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Joe H

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Everything posted by Joe H

  1. Joe H
    We've never eaten there-it just looks seriously "awkward" in its location. I was only partly facetious above-it really, to me, looks like something other than what it is. In fact I probably drove by this a dozen times without realizing it was a restaurant. I believe that Tom captured its overall impression quite accurately in his original review from 2008: "FROM A DISTANCE, Alto Plaza looks like a budget motel on growth hormones. Up close, the sand-colored, three-story, hexagon-shaped, $16 million behemoth in Centreville looks like one of Saddam Hussein's gaudy palaces."
  2. Joe H
    I actually thought this was either a Tex Mex restaurant with motel rooms on the upper floor or a communal retreat with a soup kitchen on the lower floor. Or a real estate office...of sorts. Serious...if the Gulf of Mexico was on the far side of the parking lot I would feel differently. But it's not. A major highway is.
  3. Joe H
    I don't understand the "snicker." Red Hen won the Rammy and is an outstanding restaurant. Rose's Luxury is not a member of the Restaurant Association and, because of this, was not eligible. Regardless, if Rose's was eligible Red Hen may still have won. We are fortunate to have both of these restaurants. They have each been enormously successful. They also both play to long lines and long waits. FWIW I was at Red Hen two weeks ago on a Monday night and there was still a line out the door at 9:30 at night. I am not favoring one over the other; rather I believe Red Hen is due every bit as much respect as Rose's. Bravo to both!
  4. Joe H
    It's already crowded during off hours. Tysons is also actively installing gates in a number of their parking garages in an attempt to dissuade those taking the Metro who might be looking for a place to park. Interestingly NOBODY walks from the Tysons Metro to the Galleria. NOBODY. I stood in back of the new 22 story Intelsat building and watched 75-100 or more people walk from the Metro to Tysons Corner Center. I didn't see a single person in this time walk to the Galleria. My guess is that Tysons Corner Center will greatly profit from the Metro and the closest buildings on the Galleria side will, too. Lerner has a couple of 30 story buildings slated for their side of the Metro. But for the Galleria, the Ritz and the buildings on either side of it I cannot help but believe the Metro is largely irrelevant. I should also note that it is a two thirds mile walk to the Galleria from Metro's platform (measured by me on my Mapmywalk app) and, even when it is dry, for many people, that is too far to walk.
  5. Joe H
    They open @5:00PM. I would get there at 4:30. Good luck!
  6. Joe H
    #2 and #10. http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/14/living/10-best-new-southern-restaurants-eatocracy/ I'll be back in line soon...at both. Huge publicity: this is the link on time.com: http://time.com/3101672/the-souths-best-new-restaurants/ The first link is from CNN. The Shack has a total of seven tables, mostly two tops. I may bring a sleeping bag for our next visit. --- [i'm sick and tired of cleaning up other peoples' poorly written posts. Everyone, please take some extra time to make sure your posts are linked, labeled, titled, tagged, and spelled correctly instead of throwing your trash on the floor and assuming someone else will clean it up for you. Forum Hosts in all forums: Please pitch in and help out - this is part of the job.]
  7. Joe H
    Back from another trip to O. C. and, once again, no idea why Don buries this national class Mid Atlantic beach resort in the "Baltimore" thread. There are more people from the D. C. area there (and Philly and Wilmington) than Baltimore. Regardless, we went back to Shark on the Harbor in West Ocean and discovered Hooked which has waits which make Rose's look look like prep school to the graduate school 90 minute wait at 9:30 last night at 80th and Coastal Highway.. Hooked is the equal of Black Salt. It is THAT good. By Ocean City standards THAT is incredible. O. C. shouldn't have a restaurant this good. But it does. No reservations. No comment. But, it has a lot of ambience, white table cloth, soft lighting and is worthy of an anniversary and the drive from D. C. Shark on the Harbor is a different place before the sun sets. It has a really talented chef but doesn't have the "feel" (before sunset) of a serious restaurant. Yet some of what is served is imaginative and excellent. We loved it and will return-after dark. Right now, based on a half dozen or so trips in the last year and tens of thousands of calories I would suggest that Hooked is Ocean City's best restaurant. Captain's Table, Liquid Assets (fantastic setting for a restaurant with tables in the middle of a candle light lit wine shop) and Shark on the Harbor all are seriously worth a visit, too. We go back to O. C. for New Year's Eve. We will spend it at Hooked. Probably much of the evening waiting in line...
  8. Joe H
    Roberto's prices at Al Dente on VA wine are unreal. Some are lower than the winerie's tasting rooms. Specifically, 2007 Breaux Nebbiolo which is one of the best wines ever made in VA (and unknown outside of the tasting room at Breaux), 2010 Glen Manor Hodder Hill and 2010 Delaplane Williams Gap. All three of these are excellent by any standard.
  9. Joe H
    Interesting article, John. There is a real emerging divide in attitudes towards dining (and, I think, technology) with age, perhaps more so than at any time I can remember.
  10. Joe H
    I haven't been to Grand Rapids in four or five years but I stayed there annually dating back to the early '90's. Much prefer the JW Marriott over the Amway. Outstanding location downtown which literally backs to the river. http://www.sanchezbistro.com/%C2'> the San Chez Bistro which is a tapas bar a couple of short blocks away. I've probably been there a half dozen times and it became something of a routine including the Marriott stay and walking over there for dinner. Usually I would sit at the bar. What's important is that this place has a great deal of character with decent to good tapas. It's not Jaleo but the room feels much more like Spain and much less like Michigan. Actually, I like Grand Rapids a lot and would look forward to my overnights there. As for beer, it's my loss, since I drink wine.
  11. Joe H
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHWXAJhmvyU Robin Williams as Mork meeting the Fonz on Happy Days. This was his first appearance on television and led to Mork and Mindy.
  12. Joe H
    "other side of the park" First time I've ever heard this expression. Sorry, but it just really caught my attention.
  13. Joe H
    Different era: I once cruised 4th street in Modesto then had a "last cigarette ever" on the very real Paradise road where John Milner's car overturned. Both while listening to Wolfman Jack on KGO. I drove 400 miles from L. A. to do this and now, twenty six years later feel that it was worth it. I have a great deal of respect for your love of The Big Chill; I have the same affection for American Graffiti which i have seen more than 30 times. It is my Friday night date from high school. Later I found out that American Graffiti wasn't filmed in Modesto, rather north of San Francisco. The above is a true story including the Wolfman on KGO. I should add that I had a lot of last cigarettes ever but this was the very real next to the last. I lit up when my red eye landed at Dulles and felt so guilty that I never had another.
  14. Joe H
    According to the article Sweetgreen (which I love) has something called "fro-yo." What is fro-yo?
  15. Joe H
    Incredible post (s). Thank you for taking the time and sharing.
  16. Joe H
    There are generational differences in expectations of what might see, feel and taste in a restaurant. For everyone that wants to introduce a new app to, say, expedite an ordering system or control waitstaff I'll guard my 100+ year old crusty black cast iron skillet a little bit tighter. I remember when McDonald's changed from freshly sliced potatoes to frozen french fries in '66 or '67. About the same time they went to frozen beef and a "mix" for their "shakes" which had more chemicals than milk and syrup. Today a lot of people reading this will say McDonald's has good french fries. Point is that there was change. The corporation said it was for the better. My stomach said it was for the worst. Dick's in Spokane, WA has the original McDonald's hamburgers and french fries with lines 40-50 deep at lunch time while the McDonald's down the street has counters you can walk up to. Now we have apps and the imminent disappearance of waitstaff. Rather, servers and an attempt to control anyone who might want to talk to a customer. Exactly the kind of restaurant that should be selling frozen potatoes and other dishes whose ingredients I can't spell.
  17. Joe H
    The US dollar is now .89 to the Swiss Franc. Literally one third of what it was when I started in my industry. I must add that Switzerland is not doing a lot of manufacturing today for sale in the U. S.
  18. Joe H
    What is/was Santa Fe cafe? Cafe Pasqual?
  19. Joe H
    Midtown Kabob is owned by the same people who own the kabobery (sp?) in the large shopping center on Elden street in Herndon (diagonally across from Mom's).
  20. Joe H
    Didn't know about the Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail (great name). Thanks for mentioning it. We're going to be in SB in early November and will definitely go for a walk.
  21. Joe H
    I believe this is the single highest grossing grocery store in the U. S. whether part of a chain or individually owned. It feels like it. We live equidistant from Fairfax and Sterling and I rarely go to Fairfax. it is far too congested whether in the parking garage which fronts it or the store itself which could use another 25,000 square feet of retail area. it is cramped. The wine shop is awful. There is no character, no ambience. Just a "vanilla" area that makes me long for Total. Actually, I find it quite remarkable that they could destroy a "department" so efficiently. I cannot believe they are selling anywhere near as much wine as they used to. What was once an inviting shop is now a typical grocery store wine area. Fairfax does carry a number of items which the other Wegman's do not. There is a better cheese shop, several specialty soups in season, even the odd white truffle. Still, the only time I go there is when it is raining heavily and I'll park in their garage.
  22. Joe H
    I must add a comment about Neal Wavra and his participation in this. My wife and I were viistors five times at the Ashby Inn, four when Tarver King was the chef and one when the chef de cuisine from the Inn at Little Washington took his place. We passionately loved the Ashby Inn favoriing because of these men two birthdays and one anniversary. I must also add from more than twenty years of heavy European travel, over time, I have eaten at more than 40 two Michelin star restaurants and 12 three stars-all over time. Neal Wavra is as fine, as friendly and welcoming, as knowledgeable and reassuring as anyone that I met in any restaurant anywhere in Europe. From Katherine Constant at Violon d'Ingres (the benchmark) to Schwarzwaldstube and Bareiss to Gagnaire and Ducasse to El Raco De Can Fabes to Le Calandre and Dal Pescatore and on and on and on. Neal Wavra is the equal of anyone. An absolute welcoming ambassador who presents a lifetime experience perhaps better than anyone on earth. Then I could talk about his incredible knowledge as a world class sommelier (trained in Walla Walla),his successful operation of the Ashby Inn; I can imagine "marrying" Neal with the proper chef for what would be a world class nightly adventure in Washington. I deeply hope that someone considers this. It is a direction that will greatly benefit the city and our perception around the country..
  23. Joe H
    What are the dumps of today? When I wrote about Anita's above it was because, in the '70's, it was worth the drive from Silver Spring. The alternative was Spoeedy Gonzalez on N. Hudson street in Arlington which was an old frame house a block or so from Red Top cab but had seriously good basic Tex Mex. Anita's in Vienna was similarly excellent and also had great character. My comment about character is the most important one: Anita's really WAS a fast food walk up stand in the '60's. She really did drive a cadillac with steer horns on its hood. She really had two top tables in the parking lot (with the line for the car wash snaking nearby) and, after a couple of years, erected a canvas awning over them. She parked her Rolls Royce within five feet of one of these tables. Over time she and her husband opened another Anita's on route 29 in Fairfax (next to another car wash) and near Old Town Herndon. To this day I think I've been to each one time. Perhaps the same food but it never tasted as good as it did in the remodelled Donut Dinette in Vienna. Character. When you walked into a room in Speedy Gonzalez the floor creaked. Loudly. It felt like with each step a different board would break underneath your feet. For all of the world this was a frame house in a border town with a wire fence and Mexico outside the back door. It had character. Where do I go for character today?
  24. Joe H
    I was on Leonetti's mailing list dating back into the '90's. I remember when their merlot was $30-35 or so for a bottle. Today they are more expensive, 85-90 for merlot. Reserve is $140-150 and I no longer buy their wine. I was loyal for 15-20 years or so but their prices outgrew me. Perhaps interestingly tonight I opened a bottle of their '05 merlot. It was absolutely delicious. Worth every penny of the $45 or so I paid for it. $85 or 90? No. If I ever make it onto Cayuse's list I can buy Bionic Frog for that. Or Reynvaan Stonessence which is a superb syrah. There are limits to what a bottle is worth.
  25. Joe H
    I have never heard "When the saints go marching home" sung in German before.
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