JPW

Silver Spring store is about 5 blocks from metro straight up Colesville Rd.

Clean out the fridge stir fry -- chicken, carrot, red onion, basil in a chile paste with garlic.

Actually, Tom mentioned that Cesare was no longer involved in Extra Virgin. It was mentioned in a "don't blame him for the mess that is this restaurant" context.

When we lived in the Park Fairfax Mrs JPW and I were were frequent diners at THAI. It remains one of my favorite Thai places in the metro area. The cooking is top notch. I actaully like the fact that most of the dishes are not exactly "authentic" or "traditional", but show the thought that the chef puts into working on variations from the traditional.

Tom, Post specific questions 1)I've noticed that the Eve Zibert "Fare Minded" column in the Weekend section has started to appear more sporadically. Any thoughts of giving her some more help to ensure that it appears when she's on vacation? 2)Any chance of getting more restaurant reviews in the regional (Thursday) sections? I rarely see anything food related in the Montgomery County one. 3)Have you and the Post ever kicked around the idea of splitting reviews by introducing an "Under $25" rcolumn a la The NY Times?

I had a relatively poor experience there the one time I went (Fall 2003). Service was great (waitor seeing from the expression on my face that the overcooked pork tenderloin was like chewing on old shoe leather). The wine pairings for each menu item are nice. The food had potential, but absolutely everything was way too salty. It may be time to give them another chance as it is one of the few places in Bethesda to even attempt reaching a high level.

My last meal at Gaulois (about 2 years ago) was competent but in no way a stand out. However, if the weather is right it has the nicest outdoor seating in Alexandria. My last meal at Bistro Lafayette showed it to be the winner in the Alexandria old school French cuisine battle.

Not open yet, but the major equipment (fridges/display cases) is being moved in as of yesterday.

Starting early as we're going to Saratoga this weekend. Tom, Thanks for joining us. One issue that has come up around here is the proper role or place of online fora such as this. There are several interlinked issues. 1) Most of us have neither the time nor the money to visit a restaurant several times before pronouncing our judgement. For example, after one lunch at Cafe Spice in Gaithersburg, I panned it here and decided that I was never going back. Too harsh? Should I have withheld judgement? How to overcome the, "it might have just been an off day" problem? 2) As part of the traditional food media, what do you see the role of these types of fora being? Are we the new reviewers? Are we information gatherers for real reviewers? Are we nothing more than self-obsessed "hipster foodies" with an overly developed sense of our own importance? 3) Given that no more than a couple of hundred people in and around DC read any of the online food forums and a half-million read the Post, should chefs even care that we exist? Some participate here, some lurk, some are disdainful in keeping away, some are downright hostile to the very existence of places like DonRockwell.com. Thanks again for joining us.

Rocks ordering American wine?

Pork and eggplant stir fry. A nice German Riesling.

Nice first post hungry prof. Welcome to our merry crew.

I think so -- at least to some degree. At the very least it can tell the difference between a one off poor experience (sous chef was too hungover to make a decent sauce) and a pattern (sous chef CAN'T make a decent sauce). But on the other hand, most of us have neither the time nor the money to give a restaurant /dish a second chance when we didn't really enjoy it the first time.

Chicken fajitas!

Not that I've been known to agree with Gillian very often, but I feel like I need to put my two cents in on this whole "feeling rushed" business. What drives restaurant business in one of the largest metro area in the world? 1)Food quality and quantity 2)Prices 3)Customer demand at that Location Everything I've heard about CK (never having been) points all three towards being busy. A reasonable portion of good food at low prices in a location positively starved of decent restos. You don't want to feel rushed? 3)Find an area with more restaurant supply than diner demand. 2) Go to someplace where the average entree is >$20 1) Go some place with bad food. (although this is no guarantee cf Cheesecake Factory) CK has a no win issue here. Either the people eating feel rushed or the people waiting get pissed off. Myself, I'd rather feel a little rushed than wait an extra half-hour for a table. I get mean when I'm hungry. Besides both Chef and her waitors have bills to pay.

NY Strip seasoned with black pepper. Baby greens salad with simple vinagrette. Biscuits. Niebaum (sp?) - Coppola Black Diamond Claret. (My brother gave me the last item, it was good but nothing special to me)

Highs and Lows. Highs - Charcuterie plate - Prosciutto, Mortadella, Capicola, and Salami. A moretti rosso and a glass of lacryma. Great company. Lows - The pizzas. Quattro Stagioni and Quattro Formaggi. To say that I thought they sucked ventworm nut would be an insult to ventworms and their nuts. Right now I'm eating sunflower seeds and the dough was saltier than they are. Consistency was about that of a piece of cardboard. No char whatsoever. Think the oven was not nearly hot enough. The quattro formaggi had more than its desired allotment of parmesan which made it even saltier. Severe disappointment. My rec would be to avoid the pizzas all together. Edit to add - And please train the busboys better. One of my companions nearly got a mouthful of elbow as the busboy reached clear across the table to refill a water glass.

All right then -- my co-workers need me to have a drink before I ... you get the idea

Barring rebellious youth, I should be there about 6:30. I need a drink. Badly.

To add.... Received an e-mail from the eponymous Dean that said they are opening July 6.

And so it was, and the response from Dean via Heather was that the reserve list will not follow this policy, but the main wine list will.

Had a really nice one last night. Chateau de Grande Cassagne, Costieres de Nimes. ($9 Magruders) Powerful fruit (mainly strawberry) up front and a long semi-sweet finish. Great body for a rose. Mrs JPW did not like the sweetish finish, but then again she tends to like her wines bone dry. I really enjoyed it, but it may be an acquired taste. The slight sweetness made a good contrast with the grilled tuna that had been in a spicy marinade.

I have a probability = .75 (75% chance) of showing up at Firefly for happy hour tonight. If I do make it, there will likely be a brief cameo appearance from a special guest star.

Alternatively, you could do what I did -- learning through aversion therapy. After I sent myself to the emergency room two months ago with second degree burns on my palm, I don't think that I will ever grab a pan that has been sitting in a 400 degree oven with my bare hand again.

Alas, I do not have one of those.