crackers

The November 29th chat. Warning: dog parts "disgussed."

For another disgruntled opinion, check out culocho's recent experience with her mother here.. I don't care how good the hummos or the view is, (and IMO, it ain't all that) why would anybody subject themselves to this kind of treatment more than once?

Colvin Run Tavern has got to have the most unintentionally ill-conceived background "music." Makes me want to . . . well, let's just say that it's supposed to be soothing and does not have that effect exactly. Rosa Mexicano is just plain annoying. Not only does it fry the eyeballs and assault the ears, but notice how cleaverly they have managed to hide the actual restaurant menu, as opposed to the "on line shopping" list of products.

The King of France Tavern was indeed next to the (truly mediocre, overpriced tourist trapped) Treaty of Paris restaurant. The tavern closed a couple of years ago and is just used for storage at the moment. A real shame too - it was a great spot for listening to live jazz - much more intimate than the Ram's Head Tavern stage. And that green Starbucks awning will be one of the first things people will see when they enter Historic Annapolis, round State Circle and head up Duke of Gloucester Street. The biggest hurdle will be the Historic Preservation pooh bahs needing to approve it at their meeting next month.

Historic Inns of Maryland wants to convert the old King of France Tavern on Church Circle in Annapolis into a Starbucks. The tavern was located in the lower level of the Maryland Inn (circa 1780s), and was a regular haunt for the late Charlie Byrd and Eva Cassidy (it was a wonderful place to enjoy her special style.) Right now there's only one Starbucks in the city - at the city dock, but there are also a Seattle's Best, and three or four independent's in the historic downtown area.

​Bethany I've enjoyed several good meals at DiFebo's which is about one minute west of Bethany Beach. I particularly enjoy the antipasto salad, the prosciutto platter and the pasta specials. They are open every day, lunch and dinner. It is very family friendly, and they'll do simple dishes for the kiddies, but it is still a white tablecloth place. They also opened up a more casual pizza and pasta place called Isabella's nearby, but I've not been there yet.

An "on a whim" sausage party?

Don, Will you be hosting a weekly on-line chat? I think we can make it worth your while. Or at least help with the comic relief.

Whoa, that's quite a cabal being assembled over there. I might even be persuaded to subscribe.

Siince this topic has been broadened to "Crabcakes" in general, let me put in my nomination in the "best of" category for Bistro St. Michaels in St. Michaels, Md. David Stein, the chef/owner, is doing very good things with French bistro fare combined with Eastern Shore delicacies. The crabcakes may not always be on the menu, but when they are, they are pure lump indulgence, held together with a bit of panko and not much else. And byob was indulged with an offering to the chef.

Joe's right about those fish sandwiches - they are a very filling (and steaming hot) treat for lunch. Faidley's also has a number of deli-style sides that you can get with your fish or seafood platters. I'm not sure that we made it clear that there are no tables in Faidley's - you either stand up at a counter in the middle of the space to eat, or take your bag and go find a table upstairs in the main building. The clientelle eating up there varies from doctors escaping the hospital cafeteria, to junkies nodding off over a cup of coffee, but there are security guards constantly patrolling to make sure the loiterers move along. But she wants (1) lunch, (2) on a Saturday, (3) in Baltimore, and (4) casual. Prime Rib is in Balltimore and serves lunch, but not on Saturdays, and is the antithesis of casual. Awesome crab cakes. The rest of the places mentioned by Joe are not in Baltimore. Angelinas would fit the bill unless the crab cakes, under the new ownership, are much worse than they used to be. Sounds like I might have to do a little investigation soon.

I can probably make it on the following Tuesday, the 29th.

Major props to hillvalley and Rocks (and, of course Michael Landrum) for planning an event that so many members were enthused about and for being so fair and impartial about the selection process. The lottery worked like a charm and seems to me that going forward will make the most sense with the least amount of stress for them or anybody else who would like to help plan something like this.

I would definitely put Lexington Market in general, and Faidley's in particular on the "crummy" end of any scale. G&M in Linthicum is a big step above it, because you get to sit down and eat humongous -softball sized- crabcakes, and they serve good pickled beets, but I have heard a rumor (only a rumor people, not stating this in any way as a known fact, ok?) that they might use canned crab meat from the Phillipines in their crabcakes. I guess doing a bit of re-con out back in the dumpsters might enlighten. Anyway, as others have noted, there are plenty of places with a version of crabcakes on their menu. I just had one today at Legal Seafood down by the Inner Harbor (don't start on the chain rant please) - consistently good crab cakes, pleasant atmosphere, AND they use Scharffen Berger for their chocolate ice cream. I like Mama's on the Half Shell too. One other place to consider would be Gertrude's at the Baltimore Art Museum. which has an a la carte brunch menu on Saturdays with crab cakes.

ISO SF Drake: Cowgirl Creamery's limited run triple-cream, washed in Baume de Venise with currants on top. A drunken Red Hawk. Bring it on the plane with you for your Thanksgiving trip and make a lot of friends.

I'm in the camp that buys the standard bird, with my decision based on the size of the bird and how long the lines are at that particular grocery store. Frankly, after years and years of hosting T-day, I've found that the qualitative difference between the precious "heritage" organic, free-range blah blah bird and the local grocery store gobbler to be not worth the difference in price and effort. why? Because I'm often feeding a lot of people who could not care less. Teenagers, ancient Aunt Helen, distracted young mothers . . . they're glad to be there and have someone else doing the cooking. Because by the time I'm done stuffing and trussing and seasoning, basting and brining, and whatever the current trend is, it's not always easy to tell the difference. Because there is so much else going onto the plates that mouths are usually full of all those other delicious traditions: cranberries, sweet potatotes, stuffing, gravy - the only consistent comment is about the juiciness/dryness of that year's bird. Now, if you're planning a small, intimite dinner party type dinner with people who can actually tell a "heritage" from a standard bird, and don't shovel three different things onto the fork at once (the kind of civilized T-Day dinner that I can usually only dream about) that might be a different story. If the budget is limited, save the $$, and get some good wine. OK, now to hear from the other camp...

uh... no? I want the cupcake icing to mingle with the moist cupcake in my mouth, chewing it into one big mushed up wad before washing it all down with ice cold milk. That's what I want, but these sound more like a hard lump of butter going down first followed by dried cupcake. That's just ewwwww.

Another Kotobuki $20 Tuesday under our belts. Now there's talk of a future $20 Tuesday of the U Street Ethiopian stripe... Anybody have an idea which one could accommodate a group like this the best?

Another Kotobuki $20 Tuesday under our ever-expanding belts. We were six at the table, with one of us ordering independently. And while we didn’t make it under $20, we certainly could have without the specials, sake, extra toro, and desserts. This evening was the first raw sushi and sashimi I have eaten in many years so I am no expert. What I can say is that ingredients were absolutely fresh from start to finish. Those of us who arrived first each began with the very traditional sake toast “To Rocks!” plus edamame, seaweed salad, a bowl of beautiful miso soup with clams, and the two special offerings of the evening: shrimp shumai and Ankimo, which is just as Goldenticket described it: steamed monkfish liver pate with a soy vinegar sauce, served in a soup bowl with seaweed and thinly sliced cucumber. The shumai was absolutely the best I’ve had anywhere, including my favorite SF Chinatown dim sum haunts. Large translucent steamed dough cups surrounding the freshest little shrimp in a light shrimp paste, piping hot (as DanielK can attest). We ordered another round, and I would have gone home content after that. But then came the unagi – warm eel sushi, fried bean curd, and the first of two rounds of toro (fatty tuna). I was expecting very thin slices of toro, but these were thicker and I enjoyed how the color faded from deep red to almost white from bottom to top. I wish I had brought the camera out. After some more hot tea and sake, we dove into the next round: lobster sushi, spicy salmon roll and spicy scallop roll. The lobster was rich and creamy, full of large pieces of the meat, and we all especially enjoyed the spicy scallop roll. I was the only one who ordered uni – sea urchin sashimi. I can understand why some would love it, but it didn't make my top ten list. Another order of the lobster was sent for by a couple of us, and we continued with octopus sushi, white tuna sushi, salmon skin roll and eel and avocado roll. Another pause, and we finished up with desserts of green tea ice cream, red bean ice cream and a red bean jelly. When we arrived around 6:15pm there was one two-top occupied, and when we left two+ hours later, Kotobuki was full. No Beatles music. It was nice meeting new-to-me members, one of whom is about to become a not-so-new ventworm!

We are now holding at seven; there's certainly room for others to join us. Feel free to show up "on a whim."

Wollensky's Grill (the more casual side of Smith & Wollensky) has the best classic Cobb salad that I've tried in DC. 19th St. between L and M. I believe they also have a good steak salad, but I always get the Cobb, so I can't vouch for the others. I think there is a price differential if you order it from the more formal side of the establishment, so take care where you sit if you are sitting outside on the sidewalk because it's hard to tell there's a difference out there.

The Kotobuki Sensational Seven Lydia R +1 Stephen B Scott Johnson DanielK NCPinDC crackers Anybody who is still on the fence, please PM me by Tuesday morning if you'd like to join us or can't join us afterall, or have any questions - like who is going to wear the silly hat so the group can be easily identified.

I like to toss in a few fresh shucked peas - that way I feel like it balances the equation.

They don't take reservations, and suggest getting there by no later than 6:30pm for a group this big. We may need to split it into two tables. Can some of you be there a bit earlier to hold the table(s)? I will call them with the final tally so they know how many of us to expect.