susanmab

It's become my favorite Pho joint in DC by a landslide.

Mine as well. I'm crazy about the spice lemongrass option. We're there nearly once a week.

I am always happy to have new options nearby to where I live. So I grabbed a few friends and checked out Mad Momo's last night.

It was definitely a mixed bag, but I have what I think is a reasonable expectation that some stuff will work itself out in time. The food was mostly well-executed. We tried the pork, the beef, and the vegan momos (the former two fried, the latter steamed at the suggestion of our server) and were well-pleased with all three. The mussels got a thumbs up. The tater tots were nice, but seemed an unusual partner to the dumplings. I guess I should note that I didn't actually order the tots - I ordered sweet potato fries - but the tots arrived instead and I didn't care enough to send it back (interestingly enough, when the bill arrived I saw that the server had indeed keyed in the fries).

Our server was friendly and nice enough, but he was clearly a novice (not noticing that the plate had a side other than the one for which he placed the order, asking if he could bring the bill then forgetting to do so and having to be flagged down by a manager-type who noticed that we were all trying to get his attention, bringing a refill of club soda that ended up being water). We arrived early, and by the time we left the place was quite busy and he appeared a bit overwhelmed.

The chocolate chip cookie/ice cream sliders? Great idea, could use a little tweaking in the presentation. And served with....Cool Whip? That seemed a bizarre choice to pair with with decent vanilla ice cream. I wondered if serving nondairy whipped topping is a trend I've missed, because in all the restaurants I worked that were about this level, I can't imagine any chef ever allowing Cool Whip in the kitchen. But the cardamom flan was a standout if you like that sort of thing (I do). A spicy wedge of heaven, a bit heavy for flan, but utterly delish.

All in all, about what I would expect for a place that just opened. The food was good enough to make me anxious to visit again in a month or two. I'm glad to have them in the neighborhood.

A celebratory dinner last night at Rogue 24. I'm almost hesitant to post, because I'm still in the swoon stage.

We did the 16-course menu, mostly due to time constraints - we couldn't get there before 8:30, and all four of us have to work today. I was verging on uncomfortably stuffed (but really happy) by the end, but my three dining companions all said they now know they could have handled the 24 courses.

Standouts included the goat cheese with various olive variations. The pig's neck with red cabbage, mustard, and fennel. The sweetbreads with pistachio & brown butter (otherworldly). And the desserts - oh lordy, the desserts. I think I teared up a little when she came over with "the first of your desserts". The winner had to be the chocolate and blood orange - I'm going to dream about it for a long time.

I'll admit - I got a little hung up on the uni - I had a bad sushi incident about a decade ago. I've since recovered my taste for everything....except the texture of uni. I gave it a valiant effort though, it was clearly a lovely dish.

And a word about the non-alcoholic beverage pairing - two words, actually: thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. It's not that I don't drink alcohol - I actually love a bit of wine or a good cocktail. But I have a metabolic issue that means I have to be careful about quantity - I'm good for about one (anything) but not more. When we're drinking by the bottle, I'm in for about half a glass, but with pairings, I'm the odd one out with my club soda. I was able to have NA cocktails through the dinner, and a glass of the dessert wine and be really really happy with it all. The intensely fragrant not gin & tonic blew me away....and I don't even really care much for regular gin & tonic (both mild gin and commercial tonic strike me as kind of wrong-tasting).

The space is killer, the service impeccable. We arrived with plenty of expectations, but we left having had them exceeded.

Except in Rhode Island, where it's a "cabinet", I have no idea why.

I'm a transplanted New Englander who had not heard "cabinet" until a recent visit to Rhode Island. I love linguistics almost as much as I love milkshakes, so I had to ask. I got handed two theories:

1) the coffee syrup (critical ingredient in a coffee cabinet, of course) was physically kept in a cabinet behind the soda fountain; or

2) it's actually a "carbonate", but with the Rhode Island accent you get "cabinet".

There was some debate as to whether any milkshake was a cabinet, or whether the word is only properly used for a coffee cabinet. In any event, I came home with a nice big bottle of Autocrat. Mmmm.

To get back to being relevant, I pretty much love all milkshakes. Locally, try the vanilla (I know, I know...vanilla?) at Open City. BGR had a shake of the month that was a chocolate-strawberry - basically a double chocolate made with strawberry ice cream and chocolate syrup instead of chocolate-chocolate.

I was recently introduced to Cook Out - it's a regional fast food chain based in North Carolina. I'm really pretty anti fast food in general, but their milkshakes are insane. If you're passing through on 95, it's totally worth a stop.

http://cookout.appiandigital.net/

(I'll admit, the burger was pretty darned good as well - and I usually limit my burger-eating to Hellburger & Palena)

Some friends took me here for a recent birthday.

In a word? Promising. The food was pretty darned on. We were all pleased with what we ordered, no bombs (which I can sometimes excuse in the first few weeks). The chef sent out a side of sweet corn that we didn't order - and darn, it was good. My rockfish with demiglace was really tasty.

The downside? Just the normal new-place adjustments I think. Nothing egregious.

I did try to order a "champagne cocktail", and to the server's credit he didn't stare at me blankly or say "we don't have that" (I've gotten both) when he figured out that yes, I said "champagne cocktail", and no, he clearly didn't know what that was. Instead, he asked his bartender for one - exactly what I hope someone would do when confused in this manner. The bartender, on the other hand, I would have expected to know what to do (or to look it up), but alas no. I got a kir royale with a twist. Drinkable, certainly, and an B+ for effort, I guess. I would have preferred to either get a proper champagne cocktail or get word back "sorry, no bitters or sugar cubes behind the bar just yet, would you like a kir royale", but in the grand scheme of things still a nice festive fizzy cocktail with which to toast.

I'm just going to vent here since it's sort of on the topic and I'm still fuming, months later.

I parked at a meter in the Dupont area at 5:30pm on a Friday holiday (Emancipation Day - I checked, no meter enforcement that day). It was a M-F meter - I verified, no weekend enforcement.

I spent the night and returned to my car around noon on Saturday. There was a ticket for parking in an "emergency no parking" zone. The signs had been put up between the time I parked legally on Friday and when I got back to my car on Saturday. My car was there for less than 24 hours.

I swear, my head exploded.

thanks much - I shall pass this suggestion on!

The Serrano benedict continues to be my favorite brunch dish in the city. Split a side of pancakes last Saturday, found them fluffy and delish.

Ginger mimosa also rocks my socks off, but at $9 (a dollar, maybe two, less than the food offerings) I have 0-1 (instead of the 2-3 I would have if doing so wouldn't double my bill).

Also, must be in DC.

Any suggestions? One of the guests is in a motorized scooter.

Many thanks.

This place is one of the few real restaurants that delivers to my office. I'm always happy when it's a Pita House day.

Well, no more Pita House days for us. My office is just south of OT, and we order lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Pita House was at least twice a month, if not more. We had gotten used to the fact that they would inevitably screw up or forget at least one item per order. We knew that when they said "45 minutes" it was always a full hour.

But last week took the cake. Our physical therapists have an appointment schedule, so it's not like they can take lunch whenever they want. We ordered an hour in advance, no delivery. After an hour ten minutes, we called. They told us that it had already been delivered. We're a small joint, it's not like we could have missed someone walking in the front door with food. We told them, no, nobody has arrived yet. They hung up on us.

80 Minutes after we ordered, they showed up. We asked, uhhh, so what happened. The delivery guy yelled at us that we need to call "at least 45 minutes in advance". When we told them that we called an hour and twenty minutes ago, he told us that we should never order from them again.

All of us here have worked in the service industry. It's the first time anyone can remember not tipping for delivery. I would have called management, but at this point I don't care if they could use this information to better their business practices.

Saying "a smaller market," "an up and coming food town," or something accurate that doesn't sound like a slam wouldn't have gotten the same attention, though.

Thank you and thank you.

And holy crap, the big fish small pond comment made me want to slap the self-important dope. Being the purveyor of pricey fast food in a city whose top talent can hang with the best of any city - first-tier or not - does not make you a big fish, dude.

Wow, what a crappy opening day.

I wonder how much snacking I will have done before they finally decide to call the game for rain just in time for rush hour?

Pete's is one of my guilty pleasures. I just love the stuff.

Someone suggested that we order delivery from Radius a few weeks ago, just for a change. I heard it was decent stuff.

Let's just say I'll continue to be loyal to Pete's. A few bucks more, but it arrives the way we ordered it...and hot. This was in sharp contrast to that other place.

I know you have your problem solved, but I also can't say enough good things about Buzz.

Adore that place.

I love to bake, but need to be not-eating my own baked goods (or anyone else's) for some time (damned winter coat I seem to have found for myself). Now you've got me contemplating wanting to turn my attentions towards mini-cupcakes. Damn.

egg yolks.

I freeze whites with much success. Yolks? Not so much. I do a lot of baking and so many recipes call for one or the other.

Has anyone done this successfully?

I just want to thank the Hellburger gods for making my miserable life a little brighter yesterday. Major dental work + sore throat = I was one sorry whiny specimen of human yesterday afternoon. And then I remembered that there was both mac and cheese as well as milkshakes to be had.

Best part of the day. By far.

I'll recommend two higher end places. First, Bayona. Just outstanding. Transcendent, even. Susan Spicer is a genius.

I lived down there for a while. While I had a few individual meals (individual dishes, even) that I'd rank above Bayona, it's remained my favorite for consistently excellent food (whereas some of the others were hit-or-miss). I've never gone wrong there - it was always my go-to place to bring visitors who know food.

Ahhh, Bayona. Damn, I'm badly in need of a visit!

Reportedly closing

http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2011/02/commonwealth-gastro-pub-closing-in-columbia-heights-at-end-of-the-month/

I am surprised but not disappointed. The last few times I was there the food (which I had previously enjoyed) was downright terrible.

Never been but maybe Chatman's D'Vine Bakery? They're more known for their sweet potato pie.

I stopped in there to buy something so I could get change for a parking meter. I ended up chatting with the proprietor for a while and perusing the menu. (I know it doesn't speak to the food, but she was delightful to talk to.)

I left with a slice of coconut pie, which knocked my socks off. I'll be back for red beans and rice as soon as I find myself in that part of town. (six years in NOLA, and I haven't found decent red beans since I left).

Etete on 9th (at U) and Ethiopic on H st NE are my current favorites. Heading to Ethiopic tonight, even.

The commissary at Ft. Belvoir seems to have dropped it, along w/ my favorite cookie, McVitie's HobNobs-I may have to send in a comment card to see if I can get them brought back...

I love my HobNobs! I get them at the Harris Teeter Potomac Yard. (Jelly Babies too, for the Who fans amongst us).

It's been more years than I care to admit, but when I was a student in London way-back-when, I'd walk to save Tube fare and skip the pub so I could grab a bite at Villandry every now and then. Delightful.

Get a sandwich at Tartine for lunch.

Head down the street To Bi-Rite Creamery (not the Bi-Rite Market) for salted caramel ice cream.

Stopped by for a quick pre-basketball bite.

Pumpkin gnocchi, tuna tartare.

We left very happy. Helped temper a heartbreaker of a game.

I think I cured myself of the candy cane Joe-Joes. It wasn't intentional, but I had them for dinner a few nights ago. I might not need them ever again.

I tried some of the sea salt caramels last year, I forget which variety - but they were the gooey kind. Are any of the current offerings a more solid chewy caramel does anyone know?