hungry prof

I haven't been, but Il Canale seems to get mostly good reviews.

Or Praline.

As those British World cup announcers like to say of unseemly tackles, don't you think that's a bit of a rash challenge? Not sure how you can conclude that after two elimination challenges. I'll give all the chefs a break on the first challenge. It's their first time doing this. The pressure would throw most people of their game. I bet if we looked back on past seasons we wouldn't find many great results in the first challenge. The second challenge put them under some pretty intense resource constraints. As for the Quickfires (if one can even judge chefs from the Quickfires), the first one was basically a knife skill competition, and the second one involved them tying one hand behind their back. I'm not saying that these chefs will all turn out to be great, but it does seem a tad early to pass such definitive judgment.

I think that's right. My hunch is that this is little more than Conde Nast's attempt to generate revenue out of Gourmet's sizable archive of material. I would be surprised if any of the new content offered is particularly good.

With apologies to Monty Python, Gourmet appears not to be dead yet. Gourmet Live coming later this year to an iPad near you.

Prompted by Don's post on Passage to India, a few notes on takeout Friday night from Masala Art. If Passage to india is the "best traditional indian restaurant in the area," then Masala Art cannot be far behind. My wife gave me orders to try things that we had not had before, so: -We started with bhelpuri, which did not travel particularly well, but was still delicious. I anticipated that the shell would not travel well (and--to be clear--this is not a criticism of the restaurant), but still wanted to try the filling, which was a spicy and fruity concoction of chicken, onions, mango and cilantro, mixed in with a tamarind chutney. Nice spiciness cut by the fresh mango. -For entrees, we had the Nariyal aur Pudina Fish Curry. This was fillets of fresh sole in a spicy green curry. Back when I went to Heritage India more frequently, we used to get the Goa fish curry there fairly often. Masala Art's fish curry is, in my view, superior. This fish curry struck me as more complex and more interesting--heat with more of a purpose. -We also had saag paneer (which we have had from them before)--a litmus test in my view for any Indian restaurant. Masala Art executes their version well. The spinach was fresh and vibrant while the paneer also seemed less tired than some versions that I have encountered. -On the side, we had raita as well as a regular nan (for our breadavore toddler) and the rock salt and cilantro nan, which could be even a bit saltier in my book. And this was all takeout. (The takeout service was with a smile--even a nice glass of cold water as I waited for the order.) I imagine it would have been even better in house. We've now had Masala Art half-a-dozen times--both at the restaurant and for takeout. It has yet to disappoint.

Rick Moonen doesn't appreciate Jay Raynor's criticism of his use of NZ venison. From Moonen's Facebook page:

You're also not far from Burger Joint. Certainly casual and inexpensive. Not "ethnic," but their veggie burger is well regarded.

That tuna thing that Susur came up with looked like something that a seven-year old playing with food would create. I'm sure it tasted better than that, but it was a very odd presentation. Frankly, I could have seen any of the three of them winning based on the diners' comments (and the scores were very close).

To paraphrase the old quip about trees in forests: if nobody is there to eat $8 beers and $25 Sysco steaks, do they still generate revenue? I only went to the DC ESPNZone twice--both times to see specific sporting events that I couldn't get on home cable. Both times it was like watching a sporting event in a canyon. Huge space. No bodies. (And I suspect reasonably high rent for that large space.) I'm guessing the *only* time these places might have been crowded is during March Madness, especially with people now having eighty-seven channels of sports on their home televisions (and access to all NFL games through DirectTV).

Excellent meal at Buck's last night. The highlight of the evening was a grilled asparagus appetizer with a beautiful poached egg atop and a chunk of prosciutto and a dab of balsamic on the side. The bright yellow yolk running over the pencil-thin tender asparagus was simply superb. If there's a contest somewhere for best late spring appetizer, this should be nominated. My wife had the fried oysters as an appetizer. They were plump and expertly fried. Others at the table had a duo of salads (a carrot salad and one that I can't remember) and mussels in a white wine and garlic bath. All plates were devoured. For the main, I had a sauteed softshell crab served over a bed of lemony pasta. It was my first softshell of the season, and it did not disappoint. My wife had the well-regarded steak, and it did not disappoint either. Cooked to a perfect medium, it was still juicy and well-flavored. The fries along side were also excellent. If there was one let down of the evening it was the desserts. They were just so-so. The table split the chocolate cake as well as the mixed berry clafoutis. Both were fine, but not particularly notable. Service was friendly and efficient. I know many are fans of the communal table at Buck's, but we were tucked away at one of the side tables at the back. It was quiet without having tables right on top of us. Buck's has a very reasonable corkage fee of $20, so we brought two bottles of our own (a 2004 Saint-Aubin Les Charmois and a 2002 Chambolle-Musigny) . Can't comment on the wine list. All in all, a really pleasant, fun, and relaxed evening.

Assorted burgers ranging from beef to turkey to bison to salmon to "Kobe beef." Twenty-three different beers on tap. Is it sacrilege to suggest that burger joints are becoming trite?

Kids who eat three burgers a week are apparently more like to have asthma. So says a new study. I guess we should add asthma-inducer to Landrum's resume. I think I'll use this in one of my classes on how to and how not to design research.

Too bad this market seems to be struggling. We visited for the first time this past Saturday. It's relatively small, but that actually made it easier to manage with our toddler and baby (and my in-laws). Nice assortment of products offered, live music, face painting for the kids, and a free bike clinic. We'll be back.

I would give a call to the new Friendship Heights Whole Foods. Huge store with a large cheese counter.

My sister-in-law, a denizen of Cleveland Park, asked me if I had heard anything about a new place called Ripple in the old Aroma space in Cleveland Park. She said the posted menu looks interesting. Metrocurean has the scoop. A bit surprised that this seems to have gone unnoticed on dr.com given the pedigrees of the team behind it. Anybody go on a scouting trip this past weekend? [ETA: oops--looks like the tag line got cut off in the title of the thread; should be "from our back yard." I assume Don will change the title of the thread anyway. ]

Opening tomorrow according to their Facebook page.

And don't forget a burger bar and a kabob/mezze counter (where I got a big plate of food the other night--a protein, rice or salad, pita, and one mezze--for the reasonable price of $9). This is a huge store. They literally have a wall of yogurt that left me astonished with the sheer number of different yogurt products available on the market today. Lots of indoor parking (though they want you not to bring your cart out to your car--either carry your bags or swing your car through the pick-up lane. We'll see how that goes around holiday time.). Beats the heck out of my regular nightmare of a WF on River Rd.

On a beautiful spring Friday night? I would guess there will be a line before 6:00.

I would think so. A close friend of mine who keeps kosher at home has basically resigned himself to being a vegetarian outside the home. Kosher restaurants are few, far between, usually not very good, and almost always expensive.

Their twitter feed seems to suggest not yet, but soon.

"Jewish" or "Kosher" is going to be hard on a Friday night. Eli's in Dupoint (which isn't very good, but is overpriced) closes at 2:30 on Fridays. Same with Max's out in Wheaton. If you just need a place that has something other than pork or shellfish, well, that's a very long list.

I don't know of many kosher restaurants around here, but those that there are tend to be closed for Shabbat on Friday nights. Would vegetarian do?

Oh my: Top Chef University. I wonder if you learn how to compose a meal out of nothing but what's in the office vending machine.

Don, this sounds great. Thanks. But for those of us who can't make the picnic, perhaps you can just post the other wine and we can try to track them both down.