goldenticket

... But they had way too few dipping sauce options. Bob's Shabu Shabu had a big dipping sauce bar with tons of options. Mala Tang had very few sauces and they were brought to the table in small portions, so I ran out of sauce half way through and it took a while to flag our waitress down for more.

I was there a few months ago and they had a table near the entrance with a wide variety of sauces to choose from.

I really enjoyed the whole hot pot concept - it was a fun meal, with the option to keep it relatively healthy. With the Mala broth as our base, we tried the wine marinated beef, flounder, broccoli, sprouts, enoki mushrooms, and a few other items I've forgotten. The zhong dumplings were very good. The space has nice feel to it, not too crowded or noisy. Come to think of it, it's about time for another visit.

...I vacuum seal my cheeses now to prevent premature molding.

I'm curious what recommendations folks have for vacuum sealers. Looks like they run the gamut from $12 (Reynolds) to hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

(and that microscopic thread thing is pretty gross! )

I would be up for a lunch or $20 dinner outing- preferably after Feb. 14, due to work travel coming up in the next week.

Looks like Taste of Tunisia, Thai at Corner, Listrani's, and Adam's Corner may not be around for the long term. ARLnow reports a new building is in the works for the two buildings that house these establishments, subject to county approval.

Pat did a great job describing the dishes and the concept of the Melting Pot series. I really enjoyed everything that we were served and do plan to head back with friends to try some - or maybe all - of the dishes again. As Pat mentioned, we were both guests of the restaurant for this preview dinner.

The lumpia were lightly fried and not at all greasy, as has been my experience with other fried items at Masa 14. I liked the coarseness of the pork/shrimp filling, which provided a textural counterpoint to the crispy wrapper. On the condiment plate, I particularly enjoyed the spicy pickled cucumber batons, as well as the fresh mint. As Pat noted, the dipping sauce didn't shy away from a bit of heat.

The pansit was a fun mix of ingredients, including a piece of hard-boiled egg, which Antonio told us is the most common source of protein for many Filipinos. The pork belly was excellent; tender, full of great flavor, and not too fatty.

I'd have a hard time choosing between the bangus and the kare kare - both were very interesting and showed off some creativity in the interpretation of traditional dishes.

Pat quite aptly described the beautiful pairing of ham and fish in the bangus. The crunchy scallion and snow pea salad had a little hit of lime zest that brightened it up a bit. The only thing I didn't see on my plate were the golden raisins, but the corn and peas added sweetness.

I really liked the peanut/coconut sauce used on the kare kare, as well as the toasted rice. The disc of rice, cut from a log of sticky rice, was flash fried to give it a bit of crunch. I also like bok choy and appreciated the green it provided to the plate (visually and nutritionally), along with the green beans that were found beneath the beef.

The lack of/minimal sweetness in the dessert was a selling point for me. I love the texture of sticky rice and the caramelized and fresh mango offered natural sweetness, at the diner's discretion.

I tried both the martini and the shandy. The calamansi tasted similar to yuzu, offsetting the sweetness of the coconut and pineapple.

The shandy was very pleasant, refreshing and light. The lager wasn't an obvious component and I enjoyed the citrus quality of the drink.

This was a fun and interesting meal, made even more so by Chef Antonio's personal connection to the food and history of the dishes. I, too, will be looking forward to future iterations of the Melting Pot menu.

Branders seems to have relatively reasonable prices for sticky notes: 2.5" x 3", 50 sheets, free 4-color imprint and set-up. Costs start at $.48/per for 500, $.43/per for 1000, and drop off with volume.

I believe Pee-wee's connection is more to Texas, than food, specifically to the Alamo (and its basement see 2:20 in the clip) ...everyone must have seen "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", right? right??

Pee-wee tweeted yesterday that he loves pancakes. Based on the preview video on the Top Chef website, they'll be the Quickfire Challenge.

We tend to wind up at Cheesetique when we visit the farmers market and Taqueria Poblano etc. Thanks for putting this back on my radar-- I think I'm missing out!

I do think they are the best affineur in the area. The selection may not be as large as at other places, but the quality and diversity is top-notch. I especially like their focus on domestic cheeses. The addition of dining is the icing on the cake

Just to clarify a bit, there are actually two different restaurants in two different locations each: Fatty 'Cue, which has a Brooklyn and a West Village (Carmine St.) location, and Fatty Crab, with a West Village (Hudson St.) location, as well as the one on the upper west side, that Don refers to above.

The menus, and the restaurants themselves, are quite different. The W. Village location of Fatty 'Cue received 2 stars from the Times, and is my favorite of the group. For a while, it was a pop-up called Fatty Johnson's, during the renovation process. It also has the best bar/cocktails of all 4 places; the bartenders here really know their stuff.

This is the Fatty Crab thread. Fatty 'Cue should have a separate thread - and this ^ should be the first post Please give us more details!

Picked up a menu today and scanned it but can't seem to figure how to post it here.

Under the reply box, you should see the 'more reply options' button. Click it and you'll get a bigger reply window, with an 'Attach File' option at the bottom.

Am I the *only* one who goes to La Fromagerie!?!

I had another wonderful lunch there on Saturday, the highlight being the rabbit "steak and cheese" - full of tender rabbit with great flavor, caramelized leeks(?), and a cheese that I've forgotten. The +1 and I split this, along with the roasted sweet potato sandwich, which included arugula, pecans, and goat cheese. Both sandwiches were on the daily special menu, but Sebastien mentioned that he's thinking of putting the rabbit on the regular menu. I hope he does

I'm correcting the title of the thread to "Parsian" which is the name of the restaurant (not Parisian). Parsian seems to be a variation on Persian, which is consistent with the Iranian rice listed on the menu. Haven't tried it yet, but reviewers on other sites compared it to Shamshiry, which I also haven't tried.

There's a non-working website (parsianrestaurant.com) that says coming soon...

Unfortunately, I may have a work commitment tomorrow evening - depending on whether I decide to be a good Do-Bee or not.

Anyone that didn't get on the list who could definitely make it is welcome to take my spot.

Just a little over $5,500 and 30 hours to go.

The directors are not friends of mine , but I think it's a very worthwhile project and an important story to tell.

Every little bit helps...

Looks like a thread merge is in order - or a decision about restaurant v. shopping/cooking venue.

Website (703) 683-3247

I believe they're still in the soft open phase, so aren't operating with regular hours. When they are running normal hours, they will be open early (7ish?) for coffee, etc. until around 10, maybe later on Fri/Sat. Eater reports that they'll only be open in the evening for the first few weeks; they opened around 11:30 today according to their Facebook page. The Facebook page seems to be the best source of information, at least for now.

ETA: FB update from a few minutes ago:

The lions are still in training! The hours are evolving. Bakery open this week 11:30am. Wine bar, 6pm to the public Saturday. Open seating.

A homemade Scotch egg. The +1 got a wild hair last night and I was the lucky beneficiary - yum!

The official opening is tomorrow, but I believe they are open today for anyone who wants to stop in and check things out. The bread selection is impressive - and the ones I've tried (brown bread, batch loaf, and crack fruit and nut) are quite good - not a surprise, knowing the time and effort Nathan has put into learning the craft. The meat case is filled with lots of tempting cuts, as is the prepared food case - several components of Todd Thrasher's cocktail concoctions are available for purchase. The wine bar/demo kitchen area is plush, yet cosy, with the banquette area reminding me of a French bistro.

In my opinion, this is a very exciting, and long-anticipated, addition to the neighborhood.

Congratulations and much success to Cathal, Meshelle, Todd, Maria, Nathan, Dan, John, and everyone else involved!

I came home from Los Angeles yesterday with a bag of dried beans from the Santa Monica farmers market, only to find that J. had eaten most of the leftover christmas ham and discarded the ham bone. DOH! Why didn't I put it in the freezer?

Fortunately, my ham bone survived in the fridge until I was ready to use it yesterday. I took inspiration from Zora and made a cranberry bean and ham soup for dinner last night. Hit the spot on a cold day.

(Have I mentioned how much I love my pressure cooker? The new Vita Mix is a close second, as it let me chop onions in a matter of seconds!)

I'll be there

(don't forget to update the thread title with the new date info )

It looks like they came from Michaumaillé Farm.

The blue can is a duck pate with grisets - a type of mushroom.

The white can is the house pate - 20% goose and duck foie gras dispersed in goose, duck, and pork.

The tan can is duck foie gras.

Do the cans looks ok (no dents, rusting, etc.)? If yes, then check the contents out with your nose and eyes. This website says foie gras should have a shelf life of 'several years' - which is not very helpful. Another one says foie gras can improve with time, like wine.

If they pass the sniff test, I'd just enjoy them (maybe not all at the same time) with some very nice bread and wine, maybe champagne. Maybe some others have more detailed suggestions - and feedback on whether or not to even eat the stuff

I stopped in for some carryout on the way home from the gym last night. I wanted to try a couple things (and was sharing with the +1) so I ordered:

lemongrass chicken banh mi - a generous sandwich for $5. The chicken (mostly thigh meat) was nicely cooked and seasoned, toppings were plentiful, and the bread was crusty and fresh. I'm not a banh mi expert, but this had enough fresh ingredients and interesting flavors that I'd certainly order it (or another variation ) again.

house pho (rare eye of round, brisket) - delicious! I'm very happy that I no longer have to drive to Arlington to satisfy pho cravings - especially ones that hit after 8:00pm. The broth was flavorful, a touch sweet, but nuanced in its seasoning. Both meats were very good and there was plenty of them, along with the noodles, sprouts, and basil.

pork vermicelli (weezy mentioned this in the first post) - this item suffered the most from not being eaten immediately - and to be fair it sat for quite a while before we got to it. The vegan imperial roll had lost any crispiness, but the fillings were good, if not terribly interesting. The pork was tender and there was a lot of it. I think I'll stick to ordering this in house in the future.

The interior is pleasant - my favorite thing was the map of Vietnam painted on the wall and flanked with wooden letters spelling out the names of various cities/towns. The bowls for the pho were enormous! Service was friendly and helpful; food was ready quickly.

This is a nice little addition to Old Town's dining options - and very affordable. The above was about $25.

A vegetarian 'use up what you got' kind of meal:

roasted spiced sweet potato wedges

lemon roasted Brussels sprouts

spicy chana dal

Restaurateurs, chefs, and PR reps: Please send all specials (recurring or otherwise, wine or food) to media@dcdining.com to be included on our community calendar. Rest assured, it's in your best financial interest, and it's also in the interest of the DC dining community because we ALL want to know. It's free, and it's a win-win-win situation for you, the dining community, and donrockwell.com

Sounds like this will be a great resource!

Do you strictly want this information to come from the industry folks, or should members send you info about deals they know about at their favorite/local spots?

My lunch salad sounds a little like lperry's, but less exciting - butter lettuce, some crumbled fat-free feta, and some pickled shrimp.