dcdavidm

Had a good RW lunch at Farah Olivia on Saturday, and it was certainly a decent value at $20.07. First time we were been there. I could have easily popped a bag of the fritters on the way home. They were far better than my goat cheese potstickers, which were overwhelmed by the salty saucing. In contrast, my pork tenderloin was exquisite and done perfectly, as was mrs. dcdavidm's scallops. Desserts were a good finish, and we had several wines by the glass that complemented the food. Our server was truly wonderful, but we were really turned off by the mercenary server covering nearby tables. When we were seated, our server said, "Can I bring you ice water? Or, if you prefer, we have bottled sparkling and still water." That struck us as a polite, professional offer. The adjoining server, however, told each of his tables (on three occasions that we overheard), "Would you like sparkling or still water?" without ever offering the third choice of just a normal glass of water. Disgusting.

Although the concept of Alinea may have "jumped the shark" as they say, it is still in demand and the place is relatively small. We made the reservation 6-7 weeks in advance, and at that had to settle on Sunday because Friday and Saturday were full. Midweek reservations are probably easier. No special procedure--just call and propose some dates.

Had a recent chance to accompany mrsdcdavidm on a trip to Chicago. First evening’s dinner was at Café Spiaggia, a place we had been to before and enjoyed immensely. The three seafood specials caught my eye. A razor clam appetizer consisted of chopped, gently seasoned and breaded clam mounded onto an open clamshell and baked. Good flavors and textures, albeit overpriced, in my view. A half order of squid ink spaghetti with chilies, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and whole blue shrimps was a terrific balance of flavors and textures; the hand-cut spaghetti (square edges!) was perfectly cooked. Main course was a seafood stew consisting of lobster, scallops, and monkfish in an exquisitely flavored broth; nothing overpowered the stew and the individual flavors stood out well. Mrsdcdavidm started with a salad of fresh mozzarella, tomatoes roasted to bring out the flavor, and basil; the dish proved that an off-season insalata caprese can work if done right. She opted for an order of gnocchi for her main course, and it was both delicate and substantive, but not eye-popping. We definitely will return to Blackbird, the site of our delightful second dinner. Although small and somewhat noisy, the food and service were superb. The menu seemed almost religiously seasonal. My cheese salad was an artful mound of a shaved Vermont shepherd cheese, roasted quince, fennel, mache, and kumquat, all dressed lightly with hazelnut oil. Her salad was a dish for both the eyes and the tastebuds: centered on a white plate was a roughly four inch cylinder (not a basket) made out of crispy potato shards and filled with Belgian endive, basil, pancetta, a poached egg, and a Dijon dressing; the server deftly sliced it vertically and it shattered to fill the plate with colors and textures. Her main course was a grilled veal tenderloin accompanied by bits of veal sausage, turnips, dandelion greens, and apricot chutney; it all came together nicely. I had a superbly braised prime beef short rib accompanied by roasted quince, cabbage, turnip greens, and an intriguing “duck streusel.” The service was outstanding overall, but one incident stood out that will endear me to Blackbird and that stands in contrast to many DC restaurants: when I selected a modest wine to go with dinner, the server (who I think was also in charge of the wines) realized right away that they were out of that selection, and advised what she thought would be an equivalent style…that was one-third less expensive! Her advice was excellent. Ahh, the final night we splurged with a visit to Alinea, Grant Achatz’s seductive redefining restaurant, and it is everything it is cracked up to be. The ambience is perfect. Walking down the softly lit, non-parallel walls of the entryway toward a distant vanishing point magically opens a panel that whisks you inside to a personal greeting (how did they know we were on the other side of the panel?). The dining rooms are spare of decoration, save for widely spaced black tables, restful colors, and subdued lighting. The impeccable staff took us under its collective wing and guided us through a three-hour, 12-course adventure in sights, sounds, flavors, and textures. Much has been written about the food and the presentations (most recently in the Washington Post -- WP Richman Article ) so I won’t go into a lot of detail. What struck us, though, was the absence of artificiality, “cuteness,” and pretension in the dishes. Every dish had a purity of flavors and a multiplicity of sensations from first glimpse to last swallow. Sure, some presentations are quirky and a bit theatrical, like perfectly cooked duck accented by mango and yogurt, the plate served on a linen pillow of juniper-scented air that perfumed the duck as the pillow slowly deflated…but it worked fantastically! Another course, a simple white dish on which was centered steelhead roe, cucumber foam, coconut, and bonito flakes, tasted different in every bite. One warning—we opted for the accompanying nine wine selections, which were a fine complement to the food, but the pours were quite generous and we were glad for the cool walk back to the train station! One doesn’t go to Alinea to satisfy a need for sustenance and nutrition or to calm hunger pangs. One goes to experience the creativity of a master who can tantalize your senses with his art. It was worth it.

Lots of nice wines (mostly Italian, which we love). My sister gave me a bottle of an Italian truffled salt, which gives a nice finish to pasta and veggies. I may take the jar to work just to sniff it during the day!

"Excellent choice, sir."

Depending on precisely when you will be in Chicago, be aware that Topolbampo (and Frontera) are closed from 1 Jan to 8 Jan for a holiday season vacation. We tried to make a reservation during that week and found out, alas, that both will be closed.

My compliments to jparrot for setting up the Shadow buy and to Joe Riley for making it happen. We opened the first bottle of our case tonight and were pleasantly surprised at such a delightful wine for the price. It needs a bit of breathing time, but it has great flavors and lingers on the palate nicely. Definitely syrah, but in a lighter, European style rather than the fruit bombs of many Australia and California syrahs. Will go wonderfully with food (we had ours tonight with a smoked turkey tetrazzini, and the subtle smokey tones of the syrah went well with it).

Well, looking at this space-challenging problem logically, I would suspect that if your baking equipment is just plain metal, storing it in the oven would be no problem as long as you compensate for it being there when you use the oven. I don't see what damage can occur to the pans through normal heat cycles; they don't "wear out" from just being heated and cooled, at least in our lifetimes! I've never heard of anyone retiring his or her sheet pans because it cooked too many cookies! (I've still got my Mom's from 40 years ago). If you keep the pans in the oven while in use, however, you'd have to make sure that the pans do not interfere with the circulation of heat, and you may have to preheat a bit longer. On the other hand, to the extent that all that hardware acts as a heat buffer, your oven temps should be more constant with that extra mass in there. Bottom line: I suspect this has less to do with cooking and more to do with relationships! Calling Dr. Phil!!!!

Progress in the 'hood. Overnight the forever-renovating Whole Foods Tenleytown installed and stocked a large, new, full-service (!) meat counter. Looked great this morning, with a wide selection of unpackaged cuts from myriad beasts and a friendly, enthusiastic staff. We are looking forward to trying it out.

Taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to cook out on the deck, a 2003 Adanti Arquata Montefalco Rosso to go with a Mario Batali grilled ribeye (aged overnight in a coating of ground porcini, garlic, salt, sugar, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and olive oil). Wine was a nice complement to the savory steak.

Mrs. dcdavidm had a business trip to SF last weekend and I was able to tag along for some good eats. We started with an early evening dinner at the old-fashioned Tadich Grill, which I guess has been around in some form since the middle of the 19th century. The place has a reputation for surly waiters and indifference toward non-regulars, but we did not experience that. It is large enough and the turnover is frequent enough that the non-reservation policy did not result in too long a wait for a table. It was nice having a decent $5 cocktail rather than the double-figure drinks that seem to characterize many DC places. My cioppino was intensely flavored with a good selection of seafood; Mrs dcdavidm's shrimp and avocado Diablo, however, was merely okay. The sort of place I would try once if I was in the neighborhood, but probably not return. The next night, we braved a deluge and made our way to Berkeley for dinner at the Café portion of Chez Panisse, which we had not been to for a few years. It still had a comfortable hominess and friendliness that made up for our damp clothes. The menu had a predominately Italian theme. We started with a glass of prosecco and a glass of carpano antico, a recreation of an 18th century flavored vermouth that was a new taste sensation for me. The first course was a half-dozen local oysters that tasted of the sea - excellent - and a terrific thin-crust pizzette topped with thinly sliced roast potatoes dabbed with an arugula pesto. I could live on both dishes. Next came grilled squid accompanied by grilled artichokes and potato, and a plate of cod and crab (Dungeness) cakes with beets and a celery remoulade. Both dishes pointed up the notion that excellent fresh ingredients simply but carefully cooked creates a worthwhile eating experience. For desert we shared a dish of quince and pear sorbet with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds, which made for perfect seasonal flavors. The last evening we had dinner at Quince, which Mrs dcdavidm had been to but I had not. It is a small, elegant, Italian-themed restaurant with perfect professional service. After prosecco, we started with a wild nettle sformata, which had the most intense green color and the freshest green flavor that smooth texture that I have tasted in a cooked vegetable dish, and a Dungeness crab salad with satsuma mandarin and radicchio, which also was excellent. Quince is known for its pastas, so we made our main course out of four of the ten or so pasta dishes on the menu. Agnolotti del plin were unbelievably delicate thumbnail-sized pastas filled with a veal, pork, and rabbit mixture; papparadelle with olives and a rabbit ragu was a savory contrast. Gnocchi with castelmango cheese melted in the mouth; casamelle (small, ravioli-like shapes) filled with celery root and dressed with balsamic vinegar made for a nice counterpoint. A "terrine" of gelati finished the meal. We judged that Quince's reputation for pasta was well-deserved. Each was impeccably formed, perfectly cooked, and with flavors and textures that were really satisfying. Ferry Terminal is a good place for lunch munchies and to wile away the time at the wine bar. Try the Saigon Roast Pork Sandwich at Open Door (the Slanted Door Restaurant's take-out facility). Oh, and on a whim one afternoon we took a tour of the Scharffen-Berger chocolate factory, which was fun. Wish we could have bottled up the smell of the factory and taken it back with us!

We went to BLT Steak last night and went away satisfied, if somewhat poorer. We arrived on time for our reservation, and quickly were seated in a comfortable banquet four-top, which we appreciated. The décor is quite attractive and relaxing. I agree with JLK, however, on the high noise level. Unlike our experience with BLT/NY, though, it was more of a background din than high-decibel, distinct conversations; also unlike BLT/NY, the tables are widely spaced, the pace is more refined and relaxed, and there is no sense of customers and staff breathing down your neck. I had a brief moment of concern when upon ordering a pre-dinner drink I had to explain how to make a negroni, and some of the front staff were still in learning mode (not a complaint; just an observation on a newly opened restaurant), but overall the service that really counted—our waiter David and sommelier Jen—was terrific. Jen recommended several wines to go with our veal and seafood dishes, and when I mentioned my target price point quickly came up with a fine complement to our proposed food—a 2004 Vincent Girardin Santenay Cote de Beaune. (In conversation we discovered that Jen had worked at several NYC restaurants that we enjoyed, and David had worked at restaurants in my hometown of Buffalo.) What appeared to be a manager-type came around during the meal to check on both the food and the service. Alas, the charcuterie was absent, but the jar of warm, aromatic chicken liver pate was comforting, and the popovers were addicting. We started by sharing a Caesar salad that, while not made tableside, tasted authentic, even to the faint hint of anchovy in the dressing. Mrs. Dcdavidm had the veal chop, which was excellent: a high quality piece of meat expertly cooked. I had the striped bass from the daily menu, which also was nicely done: a generous serving, lightly breaded, and served over a bed of minutely sliced onion and bell pepper and diced chorizo, all moistened with a rich broth and surrounded by cockles that genuinely tasted of the sea. The melding of flavors was excellent, though the dish struck me as ever so slightly oversalted. The only disappointment was a side order of parmesan gnocchi, which was so rich in cream and cheese that the flavor of the potato was lost. We finished by sharing a “crepe soufflé,” which was different than I had envisioned, but which capped the meal perfectly. It consisted of a crepe, folded over on itself to surround a light, eggy, custardy concoction, all dressed with a tingling passionfruit sauce. We certainly enjoyed ourselves and went away satisfied—much more so than from BLT/NY. Since the pricing makes it a high-end restaurant, we definitely would return but probably would not make a habit of going there often. We’d be more tempted, however, to frequently stop off at the bar early for a Caesar salad and a glass of wine or late for dessert and a glass of wine.

Siestema had a short, inconclusive blurb on it in the Wednesday WPost; middling reaction to the steak; drooled over the spinach; warned about overeating the popovers. Mrs. dcdavidm and I have reservations for Friday evening and will report back. We truly enjoyed the late Cello several times when Mrs dcdavidm spent a year working in NYC. BLT Steak was delicious but overwhelmingly crowded when we were there last year, which made the meal less than enjoyable. Looking forward to seeing how the franchise works in DC.

Angelico's is our neighborhood pizza place, and a comfort on those nights when we don't feel like cooking. We like the Angelico Special, which does a really honest job with the toppings, including excellent carmelized onions. We have only had delivery, and never eaten in or tried non-pizza items. It is not NYC, but is far superior to Pizza Bollis, Domino, and other outlets nearby.

You can't beat the Cuban pork sandwich at Versailles. And the name says it all about the atmosphere--mirrors abound. You will find that almost all of the customers speak Spanish, but if you don't, it doesn't matter. I have never been to old Havana, but I can imagine a place like Versailles would have fit right in.

Try some of the B&Bs in the Battery area, all within walking distance of great restaurants. We have enjoyed: Palmer House Battery Carriage House Also, a bit farther north: Phoebe Pember House We have lusted over, but not yet tried, Two Meeting Street Inn Most of these places have websites you can check out.

Actually, we flew SWAirlines over the T-Day holiday, and the crew announced that there would be no complimentary peanuts on the flight because one passenger had a peanut allergy. In the spirit of T-Day, there were no complaints.

My late cat (died of old age, not from eating this food) scarfed up this diet concoction that my vet recommended to cut down on fat (he was getting a bit hefty) and protein (aged kidneys had trouble). Buy a few bags of the cheapest frozen green beans your local supermarket carries, toss the beans into your food processor with an equal weight of good canned cat food and give it a whirl. Put the mixture in plastic containers and refrigerate or (for longer storage) freeze. My cat loved it, but this was a cat that liked rasberries, corn on the cob, and cheesecake, in addition to "normal" cat food.

I think you may have meant to say "Union Square Cafe" rather than "Union Pacific," which was a Rocco DiSpirato venture that closed several years ago (we rather liked it). Although not in the 28th and Park neighborhood, both Mrs. dcdavidm and I have on several occasions had wonderful dining-alone meals at Lupa.

Here is one reasonable explanation: Swiss Steak

Wednesday evening was pretty much the same pattern as Tuesday, with the wine, chocolate tasting quiz, chocolate history, feeding the wonderful enrobing machine, bark, and lots of stuff to take home. Instead of the caramel, however, Jason walked us through a batch of lemon-scented ganache that he needed for the next day's commercial production. In addition, we did a lot of tasting of ingredients (to-die-for Valrhona milk chocolate, and a white chocolate that actually tasted good) and of some of Jason's creations (an enrobed ancho chile powder/red chile/orange/cinnamon ganache that was among my favorites, chocolate coated almonds, and his experiment in bedazzling-colored chocolate hemispheres filled with a variety of liquor-flavored gelees). As for home projects, now that I finally understand the mysteries of tempering chocolate, I am inclined to try making some flavored ganaches, cube them up, hand dip them to coat, and play with decorations. Some chocolate truffles may be in the cards, too, hand-enrobed as Jason described to us.

Just got back from a super, theobromine-filled evening in the chocolate factory. A wonderful experience, thanks to Jason's artistic and teaching skills, and hillvalley's patience and work. We will savor every one of those take-home bites and look forward to trying to make a few things ourselves.

Just add it now. The purpose of the olive oil covering is to keep air from oxidizing the basil while it is in the freezer for the long haul (plus, it probably helps keep the surface of the basil from dehydrating). The delay won't hurt.

Is there any validity to the admonition that if you intend to freeze pesto, you shouldn't add the cheese now, but only after you have subsequently defrosted it just before use? I have always done it that way (without cheese), but never experimented with adding cheese prior to freezing. Oh, I have also found it convenient to freeze the cheesless pesto in icecube trays then pack the cubes in freezer bags.

I was at an event over the weekend at which the catered food was provided by "Famous Dave's." The St. Louis- style ribs were quite credible -- meaty; tender; flavorful. Pulled pork was smoky-nice (but with weird rolls); potato salad was delicious, tasting home-made rather than industrial. Catering team was pleasant. Alltold, good eatings for a large group outdoors. I notice from its website that "Famous Dave's" is a chain with a number of outlets in the suburban DC area. Are they worth a visit? Thanks.