week. I missed lunch at work a couple of weeks ago and treated myself to an early dinner. It was a wholly different place -- like a cool, airy café that nobody's heard of -- dreamlike.

I caught this piece done with the WaPo GOGs on yesterday's CH9 evening news-nowcast (click on video link).

Too bad their reporting didn't clue the viewers about the parking...

Now that thoughts are turning to Restaurant Week -- I'm thinking about revisiting places NOT participating in RW. One of them is Pyramids -- a moroccan restaurant a couple of blocks south of Howard University Hospital on Florida Ave (two blocks east of intersection with Georgia Avenue). I was part of a mixed group of DR and CH folks who recently tucked into an amazing meal there. Steve's report on Chowhound reflects my experience at the table. One thing, the carrots had an intense cumin flavor that reminded us of some "special Sichuan" food no longer found in our area (NO relation, just happy memories).

If you're driving east on Florida, turn right on 6th on the corner where the restaurant's located and I've been lucky with parking in the first block in the neighborhood. Kdhkg Bnows (cook & wife of owner) says she usually stays open well past midnight because Howard Univ. students call for late, late meals (a real endorsement). Note that there are only three 4-tops, 2-3 deuces and about 5 tall stools for eating on a bay window bar -- our group of five put two of the 4-tops together because we ordered so very much...

I must give props to Tom Sietsema for writing a blurbette on this place in May (repeated again in a recent TomChat):

The Weekly Dish Wednesday, May 3, 2006; Page F05 GOOD AND CHEAP: Don't go to Pyramids (600 Florida Ave. NW; 202-232-6776) looking for a sense of style or a lot of service. The storefront isn't much to look at, just a handful of tables and TV suspended near the door. And the staff tends to answer the phone with the kind of greeting ("Hello?") that suggests you're calling someone's home rather than a business. Whatever. Once you get your food, you're likely not to care. There aren't many places to explore Moroccan cooking around Washington, and Pyramids does well by standards such as lamb tagine -- tender, spice-rubbed meat and a stew of tomatoes served with a colorful rice pilaf -- and bisteeya , its crackling cover of pastry dusted with powdered sugar and hiding a savory filling of ground chicken. There are also luscious salads -- peas, carrots and green beans tossed with rice is practically a meal -- and very good renditions of Middle Eastern hits, including a top-notch eggplant puree seasoned with sumac. You may have sampled these flavors before, at the late Taste of Marrakesh on Ninth Street NW, which is where owner Salah Awadlla and his cook and wife, Kdhkg Bnows , served customers before they left for a neighborhood with lower rents. Entrees $5-$7.50.

Maybe I've been eating out too much lately, but I don't see Tom's star(s) in the body of his review - only three stars submitted by one reader in the overview box...

Tom's 13 August review of Jimmy's on K Street

Rx:

Muga Rosé, 120cc PO x1

Dominion Unfiltered Wheat Beer with a fat wedge of orange, 240cc PO x1

Muscato D'Asti, 80cc PO x1

Sig:

Sip slowly, each in turn paired with wonderful food, head home, elevate feet, smile.

Repeat PRN stress, hunger, fatigue.

Dr. Yi Wah, RTC

(Practice limited to the sacred healing art of the potent potables)

I assume it's a near by nieghbor, I didn't recognize the name that the wifi is connected to.

Downtown Silver Spring has a wi-fi network that covers the area bounded by Colesville Rd, Fenton Ave, Wayne Ave, and Ramsey Ave. This covers all the restaurants on Ellsworth Avenue behind the AFI Silver (like Ceviche and Lebanese Taverna).

Not again...

This is for a competitor of Wine Clip -- the Bev Wizard, although they both share magnet technology....

Is there a scheduled PR blitz every couple of months?

Yesterday's NYTimes had an article on the new coolness of rosés and Domaines Ott (please, D.O.) in particular.

Just in case you feared rosés might make the trite food list -- here are a couple of the article's last paragraphs:

At twice the price of most rosés, it is far from a bargain, said Lettie Teague, the executive wine editor at Food & Wine. “An expensive rosé is oxymoronic,” she said. “Domaines Ott is good but not so significantly better than wines that are $10 cheaper or half the price.” She suggested that Domaines Ott is “a good wine for those psychologically unprepared to drink rosé, because it’s so beautifully packaged and expensive.”

She recommends Castello di Ama from Tuscany, which sells for about $15, and Muga from Spain, which is about $11.

Perhaps the best thing about rosé is that no matter how trendy it gets, it will never overstay its welcome. When the weather cools, it gracefully disappears.

The whole Chowhound thread has been removed.

Basically, "catscradle" identified themself as being a frequent RTS customer, related to a RTS employee, an attendee at a Monday nite preview dinner with the RTS crew and went on to describe the food/decor (details overcome by v6.3).

I was guarding this as my own secret pleasure.

Edited for clarity