FunnyJohn

Website is not up yet either. Evidently they are not open for lunch.

Best reaction so far from Stephen Green (aka VodkaPundit, over at PJ Media): "I’d take a Bulleit for Maker’s Mark."

How to Malt in America An uplifting saga to offset the depressing news in the Maker's Mark thread.

From 90 to 84 proof

Just received this from a colleague at work: Get ready for DC's newest restaurant from Bob Kinkead! View this email in your browser Coming soon from Bob Kinkead! Washington DC's James Beard Award Winning Chef Bob Kinkead announces the opening of his newest Italian seafood concept, Ancora. The pop-up concept located in the Watergate complex at 600 New Hampshire Ave NW, Ancora is Chef Kinkead's vision of an Italian Trattoria. Boasting house made pastas along with Chef Kinkead's famous seafood delicacies, Ancora will offer antipasti and sharing platters of salumi and crudo. While featuring the fresh fish and shellfish Kinkead has become famous for, Ancora will also include preparations with an Italian/Mediterranean flavor. Ancora is certain to become a destination not to be missed in the capital's dining scene. Ancora's menu will change frequently to reflect seasonal, locally sourced, impeccably fresh seafood and produce. Executive Chef Jeffery Gaetjen, formerly of Kinkead's, will be at the helm of this kitchen, assuring the same attention to quality and consistency that made Kinkead's a Washington DC landmark for 20 years. Ancora's bar program will focus on classic cocktails and will feature modern interpretations of libations utilizing Italian aperitifs, wines and spirits. The wine list will consist of mostly Italian wines, featuring varietals from some lesser-known Italian wine producing areas and selections from Europe and the United States. With it's unique location directly across from the Kennedy Center, Ancora will be the perfect place for pre and post theater dining. As the weather warms, the expansive patio overlooking the Potomac River will be the perfect spot for happy hour with friends, or to catch up over a lovely dinner with a beautiful view. Stay tuned for an opening date coming in February. We can't wait to see you at Ancora! 202.333.1600 info@ancoradc.com www.ancoradc.com (coming soon!) Copyright © *2013* *|Ancora|*, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you are a loyal fan of Chef Bob Kinkead! Our mailing address is: *|info@ancoradc.com|* unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences

I saw Carmen's review and I am intrigued, having spent some quality time in the former Yugoslavia during the recent (ok -- 20 years ago) unpleasantness. I grew to love the food mostly, although on my first trip to Sarajevo we had one of the most dreadful pizzas evah. Pizza is not an authentic part of Balkan cuisine so this may be discounted. Basically, think of grilled meats and a heavy reliance on peppers. Schopska salads are necessary to prevent digestive discomfort . Most of my time though was immediately post-conflict, so the availability of fine dining opportunities was constrained by the general economic conditions. Driving around the country side we found local dining gems despite the grimness of the overall situation. Lesson: keeping the gastronomic identity alive was a survival method. Some of the most beautiful coastline anywhere in Europe is a feature of this region so anyone thinking about some culinary travel should consider this part of the world.

I think Waitman has offered an interesting point in his first post above. As a counter, I would say there is a difference between someone using his avocation as an internet reviewer to leverage special treatment and Don using a relationship with chefs and owners of so many establishments around here that he has cultivated by essentially being a straight-shooter, calling it like he sees it reviewer, and by providing others the opportunity to do the same, to offer others a service that does not necessarily promise that they -- or he -- will receive special treatment. In other words, Don is a symbiote while Newman is a parasite. [edited to add: I only linked to the pic of a symbiote because I thought it was awesome. No further correspondence between Don and the comic-book character is intended. ]

Interesting criticism of the vegan ethos

Living Social Has a deal -- $39 for a three course meal for two (one app, two entrees, two desserts) -- for Leek and some other deals too.

Not "Guilty" -- you just took one for the team and now we have confirmation from a Rockwellian that this place is as bad as stated in the review.

FWIW: Confirmed: New Yorkers now flocking to Guy Fieri’s allegedly terrible restaurant out of morbid curiosity [HT: Allahpundit] Brooklyn-based attorney Nneka Udoh visited Times Square last Saturday to, as she put it, “see if Pete Wells was just writing that review to get attention.” She dined with a party of seven, including a sister who lives in New Jersey and likes chain restaurants such as Chili’s and Applebee’s, and is a faithful Guy Fieri fan. “She’s exactly the type of person this restaurant should be marketed to,” Udoh says. But even her sister agreed that the mediocre chicken wings and entrees weren’t up to her usual strip-mall standards. “The drinks were strong,” Udoh says. “We ordered a lot of them to make up for the fact that we didn’t like our food.” The final bill was over $400. More Piling On Moral: A really bad review is money in the bank

From Serious Eats #1. Before you use Open Table call the restaurant for a reservation. The comments offer some interesting counter-points too.

For anyone still needing some Xmas gift ideas here is a slide show of the ten best non-cookbook food books of the year from Serious Eats

I asked a bar manager (member of this illustrious group) who happened to have been the original bar manager at Oyamel about this. He said back when Oyamel was first opened in Crystal City there were more Mezcal selections availabe from the VA ABC (a lot more apparently). He said the major obstacle was what Josh and Sean Mike have pointed out above, the need to guarantee larger purchases than just a bottle here and there. So I guess those who wish to see more Mezcal selections will have to demonstrate there is a market to the powers at Fuego and then we will see. I will try to do my part. (anyone know if Mezcal is a hi carb or low carb kind of booze?)

Yeah, I understand that for the most part the demand for exotic mezcals may be low and therefore an obstacle for them to be available through the ABC, but my point is that Oyamel when it was in Crystral City, before it re-located to DC, was able to find a work around. I don't understand the intracacies of what it would take to replicate whatever that work around might have been -- perhaps a bar manager could enlighten this discussion....

While they have an impressive offering of Tequillas, I was disappointed that they had only 3 Mezcals. The bartender suggested that that was all they could obtain from the VA ABC, but I pointed out to him that when Oyamel was based in Crystal City, they had dozens of Mezcals, including some very rare ones, on offer.

Interesting feature article on Chris Kimball and his Cook's Illustrated empire: “We don’t make the ultimate anything,” he said. “Were they the world’s best burgers — no, probably not. But if you get food on the table and it works, we’ve done our jobs.”

My Bro had his 50th birthday observance at Mortons on Conn this past Saturday. He used to be a server there, before he started his present career as a man of leisure. Anyway, I had a discussion with someone in a position to know. He told me that since the take over by Landry's the quality of Morton's has gone downhill -- smaller portions/higher prices, no longer sourcing their beef to the same high quality provider they had used, etc. He said the story with the Landry empire is: there is a right way, a wrong way and the Landry way.

Soon

Time Magazine on the Economics of Dining Out Living in a big city, as I do, it isn’t hard for me to spend a lot on dinner. One big meal, and you can find yourself over $200 poorer, just for two people. Of course, it isn’t hard for me to spend very little on dinner either. I got fried pork chops and pork fried rice sent to me from the local Chinese takeout last night, and the whole meal cost me something like $9. What is hard to get is a meal for $50 or so, and that seemingly innocuous fact speaks to an insidious trend not just in the food world.

Given the general suckiness of Mario's, if you just cross over to Clarendon Blvd from Liberty, there is a by-the-slice joint in the middle of the block. Good place to enjoy a hang-over prophylactic. [oh, and I can't wait for the comments that are going to result from this last phrase]

Or perhaps pasta and some kind of sauce -- either cream based, or use some of the end of summer tomatoes that are still kicking around. Otherwise you could walk away -- take a kitchen vacation and let the family eat Stouffers and scrambled eggs for a couple of weeks.

Well, I guess I'll be donating four cases of canned bacon to our Christmas food drive then

Tactical Bacon

Interesting: Back in the Middle Ages, fine dining was a privilege enjoyed exclusively by feudal lords who had their own grand kitchens and personal chefs. The only commercial eateries for the masses were seedy roadside inns, where strangers crowded around mediocre buffets of tepid roasts and over-sauced legumes. But sometime in the 1760s, the merchant class of Paris developed a taste for healthy light broths known as restoratives, or restaurants. By the 1780s, this new Parisian “health food” craze led to a handful of reputable dining halls, where customers could sit at individual tables and choose from a wide range of dishes.