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jml3

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Everything posted by jml3

  1. If you happen to be in Rexburg, Idaho anytime soon (I was there in December), Applebee's is the only place within a 30-mile radius to get a glass of (mediocre) wine. A point in its favor, I guess.
  2. I recently ate at Apelbee's -- in Rexburg, Idaho. Turns out it is the only place in a Mormon-dominated county which serves beer and wine. The wine list was short.
  3. We lived in Laurel for 27 years, beginning in 1971. What started out as Tippy's Taco House at some point morphed into Toucan Taco House, on Route 198 heading east just before Route 1. We and our kids had many a meal there. Waitress/cashier/owner(?) Libby was a fixture. It is still there.
  4. Well, last night was about what might be expected- chaotic! Not all the ingredients to make what was on the carte were delivered, nor all the wines on the list. There was a fair amount of standing around by servers clearly not ready for prime time. The room is rather awkward - long and narrow - six or so tables opposite the noisy bar, and another six or so opposite the kitchen, where Yannick and his crew were also running behind and rather frantic. Not sure how relaxing it was to sit opposite the kitchen at this point. The one thing that looked great was an outside terrace with 12-15 tables - but it was too cold to use it last night. And the food - up to Yannick's standards, which after all is the point. I had grilled shrimp atop a crepe of fennel and tomatoes ($13.50), then beautifully cooked duck breast with small pieces of turnips and diced olives, nicely sauced ($25.50). Spouse had calamari with mushrooms, gently accented with garlic ($10.50) and monkfish on a delicious (she said) bed of lentils de puy and veggies. ($26.00) The prices may not be correct - they are from my memory - but they are close to accurate. I'd give them a few days to settle down, but definitely a very welcome addition to Bethesda. Go on a nice evening so you can sit outside.
  5. Got a phone call a couple of hours ago that Yannick Cam's new place in Bethesda will (finally) open tomorrow night. Hope he cooks at the level he is capable of - Bethesda could use a really good place to eat.
  6. Over the past three weeks we have had two very good dinners at Addie's. The new chef, Nate Waugaman, who has been there since since the start of the year, is sourcing local ingredients (goat from the same farm as Komi) and cooking in an interesting, flavorful manner. Three weeks ago it was well-roasted goat.Tonite for the two of us it was a beet salad with Pipe Dream goat cheese, pecans, and fig oil with a little balsamic, fried Chincoteague oysters with red peppers, pork chop with eggplant lightly fried with Mexican spices and uncooked slices of heirloom tomatoes, and twice-cooked suckling pig with beets and roasted potatoes. All delicious. The patio is a very pleasant place on a soft summer evening; tables there are allocated on a first-come basis. The restaurant was full, so the word must be getting around.
  7. We have for a number of years on trips to NYC bought large sourdough or multi-grain boules from Balthazar Bakery in Soho, divided them into meal-size portions, and then put them into the freezer. They keep and defrost very well. But we have not been able to get to Manhattan for over a year, and are running short of portions. Is there any reasonable substitute in the DC area?
  8. Just got back from a rather disappointing evening at 2941. A significant part of the problem was our server David, but overall the food was not first rate. When my wife ordered her food, she was very specific about not being able to eat anything with leafy greens. This limitation is a result of a life threatening deep vein thrombosis incident discovered (ironically) nine year ago today. The amuse-bouche was set on the table with no explanation from the bus person. We had to summon David to tell us what it was - diced pineapple with some seasonings. Not a very impressive start! My wife's first course arrived - supposedly salmon rillette on a bed of cucumber slices. But the cucumber slices were missing - apparently considered leafy greens! Not very good communication between the waiter and the kitchen. Then my wife's main course arrived. It is described on the menu as "Grilled Lamb Loin, eggplant, Kalamata olives, cherry peppers." But half the plate was a salad of leafy greens(!) , with no sign of either olives or cherry peppers, and two tiny slices of eggplant. Either the waiter had no idea of the composition of the plate or he just forgot to warn us that half of the dish was a leafy green salad. So my wife could eat only half of her main; she said that the lamb was well cooked and tasty. We asked our waiter to ask the manager to come to our table to at a minimum suggest that the menu description be an accurate representation of the dish. He did not do that, although he said he would. Finally, the manager, Rachid, came by to ask if everything was satisfactory, and we were able to register our complaints. To his credit, he did comp my wife's plate. There were four of us. Our guests were my sister-in-law and her husband, both experienced and rather demanding eaters used to upscale places. We had suggested 2941 based on our experiences when Jonathan Krimm was running the kitchen and the front of the house worked smoothly. My brother in law found his halibut rather tasteless, and my sister-in-law enjoyed her duck breast and her first course of asparagus. I have the risotto paella, which was quite good, and the saddle of rabbit with morels, which was ok but skimpy on the morels. When the mains arrived, David was nowhere to be seen, so I got up to retrieve and pour our second bottle of wine. That brought him to the table quickly. As I said at the start, overall a disappointing experience. The space remains lovely, but the poor service we experienced and the less-than-stellar food will not bring us back soon. Too bad.
  9. We went to Oro Pomodoro at about 7:00pm last night, its second evening of operation. The room was about 2/3 full (many families with young kids at that hour) and owner Savino was limiting the crowd so that the new servers were not overwhelmed. Service was a little hectic and occasionally a bit confused, but nothing serious and that will likely smooth out in coming weeks. The ambiance is on purpose casual (paper napkins) but the room has a nice decor - lots of attractive touches make the space very pleasant. When full, it will be loud. Old Italian movies are shown on a big projection screen on one side of the room; a long bar that was beginning to get crowded on the other. There is an an open kitchen at the rear with a prominent pizza oven. Pizza Neopolitan style is the feature; according to Savino, that means a relatively soft crust rather than the crisp crust typical from Rome north. A wide variety of toppings, with prices from $9.95 to $15.95 for a 12-inch pie (the only size). We started with a small helping of eggplant parmigiana and small mozzarella balls with sundried tomatoes and pesto (not on the web site menu). Both very tasty. Then a pizza capricciosa to share. Also very tasty, good amount of cheese, good tomato sauce, generous amount of toppings. Dessert included fried strips of pizza dough topped with nutella, which could be addictive. Reasonable wine list, priced from $29 to a little over $50. We had a $33 Sardinian red. All in all, an above average neighborhood place, certainly an improvement over the chain restaurants in Rockville Town Square. Good for before or after the movies, or a casual lunch or evening meal.
  10. Has anyone else tried Bezu? We went for the first time tonight. This is a suburban restaurant - but the suburb is Potomac. Entrees $12-15, mains mostly $32+. Stylish room, "French Asian Fusion" cooking. A seriously older clientele (including us, I guess). The food was overall very good - I has a perfectly cooked swordfish steak over a melange of thinly sliced radishes, artichokes, fresh peas, and red peppers. Starter was just cooked scallops with endaneme (spelling?) pesto. Wife had "Poke Kobe" to start - a bit gimmicky with tempura batter fried with lots of spikes filled with just seared lukewarm (Kobe?) beef. Her main was tasty skate. Nice room - rather stylish decor. And a reasonable wine list. Only problem was that first time customers were very clearly treated differently than regulars. They got amuse bouche - we did not. They were greeted by both the manager and the owner - we were not. When we mentioned the first of these, we were quickly served a mini-chocolate dessert - rather a gratuitous gesture. Will we go back - probably when we don't want to head downtown (we live in Bethesda) for innovative cooking.
  11. For those of you who were wondering (like me) what agnolotti del plin meant, I found this on the web: The most refined agnolotti, called plin or agnolotti al plin, are those made by hand (the plin is the tool used to seal the pasta).
  12. I could come (quickly) after my class tomorrow, which ends at 7:00 p.m. at GW. But frankly I have never sent a PM and don't know how to do it. If there is still a spot, let me know how to sign up.
  13. Just watched a special on Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, and it led my wife to wonder if Restaurant Nora, which has somewhat the same philosophy (just somewhat) with respect to a focus on very good ingredients, is worth revisiting. Have not been there for 5+ years. Anyone with more recent experience?
  14. I know that the presence or absence of a chef in the kitchen on a particular night is not supposed to make a difference in the quality of what comes out of the kitchen in a top restaurant. But Michel Richard is such a personality that I can't help but think that the experience of an evening at Citronelle suffers when he is absent. Am I off-base on this? Is there any way of knowing, consistent with the lead time needed to book a table, when chef Richard will be in the house?
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