ustreetguy

Palena currently serves vanilla cupcakes with peppermint ice cream on its menu. This is was frosting is meant to be.

Ha! A good breakfast in Bethesda!?!! I only say that cuz I work there. For breakfast, I've had a decent (and I stress that it's only decent) breakfast at Parkway Deli in Chevy Chase or the deli at Potomac Village (it's in the same complex as the Giant at the intersection of Falls Road and River Road). Hope that helps!

Well ... let's just say there's a reason I haven't posted anything about it.

And I thought Kobe beef isn't supposed to need braising to be tender - isn't that the sought-after quality of the meat? When I had some in Japan, the Kobe steak was so tender you could cut it with the edge of a fork. However, the meat had very little flavor. But to get back on topic, I'll be staying at the Venetian this weekend. But I can't tell whether the Valentino is being recommended or not.

That's what I was afraid of. At least I think we have a private room and it will be a fairly large sized party of co-workers.

I'm being taken out to La Ferme in Chevy Chase tonight for work. Does anyone have any experience with this place or have any recommendations? The reviews in the WP and Washingtonian seem a little outdated.

I will fully admit that I am usually guilty of only patronizing restaurants that are Metro accessible – especially those along the Red Line from Bethesda to Gallery Place. That is about to change. Last night, on one of those rare occasions when I actually take my car to work, I found myself at Restaurant Eve’s bar enjoying one of Todd Thrasher’s famous libations - the pickle “you have to really love pickles” martini. This concoction of pickle juice and fennel infused vodka topped with a mound of pickle air (I had to laugh when he served it to me) is a truly great aperitif (Sorry Rocks! I’m a fan). At first I was a bit scared that the pickle juice would just completely dominate everything, but all doubts were washed away as I took my first sip. There was truly a perfect balance of saltiness, sweetness and sourness, and the drink just made me hungry for more. Perhaps it was the pickles (hmmm I sound pregnant ), but for some reason I ended up ordering two veal items - the Housemade Garlic Veal Sausage with Black Trumpets and Butternut Squash and the Pan Roasted Veal Sweetbreads with Rosemary Biscuit and Wild Mushrooms. Slices of veal sausage were carefully placed on a plate and then topped with lightly dressed micro greens and sticks of butternut squash. As delicious as this was, the sweetbreads for me were the star of the evening (even eclipsing the VIP sighting). This is no exaggeration, but this was the best sweetbread preparation I have ever had. Fanned out atop a bed of sautéed spinach, the lightly browned sweetbreads had a delicate meaty flavor and a tender texture more reminiscent of foie gras (okay – that probably IS an exaggeration, but hopefully you get my point) than of your usual organ meat preparation. If you don’t think you like sweetbreads, give these a try. For dessert, the light and crispy apple fritters (dusted with sugar and served with a bowl of caramel sauce) were a wonderful ending to such a meat-intensive meal. Finally on a service note, kudos to Todd, Tami and Ken for making this first-timer to the bistro feel like a long-time regular. Attentive (Todd actually remembered what I had to drink after the DR.com dinner) but unobstrusive, the staff obviously knows how to treat customers as well as each other. It’s just the kind of place that might just make me take my car to work a little more often.

I sent an e-mail to Caterina Abbruzzetti and here is the list she sent me.

You're on the right track, but the VIP isn't male ...

I'd go to that.

I was wondering the same thing. But if you notice, the poster's location was San Diego, California. I wonder if the poster recently moved to San Diego from San Francisco and was wondering if Tom new any good restaurants in San Diego. Of course you're probably right ... the person was probably just a snob.

I suppose in build, but I'm not quite sure about the blonde hair . As always, it was a pleasure meeting everyone tonight!

And if all this love for one dish wasn't enough, I'm also going to have to say this is one of the best dishes I've had at Palena in awhile - and for Palena, that's really saying something! Congrats Meaghan! Great hanging out with you and the crew last night.

Let's face it. Rice pudding just isn't a sexy dish. When I think of rice pudding, images of sickly-sweet congealed mush sprinkled with too much cinnamon come to my head. This stuff is meant for people with no teeth. It's meant to be dished up by cafeteria workers with hairnets. It's a shame that people (or maybe it"s just me) have this perception of rice pudding, because they might be missing out on Firefly's version of this dessert. After a disappointing dinner at a nearby restaurant last night, I decided to attempt to salvage my evening with a cheese plate at Firefly. By the time I got there, I was in the mood for something more substantive. Scanning the dessert menu, I thought to myself well I guess it's time I try the Walnut-raisin rice pudding with spiced squash sauce - the only dessert on the menu I had not yet tried. Spiced with cardamom and allspice (okay, I cheated and asked John), the rice pudding arrives greeting me with a pleasing scent. The pudding is made with arborio rice which provides a nice toothsome texture to each bite. The crunchy walnuts that are liberally sprinkled on top provide another texture layer as do the plump raisins scattered throughout the pudding. The flavors are exotic yet familiar, comforting and exciting, and dare I say it ... sexy.

Or anything "braised" or "a la francaise"? How about "creme anglaise"?

Maybe it's the fall weather or that it now gets dark at 5 pm, but I've started longing for warm salty sea breezes and lounging about under the Mediterranean sun. I guess that why I’ve been thinking of checking this place out again. When Mourayo first opened, I used to eat here quite a bit – mostly because the opening coincided with plans I had to the Greek Islands, and I wanted to accustom myself to ouzo so that I wouldn’t make TOO much a fool of myself when I was over there. Some of the outstanding dishes I remember having were the Ouzo Mezze – a sampling of spreads and marinated seafood large enough for two or three to share, the Roasted Eggplant and Feta salad – a sweet, garlicky and salty mound of goodness (a friend of mine from New York proclaimed this the best version she had ever had), Grilled Octopus in ink with fava bean puree – slightly charred with a nice earthy flavor, and Pork medallions with honey, figs, and manouri cheese (although sometimes the medallions were a touch overdone). The place took great pride in the olive oil (used for dipping the warm soft triangles of pita), yogurt and honey they used – all made by one of the owner’s brothers (at least I think Dmitri was a part owner) back in Greece. The best desserts were probably the simplest ones. Yogurt and honey with walnuts may not be a revelation, but it certainly puts you in a good mood; and the Ravani cake with poached pears and moscato wine is definitely a light satisfying ending to a meal(if he’s still working there, get Nassos to tell you the meaning behind the dessert – he’s quite charming in a bumbling sort of way and loves talking about his home country). So will the restaurant still transport me back to Greece or should I book a ticket elsewhere?

According to a manager on duty at brunch today, they're finally going to start serving spirits (although a limited selection) this Wednesday.

Yup - you got it!

From home: 76 within 5 miles 44 within 2 miles From work: only 27 within 5 miles (Bethesda) 8 within 2 miles

That's the one I would go to in high school. Each day during our 20 minute lunch, we'd pile into someone's car and race out there (along with hundreds of other students) during lunch time just so we could stand in a long line of high schoolers, order our food, and eat it in five minutes on the ride back to school. I became very adept at driving my car with both knees while holding a drink in one hand and my burger in another. The person riding shot-gun would be responsible for feeding me fries

Two memories of Roy's: Being a card carrying member of the Buckaroo club (although I can't for the life of me remember what that ever got me). Being horrified that my mother would always ask me to get extra lettuce and tomato on the side while fixing my burger so that she could have a "salad".

How'd you know? Kidding. But I actually have a couple friends who are supposed to be running this year.

So what would be an appropriate meal before tonight's High Heel Drag Races?

The Herb Farm is not just a dinner, it's an event that takes up the entire evening. Thankfully I don't think you need to call a year in advance anymore. It's well worth the trip for anyone with the time and a designated driver . Personally I prefer Dahlia Lounge and Flying Fish over the "too popular for its own good" Wild Ginger, but the place certainly has its following. However, one dish I really did enjoy was the seven spice beef.

I hope the general public doesn't read this list as a "top 50 list" of restaurants in the area. Sietsema chose to highlight three or four restaurants in fairly specifc categories. While I too thought at first, "Why no Firefly, Komi or Corduroy?" I'm not so sure any of those restaurants comfortably fall into the top of any of the categories he decided to include. I don't think it's an intended slight on those restaurants - they are just places that didn't seem to fit into his theme. Personally I'm glad he's mentioned places I haven't even heard of ... Jerry's Seafood? Gom Ba Woo? Aster? It just gives me more places to try (although I would've probably put Tosca in under the pasta category).