RaisaB

I am in total agreement with Waitman oon this. I would maybe do 1 blowout dinner but probably not. There are so many wonderful bistros at affordable prices. I go to Paris at least once or twice a month. My recommendations would be, as follows. Le Troquet Chez Michel Le Cerisaie L'Epi Dupin L'Entredgeu Try checking Egullet.com and their France forum for recommendations. PM me if you want to know more or if I can help in any way.

Yes you are right to most of what you said waitman. But the restaurant, in my mind, would not be a fancy schmancy place. Think Dolce Vita in Fairfax, Bombay Bistro, Two Amy's, etc... BTW, I pay extra for those jeans with the holes in them!

Hey are you calling me old!? Yes there are millions of kids, but they eat too! And some of them are actually very well behaved! Edited to clear up triple spacing. Did I do it Don?

Will people seek out a chef driven restaurant? Yes, I think they will. But they will only return if the chef is good. Case in point, The RailStop in The Plains. It is in the middle of nowhere, yet it is always packed. The food had been consistantly good and market driven. (I say had because we have had a few bad experiences lately but that is another thread). How about Four and Twenty, It's About Thyme, talk about being nowhere. (Nowhere is relative)

In reply to a few of the replies. A top end restaurant is not really what I was thinking when I posed the question. Rabbi1969 has the right idea, I am looking more for a place with decent food, not food service frozen stuff. Nothing in the scales of 2941, Citronelles or the like. I think when Evening Star Cafe was opened in Del Ray, that is more or less what my thoughts were. As to people eating out, I haven't officially surveyed or censused, but most everyone I know eats out about 3 evenings a week here. Some have hired personal chefs to come and cook as it gets old after a while. As for people seeking better food, or too stupid to know the difference, well you may have a point there.

Pearmund Cellars in Fauquier makes some decent reds at decent prices. I was surprised when I went to their vineyards and tasted them. Oasis makes a decent Meritage but overpriced for what it is. My apologies to the owner, Tareq.

Your answers are all probably correct, but then I look at what we have here and like I said they are full every night. They do not have the lunch crowd that I admit. But is Ray's or Talulla's or Evening Star open for lunch? My husband has even said he'd be willing to finance a place if I were truly interested in opening a place, but you would have to be crazy to want to open a restaurant!

I live out in Western Prince William County. When I want to go out to eat and stay closer to home, I have the choice of IHOP, Glory Days, Uno's, Ruby Tuesday, and the only half deccent one is BoneFish. These places are always packed! Why do chefs and investors keep opening up in the district where they have so much competition? We have the population and the income for certain. Your average townhouse around here goes for half a million. And there aren't many of those. AVerage home close to $1m. So we can afford to go out and we need to as we gotta pay those mortgages and work! This question is for those of you in the industry. Why don't you all look in the suburbs? If you are good they will come! Edited for spelling and grammer.

I did not know they were available here already. I usually order from their website. I may make it into DC to save the shipping costs. Though I joined their club Delectus and get a discount. I am surprised they have Cuvee Julia.

I have never tried the Shotfire Rdige. I will go and find a bottle and try it. When I first tried the Lehmann, I did not even know it was a shiraz as it seemed so diiferent than all the others I had tried recently. On another but similar note, I am a huge fan of Delectus Winery Syrah's, (actually of all their wines). I love there 1998 Lodi Syrah, it is probably a bit higher than the $30 range at this point, but it is a wine worth seeking out. I spoke with the owners recently and they were trying to market their wines in the DC area, but after Wine Spectator's rating this past year, I think their problem may be keeping up the supply.

Salad of roasted beet, goat cheese, candied walnuts and navel oranges with a citrus vinaigrette. A butternut squash soup with roasted garlic, garnished with garlic croutons, parmesan cheese and flleur de sel.

So what is the Duram Wheat flour for? Isn't that supposedly better for pasta? Is Duram also a softer type of wheat?

I took a condensed version of the Window's on The World Wine course years ago that was required for work. The book is excellent if it is still available. Even though I took this course and have been to countless wine tastings, I know what I like, but I am deficient at describing. I wonder if there is any couse that can help with that?

For our "House Wine", we have bought a few cases of Peter Lehmann's Barossa Shiraz, 2001 if I am not mistaken. It runs about 13.99 a bottle, though I have seen it cheaper and higher also. I know they sell it at Wegmans, World Market, and Costco occasionally. It is a bold and intense wine with a hint of oak. I suck at describing anything but, if you like bold in your face wines at a good price, please try this and let me know what you think.

My neighbors' father cures his own hams for his version of prociutto. After visiting Barcelona this past week and chickening out on smuggling a Serrano ham back, (the prices were so inexpensive), I would love to somehow make my own version of a Serrano ham. Though my husband just may leave me this time if I turn the wine cellar into a place to hang these hams.

I am sorry for being such a bore, and thinking I was number one or four, when now I can clearly see, that I am actually number three!

How about Equinox? Who has been there and what were your thoughts? I have searched this forum and haven't seen mention of it.

Does that mean I am # 1 or # 4 on the waiting list? I was the 6th on the list but it said 10 since 10 spaces were requested in total. Just wondering....

I looked on the King Arthur site and it is listed as Italian style flour. It has a higher protein % than normal flour. They also have Pure Durum FLour available. I think I will order it as I am too far out to make the trip Downtown for flour.

Where do you buy type 00 flour around here? I am in Cooking mode this week and would like to make some pasta.

I was in Baltimore today and wanted a Crabcake. Faidley's was closed, so we tried Angelina's. The crabcakes are good but could have benefited from from beng a bit warmer. My kids had stuff from the menu....well the crabcakes were good.

Don and HillValley, are you guys raking in the money from planning these events and running this site? I did not think so. So consider this a huge THANK YOU for taking the time (which is more precious than gold) to do both! Your system is more than fair. I know what a pain is is to plan events and thank you again for all your trouble and time.

Someone correct me if this is untrue. I was told that many times when you order Steak Tartare in France, what you are serverd is horse meat. Could there be some validity to this? If it is true, I have eaten horse countless times... On another point, at Carrefours and Auchan hypermarches in France there are little pictures of horse heads, lamb, cows, and goats to identify the type of meat you are buying. Horse is cheaper.

I went to 5 Guys in Gainesville for the first time last Friday. I had the Bacon Cheeseburger with sauteed onion and mushrooms. I ate it because I was hungry, but it was soggy and falling apart. You couldn't distinguish any flavor of onions or mushrooms. Their fries were respectable but certainly not worth the trip there. I also realize you can't expect much from a burger joint but given a choice, I prefer Foster's Bugers. We have three of them in the area, all family run. I don't know if there are any others in NoVa. If you are in the area and appreciate a burger, check them out.

Monica What a beautiful story thank you for sharing it! I was transported to India with your mother's observance of the custom, and somehow I was in an apartment in Arlington for your first time! It is beautiful that you were able to share this with the world.