Steve R.

On our receipt it says, "our last day at this location will be Jan. 31st... will reopen in early March at 1122 Ninth St NW..."

Okey dokey. Night #3 of our 3 night stay in D.C. (Sunday, 12/30) and we went to Dino's. First of all, let me just start by saying that, if this place was in my neighborhood, I'd be there 2 nights/week. Of course we dont eat at home at all so we're at various restaurants 8 nights/week. This is one of those places where you can eat little or eat a lot, spend little or spend more and be happy. And we ate a lot and were very happy. We decided to take advantage of the Sunday night 33% off wine special, spent 10 minutes kicking around the possibilities with Dean, then went with a very nice Tedeschi 2003 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. Starting with a wine that wasnt lightweight led us to start with a cheese plate as well, something we've done in NY several times, yielding some very rude comments from our food board friends. Well, Dean said it was okay to do, so there. And the cheeses were very nice. A pungent chestnut leaf wrapped one was my favorite (too stinky for Ginny) and the fontina was hers (I liked it as well). The third was also quite good but I cant remember the details: more crumbly, from the same provider as the fontina. Dean can elaborate if he feels the urge. Next up was the salumi platter. More food than we anticipated so I had to carry some of Ginny's responsibility to finish it. These were good enough meats to have been had in our trip to Parma last year... just missing the puffy bread. Bread and cheese, then bread and meat is my type of eating. At this point, the waiter was clearly amused and Dean came over regularly to check up on things, probably to see if the arteries were clogging yet. Most would have stopped there, and we could have. However, we were moving at a nice slow pace &, as I've said before, I have capacity. So, next up was an order of the saltimbocca (3 very large tasty meatballs in a tangy tomato sauce), an order of the eggplant/chard/tomato side dish (loved it) and an order of the squash flan (at Dean's urging, and we're glad he did.... this is great stuff). Ginny was on tilt by now, but I had to continue (research is hard work) so I ordered (& ate) a half order of the boar papardelle. I eat this at 2 favorite places here in Brooklyn... the fresh pasta was as good, the boar actually better. No desserts. A couple of bottles of sparkling water with dinner... $170 all in, with tax and tip. This was a bargain for both quality and quantity. I understand why Dino's wouldnt be heralded as a top Italian destination place in a U.S. city. It's of a style that isn't necessarily lauded by all. But it's our type of place, familiar to us when in Italy and hunted down by us when home. We love eating this way and honestly cant think of anything we had that could have been improved upon. Well.. maybe some gratis olives... we'll hit him up for that next time . Seriously, this is a gem & we left impressed. Before leaving, it was good to find Dean and Kay eating at the bar and to get a chance to talk before rolling out and making the block long trek to the car. Looking forward to staying in touch.

Night #2 (Sat, 12/29) of our 3 night stay in D.C. & we went to Corduroy. Glad we did. First of all, anyone know how this place was named? Ginny was wondering and neither of us can think of a possibility. At any rate, we both started with soup. She the kabocha squash, me the parsnip. Both were great. Not good, not very good... great. I love soups and these were extremely rich, flavorful and satisfying. They do a soup proud. For an entree, Ginny had the bass on a bed of squash and, although she liked it a lot, she found it too rich to finish... maybe less squash and a green? I didnt taste it, being totally engrossed with my baby chicken on arugula. Salty, but I like salt. Again, very rich, but I have capacity. I was wary about going to a place that has a good reputation, not knowing whether I'll ever be back, and ordering a roast chicken. I shouldn't have. Glad our waiter (tall, nice guy) said it wasn't a stupid idea. An order of mixed berries for her(came with a berry sorbet that we loved) and an ice cream dessert for me (good vanilla, ehh chocolate mint), some espressos and we were very glad we came. All in, with 2 nice 1/2 bottles of wine (white and red, 2 of my favorite wine colors), sparkling water, tax and tip, it was an appropriate $190 for the 2 of us. If in Brooklyn, we'd be regulars. Solid comfort food.

We've returned home in time for New Year's Eve and I have a couple of hours so here's what we had at Vidalia on the 1st night of our 3 night stay in D.C. (Friday): -- great company. It's always a thrill to meet others who love (expecting a food comment here?) the Grateful Dead (so there). And, when they know food & drink as well.... hey, who could ask for more? It was great to meet Heather and Scott & we look forward to more meals together in the future. Too bad that Chef Cooper wasnt there (home with a sick child?) -- I'd like to meet him some time. -- 2 bottles of excellent wine that Heather chose and can detail (not my forte). I remember what Ginny and I ate... Heather will have to speak for their side of the meal. So...I had the veal tongue appetizer. In broth (rich and with other things in it that I forget but tasted very nice), the tongue was tender and tasted like... tongue (I see that as a good thing). I'm more partial to a cold or warm deli type approach, but this was quite well done. A healthy thick slice of tongue in a bowl...makes my night. Ginny had the Pied de Cochon and it too was a solid start (can you tell that I dont remember much more about her app?... did I taste it?). For her entree, Ginny's shrimp and grits were excellent. Six (?) very large head on shrimp on a bed of tasty grits. Simple but very good. Rich flavors and vibrant tastes. I love it when Ginny gets large portions because then I get a nice sized tasting of her food. These shrimp were very fresh and well prepared. And we both love grits. For me, the rabbit entree was very tasty and I'd put it up with entrees from most of my favorite places here at home. However... it had foam on it, usually something leading to disdain from me. I cant say I remember what the foam was (or care to), but the dish hung together very nicely and whatever the flavor contributed by the foam, it must've been a positive to the dish (or at least a neutral factor), as the dish was excellent. We all split an order of the mac and cheese and I liked it a lot. Heather said that she preferred their previous truffled version, but this was rich with ham and right up there on the mac and cheese scale for me. Ginny and Scott had desserts of chocolate and other sweet things, while Heather and I gorged on six cheeses. Well, I gorged. Heather may remember the details but I remember liking all 6. Very nicely done. Not an inexpensive meal at $150pp (all in, including tax/tip), but we didnt hold back anywhere and this included some pre-dinner tasting glasses of white wines for me and Ginny, then 2 very good bottles of red at the table, then some dessert wines and coffees for 3 of the 4 of us. Reasonable for the quality & quantity. For any NYawkers looking in on this, I'd rate this meal a bare notch or so below my most recent one at Hearth... but that was a meal I enjoyed immensely so that puts this one up there. I'd love to go back sometime, try some other things and maybe get the chef to go off the menu a little. I get the feeling it could get even better, as good as it was. Heather would know if that's the case. Again... great to meet the Heathers, talk over food board politics (we're both on another food board together) and have a great meal. Looking forward to more.

Interesting. Take this for what you will, me being a New Yawker and all & knowing almost nothing of the DC food scene. I'm visiting DC tomorrow thru Monday so I've been busily perusing Chowhound, Mouthfulsfood (both of which I am very active on in NYC) and here. I did a search on CH for Dino's (since I've seen this thread and Dean's posts around this site) and came up with a large # of posts that highly recommend it for the wine list, the authenticity and the price. Hardly anyone with substantial negatives, just some "not a destination place but a very good local place" reviews. That is, except for a recent 7 post "disappointed" thread. Since I'm so active in CH in NYC (Outer Boroughs board mainly), I've developed a familiarity with posters I trust & use CH that way, throwing out reviews from one time posters. Since I dont really know the CH posters here, I look at their names and see what else they like/dislike and compare to what I've heard elsewhere. Basically, a hunt for familiar names that seem to have written reasonable posts over time of places recommended here and elsewhere. So... all that to say that I noted none of the usual respected names on the one 7 post negative thread (did I miss something or someone?) so I sailed past that thread, gave more credit to the other threads w/familiar names and put Dino's down as a Sunday possibility for my visit. Just saying that, to tell you the truth, this outsider thought that this thread was tougher on the place (scroll up this page a bit... yowsa... some tough comments) than anything I read on CH.

Damn, I feel lazy. We'll be coming down from NYC on Friday and staying thru Monday morning, getting home in time for NYear's Eve. I was pretty damn proud of myself, arranging dinner with a dr.com/mouthfulsfood.com friend for Friday at Vidalia until I saw your itinerary. Now I feel like an underacheiver. Have fun... see you around town. We'll be the ones looking like tourists.

A lot of what ghostrider had to say goes for me as well. My wife and I will be in DC for a long weekend the end of Dec so dr.com was recommended to me, actually by ghostrider and Heather, among others. Of course, in order to do that, I guess it's clear that, I too, am a member of other food boards, crossing paths with many dr members over the last 10 years or so. However, in case anyone's wondering, I'm one of the nicer ones on those boards . At any rate, except for a 6 year stint teaching High School and going to grad school in St.Louis (mid-70s), I am born, raised and currently live in Brooklyn, NY. And we eat out in Bklyn and other parts of NYC approximately 8 nights/week, so I'm familiar with a lot of places. Not so much the high or molecular end(s), having little interest in Per Se, WD-40 (that's a joke, folks; I know it's 50) or similar. I am very approachable for recommendations as long as you dont mind opinionated answers that reflect my taste but take into consideration your stated interests. I'm also one of the more social folks on the boards and go out to dinner regularly with many, many others from the assorted food boards out there. I'm still active on all, although my "home" is on one particular board the past several years (I dont know dr preferences on giving other board names here so I wont). That means, if you're going to be in NYC and want to meet me or others over a meal, I'm open to it & can try to set it up. Similarly, I plan to have dinner with at least one, if not more, dr members in late December. That being said, my name is really Steve R. And thanks for this board. What I've seen/read so far, I really like.

Well, I guess I'm a little late, but our favorite part of Lisbon (other than some small fado club that we stumbled upon and couldnt find again) was the Port Wine Institute. Pages upon pages of port by the glass, with small bites available to take the edge off. I love research.

There are 2 things that you can do to keep yourself from getting too crazy about eating in NYC. First, go to places that dont need reservations; there are many of them that are more than average places to eat. Secondly, check opentable.com for reservations instead of calling around; many of the very good places are listed. Of course, many suck so do some research first. One way is checking menupages.com. You probably know this already, but Times Square is 42nd St around Broadway. Easy & quick to get to most of the dining neighborhoods in the city... dont restrict yourself to the immediate neighborhood, it's not the best place to eat. That being said, here are some suggestions you may not get otherwise: --I recommend Devi... it's the best Indian restaurant in NYC right now and running some special fixed price offers. It's on opentable.com and will probably run you approx. $50pp. Not traditional food... some very innovative stuff with great flavors. If you go, mention dr.com; the owners are food board savvy. It's right off Broadway in the high teens which means only a mile away (10 minutes and maybe $10 by cab for 3 people). --There's also a Texas style rib place down there that's fun and has a stage downstairs with decent music; Hill Country. They're doing some good meats.... something NYC doesnt have much of. --9th Avenue from 40s to 57th is a non-stop restaurant row of all levels and types of food. If you want an inexpensive fresh grilled fish Greek place that wont win any "top 10" awards but has great apps. and low-moderate price, go to Uncle Nick's on 9th Ave and W.51st St. Be warned: the salads, appetizers and fish are all much better than the meat. They're not on opentable but take phone reservations. --Ssam bar can be tough to get into and the management is a little off-putting sometimes (arrogant sob's in my opinion) but, as someone already's mentioned, the food is excellent. Not inexpensive, but worth the prices charged. There's also Chinatown for anytime meals and especially dim sum. And the West Village (Bleeker and McDougal) for falafel places and coffee houses. I could go on... it's a big city. Have fun.

Nice find. I figure that my 1st post here should be on a topic I actually know something about. Since I live in Brooklyn, let me both congratulate you on finding the ballfields (a place that I've been dropping by most weekends for the last 15 or so years), and to offer advice on more places to try to you or anyone else coming my way in the future. I'm on all the other food boards with this same name (if anyone cares about these things) and came here to find my way around DC when I come for a long weekend in late December. I didnt realize that there are Philly and Baltimore folks here as well, and look forward to getting good advice for when I'm there too. So... anyone for pizza at Difara's?