Nadya

Suckling pig DOES NOT JUSTIFY its reputation?? DOES NOT JUSTIFY ITS REPUTATION?? I agree with most of the review, obviously, but this is annoying. And if Komi is "just blocks away from the White House," then by way of the same exaggeration I'm an Olympic caliber skater. Although am happy darling Anna got some recognition.

You say this, yet every time I had The Grill for lunch, I lost weight. I am serious, I promise. How? - you say. Surely, you're jesting. Am not. Get a minimal breakfast. At noon, get a big fat sandwich with pork shoulder, provolone and broccolini. (Say "con tutti, per favore," when you order. When he reaches to close your sandwich after smothering it with peppers and onions, shake your head, smile, and say, "oh no, con TUTTI tutti, formaggio i broccolini, per favore." Also, buy two cannollis. Eat sandwich and one cannoli for lunch. Sock the second one away in fridge hidden from lustful glances of envious coworkers. Immediately, you'll feel fat and happy. Around 4.30 - 5, eat your second cannolli. Go to the gym. Return home and go to bed. You won't be particularly hungry so it will be easy. Get up in the morning. Admire sight of perfickly flat stomach in mirror. Whisper to self, "Ich heisse superfantastisch." You see. Is easy. Works for me every time.

Work overwhelms, phone is ringing, lovesick suitors bore to tears, girl escapes to Eden (Center.) Choosing a place to sit down at Eden Center is like picking a perfect shade of green paint: the problem is that there's only two thousand of them. Weaving through too-dark, too-dingy, too-loud, too-karaoke-infested, we landed at Four Sisters - a bright and welcoming spot smack in the middle of Little Viet Nam known as the Eden Center. The menu is exhaustive as many of these places are. Phorsaking pho, we went for the following: Green Papaya Salad - tart and crisp, full of cilantro and lime. Could have done without a wilted shrimp, but hey, can't have it all. Beef in lime juice appetizer - thin, flavorful slices and again full of cilantro and lime. Personally, these are two of my favorites, so I don't mind the repetition. Pork rice crepes - this dish takes a bit of engineering to be enjoyed fully. Take a slice of pork, lay a small soft crepe stuffed with more pork on top, add a chopstickful of diced carrots, and drizzle with fish sauce. Pray to archangels and cherubs that the whole contraption doesn't collapse. Carefully lift by chopsticks toward mouth. Otherwise it's a bit bland. Short ribs with caramelized onions - yum, so simple, take meat, add heat and a few spices, and a perfect comfort dish materializes. Afterwards, we poked around various bakeries and produce stores to ooh and ahh and open eyes so very wide. I got a bunch of superspringy baby bok choy, some almond cookies and some fish sauce. Also got to marvel at a kinky fantastic miraculous display of every pig part known to man - hearts, kidneys, uteri, tongues, etc. Warning: don't bring the easily shocked and the tender-hearted, they ruin the fun. ("Go back to saving the world," I mumble, administering a mental kick to their vulnerable soft bottoms.) All in all, a fantastic time was had by all and a great distraction when you want to escape from the office and when Cosi just don't beckon any more.

The new spring/summer is finally here because this week we were dishing out softshell appetizers and selling them in numbers too daunting to contemplate. Wheeee!

I had braised goat shoulder a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. It was gamy but not overpowering, tender, flavorful and everything a big fat chunk of braised meat ought to be. If you don't like goat, you probably won't like this one, but to me it was wonderful both that evening and the morning after.

Personally, I don't think I ever bought less than two cannollis in all my visits to the Grill. Buying just one feels offensive somehow.

Thanks

Tooling along Florida Ave. from Trinidad toward downtown, there's a rather gritty, warehouse-ish space of several soccer fields teeming with trucks, concrete two-storied boxes and food sale signs. (Think Notting Hill before Hugh Grant's floppy-haired charms and the subsequent invasion of expense account dwellers. ) The rumor is this is the place to go for all kinds of produce, meats and freaky items like salmon cheeks. Does anyone have any experiences to share? I've recently moved to the area and have been meaning to investigate, but you know how that goes. So, any particular stall I should check out or miss? When to go? What to get?

Oh yes, these are the best, and my all-time favorite childhood snack - it was until I discovered what the numbers of the side panel mean. "Mommy! What's a calorie???"

You all know how much I love Komi. But I will be honest with y’all. I miss Sebastian. So what is the problem? You say. You know where to find him, don’t you? You see, that’s what happens when you get temporarily diverted from your fabulous essence by places like Home Depot. When instead of “lamb or halibut?” you begin pondering dilemmas like “Palisades sodding Park green or Lady sodding Liberty green?” When rubber gloves, screwdrivers and painting aprons become your uniform of choice instead of sparkly top and stilettos. But I digress. Because one’s true nature has to come out, because I got tired of looking like crap, and because I really, really miss Sebastian, last Saturday night was finally the time for me to re-emerge as a fabulous, dressy, be-stilettoed creature, and pay a visit to Rasika. To be impressed, pampered and adored. Walking in, I was impressed by a pleasantly subdued décor. You know how so many Indian places look like harems that saw better days? And there is nothing wrong with opulence when you feel like Bollywood for a day. It’s just that so few people can do it well. Rasika is an interesting mix of Scandinavian modern and a few carefully chosen Indian hints. The lampshades, the beads, the spicy colors all are unmistakably eastern, but the bones underneath are clean, sparing, and stylish. The lounge tables are low and banquettes beckons, the lighting casts a warm glow on the most bedraggled of faces. The bar didn’t look too terribly busy – no raucous crowds packed in five deep. But with no reservation, a table for two could only be had in the lounge, which we were only too glad to settle for. The crowd, I noticed with approval, was slightly better looking than average Washington. If you are even a little bit like me, once in a while you sigh for the overall stylelessness that pervades the place. This is why I was pleased to be surrounded by good-looking people. Oh sure, there was an occasional muffin midriff and an unpainted toenail tellingly protruding from an unseasonably strappy shoe. But by and large, eye candy was abound. Menus were quickly snatched away from us as the fabulous Sebastian ladled on pampering and adoration by ordering for us. Just as well, because the small dishes looked too tempting to order only a few, and you know what? He knows better. And time was so easy to while away over a crisp champagne cocktail with a zingy pickled ginger. The food, darlings, surprised me by how authentically Indian it was. For some reason, the style and fabulosity quotient of the place led me to expect something fusiony, fashionable, IndeBleu-like, but better – not the known, the true and the comforting flavors. The best dish came early. A small dish of crisped spinach was the highlight of the meal because, oh, so many reasons. It was rich. It melted in my mouth. It was sweet. It was crunchy. It was an opposite of everything one ever thought about spinach. It comes with tiny bits of diced tomatoes, tamarind and sweet yogurt. It’s not swimming in cream a la palak paneer. It’s just rich and melty and sexy and I could eat it every day and not get bored. A handful more traditional appetizers followed, aloo potatoes, lentils, mango shrimp – all so well executed, so cleanly prepared, so comforting and well-done, I didn’t want anything but. We split the main of braised lamb shank which was everything a lamb shank should be – big, tender, flavorful, falling off the bone. A split dessert was a tribute to more richness and comfort – carrot mass with diced pistachios surrounded by a delicate drizzle of saffron cream. A special note of appreciated to a mixed bread basket with rich, buttery flatbreads speckled with bits of veggies or flattened by brown fiber of some sort but delicious nevertheless. That evening, Rasika delivered everything I needed and didn’t even know I did. The style. The comfort. The eye candy. The great food. And the joy of returning into my true element after what felt like years of Home Depot hibernation. Edited to say I forgot to mention the minced chicken appetizer that came in form of two Ron Jeremy cigars with a liberal drizzle of mint chutney. They were excellent, flavorful and very tender.

This is quite possibly the best thing I read after Bridget Jones' Diary.

So does that mean they will reopen in the same location once remodeling is complete?

Is Tosca out of the price range? Some of the best pasta here...

You know, that can work both ways. Locating a restaurant in a locale that's already oversaturated with eateries of every caliber may be chancy. I would wager that a Hill resident with a degree of sophistication doesn't have THAT many options, which is good news for a restaurant. I mean, it's either this or Sonoma. Right? And sorry, I don't think that BdC is in any danger. Have you seen Johnny's space? It's way too small to encourage the kind of mayhem and random curmudgeonliness that BdC is justly famous for. It spells civilized dining. BdC doesn't. And thank heavens for that.

Our book is filling up fast for the date. I know...will get into OpenTable and add hilarious bits to every reservation.

Ooh, I see the old faithful tuna gets a makeover of a new side dish? Doesn't it usually come with farro? Although I adore the spinach/pine nuts mix, I think Cafe Atlantico does it as small plates and side dishes as well. Very Mediterranean. And I'm ecstatic that the lamb is back on the menu. This is sentimental for me - the VERY FIRST time I ate at Komi many moons ago, I had lamb with lentils and cherry glaze for my main, and these memories still cut a wide swath through the collection of dining stories amassed since then. Must go soon. Oh, and you really do have to get suckling pig next time you go. It's a teleporting experience.

That's very sad news! And I don't even live there. A few times I visited, I always had nice comforting meals....hanger steak, calf liver, and other homey yummies. Why are you moving? Do you suppose that the Hill didn't sustain the outfit like it should have? I'm sure they will be packed in Dupont but it's not like people on the Hill have a plethora of options when it comes to good but not sky-high expensive dining.

I haven't been to Maestro or 2941, but for me, the tasting room at Eve has never failed to rouse that "awwww pumpkin" feeling.

I've had good experiences at the Indian place - nice tandoori dishes.

That's a great idea. And he should make it into a chain, too, with obliging Italian youths stuffing your sandwiches to the brim. And cannolli. Oh yes, cannolli.

I'm sorry to see it go. It was one of the few spots that evolved organically in the whole Lego-box neighborhood.

Playing his violin in that little whorehouse ten miles outside of town. Delete, delete!

How in the name of the arse did Oyamel make the list? Its mention is positively jarring next to places like Citronelle and Vidalia. And Oyamel is as much a source of "vibrant, authentic flavors" as Crystal City of true urban hipness. Bleah.

Well, what I can say, it's BdC again because it's Thursday and one's imagination runs dry. I should also note that it's the second time this week. Good charcuterie plate with adorable wee gherkins. Wonderful moules provencale, plump and flavorful, swimming in steamy fragrant broth so good for sopping up with your baguette. Passable beef bourgignone - one half of this dish in my kitty bag should only be better today after it spent a night in my car seat. Desserts at BdC have always been marginal, so go with iced wine and load up! Same calories, same sugar content, but so much more fun when the cumulative effect kicks in. Plus, the buzz lasts so much longer than the aftertaste from your tarte pomme normandie. Wheee!

The place was hopping last night, with every table taken by couples of families, and a crowd of sweatshirted youths lolling on the stairs waiting for a large table. Grabbed two seats at the bar and tore through the menu with a vengeance. In the maki department, eel and avocado never disappoints, as I love them both, and even more so together. Spicy scallop roll had an interesting tint of fresh herbs, perhaps chives, that added a fragrant zing to the slippery scallop flesh. We also enjoyed a pile of nigiri too numerous to count, but I do remember fantastic tuna, chewy octopus and more gorgeous, fat, sweet eel. For dessert, we called for double ice cream (green tea and red bean) coated in something frozen and a red bean cake. Amusingly, the only utensils served with ice cream are toothpicks. You can ask for soup spoons, of course, and Jenni will fetch them, but the look of "you baka gaijin" will be written all over her face. Let me tell you, so much fun can be had by impaling frozen ice cream balls on a pick, holding them up, and licking them in strategic places to make sure melting is spread evenly and avoid plopping a dripping wad of cream in your lap. Red bean cake is four tiny but deliciously chewy, crunchy wedges, consistency is somewhat like dryish pecan pie in rice pape. Yummy. In and out in an hour, just what I needed for an unassuming Thursday night to save my energy for the weekend.