lekkerwijn

Anyone eat here recently? Is it still as good and fresh?

I had lunch there today with my sister. We shared the spicey tuna roll, which was as good as previous visits. Usually we'd order the sushi lunch special but were in the mood for something hot. She had nebayaki soba with chicken and vegetables and I had udon tempura (soup). Both came with miso soup and tea and were $8 for very generous portions. Unclear why they serve the udon with a side of miso soup- its redundant. Both entrees came out really hot. My udon soup was literally at a fast boil when it was served. Lots of udon noodles, two pieces of fish cake, mushrooms and vegetables. It came with a ladle and not a spoon which was fine since the broth was scalding hot and really salty. As others have written, the tempura shrimp is over battered and tastes oily. But the shrimp are large, clearly fresh and not overcooked. The soba dish was just ok- it had a slightly off almost sweet taste that I wasn't a fan of. But the food is very acceptable and given the alternatives in the neighborhood has become our go to place when in the mood for a quick bite of sushi but not the schlep across town to Kotobuki.

FYI- last time I was there, I asked them to split the nigiri in half, which the very kindly did. It was much better when the fish to rice ratio was more correct.

Today's Menu

Saturday - December 06, 2008

DINNER

Summer Tomato Salad with Burrata Cheese, Basil Dressing $14.95

I'm watching the repeat of last week's episode where they go to Rochester, NY to cook for the Foo Fighters. All I can think is that if you dragged me to Rochester to cook turkey in the rain with a microwave while pretending its Thanksgiving in the middle of summer, and didn't let me shop at the flagship Wegmans I'd be really pissed.

This was on the Mt. Vernon Triangle blog on Sunday. Still sounds like a good delivery option despite the less than stellar review.

Your go to source should be the Economic Research Service at the USDA. One of their researchers, Ephraim Leibtag, is one of the leading experts nationally on the recent increases in food and commodity prices. Some examples of their recent publications that might help you.

Consolidated Markets, Brand Competition, and Orange Juice Prices

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib747/aib74706.pdf

Twenty Years of Competition Reshape the U.S. Food Marketing System

http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/April08...odMarketing.htm

Corn Prices Near Record High, But What About Food Costs?

http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/Februar.../CornPrices.pdf

You should also do a search of the Journal of Agricultural Economics. That will be more technical than the ERS publications.

If you need any other suggestions feel free to PM me. I work in food economics.

Potato Valley Cafe?

I also second the Clydes on the Walk option. 3-5pm sandwiches are discounted also ($1-2 off, iirc)

I can never remember the name of the "potato place". I think its hit or miss. Their basic baked potato with broccoli, cheddar, bacon and sour cream is pretty good.

Caveat Emptor: the artichoke mix one was about the most foul thing I have ever eaten. Its a wet, tasteless mix of finely chopped up canned artichoke hearts and cottage cheese. It was supposed to have green chiles in it, but I dont remember any. If they had been there it might have had some flavor. It looks almost as bad as it tastes- like vomit on a baked potato.

I often work from home in that neighborhood. Here are my suggestions:

-Clydes on the Walk- reasonably priced, pretty high quality sandwiches, soup, salad

-Baked Potato Place under the Clara Barton Condos

-Chop't

-Taqueria Nacionale

I would also like to add that the mini cookies and Hot Chocolate at Coco Sala are a nice alternative to Starbucks if you need a mid-day fix.

We tried Momiji last night. The other comments were right- the fish to rice ratio on the nigiri is way off. They should cut the pieces of fish in half and sell the two pieces at the same price. We had a sea urchin (FYI, MP is $4.50), white tuna, eel, two spicey tuna rolls (tasty, but not spicey), and an eel and avocado roll. Everything tasted really fresh, with a very pretty presentation. Miso soups were clearly from a mix and mediocre at best. They needed a little more tofu and sea weed. Also had the shumai and beef negimaki appetizers. Both come is big portions and piping hot.

There was a pretty steady flow of people while we were there. The hibachi and entrees coming out of the kitchen were huge and looked pretty good. Overally, this is a great addition to our neighborhood and we are thrilled to finally have edible sushi within walking distance. We'll be back.

We tried to go there for dinner a few weeks ago around 9 pm on a Friday night. The place was packed, they couldn't honor reservations they already had and the manager turned us away. He did mention that they were expanding the restaurant and doubling the size of the dining room. Did that actually happen?

I've been drinking only raw milk for months now. I appreciate that I know the farmer whose cows produce my milk (and butter, and the chickens who produce my eggs and well, chicken) and can talk freely with him about how he raises his animals if I choose to. I also appreciate that I am putting something natural, that has not been artificially processed into my body. I pay no more for my milk than I would for organic milk in the grocery store (and the cows are raised naturally, with full access to pasture, and given only organic feed as a supplement) and as an added bonus, I get enough real cream to use in my coffee from the 1/2 gallon I buy each week as well.

Fears about raw milk are largely misguided these days. If raw milk were commercially produced and sold, then I would have concerns as I do about any commercially raised food. But as long as I can trace my milk back to a particular farm, with a farmer whose methods I am comfortable with (and whose cows' milk undergoes frequent testing for bacteria) I am a happy camper. There's no question that contamination issues aside, raw milk is better for us - in fact, many people who have lactose intolerance issues find they can drink raw milk without any of those same problems.

It's not for everyone I suppose, but I think for people who are invested in learning about where their food comes from and eating whole foods that are ideal for your health, raw milk is worth investigation.

Where do you get the raw milk? I want to try to make clotted cream and all my research says I need to use raw milk from grass-fed cows.

In July we were in San Juan for a wedding. The rehearsal dinner was at Dragonfly in Old San Juan. Its an Asian-Latin fusion restaurant and very trendy. But we really enjoyed the food and cocktails. Even for a relatively big crowd (about 50 poeple), the food was hot and fresh when it came out. I dont remember exactly what we had because we didn't order off of a menu, but I can say it was was way better than anything Zengo serves.

Ok, so thinking back to my food science classes in college . . . the crazy bubbling sounds like an impurity/additive in the brown sugar which is changing the boiling point. Are you using cream of tartar in your recipe? Cream of tartar makes egg foams (meringue) hold their foam because it is acidic. If you don't normally use cream of tartar in your recipe, and you had some kind of acidic impurity in your sugar then it would seem fluffier than normal. And if you are using the cream of tartar, this additional acid would still make it seem really fluffy as it allows the foam to hold more air.

Also, there are two ways of making brown sugar- one where you refine the molasses out of the sugar until it meets the standards for light (3.5%) or dark brown sugar (6.5%). The other way is to add molasses back into the refined white sugar back to the defined point (much like how they make 1%, 2% and whole milk). The second method is more precise and cheaper and they can use beet sugar instead of cane. It is possible that what you are observing is a result of a processing change.

We were in Culpeper over the weekend for a wedding. Foti's was booked Friday night and we had dinner at It's About Thyme instead. Our reservation was at eight and the place was packed with a steady flow of people coming in after we were seated. The next day there was a line out the door for lunch starting at about noon. The menu itself wasn't nearly as inventive or interesting as the specials (which was all we ordered). The portions were HUGE, everything was served piping hot and the service was about the friendliest we have experienced in a long time. The wine list wasn't particularly exciting, but was resonably priced. They make their desserts in house. We were impressed and not disappointed that we didn't eat at Foti's. Two appetizers, two entrees, dessert and bottle of wine was under $150.

We ate:

Appetizers-

Squab Streudel served over a current reduction--> roasted squab, topped with chutney and then wrapped in puff pastry. The meat was a little dry but the mix of chutney and the red currents was really interesting.

Roasted Jumbo Shrimp served over a salad--> this was good, but nothing spectacular

Entrees-

Lamb Shank--> massive lamb shank served over really smooth polenta with a ton of vegetables. Very tender and moist

Veal Cheeks--> braised veal cheeks in a slightly spicey asian inspired sauce. They were served over a mound of risotto, with bok choy and shitake mushrooms

Dessert-

Peanut butter, chocolate chunk cheesecake. Peanut butter taste wasn't overwhelming. Cheesecake was light and tasty. Again, generous portion

BBG had an cooking class with PS 7's restaurant back in October. The class featured three courses and cocktails, as well as hands-on with Peter Smith in the kitchen. One of the cocktails featured was called a Faux Naturelle, made with green tea (see the recipe below).

Part of the appeal is the green tea, which might convince someone that the drink is healthy, which it's not necessarily. While I'm sure others have had this discussion, is there any health benefit to the mixers in cocktails once you add the alcohol and all?

* 2 oz Gin

* 1 oz. Honey Sweetened Green Tea

* Splash of Simple Syrup

* Lime to taste

For the cold version: Add gin, green tea, simple syrup to a shaker over ice. Squeeze lime in to shaker and shake it like you mean it. In a chilled cocktail glass, add a thinly sliced wheel of orange, twisted like a pinwheel. Strain into cocktail; the orange should unfold like the petals of a flower.

For the hot version: Add gin, simple syrup, and honey into a mug. Prepare green tea to taste separately. Pour steeped green tea into mug. Add lime to taste.

The mixers don't negate the health benefits. The Vitamin C in OJ is still there once it is mixed with vodka. The bigger "health" issue is that once you mix everything together, you compound the calories (the drink above with 80 proof Gin is about 150 calories). But I don't think many people have a cocktail for the health benefits. Although, I do think there are many people out there who think about the calories in their drinks. Better to try to get a woman drunk by telling her the drink is low cal, than healthy.

One other piece of feedback:

question 1- the answer choices are not continuous (so you are going to miss out on the people who eat out more than three times perweek and less than daily). You want to be sure to catch those people who eat out twice a day a few days a week.

I didn't feel like cooking this year so Wednesday night we went with a group of friends for Kol Nidre dinner at Dino. The challah crostini with chopped liver was fantastic. From afar it looked like challah french toast- but was actually toasted challah with a thin smear of chopped liver. I was the only chopped liver eater in the group, but everyone enjoyed it. For me, that was the high point of the meal. Our only real disappointment of the night was the chicken soup. It was perfect chicken broth with some thinly sliced vegetables, but was served luke warm and in need a kreplach to round it out. The soup was too rich for a matzo ball. The risotto, chicken and mahi mahi (we were so much happier that it was mahi mahi rather than the salmon as posted on the website), tzimmes and apple cake were all delicious, as we would expect from Dino. All in all, a sinful way to start our day of atonement and a steal at $37 per person.

Turns out it was Norovirus. The same bug that causes pukefests on cruise ships.

Not so bad, at least they'l come clean up your pukey dorm room.

October 5, 2008

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

University officials continue to respond to the recent outbreak of norovirus on campus and are taking a range of steps to meet the needs of students, prevent the spread of the virus and break the cycle of transmission.

As of 4:00 p.m. today a total of 192 patients have sought medical treatment for symptoms related to norovirus. While the vast majority of these individuals remain undergraduate students, for the first time today we became aware of that 2 employees who had been helping respond to students became ill.

Since we became aware of this situation earlier in the week only one person was admitted overnight to the hospital and has since been released. Although the number of those seeking treatment has decreased throughout the day, we must remain vigilant about frequent and thorough hand washing, personal cleanliness, and ongoing cleaning in order to prevent the spread of this virus.

Facilities personnel have been working throughout the past 24 hours to thoroughly sanitize all common areas in residence halls, campus housing units and academic and administrative buildings. They have already done so multiple times in highly trafficked areas including Yates Field House, McDonough Arena, the Leavey Center, and Lauinger and Dahlgren libraries and an aggressive cleaning schedule will remain in place throughout the weekend. In addition, housekeeping crews are responding to individual calls for assistance via the Office of Work Management at 687-3432.

As we look toward the weekend, we recognize that many activities are planned to take place on campus and that many of you may travel off campus. There is no reason to limit any planned activities unless you are feeling ill, and then we ask you to rest and use good judgment.

Because a large number of student athletes are among those feeling ill, many athletics events have been canceled on an individual basis, after consultation with competitor institutions and league officials. Other academic and recreational activities will continue as scheduled.

If you are not feeling well and experiencing symptoms of severe vomiting and diarrhea, please seek medical treatment. Students may go to the Student Health Center or Georgetown University Hospital. Faculty and staff are encouraged to seek medical treatment from their personal physician or a local hospital and to notify their supervisor or academic leader. Supervisors should report the illness to the Office of Risk Management through the normal Worker’s Compensation System.

We remain committed to providing updated information to you and will do so over the weekend if the situation warrants. We do not expect to learn any new information from the Department of Health until next week. The emergency preparedness website remains the best source for updates and an information hot line (1-800-208-5167) will be available until 10p.m. tonight and from 8:00am-10:00p.m. on Saturday and Sunday for parents and members of the campus community.

We appreciate your ongoing cooperation, assistance and concern for one another during this time.

Sincerely,

Todd A. Olson

Vice President for Student Affairs

I can't think of a single reason why egg whites would effect alcohol metabolism except that perhaps the protein content would slow the digestion process. This string made me think of an article I read years ago that suggested that soy products might prevent hangovers in rats:

Soymilk products affect ethanol absorption and metabolism in rats during acute and chronic ethanol intake.Kano M, Ishikawa F, Matsubara S, Kikuchi-Hayakawa H, Shimakawa Y.

Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research, Yaho 1796, Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-8650, Japan. mitsuyoshi-kano@yakult.co.

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/132/2/238

I had my first Lavendar Moon Cupcake today following a delightful Lickity Split Lunch at Eve. I was very glad that I got soup instead of the Birthday Cake. I had the triple chocolate cupcake and it was PERFECTION!! The cake was moist and tender. The frosting was light and buttery. Hands down, way better than Georgetown Cupcake or Hello Cupcake- neither of which serves moist cake and both of which over mix their batter (as evidenced by peaked tops and tunneling). I was also impressed by their interesting flavor choices, including one made with fresh peaches and a meringue "frosting". My only complaint, they are small-ish cupcakes and at $3 each seem a little pricey, $2.50 seems more reasonable.

Although I promised myself that Bebo was a "never again" restaurant, I got talked into it on Friday night since a friend was staying close by. The rain assured that the restaurant was empty, maybe 20 or 30 souls when we walked in, but it didn't keep the service focused. We were greeted pleasantly right away and walked to the middle of the restaurant when the host realized that none of the open four tops had been cleaned. Literally, in that entire space, not one table for four people had been cleaned and re-set. He told us to wait here for a minute while he got someone to clean a table, after standing there for a minute with no one in sight, we simply sat at a round table for six people. Whatever, fine by me, but those tables never got cleaned during our entire time there, not that it affected us directly, but it wasn't a pretty sight to me. Service during dinner was absent and we had to ask for things constantly, I've had worse, but it is just depressing.

And, to be honest, the food wasn't a whole lot better. The pizzas were all soggy, so all the taste in the world, and they were tasty, just couldn't make up for it. The bolognese was stuck together, literally the whole thing was pretty much stuck together. Just not good.

Listen, I got tired of all the bashing that Bebo took on this board, it seemed excessive at times even if it was all 100% true. In fact, it actually kept me from writing about it for the past five days, but my friend who was visiting from Connecticut actually asked me this morning if I had written anything about it because she still couldn't get the bad experience out of her mind. So, here I am writing about it, which is truly depressing when there are all these other great restaurants to go visit and write about. No more for me, I am just not going to go to a place that has disappointed me over and over again.

I thought that restaurant was only temporary Donna reopoened Galileo?? Shouldn't that have happened already or be soon? Any word on that?

I was being a bit simplistic, in my post. Five vendors at the Dupont Market accept WIC vouchers--which apparently allow only $25 a YEAR to be spent on "local produce." Perhaps someone who is more knowledgeable about the guidelines of the WIC program can provide more details, but my understanding is that WIC provides vouchers for milk, eggs, orange juice and (?) cereal for poor women with young babies.

As far as what some very poor people have access to, as the result of government programs, compared to poor people who are ineligible for assistance--food stamps, Medicaid, Section 8 housing are all programs that have been cut in recent years, despite the growing number of poor, uninsured, and the widening of the income gap between the very rich and everyone else.

So as a former WIC dietitian, let me clarify. WIC is a supplemental nutrition program for pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants and children up to age 5, who have a maximum income of 185% of the PIR ( for a family of 4, $39,000/yr). WIC has a "Farmer's Market Program" that provides $25 per FAMILY to be spent in the summer months on locally grown food purchased in a farmer's market. This program is available only in states that chose to provide the extra funds needed to support the program. WIC has traditionally provided vouchers for infant formula, milk, eggs, cheese, beans or peanut butter, cereal and juice. The reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act in 2004 brought about many changes to the WIC food package and it now includes less of some items but fresh fruits and vegetables have been added. I believe in addtion to the Farmer's Market Program. Food stamps are a different program with a lower income threshold, 130% of the PIR ($28K for a family of 4). Food stamps provide a maximum benefit of about $1 per meal. The minimum benefit is about $10 per month/person.

It is a wonderful thing that WIC vouchers can be used at Farmer's Markets. They represent a huge splurge for many families and an opportunity for children to have foods their families would otherwise forgo. But in no way do either WIC vouchers or Food Stamps allow participants to shop extensively at the Dupont farmer's market.

Henley Park Hotel does tea. They also claim to have fresh Devonshire cream with their scones. But this is unconfirmed, although it is on their menu.

Almost as appealing as Swift's Modest Proposal

Clotted cream? Don't know. But in the meantime hi thee hither to Cowgirl Creamery where the tall pitcher of creme fraiche is an easy way to deal with the hegemony of French culture in the culinary world.

I called around a bit more and according the woman who answered the phone at the Henley Park Hotel, they serve afternoon tea that includes homemade clotted cream. She did not sound like she knew what she was talking about so I think I will have to stop by and see for myself. Has anyone been for tea there?

Does anyone know where I can purchase fresh (not in a jar) clotted cream? A quick google search and some phone calls to local cheese shops has proven to be unsuccessful.