DanielK

2 hours ago, Tweaked said:

Alas, Nam-Viet is closing in CP as well.

This is quickly becoming a tidal wave rather than a trend...

2 hours ago, jeffmhunt said:

Opening this thread in the hopes that someone has beaten me to the spot and can tell me if I should make the trip or just wait until I'm back in Memphis to visit family.

I think you should make the trip and tell the rest of us whether or not it translates well!

19 minutes ago, pras said:

I applaud their transparency, but now I cannot cook their steaks to medium or medium rare.  Mechanically tenderized beef is not something that was ever on my radar.

It doesn't say that ALL of their meat is mechanically tenderized, just that they label when it is. It could be that you go tomorrow, and most of the case doesn't have that warning, and you go to Giant/Safeway/HT, and ALL of it does.

1 hour ago, pras said:

I don't know if this has been reported here before, but be careful when buying beef.  According to the article, Costco has been good about the labeling for some time now, but apparently it is now the law.  for those of you who don't know what I am talking about, the article talks about Costco (and evidently other retailers) practice of blade tenderizing beef, which creates the possibility of contamination.  I guess I will no longer buy beef at Costco.  Credit--NPR.

Shouldn't that be the opposite reaction? Costco is the only major retailer that has been voluntarily labeling the meat that is mechanically tenderized - all of the others are selling you the same meat without labeling it.

It was over a year ago, but in addition to the items mentioned by others, we also had a chicken tagine that was excellent. Doesn't seem to be on the current online menu, though there are other tagine dishes.

1 hour ago, DaveO said:

Realistically the East Side of Cleveland Park has no residential population.  It backs into Rock Creek Park.  That cuts the potential residential population by a lot.  (hence the close by demographics are thinner than other locations)

Not just RC Park, but the Zoo.

Also there's a huge hill for the 1/4 mile as you go east from Cleveland Park. So after the first 3 blocks, it's an easier walk to go the longer distance to Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights than up that crazy steep hill.

Don't laugh too much - my fiancee lived in Mt. Pleasant while we were dating, and even though we're in pretty good shape, I can't tell you the number of times that hill made us decide to walk to 14th St/U St instead of up Porter.

4 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Del Campo changed their brunch format to a buffet.  $35 for just food, and $10 more if you want all you can drink booze.

Do you feel you got your money's worth at $35?

3 hours ago, marketfan said:

Such a shame.  I am going tonight. Any insights into why Ripple had to close?  Is there a problem with the Cleveland Park location for restaurants?  And if so, why?  It is close to a metro,

Other restaurants that have closed in CP in the past few years have indicated that lack of parking, lack of foot traffic, and significant increases in rent have chased them out.

1 hour ago, DaveO said:

DC (region wise) might have the highest concentration of restaurants that use OT in the nation; if not the highest one of the highest. The more its available the more that users will apply it.   

There was a tipping point of saturation that DC hit a while ago. If a certain percentage of restaurants (that take reservations) use OT, then it becomes a business disadvantage to NOT use the service. You have too many people that will use the service to see what's available. If 3 of the 5 places you are considering use OT, and two don't, you're not going to call the 2 to see what they have; you're going to change your selection window to the 3.

I had a conversation some time ago with a restaurant owner that had been using OT, left to try other services, and came back. There was a noticeable drop in reservations after leaving the service, and a tick back up when they returned.

For the record, so the next person reading this thread knows, they also don't have the lamb shoulder at all during Philly Restaurant Week, not just not on the RW menu. I got burned by that one once.

If you need your Roast Pork fix on a Sunday, Tony Luke's is open. And (just noticed that I posted this hint 9 years ago) sharp provolone and broccoli rabe is the way to go.

If you call, they tell you that they only make a limited number of the lamb shoulders, it commonly sells out during the Saturday dinner rush, and you cannot reserve one. On my weekend Philly trips, we always either dine at Zahav on Friday night, or an early reservation on Saturday.

Now open daily 12n-9p.

Holy crap - read carefully - the waiter is Yannick Cam's son!

I won't review the show; this is a gratuitous plug because my daughter is playing "Fairy May" - one of the key supporting roles.

Info here.

If you go, please drop me a PM in advance, as I'd love to say hi, but I don't go to every showing.

A decent cappuccino tonight, but the rest was forgetful. A bland slice of pork belly for an appetizer was $15. Pizza was bland and undercooked. Pasta was tasty but overcooked. Desserts were more pretty than good. That plus a couple of iced teas was $90 after tax and tip. Service was friendly but slow and amateurish.

I continue to hear good things about brunch, but I can't recommend dinner.

For the weekend, they'll be open until 9p, or until they run out of pizza. Monday closed, and probably back to lunch-only hours next week for a bit more. They just don't have enough trained staff to operate both places at full bore yet.

CSNY now has their own Facebook page and website.

23 hours ago, Koozebanian Fazoob said:

They should be open for dinner hours starting the 26th, put your eyeballs on their FB page to be sure of course. They have wings now as well, still need to try out a meatball sub though.

I'll let you know when the official announcement happens - my kid is working there for the summer now.

8 hours ago, dracisk said:

I'll be there June 3rd, so if you do end up going I'd be interested in a report. I have a reservation, so I'd mainly be interested in thoughts about food. Thanks!!

If you have a party of 4 or more, definitely do the tasting menu with the lamb shoulder. But I've literally not found a miss across the entire menu.

4 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Have you tried K.N. Vinod's Chicken Chettinad? If not, write me, and I'll track him down and find out where you can find his best version - it is revelatory.

It's at both his restaurants - Bombay Bistro in Rockville, and Indique in DC (where he calls it Tellicherry Peppercorn Chicken).

31 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

I'm not as confident as you are, Daniel - I saw interest slowly waning and draining over a period of years. Yes, it can make a comeback, even a sudden comeback, but it will help things if I make a comeback as well.

Yeah, I wasn't referring to attendance level, just to actually having an event.

I still have the DR Bag Of Assorted Paper Goods in my garage.

All it takes to restart is someone willing to "chair" the event. Once the date is picked and the spot reserved, the rest kind of manages itself.

We have the KitchenAid ice cream attachment as well. But we use it all the time - makes fabulous ice cream (not just "soft" style), whether you use the egg or egg-less recipes. The bowl just stays in the freezer whenever we're not using it. so ice cream can be made on a whim.

FWIW, the Alton Brown chocolate ice cream recipe is fantastic.

21 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Has anyone been to Attman's in Potomac lately? I went ... once, and have no plans to return.

Not often, because Brooklyn's, a mile away, is better.