crackers

Some more samples of the genius that is Fabio. From JoeH's blowout dinner in 2004. scallop amuse bouche.............. Canape Gli Scampi e le Castagne.... Il Bue Rossini XXI Secolo Lychee panna cotta............ Il Tiramisu chefs at work...................... Someone was enjoying himself! Photo credit to Roe.

and a Campari Champagne cocktail to go with it.

For starters, a home defibrillator might come in handy

mdt making it look easy fortunately pastry bags were optional - we left ours at home.

Amazingly Mdt and mktye pulled this off exactly as envisioned. A huge thanks for all the pre-planning and prep by both of them, (mdt making sample pasta batches and delicious ravioli fillings and mktye re-heating and stirring sauce batches literally for hours and making breadsticks, not to mention all the sauce making and set-up details by both) so many of us could experience pasta making for the first time, taste testing tomatoes, and sampling the results. Here are the first batch of photos. Just wish I had taken a photo of mdt's pb&j ravioli with whipped cream on top! Yum! Bilrus tries his hand: Electric pasta cranking: Fun with flour and eggs: Shogun gets crankhy: Our results rest up: Straight from the can taste test: Sauce #1 taste test: Putting it all together: Mktye's breadsticks: Non una goccia lasciata!

Another solution - drink Nicotinis. "As I write this, I am guzzling something called a Nicotini, which, as the name suggests, is a cocktail with a smoker's cough—an ethereal blend of vanilla-flavored vodka, the coffee liqueur Kahlua and a splash of tobacco juice. And later, when I looked back on my increasingly seismic handwriting, it appeared I enjoyed it. According to my notes, the Nicotini had a pleasing taste, which I described as either like a Maryland crabcake or a vanilla cupcake that had been sitting near an ashtray for an hour or so." Gersh Kuntzman, "Tobacco in Your Tiramisu?," Newsweek, May 19, 2003:

I went to Jackie's in Silver Spring for the first time for dinner and enjoyed it quite a bit. There hasn't been too much written about it for a long time on other boards so I wasn't sure what to expect, or to order. We had the soft shell crab to start, which was on the papery side of soft, and kind of puny, but tasty; and the Mini Elvis Burgers, also tasty, especially the pimento cheese spread on top, but cooked all the way through to a uniform brown. The pan fried chicken with potato salad that was the special was fabulous (and a real bargain at $12). I'm not sure whether our very friendly waiter was slow because he was so busy or because he knew we wanted time to catch up with old friends who somehow managed to have two kids, change careers and move twice while I wasn't paying attention. In any event, slow worked great for us. The rhubarb pie could have used more fruit, but a great dollop of fresh cream made up for it. I also enjoyed the Flying Dog- Doggy Style Pale Ale on tap - perfect with the fried chicken. I think it would be a great place for a MoCo-style happy hour.

Since this is cooking forum, let me be the first to post a recipe suggestion for those viewing from locations where this can be enjoyed legally. The brave of heart and stomach can find the recipe here complete with step-by-step photos.

For me Charleston still sits at the pinnacle of "fine dining" in Baltimore. For better or worse, the East Harbor location is now ultra-trendy, close by the water (ask to sit in the front if you want a view) and steps from several other chi-chi restaurants like Roys and Flemings and all that is Fells Point. Inside is serenity itself: richly appointed, comfortable and refined. Do not bring young children. Don't even think about it. The menu is split between prix fixe and a la carte. I enjoy Cindy Wolf's cornmeal crusted oysters - six or seven for a first course with lemon-cayenne mayonnaise are reason enough for me to go. The cornmeal fried soft shell crabs are amazing too. Sauteed and served in a bright lemony brown butter, they need and get nothing but the few dressed greens upon which they perch in oozing glory. Grilled gulf shrimp with Andouille sausage and cubes of salty tasso ham over stone-milled grits are a perennial menu favorite. I'm no Southerner, grits ain't me, but these grits is great! The fried green tomato "sandwich" (ok, stack) with lobster and lump crab hash includes tiny perfect cubes of Yukon gold potatoes and a healthy pinch of curry. Oh yes. Entrees are wonderful, but this time it was straight to dessert. Cheesecake with apricot compote. A ramekin-size light cheesecake on a bed of roasted chopped pecans was very good, but apricots are my favorite fruit and the intensely tart/sweet compote surrounding the cake was the best I've had.

You might want to check out Caravan Grill on 18th St. near Swann St. in Dupont. They serve hearty Persian fare both buffet and a la carte for dinner. There are usually about a dozen choices, including vegetarian. There is also a nice walled rear patio dining area that's great in the summertime. It's very reasonable too.

On a whim (or, it could have been a $20 Wednesday) I headed to Han Sung with Erin, several Baltimore chowhounds (BaltoEllen, Britboy, Dzoey, Crowsonguy) friends and spouses to check it out. This is a small, spare, home-style storefront, with friendly staff and lively families scattered around. There were eight Korean dinner entrees listed in English, and about six others only in Korean. The rest of the menu is Japanese. Since the waitstaff speaks very little English, we communicated as best we could that we would like them to bring out a selection of typical Korean dishes for all of us to share, and a couple of soups as well. As a result of the language barrier, and the fact that all the dishes pretty much arrived at once after the soups, without time for explanations, we're not entirely sure what everything was, but it all sure was tasty! This is not a place to compare to what you will find in New York's Koreatown, the panchan are a half-dozen simple preparations, there are no grills, and the dishes generally lack the complexity or fire one would find elsewhere. Highlights included the two soups - Man Doo Gook? - a mild ground meat and ginger dumpling soup with rice threads, and a spicier soup that seemed to have tongue and tendon included. Also, the Pa Jon (Hae mool?) was fabulous- a huge crispy rice flour pancake stuffed with scallion and shrimp. There was a moderaltely spicy squid dish that really was tender and fresh. The pork and bulgoki dishes were not typical brazier style, but also very flavorful and tender. Not sure about the fish - possibly salted deep fried croaker? was more bones than meat - tough going. Bibimbap was home-style comfort food, but we had to ask for the redbean paste that usually accompanies it. By the time we realized we were not going to be served the hwae du bop we were too stuffed to ask for it. We saw it on other tables and it looked wonderful. Total damage was an amazing $16 per, before drinks and tip. All in all, a good adventure into the hinterlands.

A quick call to the Baltimore liquor board confirms MissCindy: one can not byo anything if the restaurant has any kind of a liquor license (e.g. if it has a beer license, you can't bring beer or wine). Only restaurants with no liquor license at all can allow patrons to byob.

here is another link to all things Virginia wine : festivals, tours, news, links to vinyards, etc.

Right-o. As it is in Montgomery County...

Not intending to open a debate on the merits of byow policies, (though I suspect one may ensue) just wondering if someone can direct me to "destination" byow restaurants in the DC/Baltimore region with or without a corkage fee. Galileo and Palena I know about. Others? It's not about the money or the quality of the wine list, it's about bringing a special bottle that deserves something much better than my cooking. Thanks!

since when are dashing men and "people who like good food and spend a lot of money eating in restaurants" mutually exclusive?

Maybe it also speaks to the magical effects of the refreshments imbibed while eating said tender butt . . .

You ate!? Impressive. I'm wondering what I can do with all the left overs. Come home for dinner tonight kids!

Rome, Lome...huh??? If anyone has been to Han Sung before and can make any recommendations, please do!

Some of us who are Maryland 'burbs / Baltimore oriented (yes, there are a few!) are heading out for some good Korean bbq on Wednesday at Han Sung in Ellicott City. (A 13-course Chinese banquet and a picnic this weekend required a couple of days of rest before another excursion...) We're thinking of gathering at 7pm. It's located at 3570 St. John's Lane, at Frederick Rd. PM or email me if you want to join us, so we'll know to save enough room. Or just show up and we'll wing it.

I was surprised by how sweet and thick those sauces were. I had thought that "sweet and sour" sauces with red food coloring were more of a western invention (I'm sure someone will correct me if that's wrong). But you're right, they have done a very impressive job with the tableware, furnishings and decor. We were seated at two large round tables with enormous lazy suzans at the back of the room, so we had a good view of the entire large dining area. It was interesting to watch as the room was completely full by 7:30pm, then cleared out, and then started filling back up again around 10:30 pm! The banquet, including tea, was in the mid $70 range, plus tip. It was a dry night for me, so I don't know about drink prices (the wine choices offered by the waiter, who was somewhat challenged with English, were "red" and "white").

This cake was a marvel - hazelnut meringue vent tubes, pulled sugar worms, fondant seashells, and a killer banana layer cake underneath all that wonderful chocolate. Here's hoping Don graces the world with some new epithet before the next picnic! (That bathroom scene he so graphically described elsewhere may be difficult to recreate.)

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICNIC PHOTOS! The picnic gods were surely smiling on us today. Perfect weather, plenty of parking, lots of tables, and not a single whining brat (not even my own). BKeith's cake was a work of art, but there was also that towering chocolate layer cake, those strawberry cupcakes, brownies dropped from heaven, yummm... and the meats - grilled, skewered, brined, smoked, and roasted. A groaning board of salads, and breads, and dips and the cheeses! oh, oh, oh hand cranked vanilla ice cream, and perfect picnic wines. And Babies! Thanks Hillvalley and Jacques and Don for organizing, recon and set up. When did you say the next one will be?

And now for the close up... Smile! Twenty of us gathered tonight for a 13-course Chinese banquet, organized by JohnB (thanks John!) There were some real highlights - the five varieties of dim sum to start were fresh and light, sweet, rich poached scallops with black bean sauce on the half shell, the crispy skin and tender meat of roast suckling pig got tucked inside moist warm thick pancakes, and the seafood "compilation" with dungeness crab, lobster, and clams was bursting with flavor. There were also some misses - particularly the whole fish that was overcooked and swimming in a too-sweet sauce (as were the giant prawns). Since I haven't sampled a lot of the area Cantonese, I will say that I will definitely go back for dim sum some weekend! As these photos will hopefully show, http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9AcM3Ddo0cMNA" target="_blank">http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9AcM3Ddo0cMNA it meant that a lot of work went into the presentations, and the staff did a terrific job of keeping the food and drink coming.

I'll bring fruit juice for the kids. I'm also bringing assorted (and I do mean assorted) paper cups, plates, and napkins, plastic utensils, garbage bags, and ziplock bags for leftovers.