legant

How does one define a “great” meal? Is it the quality/quantity of the food? The uniqueness or variety of the menu? The company? The service? Do your standards/expectations change depending on the type of eating establishment ($$ vs. $$$)? (Can you really compare Ruby Tuesday’s burger to Palena’s?) Is it based on value for your buck? Is it ambience? Or, is it the “seen and be seen” factor? If one course is truly exceptional (or truly bad) does that influence your proclamation of a great/good/bad dining experience? How about consistency? During RW I went to three restaurants, highly touted on DR.com. My dining companions raved about the food. Although we either shared dishes or had the same dish, I found nothing to write home about. (But there was that risotto. Hmm… risotto… ) At one, the service was good; at the other, it was lacking; and yet at the third, it was truly attentive. I realize that there cannot be a universal, objective standard, but what are your personal benchmarks? In general, what constitutes a “great” dining experience? What's on your "checklist"?

Let's bring this conversation down to street level a bit. If the bill is split, between food and liquor, how is the tip calculated on the liquor check? (For example, government per diem rules forbid the purchase of liquor.) I'm not talking about a big check--a $60 meal and several 7/9/12 dollar drinks.

"Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war;" (line 273) That this foul deed shall smell above the earth (line 274) Why, you may ask, am I running around, pre-dawn, trying to find my glasses, so I can count down 273 lines to find this reference? Good question! I'll let you know after another cup of caffeine.

As someone who loves seltzer, I just had to take a look. I hate lugging those Vintage bottles home on the bus; no room for groceries. It took 5 clicks to find out the price; $79.99. Shesh! Why do they make life so difficult??!!

Salmon, oven poached in wine, butter, and Old Bay Zucchini Fritters adapted from Simply Recipes Tater tots (I know, I know... but I definitely needed comfort food tonight) and, of course, KitKat bar (see above)

Stopped by for an after-theater drink and was surprised at how "empty" the place was. Great location, outdoor seating, huge floor-to-ceiling glass walls that open onto the street. Initially thought they were closing down at 10 p.m. In fact, they were still serving dinner and drinks. The (fill-in) bartender took especially good care of me after a horrid evening. RW dinner menu looked interesting; I think I'll pass on lunch. What's the word on the street about this place?

Damn Lizzie! Will you make MY lunch? Sounds far better than anything I can buy downtown for $8.47. Believe me: I will be much more appreciative than any other kid on the planet!

Taking one for the team, I checked out Gallery last Friday night. Although it is a bit "hip" (and a tad uncomfortable in the white high chairs) at the bar, they do have an outside patio. While the bar was crowded, there was a single group of ~ 8 on the patio from 6:30 to 8-ish. The patio crowd picked up by the time we left at 9 pm.Gallery's Happy Hour is quite flexible. Accordng to the bartender, it lasts as long as the crowd does sometimes to 8:30, sometimes to 10 p.m. The Happy Hour cocktails are $4. (For the life of me, I don't understand how/why these places can charge $4 for mixed drinks yet $8 for wine. I just want a little buzz. I save the sloppy drunk routine for Saturday nights.) Unfortunately, they don't have a HH food menu. Bummer. Overall, IF I frequented Silver Spring, Gallery would be a nice place to hang out and have an after-work drink. Especially on the patio. With or without co-workers. But I don't frequent Silver Spring.

It depends on what you mean by "metro-accessible." If you take the subway to the West Falls Church stop, it is a cheap cab ride (~ $6 for two) to Maestro. And, when you're done, just roll yourself down to the cab stand in front of the hotel for a ride back to the subway.

First foie gras, now trans fats! What's next in Chicago's efforts to reduce health costs for its citizens? Can banning McDonalds and Burger King be far behind? Seriously: what are the economics, for independents, of switching to non-hydrogenated oils? Should restaurants label menu items that are prepared with oils containing artificial trans fats? Or, remove such items from the menu altogether?

Careful what you wish. Potbelly will be occupying the old video store at Connecticut and Windom. Which circle? Dupont or Chevy Chase? North of Fesseden? Or South?

*The plot: four middle-aged gourmands, fed up with the mundanity of life, embark upon a suicide pact -- death by indulgence of food, sex, and alcohol.Next stop: Netflix.

I’m here to testify! DonRockwell.com has rocked my world. Not only have I learned more about food, cooking, and dining in the year I've been online; I have expanded by intellectual capacity as well. I can now punctuate dinner party conversations with interesting, obscure little tidbits. I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve read something on DR and immediately did a Google search because a word, phrase, or name was unknown to me. A recent example: Who is/was Tarkovsky? What type of films did he make? What is a "Tarkovsky film"? Well, he's the guy who directed Solaris, the 1972 Cannes Grand Jury Prize winner. Only now did the 19 minute, long-ass car scene made sense! As a result, I’ll have a greater appreciation of Tarkovsky’s films in the future. Everything you need to know is on DonRockwell.com somewhere. What words or phrases have sent you running to Google or Wikipedia? What did you learn today?

My "pick me, pick me" plea for a casual dining place in Van Ness/UDC area: With the demise of Passport and Reidel's, our options for casual dining are severely limited to Delhi Dhaba, Shanghai Garden, and Uptown Cathay.

A simple -- yet oh so satisfying -- meal: Edamame Salmon (oven poached in wine, butter and Old Bay) Gingersnaps (the ubiquitous KitKat bars have been removed from the vending machine 'cause of the summer heat), and Manhattan (a "tip o' the hat" to Corduroy for introducing Canadian Whiskey in my Manhattans. Hmmm. Good. )

My first visit to H&D, over 10 years ago: After standing in a relatively short line –just to the alley—went outside to wait for the rest of the group to complete their orders and join me. The smells of the evening were too tempting. I stood on the street, opened my foil packet to sample what my mouth had been watering for, my backpack shifted off my shoulder and fish went flying. By this time, the line had snaked halfway down the block. A collective gasp came from the line. Four pieces of my “2-3 piece” whiting sandwich laid on the sidewalk; two pieces were still on the bread. I contemplated the “5 second” rule but with so many eyes on me, I knew my father would roll over in his grave if I picked up the fish pieces and returned them to the bread. The line felt sorry for me: they knew just how good that fish was and didn’t blame me for digging right in. Yet, dammit, she’s going to have to go to the end of the line to get some more. She ain’t getting in front of me! Lesson learned? Go with friends who know what they want, order quickly, and won’t linger at the counter trying to make up their mind. Almost as bad as tourists!

For your flying enjoyment: AirlineMeals.net is "the world's first and leading site about nothing but airline food." The site offers snapshots, reviews and ratings of airline meals. Surely, a site to be scrutinized by the most serious frequent flier foodies.

I have yet to participate in the "worst restaurant web sites" discussions but... are there really 9 worse than that?

A few observations about David Craig, during Bethesda Restaurant Week: Location: It's located in the "old" Bethesda. Given previous discussions, I was sure it was located in Bethesda's restaurant row. It’s nice to know that “old” Bethesda is getting a makeover. And, this is a pleasant addition. Also, I was expecting a huge building with an awning; it's located in a rather inauspicious building. Make sure you get good directions before you leave home; many residents had heard of the restaurant, but no one could point me in the right direction. The interior: It is a rather small, intimate place. When you walk in, there are a few tables and a bar. Not seeing my dinner companion, I panicked. Is this all there is? Is there more seating in the back? When I asked the guy at the bar he said yes and told me my DC was waiting for me. Even gave me precise directions to get to her table. (Now, if I could have only gotten such directions from him on how to find the restaurant from the Metro I would have been all set.) At first glance, the bar didn’t look like a sit-down-have-a-drink-wait-for-your-DC type bar. But then again, I was rushing. The back room was nice and intimate. I faced the back wall (that’s what I get for being late) so didn’t quite see the rest of the room. Nice art on the wall, glass window into the kitchen, lots of tables in a small space but didn’t feel crowded at all. We were seated in the far back corner. Great place to sit, with drink in hand, and eavesdrop on the various conversations and spy on what others are eating. The food: Everything looked wonderful and was plated artfully. What does that mean? Every plate was laid in front of the diner in a certain way. For example, the crostini had to be placed horizontally in front of the diner; the crab cake-fries-salad had to be presented with the salad at 12 o’clock. All the dishes came out of the kitchen in a uniform fashion. I’m sure other places do the same thing, but the presentation was noticeable and quite a pleasant treat. It was obvious that someone wanted the meal to look as good as it tasted. The RW menu was off the regular menu with a few items not listed. Like the crab cake. Even though it’s listed as an appetizer, they did provide an entrée-sized portion for RW. There were probably four choices from both the appetizer and entrée sections, two from the dessert section. We shared the crostini and mussels – anyone who knows me knows I don’t like to share my mussels; however, the mussels were abundant and quite good – and the soft-shell crab on squid ink pasta and the aforementioned crab cake. I am not a soft-shell crab fan, but this dish changed my opinion. (In fact, I waited until DC went to feed the meter before I tried my portion. If I didn’t like it, she wouldn’t have to see the “ugh!” expression on my face. In fact, it was quite good; while she was gone, I scoured her plate to see if she had left any crumbs behind.) Crab cake was good too. Had a bit of “ping” to it. Very thin French fries; looked like those French’s potato sticks, but tasted nothing like them. For dessert: a chocolate bread pudding, in a chocolate sauce, topped with vanilla ice cream with a hot caramel drizzling which formed a nice crust when it hit the cold ice cream. I’m not a bread pudding fan and this didn’t change my mind but I did try to lick my plate clean. Had a nice Pinot Gris, light and crisp. Since DC selected it, I don’t know more than that. One glitch: the entrees took a loooong time to come out of the kitchen after the appetizers were cleared. However, the wait staff immediately acknowledged and apologized. Nice touch. Better touch: while DC was out feeding the meter, he lingered around to listen to my (heat and humidity induced) corny remarks. Overall opinion: I liked this place. Two reasons: at every step it looked like and felt like somebody cared. You know how some folks, in rather robotic tones, ask “how ya doing” or respond to the question with a non-committal grunt. Well, eating at David Craig was like having somebody ask who really cares and is quite attentive and wants a honest report. Second: I would have felt completely comfortable as a single diner. Again, the staff (not just the wait staff) was friendly, in a genuine way, and went out of the way to make one feel comfortable. [Often as a single diner, I get that: oh, pity; she’s dining alone look. Here it felt like: oh, she’s dining alone; let’s make this a pleasant experience for her. I didn’t get the sense that I would have been shuttled off to a corner and neglected. However, if I did want to sit and eavesdrop with a scotch in hand while waiting for my meal, I felt the staff would have let me do so, without being obtrusive, yet still attentive.] Oh! Three reasons: the food was good.

On a slightly different note: what about Sunday breakfast/brunch? It's hotel haven over there; there's gotta be something. I volunteer with a group (8-10 of us) at DC Central Kitchen and we go to brunch afterwards. The usual hangout is Teaism (Penn Quarter). More recently we ventured to Capital City Brewery only to find out that the Union Station location doesn't serve brunch. (The Station Grill is on my shit list 'cause they charged me $2.50 for a cup of hot water -- even though they were out of tea! ) Someplace that can handle a crowd, serves Sunday brunch, is relatively inexpensive and within walking distance of Union Station.

At the risk of raising the ire of David Hagedorn, what's the word on David Craig. I'll be there for Bethesda Restaurant Week. Is there a standout or "must have" dish? Any other restaurant suggestions?

Given the weather prediction for the upcoming week it's time to revive this thread. Other than those mentioned (Hank's, Legal Seafood, Kinkead's), where else can one go for a good lobster roll? Is it still on Zola's menu? --- 07/15/06 - Tallula (Dave Pressley) 07/15/06 - Zola (TinDC) 08/07/06 - Coastal Flats (goldenticket) 08/07/06 - Jettie's (ftranfa)

Drawing inspiration from zoramargolis’ lavender, Monique DC, LaShanta, Corrine and yours truly, gathered for potluck. All dishes used lavender Legant: lamb strips with a balsalmic-honey-lavender glaze served with (lavender-infused) orzo pasta with goat cheese: LaShanta: Chicken, marinated in thyme and lavender, served over rice: Corrine: Cornish hens, rubbed with a lavender butter, served on a bed of spinach and couscous: Monique DC: Bread pudding with blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries with a lavender crème anglais. [sorry, no pictures; we were too busy smacking our lips.] Thanks Zora!

Blasphemy! Heretics! Puh-leeze. Would you top fois gras with "ketchup" ??!! Request maple syrup to be served with dim sum??!! I think not. Scrapple is a stand-alone dish; each bite is to be savored, relished, enjoyed -- sans embellishment. Sour cream? You should hang your heads in shame, you so-called scrapple lovers. Humph!

Oh puh-leeze. We descended upon that place like a horde of locusts. Given our numbers they did an excellent job.I've been taking food writing courses from Meghan. Here's what I've learned so far: The first course, the Chicken/Veggie salad with korean mustard sauce, was quite pungent. (Somebody goaded the latecomers to really soak the chicken/veggies in the mustard sauce, giving no hint to just how sharp the dish was. ) It nicely complemented the Bossam, which was also quite piquant. Those of us at the "other" table raved about the peppery Kimchi and Pork stir-fry. The Kimchi and Dumpling stew, quite zesty, was also a hit at our table. My personal favorite: Spicy Noodles. Although I didn't find that dish to be all that hot and somewhat sweet, someone surmissed that I had probably killed all of my taste buds by that point. And to top it all off: Pepto Bismal. Y'all thought I was kidding. Popped those pink pills right after the watermelon. Call me a wimp but that, my friends, is why I will sleep soundly tonight. Thanks Grover and Escoffier! Especially for that Chicken/Veggie salad.