DCJHAWK

After reading JimCo's posting, it got me wanting more than one more meal at Del Merei. So, I ate lunch there this afternoon before they closed for dinner prep and service. I started off with a pint of Laguintas Little 'Sumpin on tap. It is supposedly their "summer ale"...right. Lots of hop and would guess a wee bit stronger than a normal American draft. For the meal, I started with the 7-leaf (since it is my favorite over the years) and had the veggie delite sandwich with tater tots. And I finished up with Green Wave IPA in a bottle. I have always enjoyed their beer selection and it appears it will be a great way to go out this evening/tomorrow morning. The portabellas were perfectly cooked and the sandwich was great even without the focaccia bread they had just run out of...had it with rye instead. I have always thought that one is either a tater tot person or not....I definitely am. It was the first time I have eaten a meal at Del Merei other than dinner. My loss. Looking forward to dinner and whatever Eric has left to make into a meal. See you all in a few hours...

About time. This has been my go to place for brunch over the years when I am in Philly. Always have several fresh juices to go along with great Cuban cafe and good eats. Look forward to giving the DC location a try along with finally eating a non-brunch meal.

Damn, I will be out of town. Of well, hopefully he is moving home to Portland to open something there that we will have to try sometime in the future. GQ has an article of the Top 25 Cocktail Bars in America with PX coming in at #8. Here is a link to the article: http://www.gq.com/food-travel/restaurants-and-bars/201010/25-best-cocktail-bars-in-america#slide=1 Though I haven't been to but four on the list, hard to imagine there are seven better places to get a cocktail in America. Congrats to Todd and his team.

JimCo, amen. I am glad to hear that you were able to say good bye to Del Merei, Mary, Eric, and their loyal staff. My wife and I live in Del Ray and have been eating here once a week since I learned from Don’s post about their closing. Tonight, my wife and I will get to say good-by with a reservation on the later side and a plan to stay until they kick us out…we’ll definitely be paying for it tomorrow. Will be interesting to see what is left both food and beverage wise to send off this jewel of a restaurant. Over the years, it was so much more than just a neighborhood jewel. It was often our choice when we had guests staying with us, friends wanting to see Del Ray, friends thinking of moving to Del Ray, and often a nice place for date night where we have never had a bad meal and the greeting and service was that of old friends. Looking forward to saying thanks to Mary, Eric, and the staff in person tonight and here’s hoping they soon find another place to bring back the food and memories.

+1. Sigh, knew this was going to happen, unfortunately, it is occurring much sooner than many of us in the neighborhood want it to. Just to add thanks to Don for highlighting this since we might have missed it with being out of town. Anyway, we walked over and had dinner here last night and as usual, it hit the spot. (Will place a brief write up in the thread for the restaurant). Mary and Eric, thanks for pouring yourselves into the restaurant and the community and we will see you weekly and on the night of the Final "last call".

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and feel free to keep them coming. Unfortunately, she stated in DC, so that does rule out Eve, 2941, and others. I do agree that one person's romantic may not work for others. Did had several of the recommendations, but a few I had not thought of. Finally, Don, as far as no good b-ball players since "The Stilt" and JoJo, what about Danny Manning and the '88 Championship (pre-three knee surgeries)?

Have been a member for over 2 years now, but more of a lurker than a poster. Will work on improving that. I have a female coworker who is somewhat new to DC and her boyfriend is about to deploy overseas for the next year. She asked me for suggestions on a nice romantic place to go eat (that isn't cheesy in her words) in the city of DC. I have some ideas, but was hoping to give her some options that range the price scale (not all expensive, break the bank if you understand). Would appreciate any suggestions that each of you might have. Thanks in advance for the assistance, Chris

For the entire month of September, 5% of all draught beer sales at both the Brickskeller and RFD Washington will be donated to the Red Cross to help those affected by Katrina. The Brickskeller and RFD Washington will match those totals collected from draught beer sales and double the contribution. So you can do two very good things at once. You can drink great beers from the keg and help those truly in need.

Every Monday after 5pm, you can order a bottle of wine or champagne for half price with the order of an entree at Andale. And I believe that they currently have added Saturday to the 1/2 price wine night through Labor Day.

From my one bite (and that was all I was allowed;-), it was not strong at all. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that the goat cheese was rather understated. I went back to eating my scallops and the potato puree with mushrooms and had no lingering strong cheese flavor. Someone who has enjoyed that entire entree might want to weigh in, especially if I am incorrect before crazeegirl goes tonight.

This is an interesting topic. I don't think there are power restaurants in DC like there was when I first moved to DC in 1993. Now don't get me wrong, there are a variety of places that you may see Administration, Hill types, and the national press at, but I think that with DC becoming a much better city to eat in, that has changed over the years. And for that, we should all be thankful! I remember when I first moved to town and there was basically steakhouses and French restaurants. I would say for members of the House and Senate and their staffs, there really aren't that many restaurants that have good food close by, so it seems that they are willing to travel. I agree that both the Capitol Hill Club and the National Democratic Club serve totally forgettable food. Obviously, La Colline and the Monocle are frequented due to their proximity and out of the two, La Colline is hands down the better place to eat. Both Bistro Bis and Charlie Palmers are on the list of hotter places for both lunch and dinner due to not only their locations but also their cooking. You will also often see large number of members at the Caucus Room and The Capital Grille, so the fascination with red meat continues. And it is surprising the number of members that eat as far away as Mortons (both downtown and in Georgetown). Talking about running into people out at dinner, one of my favorite stories involves a good friend who was made the number 2 person at one of the federal departments. We were going out to Ristorante Tosca to celebrate his Senate confirmation and as we walked to our table there was a splattering of applause. We sat done and my friend says, wow, who know they would even know who I am. At about that precise moment, Madeline Albright walks by on her way out of the restaurant after finishing her meal. It was fun to watch him eat a little crow at an Italian restuarant;-) As for the security that the leaders of Congress receive, that is actually provided by the Capitol Hill Police Department.

Well, I finally went to Corduroy last night and not surprisingly came away quite happy and content. My dining companion was running behind slightly so I started with a glass of the Cristom Pinot Gris from Oregon, which is a nice version of this wine, at the bar. Gotta love those Oregon Pinot Gris and Noirs. Anyway, she eventually showed up, so we moved to the dining room. She started with the field green salad (I believe) with lemon dressing and said that it was quite good. I decided to go with the much discussed already Lobster Salad - it was in a word, "Wow." I am not big on anything that is mayonnaise based, but this was just a wonderful salad with chunks of lobster served with baby greens and a basil oil I believe. I had this with a 2002 french sauvignon blanc and it went quite well with the sweetness of the lobster balancing the acidity of the wine. For her main course, she went with the lamb sirloin in red wine sauce with the side of goat cheese ravioli. As soon as I saw her lamb, I realized that it would be too rare for her and encouraged her to send it back - she refused and ate about half of the lamb and said that she really liked the flavor. As for the ravioli, she ate every bite (besides the one piece that I "borrowed") and absolutely loved it. And I would have to agree. For my main course, I had the scallops with potato puree and morels. Again, wow. As has been said by others, they were pan seared and probably the closest thing to perfection as far as scallops go that I have had. And I ate this while enjoying a White Burgundy. We aren't all the big on desserts and were pleasantly full so we didn't order anything else. Overall, it was a nice re-introduction to the cooking of Tom Power (I had been to Old Anglers back when he was there) and have to ensure that so much time doesn't pass before enjoying his culinary talents again.