bbq4me

I smell an off-line coming on...loved Chef's Burrell's food at Gabriel.

Out in the Village and you didn't stop by? Home Market sells organic beef from Ayrshire Farm out in Upperville (www.ayrshirefarm.com), owned by Sandy Lerner who also owns the Hunter's Head Tavern in Upperville. You can also get an old fashioned milk shake upstairs at Home Market. Yum. Worth the stop.

Along the Parkways, not sure. But if you venture off the Parkway onto I-77, at the NC/Virginia border there's a BBQ joint called Wallace Bros. From VA, exit at the last VA exit, go under I-77 and turn right and right again. You cannot see the restaurant from the Interstate. From NC, take the first VA exit (Exit 1, I beleive), turn right and right again. Its the real deal NC style BBQ pork, chopped or sliced. The slaw is a Lexington style (vinegar and red pepper) and the hush puppies worth the stop alone.

Peaches. At their peak right now. I can a few jars last night for shits and kicks.

Maine Ave is fine. Obviously (and if its not obvious then it should be) during long stretches of heat during the summer, one should be cautious about what they buy there. American Seafood in Arlington Whole Foods Balduccis

Balducci's or mail order them from dartagnan, you can specify a delivery date.

Aquarelle (read MarkK's write up about this dinner in this forum) Corduroy (fantastic meal and great wine) The Caucaus Room (twice) Butterfield 9 (twice) Kaz Sushi Bistro Chef Geoff's Lavandeau (twice, free corkage on Mondays) Le Paradeu (with Siduri winemaker Adam Lee) Restaurant Kolumbia (the wine was better than the food) Gabriel (one of our more memorable gatherings) Bistro Au Coin Mendocino Grille (with Mark Neal and Grove Celio of Neal Family Wines) DC Coast Equinox (the first DC Cru dinner) Sesto Senso You left Komi off the list where the food was fabulous and our corkage comped ('bout $150 worth )

I fall into the lightly dressed-no filler camp. The best that I've had were in Maine, the Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth and another pound in Camden, I've never tried Red's. I had a couple up in Cape Cod earlier this month at Seafood Sam's in Sandwich, I don't know if its me but there is a fine balance of mayo and other spices before a lobster roll can go awry.

There is another brand I've seen them at Marshall's in Tysons, for about $40 if I recall correctly. Although Le Crueset is the gold standard, I can't justify the price differential. Frankly, I'd go with unenameled cast iron Lodge for a fraction of the price. I'd like to know what tastes better cooked in a Le Crueset that can't be cooked in a Lodge.

In the Tysons area, I like Thai Pilin on Rt 7. Busara is good, but all of their food tends to be (IMO) a little less traditional in flavor. Neisha is in the Tysons Corner mall, but I don't recall if I liked their pad thai. I've had some truly bad pad thai but for the most part its relatively the same at every thai restaurant I've been to.

Probably been to the Dupont location 2 dozen times for lunch, lunch service is good. Food is always consistently good.