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It cost FAR less than I expected.

I had them in August and thought they were exceptional. We also enjoyed the Fairmount Bagels. My husband enjoyed both places with a slight preference for Fairmount, as they have onion bagels and garlic bagels. Also, that's where his Nats hat got the comment, "Nice Expos hat man."

I used them for some very delicate, very large, historic photographs last summer. They did an astoundingly good job.

Is it any quieter?

Meridian Pint gets Mad Fox regularly too.

And I'll add an amen to #1. Restaurants are too loud.

I have bought it at Ace.

Meridian Pint. I don't find the food here great, but the veg food is better than the meat food, Iand I hear that the vegan food is good. The beer is great. Smoke & Barrel has good vegan food and excellent beer.

Wow. I was a GW undergrad in the early 80s, and would periodically find myself there, as friends from campus wanted to go (one of them was dating the DJ).

No, it is still there.

I've been to ris a number of times and have always had good food. We have also generally had good service. This year we went for Christmas Eve. This is the second year we have done so. (We used to go to Ruppert's for Christmas Eve. After they closed, we started going to 1789. But the reservations are hard to get, and lately we have not found the food as good as it used to be.) Last year was great, despite the fact that we were a large party with late reservations. The food was excellent (well, except for the pineapple upside-down cake, which was not as described on the menu, and was absolutely my least favorite thing I have ever eaten there. Not worth the calories.) Our waiter was very pleasant and very professional, but... There were 6 of us. 4 did the Christmas Eve menu (one did the wine pairings), 2 ordered a la carte. We ordered a bottle of wine. We waited a LONG time for the waiter to come for initial drink orders. We waited even longer for bread, and for him to come for food orders. He thanked us for our patience. He failed to tell us about changes to the menu until we asked specific questions about specific items. (Later in the meal, he also failed to tell me about changes to the dessert I ordered until it came out different than expected and I asked about it.) It went downhill from there. The pacing was off. The wine pairings were quite delayed. The pacing was really badly off, resulting in 4 people sitting with food in front of them while the other 2 waited for almost 10 minutes at one point. They handled it well. The waiter apologized. The woman who appeared to be the floor manager apologized. But the problems continued. We know they were working hard to remedy the issues, but could not seem to straighten it out. No, we didn't ask for a manager, because we saw that the manager was already involved, and knew what was going on. So, I have a bit of a quandary. It was an off night. They noticed, apologized, and attempted to resolve - that speaks well. But it wasn't really resolved, as the pacing/coordination problems continued through the entire meal, and the lack of information was really annoying - this does not speak so well. I'm inclined to write it off as one off night. We will certainly go back, as the food is great, we saw them notice and attempt to correct problems, and they have a good record with us. But will we trust them again for an important dinner? I don't know. Was it because it was Christmas Eve? Was it the waiter? Was it the kitchen? Why couldn't they recover once they identified the problems? Was it because we arrived 10 minutes late for our reservation? (We then had to wait another 10 minutes to be seated, so I'm thinking that wasn't it, but it could be.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll go with 2 hours at 325 for dinner. Now for the easier task - deciding what to PUT on it!

I appreciate the advice. We so rarely cook beef at home! (And when we do it is usually bison burgers or sausages on the grill.) Restaurants do it better. (I love Ray's the Classics for my beef fix.) So I know how to braise things, but usually not beef. What I am finding wants us to braise it in the oven between 325 and 350 for somewhere between 2.5 and 4.5 hours.Oddly, the veal brisket recipes seem to want the oven to be hotter than the beef brisket recipes. I'm liking the look of this recipe so I may go this way. I think I need a bit more research to see how to modify it for a veal brisket, as opposed to a beef brisket. Also this, but same thing - how to modify from beef to veal. Then again, I also like this one, which is actually for veal, and takes 3 hours less. And it's on the stove top? Anyone got other good recipes or guidance to point us at?

I went to the farm market the other day, looking for a nice piece of meat for Christmas dinner. I came home with a rose veal brisket that looks delicious. We have no idea how to cook this. The farm stand recommended a spice rub and low slow roasting. Ok, that's a start. Anybody got any ideas? We're both pretty good cooks and have lots of pots, pans, spices, and other kitchen stuff.

I have a cat. Multiple cats. And yes, they come into the kitchen all the time. No, I don't let them get on the counters or the table. Yes, I know some people are allergic and have to medicate before coming to my house. But I don't think the presence of a domestic animal makes a place automatically dirty.

Trickling Springs makes eggnog. http://www.tricklingspringscreamery.com/products/milk/eggnog Lewes Dairy does too, as does Organic Valley.

I ran into him a few weeks ago for the first time in forever. I believe he said he was consulting now.

Wait, the Ford commercial guy has a show?

The airport location stays open year-round. Or at least they used to. I'm a long time gone from Rochester. I always wondered why the beach location closed in winter, as there is a skating rink there, and the Char-Broil is open all winter. Then again, I suppose that many people do not want to eat frozen custard at the lake in a Rochester winter.

Rochester When it comes to frozen desserts, just go right on up to Rochester (preferably during the summer), and go to one of the two original locations of Abbot's Frozen Custard. Do not bother with the franchise locations. Go to the lake or the airport and eat frozen custard.

Well, the Carters have retired. And now, the Hitching Post belongs to Barry, I forget his last name, who owns Fusion. I hear he did some updating, and has changed the menu, keeping some of the former menu. I have to admit, I'm a little afraid to go over there. I want fried chicken. But I wonder if it will be a "you can't go home again" situation. Anyone been since the change?

Burma is, IMO, the best thing going in Chinatown right now.

I would ask one or more of these folks: http://www.tourwithruss.com/ http://www.atourdeforce.com/ http://www.dcsightseeing.com/ All of them will do custom tours, all of them have buses available to them (I believe), and all of them are good. I have done tours with Russ and Anecdotal History (dcsightseeing). A Tour de Force comes recommended from friends that I trust. Also, this is a great directory of tour services - folks from here can help with everything a tour group needs: http://www.washingtondctourguides.com/

Thanks - will give that a try!

Does anyone know where frozen boysenberries might be available?