cajcaj

Ambitious sounding project opening next week in the old Borders space at 14th and F. If done well, could be really great.

Tom's First Bite.

Couldn't help but think of this thread when I read 2 recent items: first that the new BonMi will prepare all its proteins via sous vide machines and secondly that the meatballs at the soon to open Meatballs will be made off-site.

No longer - according to Prince of Petworth.

The wine at Cork is amazing, too. I hope that the new chef knows that there will be big shoes to fill...

Per Tom S., Rob Weland stepping in at Cork.

More details - including a menu from the Washingtonian

Just saw this from last week's Food Section chat - Edan MacQuaid working at Graffiato.

I heard from an inside source today that Stephen Starr's restaurant group has signed a lease for the old Q Street Cleaners space at 1601 14th St. NW, and it's going to become a Buddakan.

Confidence level? Since I'm relying on a source for this (as opposed to hearing it with my own ears), it can't be 100%, but it's up there.

Read a mention of this on Prince of Petworth

Saw this linked on the Washingtonian site.. Funny because it's true

February's magazine (article now online) has the Best of Rockville.

It's a pretty good list - all of the top places from the DR dining guide are there, except all of the Chinese restaurants. In fact, other than Spice Xing, and a chain sushi place, no Asian at all.

Really?

There's also this. Not sure why they'd separate those out from the Best of.

On last night's show, Fabio stated specifically that he didn't think mussels with fennel is an Italian dish. Also, some posters on Chowhound stated that Italians never put putter in seafood, which Antonia did.

Colicchio's view.

I think the issue is the content of the video, not the use of a finger to depict a mustache.

I think Eric is asking if it is some "thing" he doesn't know about. It's a hipster thing.. some people have it as a tattoo

Thinking of going here with an out of town guest in a couple of weeks. Is the dining room tasting menu only? From the menu on the website, it seems that the 7 course tasting is the only option - no a la carte?

Since you think it's so clear, let me ask you whether team T-Rex could use salt, pepper, vegetable oil, or garlic? If you interpret the word "only" literally, then presumably they can't use any of the items I mentioned. They can cook the food anyway they want but they can't use any seasoning?

Can team Brontosaurus use butter?

Hell if I know - Tom's instructions didn't get into seasonings..

from Tom's blog:

I read this to mean that Tom's explanation wasn't very good, and Tiffani didn't know for sure what she could use until after she chose T-Rex. That's sandbagging in my book. In a high-stakes competition, I don't know why they (the producers, Tom C. ,etc.) can't be more informative.

Tom clearly said in the episode that the T-Rex team would have available to them "meat and meat by-products such as eggs and diary only". Video here.

Well, you can make reservations, but I was there recently at 1pm on a Saturday and there was NO wait.

I don't know if there is one at 11:30 or 12, which previously was the hardest time to show up and get a table.

Oh, I didn't know reservations were excepted - thanks, good to know! It will be our first time here and really looking forward to it..!

The new HE is much the same as the old HE, but without the suffocating crowds. IMHO, they operate at about 90% the quality of the old place - they're just a touch off on some dishes, but that still puts them with New Fortune as the 2 best dim sum parlors in the area.

So if we wanted to show up for dim sum on a Saturday, what time would you recommend to avoid a long wait?

Perhaps I just somehow missed it on the menu I was given. Apologies if this is a false alarm.

Were you looking at a take out menu? Maybe they don't offer it for take out.

Mine came the other day addressed to "Mr." - I am not a Mister...

Kenny is one of the most talented chefs on the show and he was on the bottom today. Did he drop F bombs on TV? Was he living in denial? Someone who curses and gets sent home for bad food isn't really a random event. Do you have a point?

My point was basically, asking if you had a point. Why bring up her swearing when it seems like a pretty common thing on the show from almost all the chefs. I didn't say cursing and getting sent home was a random event - but that your post was random.

Tamesha did not come across as a sweet person. She was too easily influenced and did not watch her language on TV.

Um, and the others did? What a random thing to point out.

Her insistence on the sherry was rather strange, both from the school lunch angle and a cost standpoint. It was like she got that idea in her head and nothing could dissuade her. I'm wondering what kind of sherry she actually got, though, and whether it was sherry or supermarket "cooking sherry." The employee at Restaurant Depot seemed puzzled when she asked where the alcohol was but then directed her somewhere in the store after she specified cooking sherry. If she used Holland House or equivalent, that would have increased the sodium content of the dish through the roof, above and beyond the sherry issue.

I agree - I wondered where she'd bought it too. It was also kind of strange how at judge's table when Tom called Amanda out for having the budget for sherry, she made that face like "I dunno...oh oops" and the look Jacquline had on her face was like "yea, what the hell woman". Yet Jacqueline had never thought to challenge her on that during the buying process?

From Tom C.'s blog:

I cannot believe that no one* stopped Amanda from making that sherry chicken for a cafeteria full of children. One last note: It almost appeared as though Angelo really played the rest of his team, trying to lose so that Kenny would be sent home. I don’t know if it’s true, but it certainly seemed that way…

I was surprised that Amanda thought it was ok to serve children a dish with alcohol, that no one on her team had the foresight or fortitude to step up and put the kabosh on it, and that no producers or judges or crew thought to step in. There are perhaps moral, religious and safety issues that may apply. Moreover, Amanda should not have had a finger pointed at her, because if her actions were so egregious, someone (TPTB) should have stopped that food from being served to the kids. There were parents out there probably expecting that somebody was in a position of authority to ultimately oversee the safety and well-being of their children.

*wasn't Tom walking through the kitchen, chatting up the chefs about their dishes?

I think I remeber Tamesha telling Amanda that she should really use tomato paste instead, but Amanda was so insistent on using the sherry.

Just as I'm sure there are some owner's who spend every home game in their personal suite there are some prominent chefs who personally serve and interact with guests at their kitchen tables, but it's not exactly a hard and fast rule. If the chef is sick that evening or away on celebrity chef-related business but the food does not suffer is your meal diminished that much? I suspect the answer to that question will correlate very strongly with the diner's real reason for making a chef's table reservation. It's a tricky business, and I'm sure some people feel suckered if they don't get to meet The Chef, but I can't say that I blame restaurants for taking advantage of that if it puts butts in seats. I don't hide my disdain for what passes as "foodie culture" nowadays very well ...

Don't be pissed if your extraordinary view of the game is "ruined" because the owner is not there to hob nob with you; he or she probably has equally important business to attend to. Have a beer and enjoy the f*@#in' game.

Don't be pissed if your intimate view of talented non-celebrity-chefs preparing your meal is "ruined" because the head chef isn't there to shake your hand and explain what is on your plate; he or she has other guests' interests to attend to and a business to run. Have some more wine and enjoy your f*@#in' food

In general I get your sentiment and agree, to an extent. But at the same time, you can't deny that people who go to Table 21 are expecting a special experience (for whatever reason - celeb chef star fucking, great food, celebrating a special occassion, etc). It sounds like from the poster's submission to the chat that the chef was indeed in the restaurant that night, working the kitchen. I tend to agree with them that he could have at least said something to the group of Table 21 diners - a hello, a good evening, some sort of brief welcoming address. No he didn't have to shake each of their hands, no he didn't have to personally deliver and explain each course, but a little acknowledgment in that situation I think is to be expected and not out of line. Now, how upset the diner got is their own thing, can't say something like that would come close to ruining a dining experience for me, and I doubt I'd post/submit to chat about it, but I also can see why the guy might be irked.

I got engaged at Volt on July 11th last year. Everyone that we encountered that evening were more than pleasant to us. Chef Voltaggio did not come by our table, hell, I don't even know if he was there that night, I had enough other stuff on my mind.

If he isn't going to come by my table that night and you are bitther that he didn't personally welcome you to his VERY busy restaurant...well, you can suck it. On top of that, you are going to complain to a manager at the restaurant about it...well, you can double suck it. Oh yeah, then you have to go on into a chat session on the Washington Post's website and bitch about it...well, you can triple suck it.

I am not sure why I got so vein-popping-out-in-my-forehead-upset when I read this, but I did. People need to calm to hell down and stop bitching about the most trivial and stupid crap.

Having never been to Volt, is the fact that the person was at Table 21 warrant a different consideration though? Again, I don't know of the set up and all - from what I read here it sounds like Table 21 is kind of like a bar with a view of the kitchen.