JPW

Gruet Brut (New Mexico)

Ubiquity Ubiquity Ubiquity

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

Added note -- Armand's is better out of the fridge cold than reheated. Something about the funky cheese they use turns into plastic when reheated.

Peanut and her mom have taken pity on me and proferred me a pass on parenting this pm.

I will most likely be found at the same place as the two "H"s at about the same time.

Need that steak.

Omaha strip steaks (xmas gift) and fresh corn that was soooo super sweet! Joe, you need to go to the stand on Georgia Ave just after RT. 28 and you will not be disappointed 

Hmmmm.

Gives me an excuse to go to the driving range, Olney Golf Park, almost next door.

(FWIW - easily the best golf practice facility in the area)

Dino's, newly opened in Cleveland Park, states on its web site that corkage is $10 per bottle.  Please note, however, that wine pricing is very very fair at that restaurant.

For more detail...

Every wine on their basic list is priced at $10 above retail.

From the horse's mouth

Grilled tuna steaks.

Mango salad

Corn on the cob (still not quite at its best)

The crappy wine mentioned here. Quickly replaced by a glass from an already opend bottle of Picpoul.

Peanut had some mango and some corn.

And, of course, some Joe's O's

As a corollary to the "Great Wine Threads"...

Like everyone who searches for good wine deals on inexpensive bottles, I run accross the occasional stinker.

I'm not talking about a bad bottle (i.e. corked), or a wine that you just don't care about. I'm talking shit wine that never should have left the vineyard.

Had one myself last night -- Reinares, rose, Tempranillo/Grenache.

First off, a very odd almost copper-y color. No noticable nose, the tannins of a red without the fruit or body, further emphasized by absolutely no sweetness. Absolutely no balance.

Reminded me of a delicate red garment that gets thrown in the wash with some whites by mistake. Add some bleach and your shirt ain't red no more. It's also got no body or substance left.

First time in a long time I dumped the contents of a bottle down the sink and reached for something else.

Beef fajitas and a bottle of Montecillo.

Peanut loved the sauteed bell pepper, but wasn't so hot on the skirt steak. As always her meal was supplemented by some Joe's O's.

i looked at thier "how we pick 'em" link (http://www.fineliving.com/fine/favorite_things_selects/text/0,1663,FINE_8073_8336,00.html)

and they claim to receive no financial benefit from the selected venues.  restaurants are choosen by "speaking to experts and searching the Web, catalogs and magazines ".  at least they don't claim to have actually visited the city in general or restaurants in specific.

even with a lazy and obscurely located caveat, reading that list is about as painful as a month of mother's day brunches.

To repeat myself -- for "experts" read "the last PR firms that sent us promotional materials".

I read this piece yesterday. Nicely researched and written. Very enjoyable.

I just wish that the editor would have tightened it up a bit. For me, it tended to lose focus and ramble off course in places.

What Don leaves out is the obvious roles of PR firms behind who Food Network chooses.

For our MoCo contingent --

Once we find a decent night weather-wise. Mrs JPW and I have been planning to check out the nice-looking rooftop at the SS outpost of Addis Ababa.

The patio at Roger Miller is about 5 feet above sidewalk level. Does that countas "rooftop"? It's taller than the roof of my car.

You are correct.

But lots of luck finding one of them open.

Don't forget the famous Mystic pizza.

For a slice of pie around DC you need to come to Rockville and stop off at Giuseppe's (around the corner from the county buildings).

The owners, Scott and his mom, are from my neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Scott grew up working at Mineo's, which is a local pizza legend. He brought all of the recipes with him. Pittsburgh pie is slightly thicker than NY style with more toppings, but not as thick as what you get from the massive chains.

Or, get the Italian combo sub. He took this from Aiello's which is three doors away from Mineo's in the Squirrel Hill section of Pgh.

And what was that crap about someone who "heard" that the tasting room at Eve had gone downhill?  Heard where?

Perhaps the same source that told Michael that Ray's was closing!

When this battle station is fully operational.......

[Cue heavy breathing]

Having just mentioned the fact that Sietsema and Kliman read this board in the half-off Galileo thread, I started to ponder -- What's the restaurant/food situation at the Times? I can't say that I ever read the Times. Anyone out there more familiar? Is it even worth going through the web site to check out what they have?

Building on that, and given my general disdain for the cheerleading reviews in Washingtonian, I began thinking -- Is there anyone else out there worth reading?

I enjoy Eve Zibart's pieces in the Weekend section when they show up.

The Gazette (suburban free weekly) occasionally turns up a good local neighborhood ethnic place, but I don't trust their reviewers any further than I could throw my new mega-size Montgomery County paper recycling bin -- fully loaded.

Are there any other DC resources out there wandering through the wilderness that I'm not aware of? Am I like Capt. Kirk in the Undiscovered Country or have we explored everything?

Good point, well taken.  Skepticism diminished.  Almost completely.  I'm still thinking, though.  Twenty-ish influential food lovers walk into a restaurant....

You complete the story.

I don't know if I would exactly call us "influential".

Our main influence probably lies in the fact that Sietsema and Kliman read this board.

It would be interesting to look into the web server log and count the number of unique IP's people are using to visit the site over the course of say a week or a month. That would probably give a better picture of direct "influence".

The raviolis are indeed very mild tasting. Especially when accompanied by the rich lamb. The contrast between the two flavors brings out the best in each -- the sharpness of the goat cheese helps keep the lamb from being too rich and the richness of the lamb softens some of the sharpness of the goat cheese.

I watch over everything, even when I'm away.

I looked into a full-length mirror the other morning and came to the distressing conclusion that I look exactly like Ron Jeremy (from the waist up  ).  So I decided to take a few days to begin reexamining that svelte, boyish muscularity and verve we all came to know and love when I was in my previous profession.  I'm here, but I'm not here.  I exist, but I don't exist.  It's that simple, and yet it's not. 

And I'll be back this weekend,

Rocks, skimming on Walden Pond.

Don't believe the hype.

My well-placed sources say that he is at a secret clinic tucked into the corner of a Burgundian cave getting pec and calf implants.

The best (so far) was my copy of Larousse.

Hey, Heather. Happy Birthday.

So, how many years have you been 39?

What'd you get this year?

PS - I see you changed your handle. Very kinky.

That is Chef Brendan Cox, former sous at Equinox and chef at Market Salamander in Middleburg, VA.  (I know that Mark knows this - I mention it for the benefit of other readers     )

Brendan is a huge fan of steak tartare - one late night a few years ago, I was with him and some other friends and we had closed out a bar but we were still hungry.  It was probably around 1:00, and I suggested Bistro Français, which is usually open until at least 3:00.  Brendan's reaction was, "Great!  I could go for some steak tartare."

Good to know that they are open Sundays, thanks!

brendanc also hangs out here when he feels the need to associate with the commoners.

Ahh.  Great question.  Total Beverage/Wine carries other Iron Horse wines, but I haven't checked to see if they have the rosado.

Total Wine has a very nice online inventory search engine (Macarthur's uses the same tool).

Alas, they do not appear to have the rosado.