Apples & Bananas

Anyone catch last night's episode on New Orleans?

Yes. The interview with Emeril was slightly awkward with Bourdain basically taking back years of bashing. Otherwise, it was a great look at the complete lack of progress and how bad the restaurant industry has been hurt post-storm.

Where else can one get a traditional, well-executed Caesar salad?

[Please excuse the unintentional pun.]

The Majestic in Old Town Alexandria has one of the best.

BlackSalt has very good ones on the lunch menu. If you call in advance and speak with Joey Zumpano, the general manager, I'm sure that you can arrange to have them at dinner. They only use fresh blue crabmeat from the US and Mexico, not canned, pasteurized crabmeat from Asia.

Has anyone had the ones at Hank's Oyster Bar in Dupont?

I'm looking to get a quality crabcake this weekend (Saturday night dinner) and need to know what options I have.

Where have you had your best crabcake in the city?

I was there on Tuesday and was underwhelmed. I thought the service was off and the food was unremarkable. It wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't what I expected from a top 15 restaurant.

I had a much better experience at Sushi-Ko the next night!

I'm going to the Four Seasons for dinner on Thursday and have never really heard anything about it. Thoughts? Is there something I should watch out for?

I was able to talk the folks at the Big Hunt in Dupont to turn their TVs to CNN last week for Iowa and my friends and I drew a pretty large crowd of interested people.

So that might be an option if you're in the neighborhood.

Does anyone know of any Thai Restaurants in Cecil County, MD? Or in near by Newark, DE?

I heard that Beck is 37, and Equinox is in the 70s.

Does anyone know when the official list will be online?

Word on the street is that the pho 75 in Rosslyn has slipped considerably over the past year? Can anyone corroborate this story?

I was just there three hours ago and can say with all certainty that it has not slipped. It's the same magic in a bowl it always has been.

I'm looking for a restaurant where I can find a good pot pie - turkey, chicken, it doesn't really matter.

Any thoughts?

Looks like the new location on Washington Blvd will be opening soon after a long delay ( thanks to the county). It is located in the old Pica Deli location. Looking forward to having it back in the area. Hopefull the food will be a bit more consistient.

Where exactly on Washington Blvd?

I need to get a few bags of fortune cookies for an office event. Does anyone know of a shop in Chinatown where I can get these?

Was anyone surprised that Barton was the crowd favorite? Or that RD didn't finish his dish?

Overall I thought it was a great event with fantastic food and Bourdain and Andres did a wonderful job.

What'd you think??

I was just at The Childe Harold with a group of friends, including one that works there, and tonight is their last night - at least the last night they're serving food (they might be open tomorrow for drinks).

Does anyone know why they've suddenly closed. My friend, who is a waiter there, seemed pretty surprised that they were closing.

I watched it on Wednesday and actually went to my local grocery store to ask if they could sell me veal bones - which they couldn't. Anyone know of a place where I can get them so I can try some marrow on toast?

I have a friend who is going to dinner with a group of Vegans in Federal Hill - any suggestions?

In real life I play the role of a tv producer, and I've been looking for a butcher to come on the program I work on and talk about the various cuts of meat and how best to prepare them.

Does anyone know of a good local butcher who might be willing to make a TV appearance?

I actually just came back from Gifford's downtown (I went there because it's close to my office) and today is the last day they're serving pumpkin ice cream - fyi.

Oyamel might be just what you're looking for.

http://www.oyamel.com/

Does anyone know of an ice cream shop or a grocery store that sells pumpkin ice cream?

I think the idea that anyone wants Roberto out of business is simply laughable. This area benefits from having him here, and having him succeed. If anything, we only want him to live up to our expectations and what we know he's capable of.

Isn't the broader question here why can't Roberto find consistency? Anyone who has been to Bebo knows that he can churn out quality food, and occasionally the service can be spot on. But in a city where it's fairly easy to find a restaurant that can deliver, and deliver with a great deal of regularity, why can't Roberto do this?

I know this is a question that's been asked a million times, but surely it's within his capacity to do it.

Does anyone know if they're planning on eventually opening up a location closer to DC?

I'm sure if we all pitched in a few dollars we could probably claim it. DonRockwell.com's Minibar.

That has a nice ring to it.