AlexC

Brian -- thanks again for being one of my first customers! Finally done with delivery and only have a few stragglers who need to pick up. What a freaking battle, what an awesome ride, can't wait to blow this thing out! Hope you love the experience. Lovehockey -- Happy to talk custom Crates! Shoot me an email at alex@grapecrate.com. Alex

Well, shit. My design firm is really gonna like to hear that. Thanks so much for you order! Can't wait to hear what you think about your wines.

Hey DR Community, I wanted to let you know about Grape Crate, my new wine business! We deliver a curated, educational wine box with an app-driven recommendation engine. That means we pick great wines and package them in a cool-looking Crate, including some painless-to-use instructional material. Then, we let people rate wines quickly and easily on their smart phone, so we can customize their next crate based on what they liked in the last one! For more information (and to look at my smiling mug), you can read about us at Borderstan and Eat More Drink More! Plus, you can check out our website at www.grapecrate.com and feel free to ask questions here or email me at alex@grapecrate.com! If you want to stay connected, you can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our email list via the website. Also, please buy two or three crates for everyone you know. Sales close on Dec 10. Thanks, Alex www.grapecrate.com

Not tartar to be sure, but the kitfo at Zenebech scratches my raw beef itch, hard.

If you go to Ghana Cafe on 14th and ask for something very spicy, they will deliver. I can't handle their top end and I lick my plate at Little Serow. Try a very spicy stewed goat, and be sure to get their wonderful hot sauce on the side.

I heard they'll pour some soda in your hand for a nickel.

Brolumbia Heights is coming. It happened to 14th Street.

He was in the kitchen there last week.

Sushi Taro is excellent Japanese on 17th & P. Hank's will (or, at least, I have seen them do it) put together a vegetarian plate, which is a you-pick-em mix of their generally tasty vegetarian side dishes, so maybe you can go with your daughter. Floriana is a very different place than it was two years ago, but I wouldn't put it on par with Sushi Taro or Hank's. Still, maybe worth a shot. The Mexican place, the Dupont Italian Kitchen and the pizza joint are not very good.

Is there a German word for that feeling where you want to tell someone to go somewhere and do something, but you like that thing so much that you are terrified of telling people about it, especially on some sort of open internet forum, because then the tiny thing will be overrun? Get the fish. Get the kitfo. First rule of Zenebech is...

The food wasn't very good on Friday night. Overall, I think the dishes are well-conceived and I hope my experience was a case of many new dishes hitting the menu and the kitchen not yet having figured out how to do the chef's vision justice. The service was also a little wonky and uneven, with a laissez-faire waiter and an eager but not very experienced manager. Given the new chef with good pedigree and the elevated menu, I was hoping for the Ulah Bistro experience to have been upgraded. That is not yet the case. The wood-fired octopus ($14) came as single 8" tentacle on a bed of greens. The taste and the texture were good, more creamy than chewy, but there's something about a single, uncut, nickel-wide octopus tentacle that isn't very appealing. A few quick bias cuts would have helped. The crust of the Roasted Pork Belly Pizza ($15) was so squishy-soft and doughy that no one went back for a second piece. I've long thought the pizza at Ulah was generally undercooked, but between the wet toppings and the thick dough, this one was especially gooey and unappetizing. The Double-cut Grilled Porkchop ($22) was cooked through and tough, a real shame because it was a great-looking piece of meat on a pretty plate with grilled peaches and a tasty mac and cheese. The Cote de Bouef for Two ($48) was a little over, but I think this dish was the most successfully executed of those we ordered. I should have ordered it rare, went medium rare and it was decidedly medium. That being said, it was a good steak and was presented on the bone, but sliced into strips so that sharing was easy. Both the accompanying salad and smashed potatoes were simple and tasty. The duck fat fries are thin, crisp and delicious, and I've always liked the burger at Ulah... so that's probably what I'll stick with for the next few weeks.

We ended up starting late and just racing straight to AC. What an expensive Saturday night. I did get a White House Italian sub on Sunday -- the bread was great, the sub was huge, it was tasty and what I needed.

I am not sure of our route, honestly. I just kinda assumed we'd head to Philly and then cut over, but I'm sure we'll take whatever is the fastest way... So if Philly is out, what's good on the way?

I am heading up to Atlantic City on Saturday and was thinking of building in a tasty lunch somewhere along the way. Any good places off 95 between here and Philly, closer to Philly the better, or any other suggestions that make sense given the general direction we'll be headed? Edit To Add: MDT points out that Philly may not make sense as a stop -- for those that have driven between DC and AC, lemme know about things that are actually on the way... Thanks so much! Alex

We did the "Beef Feast" dinner at Palena last night and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Our server juggled the slew of wines we threw at him, the pacing was perfect (7 course, 3.5 hours) and the food, well, that was the best part. For those among you who struggle to introduce less adventurous eaters to the wonders of offal, last night's heart and tongue preparations converted two skeptics. I've never had a more accessible, crowd-pleasing dish starring those two ingredients, especially considering their simplicity -- both were sliced and relatively bare, not minced or wrapped or oversauced or otherwise disguised. It's hard for me to pick nits with this meal -- the quality of the ingredients, especially the beef, just came blaring through in every course, and the supporting elements -- the oxtail broth in the brodo, the horseradish cream for the steak, the salsa verde for the heart -- made each dish sing. I got to appreciate the texture and the flavor of a whole laundry list of cuts and I can't wait to do it again. Find five (or more) friends, call Palena and make a reservation.

Thank you for all of the excellent suggestions! In a predictable move, I spent way too much money getting pretty much everything I wanted at Whole Foods, except decent bagels. Society Fair and Buzz will have to wait 'til my next trip across the river, but I definitely need to check out Bethesda Bagels soon.

Hey All, I need to pick up a nice breakfast spread for friends who just had a baby. I am leaving from Logan Circle and arriving in Old Town. He's a New York Jew, so I was thinking lox and bagel would be nice. Where's the best spot to grab this on the way? Thanks. Alex

Cesare is still there!

I was at Standard on Friday and there was a pig's head on the menu for $18.18... but we got beat to the punch by another table. So get that order in quick! The place pretty much came to a standstill when Tad walked out with an enormous pig's head. It looked totally awesome and I can't wait to eat one.

If the stroller armada I've seen outside Lia's in Friendship Heights is any indication, that place is good for kids. It's definitely good for adults, too.

Thanks for creating and maintaining this thread. I just breezed through it and got quite a visceral look at the front lines of winemaking. Keep it up!

I've been there a few times and both Palaver and the website pretty much tell the story -- no substitutions, very limited special requests and even things that don't have meat listed as an ingredient may include beef stock, pork fat or the like.

One reliable way to get in there is to show up at noon on a Saturday or Sunday, right when they open for lunch.

As I read Don's post, yes, but I could be / would like to be wrong.

- Open Safari on your iPhone - Navigate to the Dining Guide (http://www.donrockwe...?showtopic=3783) - Click the box/arrow button at the bottom of the safari browser - Select "add to home page" to create an app-style bookmark to the dining page on your iphone. If, as Don does, you want to add a separate button for each of the dining guides, use safari to navigate to each one you want and use the "add to home page" button to create each link.