keithdcil

The tasting menu is $85, and I don't think that's a bad price for the food or the decor. I don't find it to be such a "casual" atmosphere - most people dress up at least a little.

Daniel, I like the place... I think walking through a fish market is pretty casual. Other diners were in work/business clothes, like us, or sweats and jeans on Friday night.

How expensive is expensive?

I'm looking at the receipt... For two it was $297.77 before tip. We had the tasting menu, wine pairing (10 wines) desert and bottled water. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal, service. However, If we were entertaining my parents or I was taking out clients who may or may not be into food and wine, Blacksalt would not be the place to impress.

Friday night- Blacksalt. It was a special occaision so we both had the tasting menu with the wine pairings. Seven seafood courses witha trio of desserts and 10 different wines. Our waitress asked "Are there any food, wine or preparations we need to avoid?" "We like to try everything, whatever the chef thinks is best" we replied. "Your going to love it" she said smiling. We did. Caution: quite expensive for such a casual place.

Our office always enjoys Couscous Cafe's catering for lunch.

Also, we have had bagel/muffin/pastry platters from DC Central Kitchen that are good and inexpensive and always delivered on time... but we haven't tried their lunch platters. Using a charilty also impresses some of our liberal employees and clients.

Boston last weekend: Friday night we went to Les Zygomates near south station. We shared a beautiful bouillabaise (lobster, mussels, clams) and goat cheese crepes – perfect for a cold and rainy night. Saturday night the weather was beautiful so we walked from hotel (near conv. Center) to Artu in beaconhill. It’s a cozy (a dozen tables) Italian place on the lower level of a townhouse with an open kitchen. Since we were early for our reservations we happily stood at the kitchen counter (no bar) and drank chianti classico while talking to the chef, Susana (I think). Entrees were the veal milanese artu special and gnocchi – the huge portions were simple and flavorful around $20. I only wish we had such a place in DC. Dim Sum on Sunday at New Windsor in china town (concierge at hotel suggested) was pretty good and cheap... but they didn’t have the carts.

Last night 6 of us enjoyed our dinner at the new Bice in Bethesda. Drinks: Cocktails and wines by the glass from a large list weighted toward Argentinian & Italian . Apps: 3 crispy pizzas with with cheese and mushrooms. Entrees: Wild Salmon Special with a tasty seafood stew on the side . Veal Milanese was a butterflied vealchop served almost like a shnitzel - so big it fell off the plate. Lamb Chop Special, 3 double thick and perfectly medium rare (the waiter said to only get if you like it med rare-and was right). Steaks - nice thick steaks served with four argentinian sauces on the side. Desserts: Fruit plate and bread pudding that was warm and wonderful (we all fought over the last bites). Good place for a group celebration - easy valet parking - very good service.

Berger cookies finally get their due in Saveur this month (the issue with crabs on the cover). No recipe included, of course. A blogger has her version here.

I think some editor at Saveur threw a bone to Baltimore re: Berger Cookies because the big artcle in this issue about crabs never once mentions the Chesapeake Bay.

Was in Bethesda last night and took a walk through the new Bethesda Row promenade. Rather than the usual chain suspects, it looks like there's going to be some interesting places here. There's the new Sonoma/Mendocino project (the name was on the window, but I forgot it), a Dolcezza shop, Le Creuset, Cork & Fork, and Le Pain Quotidien. Looks like most will be opening soon.

Last I heard the Sonoma/Medocino project was named Redwood.

9:30 pm last night, after a confernce at The Kreeger Museum our group of 8 went to Kemble Park Tavern in the Palisades for burgers and beers. It's a nice place - I think it used to be Starland. We sat on the terrace. Their Beer list could use improvement- 6 bottles (half domestic)and no draft, BUT my medium rare burger was huge and lip smacking good. I could hardly finish it. MMMM mmmm. Perfectly grilled on the outside and juicy red in the center. Each burger came came with a chinese food box full of french fries on the side which were thin and crispy.

Saturday night...After a show at Lincoln Center (South Pacific) in NYC we dined at Whym. We drank a few glasses of their house sangria and shared fried calamari in a sweet /sour sauce and a wedge salad with blue cheese for starters. We could have made a meal of the calamari and stopped there. For Entrees she had short ribs and I had the blackened scallop special - both plates were huge and tasty. This place is comfort food heaven. After dinner we walked back to the Empire Hotel and had a nightcap in the sleek lobby bar before going to sleep.

Sunday, we woke up early and walked all the way to Chinatown and rewarded ourselves with DIM SUM at the Golden Unicorn. 2 1/2 hours later we squeezed our big bellies into a cab to Laguardia and flew home.

Was this upstairs or downstairs. Your experience was completely opposite to our dinner last week... We had excellent service. They didn't serve the naan, either.

After a hectic couple of weeks at work I was able to sneak away for a decent lunch, far away from the bussling crowds and horrendous food that infect the area in and around Union Station. I figured that I would try some place new, so my wife and I met at Source. Thankfully the load music mentioned earlier in the thread was abscent especially since it was already difficult to hear over the din of the other diners.

Maybe I missed it, but I have not read anyone comment about the Naan and accouchements that are served at the beginning of the meal. The Naan on its own is nothing special, it rather tasted like a store bought pita that had been warmed a little too long, but the raisin curry chutney and the cucumber yogurt really provided a sensual lift to the otherwise flaccid bread. The bread could not have been more distant in quality from our appetizers. I am not sure how they could call the pot stickers that are on the menu “tiny dumplings”, there was nothing tiny about them. These perfectly sized beauties were filled with a succulent pork belly and pan fried to absolute perfection, with a crunchy bottom while maintaining a delicateness to the rest of the skin. The black vinegar was the perfect foil to the large deliciously flavored filling. I am not sure what I can say about the tuna tartare other than “more please”. Two of my three cones were simply a mouthful, the third was about a mouth and a half, and I am not talking about over stuffing my mouth. Someone earlier wrote that they could have ten more of these, I think that my limit would be about six, not because they are filling, but because they are so stimulating and so complex that I think that my nose and my tongue would both give up if I tried to force more of them on my senses.

The entrees were not as resounding a success as the appetizers. I would confidently place the burger that my wife ordered at #4 in the city, and that even after it arrived cooked to the north side of medium instead of medium rare that was ordered (for me the burgers that beat it are 1. Palena, 2. Charlie Palmer’s, and 3. Central). Aside from being overcooked the real disappointment of this dish were the fries, they looked and tasted like they were pre-frozen Sysco brand fries, I just expect something better at a restaurant of this caliber. My Pan Roasted Organic Chicken breast was a tail of two meats. The thinner portion of the breast was moist and inviting, with skin so crisp I am surprised that even above the noise people could hear the sound of the crunch, but as I made my way towards the thicker portion I found that the skin became less crisp and the meat far drier, after about 2/3’s of the breast even the flavorful sauce could no longer save it. The fried rice left me wondering what the point of frying it was, and decided that it was simply to make the rice grains greasy, and dry out the egg and sausage.

I am at a loss to explain our server, he was not very attentive, and at times he acted as if he were surprised to see us sitting at the table. Thankfully, the floor manager kept tabs on all of the tables, he took care of a beverage issue that we had with grace and professionalism, and helped to pick-up the slack of our waiter. All-in-all I will go back, but it is just not someplace that I am going to be in a rush to revisit.

Steamboat Springs

We had a fine meal in Steamboat a few years back.

You know, resort town dinners are rarely all they're cracked up be and they can be a little pricey. But this place -- while no CityZen -- delivered quite nicely, and it had pretty impressive wine list, as well. Expensive, but you didn't feel gouged. A location right there on the main drag was nice, too. There's still a bit of a working cow town in Steamboat, and it's nice to get away from Condo Hell and eat someplace where people at least shave before dinner (not required, I'm sure -- it IS Colorado). Sadly, I can't for the life of me remember the name. A little googling around suggests in might have been Antares, though.

HI Marks!

We would love for you to stop and check us out. Since you work around the corner--maybe lunch would work for you or an early dinner if you are working late. Feel free to let me know if i can help you in anyway.

Hope evreyone is well--tata

Galen

Hi Galen,

We are fans of Nage in Rehoboth - both the restaraunt and parties you have catered. Sorry to say we haven't tried you in DC, yet. ( Soon, we promise! ) I am new to this board and just read your post about the SuperBowl take out - it sounded great... Do you do catering in DC?

I've been to the DC and Shirlington branches of B&P several times over the course of the last 9 months or go.

The places are always crowded. Always.

I ask myself why.

Food Component: Mediocre which would tend to result in low customer loyalty.

Service: The service is extremely slow. This has two potential effects. By being so glacially slow, the turnover is low and a relatively small number of patrons swells. On the other hand, people get pissed off at the slow service and don't return.

Atmosphere: The place has that whole peacenik/hippy/counterculture vibe that many people like.

Agreed about the food . B&P's food is slightly above average/mediocre. For us - it's appeal is the wide menu and welcoming atmosphere. At B&P a group of us can get snacks/ light meals/ pizza/ sandwiches/ full entrees or just deserts and each category has veggie options . I disagree about the service, atleast in Shirlington, where our group of 6 goes for dinner before shows at Signature Theatre. As long as we tell our waiter we have a showtime they get us out in plenty of timetime. B&P's is one of the few place that doesn't rush you out and encourages people to linger with the books and free Wi Fi.

In case you missed it: Click.

Ahhhhh.

Hope the new DC place is casual like Rustico. We had great beer, pizza and fish sandwiches last Saturday.

With your boss and price range in mind... Look into Famous Luigi's at 19th and L. Some hate/ some love. Checkered tablecloth old school italian pizzas and pastas.

March 1 , we are heading out to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for a week of skiing. This will be the first time in "ski town USA" for our group of 8 adults (all 40+). Are there any culinary delights not geared toward families or college springbreakers?