lion
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Everything posted by lion
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Congratulations on your retirement!
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It's a topic the wife and myself have discussed a lot especially this past year. Crossing the Potomac, for both of us, into Maryland or Virginia has been challenging and we also thought about moving into DC at some point as a compromise. However, at the moment, the amount of space and being in more natural setting that comes with living outside of the city is much appreciated. A $500K 2 Bedroom condo with 900 sq feet in Dupont Circle area or a 4 Bedroom townhouse outside of DC, double sq feet, but an hour commute? This seems to be the basic decision to make regardless of the compass direction around the beltway. So, the main questions become, how much space do you need for yourselves, your pets, and to entertain in relation to the inevitable commuting time calculation? Personally, the view outside the window makes a difference to me. What's the view outside your current place? Maybe what you like or dislike can help lead you to the right area.
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Thanks Goodeats! Looks like a good site and reminds me of dramafever.com! I don't mind older shows. Sushi no Sushi is pretty dated, like early 1990s style, but the food elements in the program are still interesting to learn. I would like to see more drama shows on cooking from other countries, so I'll check it out.
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Apparently, Mario's in Merrifield is packed at nights on the weekends already since it's open late. I was getting a sandwich in August and talked with the Mario guys since it was pretty empty at Sunday lunchtime. They said late nights were packed. Kind of reminds me of how we use to stop in Merrifield on the way from DC because of the late night Taco Bell which at that time was a rarity. Well it was either that or Amphora in Vienna.
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We made it up to http://bluehillfarm.com/home last July for a dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and a tour the following day at Stone Barns. The eight meal was very impressive and we throughly enjoyed it over the four hour dinner. I did want to post something at the moment, so will try and find the little booklet menu to add descriptions later. One thing I would highly recommend is taking a farm tour even if you're not going there for dinner. It's a quick drive from NYC, beautiful Hudson River sleepy towns nearby. They have a daily market there with high quality produce. Also a small store and coffee/sandwich place. We spent another four hours the next day after our meal on the guided tour all over the restaurant and farms.
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Been eating in the Merrifield area for the past twenty years and it's gone thru a lot of changes. At the moment, Elephant Jumps, Uncle Liu's, Xpress Cafe, and the food courts of the Korean supermarkets are in the regular rotation if we're in the area. A long time ago would frequent Old Dominion Deli on a regular base for their sandwiches. Use to go to Four Sisters back when it was in Eden Center, but found over the years since the move, something has been rather lacking. My memories at Eden Center recall so many small dishes, plates and bowls, it was always an unexpected taste or interesting favorites. Now in Merrifield, while it's solid food, it's not as inspiring in some respect. Strangely, Lotus Garden in Vienna kind of reminds of me of the old Four Sisters/Eden Center vibe. Also, with the late night hours, something always ends up tasting good. Only people it's getting harder to convince the wife to drive to out to HKP and not getting enough of my peppercorn addiction! I think Merrifield has a lot of potential for non chain restaurants in a reasonable price range which is great.
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We drove around a little more early evening before stopping at Mom's organic market and using a groupon discount there. The area did already have a bit of traffic without Target and the other stores being open. Artisan Confections opening a store is a plus since it's more accessible than the other location. My concern was more towards the price point with location as a lot of high quality restaurants in Northern VA have not survived long term. I would like it and others to succeed as well.
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Still love watching any of the cooking drama shows particularly the Korean and Japanese ones. However, currently I've exhausted those countries. My current list: http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Shota_no_Sushi http://www.hulu.com/gourmet http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Shinya_Shokudo http://www.dramacrazy.net/japanese-drama/osen/ Does anyone know of cooking drama shows that focus on restaurants in other countries?
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Big Ass Fans - A Kentucky-Based Manufacturer of Giant Ceiling Fans
lion replied to DonRocks's topic in News and Media
Their Haiku design for the home is pretty sweet, but at a cool grand it's pretty expensive. -
Traffic is incredibly bad these days, but at least it's not as bad as when they were shutting down the beltway after midnight and I had to routinely use every backroad driving trick to make it home in a reasonable amount of time. I do agree with Joe, Reston Town Center has the financial ability to support a high end restaurant, so it would be great if it's your next stop or someone of your caliber. However, we routinely drive out to Merrifield for it's good small restaurants like Elephant Jumps and Uncle Liu's. Mosaic District seems good and even though Target seems to be the main anchor, the building's design gives it, the appearance of an upscale version. There has been a lot of customer traffic at Sweet Water and Grevey's for decades now. Once the Mosaic District is fully operational, I'm curious to see how things shake out in that area. Will it become a destination hub or a remain a traveling stop? Regardless, we look forward to trying to the new restaurant.
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Second! Also, smart move getting a larger lip for the island countertop. We did the same during a kitchen renovation and definitely a lot more fun for people to sit and as cooking goes on.
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Still haven't gone after many years of going to Four Sisters in Merrifield. Wonder if night time and weekend business will increase now that Mosaic District is open.
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Been visiting since it opened up and it's had pretty good freshly made onsite breakfast items with the Illy Coffee. Haven't had too many of the sweets, but they've been decent overall.
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We just saw Samsara at the new Angelika last Monday night. Beautiful space! Could not believe they had Bells beer at the concession stand. Mosaic District has turned out better than I thought in design. I would have thought, you would have ended up in the Reston Town Center. Curious to see if the money demographic will support Mosaic coming down from Tyson's.
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Thanks for the link for The Winds Cafe. Surprisingly my wife has low interest in taking me to Jungle Jim's, so we've never made the trip. Of course, we're usually visiting during holiday times or special occasions so there hasn't been a lot of time for just shopping.
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I saw this at Silver Docs last year and talked with the director after the screening. He was pretty lucky to get access to Jiro which happened because his father was friends with the Japanese food critic, briefly interviewed in the documentary. The film is beautifully shot compared to Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations segment on Jiro, still hearing Tony's commentary make it worth watching.
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After visiting my wife's family in Cincinnati many times over the past few years, we finally made it to Rue Domaine. We throughly enjoyed the 2 hour dinner with my in-laws. We stopped by The Rookwood for lunch before a wedding and was well worth the trip to the top of the hill community. The key lime pie was truly incredible. After having Graeter's many times, definitely recommend it, but stopping by Young's Jersey Dairy can be equally pleasing.
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I think we both were happy with the quality of the hand pulled soups. However in terms of service my expectations probably were not as high as yours. During our visit, the kitchen staff was pushing everything ok pretty quickly. I would place it on the service level of Full Kee, Pho places or even Ren's ramen. Since our total bill was under $25, if the taste of the hand pulled noodles holds up, can see this becoming twice a month visit because of proximity and late night service if the hours of the website are to be believed. Honestly, I'm pleasantly surprised to get some like that in Vienna. Now if only HKP would open something else nearby!
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The hand pulled noodle soups were pretty good. Loved how the noodles changed taste over time. This place is a welcome addition to Vienna.
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Thanks for the confirmation on Mediterranean Bakery and Cafe! It is on the list and hope to get to it soon.
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Thanks for all the earlier replies. I've been enjoying using extra virgin olive oil instead of butter the past few weeks. Normal regular food like toast taste a little new and exciting with oil instead of butter. We tried Secolari, and it reminded me of Sapore. Apparently all of the new extra virgin olive oil places use the same style bottles and sizes. It's hard to believe stainless steel dispensers costs $120-150. Does anyone have recommendations for shopping at Turkish grocery stores? I would like to try some Turkish olive oil.
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Good game tonight. Ben's chili bowl wasn't bad but would have like some more non baseball park items.
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Olive oil shops do seem to be taking off in the DC metro area. Last weekend, we tried Sapore in Capital Hill and Under the Olive Tree at Tysons Corner Mall in McLean. Secolari will haven't tried yet or some of the other local places such as Ah love Oil and Vinegar or Mediterranean Bakery & Cafe. So far, surprisingly Under the Olive Tree in a mall was to our liking the most since they listed the polyphenols (health benefits) in each extra virgin olive oil and used Veronica Foods from LA as a purveyor. Extra Virginity has a chapter or so on Mike Bradley's (Veronica's CEO) world journey to teach himself what makes a the best extra virgin olive oil.
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Having read Extra Virginity, I wanted to ask if there any any other shops people would recommend to buy oil? Or any personal experiences with certain brands.
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The Great Heat Wave and Power Outage of Late June, 2012
lion replied to Joe H's topic in Events and Gatherings
Luckily we had power except for a few minutes on Friday night. We went to the Reston Town Center for lunch today, and definitely was surprised by the power outage. Walking back to our car, saw the chefs at Jackson's bringing in supplies in ice. Ended up in Tysons II for lunch and shopping at William Sonoma and Sur La Table. Talking to people tonight, a lot of people in the area still are without and some are holed up in hotels.