Joe H

Sarasota

Last night was dinner at Owen's Fish Shack. It was great. Long waits and no reservations but they have a lovely patio out back with a live bluegrass band, fire pits, many mismatched benches, tables, and chairs and a guy grilling oysters. We loved the ambience, it was like being at a really cool friend's backyard party - the oyster guy even gave me a free beer. After an hour and a half, which flew by, we were seated.

The food was phenomenal- we shared a delicious fried green tomato salad, and both has grouper with caper butter, grits, and succotash. Wonderful local seafood. We split a key lime bar for dessert which was ok/ I heard that you can ask for smores ingredients and put them in the fire. That would have been fun. Ambience is amazing, the place is an old wooden house.

Thank you, Rieux, we will visit Owen's Fish Shack when we return in the Spring.  Appreciate your sharing.

I live literally 1.1 miles from you next to South Lakes.  I walked by your restaurant yesterday afternoon.  There is nothing like you are describing in western Fairfax County.  There is a huge need for a privately owned and passionately guided restaurant here.  I've long thought that Reston Town Center's rent precludes this-if one were to come it would probably be in Old Town Herndon or somewhere on Eldon street.  

I never thought that the site of the old Lakeside Inn (which is a gorgeous setting overlooking the lake) might be a possibility.  Reading that you've gutted it and made it over in your own image is all the more exciting.  In fact it will be a special location.

I also noted your comment about "local wine."  

Tonight I'll open a bottle of Linden's '10 Boisseau and toast you, wishing you the absolute best.

Marcel's or Fiola Mare.  I have not been to Plume but it might be a consideration also.  Is Roberto the ebullient waiter/sommelier at Fischatteria Toscana?  When we went in '09 he was phenominal, one of the best hosts that I have ever found in a restaurant anywhere.  He made the restaurant.  I would also not discount L'auberge Chez Francois where you will find world class waiters and old world ambience.  Souffles are world class and the overall experience still fills their dining room on many nights although most diners start at age 35 or 40.

Clearwater Beach; Sarasota

Joe H:   We'll be in Indian Shores for 5 weeks and Salt Rock Grill will be right down the street from our condo so I expect we'll eat there a bit.  We'll also be in Tampa with some friends for a couple of nights and will be going to Berns.  Several days in Sarasota is in there as well"¦ hopefully Rieux will have a good experience or two to share before we get there.  However -- any addendum to any of the above posts?  We're going to have time to check out all of your mentioned places and I just wanted to be sure there's nothing to suggest otherwise.  Thanks"¦ much appreciated.

Thank you, Steve R.  We go back to Clearwater Beach in late April for a week and will go back (again) to the Black Pearl, Beach Bistro and the Salt Rock Grill.  My wife slightly prefers the Black Pearl and I would slightly prefer the Beach Bistro-but I love both.  Not sure about the weather for one of the three beach tables but the dining room at the Beach Bistro has a fantastic amount of "character."  As does the Black Pearl.  We like the Salt Rock Grill but it is not nearly on the level of the other two.  Weather really plays a large role in our decision:  the Sand Pearl has a cafe literally on the beach with what I would argue is the best fried grouper sandwich I've found.  Adjacent fire pit was worth my retirement trip from Orlando for a glass of wine.  Literal outside on the beach ambience.  Columbia restaurant on Sand Key is inconsistent but if you can sit at one of the tables by the water it is fantastic.

There's a great ice cream stand directly across the street from the Black Pearl.  Outstanding carrot cake, too.

Tarpon Springs used to have a really good Greek restaurant, Pappas, that has been closed for a decade or longer.  We've been to three or four other restaurants and not found one as good but we enjoy the overall experience.

We've had several good experiences in Sarasota including one excellent restaurant directly on St. Armand's Circle a couple of years ago.  My problem is I can't remember the name (!!!).  We love the Sarasota area and will return this year.

Have a great trip!

Five weeks?  Interesting to hear your comments about the Black Pearl and the Beach Bistro.

You should have been around in the 80's when it wasn't even safe for the muggers.  Today, the idiots who leave their bags sitting on the table while dining outside for easy grabbing deserve to get their stuff stolen.  That being said I don't know of any incidents of this happening.

Parking is still a nightmare.  Kudos to DC parking enforcement  for making regular visits to the side streets to ensure residents can find a spot.  Sunday is the worst day for parking though, between the brunchers and those who attend the church on 8th street.  At least the brunchers bring money to the community.

I worked on 14th street a block from U in 1963.  At the Safeway.  14th and U, H street, N. E.-both of these areas had literal blocks which burnt to the ground in 1968 after Martin Luther King was assassinated.  I remember my roomate and I, in 1968, standing on the 15th floor roof of 710 Roeder road in Silver Spring and watching flames and smoke rise from  downtown Washington. I remembor sitting at a traffic light behind an armored personnel carrier at 8th and H, N. E.  On both sides of me were rubble. Where I once worked I couldn't go back to-it was dangerous.

It was also dangerous for those who lived there.

(Of course I also remember Jimi Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner on his guitar at the Ambassador Theatre in the late '60's.  I stood in the front row-there were no seats-and vividly remember getting hungry from all of the weed being smoked around me-in the ballroom.)

Today there's a renaissance for these areas that dates back to the '40's.  I applaud those who are homesteading, who-honestly-do not know what it was like from '68 into the early and mid '90's. (For anyone reading this-next time you go to Red Hen, step into the convenience store next door.  The cashier sits behind armored glass.)

To this day I cannot walk down H street or parts of 14th street without recalling the flames that once rose above them.

I am sure that a lot of "old time" Washingtonians like myself feel the same way.  It is good to see them come back.

Next is Anacostia where I was born...

D. C. today is coming full circle.

Interesting to read "favorable exchange rates of late."  It's 1.22 today and has been as high as 1.59.  In 1998 or so it was .87.  Yes, that's a bit more than half of the high.  The Swiss franc is basically on par with the dollar today, one to one.  In 1984 it was 2.83 to the dollar-almost three to one.  (I've represented European companies for more than 30 years and the exchange rate, over time, has really made a difference.)

I still think of 1.22 as high especially since the release was 1.16.

In 1985 the pound was 1.03 to the dollar.  I still occasionally wear a Burberry's trench coat that I bought in London then.  Other than price I don't think they've changed in thirty years.

I would seriously promote Los Agaves as the overall best Mexican restaurant in the United States.  I've eaten at what are considered the best in Dallas, Houston, Tucson, El Paso, L. A., San Diego, and I would put this up against any of them.  Passionately love the place.    Seafood molicajete, campuestre, red chili enchiladas that that don't exist this side of El Paso, we literally will build a return trip to Santa Barbara around being able to return here at least twice.

La Super Rica is not in the same league although it's quite good.  This was Julia Child's favorite Mexican restaurant in the U. S.  Los Agaves had not opened yet when she made that statement.

We also liked Bouchon.

Sanguis Six White Horses '09 syrah is a benchmark for CA.  Serious pinot, too:  Loner 12b.  Unctuously rich and worth the $75 price.  Nearby Sanata Ynez valley north to Paso Robles is ground zero for syrah in CA.  Real value, too, for some of them. (Beckmman Ballard Canyon $32 2012 syrah is worth every penny.  94 pts from one wine publication.  Jaffurs petit syrah rated 93 by, I believe, the WS and it's around $35 or so.  Still, Sanguis is the benchmark.

We were able to confirm a reservation for four for next Saturday night @5:45 by calling.  

I just went to L&G last week!  So very good.

The only enchiladas that come close around here were at Taco Fiesta back in it's college park days.  They are now up in Baltimore but may be worth the trek.

Toogs, just read your post.  Sorry for the delay.   You went to L & G?!?  I am jealous.

Almost worth Southwest's next fare sale to return...

The flight lands at 12:30 (3:30 body time).  We'll have to claim our luggage; with luck the counter for the next flight will be open and we can check in and deposit luggage there.  Without luck, we'll be schlepping our luggage around with us until we return to the airport.  The next flight leaves at 9:00.

Rustic Canyon opens @ 5:30 - that would put it tight. I thought 5:00, but I just checked and it's 5:30.

If you can check your luggage:

Serious:  I'd take a cab to the foot of the boardwalk at Venice Beach (ten minutes), get out and walk and get lost.  After an hour or two I would find a place that was open.  We were there six weeks ago for our anniversary. I love the place. At 7:00 I would find/call a cab and return to the airport. I would seriously build the time over the adventure of exploring Venice Beach which is one of the most interesting places on earth. You may even walk as far as Santa Monica (from the start of the Venice boardwalk) which is about 2 miles. But it is an INTERESTING two miles. A half dozen places to meet a doctor for a prescription, a half dozen to fill it...for weed. Heavily advertised. A very real effluvia in exploring the boardwalk; fragrant, actually.

Numerous bong shops. Wherever you have dinner it will taste good!

If you can't check your luggage...and can't find a locker to put it in then I'd probably, to be safe, stay in the airport.

...which would really be boring. But safe.

I'm going to have about 8 hours to kill at LAX between flights.  As luck would have it, an old friend works near LAX and offered to pick us up and take us to lunch and help kill the time.  He's not much of a foodie, though he's willing to take us just about anywhere.

So, what's a good place for a mid-afternoon meal not too far from LAX?

Please define mid afternoon?  Rustic Canyon Wine Bar is superb and one of the hottest restaurants in L. A. right now (#6 in Jonathan Gold's top 100 L. A. restaurants) but it does not open until 5:00PM.  Ten minutes from LAX in Santa Monica-we went a month ago and loved it.  On par wtih Red Hen or Rose's; extremely creative.

Superb wine list heavy on Central Coast wines.

If the time works it would be my first choice of any.

Press reports on Rustic Canyon including LA Times and New York Times:

Bistrot du Coin has a very disappointing Nicoise.  PassionFish in Reston has an exemplery one.  One of the worst I ever had was on the harbor in Monaco.  E20 or so and it was awful.  So bad that it made the memorable setting even more memorable.

We were in Nice seven or eight years ago and I had three different Nicoises, searching for the best and believing I had done the research to find it.

We found Great bouillibasse, great bourride and mediocre Nicoise.

Having said all this, one of the most spectacularly beautiful places on earth.  The drive from San Remo down the coast to Marseilles is incredible.  The Negresco is a hotel of great character....and a pussycat who holds court wherever she likes.

This is from The Food Republic blog. It is entitled "Small Town Virginia Lands Another Big City Chef." The Shack is growing!

Congratulations, Chef!

Obelisk or Marcel's, both of which are excellent and allow individual choices.

Marcel's dining rom has recently been refurbished; it does not receive enough attention on here.  http://marcelsdc.com/cuisine/dinner-menu/

Obelisk's sample menu:  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g28970-d450652-Reviews-Obelisk-Washington_DC_District_of_Columbia.html

We are returning to Ocean City for New Year's Eve-we were there last year.  I literally just got off of the phone with Hooked and they have not decided whether or not they will take reservations for NYE.  I'll probably call them back every week until they make a decision.  Hooked can have enormous waits in season that rival Rose's Luxury.

It is also worth the wait.

If they don't accept reservations we just might go earlier.

FWIW Ocean City and New Year's Eve are special.  So is the nearby town of  Berlin where they now close the four or five blocks of the main street, set up a bandstand with live entertainment and have go cups.  Really almost a Bourbon street kind of ambience.  Literally thousands of people show up for what is a growing tradition.  If the weather is nice walking on the OC boardwalk at midnight is special, too.

The Courtyard is a reasonable $159 or so for that night.

Hooked IS accepting reservations for New Year's Eve-they started this morning at 11:00AM.  Arguably this is Ocean City's best restaurant.  New Year's Eve is the only evening of the year when they will accept reservations.

My Herndon - Reston rotation will now include Europa. It's a small rotation (PassionFish, Grenada ... ?).

About 8-9 years ago, I asked Tom Sietsema by email for a recommendation for a business meal in Reston, and he shot back El Manantial within about 20 minutes. I loved it ever since.

My first date with Lady KN was there in 2008. It made a good impression. As you know, we were then engaged at Monty's in Springfield on Valentine's Day in 2013....

P.S. We're getting married tomorrow.

You're getting married tomorrow!  Wow!

Absolute best wishes!

I applaud Rose's Luxury for doing this!

The communal table at Cafe Pasqual.  Four visits with the last two years ago.  As much about the experience of sharing and who you will meet as the exemplery food.  From their website:

"Café Pasqual's received the James Beard Foundation award for America's Regional Classics Award. Chef Kagel has also been nominated by the James Beard Foundation as Best Chef: Southwest."  I've also made a half dozen recipes out of one of her cookbooks.  Interesting to taste them there and compare with what can be done at home.

FWIW I still wear both of the T shirts that I bought there.

We are returning to Ocean City for New Year's Eve-we were there last year.  I literally just got off of the phone with Hooked and they have not decided whether or not they will take reservations for NYE.  I'll probably call them back every week until they make a decision.  Hooked can have enormous waits in season that rival Rose's Luxury.

It is also worth the wait.

If they don't accept reservations we just might go earlier.

FWIW Ocean City and New Year's Eve are special.  So is the nearby town of  Berlin where they now close the four or five blocks of the main street, set up a bandstand with live entertainment and have go cups.  Really almost a Bourbon street kind of ambience.  Literally thousands of people show up for what is a growing tradition.  If the weather is nice walking on the OC boardwalk at midnight is special, too.

The Courtyard is a reasonable $159 or so for that night.

^ It's okay Jason--that's what our autocorrect function in the brain does--glossed right over that (although I see where your bias lay... ^_~ )

So after polling GEgrandma, who promptly said, "anything is fine, but not too..." (I'm not sure what the "not too" part is, so doing my best here), I have the following ideas. Also, apologies, jasonc, my mom's not very adventurous food-wise for some things, so I had to gloss over some of your ideas...  ;

1. Booked: 360 at the CN Tower (she wanted to do touristy) and Yasu (after pouring through that Chowhound thread--thanks!).

2. Touristy other places involving food:  Kensington & St. Lawrence Markets (what to taste and see?), Distillery District (Toronto Christmas Market?), walking around Chinatown? Advice would be greatly appreciated.

3. Touristy other places not involving food:  Bata Shoe Museum & Niagara Falls (taking the GO Transit over--any "walkable" places appreciated).

GEgrandma is taking the approach of "it's Toronto; we can eat at any dim sum place and it'll be great!" But I am the cautious one; are there okay places within the Chinatown area?

Itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: Arrive and check in early afternoon. Walk around until 6-ish dinner reservation at CN Tower. (This is where I was thinking Distillery & St. Lawrence Markets?)

Day 2: Breakfast at Kensington Market, then Bata Shoe Museum or Chinatown until 5-ish seating at Yasu.

Day 3: Take transit to Niagara Falls. Do touristy stuff and walk around going "ooh and ahh" and "I'm freezing" around the Falls.

Editing and such advice appreciated. Don't want to wear out my mom either. Thanks all!

I did a major driving trip for business with a circuit that wound through Buffalo, Grand Island, Niagara Falls, St. Catherines, Niagara on the Lake, Toronto (including Cenre Island) and on annually for more than 25 years.

If you are intent on visiting Niagara Falls and can, rent a car.  Serious.  It is an easy drive from Toronto to Niagara Falls on the QEW.  Primary reason is that this will allow you to stop at Niagara on the Lake which is absolutely beautiful.  If you and your mom enjoy wine Niagara's wine country (200 wineries?) is gorgeous also.  I would liken Niagara on the Lake to Williamsburg.  Niagara Falls is interesting and the Falls are spectacular.  It will also probably be dead over Thanksgiving.

You may also want to spend two full days in Toronto.  It is almost the size of Chicago and there is a lot to see and do.  I suspect that once you get there you'll find that you may not leave it.

Last, snow.  I am not sure how much snow Toronto and the area south to Buffalo has received.  Perhaps little if any, perhaps pockets with a lot.

And, for opinions on restaurants, "Estufarian" is on the Toronto board of Chowhound and has been posting for 15 years.  He is extremely knowledgeable and sophisticated and totally up (and opinionated as I) on where to go today.  He is probably the "father" of that board.

Enjoy!  Toronto is a Great city.

My wife and I just came back from Santa Barbara.  I have eaten Mexican food all over America and believe that I have eaten among the best.  Prior to this trip my benchmark for a "basic" dish like a red chili enchilada with beef was L and G in El Paso.  On another thread I rhapsodized about flying on Southwest to Texas only to visit this biker bar/Tex Mex palace for their enchiladas.  They were THAT good.

On Sunday night I had it's equal.  At Los Agaves in Santa Barbara which is more of a real Mexican restaurant and less of Cal/Mex or El Paso like.  (seafood Molcajete, cazuela poblanos)  Considered to be Santa Barbara's best-I think the equal of any I have ever been to.

We want to go back.  There or El Paso.  Doesn't matter.  I never thought I would have a red chili enchilada as good as what I found next to a graveyard in Texas (!) but I found it in Santa Barbara.

Is there anywhere, anywhere (!) in the greater D. C. area that does a genuinely outstanding job with enchiladas?  I'm almost afraid to ask this because last week's was so good.  But my wife doesn't really want to fly back only for an enchilada.

Well, maybe if we also had the molcajete and the cazuela and the....

I should also mention something about the Santa Ynez valley and pinot and syrah but that is another thread.

Who is doing the absolute best job with interior Mexican style Mexican food right now in the D. C. area?  Anyone?

For what it is worth, we have multiple open table accounts and actually do this quite often.  Do we want Rasika or CityZen Friday? Let's book both on Monday and decide on Wednesday (or whatever the cancellation policy is).  For trips it is worse, we often have 4 reservations at different places simultaneously on multiple days so we can build an itinerary depending on when we can get hard to get tables.  We do eventually cancel the ones we don't want.

We don't no show though.  We always cancel as early as possible.  I think I've only been stung once for a cancellation fee - Momofuku Ko. Wife and I was terribly sick day of and I unhappily sucked up $500 or so of cancel fees. I agreed to it to secure the reservation, so I guess I can't really complain.

Let's see:  I have travelled an average of 125+ days a year for more than 30 years.  As I type this I am reminiscing about countless hotels I couldn't stay in, rental cars I couldn't book, restaurants that I couldn't eat in because someone like Adam23 made muiltiple reservations which, until the day or so of the reservation, excluded me and everyone else.  Because of him or people like him, for 30+ years, I changed my plans.

My family has owned restaurants which took reservations.  Adam23 may have reserved at them, too, until the last minute or the last day.

Of course I was once a waiter, too.

Don, you are on the wrong side of the table on this.

This is the instagram you posted on your blog from Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe who provides an absolute rave about what you are doing:  "your commitment to providing locally sourced, delicious and creative meals is to be applauded.   Your superior talents have helped to put Virginia on the culinary map as a primiere culinary  destination that consistently provides the best products and dishes."

The Governor goes on but this is in recognition for the Shack leading the charge for which Virginia has been by awarded by Esquire the title of the top food region in the U. S. in 2014.  This is an enormous, affirming national level recognition of the committment of Chef Ian Boden and his family who have posted regularly and loyally on here since just after the first day he opened.

As he has been loyal to us; we should applaud and investigate the judgment of Esquire and others and visit Staunton and sample what he is doing that causes others to travel hundreds of literal miles to experience.

Bravo, Chef Ian!!  Really happy for you.

Joe

I bet they did still serve two people in my seats.   It reloaded the seats on their online reservation system instantly and they were gone quickly.  I sort of contemplated sending my assistant over there to make sure the seats sat empty.  In one sense, I paid for them.  Frankly David Chang doesn't seem like the type of guy who would refund my money even if he did fill those seats.

Regarding the ethical issues of multiple reservations, I see none.  I routinely make multiple reservations for hotels and transportation and car rentals and figure it out all later. I don't view a reservation as a commitment until day of (unless, I have agreed explicitly to some sort of contract).

In some ways Opentable has caused this.  It lets me make reservations semi-consciously.  I don't need to think much.  Just tap tap, done.  Before Opentable you had to call, and speak to a human, and it took effort to make a booking. There was a connection with the person who picked up.  You felt obligated to show.  That has all changed.  If Opentable was smart, they would charge for reservations at prime times.  They incentivize you by offering 10,000 points to dine at 5:30.  Why not charge $20 a reservation for an 8 pm prime table and pass the money on to the restaurant owners.

FWIW, my wife and I had a trip to the Dolomites a couple of months ago that we had to cancel.  I had five restaurant reservations that I had made as much as a month or more in advance.  I called every single one until I got a person on the phone who would confirm my cancellation.  For two restaurants I called four times before I got someone.

All of this was two weeks before the date of the reservation.

I did this out of respect, I did this out of consideration, I did this because I want to go back to each restaurant and want them to look forward to me as I look forward to them.

For the person above who makes multiple reservations I am guessing that you and several like you contributed to our anniversary and birthday reservations being cancelled for a group.

I don't care if you admitted it and posted on here.  What is remarkable to me is that you "confessed," admitted, "bragged" about doing this for restaurants, hotels and car rentals. Your rationalizations, your sense of entitlement is frightening.

" I don't view a reservation as a commitment until day of (unless, I have agreed explicitly to some sort of contract)"

Breathtaking.  

Everything that affected me for 35 or so years of travel.  People like you made my life a great deal more difficult.

And for the restaurants...

I have to add that we "know someone" (I won't go into any more specifics because they may read this and i don't want to get shot in public in our neighborhood) who recently had a trip to a major city on the East Coast.  They had two "significant" reservations for two nights and were on the waiting list for a third restaurant for one of those same nights.  After their trip was over, sitting over a second bottle of wine, they talked about the excellence of the dinner they had-the restaurant that they got into at the last minute.  I asked about the restaurant they had the original reservation at for that night and what did they do?  From my perspective it didn't matter whether they called or not.  They should have said no to the "third" restaurant and honored their standing reservation. (There should not have been a third restaurant!) But they didn't.

The topic was changed before I got an answer.

Again, I am certain that attitudes like this played a major role in our own cancellations.  FWIW I lost a lot of respect for the couple who told this story.

I agree with Chef Cooper-if people had something invested in the dinner, I believe they'll make a sincere effort to show up.  And, if they don't, as Ferhat noted, there's an expense that they should be responsible for.

Ferhat, I absolutely loved Rustic Canyon.  A GREAT chef who is imaginative, talented and wildly successful at pairing odd flavors and textures.  Even contrasting hot and cold in the same dish. Superb wine list, too and a very real ambassador in the front of the house who is their GM ("Steve")  I considered Melisse but am extremely fortunate that we found Rustic Canyon.