lekkerwijn

Yes. Ants. And they really do look like ants. They are crunchy. Noma far exceeded expectations. The wine was great -including some really funky Tschida, Partida Creus and a lovely La Closerie we also ordered a juice pairing for the table to share, really all I can say about it was that it was interesting. When they heard we were from DC, they arranged to have Daniel Giusti take us on a kitchen and he was incredibly gracious in addition to interesting. We plied him for insight into what our meal in Japan will be like, but seems they are very much still in the planning phase. Relae was an incredible meal as well, with some pretty epic courses that we paired with champagne - La Closerie Les Beguines, Franciose Bedel and something called Sol (can't remember the other details). Other fun moment of the night was that there were three huge white truffles sitting on the bar next to the open kitchen. When I inquired if we were getting some of that goodness, I was informed that they came over a special addition to the menu that needed to be special ordered. Our feelings were a little hurt that they didn't offer us the addition, and we ordered one for the table to share. Glad we did - it came generously shaved over a risotto of sunflower seeds. Photos from Noma here Relae here

I don't get it. Maybe I've spent too much time in Argentina to appreciate this food. I thought the food lacked the deep savory soul that makes traditional Argentine food so great and the restaurant lacks the casual and convivial ambiance that makes a parilla a parilla. For example, humita is one of my favorite foods on the planet and Rural Society's is dry and bland. The desserts didn't all include dulce de leche, which is so not Argentine. Nor are the prices, but that is a different issue.

In years that we are home on Christmas and not felt like cooking, we have gone for a Feast of the Seven Fishes at a few different restaurants. Not sure if Dean is planning to do the same at the Grotto but it was wonderful, casual and homey in past years at Dino. Fiola also had a similar offer and perhaps now that Fiola Mare is open it will move over there. The Fiola version wasn't our favorite and was the most expensive. For the hot minute that the controversial Galileo III was open, Roberto Donna did an incredible Feast that was probably the best version of the meal we've had.

We were the only people eating in the bar last night at 8:30 pm. Perfect last meal together in DC before we move temporarily to London.

As you wish. Roberto's Four. Night #2. February 21, 2013.

Purely sentimental. My now husband and I went on our first date to Chadwick's almost exactly thirteen years ago. My friend (his first choice) was suddenly unavailable and eating dinner with me was better than eating alone- he was hungry and heard they had good crab cakes. I agreed to go only because I was hungry and he promised to pay (he'd have paid for her meal anyway). So romantic, right?

Eater says they're moving into the Georgetown Chadwick's space.

Will this be a reservation thing or first come first serve? I only ask because I see this as working out in 1 of 2 scenarios for what is likely to be a cult attraction: 1- A reservation for a meal is as hard to score as Mini Bar or the Rooftop at Roses' Luxury. 2- No reservations with a line that forms early and waits that last into the night. The neighbors will love it almost as much as they love the line for the car wash next door on a sunny January Saturday over 32 degrees.

So dinner last night on the roof was crazy awesome and the weather only made it better. We left stuffed. Several "all time favorites" hit the table including popcorn soup and the pickle brined, honey soaked fried chicken nuggets, the leftovers of which are even better the next day when eaten cold. Cocktails were a great complement to the meal. It has been a crazy eating week for us. Last Friday we had dinner at Eleven Madison Park. Two entirely different meals, but similar in many ways as well. For my own taste, I preferred the more casual laid back environment on the Roof and might even have thought the food was better too.

Going tonight. Will try to get some nice photos.

Oh, my bestie Bob Lustig. We were once on a panel together at the Annenberg School of Journalism debating sugar politics. He pointed to me and said "See this lovely young lady, she may look nice and trim to you. But standing in front of you could be a T.O.F.I (thin outside fat inside)!" I was mortified.

A welcome surprise this weekend, one can purchase Singers' pastrami and corned beef by the pound at Breadfurst. $18/pound and the woman behind the counter had never used the slicer before so it wasn't pretty and it wasn't served warm from the sous vide marinating its own fatty juices, but was still pretty good. if you need a fix on Monday-Saturday, paired with some delicious fresh bread this is a great option.

Fear not! They have several legal parking spots available behind the bakery.

We just got back from the Breadfurst opening party. For sure the best food in Van Ness (that is a low bar) but arguably will soon be known as one of the best, if not the best, bakery in DC. The space is stunning. The bread, pastry, cake, and cucumber soda we tried were fantastic. I expect there will be long lines. Any aspirations of a low carb, bathing suit season diet just went right out the window. Pinching myself that I get to have this world class bakery in my backyard.

Flexing my credentials as an RD for a moment. Congrats on the lifestyle change, that is a big accomplishment and the changes in your weight and blood sugar are evidence of that. My guess is that two things are at play here. The first is that your body acclimated away from big meals laden with fat, sugar and salt. So now when you bum rush it with those three ingredients you get a hormone rush and you feel it. Good hydration and getting right back into your normal routine can help along with an OTC Heartburn med like Zantac, since your stomach pain and wanting to boot sensation could be reflux or even gastritis. But if the pain following a big meal is sharp and radiating, it could also be gall stones and gall bladder spasms. They can last for days and can be debilitating. That isn't an uncommon for people who have been formerly overweight and then drastically drop weight. A good thing for your doc to assess next time this happens, which it will. Big, indulgent meals should happen every once in awhile.

Yesterday, we got the last table in the dining room. At 7:15 when we arrived the cafe was mostly full but the dining room was basically empty. There were two other tables (maybe they are reading this) filled. When we left around 9:15 only three other tables had been filled. I know people reported trying to get reservations but none were available- there is no value in speculating on why the dining room spent the night mostly empty. Dinner was simply lovely. Exactly what you would expect from Palena. We savored every bite. In a moment of brilliance, another table ordered a cafe burger for dessert. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday. We also want to extend a thank you to the generous gentleman who was sharing some of his wine selections with the dining room. We saw that you also had a 1973 Tondonia. Several years ago on a trip to Rioja we visited Vina Tondonia. There were two guys in their early twenties on our tour of the winery. They were "restaurant" types, backpacking across Europe and doing it on the cheap. The tasting included some older vintages- which is very Tondonia. They pulled the bottles from their caves, they came coated in black musty mold. Many people on the tour didn't finish their pours and this horrified those two guys- it was way too special to go to waste. So they asked if they could hang out and drink the leftovers. Sharing wine with you last night reminded us of that experience- great wine like great food is meant to be enjoyed and shared. We hope that some day we get the opportunity to reciprocate and promise to pay it forward.

We had dinner at Aggio on Friday night. There were last minute 8:30 pm tables for 2 available on Opentable, which was surprising given the review in WaPo earlier in the week. Range/Aggio is five minutes from our house. It wasn't a tough decision. For me, service is a big deal. Range, in my opinion, has generally bad service. Aggio wasn't much better. They've been open about a month so you'd think the kinks had been worked out. But clearly not all of them- the service was inconsistent. Our waitress wasn't very helpful. It isn't clear how much food to order. She didn't offer up that information, we had to ask. Her response was effectively something from every section of the menu. I ordered the tuna and ravioli and the waitress said there would only be two "tiny ones" (referring to the ravioli) but then three normal sized ones arrived. I ordered an extra dish that we didn't really need as a result. I think what she meant to say, but her grasp of English prevented it, was that the other pasta dishes were larger. We had a runner drop off food and not be able to explain what he was dropping off. At another point the manager came over to ask if we'd had the parmesan funnel cake yet - evidently there was confusion in the kitchen, no one could remember delivering it to our table. He was nice about it- but it was weird. We should have lied and said we didn't get them because they're really good. At the end of the meal they dropped off two pieces of chocolate after dessert - a nice touch because they're really good - the table next to us had gotten salted caramels, we didn't. I asked about the caramels and a box was delivered to the table for us to take home. Service issues aside the food is pretty great. Here's what we had: Bread: As noted in the review and by others, the bread at Aggio is great. So are the spreads that come with it. Antipasti: Tuna (generous portion and super fresh, delicious but not very exciting) Salad: Caesar (perfect fried oysters were the best part of otherwise excellent salad) and Lentils (perfect octopus, lentils and wheat berries were a little too al dente for my taste, vinaigrette was really tasty) Pasta: Ravioli (good, but not great) Pesce: Monkfish Tail (beautifully cooked but small portion w minimal sides for an entree- seemed really expensive relative to the other menu categories) Dessert: Chocolate Hazelnut box (like Range, desserts and ice cream are a standout) Cocktails: We ordered two, can't remember what they were called. But we liked them. FWIW: If you strategically order you can get an excellent meal that is reasonably priced for high end white table cloth. For example- if you got a Caesar Salad and the Spaghetti and Meatballs that would be a big meal for $35. Otherwise order as they recommend and you are in the $100+ per person range not including alcohol.

Update: They called to apologize and offered us a free dinner for 2 anytime. This is a nice gesture and much appreciated. Clearly they were having a tough night.

We should have taken it as a sign that my 18 month old post is the last post thread... Despite having had a surprisingly enjoyable meal at Elizabeth's about 18 months ago, we had not attempted to return since. But we do periodically check in on their menu to for the week to see if it sounded appealing and the menu for last night sounded good. 6:00 pm: We make an 8:30 pm reservation via Opentable. 8:40 pm: We arrived a little late and the bar was packed and there was a snaking line through the bar to use what is evidently the only restrooms. We are told upfront by a friendly hostess that people are "lingering" upstairs and it was going to be about a 20 minute wait for our table and asks if we want to wait. We figured we'd grab a drink and some of the rockin kale chips at the bar and wait it out. We order two drinks and some kale chips via a process that is pretty expeditious considering the lone bartender is slammed and looks like she wants to kill someone. 8:50 pm: The bar continues to fill up. The line for the restroom continues to snake through the bar. Food is coming out of the kitchen at a pretty steady clip. No one is leaving restaurant. Luckily the drinks arrive and are strong and the kale chips are crunchy and spicy. This helps to pass the time. 9:05: The hostess informs the people next to us,who had arrived before we had, that it was going to be at least another 10 minutes for their table to be ready. 9:10: The hostess seats the starved couple next to us. We naively take this as a good sign. 9:15: We think we'll finally get a table when the hostess approaches us and then she says "I just want to let you know that it is going to be awhile for your table to be ready, sorry." We tell her we'll be leaving and ask for the check. I guess it would have been a nice gesture if they had offered to comp us the drinks ($14 each) considering they just asked if we'd be willing to wait indefinitely for our reserved table to be ready. But they didn't offer and we didn't ask. I think it is safe to say that we will not be making another attempt at Elizabeth's unless a raw, vegan, gluten free friend-we-have-yet-to-make forces us to. All was not lost however. An Opentable miracle occurred and a 9:30 pm reservation was available at Rasika West End. We arrive nearly on time. We are seated nearly immediately. We have a delicious meal that is cooked and includes both gluten and animal products.

This past weekend we conducted a fun albeit unintentional and expensive experiment. We were in Manhattan on Friday night and had dinner at Betony. For our main courses we ordered the skate and the short ribs. The skate at Betony came in a double thick portion with a layer of herbs and olives in the middle and served with various preparations of cauliflower. It was pretty damn delicious. The short ribs were cooked sous vide, served medium rare and had a texture akin to that of a filet. Also pretty damn delicious. Then on Saturday night we went to Le Diplomate. Skate and short rib are on the menu there as well- for the same nearly if not the same price as at Betony. This gave us pause if only because Betony is the project a bunch of Eleven Madison Park alums and recently received 3 stars from the New York Times. Also, we had no challenge getting a 9 pm same day reservation at Betony that was pleasantly buzzing when we arrived and had to book Le Diplomate 6 weeks in advance for a 9:15 and arrived to an insane crazy scene. Says a lot about DC.... We decide to order the same proteins again for a direct comparison. Our conclusion: the skate entrees were of comparable quality. Preparation techniques were similar- both pan fried and both pretty perfectly cooked. Betony's accompaniments got the edge since they were more interesting than the pile of mixed greens with the skate at Le Diplomate. The short rib at Le Diplomate has a cool presentation with the big rib bone, but we can make a pretty insane braised short rib at home. Betony's version took the win by a landslide. Before I get yelled at, I know they aren't direct competitors and aren't trying to be. I don't want this to sound like our dinner at Le Diplomate wasn't enjoyable. It was. But our experience at Betony the night before put a unique spin on the experience.

Last night we took clients for dinner at Beck. A big mistake I won't make again. Here's why: Service was appallingly slow. It took nearly fifteen minutes to get our wine and then forty five minutes between when our appetizers were cleared until our entrees were served. My salad and I have confirmed that of my coworkers was so salty as to be nearly inedible perhaps even edema inducing. I thought about sending it back but that is awkward when you are with clients and in a big group. Despite ordering four half orders mussels and all of us saying we didn't want sides, we ended up with and were charged for four orders of frites. Admittedly we nibbled on them and they're really good. But that is shady. We were in front of the client so again not really in a good position to make a fuss once the bill came. The "following Gratuity table is provided for your convenience"... was based upon the total bill, not the pretax bill and that included the not inexpensive wine we ordered.I find this practice intensely annoying. French brasserie/bistro style food is perfect for client dinners - there is something for everyone. Next time we'll just go to Central or Cafe Du Parc.

Big mistake going to Hong Kong Pearl on Sunday and we don't need to go back. The place was packed when we arrived but tables there turn over pretty quickly and we were seated within about 15 minutes. We were given what was probably the worst table in the place- right next to the cash register. So the entire meal we were being climbed over by both staff trying to get to the register and surrounded by people milling around while waiting for a table. Maybe because the place was so packed and maybe because our table was marginally inaccessible we watched carts of food pass by us without stopping and others get emptied out at bigger tables without ever fully being refilled thus the selection we were offered was no longer hot/crispy, limited and less than exciting. What we did eat was pretty mediocre.Lesson learned- we'll stick with A&J (which I realize is a different region but superior quality). .

Saturday night when our group of four became a group of six- exceeding the capacity for an available table for an early-ish dinner at Mintwood Place we ended up at Mama Ayesha's. I know this sounds like a strange substitute, but there was some method to the madness. We were all heading for a party about two blocks away. One of our friends uses a cane and with the icy sidewalks we had a tight radius to work within. I've lived in DC for nearly thirteen years, in Cleveland Park for almost five and I've driven or walked by Mama Ayesha's several thousand times. So I was a little peeved when I found out we'd be eating dinner there- that was alleviated once informed that it was in fact not Ethiopian food (that is how little interest I had ever had in going there) but actually Middle Eastern. I won't belabor the post. We and one of the other couples we were with have both recently returned from a visit to Israel our other friend used to work at State in that general part of the world, so our collective bar for food Middle Eastern was high. We all thought the food was pretty good. At a minimum far superior to Lebanese Taverna (or as I like to call it Lebanese Diarrhea) around the corner. And, I agree that it is very sad that they do not have K'naafa on the menu. If anyone knows where to get it around here I will be most grateful.

For the past couple of weeks Todd Kliman has had Trapezaria on his list of "where I am eating now". This was intriguing since it was listed next to Rose's Luxury and otherwise we'd heard nothing about the place. So we made a reservation via Opentable for Saturday night. Kliman's commentary that this is Greek food of a bygone era is pretty spot on. The food reminded me of the delicious goodies my college roommate's Greek grandmother (whose family had owned a South Jersey diner) used to send us. You can tell it is a family run place. The service was friendly and attentive and once our waitress took our order (it took her a few minutes to get to us) the food came out in rapid fire. Meze is a bit of a misnomer- you get gigantic portions of Greek comfort food served family style. Prices are already reasonable, but given the large portion sizes this place is headed for legendary cheap eats status. We were welcomed to the table with pita, olives, and what I think was a scoop of the fava dip. The pita is served warm but is what I would think of as classic Greek diner. It isn't anything special but it is also just a vehicle for shoveling dips. The fava dip was pretty awesome. It had a whopping umami to it that makes me think it either wasn't vegetarian (maybe made with chicken fat) or they used a chicken flavored boullion/MSG in it. I'm not opposed to that trick- I do it with beef flavored MSG in a vegetarian mock chopped liver that I make- but a fair warning to those wishing to avoid MSG. I ordered the Mount Olympus cocktail (House Infused Cucumber Vodka, Fresh Lime Juice & Ginger, Infused Simple Syrup) which was tasty but sweeter than I would prefer. My husband got a Greek beer which was described by our waitress as "Blonde like you, not dark like us" as she pointed to me and herself. We started with the Trio of Dips opting for the Melitzanosalte (Puree of roasted eggplant, parsley, garlic, olive oil & vinegar), Tyrokafafteri (a delightful spread of feta cheese, roasted red pepper, olive oil & thyme), and Taramosalata (Mashed Potato, red caviar, olive oil & fresh lemon juice). Normally we would have gotten the Hummus but we just got back from a trip to Israel and are totally hummus-ed out right now. All three were very good, although the Fava put them all to shame. Next we got Iman Baldi ("House Specialty" Baked Eggplant topped with caramelized onions, tomato, mint,Parsley, golden raisins & pine nuts) which along with the Htapodi Skaras (Grilled octopus with olive oil, lemon & oregano) were the two best things we had all night. The eggplant is served cold and had a great sweet and sour balance. For reference- you get half a stuff eggplant for $7 and it is easily a meal in and of itself. The octopus is served as four large tentacles,that were so soft and creamy that they must have been stewed before being finished on the grill giving the ends some crunch and the meat rich smokiness. They're served warm with just a half a lemon. Also, easily an entrée in and of itself. Then we shared the "entrée" Trapazaria Sampler (Spanakopita, Moussakas, Dolmades Avgolemono, & Arni Psito Served With stewed green beans). It seemed like a good way to try a wide swath of the menu and it was. Except instead of stewed green beans it was stewed zucchini and it also included Pastitsio. They serve you a platter that is so piled high with a mess of food it looks like you've just walked through the buffet at the local Greek Orthodox Church Supper. Our least favorite thing on there was the roasted leg of lamb- it was tender but very gamey. My favorite was the Dolmades and the Moussaka. Some of the items on the plate weren't as warm as we might have liked them and you could tell they were reheated, but everything tasted really good- homey good- like your college roommate's Yaya would send you. Then because we are crazy and the desserts coming out of the kitchen looked beautiful we also got the Galactoboureko (Custard Semolina Cream Wrapped in Phyllo Dough, Kept Moist in our Homemade Honey Syrup). You get two nice sized pastries; ours were still warm from the oven, along with some big chunks of cantaloupe. I'd say it was good not great. Kliman described it as fudge like. That wouldn't describe what we had. Next time I think I'd get the Baklava or the yogurt. We over-ordered for two people. With tax, tip it came to just under $100. They do a $40 per person 20 meze "price fixe" which I think would be a very good way to explore their big menu. We watched some gorgeous whole fish, roasted chicken and lamb shank coming out of the kitchen that we would like to try next time. Overall, I'd say Trapezaria will likely end up on our regular rotation. The food isn't refined and it isn't gourmet. It is just wholesome comfort food at a very reasonable price point with a friendly atmosphere. I can see this place becoming very popular. Just make a reservation for a weekend night. The place was packed at 8 pm. There was a wait for tables and lots of people eating and drinking at the bar.

Really? That must be a recent change. I have a dinner reservation for tomorrow night at 8:30 pm that I made on Opentable a few weeks ago when they announced Restaurant Week.