cjsadler

It was a meal in the back room of the Grammercy Tavern about 5 years ago that led me down the financially ruinous food path I'm on now. That's a good idea, though-- I forgot about their front room.

Boooooooo *Triple spaced for punishment*

Can anyone recommend any mid-priced places in NYC? (That means something south of Per Se, Daniel, Le Bernardin, etc). Under consideration are Lupa, August, and Landmarc. --- Boi Noodle House (crackers) Grammercy Tavern (Waitman) XO Kitchen (Tweaked)

I recently read The Perfectionist, about Chef Bernard Loiseau, who committed suicide a couple years ago. Very interesting and well written, especially the digressions about food critics and the Michelin guide.

The Cloudline is pretty nice. Had a bottle at Corduroy a couple months ago.

If I buy a stack of the tortillas, I usually end up eating three of them plain on my way to the car. That's how good they are.

Too bad I can't make it to the picnic, as I could have brought some from Tortilleria Sinaloa in Baltimore-- they're incredible. Not sure of any place closer in like that (Bladensburg maybe?)

I love Capogiro, but the pints retail for $10. I'm not sure that's worth it when you can get it fresh from Isee Icy for $7 a pint.

CK has started their new Fall menu. Chef Clark's take on Veal Blanquette was delicious: veal scallopini with a shiitake-cream sauce, topped with a whipped puree of root vegetables (celery root and turnip it tasted like) and fried mushrooms. I got a bite of the Meatloaf Wellington too (yep, it's meatloaf encased in puff pastry). Hidden among the 'recipe' wallpaper in the first bathroom, Chef has posted a note from a customer: "I didn't appreciate the Chef's temper tantrum. --M"

Went last night, figuring their participation in the Katrina benefit night was a good excuse to try them. I wasn't expecting such a formal looking space. It's very nice, though, with plenty of warm lighting and wood. As Johnny said, the menu is mainly about classic French and Italian cooking. A couple of us shared a wild mushroom grilled flatbread to start that was phenomenal. The hint of truffle oil and the generous use of thyme really brought out the flavor of the mushrooms. I tried a bit of the gnocchi (in a fondue) as well, which I thought were as good as Palena's. For an entree, I had bacon crusted salmon with broccoli rabe, port sauce and cauliflower gratin. The bacon crust was excellent, sorta like it was coated with crispy bacon bits (but the salmon a bit overdone). Thought the best entree at our table, though, was the one vegetarian dish on the menu: a lentil ragu with some incredible artichokes (seemed like they were cooked with orange and something else I couldn't identify). A promising place.

I do agree about the accessibility of the store. I found it nice when I first started getting into wine-- having the selections whittled down a bit. The prices are a bit deceiving, though. Since everything's under $15, you may think you're getting a bargain, but the wine is mostly marked up quite a bit more than elsewhere. The wine/deli store a couple of blocks away at the corner of Dupont and Q carries alot of the same wines at about 20% less. I was talking to the buyer there one time about BC (the guy with the ponytail-- I forget his name) and his comment was, "Hey, something's got to pay for all that open space in there".

Horseradish crusted salmon with dilled cucumbers and grain mustard sauce. From a Gary Danko recipe here

Looks like it's already open. I just called to double check (The email they sent Tweaked makes it sound like they're opening in October, but that's just be the official party.) May have to check it out this weekend.

Rock shrimp and clams with cannellini beans

There's an article in last week's Newsweek that mentions Levi's Port Cafe (as the place to get mac n' cheese in DC). I've never heard any mention of this place before (looks like it's on 8th St SE)

It's $11.99 at Corridor (with flyer coupon). I recently had an Evans and Tate Shiraz that's in the same price range that I thought was much better, though.

I too thought is was strange for Sietsema to bring this up in his review. Continuing the discussion on here from last week, this seems like a classic case of something that should have been brought up with the restaurant then and there, when they could have had a chance to handle the situation. Unless he means to suggest that this incident reflects a larger (and more serious) problem with the Charleston... (which he didn't seem to)

While we're on apples, download this PDF cookbook on apples from the chef at Lampreia in Seattle. Very cool stuff. I made the Balzano Apple Cake a couple times last year and it's really, really good.

Pretty interesting article by Paula Wolfert in the Food & Wine that just came out about making duck confit by sous vide. Basically, by sealing a leg, there's enough fat in the 'package' to confit it, so it eliminates the need for extra duck fat (and getting the fat is the toughest part about confit). And then there's essentially no cleanup either.

The other day, I noticed a seafood shop called Anchor and Bolt, at Fredrick and Montgomery Village in Gaithersburg. Anyone ever been there?

We also hit Fiorella's Jack Stack, which is the swank location near the train station. If you need a run-down place for authenticity, this isn't for you (go to LC's for that). I thought the bbq was really good, though, especially the burnt ends (A KC delicacy that most bbq places serve).

Sauteed chicken breast with a skillet corn cake, peaches, basil and a balsamic cream sauce (thanks to Barbara for this idea).

Had some incredible beef barbeque at LC's . And those beans! I never knew baked beans could be that good. And some great running commentary from the patrons on the MTV Music Awards, which were on the TV in the corner. 40 Sardines was a bust, though. The four of us had the 4-course tasting menu, with each of us being served a different dish for each course. With 16 dishes to sample (we all ended up sharing everything), I only thought about 2 of them were any good (a tuna with soy-wasabi butter and an Indian style salmon dish), the rest being surprisingly mediocre.

After one too many unhealthy meals hastily eaten after working late, I pondered my favorite solo dining options while driving back to DC... Dino? I saw myself eating a whole plate of prosciutto, plus cheese and plenty of wine Palena? It would be the burger and fry plate, for sure. Possibly even dessert... I always had in the back of my mind to try Rock Creek in Bethesda. The concept, as you might remember from Sietsema's review, is that all the dishes are very low calorie, with the nutritional information provided on the menu. Having worked in the health research industry, I find this an interesting idea. However, most times I just don't want to know the nutritional details of what I'm eating when I'm at a restaurant. I'm there to enjoy the food, and besides, it's not too difficult to tell what's going to be high calorie and what's not (which is what makes the alarmism of the CSPI so ridiculous). That said, it would be nice to have a place like this as an option, especially if it was, say, right near my office and open for lunch. Can this type of thing ever catch on? Probably not, I thought to myself as I walked past other packed restaurants (Austin Grill, that Pizza/Italian joint) to the near empty Rock Creek. The few people in the dining room were, um... well, this must be where the Prime Rib crowd goes when they're looking for "lighter fare". I find the diet fads of my friends and relatives incredibly annoying, especially when I'm out to dinner with them. Give Rock Creek credit, though-- they aren't pushing some questionable fad or philosophy (low-carb, all-organic, macrobiotic, etc), they're just trying to cut the calories in the food they serve and let people know exactly what they're eating. But as anyone who cooks knows, it's tough to make something delicious without at a least a little strategic use of butter, cream or olive oil. There's not much compromise at RC-- they're going all the way. The entrees average about 450 calories, which isn't much. I couldn't detect any use of fats in the dishes I had. I started with a lobster and corn chowder (150 calories). Thin and watery, it looked like they might have tried to rely on the natural starch of the corn to thicken it, but it just didn't work. It wasn't unpleasant, though, but not very satisfying either. Perhaps defeating the point of eating here, I started filling up on the very nice hummus (in lieu of butter) with excellent whole wheat bread they serve to every table. The trick with the hummus seemed to be pureeing it thoroughly, the nearly whipped texture providing a sensation of creaminess... this worked. With the tagliatelle w/ eggplant, tomatoes and rapini (350 or so), there was no sauce, but things were nicely cooked and the vegetables were fresh. Unfortunately, this dish lacked any depth-- you felt like you were eating 'diet' food. Dessert's gotta be the toughest to pull off. I've been served many 'low-calorie' desserts and they've all sucked (my mother went through a big carob phase when I was a kid... bleeccch). I ordered the 'Peach Tatin with Ricotta Crust' (266), which came out as a stack of uncaramelized, warmed-over peaches on top of a soggy, sweet cracker. Really not good (and I love peaches). There's no reason this couldn't have worked, though-- it was just a poor execution of the idea. Just like when you binge too much on unhealthy foods and feel you need to eat steamed vegetables, I now feel like I need to go to Bistro du Coin or something. [Don, please edit this if it got too off topic]

Ciboulette Market downtown [Closed in 2008] is an interesting French bistro/market that fits what you're looking for. However, they were changing things up the last time I was there, so I'm not sure whether they're serving dinner now or only lunch still (try ciboulettemarket@earthlink.net) There's the somewhat legendary Crozet Pizza in the nearby town of Crozet, which gets a lot of hype (I think it's overrated, but still very good pizza). You'll need a reservation.