FunnyJohn

Anyone planning to go to the Grill today -- early?

Yes Congress could wave its wand, but I doubt it will -- there is a pretty strong "free wine" caucus in the House led by a Republican member, George Radonovich, who is himself owner of the eponymous Radonovich Vinyards. It may be that the abstemious part of the GOP could trump the free trade part, but I doubt it.

Oyamel has Gruet -- first time I came across it. We had a discussion to a certain extent elsewhere of the larger topic you are suggesting. As I recall it centered on Salumi and also on things that are Wasabi crusted as cropping up in a hipsterish context.

Well, let's hope they get some cheese/charcouterie going -- a la Arrowine, which doesn't sell by the glass. That would make it an even better stop for a pop after you shop location.

Sorry Joe, had to take a wkend off -- wait til Peanut attends Prom. Tune-in to these spaces next week, I'll supplement your vicarious needs.

Yeah, but it doesn't open til Sunday. Next week HH?

I saw someone order just the lobster (cold) last summer during the HH at Old Ebbitt and I think she got it for 1/2 price - about $10.

I think a pint of fresh morels should be sufficient to make a whole lot of sauce, or a number of pizzas, or a ton of duxelles (sp?) which you could then freeze. In other words a pint would go a long way.

I sure hope so because that was the whole concept of this place, allowing you to buy a glass or three of a wine before you decided to purchase a bottle. I can't believe that they would have simply assumed it's legal without getting a definitive ruling from the authorities.

Sorry that I ended up not going -- it was starting to rain and I had no umbrella or raincoat. Next week...

Sure but next week is not a possibility due to other commitments -- basically every night but Tuesday. Shall we try for the following week? Edited to add: Malaysia Koptium

Me too

Anyone know what the status of the Best Cellars wine store in Clarendon is? There is a sign saying improvements are underway, and it is closed. I peered through the door and it doesn't seem like any physical renovations are underway, and the store opened a year or less ago. Is there some kind of management shake-up or some other issue going on? For those that may not be familiar with this Best Cellars -- it has several wines available by the glass, so it has always been a good place to stop off for a pop after shopping at Whole Foods which is just one block further down the street.

I think I'll join in too -- if I won't be overloading the numbers of disreputable and tawdry members.

I think that brining the chicken is one of the keys, but I detected something like 5 Spice flavoring, so you might want to add some to the brining solution. The trick to getting the crisp skin is to make sure the bird is completely DRY when you place it in the oven. Try roasting at 425 for 15 minutes and then reduce to 350-375 for the remainder of the cooking time. If you have a convetion roasting oven so much the better, but requires slightly lower temps and less cooking time than a regular roasting oven. Let me know if this works -- haven't actually done it myself yet Edited to add: THe bird also has to be on a rack or a vertical holder to make sure it stays out of its own fat as it cooks.

But seriously -- are we going to totally discount Oyamel and Jaleo? Even More-Tons has decent steaks even it ain't no Ray's. Have not our standards exceeded the reasonable?

No doubt, and fairly wealthy as well

Finally had the occasion suitable enough to do the big splurge at Maestro last evening. My wife, daughter, brother and sister-in-law had one of our most memorable meals. Each of us had the seven course Creazione where we let Chef Trabocchi surprise us, and let the sommolier pick the wines that best suited. Most memorable plates were a potato soup in which chunks of fois gras were suffused, the carapacio -- three cubes of melt-in your -mouth raw beef topped a quail egg and the vitello - a piece of loin and a piece of osso buco, and of course the tiramisu. My brother, who picked up the tab, thought the whole experince was "very cool." The service was attentive without being intrusive. Wanted to thank Chef Fabio, but he had already retired to his office by the time we finished. The only downside was discovering how to get to the Ritz Carlton through the maze of streets and lack of good signage that is the Mall! Can't wait to organize a dinner for thirty...

Visited 21P last evening for the first time along with the HH gang, Shogun, mdt, Jaques Gastreaux, and Babka. We sampled the bar apps and a couple of the main menu apps as well. Others will speak to what they had. I was curious in a kind of morbid way about one appetizer on the main menu -- confit of lobster/rabbit wraps with a mango sauce. How the hell does one do a lobster confit?? Maybe only the rabbit was confit and the lobster meat added to the wrap, but actually the lobster might just as well have been confit too --- the only discernable piece was the texture of rubber and virtually tasteless. But the rabbit was good so my advice would be to leave out the lobster. Had a bite of Jaques' coffee crusted hanger steak. The steak was average, served with a cream sauce and while the coffee crust did little to improve the steak it imparted its flavor to the cream sauce so what you had basically was a cafe au lait peppercorn steak. I stuck around to dine with my wife who eventually made an appearance and had a very good halibut -- perfectly cooked. I was pretty full so I couldn't finish it or the sides but they made a nice presentation on the plate. My wife had the duck breast which she enjoyed (Babka got a complimentary order of the duck to go.. given by the management when our bar server forgot to place the order with the other food we got at the bar -- it was her first Friday on the job and she was a little overwhelmed.) Our service at table was excellent and Mike the manager was very attentive. Even though,as I said, I was stuffed halfway through my halibut Mike provided a complimentary flourless chocolate cake which was delicious (forced myself to eat it ) My wife appreciated that they had tables in the bar area so she could smoke without having to leave the table. Good selection of wines by the glass, particularly enjoyed the Crosspoint pinot noir and the Tavel Rose. In summation the menu is in certain regards a little overly ambitious, but there are several good choices amonng the entrees. The service is excellent and overall I think this place will eventually hit its stride and make a great addition to that neighborhood.

I'm open to whatever the consensus dictates -- in other words 21P would be a fine place to investigate through a HH visit. Edited to add: With regard to the grill, lost one of our cohort so decided to go next time its up and running

Anyone plan on hitting the grill today?

I note that included in their diet are marine worms

I think we should hit something from the Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) group, e.g. SHARKS before progressing to the Osteichthyes (bony fish) category, but I guess our host has a more rapid progression in mind to the exalted VENTWORM status. Is that what awaits us at the END of the road??? How about seaslugs

Marcels -- oui, ou non?

Don't forget about my wife's offer to help arrange a $20 future meal at Malaysia Kopitiam.