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I'd describe this as a lesson in how not to do crisis PR when you have a food safety problem and have made people sick. So much so, that I'm going to save it and use it as a training tool with my team. This is also why if you have a nationwide outbreak from your restaurant and the CDC is involved and you don't continue to use your publicist who does lifestyle PR and hire an agency experienced in crisis and litigation communications who won't put you in a situation like Mr. Galy was put in with Carman. This interview should never have happened. He should have called me and my team.

At high end restaurants like the Riggsby FOH staff often do really well so they can afford to eat there. Restaurateur Jeff Black, owner of BlackSalt and Pearl Dive Oyster Palace, among other places, says members of his wait staff earn between $85,000 and $150,000 annually. "My waiters make more money than" D.C. Council members, Black said. "They don't need a raise."

We spent Thanksgiving in Peru. Our original plan was 4-5 days of eating and relaxing in Lima. But then my family invited themselves along and we ended up also going to Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, which was awesome. We had some really great tour guides and drivers. Happy to provide recommendations including for a fruit tasting, market tour and cooking class. Lima- Hotel B - This the "hot" boutique hotel in Lima right now. Reasonable by U.S. prices but really expensive for Lima. That said, we loved it. Huge room, modern luxurious bathroom. Breakfast and high tea were included and delicious. My mind has been forever changed about the power of properly prepared quinoa with fried eggs for breakfast. They are also famous for their Pisco Sours, in their bar. We tried several and really enjoyed them. Also, they always have sparkling wine chilling at their check in desk. We were quite happy to partake often. La Mar Cebicheria - From the owners of Astrid&Gaston. We arrived around 2 pm on Wednesday and the place was hopping. We were quoted a 30 minute wait for a table but then were quickly offered seats at the bar. We had an amazing meal. Started with a couple cocktails- including a Leche de Tigre Pisco Sour (complete with chunks of fish) recommended by a friend who works at the James Beard Foundation that I really enjoyed the first few sips of and then just ate the fish. Other fruity cocktails were excellent. We left a little tipsy. The menu is expansive and a little overwhelming given my mediocre high school Spanish skills. Luckily the waiter was helpful and ordered for us. Starting with the ceviche sampler- three different styles of ceviche each delicious with a range of types of fish and seafood. But the hot dishes were by far our favorites of the meal. Squid and octopus a la plancha with corn and potatoes was so incredibly savory and the seafood perfectly cooked. It was heaven. We also got the langostine special- six huge langostines coated in a butter, garlic and parsley. We were stuffed at that point but really wanted to order more food. Astrid&Gaston - We did the full ten course tasting menu. Their accolades are well deserved and the Casa Moreyra is beautiful. The wine list was not particularly interesting and the sommelier seemed genuinely shocked when we said we wanted only Latin American wines. But what he picked we really enjoyed ad it complemented the food nicely. The menu was very tuber heavy, including one that was so starchy and coarse it was hard to eat. This is traditional for Peru but given the season it would have been nice to see some green. The pacing of the meal was brisk but not too fast. Pardo's Chicken - Classic, Peruvian roast chicken. Pardo's is a casual chain that caters to families and it is CHEAP. Our meal for four people came to under $25. The chicken is fantastic. We got a whole chicken that was incredibly flavorful and moist. Also ordered fries, plantains a lo pobre, an Argentine chorizo and beef anticuchos. Fries really stood out as did the plantains. Central - San Pellegrino Worlds 50 Best has them currently at #4 in the world. We've been in the past year or so to #'s 1- Celler de Can Rocas, 3- Noma, 5- Eleven Madison Park and 7-Dinner as well as 6-Mugaritz but that was in 2009 and we hated it. Is Central on par with the other five? Honestly, I'm not sure. If you are just evaluating based on service, definitely not. Wine list, also definitely not. We got the wine pairing and it nicely complemented the food but for a restaurant that is all about South American and local Peruvian products the pairings were at least half European. The food is visually beautiful and as a point of comparison more like Noma and Mugaritz than Can Rocas, EMP or Dinner. Some of the menu items- notably the octopus dish were incredibly delicious and others were kind of weird, like the bread which smelled like marijuana. The meal is about 16 courses and by the end we were all pretty stuffed so our ability to enjoy the last couple proteins was limited despite how well prepared and thoughtfully developed. We were in Peru with our "non-foodie" family who were intrigued by the meal but also not overwhelmed by it or too challenged by the ingredients to enjoy the experience. Maido - Also a top restaurant in Latin America and ranked No. 44 globally, No. 5 in Lat Am, making it top 3 in Lima. We did the full Nikkei tasting menu for our last meal in Lima. Honestly, it was our favorite "big meal" of the trip but that could be a factor how much we generally enjoy Asian style food. We thought there would be more sushi, but it ended up only being one of the 17 courses. This was also the only meal on the trip where we were served cuy. Standout courses included a giant Amazonian river snail, sweet bread sushi and the ceviches. We also ordered several cocktails that were really delicious and refreshing. It was a long but very fun meal. Overall, high end dining in Lima is a really good value for the money. Our meals at Central and Astrid&Gaston with alcohol were both under $200 per person. Maido around $125. Sacred Valley- As noted by others, the food there is really nothing to write home about. We stayed at the Tambo Del Inka resort, which was lovely. We had breakfast there and ordered room service one night. All the food we had was very good and well prepared. We ended up eating the lunch buffet at Machu Picchu as opposed to bringing a box lunch or eating at the snack bar. By Peruvian standards, at $40 per person it is massively overpriced. But considering the schlep, altitude and crowding, it was nice to sit down to a meal and relax a little bit. They were carving pork loin and turkey breast, there were lots of salads and other local specialties on the buffet. The restaurant was really clean and the food was clearly freshly prepared. It was as close to a "Thanksgiving" meal as we had on the trip and honestly, the turkey breast was really good- they know how to roast meat in that country. One thing to note- there seems to be some controversy over the safety of eating fresh fruits and vegetables in Peru given the fact that the tap water isn't drinkable by US standards. Lots of higher end places and restaurants that cater to tourists have signs up saying they wash their produce in filtered water. We ate fresh produce at the resorts and high end restaurants. It would be hard not to eat fruit in Peru- they have access to incredible product and it is all too pretty not to eat. As always, photos are up on Instagram.

Dinner last night at Convivial. We purposefully didn't order a ton of food, but really enjoyed everything we ate. Started with the latkes, which were delicious and are basically canapes served three bites to an order. Next we had the pickled rockfish. Beautiful presentation and the flavors were all spot on. Pickled fish isn't my favorite, but I really liked this version. For an entree we had the fried chicken coq au vin - this is destined to be a DC classic. It is just so good. With it we had the vadouvan squash and that was awesome as well. At this point, batting 1000 we got two desserts. The warm sticky toffee pudding and the celebration cake. Sticky toffee pudding is a great version of what it is, but it is very sweet. The celebration cake is easily enough for two (with or without the sparkler) and the unfinished half was enjoyed for breakfast this morning with a cappuccino. We got a same day reservation and when we got there at 9:30 it was about 3/4 full. Food and service were both awesome and we see this place as only getting better with time.

Fascinating. I went last night prepared for a long wait. We also arrived right around 6:15 and were told it could be up to a 45 minute wait but a bunch of tables were turning over. So we went to the bar to get a drink. Before we could even order a drink, they texted us to say our table was ready. They took us to that semi-private back room up a ramp. It was basically empty. Seems like they might be doing some crowd control while the kitchen gets its sea legs. We didn't love the food. It was good, it wasn't great. The pork buns were good, but dripping in fat. Our waiter recommended the biscuit bites with sezchuan pepper corn honey butter. The butter had no heat whatsoever. The kimchi was unremarkable. Ginger scallion noodles were greasy. The Korean fried catfish was not nearly as good as the version at Rose's Luxury. Also, we got dessert - a slice of crack pie. It came in a package (with ingredient labeling) and refrigerator cold. Kind of like what you would get if purchasing it at a gift shop or something. Having never had the Milk Bar version (maybe this is how they sell it) we were really put off by the presentation. Overall, I guess I'd go back. Its right across the street from my office and I can foresee an evening where I'd just want some ramen (provided there wasn't a 90 min wait).

We've gotten the prime ribeye caps from the Pentagon City Store. We put them in the sous vide then seared them off. They were delicious.

Bad science communication is pathognomonic of how IARC shares their findings. "Perhaps we need a separate classification scheme for scientific organizations that are "confusogenic to humans."

Washingtonian now reporting Salmonella at the West Hollywood location. Doesn't take an epidemiologist to point the finger at the NYC commissary and centralized production practices. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up shutting down the whole operation at some point and if I had to guess, we may soon hear about illnesses associated with other locations.

A group of six of us just got back from a ten day holiday in Paris, Rhone and Champagne where we got to experience the 2015 vendange. It was a pretty awesome trip. High points listed below including some of the restaurants, wineries and wine stores we visited along the way. As always, lots of foodporn on Instagram @mmusikerrd Paris Restaurant Kei Kei is one of our favorite spots in Paris and we try to make a stop there on every visit. Japanese-French fusion with a four course tasting menu at lunch for 52€ that is a real solid value for a lovely one michelin star restaurant. The food is very fresh and light with minimal use of butter, dairy or beef. They also have a great wine list. Jacques Genin another "must stop" for us in Paris. In lieu of an actual lunch our group of six indulged in chocolate chaud, pastry and caramels for "lunch". Their confections are superb as are the pastry. Notably the lemon tarte and Paris brest. They had to roll us out of there but it was totally worth it. Note only the shop in the Marais has a tea salon. Le Comptoir du Relais The ultimate Parisian experience. Our group of managed to snag an outdoor table with no wait (virtually unheard of) for some late afternoon gluttonous snacking and drinking. Must gets are the "all you can eat" terrine of pate campaign, cheese plate and the iberico and melon soaked in sangria. Chocolats Chapon They have chocolate mousse to go in a cone. #Dropthemic Le Coq Rico Antoine Westermann's all chicken restaurant that has an outpost opening in NYC. This meal was sublime in its simplicity. We started with the foie and terrine and a 2013 Fourchaune Premier Cru Chablis. We got both a roasted Bresse and a Cou Nu for the table to share plus some of all of the various side dishes. This was too much food for six people but it was great. Comes with a bracing salad of mixed greens and fries. Plus we ordered the mac and cheese, seasonal vegetables and sauteed mushrooms. All rinsed down with a 2005 Grand Cru Chateau La Fleur Pourret from Saint Emilion. For dessert we went old school, Floating Island and the Vacherin. Hexagone There is a lot to like here but it is a restaurant that is about 85% of the way to being perfect while some dishes just miss the boat. There is always one flavor note or condiment that is a little off- not necessarily bad but just not exactly right. The food was visually stunning and the service was excellent. We were seated in the back of the restaurant near the kitchen and it was hot and uncomfortable as well as noisy. We ordered a la carte and the meat courses were the weakest of the night. We all agreed we would have been much happier doubling up on either an appetizer or a fish course. Rhone Les Saveurs du Marche, Vienne We got there just before they closed between lunch and dinner service and so we ordered off of their "light" menu that was mostly cold salads and lighter entrees. Several of us got the gazpacho and salad lyonnaise which were both excellent. For dessert they brought out plates of local melon and some stinky cheese (a theme of our trip). In season, French melon might just be my favorite food on the planet- it was juicy and beyond fragrant. We didn't really go there for the food however, they have a crazy wine list with really reasonable prices. We had two bottles, a 2005 Domaine Jamet and a 2010 Domaine Rostaing Ampodium. Le Cottage at Domaine de Clairfontaine, Chemin du Marais Unremarkable and not particularly memorable meal. Nothing was bad but nothing was great either. Restaurant La Pyramide by Patrick Henriroux, Vienne Two michelin star relais and chateaux. We opted to do the shorter tasting menu which was still a ton of food. It included foie gras with figs, rud mullet, lamb roulade, cheese course and a chocolate-chartreuse mousse cake. The cheese course was incredibly impressive. They have a rolling cheese cave that each time it opened filled the dining room with a pretty pungent wave of cheese stink. The meal included several different amuse bouche and mignardises. We had our second bottle of Domaine Jamet, this time a 1995. Impressive food and impressive service but also low key without being over informal. La Vineum, Paul Jaboulet Aine, Tain L'Hermitage This is a combo wine shop, tasting room and restaurant. We started with a tasting and stayed for a leisurely lunch. The tasting included: 2007 La Chapelle Hermitage, 2007 La Petite Chapelle Hermitage, 2012 Les Junelles and 2011 Le Chavalier de Sterimberg, 2011 Domaine de Thalabert. We stayed for lunch and while all the food we ate was fantastic, it was pretty unanimous that their burger and fries was by far the best choice. This was a sick burger- chef's father is a butcher and he thinly shaves the beef rather than grinding it. Served on a brioche bun with homemade mayo, local cheese, iceburg lettuce and roasted tomato. The fries were perfect and served with tarragon mayo. Note: we went on a much needed hike later in the afternoon up through their vineyards up to the eponymous La Chapelle. The scenery is stunning and well worth the trek. Valrhona Chocolate Factory, Tain L'Hermitage We rolled out of Paul Jaboulet and over to Valrhona. They offer a 10 Euro self-guided tour and told us there would be "lots of samples" to try. That was an understatement. There was a reasonable number of samples on the tour which we enjoyed. But we should have skipped the tour because once you finish the tour you go into the gift shop which has unlimited free samples of EVERY product they sell. It was a bit overwhelming. It was delicious. Note to anyone thinking of visiting- skip the self guided tour and enjoy the all you can eat gift shop experience. Le Bateau Ivre, Tain L'Hermitage Newly opened wine bar and shop right on the river. We befriended the owner's father at his wine shop up the street (where we bought a case of assorted vintage, single vineyard Selosse) and met him for an aperitif. He selected a bottle of 2014 Bugey Cerdon Benardat Fache for us to drink. None of us had tried this type of wine before, but it is traditional to the region and a really lovely demi-sec sparkling rose that was very enjoyable. Le Mangevins, Tain L'Hermitage A French restaurant with a Japanese chef. They have a tiny price-fixe menu that changes daily. Two choices each for appetizer, entree and dessert. Everything we ate was just delicious. Highly recommend. Note: Wineries and whole towns in Rhone are closed during vendage and so things were pretty dead. It was still restful and pretty to drive around. But there wasn't much to see or do. In retrospect we might have been better off staying in Lyon and just going to Tain L'Hermitage for a day trip. Champagne Brasserie La Banque, Epernay Our first stop in Champagne for a light lunch. This place looks like it would have a great evening bar scene with a huge champagne list and great indoor and outdoor spaces. The beef tartar was a hit with those who got it and the (we are pretty sure) duck fat fries were a great addition to it. Also delicious was the generous skate wing and lobster and potato salad. Hotel Les Avises, Jacques Selosse Estate We stayed at Les Avises and had two really excellent dinners and three lovely breakfasts at the hotel. Despite the fact that there are signs up saying there are no tours and no tastings, we did manage to sweet talk our way into a short tour with Anselme and a tasting with him of some of his experimental blends. It is a beautiful little hotel and the food is really delicious. We could have happily had every dinner there. Four course dinners are 60 Euros, which was very reasonable. Breakfast is especially good including warm from the oven homemade croissants, pain au chocolate and chaussons aux pommes and eggs to order. You can also have vintage Selosse for breakfast if that is your thing. Note that they will sell individual bottles of champagne but selection is limited and if you order off the wine list, which has an incredible selection, you have to open the bottles and drink them on premises. No amount of sucking up will move you up their waiting list. Rotisserie Henri IV, Ay - Traditional French rotisserie in a pretty setting. Those of us who didn't opt for a salad left in a bit of a meat coma. Restaurant Racine, Reims - Relatively new restaurant with a young Japanese chef who has worked at a couple three Michelin starred restaurants. The offer a fixed price menu. The food was superb and beautiful- everything was fresh and light with minimal cream or butter. We were blown away and can see how this restaurant is destined for great things. They have a really well priced wine list so as if we hadn't had enough to drink already we paired the meal with a Domaine Rostaing 2011 Ampodium and Pierre-Yves Colin-Amorey 2013 Saint Aubin. Note: We hired a guide/driver for Champagne who made all of our tasting arrangements and lunch reservations and who we highly recommend. He not only stalked down his neighbor Mssr Prevost in a last ditch attempt to get us a tasting (he was in a clos picking) but also put up with our crazy American whims with extensive good humor. He also travels around with a paparazzi-worthy SLR and documents your trip which he later shares with you. DM me for details. We arrived in Champagne during vendange and so that made things a little interesting and tastings difficult to schedule. Some would likely prefer not to come at that time of year since many places are not open, but we loved seeing the towns and wineries in action. We were able to pick/eat grapes, see a crush, and even watch fermentation tanks bubbling away. It was pretty awesome. Our first morning in Avise was the first morning of the vendage and each day we experienced the traditional church bells ringing at 7 am and 7 pm to signal the start and end of legal harvest. In Champagne we did tastings at: 520 Champagne et Vins, Epernay Our guide arranged for us to do a with the store's owner of some smaller producers. This included: Cedric Bouchard 2011 Roses de Jeanne Blanc de Blancs La Boloree, Jacques Lassaigne 2006 Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature and Bereche et Fils Reflet de Anton Brut. Each was very different but the Cedric Bouchard was definitely a favorite. 520 is also a fantastic wine shop with a great selection. Pol Roger - They don't normally do tours for the public but our amazing guide was able to get us in. It is a really impressive sight to see production of this magnitude. To be there during the crush was a unique opportunity since we could taste the freshly pressed juice coming off the trucks. We saw their newly expanded facilities and then walked through their kilometers of caves, learned to riddle (they're the only large house still doing all bottles by hand) and then did a tasting which included: 2008 Blanc de Blancs, 2006 Rose & 2004 Sir Winston Churchill. As a parting gift they sent us away with two more bottles of the '04 Churchill. We have no idea why but we didn't say no. Billecart-Salmon - Another large old house with a fantastic cave network. The tasting included: NV Brut Rose, NV Brut Blanc de Blancs, 1999 Cuve Nicolas and NV Brut Suis Bois. Nothing you can't get in the US but prices are better in France. Henri Giraud - No tour, just a tasting room. NV Hommage a Francois Hemart Ay Grand Cru Brut, NV Code Noir Brut, Fut de Chene MV07 and Fut de Chene MV Rose. The latter two were pretty kick ass and require a special key to open. Nicolas Maillart - We did a quick tour (there wasn't much to see) and then a tasting. We pretty much tasted one of everything they had available- Platine Brut, Platine Extra Brut, Zero Dosage Brut Nature, Rose Brut, 2007 Millesime Brut, 2004 Blanc de Blancs Les Chaillots Gillis Extra Brut, 2008 Blanc de Noirs Les Francs de Pied Exta Brut Ruinart - The oldest Champagne house in France currently owned by LVMH. Beautiful facility and the cave tour is impressive since they are the oldest in the region. I tend to think that winery tours are often 50% too long and this one was no exception. There was a bit of a misunderstanding since we paid to do a tasting of some older rarer bottles and instead only did the 2004 Blanc de Blancs Brut and the 2002 Brut Rose. But they did send us each home with half bottles as souvenirs. Rene Geoffroy - Small winery and where we got to see a crush and watch/listen/smell the first fermentation in action with their wine maker. They use a different process to make their roses (no blending of a still red wine). Tasting included NV Brut Rose de Saignee, 2005 Extra Brut Millesime, 2007 Brut Volupte, 2008 Brut Empreinte

I think #1 is the case. I do food safety crisis communications work and in my experience the CDC, FDA and local health authorities carefully dole out information. This is especially true if there is risk of litigation involved.

Totally fair point that it could still come out of the central commissary. Yes, I do have some experience on this type of yucky stuff. It seems from the reporting on this that hasn't been entirely ruled out and there could easily be information that isn't being released to the public. My favorite source of information of this kind is from the BarfBlog - they're not lawyers they're microbiologists and food safety experts. So far they haven't offered up their opinion on what is happening and I think that is telling. There is likely much more to the story here.

Couple interesting things here 1-if this was an issue related to improper HACCP and process controls (got to be a lot of sous vide here) at their commissary facility in NYC then we would see the outbreak associated with more than one of their restaurants. Thus far, the outbreak is limited to DC. This suggests that the issue is based in the DC restaurant. 2-If this was related to the larger cucumber salmonella they will confirm by doing a genetic comparison of the strains of salmonella associated with F&O DC and the larger outbreak. Since they haven't said the strains are the same and because the cucumbers in question were only sold in California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas this scenario seems unlikely. 3-They haven't mentioned if any of the staff at F&O DC are sick or have been sick. That is where an isolated outbreak like this typically gets started.

This is a good question! So at the risk of sounding like a total asshole, we've been to a number of 2 and 3 star restaurants over the past 18 months across the US, UK, Europe and Japan- including places like Eleven Madison Park, Fujiya 1935, Noma (Copenhagen and Tokyo two stars) and El Celler de Can Rocas. Issue 1: I understand your point about scale and the ratio of quantity to quality and consistency. I can't speak to the cross subsidy issue or business model but my understanding is that these restaurants are passion projects for wealthy investors (much like a winery) and not going to make anyone rich. Maybe a lot like the music industry is today- the money is in the concerts, endorsements and merchandise, not in the music making. MiniBar is a passion project, Bazaar is expensive but probably breaks even, the rest of the chain drives revenues. Not shocking. Lots of companies work this way. Issue 2: Wine pairings are notoriously hit or miss. I'm generally not super trusting of them since I recognize that they are often used to move merchandise. Wine is also a matter of extraordinary personal taste. That said, we thought the pairings at Noma Tokyo and Celler de Can Rocas were extraordinary. Fujiya, EMP and Noma Copenhagen we ordered some over the top bottles. It was a different experience. So on the wine pairing I'd say maybe not quite on par. Issue 3: Basically you are asking if their three stars is on par with the three stars of others. I'll say this: I think the marginal difference between a 1 star and a 2 star restaurant is pretty big but between 2 and 3 is much more subtle. So is the Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare on the level of 2 or 3 stars? Yes I'd say it is.

We had a fantastic dinner at the Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare on Friday night. Despite its reputation for being one of the hardest tables in NYC we made the reservation a few weeks ago with no difficulty and there were two empty seats at the 10 pm seating. The food was pretty much impeccable and we found the staff to be very friendly. It is a little annoying that they don't let you take pictures nor do you get any sort of menu or wine notes at the end of the night. This makes it harder to give a detailed accounting of what we ate and drank. The menu was very seafood heavy with a wagyu and duck course for meats. Mostly small bites of food and despite being around fifteen courses you don't walk out feeling sickeningly stuffed at the end of the meal. Wine pairings were good (not amazing) and seemed to pair well with the food. Overall a gorgeous meal and worthy of the accolades.

We've been doing a lot of traveling lately, with more to come and so a bit behind on posting. We spent a long weekend in Toronto at the end of July. Our first time back there in nearly ten years despite a family tradition of quarterly trips over the boarder to secure dim sum. Quick highlights below: Bar Buca Really cool, little cafe and wine bar that serves intensely delicious Italian small plates. We got a sampling of things to try including fried squash blossoms, dandelion greens salad, cannelloni, polipo and a special off menu mushroom dish. We also had some late lunch appropriate cocktails that were super bitter and really played off the food nicely. No wait when we got there around 2 pm on a Friday. DaiLo Trendy little spot that does Asian fusion in a really fun, elegant way. We had - Big Mac Bao (really does taste like a Big Mac- they're off menu you have to ask for them), Tempura Watermelon, General Tso Sweet Breads, Ponzu Waygu Carpaccio, Ma Po Halloumi and Shrimp Bang Xeo. Without a doubt the sweet breads and tempura watermelon were the high lights. Cocktails were also really delicious. Note the restaurant was really, really loud. Patchmon's Homemade Thai Desserts We schlepped out to this place because the pictures in the Porter Airlines magazine looked cool. It is definitely an interesting little place. They let you try everything and make a pretty stellar Thai iced tea. If you like gelatinous Asian desserts this is the place for you. Dandylion This was our only non-Asian meal of the weekend. I'm finding that a restaurant that does vegetable centric non-vegetarian food in a really excellent way is a place worth making an effort to visit. They have a tiny menu but everything we ate was superb including the homemade sour dough bread and ricotta. The menu changes frequently. We started with two of the salads, one that was turnip greens and bottarga another that was beets and citrus. Mains were fish and lamb. For dessert we had a cheese plate with fresh figs and the mixed berries over homemade sour cream. The wine list is similarly short, but eclectic and jives well with the food. Luckee Per family tradition, we ended the weekend with dim sum. We were surprised how empty the place was given how excellent the food is. Definitely not cheap but really delicious and very fresh. We enjoyed everything we got. The scallop and peashoot dumplings were definitely a favorite. Xiao Long Bao were good, but not our favorite. Har gow notable for being made with whole shrimp. We also made a stop at the St. Lawrence market. Managed to score some wild Canadian blueberries and grabbed a bagel, lox and cream cheese from St. Urbain bakery. The blueberries were insanely awesome. The bagel was good but not great.

Reviving this thread with a pretty intense first world problem. I have been purchasing Trickling Springs whole milk in glass bottles and very recently have noticed that their whole milk doesn't hold a foam. Knowing milk foams are a function of isoelectric point and protein content my first thought was perhaps my Nespresso Aeroccino was not perfectly clean. But then I cleaned it and nothing changed. Then I bought Homestead Creamery whole milk in a glass bottle and it foams beautifully. Thus, there is a milk issue with Trickling Springs. I dug out my undergrad food science text books and my running hypotheses are that either (if I am inclined to be charitable) this is seasonal variation in fat to protein ratio or (my less charitable interpretations) there is a processing issue at the creamery where they are actually adding more fat than is labeled or the milk is mis-handled and there is sunlight degrading proteins through the glass. Has anyone else had issues with Trickling Springs?

I was there last week at prime time as well and there was virtually no line. With the caveat that I have visited Tokyo twice in the past year and thus am ruined for any other form of sushi- I thought the sushi burrito was kind of gross. The tuna was flaccid, the rice was tasteless, the whole thing was overwhelmed (as noted by the post above) in a sea of aoli. It was just a big, sad calorie torpedo. However, the chocolate chip cookie with the rice krispies in it was pretty good.

We went last night around 8:45 and the place was pretty busy. By far the best burger in the area and will likely put pressure on Z Burger's business. We though the Six Buck Chuck was tasty and properly cooked albeit messy. The fries were good- came out hot and crispy. I think they'll do well at this perpetually cursed location - and if they can't no one can.

Ithaca, New York is without a doubt one of the greatest small cities in the country. That is all. Drop the mic.

I just stopped by the newly refurbished Starbucks in the Grand Hyatt at Metro Center one of the new "Reserve" stores in the US. Lest there be any doubt, this is just a regular Starbucks albeit one with slightly nicer and new decor. There are four Reserve blends available at noticeably higher prices than their standard awful coffee. The barista taking my order seemed genuinely surprised at my Reserve order. They didn't exactly know how to make it - using some sort of industrial pour over contraption and it took ten minutes in a not crowded store to get my misto (I don't like cold milk). I can't tell you how the Peru blend tastes because what I received was basically warm milk with a splash of coffee in it. Not sure if it is worth risking another crappy cup by trying again since I can walk a couple blocks further and get a far superior product at either RareSweets (La Colombe) or Dolcezza.

Ten years in DC and we had never been to Minibar until this past week and we only went because I saw that there was a reservation for two on Table 8 for a Thursday night at 9 pm and we had a coupon code for a free Table 8 reservation. Considering the Minibar Table 8 fee was $75 per person, this seemed like a good use for our freebie. As it was dinner for two plus one champagne pairing, one non alcohol pairing, and a couple cocktails came to nearly $1000. By far the most expensive meal we've ever had in DC and honestly one of the most expensive ever including recent meals at Noma, Celler de Can Rocas and Eleven Madison Park. We had a strong sense of what to expect and certainly the food for both taste and entertainment value did not disappoint. A couple observations: The non alcohol pairing was a good choice - something we have gotten into the habit of ordering when it is available- they tend to be really interesting. Thus far, the best we have had was the tea pairing at The Test Kitchen in Cape Town. The Minibar pairing is more or less virgin cocktails which is most similar to what we had in Osaka at Hajime as opposed to Noma's juice pairing that is juiced essences of the ingredients in your corresponding food course. If you look at jca76 blog post and photos, we had many similar if not identical courses (see Flipagram). But what is perhaps more interesting are the obvious influences of courses from our beal and that of jca76 that are coming from other notable chefs. Example - Whiskey Bottles as the final mignardise from jca76 meal. We had a nearly identical course at The Fat Duck in October. The meringue burger bun is something that we have had at El Bulli, Tickets and Disfrutar in Spain. Not surprising given the influences of the restaurant.

Maybe this is a dumb question but is it more important that the corn be fresh or local? I was at both Wegmans and Whole Foods around DC this weekend and both had corn that had come in from a few states south of here- so questionably local and likely a few days old. I realize we are talking about corn and this question perhaps sounds a bit like an oxymoron. Frozen corn is technically about the "freshest" corn you can purchase short of a product direct from a farmer in their actual field (which is how I grew up purchasing corn). It is the freshest because it is picked, taken off the cob (with the maximum amount of waste minimization) and then immediately flash frozen - usually in less than a day. Handling in store and at home is actually the biggest variable to quality - so if you can find some in a freezer case that hasn't gone through any freeze/thaw cycles and you allow it to gently thaw at home it shouldn't be discernibly different from corn you purchase at a farmer's market.

Summer in DC has its perks - the locals leave and while the tourists pour in they gather in places we don't care to visit (i.e., Carmine's and Clyde's). You can thus score some impressive last minute tables. Earlier this week I randomly checked the Seasonal Pantry website and saw seats available the Friday dinner. Despite only hearing good things, Seasonal Pantry is a place we've only thought about going to but never have until now. After a good and well prepared but expensive and not particularly memorable meal we are in no rush to go back unless we booked out the whole place and had more control over menu and wine. To begin two really irritating things: 1- we arrive and immediately learn that Dan O'Brien isn't cooking that night. He's out of town. I get it, at many restaurants I won't know or care if the chef is cooking that night. But this place is tiny, they cook in front of you and very chef driven. If we had known he wasn't there we wouldn't have bought seats for that night. 2- They put two carafes of wine on the table - a French Sauvignon Blanc and a Grenache. The premise is red and white table wine family style, but why not in the bottles? I like to know what I am drinking. All that is fine except the wine was totally mediocre. Then the food starts to come out. You can't find a menu online and some research based on recent Yelp reviews and Instagram gave us some hints of what to expect in terms of menu. But I think our big surprise was that unlike past menus, we weren't served a "meat" course. Totally unclear if this was a function of Dan O'Brien being gone that night or if this is the menu they've been serving. I'm struggling now to make a list of what we had to eat- will edit if I suddenly remember something. Should have taken photos. 1- Radishes with homemade butter - Oddly, we were the only people at the table who weren't confused by the combo. Also the radishes are locally "foraged" - which begs any number of questions. 2- Asparagus Soup with Crab Salad Cracker - Cold asparagus soup served in a demitasse- very lovely but a little salty. Crab salad was tasty. Homemade cracker that held up well. 3- Homemade Cornbread with Schmaltz and Gribenes - Another course that confused the table. I thought it was really good. But I'm Jewish. 4- Coddled Egg over Spring Vegetables - Perfectly cooked egg, nice vegetables 5- Fried Green Tomato with Roe and Shrimp- Perfectly fried tomato topped with some stuff that didn't need to be there. 6- Pasta - Agnolotti in a black walnut cream sauce. Pasta was overcooked and the whole thing was overly rich, heavy and mushy 7- Scallops with Snow Peas - Three seared scallops over snow peas, mushrooms. Well cooked scallops but the rest was meh. 8- Pot de creme with Rhubarb Compote - Or something like that. It was way too sweet. Rhubarb should have a sour bite, this didn't. The vanilla creme was also sugary. 9- Salted Caramel 10- Chocolate Chip Cookie - The grease from the cookie bled through several layers of wax paper and left a mark on the butcher block table. I won't say it wasn't good or that I didn't eat it. FWIW, I wouldn't consider this ten courses, it was more like eight with two "extra" desserts. Makes me wonder if I am forgetting something but I don't think I am. Also, they have no ventilation. Cooking in a room full of people, the place smokes up occasionally. If you have sensitive lungs, this could be a tough venue.

Den is one of our favorite places to eat in Tokyo! Those stuffed chicken wings and the fois gras cookies...

I'm so happy to hear that you liked Disfrutar!