hungry prof

Far be it for me or anybody else to tell Don what to do (especially since I'm an infrequent poster, but constant reader), but it strikes me that there's a rather easy solution to this: set up a separate forum within this board for "DC Dining in Retrospect" or some such title.

I don't think Wisey's is going anywhere. If anything, they might be opening another place in the Sugar's space. One of the students last night said--and I'm not sure if she was joking--that the Wisey's people already have plans in the works to open a place (in an altogether different location) called "Chicken Madness" after their legendary sandwich of the same name.

Anybody familiar with this place? It's been a Georgetown student hangout/eating spot for decades, and it's about to lose its lease. The "Hungry Prof" is a hungry prof at Georgetown (and really should be publishing articles that will help him get tenure rather than posts on a discussion board). I had dinner with some students last night (my post reviewing the Georgetown dining hall is forthcoming), and the students spent much of the time debating the fate of Sugar's. The students majoring in economics said, "Good riddance. The food sucks. It can no longer compete." The students majoring in history said, "We can't lose institutions like this." Here's the story from the Georgetown campus newspaper. I thought this story might be of interest to some, especially those who are concerned with the disapperance of older, family-owned places. Somebody here must have a memory of eating there twenty, forty, sixty years ago?

This is probably something for another discussion, but it's not that I'm simply looking for "fire." If I wanted food that was just hot, then I'd dump a bottle of Tabasco on everything. The most interesting hot food doesn't overwhelm you with spiciness just for the sake of being spicy. (Think about the worst Chinese food any of us have probably had: food that is simply overwhelmingly spicy without any purpose.) What, in my mind, was missing in my experience at Passage to India was a certain assertiveness in the spicing. Even spicing that is "subtle" and "complex" can be assertive and purposeful. Even food that is "refined" can be interesting and flavorful. Put differently, I can imagine a vindaloo that is simultaneously spicy, complex, refined, and even (in its own way) subtle. "Subtle" and "complex" should not mean, frankly, boring. Unfortunately, we found the food at Passage to be a bit boring (while still good, I should repeat). As I noted above, I am going to try it again. One takeout experience plus one eat-in experience is clearly not enough to pass final judgment on anything.

Well, it looks like I'll have to try it again. In fact, I just e-mailed my wife and suggested we go this weekend. Like I said above, we actually had a better experience with takeout. We had the takeout at a friend's house and both of us said, "Hmmm. This is really good." Then, when we went to the restaurant itself a few weeks later, we were underwhelmed (though I should have mentioned we did appreciate that the menu had a few items different than your standard Indian restaurant menu). I just made reservations yesterday to eat at Rasika in a few weeks. I had Heritage India about a week ago. And now Passage to India this weekend. For what it's worth, I'll report back when I'm done.

No need for anybody to be defensive. Taste is inherently subjective. I was not blown away. Full stop. I wish I could remember what I had when I ate there so I could comment on specific dishes, but, frankly, the meal wasn't that memorable for me. Service issues aside, I would prefer to go to Heritage India in Glover Park. Somebody else probably disagrees with me, and that's a-ok by me.

I've been there once to eat in and had take out once at a friend's house. Frankly, we thought the take-out was better than the eat-in. As I said, I'd eat there again, and I'd recommend it to friends. I was just taken a bit aback by the glowing praise of Porcupine and Raisa. It was good, well-executed food, but it didn't knock my socks off.

Interesting. Porcupine says "subtle" and "nuanced." When my wife and I ate there a few months ago, we said "tame" and "a bit boring." We found the food to be good, but it lacked the vibrant flavors that I associate with Indian food. The best Indian food I've had manages to be well-balanced and assertive at the same time. Maybe I have unrefined tastes, but there just seemed to be something missing. The food that we expected to be spicy (as in hot) and robust was instead muted and subdued. It was all well executed and good, and I'd eat there again. But I was not blown away.

Just wanted to thank everybody for their suggestions. I work in Georgetown, so the convenience of the store on Wisconsin Ave. might be hard to resist. I've made a list, though, for future reference.

My very pregnant wife has asked for nothing more for Valentine's Day than the opportunity to gorge herself on some chocolate (Actually, she couldn't care less about Valentine's Day. I think she's just craving chocolate, and Valentine's Day is a good excuse to ask for it. But I digress). Anybody know of any great chocolatiers operating in the DC metro area? If not, anybody have any online recommendations? I used to live up in Cambridge, Mass., so I'm thinking of ordering from Burdick's which I always thought was quite good. Thanks. . .

Well, put me in the negative Buck's experience column. My wife and I went there once. The food was good (but not great), overpriced, and limited in terms of selections (we were there mid-evening and they were out of half the entrees on an already short menu). The service was what really turned us off. After waiting for our food for a LONG time, I looked around the room only to realize that everybody else in the dining room was looking around to see if there was any sign of their food. One of those surreal restaurant moments during which everybody simultaneously realizes that they are in a sinking ship together. Would I go again? Not likely, and probably only if somebody else was paying. My wife and I are in the category of being able to eat out at nice restaurants occasionally (once every two weeks maybe), but we don't have the financial resources to eat at a place like Buck's a lot. Unfortunately, that means we can be pretty harsh and judgmental. There are so many restaurants that we want to try in this city that I just can't imagine wanting to go back to Buck's anytime soon (as opposed to Palena, for example, which I would and have gone back to a few times).

Just substitute "steak" for "cake" and you have the new Ray's the Steaks logo:

Whoa. I just went to the Rasika site to see what all the hullabaloo is about. That's not right. Excuse me while I go lay down until the room stops spinning. [Exaggerating--only slightly.]

Yes, let's see how they handle the hordes of conventioners from the hotels in Woodley Park. The annual convention of my particular profession (the American Political Science Association) is held at the Marriott and Omni every few years. I hate to generalize about my colleagues, but many of them are frankly cheap and rude. And they are anything but hip. Can Open City avoid becoming a "convention restaurant?" I hope so. (I firmly believe that the restaurants in Woodley Park are generally not very good because of the convention business. Conventioners are generally looking for a quick lunch rather than a good lunch. Thus, the restaurants in Woodley can get away with charging a fortune for mediocre food because they have a captive audience. Just my theory.)

Take out from 2Amy's last night: 1 Norcia, 1 Etna, and 1 special. The special had asparagus, anchovies, caramelized onions, and granna on it. The special was good, but not great. I was excited when I first heard the ingredients. I thought this pizza would work well following my favorite chocoloate covered pretzel theory of eating: salty + sweet = delicious. In this specific case, the saltiness of the anchovies set off against the sweetness of the caramelized onions should equal deliciousness. Alas, it only worked so-so. The onions were too sweet, and there weren't enough anchovies. Still, some leftovers are in my fridge right now awaiting their demise at lunch time.

I suppose most of us already know this, but Cakelove is definitely not where you will find good cupcakes. Had access to an assortment of Cakelove cupcakes last night, and I was totally underwhelmed. Dry, flavorless cake and icing the consistency of Crisco. Must be nice to fly along on reputation (and completely absurd prices) alone. . . Oops. Just read LoganCircle's original posting more carefully and realized he already dismissed the "place on U Street." Edited: to acknowledge other's wisdom.

Actually, I think the sequence of events went something like this (which I can only recall because I had not yet had a drink at this point): (1) Bottle opened. (2) Father-in-law takes a taste and appears a bit suspicious. (3) Glasses poured for rest of table despite suspicion. (4) Derek invited to have a taste. He disappears briefly to tend to another table. (5) Derek returns, but before he can have a taste, my father-in-law tells him that he thinks it might be corked and asks what Derek thinks (Derek says he was a bit suspicious himself when he opened the bottle). (6) Derek answers that the best palette in the restaurant belongs to Chef Wabeck, so could he bring the chef a taste? My father-in-law says, "Of course." (7) Derek disappears to have the chef do his dirty work. (8) Derek returns, confirms the diagnosis, and offers us a bottle of wine in the corked bottle's stead. The defense rests.

Nope. He offered Derek a taste of the corked bottle, too, before we knew it was corked.

Have no fear: my father-in-law plays by the bring your own wine rules. He offered a taste to both Derek and the chef.

Agreed. Unfortunately, corked bottles happen every once in a while (eerily enough, we had been having a discussion about the virtues of screwtops immediately before this happened). As my father-in-law said afterwards, "Normally, if you bring a corked bottle with you, then it's your loss and the restaurant's gain." Certainly, the restaurant had no obligation to do anything for us. That's what made the gesture so extraordinary.

Had a splendid dinner at Firefly last night along with my wife (it was her birthday), my parents-in-law, and my sister-in-law. Here's my recap, though I'm still a bit groggy: I'll get to the food in a moment, but let me start with the wine service. My father-in-law is a full-fledged wine snob. He and his wine buddies annually go to France to taste the grapes and the latest vintages, and my wife and her siblings' inheritance is in liquid form (and I'm not talking about cash). When he goes to a restaurant, he prefers places where he can bring his own wine (even if there's a corkage fee) and he orders food to match his wine rather than vice versa. You get the idea. We hadn't tried Firefly with my in-laws yet and they have a modest $15 corkage fee, so we thought it would be a good place for my wife's birthday. My father-in-law brought along three bottles from his cellar. Unfortunately, the first bottle we opened was corked. Both Derek and Chef Wabeck confirmed the diagnosis and followed up with an extraordinary gesture. "We feel your pain," Derek consoled us, "So please enjoy this bottle off our list." Not only did they not charge us corkage on the corked bottle, they treated us to a very fine bottle of '99 chablis (I think I'm remembering that correctly). My father-in-law, who has brought a lot of his own wine to restaurants and had a fair amount of it turn out to be corked, had only rarely seen anything like it (not charging for corkage on a corked bottle is apparently common, but a complimentary bottle is quite unusual). The wine service on the other two bottles that my father-in-law brought was expertly executed (including a fine job of decanting an amazing '66 Latour that was our final bottle of the night). As for the food, all of it was excellent. My father-in-law and I started with the fried oysters with chipotle tartar sauce. The oysters are delicious morsels of fried seafood goodness perfectly accented by the tartar sauce. Both my wife and her sister had the squash soup, which is rich, peppery, and filling. My mother-in-law had the PEI mussels that tasted fresh out of the ocean and came in a light but flavorful broth. For entress, again my father-in-law and I ordered the same dish: the braised lamb shoulder. Only rarely does a waiter warn you, "This dish comes with a lot of fat," but this is the genius of this dish. Braised in its own fat, the lamb shoulder develops a wonderful texture--no knife required (and the perfect dish for the '66 Latour). On the side was the much-praised pumpkin break pudding. My wife had the red snapper, which she very much enjoyed (although she and her sister had filled themselves up on soup). My sister-in-law had the chicken with the tortilla casserole. Finally, my mother-in-law had the pork, which came doused in a heavily-capered sauce (stay away from this dish unless you really like capers). All of the entrees were delicious, though some went unfinished because the portions at Firefly really are quite generous. Finally, for dessert, the table split the pear crisp, the chocolate napoleon, and the rice pudding. All were good, but I thought the pear crisp, with its sage accent, was particularly interesting. I am now convinced that sage should be used more frequently in sweet dishes. All in all, the food was delicious. Two minor food service quibbles (intended as constructive criticism). First, the pacing of the meal was a bit hurried. Our appetizers showed up about five minutes after we ordered them and the entrees showed up about five minutes after the appetizers were cleared. At the pace we were going, we would have been out of there in about an hour. We had to consciously slow everything down--we had a lot of wine to drink. Second, the food runners didn't know who was getting which dish. It's one of those wonders of service at fine restaurants that everybody knows who is getting what without having to tell anybody other than your waiter when you order. The food runner serving our table was unsure with each course at to who was getting what. Two minor quibbles on an otherwise great night. Firefly is the type of restaurant that DC doesn't have enough of. It's not a four star restaurant with an eight-course tasting menu, and I don't think that's what it aspires to be. It aspires to serve well-executed, relatively simple food in a friendly atmosphere at reasonable prices. Gestures like the bottle of wine that Chef Wabeck and Derek treated us to are the type of gestures that build a restaurant a repeat clientele. We'll certainly be back.

I'm going to Firefly tomorrow night for my wife's birthday (with my in-laws in tow). Any can't miss suggestions? I gather the oysters are great as is the lamb shoulder. Anything else in particular? Really looking forward to it.

Just made reservations on Open Table for my wife's birthday next month. Can I order the lamb now? Been to the bar at Firefly, but this is my first time in the dining room. Any recommendations are appreciated.

My wife and I live nearby and go to Heritage India a decent amount. The food continues to be very good, but the service also continues to be terrible. We've reached the point of numb resignation: we go in there expecting bad service, so it doesn't bother us as much. That said, it's the only decent Indian within walking distance, so we return fairly often. We're fans of the lamb vindaloo as well as the Goa fish curry. A vegetarian friend of ours (as well as my wife and I ) is very happy with the eggplant dish, which I can't remember the Indian name of. The saag paneer is also a good standy-by.

First time poster here. Been lurking since Tom mentioned this place during his chat about a month ago. Figured it was time for me to chime in: My wife and I had lunch at Leopold about a week and a half ago. One star strikes me as about right. As appears to be the consensus, the service was bad. Oddly, our server was not urban chic, but rather farm girl naive. I'll cut her a break because she seemed to be real new at the job, but she clearly needed some more training. My wife ordered chilled pea soup. Waitress comes back two minutes later to tell us, "No chilled pea soup for you." Waitress comes back two minutes later to tell us, "Hey, we found some chilled pea soup." The chilled soup was finally served about five minutes before my food, but, hey, at least we didn't have to worry about it going cold, right? The one place where we did run into some urban obnoxiousness was when we asked for just plain old tap water. Sometimes, we like a little lead in our water. Is that so wrong? "You want plain tap water? Plain tap water?" Yes. Cold, please, not luke warm. Thankfully, there is perhaps hope here. I did notice a manager-type working with his servers throughout our lunch there. The food was good, but not great. As with Tom, my wife enjoyed her soup. I had a trio of tea sandwiches--one with smoked salmon and what I assume was cream cheese, one with grilled asparagus, and one with roasted tomato and mozzarella. They were presented with a small side of greens, and they looked quite nice. They tasted quite nice as well, although they were very dense. Three dense tea sandwiches made for a hefty meal. We split a pastry for dessert. The pastry was above average, but nothing spectacular. Coffee was very good. A few other observations: -I thought the menu was short on lunch options. They had a decent number of salads, but a few other sandwiches would be a good addition, I think. The tea sandwiches were about it. The only other option was to step it up to a "real meal" at real meal prices, which I wasn't really in the mood for. It is a cafe, after all, and it seems like they could have had more inexpensive, cafe-like lunch options. (Don't bite my head off here. I know it's an Austrian Kafe, and I'm not asking that every place in town have a grilled chicken sandwich. That's not what I wanted at all. But, if they're going to have a bratwurst on the menu, it seems like they could offer some more creative light lunch options.) -From the looks of it, they have a tiny kitchen. At one point, I noticed about eight servers huddled around the door to the kitchen. One thing the manager appeared to be working on was choreography, which I could see as being critical to a place with a small kitchen. All in all, I say I'd go back for dessert and coffee. My father, a dessertaholic will like this place, but I can't say we'll be rushing back for a full meal.