ustreetguy

When is the official opening?

If there's a better answer to 'who is Don Rockwell' than 'A Bloody Mary-esque apparition that orders you wine or occasionally tequila by the glass and then vanishes' I'd like to hear it.

Did you check out Crackers' yearbook on the Media and News page? It's a good place to start.

Larry, I'm looking at your signature line, and darnit, you are not still waiting to get your refrigerator fixed, you like having it broken, don't you? 

Give Rocks some credit! Between mispellings, peasents, grammer, and lets, I'm sure it was a joke

For those of you that may be interested, Straits of Malaya is offering a cooking class on June 3.

now he is once again offering a few 4-5 hour cooking classes in his home on Saturdays or Sundays.  The next class will be on Saturday, June 3, 2006, from about 10:30 am to 3pm.  The class will show you how to prepare some of the dishes at the Straits of Malaya in your home kitchen.  The classes are limited to ten participants.  You will learn to identify and use the spice and other ingredients and where you can purchase them.  You can participate in preparing the meal that will be shared by all participants.

The price per person is one hundred dollars, including dinner and wine.  You will receive written recipes for the dishes you prepare that are scaled for a family kitchen.  Additional classes will be offered later if you are not available on June 3.

Send an e-mail to larry@straitsofmalaya.com if you are interested.

Oh - and while my signature happens to be Larry T., I can assure you I am not Larry Tan of the restaurant

Logan Tavern has one.

About half of the current menu is supposed to be changing sometime in the following week.

New Starters:

- Chilled asparagus soup with tarragon creme fraiche $8.50

- Three little tastes from the garden $9

- Housemade duck rillettes with chipotle toast and cornichons $8.50

- Portobello schnitzel with lentils and mustard vinaigrette $9

New Mains:

- Roasted breast of guinea hen with ginered grits, bok choy and shiitake mushrooms $25

- Roasted Alaskan halibut with morel-potato hash and port wine reduction $26

- Porterhouse of pork for two with twice baked, pork cheek stuffed Yukon potatoes, haricots verts and dried Mission figs $48

- Creamy saffron risotto with English peas, fava beans and marscapone cheese $18 (with smoked bacon add $4)

- Grilled lamb minute steak with Raclette potato gratin and caramelized fennel $22

Don't worry - the fried oysters are still there.

Why just foie?

Exactly - why stop there? Why not ban veal or non-free range chicken? Yes the practices may be a bit cruel, but this seems to be a poor use of the council's time. Why not let chefs or consumers decide for themselves?

We have children getting killed by gang leaders and dope dealers. We have real issues here in this city. And we’re dealing with foie gras? Let’s get some priorities.

FYI: small bunches of ramps were being sold at the farmers's market at Dupont Circle this past Sunday for $5.

I don't think I've seen any ramps at Whole Foods and noticed these only at one stall.  Is that why they were so expensive?  Should they go down in price before we see the last of them?

They're selling for prices ranging from $2.99 to $3.50 (for 10, which is probably how they were grouped here in D.C.) in other parts of the country.

Haven't tried them yet, but reported to be great on pizza.

That actually sounds like a great price compared to what you'd get a Whole Foods.

Batter burgers.....drool.....was a staple in the canteen at Pres Bray!

Don't know if it's a happy hour as such, but Jaleo is close by and they make a decent (not good) caipirinha when not slammed.

A little further away are Divino Lounge on Wisconsin Avenue, Old Homestead's bar in the Chevy Chase Bank building or Tommy Joe's - all of which are about a block away from the Metro Center but in the opposite direction of L'Academie. Jaleo might be a bit further than some people may want to walk.

As one (or two) who resemble that remark, we thought the chat was excellent.  I didn't know that tomorrow would be the 2-year anniversary so congratulations on that milestone!

-Camille

I think I saw them at Dupont Farmers' Market this week.

Last year the Whole Foods on P Street was selling them for (what seemed to me) an outrageous price - something like $10-12 for a small bunch. But similar to what happened to Stitch, when I brought them to the register and told them what they were, the cashier couldn't figure out how to ring it up so he just gave them to me for free!

Crackers - just throwing more love your way! When you mentioned you were putting this together, I had no idea how well laid out it would be. Very impressive!

I'm confused ... is the much-discussed "bar at CityZen" what shows up on the webpage as the empress Lounge, or Cafe MoZu, or none of the above? I want to make sure I end up in the right place if I go! 8-))

You will be sorely missed at Firefly, but I expect great things out of you at Agraria! I can't wait to see what you and Paul come up with!

Keep this stuff comming; I need ideas for the picnic!

Eve's doing one that looked mighty fine as a special in the Bistro.

Let's just say we are.  It's about time we take the lead.

But who was the first to do this here?  Was it Galileo / Lab?

Does this area have any mushroom hunting tours? Maybe you could check out www.mawdc.org if you haven't already.

But they misspelled the Begula Caviar from Citronelle in the print edition was that a joke?

Want a great and delicious way to spend an upcoming warm evening or maybe a quick lunchtime snack? Order Firefly's cheese plate and wash it down with their refreshing Cucumber Collins (or in my case a couple of them). Part of their new cocktail menu, the Cucumber Collins combines Hendricks Gin, fresh squeezed cucumber juice, simple syrup and a splash of tonic. It's garnished with a slice of cucumber and a sprig(?) of lemongrass and looks as good as it tastes.

Next time I decide to head to Penn Quarter for brunch, I'll make sure I have a reservation someplace especially if it's Cherry Blossom Festival weekend AND a local team is playing in an NCAA tournament regional game at the Verizon Center in just a few hours.

After being told that the wait for four at Cafe Atlantico would be 90 minutes, my friends and I walked up the street to check out Poste. Once again, we were told that all tables were booked, but that there was a table at the bar we could sit at right away which we snatched up.

The food was pretty good if standard brunch fare (eggs of all kinds, sandwiches, salads), but we did seem to have a snafu when it came to ordering. I suspect that the person taking our order placed the starter orders but forgot to put in our entree orders after we finished the appetizers. Anyway, an hour passed from when we finished the starters as we lost track of time in conversation before we flagged down someone to inquire about the entrees. They asked what we were still missing and went to check on it.

To Poste's credit, the manager came over and let us know that our meals would be arriving shortly. She apologized for the mix-up and told us they would comp the entire bill for all four of us! That was definitely more than generous on the restaurant's part, and certainly made a good impression on my friends and me.

What's wrong with the Cheescake Factory? I am not saying the quality is good, however many people enjoy the food there. Is is really fair to pick on chains? They do serve a purpose to some, and are not all that bad.

Merely stating an example of a place that has a long wait where the quality of the food isn't necessarily good (as you pointed out as well).