Bart

Taking Don's advice from my question in the "help needed" forum, my wife and I stopped by this place last night. We had very limited time between work and a 7 pm commitment so we only got drinks and apps. There were lots of parking spots available on the street and we parked directly in front of the place. Surprising for a Friday night I thought. We got there a little after 6 (in time for free parking) and left a little after 7. The place looked fairly empty, but we were there early and stayed only in the bar area. When you walk in, there's a 10 or so seats at the bar and a few low tables with seating for another 10 or so. The main restaurant is to the right of the door/bar area and we never went in there so I'm not sure what what happening in there. The service was great - very friendly, casual, fun and attentive. Our main server was the bartender but we also interacted with a couple other women (hostess and manager maybe?). They were all very hot! ;-) When we sat down our server/bartender asked if she could check our coats and we said no thanks, but a couple minutes later my wife's coat slipped off the chair next to her and when she picked it up to stuff it in the corner, the hostess noticed this and ran over and asked if she could check it for us. Nice catch on her part! A little later in the meal, a third woman (manager?) stopped by and asked how our food was and if the wings were too hot. I sort of joked that they could be hotter and she immediately offered to bring out some hotter sauce. It wasn't at all necessary, and we had a nice chat about the place and how they are going to expanding the menu and offering new dishes. The menu itself was pretty small. You can see it on their site, but there were only maybe 10 entrees and 10 apps. (just checked....it's actually 9 of each). They also had an additional appetizer and main course special that was not on the menu. Actually the menu online is similar but different to the one we saw last night. Since our time was short, we only ordered apps, but they had happy hour specials on 3 apps and a couple mixed drinks and a few whites, reds and one rose. They all looked to be about half price from the regular menu. We got the octopus special which was good, but not as tender as the most recent one I had at Kapnos. We also got the steak frites with truffle aioli, chicken wings with your typical buffalo wing sauce spruced up with creme fraiche, and the sweet breads. The sweet breads were served on a bed of relish and covered with the (now) very spicy wing sauce (this time without the creme fraiche). It was a very interesting combo that worked well. The sweet breads themselves were melt in your mouth delicious......they could be "tongue chewed". No teeth required! They were my favorite dish of the night. Four glasses of wine and four appetizers only cost us 63 bucks before tip (happy hour pricing) but because of the great service the meal ended up being just shy of $80! ;-) This is not really a convenient area for us to get to, and it's not close to home, but if I'm ever in the area again, I'd make a effort to go back. Two thumbs up!

Thanks laniloa, sounds intersting. Iperry - Crystal City is pretty much starting point of the trip and I was looking for something a little further out, but I do love Jaleo!

Thanks Don! Yeah, the parking/crowd issue could be deal breaker for a lot of these places.

This is very short notice, but I figured I'd give it a shot. My wife and I have to be at Washington-Lee High school tonight at 7 pm and were looking to kill some time after work somewhere between there and Crystal CIty/Pentagon City. The school right off 66 near Wilson Blvd and N Quincy St. We'll be traveling through or near Rosslyn, Clarendon, Colonial Village, Lyon Village, and Virginia Square. I'm not very familiar with this area and the Dinning Guide / Restaurant Guide has A LOT of options! Does any place stand out as a good place to get a couple apps and a drink? Thanks!

Where's the Trip Advisor quote? I couldn't find one on the Graffiato website. Anyhow, Mike Isabella didn't write it or post it, he just retweeted it. (not sure that matters, but may it does a little)

Yeah, it's a weird choice of word. I didn't get bent about the "man" part, I just thought it would have sounded better with "handmade"

Sort of on topic.................... I got this picture in a retweet (I hate myself for typing that) from Mike Isabella. The original tweet came from @JohnBarton_Chef and it said, "Everyone should have this written on the bottom of their menu"

Thanks folks. I didn't even know Great Wall existed until now (!) so I'll check it out if I'm in the area. But yeah, for the time being, Amazon may be the way to go"¦"¦I planned to make these dumplings a week ago for NYE so a couple more days won't kill me!

I don't think so. I just did a quick search and here's what I found: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/34264/wheat-flour-vs-wheat-gluten These are two related, but different products. Gluten is protein that is formed from two pre-cursor proteins, glutanin and gliaden, found in wheat flour in the presence of water and under enzymatic activity. It forms resilient stretchable networks which give yeast raised bread its structure. Whole wheat flour is... well... whole wheat berries, ground up. It is mostly starch, but contains all glutenin, gliaden, and the necessary enzyme to create gluten, which forms naturally when the flour is moistened, if given long enough or kneaded to accelerate the process. However, even a very "strong" flour (bread flour) will have no more than about 10%-15% percent protein by weight, so it cannot form more than that amount of gluten. Vital wheat gluten is essentially concentrated, powdered gluten, without the rest of the parts of the wheat berry. They are not freely interchangeable, as the gluten does not bring the starch, bran, and other components that flour does. You may, in specific recipes, be able to use just gluten, but not in the general case. And even if substitution is possible, you would have to determine the correct ratio to achieve the desired outcome. Using vital wheat gluten in lieu of whole wheat flour, in most applications, will either fail completely (no thickening from starch, as in a gravy), or be dense and rubbery, and practically unpalatable (as in a bread).

Do they have a website? I see a front page, but there doesn't seem to be anything else. I'm looking for a menu"¦"¦"¦is there one online or is it operator error?

I found potato starch, yam starch, corn starch, tapioca starch, bean starch (?) and a few others I don't recall, but no wheat starch. They also had about a dozen different types of flour (wheat flour, rice flour"¦"¦), but no wheat starch.

I'm trying to make shrimp dumplings (har how) with the translucent wrappers and the recipe calls for wheat starch. I can't find it anywhere including H Mart (Centerville location). Does anyone know where to find it? Does it go by another name? Thanks!

For that price you can get the tasting menu at the Inn At Little Washington and sit at the chef's table in the kitchen!

Thanks for posting. So do you still exist? Will new issues be coming out? I posted earlier in this thread about getting the winter issue (with things like butternut squash recipes) in April, so can we look forward to the next issue having tomato and basil recipies in it?!?!

Bourdain did a show on it a few years back and, yep, when it was feeding time, the ducks came a-runnin'!

I just hit the "Melissa Kane Harris" link in Don's earlier message and it takes me to a facebook page, but not the one that says "Currently living in Jamaica". The one I got says something like "content not available". Humm. As a former Flavor subscriber and a current 2 year subscription holder I'm not very happy. Of course I was never too happy to see photo after photo at the end of the magazine of Melissa Kane Harris hobnobbing with the rich and beautiful at some exclusive event or another. Seems like......"Ma-lis-sa, ma-lis-sa, ma-lis-sa, she take the money and run Venezuela to Jamaica" I hope there's a reasonable explanation for this, but all signs point to, "not likely".

That seems a little harsh and it's a lot different than what's on yelp. My wife and I ate at Rogue in the summer of 2012 and loved it. We got the wine pairings and were not disappointed in the pours. In fact, my glass was topped off once or twice when I finished a glass too early for the pace of the food. However, I totally understand where MDT is coming from. Nowadays, the price of wine in most places qualifies as gouging and it's nearly making me switch to beer or (gasp) have no alcohol with the meal. I was at the Ritz in Pentagon City the other day and (IIRC) the cheapest wine by the glass was $12 and the most expensive was $22! I went with a $7 beer instead. In fact, I had 2 which was still cheaper than my wife's single glass of chardonay. And when I think about the fantastic meal we had at Rasika last spring, it's always tainted by the fact that the cheapest (and I think only) chardonay on the menu was $60! (my wife likes chardonay and it was her birthday, cut me some slack!!). Getting off topic here, but I do sympathize with MDT in understanding how the price of wine can really color your view of a place.

And don't forget, they're now serving lunch at the H st. location (as DarkStar mentioned above). I was in the area last week and stopped by on Tuesday......no line, no waiting and a perfect meal for a cold day.

If you want something slightly off the beaten track (but still walking distance (maybe 45 minutes or an hour) to the French Quarter) (or a short cab ride away) try "Elizabeth's". It's a little funky, very mellow, very cool, very New Orleans, and the price is right. We went there last year for Sunday brunch after my wife ran the marathon (took a cab there and walked back to the Quarter). There was a bit of a wait so I went to the bar and got 2 mimosas at 6 bucks each. When we got a table, we did the "make your own mimosa" option which was a bottle of full champagne and a pitcher of orange juice for 21 bucks!!! Now that's a deal! They're famous for their praline bacon which we dutifully tried. The kids liked it more than me, but everyone love the boudin ball appetizer. The rest of the meal was very good.......omelets, waffles, French toast, eggs, etc with a New Orleans bent. http://www.elizabethsrestaurantnola.com/index.html PS - there's also a super cool record store, Euclid Records, about a block away. While we were waiting for our table, I walked down there and checked it out with my mimosa in hand and no one thought that this was at all unusual. Ahhhhh, New Orleans.

"Peking Duck" Route 1 in Alexandria a couple miles south of the beltway. The chef carves the duck (skin, fat (discarded), & meat) so quickly that it doesn't have time to cool down before you eat it. Skin stays crisp, meat stays warm. A couple bucks cheaper than PGI's version too. http://www.pekingduck.com/ With a website this bad, you know the food must be good!

Don - I may have someone for you to write your story. He's an old buddy of mine who is not a professional writer but wants to be. He's had a few freelance things published in the Post's Magazine section a few years back which he can provide as a "resume" How can I get you two together electronically?

Here's Tom S's input from the Post. There are only 4 comments. 3 positive and 1 negative, but it made me laugh: "he should stick to spanish tapas...even jaleo sucks and now he wants to venture into chifa?" It's rough out there!

RdV has four openings tomorrow at 2 for their "Evolution of Wine" tasting. It's 60 bucks and you get a glass of champagne, a tour and then you taste 4 wines with food. My wife and I did it a few weeks ago and it was great. (this is the only way to see the place.....you can't just drive up and do a tasting). Write to info@rdvvineyards.com if interested. I just did and they're still available. (I was thinking/hoping this was a different type of tour, but it's the same one I just did)

I happened to be in Union Market today around noon and all seats (10 or so) taken. There were no signs/menus but when I asked a guy standing in line what the deal was, one of the diners said they do one ramen a day and that's it. It also appears to be cash only. I didn't have time to eat there but I'd like to go back. I hope they add a sign or two to explain the rules to people though.........the guy I was talking to lost his place in line when he found out it was cash only

The Ashby Inn also carries RdV's "Exsurgo" which is their "lower grade" wine (from grapes not used in their two signature wines). My wife and I got a bottle of it there this summer. It was great, and at 60 bucks a bottle it's deal for an RdV. All the money goes to a veterans charity too. I believe they also sell this at El Dente. I think the only place you can get this is in a restaurant that sells it or online (I don't think you can get it at RdV because of payment issues...... they wanted all the money to go to the charity and they if they sold it on site there were some problems with the billing and the charity getting the money.........at least that's what I thought they said when I was there on a tour). Anyhow, we "discovered" it at Ashby and enjoyed it. Also if you're in Linden and it's a warm, sunny day, try their rose. The 2012 blows the 2011 away. Dry and crisp and perfect. It's probably a little late in the year for rose, but it's never too early to start thinking about next summer. It's also one of their most economical wines, so if you want to join their case club, the rose is a cheap(er) way to get in the door.