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I hate to send you to a chain -- a local chain -- but Rubio's fish tacos are scrumptious. I ate at one of its locations last spring. All I can say is yum. Fresh ingredients, big tacos.

Capitol City Brewery, near Union Station, early 2004 as I recall: A piece of metal in my burger! Fortunately, it was off to the side of where I bit down. I wonder if they would have paid for my dental work?

Don, I'm simply glad my question could serve as some sort of inspiration for such ... dare, I say, poetry. Odessa, thanks very much for your comments. If you Washingtonians ever make it out to Madison, you'll quickly realize that Odessa is royalty here for embracing seasonal, local ingredients in her cooking and for her support of what is said to be the nation's largest farmers' market.

I would second the McCrady's recommendation. Here's my report from last November: I had one terrific and one very good meal in Charleston last month. McCrady's--On a sleepy Sunday evening in mid November, just off an airplane, I ventured to McCrady's, hoping to check out its wine bar. The wine bar is closed on Sunday evenings, so I ended up eating at the bar in the main restaurant. The octopus salad ($12) was terrific, prepared with marinated mushrooms, fennel and a truffle vinagrette. I washed it down a glass of Steele Pinot Blanc 2002 ($10.75). I also had the Rack of Lamb ($34), herb marinated, with roast potatoes, cippolini onions, asparagus, and thyme jus. Lean, delicious, perfect. I enjoyed a glass of the Cotes du Rhone-Villages, Jaboulet 2001 ($9.50) with it. I was also offered a taste of the Judson Valley Foie Gras while there. Fantastic. The bartender also was nice enough to turn on the lights and let me see the wine bar side. She said that sometime this month they would be redecorating it.

I had dinner in the bistro section at Bouchon back in late April. The price are much more reasonable than the restaurant itself. I highly recommend the bowl of mussels. They provide plenty of bread with which to sop up every last bit of broth!

Odessa, Please share your thoughts on either of these topics... I'm interested in your comments on "girl food kitchens." Do you think that today's celebrity chefs such as Anthony Bourdain, Rocco Dispirito, and the like are having an impact on the composition or conduct of inspiring chefs? Are these guys more the norm or the exception, simply embraced by TV for their eccentricity and brashness? Do you think the fact that these kitchen Mussolinis are almost entirely male says more about inherent gender differences, more about it takes or what people perceive it takes a run a kitchen, or neither? Also, what are some of your favorite chefs or restaurants in & around Washington (or elsewhere) that prepare and present food in a "girl food" or Susan Lindeborg style? As an aside, I'm thrilled to be living in Madison, Wisconsin as of 10 months ago. I'm a frequent customer at the L'Etoile cafe. And my wife, Sara, loved taking your cooking class and Farmers' Market tour last fall. Cheers!

Jamie Blankenship will return to DC and open Gabardine, a new restaurant across the street from Corduroy??? Am I right?

What? Is Ray's converting to an all-sushi menu or something?!?

I favor more funding for stem cell research. This work is bound to result in a determination that glasses with stems are superior. Wine & Stem Cells Thank you, Mr. Google!

The Aveleda Vinho Verde is a terrific summer find. It is crisp, light, and a bit effervescent. It normally retails for about $6/bottle. I see that Calvert Woodley has it for $4.49/bottle currently.

I moved away from DC about 10 months ago, but unless things have changed significantly, you should be able to find a good selection of rieslings at these two stores: Schneider's MacArthur (carries Terry Thiese selections) Both stores post their wine selections online. Circle (on Conn Ave south of Chevy Chase Circle) has a decent selection of new world rieslings as well; not so great a German collection though.

Not that I live in DC anymore, but if the past is prologue, try the Chi-Cha Lounge at 1624 U Street NW.

Interesting story on Signatures and its role in the whole Tom Delay/Jack Abramoff scandal in today's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/politics/06signatures.html There's a brief mention of "mixed reviews" about the food toward the end of the article.