DanielK

I'm afraid I'm out on the 19th - Monday is President's day and no school, so we have weekend family plans, but I'll try for the next one!

My wife and I dined here last night as part of the Bethesda/Chevy Chase Restaurant Week promotion. It's an attractive restaurant, in that modern, cookie-cutter fashion. One long, somewhat narrow room, host stand up front with a screen behind it separating it from the rest of the room. Long bar on the right, half-booths on the left, with tables in between, and a semi-exposed kitchen in the back. Walls are shades of orange, and the place is reasonably well lit, so it feels neither too dark nor too bright. We were sat at one of the half-booths along the wall. My only complaint about the booths - the seats are too low. I'm not a tall guy, and though my wife and I are about the same height, she looked a foot taller than me at this table! The RW week menu was pretty limited - only 3 choices for appetizer and dessert, and 4 for entree. We found things we wanted on it, but that's definitely one of my pet peeves. Strangely enough, most of the items seemed to be unique to the menu, rather than just a subset. The meal began with a complimentary crostini, with housemade sausage, cheese, and some greens, drizzled with balsamic and EVOO. I liked this a lot. I didn't see other tables next to me get it, but none of them ordered the RW menu. So I don't know if this came with the RW menu, or if it was because I mentioned DR.com in my OpenTable reservation! The bread basket was very good - both a crusty italian bread, and what seemed to be a focaccia variant. We couldn't quite place the spread - it seemed too rich for butter (and was drizzled with EVOO and cracked black pepper), but not cheese. Maybe goat's milk butter? For appetizer, I ordered Bufala mozzarella with red onion, oranges, Castelvetrano olives, mint, sea salt and EVOO. I wasn't sure if the combination was going to work, but it definitely did. I don't know how he got oranges that were so mild in flavor and acid, but that definitely made the dish. Fabulous olives, too - I could have eaten a plate full of these for an appetizer. My wife got Calamari fritti with spicy tomato fennel sauce. Very well prepared, if unexciting, though I'm not sure how fried calamari can be exciting anymore. I also had a glass of Prosecco Di Conegliano "Canella" Veneto with mine - my pick. My wife had Wood Grilled Organic Salmon Filet with roasted red pepper vanilla bean sauce, lentils with speck, sauteed broccolini. The waiter asked how she wanted it cooked - I didn't realize there was anything other than not overcooking it, like a lot of places do! She said medium-rare to be safe. I barely got a taste, it was gone so fast, but I did like the sauce quite a bit. She found the lentils a bit too smoky. I had the Grilled Skirt Steak with sauce "puttanesca", roasted fingerling potatoes and sauteed rapini, also medium-rare. Very simple, very good. I had a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon "Joliesse" California 2001, also self-chosen. It was nice, but served too warm. For dessert, we both had Warm Chocolate Cake with ganache filling and gelato. Good, not spectacular, but we both cleared the plate. Service was attentive without being intrusive, save for one thing: at each course, the next course was brought within moments of the previous course being taken away. The end result is that an evening that I had planned to be seated for 2 hours or so, we were out the door in 75 minutes. I don't know if the waiter misjudged our intent, if the kitchen was just moving very quickly, or if they wanted our table turned, but it was rushed enough that we noticed. The rest of the menu looked interesting, it's a half-block from the Landmark theater in Bethesda, and there are limited choices down that way for a good meal, so we'll certainly be back.

I think you're better off in the long run if you just pick a day and place, and post about it. What place is your favorite? Weeknight or weekend, enough will certainly show up to make it worthwhile.

Don't be silly. Pick what time works best for everyone. The later the better for me, but I'll be there regardless.

I think we were all assuming Annandale. Hence my concern about driving during rush hour, and request for a later start...

I hope liamvino is in residence tonight, as I have a 7pm reservation...

The poor guy called himself out - he's listed as the co-author.

Pasta Plus is all you need to know in Laurel.

Here are the answers.

I think we can hold off on the "me too" posts for now - I don't think Don meant this as the roll call, and clearly there's enough interest to schedule the event...

No buffet - I'd prefer if those in the know did the ordering, or arranged for a set menu ahead of time. Weekdays are fine, weekends are better (lunch, maybe?), but if it's a weekday, please make it on the late side. I'd be coming from Baltimore if I come straight from work, or Potomac if I go home first...

Dean Gold!

I'm sure Don is shortly going to move this to the Philly topic, but the answer is easy: Tony Luke's. For the original Philly Cheesesteak, get "wiz wit", which means Cheeze Wiz and fried onions. If you actually want a GOOD sandwich, get "pizza wit", which is mild provolone, pizza sauce, and fried onions. Just don't order the Steak Hoagie (lettuce, tomato, mayo, pickles) unless you want them to laugh at you. And, while you're there, you need to get a Roast Pork Italian, which comes with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone. Tony Luke's may have the best cheesesteaks around, but the Roast Pork is better.

In the name of research I dragged the kids to Mamma Lucia's on Rockville Pike tonight for a pie. Half cheese, half pepperoni. It was what I call a usual night for ML. You have to make sure to ask for medium-well, so they don't undercook it. The tomato sauce is a bit underseasoned, so sprinkle a little oregano on the top for flavor. The crust is very flavorful (they properly rise the dough in oil rather than water) though I wish the outer crust was a bit taller so it would blister more. The crust is a perfect thickness, with just the right ratio of sauce to cheese. The pepperoni is nicely spicy, and the cheese is good, if not spectacular. Overall, it certainly evokes NY style pizza, but it's still inferior to the average Brooklyn shop. Note that Tuesday remains pizza night at all ML locations - carrout pies are buy one get one for $1 (toppings extra). Quite a deal, though expect a 45 minute delay from order until your pies are ready.

Craptacular - I'm on a business trip that week. agm and NotQuickDraw - you guys better take pictures!

I've never been to Al's, but the picture of the Philly Cheesesteak has lettuce, tomato, mayo, and hot peppers on the sub. I don't think that Pat's, whom he cites for inspiration, even has those items in the shop, much less on the steak...

Oh, I think most of us completely agree with you. It doesn't mean we still don't miss things like NY pizza, deli and bagels, Philly steaks, etc.

I don't remember if there's a separate menu, but I have never ordered the americanized Cantonese cuisine, so I have no opinion as to whether they do those things well. I stick mostly to seafood, especially whole fish, which is impeccably prepared. By the time we get a few small plates and a fish, that's enough for me and my wife.

Grapeseed is almost a great restaurant. Unfortunately, the "almost" creeps in to every element of the restaurant, from decor to service to food. We'll start with being greeted at the front door. The hostess smiles warmly, welcomes us to the restaurant. I mention my reservation, she punches a few keys, grabs menus, and starts to take off across the floor. No "follow me" - is she checking on a table? Do we follow? We guess correctly, and are shown to a small 2-top in the cozy dining room. The table is not unreasonably small, but up against the wall, it seems a little bit claustrophobic. So we surrepetitiously move the table 3 inches away from the wall, problem solved. That's when the noise level starts to set in. It's not a large space, and the exposed ceiling really amplifies the voices. Add in the open kitchen, and you have, well, noise. Next time, I'll sit at the back bar. Rather than a view of the expansive wine and liquor selection as at the front bar, the bar in the rear actually looks over the open kitchen, where you get to see Chef Jeff Heineman literally tower over his kitchen staff - Jeff is far north of 6 feet tall. Grapeseed, fortunately, is one of those places that "gets it" for Restaurant Week. The entire menu is available, with surcharges for only two dishes. Diners may choose any combination of two appetizers, salads, or desserts to go with their entree, so you really get to make a meal of your own choosing for $30. Since Grapeseed is, by creation, a wine bar, every item on the menu has a pre-selected wine to go with it, available by 1.5oz or 3oz pour, or by the bottle. In addition, they have an expansive wine list by the bottle or glass, a feat unto itself in Montgomery County. While we peruse the menu, drink orders are taken, and bread brought to the table. The bread, very faintly echoing sourdough, is brought to life by a house-made tomato-garlic oil that makes it difficult to stop at one piece. My wife elects to take advantage of the menu flexibility, and goes for two appetizers instead of dessert - the Cornmeal Fried Oysters (bacon beurre blanc), and the Pipe Dreams Goat Cheese Mousse with hazelnuts, sun dried tomatoes & basil oil. The oysters were well prepared - big, meaty, creamy oysters with a rich flavor, perefectly fried, and a generous 5 of them on the plate. But the sauce doesn't do them justice - it's so bland, you taste nothing beyond the fat in the sauce. Oysters like these can stand up to something with a bit more kick. The goat cheese was fine, if not revelatory, but I'm not sure where the mousse part comes in. It just seemed like a wedge of goat cheese on a cracker with ingredients strewn across the plate. My Lobster Potstickers (dashi broth) were full of lobster meat - well, they were full of shellfish, certainly, but it was hard to tell that it was lobster. That characteristic sweetness didn't come through, and the "potstickers" were actually steamed, not fried as the name might imply. Still, the dish was enjoyable, and the broth fragrant and rich, but had I paid the full menu price of $12 for the two dumplings, I might have been more resentful. To the waiter's credit, he did warn me about the portion size when I ordered. The wine paired with the lobster was a California sake, but sake has never grown on me, so I asked the waiter for a substitution. He bypassed the other wines listed on the daily menu, and instead went with the French Pierre Sparr ONE 2002. Not too sweet nor too dry, it did balance well with the dumplings. For our entrees, whimsically called "ends", to contrast with the appetizers (beginnings) and salads (middles), my wife chose Braised Pork Shank (cheddar grits, chipotle barbeque sauce & chilies rajas), and I selected the Saut�ed Atlantic Salmon (creamy leeks, bacon, mushrooms, manila clams & dill-sea salt cracker). Hours later, I'm still wondering where the chipotle and chilis were on the pork dish. The pork was wonderfully braised, nearly carmelizing the fat, and making you question whether this bone really came from a pig. The grits were intensely creamy, and provided a great base to the giant slab of meat. Had the chef only not ruined it with a cloyingly sweet sauce drenching the plate, tasting nothing of chipotle, chilies, or, frankly, barbecue sauce. I really wanted to like this dish, and it would have worked better without any sauce at all. The salmon was flawlessly prepared - just the slightest hint of red in the center of the light pink filet, making me unfortunately realize that I wish the chef would have gone with Pacific or wild salmon, rather than the clearly farm-raised Atlantic. Served in a cast-iron skillet, drowning in cream sauce (broth? sauce? who cares - there was not a drop left in the pan once the bread basket was refilled) chock full of clams in the shell, potato, bacon, leeks - almost a chowder. This almost perfect dish was marred by the temperature at which it was served - while the server warned me about the heat from the skillet, I wasn't also warned that the sauce was nearly boiling when it was set in front of me. My wife was nearly finished with her dish when the salmon was finally cool enough to eat, which, when my tongue needed water most, was about the time that the waiter took a 10 minute vanishing act. Luckily, I already had the glass of pinot noir paired with the salmon, though I am drawing a complete blank as to the producer and vintage. Since my wife indulged in double appetizers, I was on my own for dessert. Normally, I'm a chocolate guy, so the Chocolate Marquis (chocolate terrine with crème anglaise & pistachios) called seductively. However, I am foremost a key lime obsessor, so the Tempura Roasted Banana (homemade key lime ice cream, graham crumbs & caramel sauce) won the day. The true star of the evening - this dish was perfect. The tartness of the key limes were a perfect match for the sweetness of the bananas, and the crispness (and lack of any noticeable grease) of the tempura batter pulled the whole dish together. The graham crumbs were a nice wave to the namesake pie, and the caramel sauce lightly grazing the plate only made me wish I was eating at home, so I could lick the plate clean. It was an enjoyable evening - the slips in service and food were consistent enough to mention, but not severe enough to affect the overall meal. They're only a couple of steps from greatness. The total for the two of us including a generous tip was just under $100 - figure $30 more without the RW discount. That's the price point where I don't expect the glitches we saw, so while Grapeseed is certainly on my list of places to eat in Bethesda, I'd say they're on probation until they can win me over with a less-flawed performance.

Here we go again...between here and Chowhound, this seems to come up every few months. So here's how it works. People will come into the topic, state their credentials (here's mine: I grew up in Philly, with NY parents, moved to SoFla with all the other NY expats, and worked in a pizza joint) and tell you that while XXX place makes a decent slice, it's just not NY. Then JoeH will come by and say that CT pizza is better anyway. The sum of the argument - there are a few places to get something that's ok, but it's just not going to be the slice from your memory. As you say, 2 Amy's is good, though not NY style. From the MD perspective, I'm partial to Vace in Bethesda and Mamma Lucia's in Rockville (ONLY the Federal Plaza location), but on a recent trip to NY, I realized I'd forgotten how far short they really fall. I haven't found anything worth discussing in DC, though I've heard something about a few places in NoVa that are also ok. Next!

My synagogue is setting up a banquet at TemptAsian next month. While the person doing the coordination is well-intentioned, I want to make sure that we don't get the American banquet. This is the response I got from the coordinator, when I asked if we were going to get the real Sichuan: "It will be primarily specialties of the house (No standard American, that's not what I do), but not as spicy as usual so that we all can enjoy." What should I make sure is on the menu, to get the best TemptAsian experience?

Oh, that's painful - I'm going tonight, and now 7pm seems so far away...

Is this associated with a certain region of China? Perhaps if we can identify which region specializes in it, we can narrow down the list of places to call to see if they offer it.

Unless I'm misreading, what New Big Wong and TemptAsian are serving is not the same kind of hot pot that MeMc is asking for. As the quoted article said, what she's looking for is more like "Chinese fondue", and what NBW and TA have is pre-cooked food in a casserole dish. I have not seen this "fondue" style of Chinese hot pot in the DC area.

Haven't done the wings or crabcakes yet, but me and the soul rolls are old pals. They should come with a referral to a cardiologist, though.