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sheldman

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Everything posted by sheldman

  1. sheldman
    Make fun of me, if you must, for watching "Best Thing I Ever Ate.". (Good show if you have a DVR, though presumably very boring if you don't). But it sent me to the pie store for a Baltimore Bomb, and I loved it. (Chess pie with crumbled Berger cookies in the filling.). Friendly rock and roll pie store, great pie. This post short b/c I do not yet have the hang of typing at length on iPad. (site looks great on it, btw)
  2. sheldman
    The only problem with the bag tax is that when I bring my own bags along, it totally throws off the practiced routine of so many baggers who grew up in the era of uniform brown paper bags, and leads them to fill one canvas bag with every heavy thing, and another empty but for a single carrot. Not quite sure why this is, but it is. Not that I'm obsessive-compulsive about balancing my bags in proper bagging technique or anything ....
  3. sheldman
    Maybe they will have a quickfire challenge of ramps.
  4. sheldman
    Do many people go to 2 Amy's who don't want their pizza cut into slices? I ask because I am always bewildered when the pizza comes to the table as a unified whole - and when I ask if the server can cut it, the server looks somewhat put out, and has to walk away to get the slicer and then come back. What is going on? Is this one of those embarrassing things where I've always assumed I was doing things the correct way but have really been totally off my rocker? Or is this one piece of the overall 2 Amy's experience, which seems to be designed to give delicious food in a completely uncomfortable environment so that you will go away more quickly? (One exception is that last night a waitress was very nice, which is not my normal experience there, either).
  5. sheldman
    The question of the meaning and value of "authenticity" is a really good one, not only in food but in music and everything else worth thinking about. But I hadn't gotten the sense, from discussion here or from the recent magazine articles, that a perception of "authenticity" was really the thing that was making people fanatical about Peter Chang's cooking. Sounds like it was more "oh wow this is delicious" to me.
  6. sheldman
    People who are priming themselves for displeasure at the "giveaway" of parking spaces to Zipcar might also want to think about driveways (both residential and commercial). Every driveway on a street where parking is allowed is, in a sense, a giveway of a parking space to the person or business that owns that driveway. So there's nothing particularly odd about setting aside a few spaces for car sharing, where so may spaces are set aside for driveways. (When I lived in Dupont Circle I could sometimes find myself starting to steam at the fact that the Scientology building had a semicircular driveway that eliminated not one but two spots. Then I realized that my pet peeves were not a very good basis for making public policy about roadways).
  7. sheldman
    In my admittedly limited experience, the little dudes can climb, or jump, or whatever. If you've got an exterminator coming over tomorrow, I would put the big bag of rice in the oven until then (don't turn it on, though). [by the way, Ignatz Mouse is not the culprit]
  8. sheldman
    I think that every restaurant with an automatic tipping policy should have, and enforce, a policy that its staff MUST remind the customer of this when handing them the bill. Not to have such a policy is, I think, an inexcusable ploy to create situations exactly like this. There's no legitimate reason not to remind the customer, "Per our policy, you'll notice that the tip is included on this bill." If this restaurant has such a policy, then the situation was the waiter's fault, and the waiter should get (at best) "only" the nice 18 percent rather than double that. If this restaurant doesn't have such a policy, then the situation was the restaurant's fault, and the restaurant should pay. Maybe I am a grump this morning.
  9. sheldman
    Anyone been to the Glover Park Whole Foods today? Have they got any vegetables? Living on a street that will not be passable in my little car until maybe Saturday, and having eaten up just about all the nice stuff I got to make it through Winter Disaster Phase One, I am wondering whether it is worth walking the mile or so. Or I could make something with black rice, and a box of seafood stock, and that package of frozen cranberries that's been in my freezer for a few months ...
  10. sheldman
    Is there a bar, at Ray's the Steaks, where you can sit and have a drink and a bit of food? I realize this is a question that I ought to be able to answer in some other way, such as by going inside and asking politely. But there is an intimidating mystique somehow, enough that I have only been able to bring myself to peer in the windows surreptitiously as I walk by. I think it looks like the answer is "no." And if the answer is "no," how's that Rays the Glass thing going?
  11. sheldman
    Veggie burger with a fried egg and caramelized onions, on my first visit to Black Squirrel last night. Very good. (The burger is a little soft, but tasty and quinoa-y). Mussels were excellent too, in white wine. Onion rings were great and cumin-y. If we had jetpacks, or some other method of avoiding the parking nightmare that is Adams-Morgan, it would be even better.
  12. sheldman
    A few days ago (at a pleasant place here in DC, with unfortunately terrible food) we had a waiter who didn't write anything down. After she walked away, we were discussing how, being over the age of 40, we could not possibly remember five people's orders without writing things down. Apparently she overheard, because she came back and told us proudly what a great memory she had, nearly photographic, by virtue of eating various brain-enhancing foods. Then a few minutes after that, she came back and asked what one person's order had been. Then she forgot about a glass of wine that had been ordered. Then she brought one person the wrong thing. Give me a waiter with a pad, any day.
  13. sheldman
    No discussion of Han Gang here in several months, for whatever reason. This is a brief report from a non-expert, having eaten here for the first time at dinner tonight. Our experience did not begin well. We felt ignored for a good while after being seated. Then, when ordering, it seemed like we hit a bunch of resistance. You want just whiskey with no coca cola? Yes, please. Whiskey but nothing else in it but ice?! Yes, that's right. You really don't want that cold noodle dish with marinated fish (hwae naeng myun), it's very Korean. That's why we came to a Korean restaurant, I swear - to eat Korean food! And we have been to Korean restaurants before, yes we have. But you won't like it. We would like to try it, really, I mean it. No really, you really won't like it, 9 out of 10 people don't like it. Will you please bring it to us? We will bring you a small portion, how about that? Ok. But the food made up for it. That cold noodle dish that we were supposed to not like, was especially great. As was a seafood and soft tofu stew. (You will not find it on the menu that is currently online, so I can't tell you the proper name of it right now.) And bibimbap, and scallops cooked on the table. As some others have mentioned before, the spread of side dishes, kimchi etc., is not as vast as at some restaurants, but it is very good. And once the staff saw that we were actually enjoying the food (even the 9 year olds among us), they were very very nice.
  14. sheldman
    Vic Chesnutt, musician and songwriter. Sad to see you go.
  15. sheldman
    Kora in crystal city. Yum.
  16. sheldman
    Yes, that Deborah Madison book for sure; it is by far the most stained and busted-up cookbook in our house. Bittman's "How to" is good too.
  17. sheldman
    I am getting in the spirit of dressing (aka stuffing that's not stuffed inside anything), a few days early. Anybody got any brilliant inspiration to share? Yesterday, to get in the mood, I made a pan of dressing from a buttermilk skillet cornbread, lots of caramelized onions, some celery, a bunch of Field Roast brand fake sausage (sage variety), and half+half - yum. Too bad there were other people around who wanted to eat some too. Today I bought a quart of oysters for the next version, whatever it will turn out to be. Anybody got any dressing/stuffing beliefs or traditions to share?
  18. sheldman
    I am starting to think I might be a pushover, since I posted yesterday about a really nice dinner at Kora and here I am about to post about a really nice dinner at Ardeo. Maybe I am eager to applaud. But then I remember that there are plenty of restaurants that I go to, that I don't post about. I guess I've just been lucky these last two nights. So, wow what really wonderful food at Ardeo tonight. Even the salads (one with dandelion, pear and a rose-flavored vinaigrette, the other a plain old mixed green) were delicious and flavorful. Trout, gnocchi, tea-smoked tuna, yellow bean fondue, all great. Yum. (All of the above, after the salads, were the "medium plates"; the waiter suggested getting more of these rather than fewer entrees, and I think this was a good suggestion.)
  19. sheldman
    Our first visit to Kora last night was a good one. I really liked Farrah Olivia and that sort of taste-alchemy creativity. Kora is totally different, with very little of that vibe, but really nice in its own way. I won't describe the dishes we had in too much detail, because really if you read the menu online you can get a very good sense of what they're like. In that sense, the food is straightforward. What made it really nice is that it was so well executed, and the service and atmosphere were warm and friendly. One good touch is the "pasta tasting" - small portions of any three of the many pasta options- for $20. We also had lasagna, the squid ink pasta, and the swordfish. All good, as were the salads and the cheese-stuffed roasted bell pepper appetizer. And this is the first time in a long time, in any restaurant in the DC area, where I have been surprised when the bill came at how low it was. Four of us, eating and drinking plenty, for $160. In a city where it is too easy to spend a lot more than that for underwhelming fancy food, this was a good ending.
  20. sheldman
    On the assumption that this question is not trolling, here's an answer from a mostly-vegetarian (noting that, because vegans and vegetarians are as unique as other people, everyone's particular reasons will vary). Some meat tastes good to me. I loved it and ate it as often as the next guy, before developing a set of beliefs/information that led to me eat less of it. My reasons for not eating (much of) it have nothing to do with how it tastes, and have not led me to revulsion at the taste. Also, meat in many forms is a handy delivery vehicle for protein. So when I eat a good fake meat product (Field Roast sausages, Quorn chicken patties, etc., and some fake meat strips in a burrito sound like a nice idea) I get the handy protein delivery system plus an imperfect but ok facsimile of the taste/texture that I like. And I am fully aware that I am not eating a dog or even a chicken, so I am not bothered by the association with meat. All of the above sentences are also true of my son, who is quite strict about his own choice to be a vegetarian. Not too complicated really.
  21. sheldman
    We had a very nice meal at Masala Art last night. The menu is a good mix of some familiar standards and many dishes that are not the standard fare in every Indian restaurant. Everything that we had was very nicely prepared. (Be sure to try the cilantro/rock salt nan, and the bread pudding dessert, among other things). And the service was very friendly, helpful, and prompt. Check it out.
  22. sheldman
    To many vegetarians (including me when I am one), Mike I's dish would have seemed like the worst sort of hostility from a chef - that he cared so little for their pleasure that he made the center of the plate be undercooked leeks apparently without any flavor added, and that he mocked the whole concept of vegetarianism by calling this his "protein"!? There are really nice ways of making leeks the center of a plate - Michel Richard has a leek "tartar" that is really really good as well as easy to make. They are cooked, and they have added ingredients to make the flavor something other than "here's your damn vegetables." Had I been the judge, I would have read it as his expression of his displeasure at experiencing meatus-interruptus. And pack your knives and go, every time.
  23. sheldman
    I appreciate the warning and will back away calmly. The only thing I know about chickens is what I learned years ago, when I was a brand new lawyer and was interviewing people who worked in a chicken factory in N. Alabama for a possible wage-and-hour suit. With my clipboard for taking notes, and earnest attitude, I asked one man what his job title was, and he said "I suppose that'd be 'butthole cutter.'" He told me what that entailed doing, about 30 times per minute for 8 hours per day. I said "That doesn't sound like a great job," and he said, "It's better than the job of the guy next to me on the line." Enough about chickens for me.
  24. sheldman
    Well now I have learned some things about Wilt and about cattle and pig testicles, but I am still in the dark about chicken carnage. Am I to understand that two roosters, if left to their own devices, will automatically fight to the death in a spectacularly bloody way? Or something worse than that? Did they do this (say) 200 years ago, or is this just a perverse byproduct of some sort of selective breeding by human chicken-farmers? And why do I want to know?
  25. sheldman
    I was afraid to ask that question, but now that it's been asked I need to know too.
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