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The first drop by the way is approximately a 30 story fall at an 85 degree angle. This is almost true vertical-face first.

This lasts about 5 seconds, but that might be just long enough - 400 ft vertical drop at 90 degrees..

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/top_thrill_dragster/index.cfm

Was there last year and thought it was a fun, well organized event. A lot of very good food. Part of the proceeds go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Thanks! Glad to hear it was well organized.. I think we will check it out.

Has anyone been to this before? The ticket price seems a bit steep, but also looks like it could be a fun time.

How much was the omakase?

One of the DCist folks works with Teddy and she chalks it up to editing, etc.

Haven't taken the time to read through the whole blog posting yet.. but while I have no doubt that LOTS of editing goes into any reality show to make it watchable (debateable with most), there's only so much editing can do. I mean, he did say the things they showed him say right? I'm thinking specifically about the backpedaling on the dessert and claiming that the meatloaf was "his".

Which one was "our local chef"? And who was eliminated?

I missed it at 9 or 10, started watching at midnight and fell asleep.

Skipper

Teddy Folkman is the local contestant, of Granville Moore's (and recently, the Cap Lounge). I'm sure people don't care that much, but

Eddie

was eliminated. The presentation he gave for Good Housekeeping was hilariously ridiculous!!

Did anyone watch last night's episode? Not a good showing for our local chef..

Oh, oh dear. I just got this in my inbox. NOT intentional on my part. MKTYE?!?!?!?

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Rocks,

You might want to change the website for Tacklebox in the dining guide... the correct address is http://tackleboxrestaurant.com/ the current one....is NOT for the restaurant. If this was intentional, then you know, haha...except I'm at work right now. Just a heads up.

As I thought more about it got more funny, AND i was super thankful there weren't pictures and the like...

We ate at the bar on Saturday night and I forgot to post about it. Tried the oxtail tots for the first time, as delicious as everyone upthread has said. I had a hibiscus margarita which I found deliciously tart and sweet. Gina also made us "magic" chocolate milkshakes - yum! and we owe Gina further thanks for recommending the chef's burger - regular burger with the following toppings; onion rings, pork belly, medium cooked egg and gruyere - excellent!!

same experience here. after half an hour or so, we were the only customers in the restaurant. i prefer having other people around. if i lived in betheda i probably would have been back a couple of times by now. the food was fine, but maybe not worth an hour-long trip to get there. and passage to india is just across the street.

This place is closed, lasted longer than we thought it was, as it was always empty when we walked past (usually on our way to Mia's). We ate there once and had carryout from there once, it was decent, not sure why they couldn't make a go of it. Maybe because Bethesda is saturated with Thai places?? and of course the sign in the window announced the coming of a new Thai place.. Maybe new management or something?

I was going to say Cuzzin's and Gladys' are pretty inexpensive. I have to admit, sometimes when I'm there I just go over to the Hard Rock for a burger, because the good restaurants tend to be a bit pricey (but remember most ingredients have to be shipped in). [Oops, just remembered the Hard Rock closed.]

Charlotte Amalie will be a schlep from where you're staying, but that's where most of the restaurants are. If you're driving, be forewarned - even in the summer, driving in town is a mess, particularly when cruise ships are in. Also remember to drive on the left. I've never been there where I didn't see an accident apparently resulting from a mainlander driving on the wrong side.

If you don't want to drive in to town, consider the Old Stone Farmhouse. Again not cheap and it can be hit or miss, but when it's on, it's excellent. Again if you like wine, ask what they have that's not on the list. I've gotten some great wines at very reasonable prices there that way.

I've heard similar about the driving experience there, and I grappled with whether we should rent a car or not, but we'll be there for a week and I didn't feel like dealing with taxis every day, and hope to take the car barge over to St John at least once. Thanks again!

Glady's isn't really expensive. I think you can eat for $15 (if not $10) or less per person. Try the salt fish.

Yea, after I looked up all the places mentioned, I realized Gladys' and Cuzzin's are reasonable. We'll be staying near Secret Harbour and not sure if the drive to Charlotte Amalie is too far to do it often. In any case, thanks!

Don't know if you're still checking, but a couple of thoughts. Craig & Sally's is the best on the island, particularly if you like wine. Great food and Craig has some really interesting wines on the list. For local food downtown, we like Cuzzin's, though most people will send you to Gladys'. If you're out near the Marriott, Havana Blue at Morningstar is very good, although I've heard some complaints that it's too expensive for what it delivers. Up on the hill above town, I liked Herve a lot on my first visit, although not quite as much subsequently.

Yes! - I'm still looking and thanks for replying! Those are all names I've come across on the tripadvisor board and in other research, so I will definitely check out these few that you've isolated. Any suggestions for relatively cheap casual lunches/dinners? Or are we going to be stuck with pretty pricey options? Thanks!!

So, an update. On Friday night, we did end up having dinner at Jewel Bako. The restaurant set up is very cool, with a sort of tunnel-like feel created by slatted and curved wooden pieces that extend from floor to ceiling. The sushi bar is at the back of the restaurant, which is where we sat. The service was good - very attentive without being intrusive. Quality of the fish was very good and everything that we had was delicious, so the only negative thing I have to say really is that I feel we didn't get a whole lot for what we paid. There are 2 omakases on the menu; one that is $50 is a choice between either sushi or sashimi, the other at $95 was listed as "chef's omakase tasting menu", so we assumed that included cooked dishes as well. One of us got the sushi omakase and the other got the sashimi and we shared. In addition to the sushi/sashimi, we received an amuse of pea mousse, miso soup, and edamame. The sushi omakase had about 12 pieces to it and the sashimi had about 14 (?) pieces. All in all, it was good and we tried some varities of fish that we hadn't had before (like belt fish and barracuda). Maybe the price wasn't so out of line, its more likely that I'm greedy and wanted more... went to Blue Ribbon bakery afterwards and had them split their 2 bread puddings, the chocolate and the banana walnut - delicious.

Saturday lunch was our absolutely necessary stop at Momofuku - pork buns, steamed chicken wings, and momofuku ramen - excellent as awlays. Saturday dinner was birthday dinner at City Crab - decent seafood.

Sunday before catching the train, we made a stop at the much anticipated Porchetta... we each had a porchetta sandwich and shared the potatoes with crispy bits - it was awesome!! The pork in the sandwich was the perfect blend of tender, melt-y pork and just pure fat, studded with super HARD pieces of lacquered skin (I kinda wish they weren't quite as hard). The potatoes were amazing - I love potatoes anyway, so the addition of the sorta burnt, sorta crispy pork bits and the flavor they had imparted to the potatoes, put the whole thing over the top. Boyfriend said that this may have to be a new NYC go-to. I agree!

Afterwards we went to Momofuku bakery and shared a slice of the chocolate chip cake - layers of yellow cake with a (meyer?) lemon filling mixed with tiny chocolate chips throughout, and an oreo-like cookie crumble layer in the mix for good measure. This was great, the tart lemon flavor was a really nice counter-balance to the chocolate in the rest of the cake and added a real brightness. Got 2 compost cookies for the road - not quite sure what all is in them, sorta everything-but-the-kitchen-sink - chocolate chips, pretzels - etc... they were yummy!

I like Frank Bruni (we went to the same high school, years apart), but I think that his review of the lounge is miscast in the "recession beater" category. Nothing about Per Se is a "recession beater", especially compared with Frugal Fridays, or whatever they are calling Damon Wise's event at Craft. In a way, I think that Bruni's comments on the lounge are similar to Tom S's comments about Inox and the economy. Per Se's lounge food is delicious, diners feel pampered, etc etc. The comments about the furniture are useful, but the notion that the experience needs to be somehow changed because on a per bite basis (WTF) Per Se is expensive seems silly to me. It's not Bouchon or Ad Hoc - it's a less expensive way to experience the same dishes at a very expensive restaurant. Bruni also did not mention that diners in the lounge also receive (or so I have been told) the same amuses and petite fours that the diners in the dining room receive...

Good points...mtpleasanteater as well. I don't think we will try it though and simply that comes down to not wanting to spend that much money.. but at some future point it seems like it would be a great way to experience Per Se w/o the tasting menu prices...

Now I'm thinking of Jewel Bako - we really enjoyed our meal at Degustation in January. Has anyone been to this sushi place?

Frank Bruni reviews the Per Se lounge in tomorrow's NYT.

Great call! Here it is: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/dining/r...&ref=dining

He basically says what I'd been worried about, that with each dish individually priced, the whole experience would seem extra expensive.

I am pretty curious about how big those plates are too.

The prices include tax & tip which make them seem a little more reasonable.

They update their website with the current lounge menu daily.

That's a good point re tax and tip. Ooo good to know about the updates w/ the menu..

From what I was able to see, the dishes on the a la carte menu are somewhat larger than the tasting menu counterparts - ETA, by somewhat, I mean general app and entree size at similar establishments (JG, Daniel, Citronelle, etc).

Oh, you ate in the dining room when you went on Friday - I didn't read closely and thought you'd eaten in the lounge.

I was at Per Se two weeks ago Friday (write-up coming soon), and the lounge was not full until about 8:30pm. If you want to dine early, I don't think you'll have much of a problem. You could also call and get on the wait list for dinner in the dininig room - we did, and were given an early Friday reservation. If anything, I think that the experience has improved there, at least when compared to my first visits.

Thanks for the intel - our train gets in around 6:30, so might end up getting there after its already busy. What did you think about dining in the lounge in terms of prices? From what I've seen of the menu it seems that it is (obviously) still expensive, but w/o knowing how tiny the dishes are, its hard to gauge. And I think we're ruling out a dining room reservations because we don't want to spend that kind of money.

Headed up to NY this weekend, we'll have Friday dinner free - any suggestions? In terms of places we've tried and enjoyed before; Momofuku Noodle Bar, Prune, Degustation, The Spotted Pig... blanking on others at the moment. Thought about checking out the lounge at Per Se, but not sure we want to deal with the inevitable (?) wait.

Has anyone been to Morimoto lately?

Going to St Thomas in June, any restaurant recommendations? I've seen the St John recs upthread and noted them as we may take the ferry across for a day trip or 2.

Surprising!!

You should definitely try to squeeze in a meal at Palena if you haven't been.