mame11

I'm out of town that weekend.

I'd love to participate contingent on timing of the event. Thanks!

The last sentence wasn't cruel. It was thoughtful. I have had to resort to the internets on many occasion to translate IM abbbreviations. Often to unfortunate results.

There is no reason the picnic couldn't be the first weekend in May. I know scheduling is tough but this far out people could plan accordingly if that is the route you'd like to pursue. As to a place that is intimate and unique, what about the Tabard Inn? I've had many a nice event there and they do a good job (generally).

Um. I really have a 911 kitchen situation. My wonderful vanilla extract bottle just came crashing down. The bottle didn't break but the top cracked into lots of pieces. If I pour the remaining extract into a tupperware can I keep it? Or is it shot? Thanks in advance for your advice!

I kid you not this is the best chocolate cake I've ever made... light and chocolately. Not bad on calories either (relatively speaking). Aunt Velma's Chocolate Cake

Homemade baked tortilla chips & WH roasted chipolte salsa brown rice with black beans jalapeno grilled onions & poblano peppers skirt steak with a dry rub chilpotle/aleppepo pepper/cumin/salt Intended to be fajitas but decided to save the fresh flour tortillas for the impending snow.

Yesterday I saw two tweets in which friends referenced something called "baked oatmeal." Curious I found this recipe. I substituted the apple sauce with smashed banana. It hit the spot this morning, yum. Much more filling than plain old oatmeal.

OMG. I love, love High West Silver. I attended a tasting during the poorly publicized but quite fun DC Whiskey Week and fell in love. High West Silver is very smooth and light. I have, primarily, enjoyed it over rocks but would love some ideas for cocktails to make with it. Also, Joe, should I keep the Silver on ice or out on the bar? Thanks!

The animosity toward Casa Nonna in the dcdining.com review and some of the posts on this thread is off putting to me. Likely the reason that the BLT group didn't put the name BLT on the restaurant is that the "BLT" is no longer involved in the restaurant group. Branding new concepts with BLT is not appropriate as it could (a) mislead consumers and (b ) may violate an agreement between the partners (pure speculation based on my experience as a lawyer). As to the mark up on a meat and cheese tray... have you been to a movie theater in the past 20 years? The mark up on popcorn and snacks is what keeps the doors to the theaters open and allow the owners to eat at places like Casa Nonna.

Wow. Telling a Jew that their tradition is "more goyish" might be worse than saying something is "less Jewish." Jews always adopt things from the cultures in which they live, like Sephardic food reflects North Africa and Mediterranean cultures, and even why Hasidic Jews wear the black hats that were popular with the gentiles among whom they lived. Just because your ancestors altered the recipe to reflect the place in which they lived doesn't mean other recipes are more Goyish, or that your tradition is more Jewish. Interestingly the symbiotic relationship between cultures is reflected in many places... including the Christmas tree. Apparently non-Jewish Germans adopted the idea of putting lights (candles) on trees from their Jewish neighbors who had menorahs in their windows. Or so I saw on a documentary many years ago. Regardless, though, it is not accurate that any one way of making a dish is more Jewish than any other... unless of course you cook the latkes in lard. Then that would not be cool.

Zora, I'm one-upping you here. I am a descendant of Jews from Germany on all sides. Claiming the mantle of which recipe is more "Jewish" than any other interpretation of a recipe is inappropriate. Because your family prepares latkes one way does not make it the only, or even the most authentic, way to do so. In fact Joan Nathan, Claudia Roden and Marcie Cohen Ferris have all written beautiful cookbooks that incorporate recipes from across the spectrum of the Jewish experience because each recipe and experience is "authentically" Jewish. But good for you for being "White Russian." I am happily a Yeke. One of the best things about being Jewish is the diversity among us. I'm always jealous of Sephardic Jews at Passover because their food choices blow us Azhkenaz out of the water...

Well... I didn't make it to Lotus of Siam but I did have breakfast twice at Bouchon in the Venetian. It was fabulous and not much more than a typical hotel breakfast, but oh so much better! I also had dinner one night off the strip at Firefly, a modern take on tapas. While I felt that I was at a frat bar, I had a great spinach salad and yummy sliders. I also had dinner one night at a Wynn restaurant but it was catered so I can only say it was yummy!

Zora, matzo meal is not required to make a potato latke a potato latke, in fact most recipes I have call for flour and not matzah meal. Anna feel free to continue to make latkes anyway you want. This Jew approves.

So it seems, based on your review, that our server really did mess up. We had ordered the cold pork belly dish but they brought a disgusting (seriously) fried pork dish. Was the service laughable when you were there or did you feel like they had started to figure things out? I still have no desire to return but... I can be persuaded in the Spring if it is still around. Where else did you eat while in the ATL?

If you don't mind baking a bit to begin New Years, these are a-m-a-z-i-n-g, and absurdly easy to make

Heading to Las Vegas in January for a conference (CES) and have not made any meal plans. My previous experiences in Las Vegas have been disappointing at best. To me, even the nice restaurants seemed to serve food that was mass produced... that is, the food did not taste like anything special and in some cases it didn't taste like much... Having said that, I would love to know where people on dr.com would recommend for restaurants on the strip or easily accessible thereto.... thanks in advance.

sadly I didn't ask... too busy catching up with friends.

the first time I had something called flatbread it was a deliciously crisp crust with yummy toppings. It was most definitely not pizza. I've always thought flatbread was different than pizza because of the leavening aspect (i.e. no yeast...) When I found out that American Flatbread was basically a pizza place (albeit with fancy toppings and the like), I didn't really care to go... pizza is pizza. Flatbread is hard to find...

My Chinese friend was listening to the yelling in the kitchen tonight. I reposted my original comments with a new postscript.

Reposting: Well that was awkward. I went this evening with some friends after bragging about how amazing the food would be for the past week. The food did not live up to my memories. I have had better versions of many of the dishes we ordered tonight at Hong Kong Palace and Sichuan Pavillion. More importantly one of my friends made an interesting observation, all of our meat main course dishes had the same texture regardless of preparation (whether fried, dried or stir fried). I am sure the food is great, we may have just overwhelmed our palates with fire. ( the Dan Dan noodles at Peter Chang's were the bomb.) However, what concerns me, and concerns me greatly, were the space and service issues. JohnB, is it possible the former tenant, Olives, left their fixtures behind? I think they did. Why? Because the artwork and table settings are decidedly not Chinese. In fact the table was set with a fork and spoon. We had to, literally, chase down servers to get chopsticks. And it is a huge space. I mean huge, two floors with a parking lot the size of a baseball field. The servers, bless their hearts (as we like to say in the south), were completely overwhelmed and unprepared. The menu, which is fabulous in many ways, is not numbered in a method that makes sense. Each section (Appetizers, Chef Specials, American Chinese, Tasty China Dishes, et al) begin with the number 1. So if the Server asks for a number you can't just say #1. You have to say #1 and what section. It's clear the server missed our request for pork belly because what was delivered was not the dish we ordered, even though they were both pork. We tried to clarify the situation with the servers but they did not seem to understand. One even said "all the dishes look the same." The servers had tried to serve the dishes to each of us individually instead of putting them in the middle even after we said we were eating family style. Oh and earlier in the meal there were two servers, one who announced she was the translator. It would help if the translator servers could teach the anglo servers a bit about Chinese food and culture. Sadly I do not feel compelled to go back during this visit to see if I can have another experience. I'd rather go to Buford Highway to have what I know will be great food at one of a myriad of mom and pop places. Perhaps the hype wasn't a good thing for the disappearing chef. ETA: JohnB and I were posting at the same time. EETA: before anybody jumps on me... I had an expert with us at dinner, a real life Chinese person. It was her opinion that the textures of the meat dishes were all the same. Interesting... Reposted because I took down the whole post after I read the interview BettyJoan posted ... but JohnB quoted it while I was taking it down... so back up it went. With a caveat that I'll try it again in the Spring.

Great question... the crust was crispy like a cracker that's what makes it a flatbread and not a pizza. Like a lavash...

Okay so earlier this week I stopped by Ardeo/Bardeo and expressed my disappointment in the "flatbread." I had a very constructive conversation with the Chef who understood that I had expected "flatbread" and not pizza. The restaurant was struggling with heat in the oven he said. I told him that I wanted flatbread not pizza. Well... fast forward to this evening where I repeated the dinner I had Friday night. Wow... seriously that flatbread was good. The new version has a very crisp, thin crust... a true flatbread though in the shape of a pizza. The mushrooms were deliciously earthy and the fontina cheese did not overwhelm the mushrooms. I also had the same salad which I liked Friday night as well... it's a chopped salad with winter root veggies. I substitute the dressing with the fig dressing on the menu and all I have to say is Wowza. Pleased with the flatbread, I decided to order some charchutrie... the truffled lamb was divine and melted like butter. So, I suggest the others on the list who didn't love their experience at the renewed Ardeo/Bardeo should give it another shot. Looking forward to a return trip.

Err... I just put a glaze on some cookies. It is milk and powdered sugar. Do I have to refrigerate the cookies now? Taking them to a meeting tomorrow. Thanks in advance!

I went to Ardeo/Bardeo this weekend. Service was great which made the night because the food was engh. I am a bit concerned that the server told us that Kingplip tasted like scallops but was a white fish. If it is a type of eel that should be disclosed, imho, because a diner might keep "American" Kosher (i.e. eat out but avoid treif) or may just not like eel (shocking but true). None of us ordered it so no real cause for alarm... but it will make me ask what species a fish I don't recognize is in the future. Now for the food... it was not memorable at all and the flatbread was bad. The flatbread is pizza and not flatbread. The crust, as an earlier poster pointed out, is not good. The mushroom pizza tasted like an open faced grilled cheese sandwich with a few mushrooms mixed in for contrast. ETA: Rissa doesn't work at Ardeo/Bardeo anymore.