Al the Pal

We are going to Passionfish tonight for dinner. My husband will have to get something healthy but I see on the menu they have a selection of simply grilled fish. Any recommendations for heart-healthy dishes (for my husband) and not necessarily healthy dishes for me? (I know I should eat healthy too but sometimes the temptation not to overwhelms me!!!) Many thanks in advance.

Not to sound like some kind of iced coffee heathen, but I actually like the instant iced coffee from Starbucks. (I like the instant iced coffee better than the regular instant coffee there.)

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. We will definitely try some. Tonight we went with a friend to Pizzeria Orso. Yes, I know pizza does not sound like the perfect post heart attack food and no I am not trying to do him in!!! He had a marinara pizza without cheese but with mushrooms on top. I tasted it, and It was great! IMO, the crust tastes even better without the mozzarella (the crust is crispier.) This isn't something he would eat all the time but he seemed really happy to get out of the house and to have something tasty for dinner.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and the information. At the hospital they served him some beef dish for lunch (and his doctor was not thrilled about.it ) My husband pointed to the beef and said "see, we can go to Rays the Steaks later this week!" I'm not sure a sherry crab bisque and nice steak is what he needs right now (although I'm sure its what he is dreaming of!!!!) thanks again for the help!!!!!

My husband had a mild heart attack earlier this week. he is doing fine and is already talking about going out to eat etc. (I don't plan on going out right away no matter what he says...) Does anyone have any suggestions for restaurants in Northern Virginia or DC that offer a number of heart healthy options. (I have to admit I am only now learning what that means!) I guess you can order healthy almost everywhere if you try, but I was interested in places with more than one healthy item. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Finally made it to Pizzeria Orso. the potato crocche (spelling???) were excellent. I really liked the crudo and would order it again if not for all the other pizza's on the menu that I'd like to try. My husband enjoyed the Diavola pizza but wished it had more pepperoni. To me the crust was the best I've had in ages. It is a bit fluffy with just the right amount of char.

Stopped by last week. I must be the only person in the world who does not love the Toasted Marshmallow shake. I thought it tasted like what I image Play-doh tastes like!!! However, I was happy with my cheeseburger and loved the Village fries (although as other posters noted, these fries aren't super crispy.) Also loved the Old Bay mayo.

Terrible news. they made the best dosas.

There is a Z pizza in Falls church. they serve the blandest pizza that I've ever eaten. The crust tastes like a flattened Thomas' English muffin. The one time I was there, I had to dump a ton of red pepper on the slices to taste anything.

pecan crusted trout broccoli rabe (spelling???) sauteed with garlic some frozen potato mushroom green bean mix from Trader Joes cherries p.s. I just turned into clam!!! yeah. Since I'm on the short (ok very short side) and was called Shrimpo as a kid, I am very happy to no longer be a shrimp!!!

I'm not an expert foodie, but we really enjoyed the Tasting Room at Restaurant Eve.

thanks everyone for the suggestions. We ended up at the Mitisam (sp?) Cafe which was great. It was convenient and the food was interesting (except for the pudding/cool whip dessert that my little niece selected.) Now I hope to go to the Garden Cafe at the National Gallery of Art next week so thanks for that suggestion too!!!

A group of 10 is looking for a lunch place convenient to the US botanical gardens. (We have cousins visiting who want to go. I've never been!!) There will be 10 of us, of which there will be 3 vegetarians, 2 kids, and one baby. Any suggestions for places located nearby that are open for Saturday lunch would be much appreciated.

Kasha's kitchen has new owners. this was news to me, at least. It was sold about 2 months ago. the new owners say they are keeping the same recipes. I tried the tofu sandwich, and it was still great. It looks like the new owners are making some small changes to the place but overall the food at the counter looks the same. Some differences: they seem to offer fewer soups each day and they are now open on Sunday.

We were there today for brunch as well. I thought the prix fix deal sounded like a good value (although I didn't get all 3 courses. we shared some courses.) Had the smoked salmon eggs benedict and shared the shrimp beignets and the chocolate pot au creme. Everything was spot on but the shrimp beignets were a highlight.

Tried an almond cupcake yesterday. It was one of the lightest fluffiest cupcakes that I've ever had. The frosting was not overly sweet but tasty. Can't wait to try some of the other flavors.

I tried the Alexandria location for delivery twice and the pizza was very greasy. (Actually, I tried twice thinking I should give them another chance.) would not try again. I hope the AU location is better

When Cakelove first opened on U Street, I really enjoyed their cupcakes (contrary to some of the posters above.) I liked the vanilla with chocolate ganache and the german chocolate cupcake. I haven't had one for a long time until today. my sister bought cupcakes from the Shirlington outpost of Cakelove for my niece's birthday party . This was a group of mostly 6 and 7 year old girls with one 9 year old (the birthday girl's sister). the cupcakes were not a hit. It seems that they only liked the red velvet cupcake. My theory is that the red velvet cupcake had a different frosting (perhaps a cream cheese frosting???) The other cupcakes definitely had a buttercream frosting and the kids left them on their plates after one bite. I tasted a vanilla one with chocolate frosting. the cake was fine but I usually don't like buttercream and I didn't like this frosting. It was too heavy and greasy and not overly chocolately but that might just be a dislike of buttercream.

this may be too late to respond but here goes. We were there last week and I left my coat in the car and wore clothes that could go straight to the wash afterwards. My hair smelled like BBQ too. I heard that it sometimes its not so bad.

Thanks for the tip. My husband purchased a bottle today at Pentagon City Costco. (I sent him your post and the next thing you know he wants to go to Costco!)

Wow. I'm a novice baker and can't compete with that beautiful bread. but here goes, today I made a chocolate chocolate chip coconut bundt cake. the cake came out fine but the glaze was a bit runny. Next time will have to add less water. This is my 5th bundt cake. I use every occasion as an excuse to make a bundt cake ever since purchasing the bundt cake pan. My new years resolutions are to become a bundt cake queen and to lose weight. Two very conflicting NY resolutions!!!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. We ended up at Thai Basil which was pretty crowded. I liked it, but my friend was less impressed. (She thought the food was spicy but without complexity of flavors or something like that.) We had the shrimp cakes, red curry chicken, and veggie pad see ew. I really enjoyed the shrimp cakes. We requested the red curry to be moderately spicy which turned out to be sinus clearing spicy for me but I really liked it anyways. the noodle dish was just ok.

We are going to the Big Flea at the Dulles Expo this weekend and are looking for recommendations for places close by for dinner. I think the Dulles Expo is in Chantilly. (I'm pretty clueless about that part of Virginia.) thanks in advance!!!!!

Survived our first Thanksgiving in our newish house. My stuffing was too salty but the chocolate bundt cake was pretty good. (yes, bundt cakes are not traditional Thanksgiving fare, but we had 2 birthdays this week and I wasn't sure if the candles would stand up in a the pumpkin pie!) No major mishaps except the cat jumped on the table and tried to help herself to desserts. This is bad for the cat and most people don't like to eat something after a cat has been nibbling on it!!! All in all a great day and lots to be thankful for.

This is my first substantive post (i.e. trying to share information instead of asking stupid questions.) I tried to post last weekend and lost it while trying to edit. So I’m obviously a novice... First night, we had drinks at a restaurant in the Bellagio called Fix. We both had fruity concoctions: one called a grape ade and the other a watermelon crush. Since I mostly like the umbrella type drinks, this stuff was right up my alley. Even my husband enjoyed his drink and he usually doesn’t go for the frou frou drinks. We were probably the oldest people there and the most dressed as we just arrived from Washington (not dressed the best just covering the most skin.) Next day after a tour of the Hoover Dam (which my husband would say was fascinating and I would say was a snoozefest), we went to Joe’s Seafood, Steak and Crab in the Forum Shops. Now, I realize this isn’t exactly a foodie destination. However, as a child we would go to Miami Beach frequently to visit my grandmothers. I always wanted to try the original Joe’s Stone Crabs in South Beach (South Beach then was not the hipster paradise of today) We never ever went for a number of reasons including 1) crabs are not exactly kosher but my grandmother who lived nearby was, 2) it was considered expensive and who wants to drop a bundle or 3 ungrateful kids, and 3) we often visited Miami in the summer and the restaurant was closed. Anyways, it was a dream of mine to try those stone crabs. Yes, dream big. I had the lunch special for $29.99 which included 3 crab claws, a gi-normous portion of hash browns, cole slaw, and key lime pie. Compared to the prices on the menu, this was a very good deal. Everything was very good although I would say that stone crabs don’t compare to the Maryland blue crab with old bay (ok, I grew up in Maryland and no we did not keep kosher). My husband (from Australia) said that the stone crab tasted “cleaner” than the blue crab. Whatever that means. If he wants to taste something clean, maybe he should eat soap. Ok, just kidding but I still prefer blue crabs. The cole slaw was very tangy and the best I’ve had although I don’t usually go gaga over cole slaw. My husband also had some kind of cream of crab soup. Right after ordering he said “lets see how it compares to Ray’s”. Well, it didn’t. I thought it was tasteless. Maybe those “clean” tasting stone crabs just aren’t good in soup? The next day we had breakfast at Bouchon in the Venetian. We loved it. For some reason, it reminded me of Baltazars in NYC. I had regular old breakfast food but everything was prepared very well. Also, at the Bouchon bakery downstairs, they have really great macaroons. The only better macaroons that I’ve had were from Laduree in Paris. For dinner we went to Alex in the Wynn. I wanted to have dinner in a different hotel and also take part in the Taste of Wynn specials. (All restaurants at the Wynn hotels have a special reduced price menu.) To the Wynn’s credit, all of the items on the $89 Taste of Wynn 3-course menu were also on the $125 prix fix menu. The Taste of Wynn menu was not some cheaper dumbed down menu like you see on some restaurant week menus. That said ,even if you ordered the same 3 courses on the Taste of Wynn menu as you would on the $125 fixed price menu, your meal would not be the same. The $125 meal offers more goodies from the chef which makes sense. I know this because my husband had the $125 menu while I had the $89 menu (I was paying.) I had bay scallops for an appetizer, wagyu beef with amazing potato gnocchi (spelling?) and some kind of fancy smore like dessert. I enjoyed it all. My favorite part of the meal was when I tried to hook the strap of my crappy cheap purse to the chair some guy comes flying out of nowhere with a little mini sofa on which to rest my fake leather purse. He scooted it under my cheap purse before it touched the floor. I was thinking that the mini sofa would be sort of glamorous for my cats. On our last day we had breakfast at Payard in Caesar’s Palace. It was good although I think we liked the Bouchon breakfast better.