RaisaB

I resemble that remark

No, I honestly want wine consumers to drink what they enjoy, but what frustrates me are when folks have closed-minds about trying something different than their everyday quaff. After all, we aren't born knowing this stuff, and at some point, everyone who drinks wine has "taken a chance", so why stop there? My favorite moments are when I can encourage someone to try a wine that they might never have tried before, and they report back to me just how good it was and how they thoroughly enjoyed it, that I've broadened their wine horizons. I live for those, "A-ha!" moments of vinous epiphany. That's kind of what I think this is all about.

What's that old saw, "Life's too short to drink bad wine"? I substitute "boring" for "bad", because there's just too much good wine out there for folks to enjoy these days. Winegrowers are becoming more conscientious and consumers more savvy because of the increased availability of good information. We live in good times for wine enjoyment.

I would love to be able to describe the floral notes, the cassis, the tobacco, pepper, etc., in a wine. I find myself limited to a few little things I can detect, otherwise I think the best description for me, as a sage poster on here once said, "It is DARN TASTY!".

Speaking of Merlots, has anyone tried the Clarendon Hills Merlots? If so what is your opinion? I am not a big fan of Merlots, even the Bordeaux kind.

In defense of JoeH, he is passionate about what he likes. I for one cannot describe what is in a wine. I am sure he can but he was sharing his passion as he does often. I am familiar with JoeH's taste in wines and if he is passionate about it, I know I will probably like it also.

I wish he would describe what he loved about it so the rest of us could benefit from it, but in the same token, Don would you tell us what you did not like about it?

It's my oldest mantra. Just because a wine smells good and tastes good doesn't mean it is good AS A WINE (versus AS A BEVERAGE). And conversely, just because a wine doesn't smell good or taste good doesn't mean it isn't good. Wine is a different animal, because it is a window into the souls of the earth and those who work it.

Saturday is sold out! Can anyone help me get tickets? PM me please.

Things you don't expect to hear, part I...

While walking from the Phillips collection to Bistrot du Coin today my mom says "Oh, Timberlakes. Your dad and I got thrown out of there a couple of times."

The seafood stalls at Maine Fish Market had shad roe. Lots of it. Most had it at 2.99/lb.

I will be using Paula Wolfert's Slow Mediterranean Foods. I have 2 of her books and haven't used either. Pork with Prunes is a definate. I am still browsing the rest, her recipes can be slow...haha I guess that's why it is called "slow". I need some more coffee, because obviously her cooking is not the only thing that is slow this morning.

I am tired of eating at the same ole, same ole in Queens. Does anyone know any restaurants that are decent? I usually stay in Jamaica, 5 Towns, or Kew Gardens. I will be there a few times this month so suggestions are appreciated!

Masia Carreras Costa Brava Emporada '03

I'm actually selling a $2000 brownie.

Cheers,

The Dessert Captain.

I have been using Happy quite a bit lately. Nothing has turned out dissapointing. The biggest surprise is his Brussel sprouts recipe! Yummo! (oops wrong author )

I have so many I haven't tried. I also ordered 5 (yes 5) of the Weight Watchers cookbooks, but they are the French Editions from France. So that may help with my weight loss challenge.

I do see your point. I would say your establishment is probably on a much higher scale of service (not to mention food also) than a place like OTB. I guess my point would be he needed to clarify this with the server before ordering. I think alot of us on this board are more atune with what a server has to go through either by virtue of working in the business or just eating out alot and becoming familiar with our servers and management. Even if this happened at a place like Dino's, I would take pity on the server and not cause him the hardship.

 
I also speculate how many manager's would take the time such as you did to ring the checks up for ther server. (again I am speaking in terms of chains and not necessarily upscale chains.)

Heather, are you saying we each choose our own cookbook? Or is it a group project from one cookbook per week?

Okay Dino, so if I come in this Friday with a party of 10 (for a reserved table) (at your busiest time) and I assume the server knows I want 10 seperate checks plus a seperate one for our wine, and he is already in the weeds with his 5 other tables, this won't cause a hardship for him, your restaurant's quality of service, and not to mention the other patrons? (Just playing devil's advocate.) How hard would it have been to divide the check among themselves? Cheap and stingy may have been the wrong words, more appropriate would have been, cheap and selfish? As many have pointed out, it is very easy to make copies of the check and hand it in for your expense account. Having worked in that kind of restaurant during my younger days, it would have definately ruined a lunch shift for me.

I am getting two new cookbooks today from Amazon. They are Monica Bhide's Indian cookbooks. I am pretty sure I have almost every cookbook ever written , some go back to the beginning of the century! (20th)

It's embarrassing how many cookbooks I have that have not even been looked at, never mind cooked from.

Anyone who wants to join please post. We can ponder our choice of cookbook this week. I'd like to compile a list of the books and recipes, and how they turned out.

This sounds like fun, or at least variations of it. I may not be able to cook all four every week. Maybe three as I don't do the appetizers much. Maybe every other week. (At least me.)

It is such a small world! I remember eating there on a layover in Kansas City in 1984! One of the flight attendants I was flying with had grown up in KC and had fond memories of the place back then! I don't remember the details of my meal, but I do remember it was fun and one of the first enjoyable "adult" meals I ever had.

Just came in from a snowball fight, cooking for the neighbors, Hangar, Porterhouse, and Flatiron Steaks. Celeraic Bisque, Garlic Mashed potatoes, Homemade German Chocalate Cake and LOTS of wine. Chez Raisa's for me.

But Corduroy's would be a nice place today, for one of Chef Power's Braises!

Happy Birthday Charles and Chris!

Went here with coworkers (13 total) tonight (2/22). I had the Bandera Sirloin. It was fine, especially given the fact that this isn't a steakhouse. The avocado sauce played off the beef nicely. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal. Then the check came...one check. We explained that we were in town on business and everyone was a separate party. We were told by our server and again by the manager that it would be too hard to split the checks. He suggested we just initial by whatever we ordered and he'd ring it up right. It took us 45 minutes to get processed out! (Right...this was much easier than separate checks. [/sarcasm off]) He still came around and asked each of us what we had and then rang up a receipt for each credit card customer. I fail to see how just doing that to begin with wouldn't have been easier all around. I've never seen a manager so unwilling to work with the customer. I guess we'll let our wallets do the talking when we're back in town. I'm sure there are plenty of places with better food and service around here.

Okay, you wanted one server to wrote up 13 checks for one table for a cheap reataurant? How hard would it of been for you guys to guesstimate how much you owed? Or divide among 13 and give or take a few bucks or five? Give the poor server a break! I am sorry I am not being sympathetic, but come on, you guys were being cheap and stingy. You should of gone to Chipotles and ordered seperately!

Bagel Buddies is good. Blue Iguana is steady. Rosemary's Thyme Bistro is steady. Picante is steady. None of these compare to Ray's the Steak, Citronelle's, Palena;s, Corduroys, Komis etc. They are all good local joints but you could do better at home with Whole Foods and Wegmans nearby. If you don't feel like cooking, sure go to them, they are not bad, but don't expect any wow factors. You have the beautriful kitchen and great groceries nearby. Lower expectations and you won't be dissapointed.

Ha! At least you are closer in! You aren't that far from Vienna, so Bazin's is always a choice. In Fairfax there is Dolce Vita, which I feel has very decent Italian. Saravana Palace is right around the corner. There is no place like Citronelle, but you are still very close to Restaurant 2941 and Maestro which some may argue for either that they are comparable and some will argue better.

I had a topic over a year ago addressing the same issue, believe me, just drive in or take the connector to the metro!