Joe H

Like the forum user who started this thread, I will be moving to Takoma Park. The place seems to lack any particularly interesting places to eat, and the fact that no one has updated this thread since 2007 seems to confirm my perception, or am i wrong? Any suggestions?

Interesting, especially since Don keeps threads literally forever-for whatever reason. I am not sure that a thread started nine years or so ago (and dormant since) has any relevance to today...

I grew up in Takoma Park and graduated from Blair 52 years ago.  No idea what it is like today but when I left it had a number of "particularly interesting places to eat."  At least in 2007 when I still visited.  In fact Jeff Black hadn't opened his restaurant yet-it wasn't even on his or anyone's radar.

Serious:  Don, why don't you retire some threads and allow relevant new ones?  Dredging something up from 2006 (first post in this thread) and 2007 does not have any value to 2016.

Reston Town Center will have $2 per hour paid parking starting this summer.

Reston Now

While Boston Properties is claiming that many people are parking in Town Center and taking a bus to the Metro there was an interesting comment in the meeting last night.  Apparently there are many people who live in one of Town Center's apartments and use the public parking garage for their second or third cars.  Considering how many apartments and condos there are at Town Center (1,500?) this could amount to a lot of cars.  Factor in that a lot of these buildings only have one assigned space included with rent or the price of the condo.

This aside there is a real danger that the new parking system will intimidate a lot of people who simply won't want to visit Town Center not understanding how license plate recognition works.  Actually, I don't understand how it works either and really have no interest in learning.

I am also not interested in a sensor telling me that a particular space is available somewhere in a building since the sensor is not going to tell me if the car in the adjacent space is on the line, parked crooked or is simply not a vehicle that I want to park next to.  The space may also be one that has a support column limiting my ability to park.

The result is very simple:  we will go to Vienna (i.e. Clarity) more often and Town Center much less.

Street parking, by the way, will be $3.00 an hour.

This is interesting. I'm a little shocked there is any availability at all, and there looks to be quite of bit of availability. I guess it's the difference between one table a night (rooftop garden) and many tables a night.

I believe that Pineapple and Pearls have a total of 59 seats available for any of the four nights they are open.  This includes dining room, bar and chef's counter.  Note that they are only open from Tuesday through Friday evenings.

As of 12:05AM on March 30th the following number of seats are available for April 12th through the end of April.

Tuesday 4/12 2 seats (of 59 potential)

Wednesday 4/13 sold out

Thursday 4/14 16 seats

Friday 4/15 4 seats

Tuesday 4/19 17 seats

Wednesday 4/20 25 seats

Thursday 4/21 14 seats

Friday 4/22 3 seats

Tuesday 4/26 44 seats

Wednesday 4/27 48 seats

Thursday 4/28 45 seats

Friday 4/29 26 seats

For such a highly anticipated restaurant there are a surprising number of seats available.  Several thoughts:

@ $500 for two people they are not going to get two turnovers on at least two of their four nights.

They are going to need to open on Saturdays.

There is a different level of expectations in spending $500 to dine for two people:  starting what will be a two and one half hour+ meal @ 5:00 on a weeknight is not desirable.

For the same amount of money and a couple of weeks notice I can reserve at 7:00PM at Fiola Mare, Komi and several others, choose my own wine or beverage and dine very, very well.

I honestly expect barring extraordinary national press that they will open three nights a week to one turnover in the dining room, perhaps two at the bar and chef's table and two nights (including Saturday) for two turnovers.  $500 is a lot of money to spend.

Also, as someone who heavily entertained for almost 30 years I cannot imagine asking a client to have dinner at 5:00 or 5:15PM.  They are going to need business diners to suppliment the model they expect.

@$500 for two people  Pineapple and Pearls is going to have to be flexible.  Note that Laboratorio with about 30 seats opened @  7:00 PM for everyone.  I sincerely wish them well - the greater their success the greater the recognition for D. C.   I am merely suggesting this is a new league for them and there is quite a bit of sincere competition.

They are opening a national class restaurant with appropriate prices.  They are going to have to cement their excellence before 5:00PM seats are fully booked on weeknights.

For Easter I tried out Andrew Zimmerman's purported Baltimore Crabcake recipe.

Ever since I moved away from DC/MD area I've been craving a good crab cakes. Most often than not the restaurants I find have mediocre to atrocious interpretations of my all-time favorite dish.

A friend of mine sent me the recipe

Upon reading the ingredients I was rather unconvinced because of the lack of Old Bay seasoning, but decided to give it a try anyways.

The end result was totally amazing! And I'd really recommend to anyone who misses a good Maryland crab cake.

ps. Always use jumbo lump crab meat, don't get frozen ones.

Bon appetite !

Lump crab cakes made with Maryland/Carolina crab meat are superior to Phillips and other brands which use Pacific Rim crab.  Honestly believe that the Narrows on Kent Island have the best "traditional" crab cakes anywhere. This is their recipe which uses local crab meat when available,

Are 6:30, 7:00 or 7:30 an option for a seating?  

Any suggestions on good places to stay in Ocean City? I'd like to make a return trip with the family this summer, but don't want to pay for the Hilton again. I've heard Carousel is nice...

We stayed at the Hilton on Weds. and Thursday of this past week when it was $159 for an oceanfront room-NOT over $600 a night as it is in August.  We like the Hilton but the real problem is that there is no view up or down the beach-both sides of the ocean front balcony are partially blocked because the hotel is set back about 20 yards to allow a swimming pool and lazy river.

In season I believe that you have to be on the Boardwalk.  Negative here is that the Marriott Courtyard is up at 15th street and, as of last spring, hasn't been renovated since it probably opened.  Another place that is over $500 a night in season.

My wife likes the Comfort Inn at 5th and Boardwalk.  You want to reserve a "double oceanfront upper floor" which is an oceanfront room with a balcony and two queen size beds along with a sofa, refrigerator, etc.  Mid July through mid August it's in the mid to high 300's and they are almost sold out!

The Carousel is up around 90th street or so and in an area that is a long way from the Boardwalk.  I am not sure of any recent renovations but it must date back 40 or more years.  Good news is that Liquid Assets and Hooked aren't too far away along with a Fractured Prune.

FWIW the best seafood restaurant at the shore is the Henlopen Oyster House in Rehoboth Beach.  (They do not accept reservations and are known.)

Best hotels in Ocean City are the Lighthouse Club which is owned by Fager's Island and the adjacent, the Edge which is adjacent to Fager's, all of which are on the Intracoastal.  $400-500 a night in season.

I've gone to Ocean City at least twice a year for 35 years, mostly on business and, at this point have probably stayed in every halfway decent hotel there.  I still haven't found one that I really like.  For a family and fair value I really would take a serious look at the Comfort Inn at 5th and Boardwalk but INSIST on an Ocean Front room with a balcony, ideally on the third floor or higher.

Five trips to Ocean City since New Year's Even of 2014.  Hooked is no longer O. C.'s best restaurant.  That honor now goes to Sello's Italian Oven on Golf Course Rd in West Ocean City which opened last summer.  We went Wednesday and Thursday night of this week and both nights, at 6:00PM, they had literally every one of their 80 or so seats filled.  Superb wood burning oven pizza equal to anywhere in the D. C. area, outstanding cream of crab (which competes with the Narrows) rockfish and salmon entrees that would do justice to any D. C. Italian-this is a shockingly good Italian place that you'll have to cross back over the bridge for and wait in line with almost exclusively locals who enthusiastically mob the dining room and adjacent bar.

It is worth the wait.

For perspective on both nights that we went in early March:  Shark on the Harbor only had a handful at the bar, Captain's Table had fifteen or so cars in the parking lot.  Back in O. C. Liquid Assets had 8 or 10 at the bar on Thursday night while Hooked had a half dozen cars parking in front.

Sello's was all locals and full.

Italian in Ocean City may sound like a contradiction but the 55 year old chef owner from Sicily who has lived in O. C. for over 30 years truly delivers what would be one of Washington's best Italian experiences-in Ocean City.

It wasn't that long ago that I tried to talk him into opening an Estadio in Reston Town Center  on here.

I just really loved his passion and his praise for so many restaurants that he would visit.  He was also usually the first.

I never met Mark but I felt that I knew him from his writing and his heart that he put into his words.

I cried when I heard.

Four of us moaned our way through sixteen courses and tastes at Estadio last night at the Chef's counter.  I thought about Mark a lot.  Still, a great, great restaurant that was every bit as crowded at 5:30 (every seat was full) in February 2016 as it was when it opened.  And every bit as good.

I wish I could have shared a glass of wine with him.

We will be there in late March for 4 nights. Have reservations at Herbsaint, Toup's Meatery and Friday lunch at August.

Planning on hitting up Mahonys, Cochon Butcher, and Cafe du Monde. Sazerac Bar and French 75 on the list. Planning on grabbing a Central Grocery muffuletta to take home.

Still need 2 more dinners and a couple more lunch spots. And maybe a good spot to watch jazz. It looks like Kermit Ruffin no longer does his Thursday night gig.

Go to August for dinner.  It is one of the best restaurants in the United States.  Cochon is excellent but a couple of steps below.

1.  Red Hen.  They take reservations and you should book at least four or more weeks in advance.  It is as wildly popular as any restaurant in D. C.  They also have a window table that is directly by the open kitchen and would be perfect for a 40th birthday.

2.  I would also consider Marcel's as well as Fiola Mare but as Don noted the ambience is totally different.  Marcel's is white table cloth and upscale but is outstanding.  Fiola Mare has one of the most beautiful dining rooms in D. C. and is similarly upscale.

3.  I also seriously suggest the back room at Black Salt which is an entirely different ambience from the front of the house.  It is a private dining area with white table cloths.  I also believe that Black Salt is the best non Italian seafood restaurant in the Washington area. (To differentiate it from Fiola Mare.)  For myself Black Salt's back room is a truly special place and entirely appropriate for a 40th birthday (as are Marcel's and Fiola Mare).

There can be a bit of stuffiness associated with turning 40.

I *knew* you'd remember - I vaguely recall it being $29.95 for (I believe) 65 scoops of ice cream, or maybe it was more than that - this would have been in the late 1960s; I never actually saw one - I just remember it on the menu, staring at it in awe.

Now my challenge is: do you remember the Lang Lin right next door, Kiddyland, IHOP, and McDonald's Hamburger College? I never *did* go on the sideways roller coaster at Kiddyland - I couldn't muster the courage.

This photo might interest you. Oh, and it was the *Hot Butterscotch Sundae* that had the hot sauce in the tin pouring vessel; not the Swiss Sundae - man that thing was a treat to me.

Kiddieland was at New Hampshire and East West close to where the Mighty Mo once stood.

I don't remember the Lang Lin but I do remember Hamburger College, just can't place it's exact location. (A couple of doors down from Weile's?)  I remember when the Adelphi McDonald's opened and the lines literally started at the base of the golden arches.  Most reading this have no idea how good McDonald's once was, say pre 1967 when they still used fresh potatoes for their fries (in 70% animal fat) and fresh meat.  Probably why I like In-n-Out so much:  the menu is the same as 60 years ago and the food is the same.

I don't remember the "bicentennial specials" at Gifford's  Big Top was their biggest sundae but Gifford's was also for a Swiss sundae or the banana split of my dreams.  I also remember bowls of real whipped cream which was liberally spooned.  Chopped nuts, too, on the Swiss sundae.

To this day I believe that Gifford's Swiss sundae is the single best sundae of any kind I have ever had anywhere.

Don, it's not just nostalgia but a Mighty Mo, a Swiss sundae, Ledo's pizza in Adelphi (even Pop's on Henderson) there are things from our childhood that were legitimately good.

Could someone write a bullet-point timeline of Giffords' history from 1938 forward? I remember when they reopened in Bethesda (it absolutely wasn't the same), and I'm very hazy on what happened since then.

Every Saturday, 9AM duckpin bowling at White Oak Lanes, then my dad would pick us up, take us to Bonanza Coins (believe it or not, I've been to Al Bonan's house before), then Giffords, where he would positively *down* a chocolate-mint ice-cream soda in what seemed to me, at the time, as the biggest glass in the world.

I *think* I used to get the Swiss Sundae - which was served in some metallic vessel, or maybe it was the warm Swiss sauce that was served in a tin pitcher - but my memory is cloudy about whether that was Gifford's or Wiley's. Does anyone remember the "Lincoln Memorial" at Wiley's? To a little kid, their special-sundae menu was positively *enthralling*.

Mar, 2005 - "Silver Spring: Then & Again" by Jerry A. McCoy on silverspringhistory.homestead.com

Lincoln Memorial was $30 in the early '60's.  It must be noted that York Castle opened in Montgomery Hills only several months after Gifford's closed their SS store.  York Castle's owner was the same man who made the ice cream at Gifford's and he used the same base, made the same Swiss sundae, sodas the same way, etc.  This continued at least into the early '90's because we would drive from Reston to Montgomery Hills for Gifford's ice cream at York Castle.  We also stopped at the Bethesda Gifford's on Bethesda avenue once but drove past it-the ice cream was different.  They had only bought the name.

University Pastry Shop on Wisconsin had outstanding ice cream as did the Calvert Pastry shop,  Heller's, Avignon Freres and Wagshal's.

Some of the local highlights in national categories: Dabney, Kinship.  RdV in the WSB Professional category.

Local lowlights: Zero DC chefs nominated for Outstanding Chef or Rising Star.

Absolutely must include Jim Law of Linden.  RDV, Glen Manor, Delaplane and three or four others have their roots with Jim.  His '10 Boisseau is the best red wine ever made in VA ('01 Octagon is second best).  His '14 Hardscrabble Chardonnay received 94 points from the Wine Advocate which is the highest rating that ANY Va wine has ever received from any publication.  (The '10 Boisseau was 93 from the WE).  Luca from Barboursville should be mentioned in this also.

I will make the serious argument that the overall best wine region in the state of VA is in the area west of DC from Delaplane to Linden to Front Royal.  Jim Law started in the mid '80's and has steered its development.

I have deep respect and appreciation for Rutger who makes superb wine and his passion (I have several cases of '09 and '10 Lost Mountain and Roundezvous as well as the '08 which was made at Linden.)  But I believe that Jim Law justly deserves appreciation, credit and recognition for a "movement" that he has spent almost 30 years leading.

Wegman's is $2.50 each.

I prefer Temple oranges and believe they are more flavorful.  Similar window of availability.

On 2/13/2016 at 7:53 AM, porcupine said:

Is it still tasting menu only on Friday and Saturday?

It was a la carte on our Thursday visit.  

Excluding the rush hours it is about a 65-75 minute drive from downtown Washington.  The problem would be going out in the evening rush hour-it realistically would be an hour and a half or longer because of traffic.  The return, Saturday evening, Sunday brunch would be easy and part of this is truly beautiful countryside.  For Friday through Sunday I would also note that there are over a half dozen wineries within seven or eight miles of the restaurant.  This includes Big Cork in Maryland and Tarara in VA.  Note that the restaurant literally overlooks the Point of Rocks bridge.

Closest town is Leesburg which is about ten miles away. Alternatively, if you are coming from Bethesda, Rockville, etc. the route would be 270 to 15 and across the bridge at Point of Rocks.

There are a number of motels but nothing reasonably close to the restaurant.

I must add here that this restaurant is known:  Friday and Saturday nights especially in warmer months can have a long wait for a table and will require planning.  Thursday evenings and daytime brunch may be much easier to get into. I am also not sure if they can take a later reservation on Friday and Saturday, i.e. 8:30 or 9:00 but if they will the drive from DC would be closer to an hour.

I must also add that the wine list includes both Delaplane Cellars 2013 Williams Gap red and 2012 LInden Hardscrabble red.

This is a European Michelin starred restaurant with extraordinary ambience and a dining experience that rivals anything in our area.  Six of us last night fought bitter cold and heavy two lane traffic for an enchanting room that I first visited when Beverly erected a tent and tiki torches on her front yard fifteen or so years ago.  Today, it has the softly lit ambience of another time and place-for all the world it felt like the countryside outside of Munich or Vienna or Strasburg.  In daylight the view is transporting.

Tarver King has been nominated for a James Beard Award for the Mid Atlantic.  It is only a matter of time until he wins.  I remember him from the Goodstone Inn, then the Ashby Inn and now he has matured at Patowmack Farm.

His menu changes every several weeks and more than likely anything that I describe will only be available for a few days.  What is important is that Tarver is truly gifted and presenting in a special otherworldly room that is well worth the drive.

An escape unlike no other in our area.  Perhaps few others on this side of the Atlantic.  A true Michelin starred evening.

Dammit! Etro shirts don't fit me off the rack and I just don't don't have the budget for bespoke!

On the other hand, "dear, have a glass of Champagne in the bar, I'll just be dashing off to Charvet for a moment and then we'll head to dinner" (Mr Google says I'll just be 10 minutes away by foot when we check in, in May).

Charvet also custom makes shirts.  Etro (not a full cut) and Zegna (dress shirts are) both have outlets south of Orlando in the Premium Outlets where the shirts are $100-150 which is half or less of the Italian prices. Real goal is Marol and, ultimately, Stefano Ricci both of which are full cut.  Zegna has at least three outlets in the U. S. and all are well worth going out of the way for.  With holiday discounts some pieces are 70-75% off of retail.

Stefano Ricci is breathtakingly beautiful and priced as artwork.

I once drove from Rome to Pescara where Brioni had its only outlet in the world.  I bought a bathrobe which was the only thing that fit me.

Charvet is incredible.  Their ties and pocket handkerchefs will last a lifetime.  The Parisian shop (and upstairs workroom) is a very real destination.

Having said all of the above, now retired, I have become an expert on sweatpants and long sleeve T shirts.

Mad was its best in the EC days with Al Davis, Will Elder and several others. I still have MAD #1 in a sealed bag in a locked box along with some other EC comics which I bought or traded for as a kid. I remember buying the MAD at a pink elephant (or was it white elephant?) sale at Rolling Terrace elementary school off Piney Branch road in Silver Spring. I think I was in third grade. (I am 69 now...)(I swear it wasn't that long ago...)

With all due respect to Apple, Google and even General Eletric or Under Armour, EC was important to me as a child and even more important to me as a retiree. For all of the stories of one's mother or father throwing out comic books because they were trash and occupying space-my mother did not.

I did.

...When I moved into my first apartment and was too lazy to lift the half dozen or more boxes of a couple of thousand comics. I still remember carrying the boxes to a trash bin in the Goodacre Apartments off of Piney Branch road in '64 or '65. There were a coupe of boxes of Topp's baseball cards, too.

I was truly stupid then and today, haven't changed....

For whatever reason I overlooked a handful of EC's and still have them. While some might invest in Petrus or Lafite I prefer several surviving issues of Mad, Weird Science and Vault of Horror.

Elder, Davis even Frank Frazetta (who was in a couple of them) were extraordinary.

We should also talk about R. Crumb and Big Ass Comics or Gilbert Shelton and Mr. Natural sometime.

I got a very nice rejection letter from Mad (signed by Nick Meglin maybe? certainly not Gaines himself) after I submitted a cartoon to them at the age of 9 or so, in the early to mid 70s. What a great publication in those days.

There must be a story about your avatar...

Going to be visiting DC in a couple of weeks and looking forward to some local grub

Not sure if any restaurant in our area serves "The thick wormlike larva of certain beetles and other insects"

Where exactly are you visiting from?

I have a few rules for Americans in France:

• Always begin any interaction with a greeting. "Bonjour monsieur", "Bon soir madame", whatever. It might not always be called for, but it's never unwelcome, and often just blurting out what you want, even in French, comes across as rude.
• No matter how little French you speak, you can always say "s'il vous plait" and "merci". They go a long way.
• Keep in mind that the French generally love Americans if you meet them 1/100th of the way.
• Don't wear shorts, unless you're a child or are at the beach.
• Keeping Lucy in mind, don't order escargots and then complain to the waiter that there are snails on your plate, and don't then ask for ketchup or pay the bill with counterfeit money.

If you dress well you can go into any restaurant anywhere in Europe and not be concerned about whether or not you speak the native language.  Your attire shows respect for the restaurant and for those seated around you.You can also learn to patiently communicate without the language as long as you are respectful and willing to try to communicate expressively.  This last is something that is learned from experience.  Again, acceptance is often guided by one's dress and appearance.

Santoni loafers work with jeans when the shirt is, say, Etro, ideally with a Zegna blazer and a Charvet pocket handkerchef.

The above is as serious of a post as I have made in almost 20 years on boards:  dress well, have presence and respect and, within limits of taste, much will be overlooked.

At the risk of being redundant I travelled 100-125 nights a year for more than 30 years.  Several years more than 200.  Eight or ten years ago I had an experience with a hotel where I had booked the room online.  They (don't remember who) told me that because I had booked with someone else, they were who I had to talk to.

I have never booked another room with anyone else except the hotel itself to this day.  And I never will.

Very simple:  if you stay at Marriott-book with Marriott, with Starwood, with whoever.

For a hotel book directly with the chain or, if an individually owned property, with whoever is responsible for the room AND IS IN THE BUILDING that you can get a decision from when you are there.

i book directly with airlines, with car agencies, with hotels.  With perhaps 4 to 5,000 nights in hotels in America and overseas (real number) I refuse to use a secondary internet agency.  I don't care what they advertise about price.  If you want the absolute best price and are unsatisfied with the price given by the central reservations system CALL THE HOTEL DIRECT.

Telephone call.

Marketing and "guaranteed lowest price" aside you will be surprised at how much flexiiblity the individual hotel can have.  If you book directly with them.  I must note here that I am really insistent about this:  I make the phone call (again, yes, a telephone call) myself even if it is with an individually owned hotel in a small town in Europe.

As for Ericandblueboy's original post there have been a half dozen or more nights over the years where a significant percentage of my room cost was waived because of an interruption.

FWIW several weeks ago we heard a police helicopter overhead early in the morning and I called the Fairfax County police in their Reston station.  I did not call the 911#, believing that someone would answer in the station and this didn't seem to be quite a true emergency.

A computer answered and gave me a half dozen choices for which button to press.  It took almost two minutes to hear all of them including several other extensions.

I hung up and called 911.  The helicopter overhead sounded like it was going to land in our backyard.

I am still outraged that any police # would have this kind of response.

What I was told by the emergency operator was interesting, too:  "there is a fugitive and a chase-we should lock our doors."

Poivrot Farci, incredible post.  Worthy of Saveur.  Thank you!

Yes, you can absolutely taste the difference. I can also taste the difference between the chickens from different local farms (I believe taste varies most based on what they have eaten, but I'm sure there are other factors). I don't mind the meat from Polyface chickens, but really dislike the flavor of the skin and fat. The chickens from P.A. Bowen I adore. Ferguson Family falls somewhere in between.

Eggs also vary quite a bit, especially in yolk quality.

Middleburg's Fields of Athenry belongs in any discussion of the best supplier of chicken in the Mid Atlantic.