silentbob

We joined Query Mill’s CSA on your recommendation and have enjoyed it immensely thus far!

On 6/6/2019 at 7:10 PM, kardut said:

So our daughter is getting married, and we’re trying to choose the caterer. We must use one on the venue’s list (unless we want to pay an extra $1k). 

Have received all the proposals, and have it narrowed down to:

Main Event — our favorite menu; most reviews are good, but some of the negative ones have us worried

Sorry for not seeing this sooner, and congratulations!  This was 8 years ago but we had a great experience with Main Event for our wedding, both in terms of food quality and overall service.  If Michelle is still there, we loved working with her.  She took great care of us, especially on the actual day when we were both quite sick.  Catering and photography were the two areas where we were willing to splurge a bit.  Really glad that we didn't go frugal there.

This seems as good of a place to post as any...

AMEX is buying Resy

I went this weekend as well and agree 100% with the bright, clean, and well-stocked description.  Plus they take AMEX -- gold card earns 4x MR points on groceries!

For what it's worth, however, my parents (who have significantly more experience than me shopping at the various Asian supermarkets in this area over the past 40 years) claim that their produce is inferior to what you'd find at H-Mart.  Just reporting what they said, no idea if they're objectively right.  The two onions and green peppers that I bought seemed fine.

Dinner here a few weeks ago marked a couple of firsts for us, both good (porchetta) and bad (less-than-friendly/attentive service). Thankfully the latter didn't detract from the meal much. This is one of the few places in town that's always been a hit with our kids.

E-mail alerts on Resy for the win!  Our original plan was to eat at Chloe, but a table here opened up and we pounced.  The app even automatically cancels the old booking when you're making a new one.  Really looking forward to it.  We usually swap plates while dining out anyway, so it will be like an 8-course tasting menu for us.

A quick P.S. to my post from a few months back -- the staff e-mailed us a wine list and in the few instances where I could find prices via CellarTracker, markups were typically around 200 percent.  We opted for corkage but did order cocktails before the meal.  Biggest food hits for us were the squash blossom rangoon and Japanese souffle pancake, neither of which seem to be on the menu anymore unfortunately.

3 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

 (I have no idea what the "regular" price of a private dinner at Reverie is.)

On the Chase Sapphire Private Dining Series web page, it's listed at $200, both the regular private dinner on June 6 and the one at the Chef's Counter.  The latter one is sold out already.

The French Laundry and Alinea dinners are listed at $650 or 65K UR points, and the Grant Achatz Kitchen Table experiences are both over $1K/100K UR points but still 1 cpp redemptions.

My office building is in the background!  I've been to this GSE maybe once in 7+ years, and never to the Chick-fil-A.

If this is becoming a cupcake-level fad, I sure hope a good option shows up in Montgomery County soon.

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Hot Lola's (SwillBilly)

The "endless dribble penetration/kick out for an open three" strategy may be fairly new to the NBA, but for decades it's been central to how teams play internationally, both in Europe and in South America where low post play hasn't really ever been a thing.

Until certain aspects of his private life became public, Tiger was one of my favorite athletes of all time.

Now that we know he's done a lot to hurt people in his personal life, I'm mostly indifferent about his recent professional accomplishments.  Hard for me to separate the two, though I know other folks are fine doing so.

FWIW, we split a 10-inch cheese steak at Philly Wing Fry recently and enjoyed it a lot.

The higher quality of meat (vs. standard Philly fare) was quite evident, though reasonable minds can disagree about whether that's a good or bad thing.  The pickled onions also provide useful acidity for cutting through flavors that might otherwise be too rich and heavy for some.

Only downside is that it took nearly 15 minutes to receive our sandwich, though of course this also means that everything is made to order.

Chase is now making it possible to redeem Ultimate Rewards points for certain dining experiences (i.e., "private" dinners at places like The French Laundry, Per Se, and Alinea).  The only one currently available around here is Reverie on June 6, for 20K UR points.

Given that these are fixed-value redemptions (1 cent per point) and not auctions for some unique or otherwise unattainable experience, I can't see them as worthwhile for anyone without a UR point balance in the millions. 

Second location very recently opened in Falls Church, across the street from Takumi.  Coming from MD, it may actually be more convenient.

We still get cupcakes here every year for our son's birthday and will start doing so for our daughter too.  Quality remains great IMO, and hopefully none of that will change with expansion.  Perfect amount of sweetness, unlike the sugar bombs found at most other places.

20 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Marriott Bonvoy is the name for the combined Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest).

By most accounts of many prominent travel bloggers, the post-merger integration has been a debacle thus far, to the point where being "Bonvoyed" has already become a derogatory verb.

4 hours ago, zgast said:

Both left their employers because they were offered a better package elsewhere. I've done so several times and no one boos me (although they might do so before I'm out the door).

I was simply explaining why Harper and Pujols would elicit completely opposite receptions from their respective former home team’s fans.

If the Nats had won a WS during the past several years (where Harper was instrumental to the title) and then he left for the Phillies or even the Yankees, he likely wouldn’t be booed the way he is now and some might even applaud. Fans tend to be more forgiving when their teams have won championships.

The Freakonomics podcast did a feature on Impossible Burger several weeks ago.  It's worth a listen.

The Harper and Pujols situations aren't remotely comparable IMO.  Pujols left the Cardinals at age 32 (i.e., already well on the downside of his career) and after having won two rings.

I don’t know how long this has been true, but the Pinkberry at National Harbor closed so the only one left around here is at BWI. There are still a decent number of them in Southern California though.

I encourage others to visit and see if they agree or not -- there may be a new king of dim sum in MD, and it's...Far East?!?

Yes, not a typo.  The one that's been around for 45 years and whose website says that it specializes in "Szechuan and Mandarin" cuisine.  My family and I moved to Montgomery County 40 years ago and I don't recall having been here more than a few times before.

But on the recommendation of their friends, we went with my parents yesterday and (pardon the cliche) it was a revelation.  There's a certain richness and freshness in the shumai and the shrimp dumplings that aren't present anymore at Silver Fountain or Hollywood East.  The radish cakes actually taste like radish, and the taro dumplings have way more filling than fried outer shell.  The items tend to cost $1 more here than at the other dim sum joints, but I suspect that's a function of better ingredients, portion size, and execution.

The place was packed at opening, and when we left around 12:30, there were still tons of folks waiting in the lobby.

This is our family's new dim sum destination in the foreseeable future.

Does anyone have first-hand experience with Ooni or seen one in action?

The Pro model appeals most to me, because it can take many different fuel sources (wood, charcoal, gas).  What concerns me, apart from ease of cleaning, is the length of time that it takes to heat the surface so that pizza won't stick.  Reviews seem conflicting on this front, with some claiming that 20 minutes is enough while others say up to an hour.

Does anyone know Louis Roederer's post-acquisition track record with U.S. wineries?

We visited Merry Edwards back in 2013 and have enjoyed her Sauvignon Blancs over the years.  Hopefully not much will change.

Not only will the Nats be better off without him in the long run (though not having him will hurt their chances this year), there are at least 5 or 10 players who are better and will be hitting free agency in 2020, 2021, and 2022.  In other words, they're better off spending the $300M offered to Harper on someone else.

Sounds like I'll probably keep ordering at sushi restaurants at half the price and not so much everywhere else!

Because their wine list isn't online, anyone recall the approximate markups?  I don't remember there being much if any sticker shock, but wanted to confirm that this was still true.