brendanc

2004 Insoglio del Cinghale, Campo di Sasso, Bibbona, Tuscany IGT

(insert hoity toity tasting note thingamajigs)

humble restaurants deserve less courtesy than the exalted, then, no, I honestly do not.  Restaurants are, after all, no more than its people.

I am finding myself agreeing with Michael, while not inebreated, hmm.

Listen the membership of this board consists of persons who, if I have gauged correctly, are against big corporations, or the corporate mentality and ultimately for the little guy. Humble restaurants are exactly the restaurants that deserve the extra step in courtesy because they are the restaurants that value their customers the most.

In terms of respect, I think that were you to accept an invitation to my house for dinner in March and I asked you in January, I'd like it if you'd call to say hey and see if you should bring anything, it's what I'd do. I'm not going to forget that I'm having people over, but communication is part of the relationship between host and guest.

If I had a big dinner plan to go to a restaurant, and the evening was of import to me I certainly will and have called to check on my reservation.

My wife wants to be a part of our family restaurant when we open it and the only thing, the only thing she cares about(besides staying in business), is that every guest is treated with the same respect irregardless of their standing or their import to la la land(some other things too but the don't relate to this context). I can only hope that our guests would return the same, and if they don't, it's my joint so youy can leave. I have to invest in a Landrum2006 asshole detector, I hear it comes with a decoder ring.

BTW Charleston, SC less assholes per capita

Where is the freakin "Screaming Viking" don't know it, ask woody.

derek made me a fantastic mint julep some months back and there is no substitute for a PBR in a longneck

What is there to report?  The salad is excellent (I believe posted about  in the CB thread) and should be ordered.  If it was not so packed we probably would have stayed for dinner where I would have started with this dish.  Must go back...

And there was no way that Brendan was going to be carting a fish through the lounge last night either! 

Alas poor steelhead I knew him well. Unfortunately the insanity of the lounge and the dining room, plus a seated dinner for seventy precluded me form doing any parading(not to mention I had fabricated the latest steelhead delivery). Sorry I couldn't bop out of the kitchen, I'll try and make it next time. Also if y'all are planning to come for a HH call ahead and talk to Jane the bartender or Rodolfo the GM they can set aside the communal table if need be. ciao!

I Predict Morou will be the New Chef?! [at Viridian]

I could be wrong but I think Morou is developing his own project.

The one downside to the Italian Store is, indeed, the wait. You can, however, as mentioned above, call ahead for subs AND for pizza. And during the summer, they have some very expensive, but very delicious local tomatoes -- real tomatoes, that smell, feel, and taste like they should. Craig's invented a lovely recipe for these gems:

Take a beautiful tomato. Cut a "hat" off the top. Scoop out the seeds. Rinse with rice wine vinegar and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Fill with 4% cottage cheese. Top with lemon pepper. Put the hat back on. Serve.

Perfect for a hot summer lunch! And because we live in the apartments kitty-corner from the store (I manage them, too, so if you're ever looking for a fabulous place to live ), it's good "on a whim" food, too...

Another tomato recipe we used at the Market. Buy nice tomato, in season, remove some interior, mix sel gris, basil, EVOO and 15 year Balsamic. Cram it in there. Marinate two hours. Eat

I will have to return for that.  I can't tell you how many times I have read the entire Sunday Post waiting for sandwiches, only to wonder if it was really worth it.  My complaint has always been the quality of the ingredients... so in this post I see inspiration for another trip.  (My suggestion is to get a latte and paper at Starbucks next door to help you through the wait.)

Call ahead. Last time I called ahead on a busy day and they had two people dedicated to phone orders. 15 min later I get there, take a number just in case, it was 63, the ticket sign said 12. My stuff was ready to go, no wait, except for the surreptitous pepperoni slice.

La vendetta è un piatto che va servito freddo.

Revenge is a dish best served cold...

"didn't even need babel fish, like the goat story"

  Also, I've heard rumors that Cowgirl Creamery is going to open a cheese shop in Penn Quarter.  That would be interesting.

I think its going to be in dupopnt, and it should be here spring/summer

But, it certainly makes more economic sense to not even bother with reservations

Actually it makes more sense to continue to take resrevations. If I know how many persons can be expected on a given evening it allows me to schedule my staff and order product more efficiently and saves me a ton of money. The WAG method hurts more than you might believe,

Also, reservations often indicate a restaurant of higher quality, thus separating themselves form the chains of the world.

NO shows suck, I hope they never ever have a good meal again, ever.

Luckily, we only had two on NYE.

PS

A throng of people backed up at the host stand and strewn about benches outsde of a restaurant awaiting a table, a la Chainback Steaks, is really unaesthetically pleasing.

A word of caution to diners this week:  I've had some really raunchy diver scallops within the past few days - browning and gritty - and these were at restaurants that are tried-and-true for serving first-rate scallops (Kotobuki and Cafe Atlantico, if you must know).  Either every Tom, Dick and Harry bought up all the locally available scallops for the holidays, or there's something amiss in the delivery chain right now.  But regardless, I would wait at least another week for the supply and delivery cycle to normalize before ordering another scallop.  on my nickel, Rocks.

Definite hole in the scallop market as prices have creeped up. Luckily I buy day boat scallies direct through the most conscientous fish purveyor in DC, he ain't cheap though.

From the way back machine, Mike from the Back Bar at the Ebbit. Post-service friend to the old 'Nox crew, the champagne and oyster rounds helped the mood as well

Of course my boy Mounir at the 'Nox

and Tony Allen, even thouygh he is a Dallas Fan

It seems a bit odd that I never gave as much consideration to who is behind that two and a half feet of mahogany before and what it takes to remain there. Sure I've had friends behind the bar, sending freebies of guiness and I always tipped well, even for mediocre service. Tonight I have resolved to tip better. After 120 covers, 60 odd tasting menus, a fistfight between busser and frontwaiter, I had to jump behind the bar for New Year's late night. Angry, pleading throngs of postgraduate flotsam and jetsam fighting to get my attention and a drink, a computer system I've never seen and a desire to really start slugging it out when someone keeps pestering me to put their, "super-awesome new years cd in the system". It was fun, and f-ing hard work. I did a poor job I'm sure, really, all I did was say we were out of everything except stella on tap, I can do that. I've come away with a renewed respect for the good bartender and probably won't ever enter a bar with more than twenty poeple in it again.

Charcuterie is a lot more up my alley than a cosmo is....

Breaux Vineyards is up that way along Rt 9 and is also one of Virginia's best. Excellent Viognier, Seyval Blanc and an unoaked Chardonnay (though winemaker Dave Collins prefers the oaked version). Reds are improving all the time, too - best are the Lafayette Cab Franc and the Merlot. There's a nice tasting room and good views of the foothills.

In my exile in Middleburg I cooked a wine dinner at Breaux amongst the vats and casks. Really neat experience. I think the wine that intrigued me most was a Nebbiolo that showed some promise, albeit five years from now it should show better, it was a tannic monster. Dave is a cool guy and it was the first time I ever got to experience "barrel tasting", followed by "barrel inebriation"

If I can make a suggestion...If you are booking a table for a busy evening or special occasion follow up your OT booking with an phone call, sometimes the system gets turned around. Also if you book through OT make sure to cancel your reservation if you are not going to honor it, I often have OT ressies that never walk through the door

Is Chef Cox a big fan of the steak tartare at Circle Bistro? 

You bet your ass I am...(insert professional pride)

circle bistro, I'm not kidding it stinks, but not nausea inducing

I know Rocks will move this but I wanted to get it into circulation. Having just returned from a brief three day chaotic mission to see in laws in Sanford NC(Johnston Bros. BBQ next to Johnston Bros produce on route 1, awesome) my brother in law and his family have recently relocated to Tampa and cannot find a good meal anywhere. They are huge fans of chinese/korean/thai/ vietnamese, but any restaurants with something to offer would be great, I'll be forwarding the thread to them in a couple of days or so. Any help would be greatly appreciated..

-Brendan

Flays the cakes.

"tries to bake?"

not you michael

The server mentioned some dessert with lemon and strawberries, which I made a mental note to try the next time.

Not really the most seaonally driven place I guess. utterly...

Here is some info.  Hope it works out.  I also read on a couple of sites that they freeze well too.  Good luck!

Do not freeze them! pack them in an airtight container with a slightly, very slightly damp paper towel. Put them in the fridge they'll last till the 26th, but everyday they lose a little potency. bon chance

Hi All,

I am headed to the in-laws for X-mas weekend in upstate NY. I'll be traveling on Friday, our anniversary. To surprise my wife I made a reservation at Blue Hill( I'm pretty happy with opentable at getting me a rez some 3 days out). I've never been and am wondering if perhaps some forum cognoscenti have eaten there. Any feedback would be most appreciated !!

Thanks,

BD

oops, Blue Hill at Stone Barns

I've been a huge fan of Dan Barber's work since I ate at Blue Hill in NYC some years ago. Every time I am in Manhattan I try to stop in for a bite when I can. Starting a project directly on a farm is the utopian ideal for farm to table dining and I am hoping to get enough time off to go in the enxt year. That said three colleagues whose opinion I greatly respect recently ate there and said it was fantastic. Go for the big tasting menu, you will not be disappointed.

Can I use "virtual" cash to avoid credit card commission. And are these the same Yak herders/ guano ombudsmen who will lead in the "no problem" chanting session later at Iota? And can me and my obnoxious friends bring our own wine, not pay corckage and then slander you for being a good business person?

Terry-

Thanks for the advice in delineating an artisan-grower champagne section on my wine list, helped sales, made me feel good. Do you think Albert King would agree that "the most important notes in music are the ones that you don't hear."?

Thus said is the most important flavor(s) in wine the one(s) that you do not taste, and is this a nod to authentic wine making as opposed to the commercialized machinations of a few big companies?

What to you is the essence of authenticity then, is there a central "string theory" to all wines that possess this authenticity, or does each varietal on each plot have its own unique form of expression. Rocks reallly served up a philosophical knucleball...

the Trio of Virtual Caviar were unlike any other dish I have ever had anywhere. 

Does this resemble in any way the "virtual dishes" like the beluga pasta that Michel is doing @ the 'nelle?