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Yat's Cajun Crerole looks interesting and it has three locations over the city. This is just a searched guess, never been to Indianapolis. May add a few more. Shapiro's Deli -100 year old Indianapolis deli

Still no airdate on any local PBS stations that I can see, however they have a new website up. Kimchi Chronicles

Thanks for the tip!

Thanks for the detailed response! It's good to know it would be a decent experience if we were in the neighborhood. The brother and sister team, I believe, did split up. The brother is running a new Thai restaurant in Herndon called Thai Tada. However it is in the location of an old Thai Restaurant called Tarin Thai. I agree prior to the separation, Thai Luong was excellent and comparable to Nava Thai or the other Wheaton restaurants. Now, I would say both are going thru some growing pains as quality cooks and servers were split into the two locations.

It seems like a restaurant that would fit a majority of your criteria.

Thanks for the tip Joe! We had a great drive down Rte 15 coming back from a trip to the GF's family yesterday, and the country-side was incredible. Will have to try out Bluemont Vineyard on a leisurely weekend afternoon sometime.

I'm curious about your dining habits. Have you been to the SBC in Herndon. And if so, what's your take on the place?

Nope! It just seemed like an interesting place to try since I think we've driven by it a few times when out in the Plains/Middleburg area a few times.

I've never been there, but what about Girasole in The Plains, VA?

Congratulations Jael! Premise of the book sounds very engaging.

Here's our experience from a help needed thread: We ended up at Patowmack Farm for dinner and stayed at a B&B nearby. "Thursdays at the Farm" was small plates which as the website says were pretty reasonably priced. We pretty much had every plate on the menu that night except for 2-3 meat ones and all were very tasty except for the Peach Gazpacho with baby corn and corn silk. Somehow that one just didn't execute well together. The glass of red wine I had was from Fabbioli Cellars was one that I didn't finish. My GF had lavender lemon infused cocktail that she enjoyed. Highlights were the little tomatoes from the Early Bird Tomoato Salad. The Broiled Peach with merry goat round cheese and fried bread. Very tasty. Also liked the Fried Squash Blossoms with basil pesto and preserved lemon. The Chocolate Layer Cake for dessert was a big hit! Especially with the oatmeal stout milkshake. Selection of Chef's local cheese was also excellent. All in all, with the scenery and view which was perfect that night, I would recommend the Farm on Thursday. The next day we stopped at Hillsborough Vineyard and had their sample flight of 8 wines. Joe H was right the 2006 Bloodstone is a very good wine and arguably my favorite VA wine so far. While, it's still young wine compared to my favorite Italians, it has a weight that communicates a complexity that is surprising. As for the $28 price point, feel it would be better at $22, however I'm not conversant in the price points of local vines enough. Visiting the vineyard is a must, my GF didn't want to leave as we sat on the patio eating the local old German Wiesse Kase goat cheese and drinking their Serafina Rose wine. I think that area of VA really is an enjoyable day trip from the DC metro area and the wines and vineyards will be great in an another decade probably able to compete at the world level. Good reference point: Virginiawine.org Thanks to everyone's replies, it helped a lot during a busy week for visiting places that I'm not familiar with!

GF and I stopped by for a meal recently. Insalata MIsta was fresh and good balance of ingredients, and the deserts were liked as well. We both felt the explanation of the pizza being 'soupy' and it not being cut by the wait staff was unnecessary, and a bit strange. It was kinda of defeatist in a way which was weird to experience in an Italian restaurant. Come on, be Italian, a little cocky and a little arrogant! One minor quibble, the menu was a bit difficult to read with the font and back ground color with the ambient lighting of the room of an early evening night. I literally had to squint and hold it up to my eyes to read it! Getting to the real draw: Margherita D.O.P The basil and cherry tomatoes were tasty, however the buffalo mozzarella was just a bit light on the pizza. The soupiness was enjoyed. GF didn't like the amount of char. I felt like the crust was slightly less flavorful. One interesting thing that I observed as ate my slices, was that I found my taste readjusting to less taste coming from the crust and more flavors from the toppings. In a sense the pizza did get better as I ate more, which impressed me. I just wish the crust a little more bite to it to ground the rest of the tastes as I was eating. Overall, it was a nice night, and Pizzeria Da Marco takes it's place at the top end of pizza places in the DC area.

Has anyone ever heard of the Whynter SNO Ice Cream Maker? Any reviews from board members?

Vienna Inn?

I don't have a particular recommendation for a place yet, but my thought since you're flexible about cuisine is to find a new restaurant. It may be easier to have a relationship as a customer if it's right from the beginning. I know last night when I stopped by one of my favorites, the owner asked where my GF was, we talked about how they've been open, etc.. and how I've been going since the beginning. It's hard to believe three years have flown by!

I'm sure my GF would laugh at the irony in me asking this question, but does the Sanctuary have to be a pizza place?

Pretty good. Wheaton has some great small restaurants.

Cool! I like the resource since my tendency when visiting a new place is to find the locals' home cooked meal restaurant and they do a good job with that. Thanks for helping them out with your reviews Joe!

Well I didn't have the omakase, your reasons of simple preparation and lack of creative styling(s), were what I enjoyed on my recent visit. For a few years after Kaz Sushi Bistro opened, I felt he went over the top to far, but to be honest, that thought is a bit of nitpicking on my end. My preference is for more traditional style Japanese, so I'm sure that colors my opinion.

Enjoyed my first lobster roll, cold, last week there. It was a work night, so the place wasn't as busy as expected. The lobster roll, for my uninitiated tastes, was great. A great blend of tender meat and mayo inside of slightly toasted bread. Actually remembered the taste quite vividly a few days later when describing it to another person. As for the restaurant itself, it seems like an upscale version of Quarterdeck from a decade or so ago. I wonder if the location is right. Some place with a lot early 20s somethings and their foot traffic like Capital Hill would be perfect. I'm glad to hear about the tweaking to the hot soups which I agree would be perfect once the weather turns colder.

I always enjoyed American Flatbread, but on my first visit, I asked them why they had chosen that location.

RoadFood is also good for traveling thru smaller towns.

Thanks! Looking forward to trying it soon.

It's a been a year or two since I've been there, but either the quality all over town is just dropping or more realistically, Kaz Sushi Bistro is just getting better thru hard work, and it shows. While haven't always liked some of the fusion items on the menu since it's opened, I think it's one of the rare places in DC that has gotten better over the years. Frankly, I don't think Sushi-ko has ever recovered from the remodeling and the lost of Chef Kaz. The recent meal was sublime. Thanks!

Congratulations! :-) Thinking about trying it for some eggplants during the first summer grilling. Any particular kind of eggplant you would recommend?