schulju

Welcome Terrant!

I am a Cava regular as I work just down the street. I agree wtih Rocks that you need to control the pace of your own dining experience there, but I also think a well trained server would explain this to a patron. As a frequent diner and fan of the restaurant, I do find that the kitchen is not always consistent, I can tell when Dimitri is not in the house. When "Cava-2" opens, I wonder what will happen to the quality at the original location if Dimitri isn't in the kitchen.

It's opening day at the Gaithersburg Location. I arrived just before 1pm, at the tail end of what appeared to be a late lunch rush. It's a tiny place, and opening day pains were in evidence on the faces of the people who stood around the small, crowded dining room waiting for their steaks to come up in the window. No ice, no plastic carry out bags, there must have been 10 people behind the counter tripping over each other. Fewer folks back there may have made things go a little smoother. There was lots of confusion on which sandwhiches were for dining in, and which were to go. As I waited, I watched as many sandwhiches get unwrapped and put on trays as I saw wrapped up to take out. I ordered a provolone steak, 9 inches, to go. The steak does come on a traditional Amoroso roll (the menu calls them "imported", but really, they're imported from the Fleet Street bakery of North East Foods in Baltimore, so it's a little hard not to laugh). The steak was chopped a la Jim's Steaks, it could have used a little more seasoning and a more generous amount of cheeese. That said, it was a pretty good sandwhich, certainly one of the best cheesesteaks I've had since moving to MD. Since it came wtih a $2 coupon, I'll probably be back for another fairly soon. I did not order any fries, they seemed to be cooked to order, but since the sandwhiches were taking so long to come up, they would up sitting under a heat lamp for a while.

Love those O'Danny Girls, it was a duo this past Sunday as one of the girls had lost her voice. Cheesecake on a stick is the best reason to go to the Faire! Love that stuff, even if it's not of the period. Other goodies not of the period but available at the Faire include funnel cake, dirt cake (really a pudding), and chocolate chip cookies!

Hubby's favorite restaurant is Outback, so I too need a defenisve menue strategy. I have found the chopped blue cheese salad to be pretty good. It is only offered on the menu as a side item, but they are happy to make it in a dinner portion if requested. I usually accompany this with a baked potato. I do actually like their bread, so all together it's plenty of food.

What was the name of the asti? I too love slightly sweet sparkling wines. I have been to the Idylwood on several occasions, the owner is a "friend of a friend". We've always had a lovely time and have felt that the meal was a good value for the area. They have a number of Austrian red wines on their menu. If you've never checked one out, please do. They're quite enjoyable and at around $20, a great bargain.

I drove by on Friday, one of the owners was there with the contractor. They tell me they're shooting for a Mid-September opening.

We had a fabulous dinner at Dino on Friday night! Dean, thank you for putting up with my very tardy friend and accomodating us even though we were almost an hour late for our reservation! Three of us shared the burrata and squash blossoms to start. The burrata was wonderful, my comapnaions had never heard of it before. As an avid lurker here on DR.com, I was able to impress with my burrata knowledge Dean stopped by with a sample of a new melon salad which included several types of seasonal melon, tomatoes, salami all in a vinagrette. Very interesting texture and taste. Thanks Dean for that extra treat. I ordered a half order of the wild boar pappardelle, it was amazing! My friends were so jealous! They ordered the gorgonzola pasta and the mahi mahi in parchment. Everyone enjoyed their entrees. The house made black peppercorn vanilla gelato was wonderfully received too. I also appreciated being able to order 3oz pours of several wines which allowed me to have three different wines as the evening progressed without spending a fortune or getting a DUI on the way home!

It's already been mentioned, and it's not in DC, but the Blue Agave in Baltimore is a great Mexican (not Tex Mex) restaurant. It's a very short ride south of the harbor just past the Cross Street Market, so if you're ever doing the Harbor thing up there, you should check it out! 1032 Light St Baltimore, MD 21230

I have a friend in town from London and we're having dinner at Dino tonight. It's my first time, and I'm excited to finally get a taste of Dean's food! I see the pig and wild boar have gotten a lot of rave reviews. Both sound awesome to me, but my friend is a less a carnivore than I am. What are some other "not to be missed" dishes we shoudl look for? Dean, I hope I get a chance to say hello!

OMG, that is ONE block north of my office! Originally a Philly girl, I'm a loyal Jim's Steak's fan (the Pat's vs. Gino's thing..it's for tourists) and looking forward to a reasonable MD facsimile of a steak wit'!

Hubby loves, (as in eats a whole pan), orzo risotto. Made exactly the way you would make any other risotto, but is much more forgiving. To a half pound of orzo I use a quart of chicken stock. The stock can be added in two additions, and I add it right from the pantry..no preheating necessary. Comes our creamy and soft. I usually serve it as a side to Chicken Picatta...lots of similar flavors: wine, lemon, garlic. Okay, now I'm hungry!

Michael, is it the "Georgia O'keeffe-ness" of the photo that disturbs you?

Has anyone found a shop in the area that carries Dolfin Chocolate? Dolfin is a Belgium chocolate with fantastic flavors. My favorite is 'Hot Masala'. It's not spicy hot, but warm with cardamom, cinnamon and clove. It's fabu! I have found it online, but not at retail.

Kirchmayr has moved to Timonium, in an industrial strip mall right off 83. In the summer, his chocolate covered strawberries are worth waiting in line for! But get there early, they usually go on sale on Saturday morning and are out by Noon.

Here's my birthday dinner report... Of course, Porcupine is correct that Hubby was very sweet to plan this for me. We had a wonderful time! Great setting, great company and great service! We went with Hubby's Sister and Brother-in-law, a reformed chef (wanted a life, can you believe it? ). I can honestly say there was only one dish I was disappointed with but Brother-in-law actually liked it, so maybe that was just me. We had a lovely table in the back near the fire and away from the larger, more crowded tables. We each ordered something different, and since everyone was willing to share, I was able to sample a lot of different things. Here is how the four of us ranked the dishes sampled by course, most favored to least favored... Appetizers: foie gras - scrumptious and generous, but an upcharge of $18 braised veal cheeks - really tasty, Hubby's favorite dish skate - the fish was well prepared, but I don't find skate to have that much taste puffed pastry with warm roquefort cheese and candied anjou pears - a little too sweet, could have done duty on the dessert menu Dinner: pork medallions - I know, pork tenderloin? But really, it was the most fabulous dish on the table! choucroute - sausage and sauerkraut, but as only the Alsatians can cod (and other seafood) in a puff pastry shell - creamy sauce, wonderful flakey pastry scallops and shrimp St Jaques - this is the dish I least liked. The shrimp were well seasoned and tasty, the scallops were tough and didn't taste particularly fresh Dessert: (No souffle) cheesecake - very creamy and soft, won two of four votes for first place hazelnut cake - great flavor chocolate cake (house cake that night) - too rich, chocolate cake with chocolate ganache cheese plate with a glass of port - three of four cheeses were creamy and flavorful, the basque cheese was just so-so. All this and a nice bottle of Alsatian white came to $480 including a very generous tip. This works out to slightly less per person than a recent trip to 2941. The food is probably better at 2941, but nice as that dining room is, the atmosphere and service at Chez Francois are far superior. Thanks Rocks for the encouragement!

You have all made me so depressed! Husband has made reservations at Chez Francois this weekend for my birthday! Having never been, having read the Washingtonian's readers annual recommendations, and being a devout fan of the fare at Bistro du Coin....I was so looking forward to the meal! I must say, that even a great restaurant will not show it's best colors on a holdiay. In my experience, Thanksgiving is usually the worst restaurant meal of the year. (Unless you go to to a big city Chinatown...really, Chinatown is a great place to get a good meal on Thanksgiving) I will remain optimistic that the atmosphere, service, and companionship will serve to make this meal a happy memory....but I don't think I'm going to be ordering the soufle.

Made my first visit to 2941 last night with a dear friend from London. If I were to give a grade based on my meal alone, it would be an A-, but taking into account my companion's meal I have to take that down to a B. (To be fair, she would rate her meal higher than I would.) We arrived for our 8:30 reservations at about 8:10, and were asked to wait in the bar. Two glasses of mediocre champagne set us back $36! We were seated pretty promptly at 8:30, and we were fortunate to have a really great server, Diane. I believe our amuse was skate with a pickled radish. London was concerned it would taste fishy..it didn't, but the radish was so strong that's pretty much all you tasted. It reminded me of the pickled ginger you have with sushi. I began my meal with "WINTER ENDIVE SALAD, Cabrales bleu cheese, walnuts, mustard vinaigrette 16". I must say this salad was really terrific. In addition to the mentioned ingredients, it also contained small round balls of apples that had been poached in red wine (perhaps port) and spices. London started her meal with the "CAULIFLOWER VELOUTÉ langoustine, Romanesco cauliflower, chervil 14". She enjoyed this, I thought the soup tasted too strongly of the fish stock from which it was made. As a second course, we split an appetizer sized portion of "HAND MADE POTATO GNOCCHI * pancetta, fresh black truffle, parmesan cheese 18/32" I've heard this described on this board as being too soft, this really did dissolve on your tongue. We both loved it, but I agree it's sort of a stretch to call it gnocchi. My entree was wonderful, "BAY SCALLOPS, citrus, celery root purée, parsley 32". The three scallops were quite large, nicely carmelized but definitely not overcooked. The celery root puree was a little on the sweet side, and I loved it with the scallops. My only complaint was that there wasn't enough of it on the plate. The citrus was in the form of a strange slightly gelled gastrique. It might have done better with the scallops if the celery root puree wasn't also on the same plate. I just avoided it. It certainly didn't add anything to the dish. London chose the "CHICKEN BREAST “facon coq au vin” bacon, Yukon gold potato, savoy cabbage 30". I know, I can hear Don groaning...and you're right. The chicken was quite moist, but the strong smoked flavor detracted from it. The plate was sacued with a dark brown truffle infused gravy. This was the best part of the dish. When the dish was set down we were told the chicken was on a bed of "fois gras sausage". Now, both our eyes lit up at that, but this sausage was inedible. It was thin slices of something that looked and tasted like particle board. (Dry fois..really ) I can't imagine the chef allowing something this horrid leave the kitchen. For dessert we shared a "DARK CHOCOLATE PALET D’OR, cacao nougatine, crème fraîche". This was very rich, quite good. The fraiche had a hint of lemon and was a nice complement. The total meal with two glasses of wine and a generous tip came to $188. Actually, for the quality and service, I thought that was reasonable. I've certainly paid more for less in DC. Our server was really great, and most of the evening we were surrounded by a well trained staff, but there were a few that were so bad, they really stood out in contrast. There was a small shelf cut into the half wall behind me that one of the bus boys decided worked well as a place to stock extra glassware. So all night I was crowded by people picking up and putting down glasses. Come on..there are better places to put glassware than behind a patron sitting at a small deuce! We were one of the last half-dozen or so tables that evening. When we went, there was NO ONE at the hostess stand. No one to get our coats, no one to ask if our meal was all right. Finally after 5 minutes, someone walked over to take coat check tickets for the several groups of people that were now waiting to leave. And although there was a stack of bagged loaves sitting on the hostess stand, no one actually offered us the bread. There was another couple leaving at the same time, we actually discussed if we were supposed to take a loaf as we understood that to be a customary take-home gift. We had this conversation in front of the woman who had brought us our coats, and she said nothing. We all felt odd just taking a loaf, so at least three tables of guests left empty-handed.

Hey gang! Okay, call me a coward! I pass the Seafood in the Buff stand along 355 in Germantown (Between 118 and Middlebrook Rd) just about every day. There's always a line in front of this decrepit looking trailer by the side of the road. I'm just too much of a germaphobic to stop off and try without hearing from someone who has actually tried (and survived) their products. Please let me know!