togflx

A little bump to this post. I'm looking for cocoa powder - both dutch process and regular unsweetened cocoa powder - in largeish quantities. I'd love to buy it in a larger quantity than the sadness-inducing tiny boxes I found at Harris Teeter and Whole Foods (with equally sadness-inducing prices). When I was in LA recently I tracked down a 16oz container (http://www.surfasonline.com/products/7519.cfm) that made my day. It looks like La Cuisine might have something that fits the bill (8oz of Vahlrona for $12), and I have plans to ring/visit Little Bitts and Cakes Plus but if anyone has insight on this topic it'd be greatly appreciated. I'm happy to travel a bit into MD or VA for my cocoa powder needs, too.

i've been told 12-5pm is the time to call for reservations. they are open 7 days a week now and it's much less frentic earlier in the week, natch. also, after much frustration with their reservation system (not getting anyone to answer the phone, reservations being confirmed over the phone and then not on the books when we show up, etc) i was thrilled to be phoned by the staff confirming my reservation last week, saving much heartache all around.

It should have been telling to me that there is no word on Mahogany over here at dr. A friend chose Mahogany last-minute as a birthday dinner location. The inside is sleek with dark wood and dim lighting; there aren't more than 30 tables in the entire place, but things aren't crammed together which makes it a nice dining option on U Street. We had the stuffed jumbo shrimp (I didn't try this) and the catfish fingers as appetizers. I'm not a fan of catfish to begin with (too bland for me) and the breaded fish here didn't do anything to dispel that. I had crab cakes for my entree - a plump, crab-filled cake that receives no complaints from me. The accompaniments (tri colored pepper slaw and old bay rouille) hardly merit a mention - neither were in abundance enough to warrant a real taste addition. My dining partners seemed happy with their jerk chicken pasta and pan roasted hen. We finished off with dessert - bread pudding and fried oreos. The fried oreos were battered and fried to an inch of their lives then covered with a more-than-generous drizzle of strawberry coulis. I could barely taste the oreos, sadly. The service was hit-and-miss - I was seated after my party and then ignored when I tried to get water or a drink. Our wine almost didn't show up, and the waitress would disappear and have to be tracked down by the busboy. Also, of unusual note, they add a 20% gratuity to groups of 5 or more. We all missed the fine print on the menu, and I find it a little unusual that it's automatic for such a small group (though I guess the usual 6-8 person automatic gratuity rule is also arguably arbitrary). I'm not rushing to recommend or return to Mahogany, but if you need to take the parents out for a nice meal in a nice setting you could do worse on U Street.

Thanks! I guess I'm not "others" since I posted way back when, but I do want to say that Peregrine continues to deliver for me. Peregrine is part of my daily routine now (so regrets my wallet) but it's refreshing to interact with friendly baristas who bother to remember your drink and will chit-chat with you for a moment. They also worked out the kinks with regular drip-coffee - keeping a couple of options "on tap" from 8am-11am and then switching to the pour-over bar mid-day. I'm still sticking with espresso but I think this helps to speed things up significantly in the morning for folks. The official grand opening was this weekend (Oct 18-19) and they were to be debuting some seasonal drink offerings (perhaps involving organic pumpkin whipped cream? am I drooling?).

finally go myself to old town for a visit to lavender moon cupcakery. i'm honestly seriously confused by this cupcakery. the name? the somewhat garish wall paint color? the utter lack of anything in the spacious store (i wish grape+bean would switch spots with lavender moon, as g+b seems as if it would fill the space better)? the seemingly foot-dragging in terms of obtaining a telephone, website, tables and chairs, credit card machine, general promotion? i'm being nitpicky, i know, but it seems that opening any restaurant in the dc-md-va area is such a time-consuming process i'm amazed that lavender moon can exist with such bare minimums. i'll admit i was remiss in not chatting up peter durkin more, but the somewhat evasive explanations he was giving me when i inquired about what sorts of frosting he used rather shut down further conversation. in any event, all cupcakes are $3, cash only ($2.75+sales tax). the saturday i visited there were 11 cupcakes on offer (flourless dark chocolate with almonds and sea salt; vanilla bean lemon curd; buttermilk with mexican chocolate pudding; vanilla vanilla; devils food vanilla; devils food peanut butter; s'mores; triple callebaut chocolate; pumpkin + fennel; caramel apple; roasted fig and blood orange) - i walked out with 6. buttermilk cupcake with mexican chocolate pudding: the cake was sponge-y and dry with a flavor that, upon reflection, was a buttermilk cupcake but not discernibly. the mexican pudding filling was drowned out by the cinnamon in it, but the milk chocolate frosting receives big thumbs up. it was rich with good consistency but not tooth-achingly sugary. vanilla bean lemon curd: if you put enough lemon curd on anything it's going to taste fabulous and the generous filling inside this cupcake made it for me. the vanilla bean-flecked cake was not particularly flavorful of remarkable but had a nice, dense crumb (particularly compared to the buttermilk). the cream cheese-based vanilla bean frosting was subtle - the vanilla bean would have shined without the cream cheese. roasted fig and blood orange: when i was going over the cupcake flavors i had to grab another bite of this cupcake because i couldn't taste the fig - it's just a very earthy taste in a very densely layered cake, with a blood orange cream cheese frosting that is again overpowered by the cream cheese. pumpkin and fennel: a lightly pumpkin cupcake that gives way to a noticeable fennel flavor just as you start to find the pumpkin flavor. this is perhaps the only cupcake where the cream cheese frosting rounds the cupcake out. s'mores: at the bottom of the cupcake liner is a graham cracker crust that thrills the s'mores-lover in me. the graham cracker adds texture to the cupcake but not flavor, which is okay because the ridiculously moist, rich chocolate cake shines here. the meringue marshmallow topping dissolves into the bite of cupcake, leaving you with a sugar rush that actually borders on tooth-aching. skip the frosting if you're not ready for the sugar but don't skip the chocolate cake! devils food peanut butter: tastes more old-fashioned chocolate than devil's food, a sadly boring chocolate cupcake. a puff of peanut butter meringue hides under a skin of chocolate ganache that is fun to uncover. the peanut butter is intense and the meringue gives it a lighter-but-nougat-y texture which just overwhelms the cake. if they dialed back the amount of peanut butter and gave it a little more ganache this cupcake might satisfy nicely. overall - meh. i wanted to love the delicious-sounding flavors but lavender moon's cupcakes didn't deliver. as someone cupcake obsessed, it pains me to say i'd rather spend my $3+ next door at grape & bean on a cup of coffee and a chocolate bar.

Pretty sure it's just the Pinkberry association that has spawned the x-berry knockoffs. When the craze was really starting to hit there was a somewhat useful article in the NYTimes that kinda discusses the origin of the recent froyo madness: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/dining/2...;pagewanted=all FWIW there's another yogurt place going in up in Adams Morgan, Cali Yogurt, opening up near the top of 18th, in the old Miss Pixie's spot.

is it nerdy for me to mention that when they announced the opening day i could barely sleep? i am not as big of a fan of the other coffee shops in the neighborhood, so my morning coffee runs started getting ridiculous (tryst, big bear, sova) - great chance to try new coffee places but hellish commute via metrobus and foot. peregrine is stocking counter culture coffee, natch, and their baristas are pretty spot-on with the espresso-making and the milk-foaming. refreshingly new and different is the "micro-brew" option for regular coffee. a list of bean choices is on the wall and they will make your cup of choice to order. no coffee sitting around in french presses or keeping warm in a large urn. there's no drink size options, it's just 12oz across the board. the drink prices on the menu boards also all include tax. it's the little things, but i was tickled when my latte said $3.50 and i paid exactly $3.50. pastries and baguettes abound, and supposedly some elusive desserts for the evening that i have yet to see. the tiny bars of vosges chocolate threaten me every time i set foot in the store. website: http://peregrineespresso.com/ blog: http://peregrineespresso.wordpress.com/ hours: monday-saturday, 7am-9pm; sunday, 8am-8pm

took a day trip up to baltimore for the labor day weekend. the boyfriend wanted a crab-feasting experience and not wanting to choose between the ample reviews and opinions on the best crabs in maryland we just dove in and picked a name at near-random. i don't think we could have been better rewarded for our choice! we plopped ourselves down at a table on the first floor, ordered a dozen medium crabs (clearly we DO shy away from a challenge), $40, and a side of onion rings and macaroni salad. the crabs came out in short order, deftly slid onto the thick brown paper-covered table and then, face-to-face with a dozen old bay encrusted crabs i realized: i have no idea how to eat a crab. fortunately they were kind enough to demonstrate and we were soon elbow deep in crab shells, old bay and juices literally flying everywhere. the crab was succulent, meaty, scented with the sea, and really didn't need the butter brought to the table for us. in fact the butter was a huge detractor - tasting very suspiciously of the popcorn i chow down on at the movie theatre. a disappointment, but only momentary. next time we'll be back with a large group of friends in tow, l.p. steamers did seem to be suited best to large groups if the forty or so people who piled by us while we waited is any indication. it also seems that the best seats are on the second floor or back patio - everyone else who walked in requested to be seated upstairs. and next time, we'll definitely have to try the rest of the seafood offerings, i was almost tempted to steal an oyster off a neighboring patron's plate...

Any indication of hours beyond the closing monday/tuesday? I'd like to make a trek out after work this week. Are they adhering to the Grape + Bean hours across the board?

cheezepowder, you had me intrigued! i've heard about this elusive new old town cupcakery. DJ Google says: http://indulgenthealth.wordpress.com/2008/...moon-cupcakery/ looks like they opened yesterday, with sadly less fanfare than Dupont's Hello Cupcake. with flavors like "summer peach and basil," however, i'm definitely going to make a trek out to old town this weekend to sample something.

Y that's all i can muster to post on the boards for right now. so intimidated!