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Oh wow. So how was it?

I did not manage to get a table off the waitlist. Sad.

Cinder took the space on Upshur where our much-missed neighborhood wine bar, Ruta del Vino, was. It is, in my opinion, not very good. Also, it's Romper Room in there most of the time.

This makes me insane. I take thyroid meds. I NEED them. But no, I can't refill until I am almost out. And so, vacations require groveling to the insurance company to get the refills a week early. And emergencies don't exist in their world.

They are lovely - they have been vendors at the Columbia Heights farm market for years. They don't bring the cider to CH, but you can get it at Each Peach in Mt P.

Jolly Scot from Appalachian Brewing in Gettysburg. Sometimes you can find it around here in bottles. It is nice.

Oooh. So the appetizer size from the old location? That would be so delicious. Just call 2 days before we want to come in?

Quick and good, not great - Zorba's Cafe. Decent Greek fast casual. I love Pizza Paradiso for (duh?) pizza. Is he a beer guy? The Big Hunt has good beer. Don't know if they even have food.

Ha! When I was an undergrad at GW (early 80s), the GW parents restaurants were Adam's Rib and Blackie's House of Beef. I wonder what are the GW parents restaurants now.

So, a good experience to share. Went to pick up a friend at Union Station last night. And since we were all the way down there, we thought we would try one of the places on H Street that we never get to. The staff were lovely. Since we had never been there before, we had no idea how it worked. They explained, and we snagged bar seats on the main floor of Maketto. There was a wait for a table on the main floor. But we like bars, so it was all cool. There were plenty of seats upstairs, but we wanted to eat off the big menu. There were 4 of us. The bartender was fabulous, giving good advice on wine and cocktails and food. So we started with steamed pork buns and gruyere dumplings. Both very tasty. Then we each got a big plate. We SHOULD have shared, but we each wanted something different, and the bartender assured us that the food would keep and reheat well. So one order of fried chicken, one of spicy laab with marrow, one of spicy lamb noodles, and one of wok fried rice noodles with roasted pork added. All very good. The spicy things were far too spicy for me, but the folks who ordered them are heat lovers, and they said their meals were GREAT! I loved the chicken, and the noodles were also excellent. And yes, we brought at least half of each dish home. We did stop a bit before we were totally full, as we wanted to try the very interesting sounding desserts. One affagato, 2 Thai tea crunch, and one amaro for dessert. All very delicious. We will do this again. We will make a point to get over to that side of town for this. The food and service were exceptional, and we had a good time. We agree that next time we will order more appetizers and then split one or two big plates, depending on how many we are that night.

So, we had our usual Christmas Eve dinner at 1789. Been doing it for years, mostly the same group. There were 5 of us this year. And this year will be the last. Prices have gone up significantly, but for a special occasion, we can cope with the prices. Food was fine. Not better than that and nowhere near as good as it used to be. And service was truly poor. We arrived in 2 groups - 3 of us and 2 of us. The 3 of us were a 15 minutes early, so we got shunted off into the VERY crowded bar over in the former F. Scott's space. Too crowded to even get drinks. Then they came to get us, saying that our other 2 were there. They weren't. So we ended up standing around by the hostess stand while they alternately ignored us and tried to figure out why we were there. When we were finally seated, we were taken to the upstairs back room. Coat check was not offered until we arrived at our table, despite the fact that we had asked about it when we arrived. We have always enjoyed the decor, but we got put into a room that was not very decorated for the holidays. OK, carolers are still coming around and food is the main thing. It took the waiter 20 minutes to come take our drink order. Drinks then took another 10 to arrive. Only then did the waiter offer to take our orders. We had to ask for a wine list, but we had enough trouble getting anyone's attention that we didn't get a wine list until we ordered. Ordered. Appetizers came in a mostly timely manner, and were placed in front of the wrong people. Dinner took almost 40 minutes after the apps were cleared to arrive. We asked. The waiter apologized, and told us we were next up. A while after we asked, we asked again. He said he didn't know, and you know, you can't go into the kitchen and ask! When it arrived, dinners were placed in front of the wrong people. I swear, we didn't move around the table or anything like that. As people finished their meals, plates were cleared one by one. No waiting for us all to finish! We should have given up at that point, gone home, and had cookies and eggnog for dessert. No, we are not that smart. Took a while to get his attention to order dessert and drinks. Dessert took a while to arrive, drinks even longer, tea even longer. Also, the desserts have definitely declined in quality, even more than the food. And again, drinks and food were given to the wrong people. I will note that through all of this the waiter was quite pleasant, but neither helpful nor knowledgeable. No, I didn't ask for the manager. I should have, but we kept thinking that surely it would improve. On the way out, we passed the manager who asked how it was. I told him, although not in detail. We had 7:15 reservations. It was almost 10:30 by the time we left. I was not ready to invest any more time. So, for us, the end of an era. I hope there are some good places open for Christmas Eve next year. (We did Corduroy one year. It was amazing, although didn't have the holiday decor. No matter. It was so good. Perhaps back there. Maybe Kinship will be open for Christmas Eve. That would be good. We'll figure it out. ) It's sad though. It used to be so much fun.

I live very very very close to the original location. We seemed to be the only people who didn't like it, but the food was fine, just not great, and the service was always bad. And the prices were too high for what it was. And so, I have never been to the second location, because who wants to go all the way to Georgetown for that?

OOOOH. Now I just need a reason to get catering from Corduroy.

I just wish the goat cheese in potato cage was still around.

They've been at the Columbia Heights farm market for a while now.

And now, Hitmitsu has become Pom Pom.

I do not like pumpkin beers, so cannot vouch for this, but my husband, who does like pumpkin beers, says that the rum barrel aged Pumking (Southern Tier) is quite delicious.

Yeah. Hence, go Astros. After a LONG ALCS, with every game going to extras please. Exhaust them!

No. Then there would be Yankees fans at the park. That would be bad.

I watched it from section 302. Oh my lord.

I need to try that too. But the South Mountain stuff is really good, as is Mount Deseret.

Have you looked at Litteri?

We had to meet someone in Olde Towne Alexandriae for dinner again a few weeks ago. This time I managed to remember that there is a Pizza Paradiso there! We had a good dinner.

A long time friend, married to an even longer time friend. She left us Monday night.

I like this place a lot. A bit pricey for a neighborhood regular place, but tasty and the prices are fair for the food. Just more than I can afford every week. Service slightly flaky but pleasant and welcoming. It hasn't been there all that long, and I understand it may not last much longer. We were there last night - group of 6. Food and drinks were all good. The cocktails are stellar. The beer list is a bit too short and basic, as is the wine list. We ate a variety of food, and the only issue with dinner was that I forgot to specify no cilantro and so had to remove cilantro from my chicken. The big thing though was dessert. They have buenuelos on the menu, but never have them. I love them and want them. As a matter of fact, the only dessert of a six item menu they had last night was a coffee flan. Good thing it's so close to our house. We all went there for ice cream and cookies instead.