Bart

Hahahaha! If only they were that honest!!

They always* have durian at the Best Way on Route 1 in Alexandria south of the Costco, but before Ft. Belvior. * "Always" may be an overstatement. I don't know the season for these things, but it seems like they have them all the time.

While walking in Crystal City yesterday, I saw that the Good Stuff Eatery had a sign out front for Nashville Hot Chicken, so on a whim I got one. It was unremarkable in every way and barely hot at all. It seemed like a run of the mill chicken breast with some breading and doused in some (not so) hot sauce. If I didn't know Nashville Hot Chicken was a thing, I'd have no idea this sandwich was "special". In spite of all that, it was still better than Chick-fil-a

Sad news. This place is closed. Attached is a photo of the sign on the door.

Actually they weren't dry or stiff at all, but something seemed off about them.

Yunnan by Potomac is a new place in northern Old Town (according to google maps, it's outside the actual boundary of Old Town), that opened in early February. I went there a couple weeks ago for lunch and enjoyed it for the most part. They are a Mixian Noodle place from the Yunnan Province. Here's the blurb from their website: MIXIAN: SOUL FOOD Yunnan is a beautiful diverse region in southwest China, offering a variety of unique flavors and textures in its distinctive cuisine – not your typical Chinese food. The soul food of Yunnan is Mixian - delicious rice noodles - which are prepared with braised meats, rich broths and sweet, savory and spicy sauces. Mixian bowls are at the core of our menu and are complimented by a variety of unique small plates. They have (or did) a limited menu at this point with promises for more to come. The menu in the restaurant has more options than the one currently posted online. I ordered Pork Belly Lotus Leaf Bun and the Braised Beef Lu Mixian soup (at least I think that's what I ordered. I just asked what's their best dish/specialty). The pork belly bun was good, but not great. The meat was fine, but the bun tasted like a mass produced Wonder bread version. That may be an unfair assessment, as I'm no expert, but I was underwhelmed by taste/texture of the bun. The soup was good, but again I don't think the broth was as deep and rich as my memories of Daikaya or Momofuku's versions of broth. Like I said before, I'm no expert on this, so maybe my memory of those other soups are better than they actually were?!!? I'd love to do a side by side comparison of all the ramen/mixian broths that's probably impossible. The service was understandably a bit rough as they are brand new. When I sat down I was greeted by a server who came up to my table and said, " ". I said, pardon me, and she said, "Drink?". This time it was an audible question. Barely audible, but audible! I asked what they had and she said, "Soda, water, tea" so I just got water. I saw repeat performances of the super quiet interaction with other guests, and lots of repeat questions. The woman working the register and taking the orders was much more on the ball however. Interestingly, I didn't see a single Asian person working there, but I never saw into the kitchen. Also interesting perhaps was my second "visit" to this place. I happened to park in front the other evening for a class, and a group of 4-5 Asian people were entering and none were speaking English. I took that as a good sign, but it's likely that was their first visit (it took them a few seconds to figure out where it was along the block), so who knows if they'll return? I'll definitely go back when I'm in the neighborhood and I'm happy to have a new cuisine on the scene. Photos of the menu and my dishes below.

Say hi next time! I posted something in the Tony Cheng's thread about this place not being much different than any other dim sum place, but I have to amend that comment. Many of the dishes were similar to Fortune (RIP) or Hong Kong Pearl of Sampan Café. I'm talking about things like shrimp dumplings/har gow or shu mai or crepes. Those dishes were fine here, but equal to other places. They did have a couple interesting, and new-to-me dishes that I really liked and would return for. One was a shrimp and scallop dumpling, which had some nice flavors and textures that were interesting and elevated it. The other was this "breaded" shrimp thing (see pic). There was some sort of sauce or other component inside the crusty breading that really made the dish more interesting and flavorful than just shrimp in a crunchy shell. The one down side about the place is that half the dishes come out on the typical steamer cart, in the little metal tins, but the other half of the dishes are just on plates on cart so they don't hold their heat well at all. The order of crepes we had was barely warmer than room temperature.

Big fun, and a lot of learning was had by all!! Thanks again to Kat for doing the legwork on this!! This was a great class, and the instructor was amazing! I’d definitely take another class here and recomend this to anyone with the slightest interest.

I'd say no, just based on the plates...........way too normal for Meiter! Also the food looks far too rustic for Metier. Looks very good though!

I figured I'd ask this publicly to save you from getting 15 private messages! What was the final word on snacks and drinks? Are we arriving early/staying late for any of that, or is it just the pasta making class. I'm good either way!

I feel just the opposite about blueberries. Once you get them established they require very little care. I have to cover mine in netting or the birds would get them all. It's getting a little late, but you can still order and start tomato seeds. Don't know if you've heard about the Dwarf Tomato Project (I thought it was mentioned in this thread, but I didn't see it on a very quick scan). Anyhow, a bunch of hobbyists and growers have been breeding dwarf varieties of great tasting tomatoes. They are all open pollinated (aka modern heirlooms) which means you can save the seeds and replant next year and get the same exact tomato again. Victory Seeds has tons: https://www.victoryseeds.com/dwarf-tomato-project.html Another favorite seed source of mine is Baker Creek. They have all sorts of "weird" varieties from all over the world. The catalog is huge and beautiful.....worth it to have just to flip through and dream. https://www.rareseeds.com/

Two things: 1). What do you mean when you say it has slowly unraveled? I don’t recall hearing any chatter about the place declining. 2) Does anyone know what they meant when they said they’re excited for their next chapter? Are the same people that are closing this restaurant opening a new one in the same place? I was very confused by the message

How was it? The meal I had at Vinh Kee was fine, but it didn't seem any better than Sampan Café, or Hong Kong Pearl, or Fortune (RIP). I mostly kept to the dumplings, which again, reminded me of the quality of many other local places.

RdV would be a fun but pricey option. Their tasting and tour is now $65 per person, but the last time I did it (it was only (ONLY) $50) and there was a bachelorette party on the tour as well. If you haven't been there, it's super high end and very well done, but they only make 2 red wines, although you may get a glass of their rose' which they make but can't sell. They also start you off with a glass of champagne. Delaplane Cellars is just down the road and would be worth a stop. They have a killer view from the tasting room and usually have live acoustic music on the weekends. They also have bread and cheese plates. I'd avoid Barrel Oak and Blue Valley. Both are huge places and they are very loud. Not sure about Barrel Oak, but you can bring your own food into Blue Valley. At least you could a couple years ago. I'd call to verify if you're interested. Three Fox Vineyards is in the same area but I'd avoid it as well. It's much smaller than the two above, but I don't think the wine compares to Delaplae, RdV or Linden. Arterra is in the same area and has only been open a few years. I've only been once and it was a while ago, but my main memory was that it was dark. You drive up a road through the woods and come to the winery which also had a "deep in the forest" feel. The tasting room was pretty dark too with no huge windows or nice view. A little further afield is Glen Manor. They don't serve food, but they allow you to bring your own. They have a nice outdoor area with lots of tables and chairs. If it's a nice day, and you have some picnic items, this would be a good place to spend some time.

I’m here now (11:25 am Sunday) and the place is only 1/3 full and there’s plenty of parking. Just an FYI.

Thanks again Kat. I'm up for anything, but I'll definitely go with the flow. If the majority want to keep it $75, that works for me. Maximum flexibility over here!

Thanks for doing this Kat! Yes on the paypal/venom. I'd be up for prosecco & antipasti or the brunch or both!! But I'll go with the flow of the group.

Don - Here's a suggestion for the Dining Guide. Can you just list the geographical areas without the restaurants below them? In other words, instead of having the heading of Penn Quarter and then having 15 restaurants below that, and then a Chinatown heading and 20 restaurants, etc, you would just have: Penn Quarter Chinatown Federal Triangle etc. The problem I'm trying to solve by suggesting this is the endless scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. Especially on a phone. I sometime burst out laughing at how many restaurants there are and how much scrolling I do. Often only to find out there there's a "page 2" that I have to start scrolling through!! ;-) I see the value in having the geographical headings and all the restaurants listed below them because that would eliminate one click. (You wouldn't have to hit Chinatown and then Bantam King. You'd just click on Bantam King). But only have to scroll through 20 geographical areas instead of 2000 restaurants is appealing as well. Any way you can do both?

I don't have anything to add other than to ask when are you going and what are you looking for? Do you want to be able to walk to the hotel? The Wharf is definitely a cab ride away. Google Maps says it's about 2 miles which can be anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour. But the Wharf is a (small, but) happening area that is usually pretty lively at night. If taking a cab is not an issue, the entire city is up for grabs. For something completely different you could try the Mansion On O St. It could be the perfect place to stay after Metier or the absolute worst place to stay, depending on your taste. It's an amazing, weird, funky place that is stuffed to the gills with all sorts of cool stuff. It's almost like your own fun house to explore with hidden rooms, hidden doors and all sorts of places to explore (including a subterranean wine cellar that looks like it was imported directly from some castle in the Middle Ages, and a Beatles room with a crazy amount of very cool Beatles memorabilia). The website is not that great, and you'll find better photos on google images, but if you're looking for something unique, check it out.

Since you already derailed the chicken question (!) I'll continuing the derailing to ask, what would you order here? A few years back, when Tim Carman did his $20 Dinner column, he raved about place. The one time I tried it, I was not impressed. The food was meh, the floors were sticky and there was a language problem that left me with unanswered questions and no idea what to order. I probably ordered wrong, but what I got left me with no desire to try it again without a guide or some intel!

This is beyond horrible. I remember Jane from her time at Linden, and from the "Small World" Department, once was on the same ferry as her from Hatteras to Ocracoke, NC. I'm surprised this didn't make the local news. Hell, I'm surprised this didn't make the national news. R.I.P.

This month might have been particularly tough to get as they were just feature on the CBS Sunday Morning show a few weeks ago.

Gone, thanks!

Gone, thanks!

Gone, thanks!