Tweaked

I can do Firefly and/or Corduroy but need to be at Poste by 7pm...

ever since the Hardee's chain introduced the Thick and Monster Thick burger lines they have reporting 19 consecutive months of same-store sales growth, with some stores reporting 20% increases in burger sales. The Monster Thick weighs in at a colossus 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat!

Hopefully they will finish decorating the dining room on the first floor...it needs some help!

I thought this weeks was pretty lame: No sweat entertaining. Can Uncle Sam's Recipes be Saved. Just seems to me to be the same schlock as the Twinkie article.

I was there Sunday for dinner...the miniburgers were up to snuff and we inhaled them the pizza was on the mediocre side, the Sierra Nevada was pale and aley, and the decor continues to live up to its name.

Sietsema and Rockwell are actually the same person...the truth is out there (cue X-Files music)

has anyone here ever had the opportunity to dine at the White House...state dinner? tea and crumpets? Chef Cathal if you are still lurking, maybe you could tell us about your experience cooking for President Bush...?

You should see the back and forth on the DC United chat board about whether or not the two main DCU supporter groups (Screaming Eagles and Barra Brava, who's sections are next to each other) should have people leading chants so that the two groups are coordinated in their drunken singing. Unfortunately even internet chat boards aren't immune to pissing matches. As someone who has enjoyed all of Joe H's Blow Outs, welcome Joe!

ok a quick look on the Equinox website found: "Summer All Stars" Equinox celebrates DiRona Week to benefit Share Our Strength First Course BBQ'd Yukon River Wild Salmon Roasted Summer Corn, Avacado Salad and Varnum Street Basil Market course Eastern Shore Dream Melon and Spicy Arugula Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Shaved Parmesan Reggiano Sweet course Peach Amaretti Beggars Purse Rum Caramel Sauce and White Peach Ice Cream Truffles and Petit Fours $70.00 with a portion of the proceeds to benefit SOS

When I was at Poste for RW I noticed their bar menu offered $4 wine (selection of onbe red and one white) and $4 truffled fries. They have a nice bar area for drinks.

Just received an e-mail from Open Table re: DiRoNa (Distinguished Restaurants of North America) Restaurant Week Aug 22-26. Participating restaurants are offering special prix-fixe menus with proceeds going to Share our Strength. Participating restaurants in DC are: 701 The Bombay Club The Caucus Room Equinox Citronelle The Oval room I Ricchi Sam and Harry's e-mail doesn't say how much the menus are or list courses...so I guess you're on your own for that!

perhaps the Washingtonian article mention???

The CIA is pretty fast and loose about the 6 month requirement. Really they just want you to have done some time in a professional kitchen so you know what you are getting into. Really it has little to do with knife skills since they are going to teach you everything the CIA way anyway. The requirement can be fullfilled by doing a couple nights a week after work or on the weekends, you certainly don't have to do full time for 6 months at a restaurant. also, they are a little more lienent with people who already have a college degree, work a professional 9 to 5 job etc. Many CIA students are fresh out of high school or don't have any previous college experience.

Do you have an idea of where you want to go to culinary school? For instance when I dabbled with the idea of going to culinary school and was looking at the Culinary Institute of America they provided me with a list of DC restaurants that had CIA grads who might be willing to provided work experience (CIA requires at least 6 months experience before entering their program). If you were looking at a local culinary school, say L'Academie de Cuisine, I'm sure they could put you in touch with local chefs as well...there are a number of DC chefs/restaurants who have ties to L'Academie either because they are grads or they offer externships through the school. Bottom line, definitely work in a restaurant before going to culinary school to get a feel of what work in a professional kitchen is like!

I made a mix of Middle Eastern salads, add some oven roasted chicken breast, a little toasted pita...dinner is served. Clockwise from 12 o'clock Chickpea Salad Taboulleh Cous Cous Roast Chicken Pita Hummus (top middle) Baba Gannoush (bottom middle)

add to the first courses: Soft shell crab with arugula lobster salad add to the second courses: Blue fish with tomato marmalade (see picture above) add to dessert bread pudding sorbet (?) cheese course (very good)

yeah just e-mail him a picture of the scallops!

Burb... That's all one can really say after the DR miniblow out at Corduroy Saturday night. Things got off nicely as Crackers and I split the cheese plate at the bar over some wine and a margarita. Five cheeses nicely presented with some of the great crusty bread they serve at Corduroy. Jacques, who swore he was only going to have a drink at the bar, was quickly sucked into the fun as the other guests arrived... Corduroy offers their entire menu for RW with only a couple surcharges. As we reviewed the menu, Chef Power generously sent us out 2 heaping plates of the Ron Jeremy Spring Rolls, which were quickly devoured by all. I went with the soft shell crab with arugula. The soft shell was nicely deep fried, meaty and juicy. The was a wonderfully rich sauce that went with it, the type that needs several slices of bread afterwards to mop up. I then moved on to the scallops, which I have to rank as one of the best dishes I've had in DC. Four perfectly seared scallops, resting on pools of buttery rich potato puree, with a chardonnay sauce (again mop up with bread) and chantrelle mushrooms...this dish is da bomb. for dessert I had the dark chocolate tart with caramelized banana and chocolate ice cream. This is one of those chocolate desserts that cause brain cells to freeze from the intense chocolate flavors...not for the faint of heart! Crackers, Jacques, and I spent most of the night sharing our dishes, so I can say that the lamb dish mentioned several times above is worthy of the praise. The lobster salad was light and refreshing,. Jacques claimed the local tomato salad was having the best tomatoes he's had all season, and his bluefish with tomato marmalade was also excellent. I know we had some first time DRers with us, so I hope that this was a good intro to the food board...we're not that scary! Thanks to Crackers for playing host and accountant. and of course thanks to Chef Power, Ferhat and Rissa for taking care of us... Da Bomb Scallops Bluefish with Tomato Marmalade

Had the Corduroy scallop dish (see exhibit 1 above) and they are Da Bomb... I'd have to rank it as one of the best dishes I've ever had in DC (and yes Chef Power and Co. you can quote me on that )

There's no mistaking what Poste is trying to accomplish with a full arsenal pulled from the Modern American Restaurant playbook. Open kitchen theatrics, young hip staff backed by a young hip soundtrack (Garden State was on heavy rotation), truffled fries served in a paper cone, kobi beef tartar dressed up as a mini-burger, foie gras, dishes topped with poached eggs...they have pretty much all the bases covered. I found the apps to be whimsical and fun, the aforementioned kobi beef tartar was hardly mini-burger trite and lived up to the above praise, the salmon tartar came scooped on savory ice cream cones with creme fraiche set in a cone stand filled with sea salt, so I was a little disappointed that my hamachi wasn't more dramatically presented! The hamachi was subtle and rich, but unfortunately over powered by the slices of grapefruit, which I eventually picked out and ate seperately. The entrees also come dramtically presented in large white bistro style bowls. We went with the red wine braised rabbit with poppy seed tagliatelle, caramalized fennel, and wild mushrooms; lemon roasted chicken with escarole, white beans, sausage, and parmesan; and wild stripped bass with champ potatoes, wine poached egg, and caper beurre noisette. Each dish also comes garnished with a virtual forest of herbs and edible flowers. And here is what I fear is the downfall of the entrees, just way too much going on, dramatic for the dramatic sake, a tighter focus with less frills would serve these dishes better. Dessert redeemed the meal, a chill mango soup with ice cream was summer refreshing, chestnut crepes rich and decadent, and a 5 course cheese selection which came with toasted raisin bread and two compotes. Of the Restaurant Week menus I've tried, I'd have to rank Poste as one of the more successful. Perhaps half the menu was offered straight up for the RW price, although I would have liked to have seen more entrees since there were only four offered at the set price. But an extra dollar for the Hamachi, an extra dollar for the cheese course, and other small surcharges on other dishes allowed you to explore the menu without jacking up the RW deal. Roast Chicken Mango Soup

Actually the first time I was faced with Ranch dressing and pizza I thought that it would be nasty, but then I tried it and I was a quick convert. But I think it only really works on low-brow pizza, like it works really well with the pizza at the Capitol Lounge

I'll be there too, sans bells.

Chef, looking at your bio, you have been working in the DC area for almost 15 years, can you give us an insiders perspective of the changes you have noticed in DC dining over that time...any real surprises, disappointments, and what do you think is needed to take DC to the next level as a well respected restaurant city?

wow, I'm kind of shocked that Restaurant Eve has 52 full time employees...That's just amazing to me! I'd guess maybe 25-30 people I completely understand if you don't want to get into financial specifics on an internet chat board (even percentages would be ok), so feel free to ignore this question, but what sort of cost structure does an upscale restaurant like Eve have. I think it would be eye opening for us outside the industry to get a grasp on what goes into running and funding a restaurant at Eve's level. rent, labor, food costs, taxes, equipment/table service (glasses, knives forks etc.) Thanks

Chef, there seems to be a unique synergy between you and Todd "Evil Genius" Thrasher...I mean what other bar makes their own tonic water from scratch! Can you get into a little more about how you two met? how do you two work together to combine the "front of the house" bar area with the restaurant area? and do the two of you ever get into any mad competitions over who can create the most off the wall concoctions? Also, I took my parents to Eve over memorial day weekend and your pork belly kicked ass...my mom ordered the lamb and there was some braised lamb shoulder as part of the dish....can you describe your method for making the braised lamb shoulder...it equally kicked ass! Thanks