amyblues

I hit the newly remodeled Giant in Van Ness last night on my way home and was mostly impressed. The store is brighter and cleaner than the previous version, with wider aisles and a much expanded produce section. Would have done more exploring but the lines were extremely long and I really just wanted to get my items and go.

I was in Vegas in September and had phenomenal sushi at Sushi Roku in the new forum shops at Caesar's. More info here: Sushi Roku. It's a trendy place overlooking the strip and the sushi was delicious. Good service, beautiful people, swank setting. Despite the fact that it's located off the mall, which seemed weird to me, we were impressed.Have a great time in Vegas! When I got off the plane at Dulles, I wanted to hop on the next flight back.

Hartford; New Haven Ah, Frank Pepe's. My mom grew up in New Haven and she comes from a Pepe's family, to the point that they didn't always have to wait in line for a table. We would always get takeout on family visits and my mom has been known to get a pie half-baked to bring back to NJ to finish up there. I had a conference this year in Hartford, so my coworker friend who grew up in CT and I took 5 of our coworkers to Pepe's. We sat at the front large booth, ordered way too much pizza (bacon and mozzarella was a must order for me) and drank Foxon Park grape soda. I walked/waddled out of there with blackened fingers and a burned roof of the mouth, but I was in heaven. Joe, I envy you. Enjoy!

Thanks everyone! I've sent the menus along. I've wanted to try Aureole after hearing about it from my parents (they live up there) so that would be my first choice. I think if everything looks good, the price requirements can slide. Me, I have no problems paying good money for a great meal. He's still coming around on that since he grew up in a household that never went out for nice meals.

I need a little help, folks. The +1 and I are heading up to NY at the end of April to celebrate an anniversary. I grew up near NY, visit and dine out there frequently and will try just about anything once or twice. He is less adventurous, but has been expanding his tastes since I ask him to try everything I get when we go out. We're staying around 26th and Madison, but that won't limit us. We're not looking for a Per Se experience pricewise or foodwise (he's not there yet) but something nicer than the average restaurant. Our last trip up, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Hearth in the East Village. I had thought about Babbo or Esca, which I've always wanted to try, but am looking for other options too. Parameters: a place with great fish options, not too crazy/loud, nice wine list, and entree prices up to $35, but would go higher for the right place. Any places to recommend? Any more information needed? I appreciate any help! Thanks!!

I actually saw some apricot hamentaschen on a tray at Vace in Cleveland Park last night. Didn't try them, but I may have to go back tonight.

Luna was still closed when I walked by last week. I'll second Thai Chef. Don't know what time the Gallery Walk ends but their happy hour sushi prices are good and I'm a fan of their "wild" pork with spices, called Moo Klook Phoon. Menu here: http://66.34.56.214/thaichef/main.html.

I'll second Konami. This is within walking distance of my newish job near Tysons and I love it. Extremely fresh fish and reasonable prices. They have a dollar per piece happy hour that I have yet to try, but I will next week with coworkers. Everyone in the office has had problems with On the Border at one point or another, including misplaced orders, wrong orders, and ridiculously long waits for simple items. It's off everyone's list now. Congrats on the new job!

Medium-rare NY strip steak with parmesan/thyme-roasted asparagus, balsamic-glazed mushrooms and mashed potatoes. I don't have a grill, so I used my handy Le Creuset grill pan to sear the steak on one side and finish it up in a hot oven. Best steak I've ever made.

Sauteed crimini mushrooms with balsamic vinegar and madeira wine with rosemary and thyme, served over reconstituted prepared polenta, gussied up with more rosemary, thyme, parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. I usually buy those tubes of polenta, slice them up and fry them but this was much better. Supplemented the polenta with a mish-mosh of items from Wheatberry Deli up the street from my home. I love that place.

I've been to Oceanaire twice and ordered the same thing both times (boring, I know!): the seared tuna with red wine reduction and sauteed mushrooms. I order the tuna as rare as it comes and the meatiness of the fish holds up well against the accompaniments. You can also ask to receive this with pickled ginger and wasabi instead of the wine and mushrooms, but I prefer the latter. Appetizers split with others included the fried green tomatoes (wonderful crackly coating) and shrimp cocktail (great bite of horseradish in the dipping sauce). The service was professional both times.

My new job has a plumbed-in Keurig system too! The last job had coffee so bad I wouldn't offer it to my worst enemy so this is a revelation. Every cup fresh and some interesting varieties are offered. I'm trying to work my way through but keep getting stuck on the French roast.

Homey is a great way to describe a lot of the dishes at Mama Ayesha's, especially the squash stuffed with rice and ground lamb in a tomato sauce. Every time I go there, I say I'll try something different but I always come back to this dish....it's so comforting.

My boss purchased a sheet cake from Randolph's for my going away party (quitting the job feels so good!) and it was delicious. Chocolate layer cake with chocolate buttercream and a layer of raspberry jam on the bottom. The buttercream was so good, as it actually tasted of chocolate and not like I was eating a stick of butter.

Dinner last night was a first for us...monkfish in soy-ginger broth from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, with snow peas and white rice as sides. I would probably increase the soy sauce in the dish since the +1 and I both noticed a lack of salt, but the broth was delicious spooned over the fish and the rice.

Yes, I should have added it was a white wine. Thanks for the heads-up, Joe! I noticed a table of 4 that had an order of the scallops as an appetizer, and that piqued my interest if anyone was from the board.

To be honest, I don't know much about wine pairings. I was nearly done with my glass by the time dinner came so I didn't have a chance to really pair it with dinner, but I liked it quite a bit. I'm more of a liquor drinker than a wine drinker, though, but would like to learn more about pairings etc.

I had my first dining experience at Corduroy this past Saturday night and I'm wondering what took me so long! We had reservations last Saturday for RW but gave them to a friend since we took an unexpected trip to NY. 1 week later we went, but it was worth the wait. I ordered the mixed greens with shallot vinaigrette and the +1 had the hearts of romaine caesar. Have you ever had a dish that makes you realize you've been cheated all this time when having that same dish elsewhere? The caesar salad was so good, with so much depth of anchovy and garlic in the dressing, that it made me angry at all the other restaurants claiming that they're serving something in the same league. The mixed greens were lovely, simply prepared with shaved radishes (a nice touch) and diced tomatoes (I pushed these aside as they had no flavor). For dinner, I had the seared tuna with sushi rice and seaweed salad and the +1 had the wagyu beef, ordered medium, with a gruyere potato cake and haricot verts. I love seared tuna and this was one of the best preparations I've ever had. I had a hard time not scraping up every last grain of rice from the plate. The steak was tender but still meaty, and delicious. I would have gone for medium rare or rare, but the medium was still nicely pink and juicy with a good char on the oustide. For dessert, we both ordered the dark chocolate tart with hazelnut ice cream and caramelized bananas. I love dessert, he loves dessert, and I knew that if we ordered one to split there could be a fight on our hands so we each got 1. That first bite of tart so was delicious neither of us could speak. Our server was wonderful, making great suggestions for wine pairings (a chateauneuf du pape for me, a bordeaux for him). All told, our meal for 2 salads, 2 entrees, 2 desserts and 2 glasses of wine plus tax and tip was $130. Worth it, and we'll be back.

Thanks again to everyone who commented re: Hearth. We had a fantastic meal there Friday night for my brother's 30th; one of the best restaurant experiences I've had in a long time. The beauty of eating out with my family is that we all share our dishes so I got to taste a little of nearly everything. Dinner started off with an amuse of warm, pureed parsnip, which was a perfect expression of the vegetable: earthy, a little sweet. Wonderful. For my appetizer, I had the shaved fennel and arugula salad with white anchovies and pickled cippolini onions. There was a gritty component to the plate...couldn't tell if it was add toasted bread crumbs, but other than that, it was deliciously salty with a large number of plump anchovies on top. My parents had the frisee with gorgonzola, fried shallots and warm bacon vinaigrette, which I passed on due to a dislike of goronzola. They both licked the plate. Brother had the grilled quail with tomato preserves, farro and poached quail egg. What little farro I managed to snare was lovely, coated in the tomato preserves which had melted into a sauce. He picked the bones clean before I could taste the quail, which looked well-roated with a crispy skin. I had the roasted skate with winter veggies and pomegranate glaze, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Having never had skate before, I enjoyed the soft texture, which played well off the crispy, buttery roasted bottom. The winter veggies had all my favorites (brussel sprouts, parsnips, cauliflower, carrots) and the sweet/tart pomegranate glaze gave the dish a bit more depth. Mom had the monkfish osso bucco with calamari and saffron risotto. The fish itself was firm and sweet, as were the calamari though the risotto was a bit too gummy for me. Dad had the braised veal breast with rosemary roasted sweetbreads. This was my first time trying sweetbreads and they were outstanding! Crispy on the outside, melting within, with a hint of rosemary. I wouldn't necessarily order them as an entire meal but I did enjoy them. Brother had the roasted dry aged sirloin. Did not get a chance to try this one as it was a smaller portion than the others and hey, it was his birthday...let the boy finish his own meal. My boyfriend ordered the roasted organic chicken with escarole, cranberry beans and dumplings. Wow, was this salty! It came with a really crisp skin, which I enjoyed, but the oversalting really made this the loser of the bunch. That and overly spongy dumplings. For side dishes, we split the Hen of the Woods mushrooms and sweet potato puree. The mushrooms were amazing...buttery, crispy, smoky, sprinkled with fresh thyme. Had I known how good they were, I would have ordered my own. The family let me have the last one. And the sweet potatoes? Pure, light, sweet potato-y goodness. Desserts were the apple cider donuts, goat milk panna cotta, milk chocolate tart and sorbet sampler. The sorbet flavors were true to their flavors (spiced pear, cranberry and the winner, sinus-clearing lemon ginger) and a nice palate cleanser. The panna cotta was okay, not my favorite but the candied kumquats that came with it were a nice, tangy counterpoint. The two winners were the donuts and the milk chocolate tart with peanut brittle ice cream. The donuts were glazed, warm, dense and tasted more of banana bread but were delicious. My mom and I split these and despite being full, we ate every last crumb. Brother ordered the milk chocolate tart. He fought to eat more of it but we gave him a pass with the sirloin so we each had tastes. Warm, gooey, creamy chocolate encased in a crisp semolina crust with peanut brittle ice cream, it was pure heaven. I called the restaurant to let them know it was my brother's birthday, and they brought out a lovely plate of mini linzer-torte cookies and gingersnaps. A very thoughtful touch, which he appreciated. Our waiter was warm and friendly, and the sommelier made excellent suggestions for a table with such varied wine tastes (I can't recall what everyone had, unfortunately). The only service issue was the overly long wait between clearing the dinner plates and ordering dessert, which is a negligible issue in light of the entire experience. Parents treated, so I don't know the total damage. Hearth's website says they change the menu approximately 4 times a year, so I will definitely be back in the spring.

I saw Duke's mayo at the HT at Pentagon Row yesterday afternoon, on sale no less.

Thanks Jennifer and Chris! It's my brother's birthday, so it would be wonderful if they could accommodate the request. Worth a shot. Amy

Hi Jennifer, Have you been to Hearth before? I'm heading up to NYC this Friday and have a 7:30 reservation there, so any suggestions are welcome! The menu looks great, and I'm looking forward to the apple cider doughnuts if they're anything like the Greenmarket's. Thanks! Amy

I made a reservation using OT for this past Friday but the host neglected to let the system know we showed, since I received a scold message. Unfortunately, I deleted the message but the gist of it is that you should honor reservations and it gives you the opportunity to provide details if you did in fact show up. I did just that and received a message back apologizing for the error and the promise to grant the 100 OT points. All in all, a fairly easy process.

Sat: Corduroy That's it for now. My first trip to Corduroy and I can't wait.

I like a lot of the salads at Wheat Berry's on Connecticut Avenue in the old Amernick bakery spot. Favorites include the Israeli couscous with feta, caramelized onions and apricots, the sweet potato chicken salad with almonds and scallions, and the regular couscous with cranberries, raisins and scallions. I get food from this place more often than I probably should, but the owner is so nice and the food is consistently good.