jrichstar

The Kosher Mart on Rollins Avenue in Rockville really has excellent Hamantasch. Great balance of pastry and fruit and very fresh when you time it right. We've gone there the last few years and they've always had apricot! Katz's in Rockville is pretty good but I find theirs to have too thick a cookie with not enough fruit.

Read LizH's post today with link to the NYT and saw the really interesting write-up on the new Morimoto in New York. No doubt that Washington is making progress on becoming a more respected dining city. But the fact that we end up with Pauli-moto and not Mori-moto shows that we've got a ways to go. http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/

Given the fact the about 25% of the posts on this thread were from "shrimps" and "clams", I think it is safe to say that many people who advanced their opinions had no idea who Nadya is, what she does or how she writes. And when you mix that up with a politically-charged topic that involves potentially disabled persons, half-jokes can be taken the wrong way. I love reading the posts on this site and think it is a wonderful resource. Let's all hope that it is an endeavour fully open to participation from "non-insiders" so we can appreciate input from an even wider and more diverse group.

The new information that came out of today's article: -- It seems that Nadya was more accomodating to the Segway user than she led us on to believe in the first post. The Segway guy noted that he was treated well and gave her a tip. I'm interested from Nadya as to why she was more forward about her thoughts than her actions. -- The Segway guy was disabled as many on the thread correctly assumed. Anyway, this whole incident and the subsequent discussion was still a great learning for me and I'm sure many others!

That was a fantastic response, Judy, and pretty much nails my personal opinion on the subject and the reponses here. And, your thoughts hold extra credibility given that you have dealt with the same situation(s) as was originally the subject of this thread.

Yes, that is where I was going with the point. Another example is strollers. There is usually a lot of creativity that occurs in restaurants with where to put strollers. Some places have more room and/or are more amenable to storage than others. The bottom line is that customers who have special needs will frequent the places that can accomodate them and will not frequent those that cannot.

This is a fascinating thread---just felt the need to chime in. I think that Nadya and the Segway user both were generally reasonable in their actions. The Segway user should have been more polite in the way he conducted himself. I firmly believe that if he did have a disability, he had no obligation to identify that as DC Segway User pointed out. So, to that end, the possibility should have been considered by Nadya. Just as Nadya would never have asked "do you have a disability?", Segway User should not feel compelled to identify his disability. This does bring up interesting issues such as where to put the Segway a la a wheelchair, which I think is a more comparable vehicle in this case than a bicycle or skateboard.

I went to GF many years ago with several friends one evening and was not impressed. Though the meat was plentiful, much of it did not seem high quality. And the "bar" had food that was generally less-than-appetizing. This place seemed quantity over quality in every respect. I'd certainly spend $20 more to eat FDC. First, because the quality seems higher from what we are hearing. Second, how often is one going to eat a blow-out meal like this? Once, maybe twice a year?

Wanted to put in a good word for Cuba de Ayer after having a wonderful meal there tonight. My wife's family is from Miami so she knows good Cuban. We have been to Cuban Corner and Cubano's as well and we feel that Cuba de Ayer is the best of the bunch. The fried items, beef empanada, maduros and papa rellena (beef-stuffed in a fried potato mash), were excellent. Our main dishes were two classic items: beef palomilla and lechon asado (roast pork). Again, both were deftly cooked and we especially liked the citrus/garlic flavor of the pork with some caramelized onions mixed in. The sides of black beans and rice were nice as well, with the rice having that buttery sheen and the beans with the right pork/bacon flavor. The kids had a Cubano sandwich and fries---again, nicely executed. We shared a flan for dessert and it was one of the best we've had in the DC area. This gem of a place deserves more positive recognition!

Tongue worked well in cheek until you mentioned specific restaurants in the first posting. Would have let it ride if you left the two restaurants out. Agree with you on the poor ratio in Bethesda. You've got to know where to go. Would encourage you to try the others listed---they are quite good!

Methinks that JPW is from Virginia or maybe DC? Admittedly, I am from Bethesda, but Tom and other sources of ratings, as well as my own palate in all cases noted below, would disagree with you on there not being any good restaurants in Bethesda. In addition to the two restaurants you noted, I would submit Black's Bar and Grill, Grapeseed, Jaleo, Olazzo, Persimmon and Raku as restaurants with excellent reputations. And for a small region, 8-10 good restarants to choose from ain't bad.

More evidence that the Tysons expansion is much more likely to be a roaring financial success versus what some of the naysayers were hinting at at the beginning of this thread. Unfortunately, financial success comes with the traffic and crowds experienced by Spiral Stairs. Seems like a fairly common story from all around the DC area these days.

As the Post articles mentioned last week, the owner's strategy in doing the expansion was: to attract a younger clientele, to create more entertainment options and thus more spending, to bring workers in the area over for dinner so as to not have to battle traffic and to get current cutomers to stay in the mall longer. It seems to me that all of these goals can be achieved with the existing geographical base by getting business from close in younger people, those who work in the Tysons area and existing Tysons customers who will linger longer for movies and food. I'm sure they'd love brand new customers to come as a destination mall but it does not appear to be part of the business model. I've got faith in the company that owns Tysons I---they have done quite well with what they've had and I'm confident the business reasons to do the expansion were well thought out.

To me, this all seems a bit of an overreaction. Tysons I is a plain vanilla mall and in plain vanilla part of the DC area. So, the expansion was bound to be boring for a variety of reasons. One is that your not going to want to alienate the existing Tysons I businesses who would now be in the "inferior" part of the mall. Second is that there needs to be some continuity in the total mall itself. I'm pretty much a media junkie and there was very little press about this expansion until it pretty much opened last week. That says something about how much of a splash was to be expected. The new stores and restaurants seem to fit in well with the Tysons surroundings. I'd bet the new restaurants and entertainment venues will bring in incremental money to the existing and new stores. The calls for the downfall of future expansion and the negative effects on Fairfax County seem way premature.

Here's a thought.....Seitsma's on-line chat is tomorrow. What better place to have an important announcement than his chat. Is he leaving? Is an important chef coming to town?