Kibbee Nayee

Lebanese Taverna is a wonderful local story. I have been a frequent visitor at their original location on Washington Blvd in Arlington since 1980, even before it expanded to the place next door and before the Abi-Najm family opened up 10 more locations. I think the original Westover location, and the Tysons Galleria location, are the best of this group's restaurants. These two, along with Me Jana and Mama Ayesha's Calvert Cafe, are the best examples of sit-down Lebanese dining in our area. Lebanese cuisine is western Syrian cuisine with touches of French influence here and there. For some reason, it doesn't get the appreciation of food critics like Sietsema, but when fused with the rest of the eastern Mediterranean, like Zaytinya or Agora, it somehow gets more love.

I was unaware of some of the history of Addie's that appeared on this topic, so Lady KN and I took her elderly father there for dinner. It was very good. The bread basket was a paper bag in the shape of a school bus, filled with decadent biscuits. The story to accompany the biscuits was that Mr. Black's grandmother was the namesake Addie, and she made him these same biscuits as he went to school on the bus, devouring the biscuits along the way. I enjoyed the octopus appetizer, which was a generous tentacle, lightly fried, and served on a bed of house-made and olive-heavy tartar sauce.I would have been content with another tentacle or two of this dish as a main course. It was delicious. My main was the special of lightly dusted and fried rockfish on a bed of white green beans and polenta, and it was the best rockfish dish I've had this year. The fish was cooked perfectly, and the crunch of the fried coating gave way to the tender fish beneath. Lady KN also had it and loved it. Her father started out with a half order of mussels and then the seared scallops. He happily cleaned his plates, which was not a bad performance by a 92-year-old who claims to have no appetite. With a $48 bottle of Chalk Hill Chardonnay, the total bill without tip came to $180 for 3 covers. Or $220 with tip. Service was very gracious and smooth. Our server mentioned that starting soon, Tuesdays will feature half-price bottles of wine and Wednesdays will feature reduced price oysters of 5 varieties.

I knew Simon Mandros -- his son runs it now, and I watched him grow up. I was at Franklin and Marshall in the mid-70s and lived in an apartment around the corner on Charlotte St. Simon was my landlord, and my grocer. Just a block and a half away was the West End market, where I got the rest of my provisions some 40 years ago.

From my friend Michael Bozzelli at Bozzelli's flagship in Springfield. I would take a Bozzelli's chicken parm sandwich over all of them.

Setting the bar kind of low, but my go-to for a gut-bomb burrito is Tippy's Taco. I know, I know, but don't judge....

[By the way, and slightly off-topic, but for those interested, "Lancaster" is pronounced "LANG-kus-ster" by locals.]

I'm glad I started this topic, but I still don't know what I'm getting when I order "Amish Chicken" off a local menu, and I guess that was my point all along.....

And the most perfect meal involving "Amish" or any other kind of chicken is Lancaster County chicken corn soup, available this time of year, often from a Lancaster County fire hall during a fall festival.

Xenia in Columbia?

Ouzo Bay?

I can't believe I've lived my entire life without trying "Spam Fries"....

Mark, that was frikkin' hilarious.

I see the menu item "Amish Chicken" show up all over the DC metropolitan area, and I have personally tried it Jackson 20, Old Angler's Inn, Barrel and Crow, New Heights, and maybe a dozen other places. I grew up in Lancaster, PA, which can be considered Amish country. I've seen them raise and process chickens, and there is nothing at all special about it. The chicken pens throughout eastern Lancaster County are about as dirty and putrid as anything you would imagine at Purdue or Tyson, and the relatively high-paying jobs of my youth at the chicken farms were considered the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in Amish country -- and I worked at an iron foundry back then! So what is this Amish Chicken that I see on all of these menus around here, as if "Amish" as a descriptive adjective confers some mystical blessing on these birds? When properly cooked and presented, they could have come from the poultry section of Giant or Safeway for all we know. I would be interested in others' opinions on the subject.

I didn't see a thread for The Lafayette, so let's start one. My boss took a few of us to lunch last week, and it was my first meal at The Lafayette. It was exceptional, if pricey, but he picked up the tab for seven of us. First impression, this is a beautiful restaurant overlooking Lafayette Park and the White House. The tables are linen covered and the attentive if slightly overbearing waitstaff was uniformed to precision. The food was excellent, but portions are on the small side. My starter was the carrot and ginger soup, which was a special. It was delicious, served lukewarm for whatever reason. My main course was the braised veal cheeks, and they were a treat. They came as three medallions of 2-3 bites each, on a bed of grilled vegetables. I can't say enough about the flavors of this dish. But at $35 it will set you back. But I have to write this in italics -- conversation is easy! This is not the noise box that most restaurants have become. I give it high marks for being a place where you can actually go and talk with someone across the table without screaming. The neighborhood contains The Oval Room, Bombay Club, Equinox, and a few others on the high end of dining, and The Lafayette can hold its own with all of these places. (Almost unrelated, three days later, in Charlotte, NC, I ate braised pork cheeks at Legion Brewing. That would mark the first time in my life I ate braised cheeks from two different animals in the same week.)

I'm too lazy to look it up on another thread, but Helen Thomas was dean of the White House press corps, and she had a private table reserved for her at Mama Ayesha's. Helen Thomas was of Lebanese descent, and Mama Ayesha's was her place. When she died in 2013, Mama Ayesha's held a memorial for her at the restaurant, which was well attended by dignitaries. Lebanese Taverna's flagship is the original location in Westover in Arlington. I was going there regularly when I moved to the area in 1980, before it expanded to include the place next door. It is and always will be the original.

Mama Ayesha's on Calvert is a solid taste of Middle Eastern food in an establishment that oozes history, right down to the mural of the presidents on the outside wall. I would go there before I would go to the Lebanese Taverna around the corner, but having said that, I would go to Lebanese Taverna in Arlington and Tysons Galleria before I would go to Mama Ayesha's. But any discussion of serious eating in this area has to include Mama Ayesha's.

That was too easy, wasn't it? I have to say that Village Chicken is a classic example of wonderful food in a total dive atmosphere. I love the food here.

Hint: It's in Springfield.

About as far north as you can get and still be in Springfield, there's a passable Yemeni restaurant named Marib. No alcohol, but uniquely Yemeni. The menu includes breakfast items as well -- it opens at 10:00am.

Where did I dine today?

Thompson Italian now open and apparently doing well in the former Argia's space in Falls Church. (Time to start a new topic.)

From their Facebook page: The results are in, and we won two Bronze Medals in the Golden Bean Coffee Roasters Competition!!! Our Ethiopia Yirgacheffe won Bronze in the Filter category, and our Quixote Espresso blend won Bronze in the (milk-based) Espresso category!! We were competing against 198 different roasters across North America and over 1,300 coffees total submitted!! Make sure to come by the roastery or order online to get your award winning coffees!! #gbna #goldenbean #northamerica #bronze #medal #competition #ethiopia #yirgacheffe #quixote #espresso #blend #singleorigin #coffee #artisan #roaster #dc #virginia #caffeinatethecapital #nashville #tn #paisa coffee llc @ Cervantes Coffee

I'm a fan of Pan Bagnat. I have used Jacques Pepin's recipe often.

I'll go with Marseille.

I was pleasantly surprised by my last visit to Jackson 20, in the Alexandrian Hotel. The al fresco dining right on King St. is a draw on days when the weather is pleasant, and that adds to the meal. The menu is trying to go seasonal and local. I've had good burgers here and very good Amish chicken, and a recent side of watermelon slices topped with crumbled feta and peanuts was a hit. Happy hour wines and beers are $4, if you pick from a house list.