ustreetguy

I saw that lone party braving the heat as I walked into the restaurant. Sitting inside today was definitely a given. In fact the host asked us whether we wanted to sit inside or out. With beads of sweat dripping off our foreheads, we just stared at her until she smiled and said, "Silly question, huh?" Kudos to her for not taking my incredulous look the wrong way. Brunch was fine. Had the smoked salmon and red onion fritatta topped with mixed greens. It was a lot thinner than I expected for a fritatta, but for $8 it tasted fine enough.

I'm supposed to meet a friend for brunch at Saint Ex. Anyone have any recommendations as to what to order or is it a lost cause?

Looks like I'm going to get up earlier on Sundays so they don't run out. Last Sunday, I arrived at 11:00 and Firefly was already out of most of their cheeses.

I had dinner this past Saturday at Mark & Orlando’s at the very small bar in the downstairs dining room. Orlando Hitzig could be seen doing his magic in the open kitchen while Mark Medley worked the dining room. Now I should’ve known better than to go to a restaurant by myself on a Saturday night – especially one that had just been reviewed by Sietsema. I walked into the very full restaurant and asked if there was a bar I could sit at to have dinner. After being directed towards the four-stool bar, I must’ve waited fifteen minutes before anyone asked if I wanted anything to drink or before I was even offered a menu – even though I was the only one sitting at the bar at the time. Again, it’s a Saturday night at 8:00, so that can be forgiven – especially since they didn’t seem to have someone who was strictly working the bar. I’m sure if I went with a companion, I wouldn’t have noticed the time passing. After I placed my order, bread came out with four different spreads presented in glass votive candle holders. Aside from regular butter, there was a choice of roasted tomato with fennel (my personal favorite), a puree of olives, and caramelized onions. All of them were nice accompaniments to the bread, but I did wonder why the person who ended up sitting next to me got completely different spreads. I don’t remember all of them, but I do remember that he was given a curry butter and an apple puree. Perhaps they tailor the spreads to the type of wine you order (I had started with a Pinot Grigio and he had ordered a red – not sure what type). For the first course, I tried the salmon tartare atop a bed of crème fraiche. The glistening cubes of salmon were lightly dressed with a hint of dill and citrus. It was quite the refreshing dish on such a warm evening. All in all a very nice and tasty if not unusual start. For my entrée, I ordered the rack of pork stuffed with blue cheese, pancetta & apples atop a bed of barely wilted spinach in rosemary sauce. The pork was juicy and very tender, and the flavors worked very well together. The only thing that made me do a double take was that a couple bites in, I realized that the reason the pork was so moist was because it was cooked at most to a medium temperature. Now I’m all for a medium rare steak or rare lamb chops, but all my life I had been told that pork should be cooked to 155 or 160 degrees (you know, the fears of trychinosis). So is it unusual these days to see a pork chop cooked at this temperature or is it something that has been going on for quite awhile? It didn’t prevent me from enjoying the meal by any means, but I was wondering if this is just an old-fashioned worry of mine. To his credit, Mark Medley did stop by to ask how I was enjoying everything. I gave him the thumbs up, not mentioning the temperature of the pork only because it tasted so damn good! Next time I’ll be sure to come by with a friend or two, but it's not really a place to go alone.

Just had those scallops myself this past Friday. Superb! I ended up inhaling everything on that plate.

I actually had the open-faced pork sandwich for lunch today (we probably missed each other - I didn't get there until 1:30 and sat at the bar). It's as delicious as it looks. The slices of pork are moist and flavorful, nicely offset by the tang of the cheese and pickled red onions and the hint of pepperiness from the watercress. Too bad I didn't have time for dessert.

Many thanks!

LOL! And I was so looking forward to memories of the lychee martinis from my brother's wedding.

Darn! I'm going to be out of town that weekend. Any other tastings this month?

Just a reminder that they're closed on Tuesdays, but I've found better luck showing up around 8:30 or 9. Or you could always try the bar (which is packed when Jamie is bartending, but otherwise has been available.)

My vote would be for Cafe Atlantico first and then Rhumba Cafe.

They make Crepes Suzette tableside at Les Halles on Pennsylvania Avenue.

No kidding! I need to make more of an effort to find out if there are fellow Rockwellians around next time I'm out!

Yes - that was me! I was the one in the blue shirt and red tie. Which two were you?

Stopped by tonight with a friend. Unfortunately for all the Jeff fans out there, I was told that he moved back to Colorado Big bummer. Anyway, the chicken was definitely back on the menu, but a lot of the plates people have been talking about weren't (i.e. fish fry, charcuterie plate, hot dog). However, I had an excellent "mixed grill" of duck sausage, rabbit and squab. My friend had the penne with lamb meatballs which still taste divine.

That's my favorite as well, but isn't it more of a prosciutto pizza with a pile of fresh arugala thrown on top at the last second?

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely try to meet up with everyone sometime!

I went back last night to check out these soft-shelled crabs. I didn't think the portion was small at all. The two crabs on the plate certainly seemed ample, and the sauce was quite tasty but maybe I just wasn't that hungry. The only odd thing was my friend and I ordered the popcorn shrimp to share, and it came out maybe 1/4 shrimp and 3/4 calamari. Very odd.

I love the flavors of summer ... fresh tomatoes, wild salmon, sweet corn ... I can't wait to taste what John has put together! By the way, I head over here quite a bit. When does everyone usually meet for happy hour?

Well I've been meaning to comment on this place for a couple weeks now, so finally here is my "two cents". This is definitely a great addition to the neighborhood. It's wonderful to have a casual friendly neighborhood place that sells fresh and simple seafood - the kind that takes you back to the beach. The infamous lobster roll that everyone has been raving about is definitely the original thing. Sweet lobster that's not overly dressed in a lightly toasted roll - it's by far the best thing on the menu. The grilled calamari and fried oysters are both nicely cooked with good flavor, and the fish preparations tend not to disappoint. I have to say though that the crabcakes have been lackluster - too much breading, oddly mushy. As a native Marylander, this is not the place to go for good crabcakes. The fries do tend to be a little greasy, but I hear they're still a work in progress. The onion rings make for a better side dish. I was also disappointed in the mac 'n cheese - not enough cheese in my humble opinion. Despite these detractions, this is still a great alternative to Johnny's Half Shell. I can't wait to try desert there if they ever get around to it. Hunks of chocolate with the bill are fine the first time around, but I'm hoping Chef Leeds gets around to figuring out satisfying endings to the meals there.