schulju

Just to be a fussy prick (who likes fresh, not frozen, lobster rolls), does anyone know of any milkshakes, anywhere, that use ice cream made with cane sugar and no high-fructose corn syrup? Because if so, I'll drive an hour round-trip for one; if not, I'll pass on all of them.

(And yes, I realize that driving an hour burns through two gallons of gasoline, so this is not some sort of holier-than-thou thing.)

I can provide the location of such a sweet...but alas, it's a 6-8-hour round trip depending on how 95 is running that day. Tanner's dairy in Ivyland, PA (don't blink, you'll miss it (Ivyland, not the farm)). It's a working dairy farm with an ever-expanding fruit stand in the corner. You pick up your enormous cone or milkshake and walk around back to say thank you to the cows responsible for the treat you're enjoying! There are no stabalizers, no preservatives. I think the vanilla ice cream has three ingredients in it.

When I was growing up in what was then a very rural Bucks County, the grocery store was for paper and cleaning products. Meat was purchased from a butcher, cheese from the cheese shop, veggies came from the farm stand (if you wanted corn and greenbeans..that meant stopping at two farms), and milk and fruit came from Tanner's where the milk was sold in plastic bags! Most of those farms are gone now...but I still stop at Tanner's every time I go home.

Would like to attend, depends on the time given I'm coming from the 'burbs.

Fabulous post Darkstar...thank you for all the information!

Weakest point? I arrived first, and waited ten minutes at the bar without acknowledgement from the bartender. When my friend arrived, we sat for another 10-15 before managing to catch a waiter's eye to get at least a drink menu, then another 15 during the painstaking cocktail creation. Fortunately the company more than made up for the inattentive service. The courses arrived promptly, however, and so did the bottles we ordered to go with our food. The space is lovely, and the bar comfortable. I would be happy to return with a reservation for dinner.

I had an entirely different experience on a recent Friday night during prime dinner hour. My companion arrived a few minutes before me (all good parking karma was with her that night). She was immediately sat at our table and provided with water and flatbread while she waited me. She was offered a cocktail, but decided to wait for my arrival. When I arrived, I was immediately met at the host stand and taken to our table. Our waiter Dave did a great job. He was attentive, informative, but never intrusive.

I agree there's an issue with the value proposition on some of the menu items. We felt the by-the-glass wine prices were steep for the offerings, but found the bottle prices in line with the norm, and therefore chose a bottle to share. As I mentioned in my post above, I thought the cheese portions were quite small for the price, but found the charcuterie servings to be very generous. We didn't order a main, but instead chose to share a salad and past. The pasta was very flavorful and quite well done...but both of these dishes were quite small.

Once I went through the drive through at McD's, ordered two cheeseburgers, (the cheap ones with one patty, pickles, onions, ketchup, and mustard) I received two buns with pickles, onions, ketchup, and mustard-no patty.

Sad thing is, I'm not sure if you were better off or not....

Been meaning to post about Friday night's dinner at Ripple. Gals night out...we had a really wonderful time, in no small part due to the great care we received from Dave.

We ordered three cheeses: Cyprus Grove Humbolt Fog, Crave Bros. Petit Frere and Jean d'Alos bleu d'Aauvergne. While I thought the portions on the cheese were quite small, I enjoyed all of the cheeses. The bleu and the petit frere were particularly good. We rounded out an over-sized wooden board with three choices from the charcuterie offerings: house made mortadella, soppresatta and a pate made from chorizo that's was not listed on the menu. I thought the charcuterie offerings were quite generous in comparison with the cheese. While I found the pate a little too spicy to enjoy, I absolutely loved the mortadella. In addition to this collection of cheese and meat, we split a small salad and an order of semolina gnocchi with tarragon pesto, clams and chilies. Frankly, I don't know that I actually noticed either the clams or the chilies in this dish, but the gnocchi themselves were pillow soft and as delicate as I've ever had. All these goodies and a lovely bottle of rose wine for $100, generous tip included.

Ripple is built for grazers, my meat and potato loving husband probably wouldn't understand the appeal. However, gal pal and I both thought the restaurant earned a place in our rotation.

Some random information for perspective: Parc is a 280 seat behemoth of a restaurant in the poshest neighborhood in Philly. Parc's former chef was Artie Cavaliere (recently departed from Central). Parc originally secured a decent 2 bells from renowned critic Craig Laban in 2008 but was upgraded to a strong 3 bells later in the year. Starr restaurants are generally high concept spots that can (Dandelion, Striped Bass) or can't (Pod, Continental) perform in the kitchen.

There are two Continentals, but assuming your reference was to Continental Midtown, I've loved everything I've ever ordered there. CM has the most sense of humor of any of the Starr group, and you need to keep that in mind as you chow down on your Philly Cheesesteak eggrolls and french onion soup dumplings. Granted, it's an annoying hangout for young bar hoppers on a Saturday night, most of whom parade through the restaurant on their way to the rooftop bar.

A Mark Slater pocket pet for my iPhone or iPad!!!

Yes, we will have a DR night

Can't wait, sign me up!

Stupid me! All these trips to Cava and I've never before ordered the chicken souvlaki . I mean, who goes to a resturant (other than Palena or Ad Hoc) and orders chicken? This is some seriously tender, juicy, flavorful chicken! It will now join the hummus and tyropita on my "must order" list, which is leaving me less and less room for stuff I haven't tried before.

I would love to do it May 22nd however I'm getting married on may 21st

Congratulations!!!

The pastrami (on untoasted rye slices, with a generous squeeze of Saval brown mustard).

Maybe it's a Philly thing, but untoasted rye, really?

I've lived in three apartments this year alone, and all have had that glass-top stoves. I'm not fond of them. If something boils over, it immediately seals onto the surface and is incredibly hard to clean off (though I've heard there are some specialty products that are made to clean most things off these cooktops). In addition, the shiny glass wears into dull circles where the burners are, so it doesn't look pretty after a while. I suppose it's all what you're used to, but I was raised with a gas stove, and to me it's still my number one choice.

I just stumbled onto this thread, so this reply isn't timely, but I did want to let anyone else that's looking into buying a new stand alone to know that I'm a fan of the glass tops. It is true that if something boils over, it does stick. But I've never had anything I couldn't easily clean away with a product made for cleaning these surfaces. (Which you buy in the supermarket, right next to all the other cleaners). I've had my stove for 8 years now, I cook on it every day, and it looks just like new. Yes, you do have to clean these every time you use them. But, you should wipe down any stove to keep the build up to a minimum. My stove can usually just be wiped down with 409 and I clean it as I clean the rest of my counters after the dishes are away. If something does spill over, you will need to use a specialty product, but it's never a problem that a sponge and a bottle of cleaner can't handle.

If gas isn't an option for you (as it wasn't for me), the glass top stoves on the market today heat water as quickly as gas does, and are definitely many steps above the "burner" type of gas stove.

Just realized I hadn't posted on Cava (Rockville) since 2008, and that's not fair given how consistently high the quality has been over the last year even with the opening of another outpost by this talented team. Always love to introduce folks to Cava as long as they're into sharing, because Cava is at its most enjoyable when you're with folks who want a taste of everything on the table. Today we had a really fresh tasting eggplant dip which was a nice change since I usually get the great hummus. The tyropita are to die for and so worth any length drive on their merit alone. The mac n cheese was a little heavy but the crab cakes were light in texture and rich in flavor. I had not ordered the zucchinni fritters before, they were crisp and light, but It didn't think they had much flavor. We also ordered the meatballs, which my companions really seemed to love.

A super lunch, now all I need is a nap!

The website indicates a new outpost in Clarendon is on it's way. My Arlington-living companion was thrilled.

Dinner Friday night with Hubby and some out of town guests was, as expected, wonderful. Our friends from Illinois (one of whom raises beef and dairy cows) announced his hanger steak the best steak he'd ever eaten. Althought I'm not a beef eater, the taste I stole of Hubby's dry-aged, cowboy cut ribeye melted in my mouth. Dinner for 4 with a couple of drinks and an extra few sides/apps was under $150...it felt like stealing!

For those into steak porn, a pic of the ribeye is attached...

Perhaps this is better posted in the Help Needed thread, but....am heading to Napa in a few weeks with a gal pal. She and I would like to hire a driver (as opposed to a tour service) for a couple of our days. We are considering both having someone drive our rental car (assuming they are pre-approved by the rental company) or a service where they provide the car.

Has anyone had any really great exeperiences with drivers they would recommend?

That's a lot of talent in one space...can't wait!

Has anyone been to both Fogo and Chima? Any thoughts on which offers better quality meats?

Looks like Kyle has been chosen as a candidate for Best New Chef Mid-Atlantic by Food & Wine Magazine. Not bad and congrats!

Congratulations!

Baying Hound will be at Roots this Saturday from 1-4

We will be at The Bottle Shop in Rockville on the 12th from 4-7. If its ready I may bring a sample of the brunch stout.

So excited to try these tasty treats! Any plans for a mortadella to join the lineup? I've been dreaming of real mortadella since a visit to Boccalone Salumeria in San Francisco this past Spring.

That is Ike's (one of our Founders) dad bringing back the place he owned for years (while Ike was growing up) before selling it (the Rockville franchise location). Ike is helping him bring it back to Rockville. Old School.

I can promise you a whole gang of folks who work in our new Gburg HQ building (adjacent to the Rio complex) will be knocking down the door. All I ever hear from the old timers here is how they miss Tippy's!

The Fallsgrove location is close to my office and they deliver! I'm currently really enjoying my druken noodles, the spice is helping to warm me up on this frigid day. All white meat chicken and the noodles are perfectly cooked.

The Thai and noodle dishes tend to be the most popular with our office. The delivery is speedy and the dishes are always hot and fresh when they arrive. I rarely eat in at the Fallsgrove location because of my hatred for the parking lot over at Fallsgrove.

The Fallsgrove location is close to my office and they deliver! I'm currently really enjoying my druken noodles, the spice is helping to warm me up on this frigid day. All white meat chicken and the noodles are perfectly cooked.

The Thai and noodle dishes tend to be the most popular with our office. The delivery is speedy and the dishes are always hot and fresh when they arrive. I rarely eat in at the Fallsgrove location because of my hatred for the parking lot over at Fallsgrove.

While I haven't had the opportunity to do a formal study of NYC pizza, I did get a chance to try Grimaldi's the last time I was up there. I must say, that was some mighty fine pizza! So much better than anything I have found locally. And the salads were wonderful too. (I've been dreaming of that pizza ever since we had it!)