Pool Boy

5 hours ago, ElGuapo said:

Urban Butcher has hit the “pause” button on operations at the restaurant at 8226 Georgia Ave. “due to the current situation,” according to an announcement on its website and Facebook page. The operators will concentrate their efforts at “Urban Butcher’s younger brother,” El Sapo Cuban Social Club.

https://www.sourceofthespring.com/business/urban-butcher-hits-pause-button-operations/

We had always talked about ordering their Meat Mountain - We did it a couple of weekends ago, finally, as takeout. It was good. I wonder if this is closing for good or just temporarily shuttering it while they focus on outdoor dining at the other place (and likely cutting costs and staff in the process).

I love the term Katzenbarf. I supposed the act of this would then be Katzenbarfen

16 hours ago, Count Bobulescu said:

I definitely would not rely on Total, especially for imported wines. At a guess I'd say 80-90% of their import selection comes via one importer, Saranty. Certainly 100% of their winery direct selections on the three central shelves, plus some above and below. Seems like Saranty is a shell importer. You won't find much info about them online, save that they are affiliated with William Deutch & Co, the nice people who work so hard to  bring you Yellow Tail.

It's becoming clear to me that I'll need to go further afield to find what I want. I suspect that Total Wine in MD may have different selections than in VA or elsewhere since MD still has pretty draconian distribution rules.

20 hours ago, MarkS said:

• Wine Cellars of Annapolis on Forrest Drive.  The owner, Patrick, has been in the business for many years and has very good relationships with importers, wine makers and distributors.  

I will have to check it out Mark. My mother-in-law now lives near Annapolis so a good excuse to veer off course slightly.

5 hours ago, KeithA said:

Care to share the recipe? I have lots of both and this sounds like a good match.

Sure thing - it is excellent and easily adaptable.

 

So my wife and I did a staycation, did a few day trip things locally, away from people. It's our birthdays week, so we indulged in some good take out - Kaz was her choice and Annabelle was mine. We avoided most things we knew would not travel well (fried stuff, frozen stuff) and then plated everything at home and had a delicious meal.

Heirloom Tomatoes - Reggiano Cheese Bavaroise, San Giacomo Balsamico, Ciabatta Tuille
--The tuille suffered from the drive home, but the flavor was amazing. The totatoes each had different flavor profiles and were the ultimate in fresh. So good - like summer on a dish.

Summer Corn Vichyssoise - Smoked Chanterelle and cinnabar mushrooms, yellow squash, crispt leeks, nasturtium
--Very refreshing and delicious. Really good flavor and I loved how the mushroom held up up so well.

Terrine of Organic Guinea Hen, Pistachio and Olive, en Croute - Fennel Remoulade, Pickled Daikin, Sweet and Sour Green Tomato
--Anytime you see anything that says 'house made', 'house smoked', 'Annabelle's own' - order it - you will never be disappointed.

This is such a Frank dish. Exceptional terrine (toothsome but not chunky and no whipped - nice dose of black pepper) augmented by ALL of the accoutrements - ultra fresh greens for crunch and flavor; the pickled daikon and green tomatoes for counterpoint to the richness of the terrine and the fennel remoulade because is brings it all together. This is an exceptional dish not because each of the elements is exceptional, but more so because of the combination of flavors when you bring it all in together in a bite.

Just incredible.



Crispy Massachusetts Rock Fish and Spanish Octopus Duo - with grilled summer corn salad.
--This dish suffered the most from the drive back home unfortunately - nothing cispy about the dish (we avoided ordering the Fish Sticks & Onion Rings as well as the Stuffed squash blossoms on the menu for that reason).

That said, the flavors were still very solid. The octopus held together better than the rockfish and the accompanying corn salad had some magic thick crema in it to connect it together. The crema in the foreground is an avocado sort with a bit of chili oil - great for dipping the rockfish in to. Better yet, get a bit of everything on your fork for a nice bite and you'll love it. I would love to try this again immediately after it was plated.

Summer Corn Ravioli, Annabelle Cured and Smoked Pork Belly Ravioli, Summer Truffles

--This is what I look forward to every summer with Frank's food. The truffles bring depth and earthiness to this sweet corn (and nutmeg?) ravioli. The greens lighten it and the sauce (the SAUCE) connects it all together. This would have been much better had we dined in, but the flavors were just great.

Kurobuta Pork Chop Katsu - Miso condiment, wilted cabbage with sesame 
--Unbelievably excellent pork. And a nice Japanese inspired dish - breading held up well in the drive home, the miso was nice to augment things and the sesame-cabbage had sliverd of sweet peppers in it. Bonus was the one side of it had the bone in it for more flavor. Really, really great dish.

Pennsylvania Raised Lamb - Grilled loin and Confit Shoulder, summer eggplant relish, cucumber yogurt sauce, roasted zucchini 
--Frank's lamb is always great and this dish is no exception. While the loin was great, the shoulder was the better of the two. It was slightly 'corned' and had a nice pepperiness that went well with the relish (or cooled off by the cucumber sauce). Underpinning it al was the fantastic, rich and unctious sauce. So good. A triumph.
 

Oven Roasted Organic Half Chicken - Salad of Summer Beans and Indigo Radicchio, Tarragon Jus
--I'm a sucker for Frank's chicken no matter thr form. Clearly I liked this version because I'd already ripped off some of it before I took the picture.  Perfectly roasted - juicy, succulent and flavorful (nice thing with the juniper in that) and crispy skin. Exceptional. The salad brought summer to the dish and was quite delicious on its own and with some of the chicken.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake - Passion fruit creme, chocolate mousse, crispy meringue, exotic caramel 
--This suffered a bit from the drive home. Good overall flavors and if you love chocolate, you'll enjoy the dish. For me though, the dessert here fell a little bit flat. Other things to finish the meal that were on the menu involved frozen things that would never have made it home which is why we tried this.

I'll check out Weygandt's then - thanks for the tip on  it and how to order/pick-up/call ahead.

On 7/29/2020 at 5:40 PM, Tweaked said:

Check out Weygandt's in Cleveland Park - Their portfolio is very heavy on small family producers from France, very good selection from Austria, smaller selection of Italian, very small selection from Spain.  Lots of choices in your price point of $25 and under.  Weygandt's is currently curb side pick up only, but if you shoot them an e-mail and describe what you are into, I'm sure they can make some good suggestions.  Their website is decent, not sure if it cover all their stock.  But it has good descriptions, notes, bios, production specs, and availability.  

Also go up Connecticut Ave for Calvert-Woodley in Van Ness.  C-W is open with a 15 shoppers at a time maximum.  Their website covers a lot of their stock, so you can check that out too.  

On 7/30/2020 at 9:05 AM, Rovers2000 said:

I'd echo the comments re: Weygandt.  Warren is terrific.  I just had him put together a mixed case of some of his favorites - and each has been just tremendous.  In particular some of the really crisp Rieslings he put in there have been stunning.

We recently got Kaz Sushi Bistro - Excellent and everything traveled well, washed it down with an excellent Billecart Salmon brut reserve.

Taqueria Los Primos (North Laurel, MD) - very good tacos and guacamole and chips

Annabelle (for celebrating our two birthdays) - excellent

Oh and Pasta Plus has been open for carry out for maybe 4-5 weeks now and we've been getting stuff there again as well.

Amber Spice (South Laurel, MD) - excellent Indian food. Tried the biryani recently and my wife opted to try the lorma with lamb instead of chicken and I may have taken her over to the dark side.

Gha-Rahm (Beltsville, MD) - Got this as delivery and it was solid and good. We hadn't tried there in quite some time, but we enjoyed it - will get more from here again soon.

On 1/22/2020 at 11:27 AM, Shaho said:

Tacqueria Los Primos in north Laurel is legit, and I second the vote for Mango's. I believe the chef at Amber Spice is the former chef from Curry Leaf as well? That was my go-to back in the day. I still dream about the pound cake at the Dutch Market... 

I'll second the suggestion of Taqueuria Los Primos in North Laurel (apparently they have several locations, kind of a micro-chain).

Their al pastor, barbacoa and chorizo tacos are great. The asada we ordered with guacamole that it kind of overwhelmed the taco - better to order some guacamore on the side and add a bit at a time so you can control the amount better. The lengua was very good, but I have had better. Overall - it was take-out and online ordering was easy - it was a good experience and I'll be back [We had a craving after watching the Taco Chronicles on Netflix - recommended.]

One thing that is important to note - these are not the sparsely populated tacos I normally expect where the ration of filling to tortilla is in my mind more in balance - these are tacos with a lot of filling, so 3 of them is easily enough to fill you up a good bit.

We ordered stuff from Gah Rham (Korean place in Beltsville). It's been too long since we had their food. It was probably 2 good entrees (two different bibimbaps), a decent dumpling starter (mandu) and then something from their Japanese/Chinese etc part of the menu that was a hot mess (boneless chicken in a spicy sweet sauce (way, way way overcooked chicken swimming in way, way too sweet (to the point of the sugar still being in crystalline form) - which we basically just tossed).

We'll order again and stick to what they are good at, but worth a look if you are in the area.

I have been kind of dismayed at the results from the change in ownership of a place I used to frequent. I liked supporting a local small business, too. Ah well.

I have another local shop I still go to occasionally, but their selection is hit or miss and some of the regular offerings have disappeared. But at least I know I can go there and get a couple of things I find difficult to find elsewhere.

So that leaves a Total Wine to now do most of my shopping in. I suppose I need to invest time and effort getting them to bring in some of the things I can no longer get within a reasonable drive from my house (say 15-20 minutes one way drive, I live in South Laurel, MD). I could do that with a local shop, too, I think, but the ownership changes of these stores is too frequent and then I have to start all over again. Hence me thinking about Total Wine.

Can anyone make any recommendations for a DC-based shop that has a good selection of everyday wines (call it $25 and under per bottle) from Spain, Italy, Austria and France? I'm totally willing to drive the 30-45 minutes as needed to get to the right shop (see below).

I'm loving Vermentino from Italy (Costalomino and Aragosta are personal favorites). Same for a lot of grenache-based wines from Spain and France. I also like Juan Gil Monastrell but am having difficulty consistently finding it. Gigondas and other southern rhones are also my happy place these days. I love northern rhones, but I am intimidated by the prices, so those tend to be when I want one for a special occasion. I have a lot of enjoyment from Grüner Veltliners from different parts of Austria - really versatile. For Italian wines, I spend most of my time in the Veneto region for Valpollicella, Amarone, Soave and other local wines, though I enjoy a lot from the Tuscan reagion, generally shying away from the nebbiolo based wines mostly because the ones I really enjoy from that region are expensive (worth the splurge for an occasion, but again, looking for everyday wines at the moment).

On 7/21/2020 at 10:49 PM, DonRocks said:

It will be easier for a restaurant to return to pre-COVID levels when half the competition no longer exists.

That is true.  I am generally pretty particular about the places I am supporting during this mess. I feel awful for not dining in at restaurants because I crave the experience, but also because I know I am not spending as much. I order from the places still doing carryout-take-away and ordering too much and tipping well. But to get the places I really want to survive as much as possible, I have to drive to DC and shuttle it home. I do this, but not enough.

Anyway, I would encourage folks to support as much as possible the places you want to survive more than supporting a wide variety of places (your food cravings notwithstanding, of course).

On 7/18/2020 at 8:18 PM, will_5198 said:

I was excited to try the Pineapple Upside Down Cake flavor this summer. It was fairly appalling, and did not represent any of my favorite parts of a pineapple upside down cake.

It was so bad it soured me on the brand as a whole -- if that flavor was approved, it's hard to trust them moving forward. 

On 7/18/2020 at 9:29 PM, susan said:

Interesting that you say that. I was so excited when Jeni's opened in Bethesda. A friend and I went a few weeks ago and we got the Sweet Cream Biscuits and Peach Jam. It was so overly sweet and gross that i ended up throwing it away. Wasn't worth the calories. All of their ice cream flavors look achingly sweet. The lines are long every night, maybe I picked the wrong flavor.

I find that ice creams that are the simplest are the best and hardest to screw up. I am the kind of person that generally does not like stuff in my ice cream - chunks of this and that dough, whatever - it does not belong in ice cream I eat. There are some rare exceptions involving properly very small chocolate bits and even more rare things when I make ice cream at home. Anyway, that is just another reason not to order complicated flavors of ice cream when out. But that's just me.

I personally find no reason to ever make corn ice cream.

That said, I generally have very god results with Jeni's recipes. I have not made any in a couple of years, but I vaguely remember there is a tiny amount f basic cream cheese in some of the recipes - I do not recall ever doing a corn starch slurry.

What was the source of the recipe - we have her book on this that us about 10-12 years old, not sure if they ever made another one or more recipe cooks or not.

Recently -
 

1. peach and blackberry cobbler
2. blueberry pie
3. blueberry scones
4. tomato and eggplant tart

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Farmers-Market/Spicknalls-Farm-Market-237297049711762/

These guys are still open and doing their thing. Just remember to wear masks!

They have had tremendous local peaches, blackberries, blueberries and sour cherries this year. Rhubarb and strawberries are past us, but those were good, too. Lots of tomatoes and the corn is coming along nicely.  They also regularly carry eggs and a few other refrigeration-required items.

And, of course, they also sell a lot of plants - perennials, annuals, flower baskets, starter plants for tomatoes, herbs and whathaveyou. They also sell Christmas trees when it is that time of the year. They have actually upped their game a good bit on the plants front with nearby Behnke's having closed a year ago. They even bought a bunch of the shopping carts from Behnke's for rolling aroung to put plants on while you shop.

Anyway, it's definitely worth a look if you are in the area. I'm fortunate to be just about a 7-minute easy drive away.
 

On 7/12/2020 at 6:03 PM, DonRocks said:

I'm not sure people fully realize just how screwed restaurants are right now.

I wrote one well-known chef who has *zero* covers tonight, and is closing early.

I wrote another well-known chef, and told him about the first chef having zero covers, and he replied, "No surprises there."

I would prefer if all of those that have chosen to re-open would either in addition to outside or inside service continue to do carry out service. I'd love to continue to support these restaurants but it seems like a lot of nicer places that were doing carryout may not be doing both dining and carry out now. I have not really checked, but I have a week coming up where I'd love to carry out excellent high end dinners all week long - I guess I will have to do some research to see what we can come up with.

On 7/6/2020 at 8:15 AM, Count Bobulescu said:

As if on cue, from Md's legal newspaper..... Md. businesses, employees caught in the middle on masks Maryland businesses and their employees find themselves increasingly caught in a battle zone, expected to enforce the governor’s order that store customers wear face masks during the coronavirus pandemic even as some patrons are bridling at following that order. Employees and managers are having to persuade balking and sometimes angry customers that they need to wear the face coverings, all while avoiding a confrontation or summoning police. (Daily Record)

It would sure help if they actually passed these as laws instead of regulations and put some enforcement in place to make sure restaurants are complying. This situation is not going away anytime soon.

Curious question - is there a good source of info that advises which restaurants are open only for dine-in (outside or insie - I am not ready for either) versus which are either exclusively or in addition offering takeout (outside of going to lots of restaurant websites and determining what they do)?

My birthday and my wife's birthday are coming up and we usually spurge on a great meal out, but we are not comfortable doing that at all just yet.

But, we'd still like a kick ass meal. Any suggestions?

1 hour ago, Tweaked said:

The Wash Post is running an article about the lack of tourists visiting Maine this summer. 

Looks like most out-of-state tourists need to take a coronavirus test before arrival or quarantine upon arrival, and, of course that would be a long drive, but certainly doable in a day. 

I read this as well. Not havong been tested yet, I wonder how long it takes to get results back if you do or do not have it. A quick skim indicated it is usually a week or more before you get your results - that means, unless you can find a place that turns your test results around very quickly (probably at increased expense to you), you are not going to be able to vacation in Maine.  And by vacation, I pretty much mean just renting a cabin or small home , stay there to eat all meals, but at least be able to get out to walk the rocky shores of Maine to recharge.

10 hours ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

Too many to list. My concern is whether or not they will still be there when it becomes safer.

there is that. Part of the problem is that some restaurants start opeing for in person dining and abandon carryout entirely - it is like putting all your eggs in one basket.

It is tre that the DC area is more sane on masks, gloves and social distancing, but still, it is going to get worse before it goes ok and then safe - these restaurants need to know there are people willing to do (high end) carryout and they are leaving money on the table if they ignore folks that are not able to safely dine out

On 2/12/2020 at 1:07 AM, deangold said:

I second this place. Interesting selection. 

On 2/11/2020 at 5:46 PM, MarkS said:

Wine Cellars of Annapolis.  I'm there most winter Saturdays as there is no boating.  http://www.winecellarsofannapolis.com/calendar/632-european-cellars-french-spanish-imports-special-guest-matt-carroll

Good to know. My mother-in-law lives near there now, so I will have to check it out. One of my decent go to places changed hands 3 months ago and the new owners are remodeling and no idea if they will do OK  with selection or not.

We have the Jeni's ice cream cookbook (before they went nationwide and corporate, they made this book). We have had pretty great results and we use the cuisinart with compressor model with pretty good though not perfect, success. Lots of good recipes in there for sure.

These guys are on my list to head back to when we are out of the covid-hell-hole.

That's a long run. My guess is a combination of rising rents and covid, plus changing demographic.