Walrus

How about a Wednesday? We could do Wednesday, November 5...

I'd say do it now! He's really on top of his game...I think Friday nights are a good time to catch the master in action...

This beautiful crisp weather has me thinking dim summy again! Anyone else feel like a trip to HEOTB? We might be in for the first weekend in November (have to see if our guest is a dim summer) but are definitely in for Nov. 9. Any date preference? I think the 11:30 am time seems to work pretty well in terms of getting the limited items (shrimp-stuffed spicy peppers, shrimp wrapped in bacon, desserts, etc.).

This almost makes me regret going to Santa Fe for Thanksgiving! Next year...!

We'll be there! No soup, as Tripewriter is under the weather, but fabulous cupcakes from.........you'll have to come to find out!

They also have some limited waiting seating outside, with heat lamps for cold nights.

I'm having to downgrade our status to "uncertain"

Would it help -- and be possible -- to reschedule this event for closer to the end of this month/beginning of November? Or is this a good time for most people?

D'oh -- someone asked Tom about this during his chat today, and it looks like it isn't happening. Rats!

Holy cow. I think it's worth noting that our 5-course meal turned into...drumroll please...8 courses! Plus, what, 5 gifts from Chef Armstrong?! And wine for all?!?! Folks, we were eating and drinking for 6 hours straight. And I've never been happier. The company was great -- I missed talking with all of you at the other end of the room, but I'm sure you heard my end keeping me in stitches the whole night And the food...oooooh. The skate remains my number one favorite dish, though the white pudding with lentils and -- of course! -- foie was stunning and seriously a close second. Among the amuses, the salt cod remains one of my favorite things that chef and his team can do -- take something with such a plebian history and elevate it to divinity. The wines also were very carefully chosen, with the Stephen Robert Rhone blend being a particular favorite of mine. As for the service, not a question went unanswered, and all with the greatest grace and aplomb. All the servers seemed to put up with our Rockwellian shenanigans without once wishing they could bean us with a decanter I think the fact that I spent the entire night feeling like we were the only table in the house says it best. My sincere and joyous thanks to Chef and Meshelle Armstrong for setting this up and making it happen, to Craig for the fabulous wine pairings, to the great waitstaff, the always-charming bar folks, and the amazing kitchen crew, and to the other DR.com guests -- you all rock!!!

Ouch -- as much as we love Thirsty Bernie's, there's just not enough time for us to shift things around to make it to dinner Tuesday. Have fun, though! ETA: I'm surprised to not see people lining up for this! Thirsty Bernie's is good food with good people -- sign up with DanielK now for this great event!

Just a note -- we still have plenty of room for this dinner, so PM me to sign up for this avian adventure!

We're on! Attendees include TheMatt Tweaked Ilaine Nashman1975 ScotteeM +1 Sthitch Heather qwertyy Walrus +1 Hobbes Mr. Chefleen +1 See you all soon!

We are a mere THREE people short of having this dinner come off...

Hmmm...I was steering away from pumpkin baked goods, as it seemed so obvious, but if we're short on desserts, who am I to resist fate? Pumpkin sweets it is! I'm also hoping that Tripewriter will be bringing his famed squash soup...

I think we'd be in! Chicken pot pie, chili dogs, and fried chicken...mmmmm...

Good news! RJ let me know today that Vidalia is able to lower the price on the bird dinner! It's now just $135/person. We still need more folks signing up to make it happen, so PM me if you'd like to come!

I'm totally in (if girls are invited ) Want to have this be the November dinner?

I'd love to, but there's no way we'll be able to fight our way into DC by 6 pm on a Friday. Enjoy!

Although I can't speak for anyone else, when I'm planning an event, I try to give the chefs about a month to prepare for us, and in my personal experience, rather than getting lower-quality food in a DR.com group, we seem to get not just the best they're doing but usually a little extra I have yet to be disappointed at a DR.com dinner.I can add that although I haven't been to many of the $20 events, as they are usually held far from where I can comfortably travel for dinner, I can say that at dim sum, they seem to have no problem keeping up with us! Bacon-wrapped shrimp anyone?

We're lurking

What would be a better price point for you? $55 (without wine) like the Dino dinner? $20 like Dim Sum and the Tuesdays? $85-110 like the Oval Room dinner?ETA: Sorry -- didn't mean it to come across as defensive! I really am interested in what sort of price point people are looking for... Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words Just to add some more info from my end, I've been trying to do a mix of less expensive ($50-$80), medium expensive ($80-$100), and expensive ($100-...) events. We had two events -- one planned by me and one by the inimitable Escoffier, hostessed by goodeats -- in September for under $100 per person, including food, wine, tax, tip, and a private room. This doesn't include Dim Sum or $20 Tuesdays. In October, I'd scheduled our expensive dinner at Eve and ended up with folks on the wait list, so when RJ at Vidalia asked me about doing the bird dinner, I thought there might be room for it. In case anyone is wondering, we are getting a nice discount at each and every one of these dinners, so we're in a win-win situation -- the restaurant is getting to feature their fabulousness for people who care about food and dining, and we're getting to eat at some of the best restaurants in the region for less than we'd spend on our own. Plus, who could beat the company?! I haven't been planning even less expensive ($20) dinners, as I understood that there were already a couple people -- such as DanielK -- planning those events. I'm trying to keep my planning to one dinner a month, so as to leave room for other meals as well as to give schedules and pocketbooks a break. I do think it's worth noting that anyone can plan a DR.com event -- and I'd be happy to share what little I've learned about doing it with anyone who asks.

We only have 7 people signed up for this dinner -- if we don't get 7 more, Vidalia can't do this dinner for us. I hope we can get just a few more folks signed up! Send me a PM to put your name on the list!

We just got home from CityZen -- and many fabulous libations, so please excuse the brevity and lack of detail in this post. In fact, I'll be pleased if it turns out it's all spelled vaguely correctly... We had a WONDERFUL meal here tonight. Just fabulous. Each dish was a revelation, and the wines accompanying them were also divine examples of their types. For example, after two amuses, one of a mushroom fritter and one of an amazing little tempura shrimp on fresh tofu (what a lovely little bite!), we started with the amazing white corn soup -- the corn essence was so strong that the closest thing we could come up with to compare it with was eating sweet corn right off the stalk at Davon Crest II. And it was paired with a Madeira -- the Rare Wine Co. Boston Bual -- that was outstanding. I said at one point that I wished everything could smell like the nose on that Madeira, and I stand by that statement!!! The lobster custard was richly infused with lobster -- and very, very good lobster at that. We also had the shoat BLT. The top layer of this piece of pork was so perfectly crisped and so perfectly salted...well, words fail me. The lemon turbot followed, on the world's best gratin (rich but beautiful). The final entree that we shared was the guinea hen -- wow. It came with a little box of fresh miniature Parker House rolls. If you get this dish, I highly recommend eating the bottom of at least one of the rolls and then dipping the top in the jus before eating it. Amazing. Rich but not heavy, intensely flavored without being overwhelming. The cheese, with an excellent selection was next. Finally, we had the chocolate-peanut butter-concord grape dessert, with a glass of a 1977 Dow's port. Outstanding. I am not a port person, and I almost made the inexcusable error of offering my glass to Tripewriter. Ha. It was really just a beautiful beverage. On a personal note, it was lovely to see some faces we knew as well as to meet some people we hadn't met before but are glad to know now. This was an outstanding experience -- one of the best we've had -- and by far one of my favorite birthday meals ever (Inn at Little Washington included!).