Tweaked

Hello fellow Rockwellians, Greetings from India, more specifically Bangalore, the high tech capitol (you know, where all those jobs are being outsourced to!)

It has been quite the adventure. 22 hour trip to Madras, with a 5 hour layover in Frankfurt, thankfully the restaurant serving german sausage and half liters of beer was open at 8am! Up early the next day and a short commuter plane to Bangalore. I'm in country for my housemate's brother's wedding.

The eating and drinking have been a bit dodgy, can't drink the water, be careful what you eat, liquor and beer kind of sucks (one place was charging $95 of a bottle of Kendall Jackson 2002 Zin!)

we have been mostly eating in high end places, the first night pool side at the Windsor Sheraton and afghan kabobs. The next night at a restaurant called 13th Floor, which has a patio on the 13th floor on a highrise building, nice lounge overlooking the city for drinks afterwards. The next night at a hotel called the Taj West End. we have struck out to a couple local places. The best eating so far was at a small restaurant in a city called Mysore. The fruit and veg market at Mysore was fantastic, lots of little alleyways and vendors all over the place.

Been sick for the last couple days so been subsisting off crackers and ramen noodles...I think right now, all of us would kill for some pizza!

I'll update this post with links, pictures etc. when I get back to the states...heading home Thursday night.

Tweaked

yeah, I've found that if you arrive real late the line can be short...or call in your order and completely bet the crowds

Don't you love it when a friend from out of town calls looking for a restaurant recommendation...

Hey Tweaked I'm outside DC Coast, any good?

No, no, walk two blocks to Corduroy. You eating by yourself? I'll be right over.

Quick drive across town led to a rather decadent meal on the old expense account.

We chowed down on:

Red Snapper Bisque - lovely essense of fish, light wonderful soup

Soft Shell Crab served with greens, not sure what the sauce was...again delightful

The Ron Jeremy Spring Rolls - friend was loving these

Striped Bass (done in the style of the seared tuna) - I just love this presentation

Pineapple Sorbet, with a hazelnut(?) crisp and drizzled with rum from Venezula, the sorbet is amazing

Cherry Tart with vanilla ice cream, a great way to end dinner

Thanks Ferhat for taking care of us...my friend was very impressed!

Hi tom, thanks for joining us!

Other than DC restaurants serving wine at the wrong temperature (we all know how you hate that!) and cleaning tables with windex what are some service problems that you see over and over again eating around town...if you could hire yourself out as a service consultant what recommendations would you make.

Also best restaurant meal you have had in the last 7 days?

Our pour line (6 oz.) is very discreet. 

Three Mark Slater fingers?

This thread sucks

It's a problem on a lot of boards that certain topics (in this case restaurants on others certain DC United soccer players) become sacred and any criticism is immediately shouted down. But as long as our complaints are serious, thought out, and constructive, I would hope that restaurant owners and restaurants goers can learn from them. In this board's case, I would hope that A) restaurant owners can learn about what we receive during the "restaurant experience" and strive to make that experience even better and Us restaurant goers get a full appreciation of the ins and outs of running a restaurant, which I think we are all learning is a bloody hard undertaking.

At the very least it makes for good reading (esp. from Chef )

Sauted Soft Shell Crab over a bed of arugula.

Sauted crab for a couple minutes a side, removed.

then tossed some minced shallots into the pan

deglazed with white wine and reduced wine to pan almost dry

add juice of about a third of a lemon

salt, pepper, dash of garam masala

added a couple of pats of butter and let it all reduce for a couple more seconds

bed of arugula, place crab on top, drizzle reduced pan sauce on top.

eat!

Their regular dinner menu looks pretty damn pricy, but pre/post theater looks pretty decent for $35.

The 9th Annual Old Dominion Beer Festival, featuring a bunch of local brewers

Cap City, Shenandoah Brewing, Sweetwater Tavern, Dogfish head, Founder's , Tuppers, DuClaw

As well as some of the big boys, Chimay, Sierra Nevada, Redhook, Brooklyn Brewery, Rogue.

http://www.olddominion.com/pg/BeerFest

Doh! I do that all the time, finish something off in an All-Clad saute pan in the oven and forget that I need an oven mit when I take it out

Carr America rented The BreadLine's space to me when I was in personal bankruptcy because of my reckless expansion of Marvelous Market. 

Chef, what lessons did you draw from your experience with Marvelous Market and how are you applying those to BreadLine?

Interesting, I thought the compote and the salmon worked well, but the spinach added nothing to the dish and was a complete waste...but regardless that compote is tasty!

Same thing happened to Belga, slammed from the start!

In the Wash Post Weekend supplemental (Friday edition) in the On the Town section (I believe page 6), they have a article about Todd Thrasher and his mad scientist drink mixology. It's the second article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5060900673.html

Perhaps Chef can install an ejection seat like James Bond had in his Aston Martin...disguise it as one of those small silver bells short cooks ring when an order is up...NEXT!

This week's Time Magazine has a pretty good article about small family farmers that have turned to raising heritage animals, or pigs, turkeys, lamb etc. that used to raised and eaten in the US, before mass commericalization started to selectively breed them to near extinction. As you can imagine this is a very chef, farmers market, food freak driven market.

Time Magazine article:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...1069098,00.html

A couple websites listed in the article:

Local Harvest: http://www.localharvest.org/

Heritage Foods USA: http://heritagefoodsusa.com/

Marys Turkeys: http://www.marysturkeys.com/

not sure about the outdoor seating...they do have tables by windows that overlook the street

Went last night, service was bar room adequate...the waitress refilled our beers, checked in every once in a while to see if we wanted anything else, was generally pleasent...however the kitchen was pretty slow esp. for a Monday night and light crowd.

Mini burgers were tasty, had the white pizza which was kind of heavy on the cheese and crust got a bit soggy...the pepperoni pizza and sweet italian sausage pizza were both good...pizzas were half price on Mondays

At it current trajectory I'd say the Ugly Mug will be a bar with better than average food and better than average beer list...still need to work on the decor...lives up to its ugly name...but if they keep cranking out the miniburgers and decent pizza, its a worthy neighborhood joint.

Hi Mark, thanks for joining us...did Mark Bittman ever pay for the bread he ran off with during the Citronelle episode of How to Cook Everything? The scene was great! How long did it take to get that scene right or was it one shot and done?

Deconstructed Cesar Salad

Potato Mousse

Conch Fritter

Mushroom Cigars from the Citronelle bar menu

Some dishes at Maestro:

Maine Lobster Ravioli with Freshly Grated Ginger Glaze and Bisque Jus.

Rolled Beef Carpaccio in Parmigiano-Reggiano Sauce with Seared Belle Farm Foie Gras, 50 Year old Condimento Balsamico, Maestro Style.

Roasted Wild West Coast Sturgeon in Taroroot and Basil Waistcoast with Wilted Butter Lettuce in Sturgeon-Red Wine Jus.

Senor Canales's Tortilla Grill and Cafe is not only a tiny jewel on the Hill, but one of DC's best hole in the wall secrets! The Canales family is one of the major players at Eastern Market owning three different stalls: Canales Deli, the stand with the fresh pasta, and Canales Meats.

Several years ago the Senor of deli fame opened up a tiny eat in/take out store front serving El Salvadoran/Mexican food directly across the street from the Market. It was an immediate success, with lines stretching out the door. But one shouldn't been surprised when the kitchen staff was ordered to make the food like they would at home and a pork tamale, 2 mixed (pork and cheese) papusas with a side of plantains running you $8.

Food at RFD = crappy

Another Hill choice would be the ugly mug (on 8th st, se), they have an extensive beer list...and mini burgers.

Break tradition while still keeping it cheap and boozey...margaritas and mexican/el salvadoran at La Plaza on Penn Ave (between 6th and 7th) by Eastern market metro