DanielS

Normally I make braised short ribs in the winter for a nice warm meal. I happened to be at Costco this weekend and found a package that were marbled like a waygu steak, so amazing looking I couldnt pass them up. Now my question is, how to cook them. Obviouly I have no desire to make a winter type meal with them. I have found a few recipies in which a quick grill on all sides over high heat is an option. Many with a fruit or spicy sauce accopaniment. Any opinions, suggestions, etc? Thanks in advance, Daniel

Yea, still for sale, been on the market for over a year, I believe they are trying to get 500,000 for it. Its claim to fame being Patsy Cline worked there, before becoming famous. http://www.wincfood.com/ is a good site for info on winchester dining, just realize the perspective, there are still lines a mile long at Olive Garden every night. Dont get me wrong, I love living here, it is a great town to raise a family, but no hub for dining.

Unfortunatly Winchester is going through a "big-box" stage. In the last year or so we have gotten, Fridays, Panera, Olive Garden, Chipotle, Outback, Applebees, etc. There are some very good Indian restaurants, Passage to India and Sona, but both are overpriced. As is the forementioned Violino, which is great, but cost as much as fine dining in DC. The Naked Oyster is a little hole in the wall run by a husband and wife, he is a wonderful cook, and they get some nice seafood from Baltimore a few times a week. Oddly in a few short blocks, Sheperdstown, WV has better restaurants then Winchester.

We live over in Winchester, so it is about a 45 min drive, but fortunatly was well worth it. Amuse started with Watermelon topped with Goat Cheese and a drizzle of balsamic, very refreshing way to start the meal. The apps looked so good we decided to make a meal of them. Started with the previously mentioned Corn Chowder, that was heavy on the cream, in a good way, and loaded with veggies, a very nice start to the meal. Tomato tart was warm, covered with a nice helping of goat cheese and freshly cut basil, mmmm. Roasted Figs with Humbolt Fog Cheese, Fennel Salad, Prosciutto was suprisingly bland, though the roasted macadamia nuts were a nice touch. Warm Goat Cheese Salad was very nicely dressed with wine poached pears and a crusted goat cheese. The standout of the night Crisp Chesapeake Oysters. 6 large oysters very nicely crusted in a light batter, topped with a curry aioli and wonderful creamed spinach under each oyster. This dish was perfect, perfect batter, perfectly cooked, the oysters were still nice and plump, and the spinach was to die for. Finally finished with the Foie Gras. This was hit and miss. A nice size of foie was cooked perfectly. The accompaniments were rather lame. Being peach season, the "roasted peaches" sounded great, but in actuality was little more than a warm thumb sized piece of peach. Pistachio-Onion marmalade wasnt a marmalade at all, more of a dry mix of pistachios and what looked like walnuts. "Grilled Ciabatta" amounted to three tiny pieces of what tasted like bagel crisps. So much potential... The Warm Butterscotch Bread Pudding was a great finale, very moist and flavorful, said to be their best seller and i can see why. Tried both the speciality drinks, the Peach Ginger Martini was wonderful, a much better representation of in season peaches than the previously mentioned attempt. The Mango Mojito was also very nice and refreshing, with just a touch of mango flavor, and a great fresh mint taste. Our waiter was great, very personable character with a thick Boston accent that every table seemed to enjoy joking with him about. At 8:30-9:00 the restaurant side was pretty empty for a friday night, but the bar was hopping, and looked like a great place to spend the evening with friends.