Pool Boy

Moorenko has gelato, too?! Two gelato places aso close together in Silver Spring??!

I had a memorable meal there back in the summer of 2002. Very good. Very relaxed and great service. Oh and the 1971 a good wino friend shared with us that night was quite, quite good. I know I'll never have the chance to drink that again.

Isn't this the place the smears crap in to your ice cream on a slab and then scoops it all together for you? If so BLEAH. I hate crap in my ice cream, except maybe chocolate chips.

Does anyone know about this place? Is it still there? A googling says there is a place that serves gelato there called Kefa Cafe? Is this it? I'd kill for some good gelato that close to home (Laurel)

Is she still involved with Palena? Those caramels were so good as were the chocoate slab cookies (not chip). That said, there was this hazelnut dauphoise (or something like that) that I just must have never 'got' -- dry and bleah.

I used to eat there many moons ago....before I knew better. This was in Columbia, MD when I lived there with my wife. But Columbia is a vast wasteland when it comes to good eats. Chains chains and more chains. After discovering the now long-gone Piccolo's, we always wondered why all of the chain Italian places always had 30, 45, 60 minute waits (out the door mind you with those lovely vibrating pager thingies) when Piccolo's was so much better for not much more money with better service and no wait. Sadly, Piccolo's is defunctr and in it's place? Yup, a Three Brothers Italian Restaurant (another (albeit local) chain).

I'd go to Palena. Another look at Corduroy is a good suggestion, too. I know I am in the distinct monority here, but I do not think Restaurant Eve lives up to the hype. Granted, I have only dined there once in the tasting room zone. Actually, you'll probably have to scratch Palena off of your list come to think of it. The biggest reservation they take is for 6, IIRC. I'd call to be sure, though.

Laurel Meat Market is my go to place primarily because not only do they have good stuff, but I live in Laurel, too. More difficult to find meats I have to usually go to Whole Paycheck (great nickname for that joint, whoever came up with that). But this thread is an inspiration to check out some other local meat purveyors.

I found the thread here finally, DR. But I am dtill confused about triple spacing and double spacing. Call me dense, but isn't the definition of double-spacing leaving ever alternate line blank? And wouldn't triple spacing mean leave two lines blank after each line with text? I do not think I am doing either thing here but tell me what I am doing wrong.

2002. It is WAY TOO EARLY to be drinking this IMO. I'll pull a bottle out for a Crü event in maybe 2 years.

he meatballs...HUGE. It's funny, my brother was getting a bit loaded and we got him to mug for the camera taking a big bite out of the meatball. It was funny because he's a vegetarian. He had a good laugh about it the next day.

Urp-worthy.

he original Charcoal Pit is great. Been there twice, once on purpose and once by accident and dumb luck. The place reminds me of the Flintstones Brontosaurus burger place. Great shakes there too.

I had the good fortune to dine at Uglesich's (sp? sorry!) before it closed last year (did so early last year IIRC). Great joint. Also got to dine at a place called Herbsaint that was pretty good. Great frog legs. Anyone been there recently?

Wow, that is a huge difference. I'll have to do that more often now that I know this. As for the discussions of 'giving away' an OT ressie that you can no longer keep, I just checked to see if it was possible to assign the ressie to a different name on your account. That is not an option, just FYI. As for the comments on making the OT site available to a mobile phone friendly way, I agree. I *can* access the OT site on my Blackberry rather easily, but it just takes a tad longer than I'd like to load. It is great for restaurant info based on your ressie, but it is a bit more cumbersome to actually make a ressie that way. Possible yes, but a little too cumbersome to do it every day.

We had an amzing pizza at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn. When asked if we could take a picture of the guys *making* the pizza, we were told that was a no-no. Picture of pizza on table right before we consumed it was OK with them though.

the other day a 2003 Match Butterdragon Hill cab from 375

The place is lousy, but I agree w/DR in that it is a good place to direct tourists to. My one experience there was when my brother's friends got him to do a bachelor party thing there. Dinner basically, and we were loud and obnoxious, so I guess it fit the surroundings.

WOW! I partook of a mushroom hunting 'class' a few years ago and it was interesting and fun. Never did find a mushroom I could eat yet though. For those of you who've found morels, picked and consumed them bravo to you. As for them liking tulip poplars, this is correct. I actually have planted a tulip poplar in my yard in the hopes that in 20-30 years I will have my own source in my own back yard.

I'll agree their cheeses tend to be overpriced, but some of them are quite good. Just buy in small quantities. Still, overall, I'll make the trek to Cheesetique in Arlington. I often combine a trip there to that Dairy/ice cream place up the street from it, as well as stops at Arrowine and the Crisp & Juicy near Arrowine. URP

OK, I have a question, and please forgive me if it has been asked and answered before, but I do not have hours to search the site. Aside from Whole Foods, what are your preferred sources for fresh, fresh fish and other seafood? I like what I can get at Whole Foods but I cringe at the prices. I am hoping there is an excellent and well priced fresh fishmonger out there, ideally on the Maryland side of the Potomac, that I can investigate. Well?

My wife and I will be dining here in a few weeks and we'll report back on our experience.

Thanks for the suggestions of discussing things with Vincent the sommelier. I emailed with Emanuele, and he said they do not fax or email their list, mainly because it changes too frequently. This is OK, as I can review the list when I get there, but, IIRC, the list is extensive and it may take some time. I rarely have good experiences with pairings made per course (Babbo being a notable exception, fantastic!), and I am always leery of being suggested to have a given wine since I suspect the suggestion might be limited to what they have available by the glass (which is usually a much more limited universe than the complete wine list) as well as what they have open. Or, I might have issues with how short or how long a given bottle might have been opened and so forth. Yes, I am a wine geek. I am sure that, in a perfect world, Vincent could craft some perfect pairings where the run of the list is available and bottles that are better to be opened fresh are and those that should have been open for a couple of hours have been and so on, but I am guessing this isn't likely. So, unless I get swept up in the experience (which is entirely possible!), I am hoping to find a half bottle of a delicious white, a bottle of red (probably a Brunello or Amarone) and maybe a glass of Champagne to start. But maybe Vincent will convince me otherwise. I'll certainly report back whatever I decide to do and how things went with what we're served for dinner.

I have the good fortune to be going to maestro in a week and a half. I am sure it will be fantastic (was there once already in 2004), but was wondering if they would email/fax their winelist out. I've sent an email inquiring but thought I'd check and see if any of you know if they would do this.

I'd love to find a good local source of aged balsamico. Do you know if they carry balsamico that is say 10 years old? 20? 50?