cjsadler

That beer is seriously good. They had a tasting of 'strong' pils at RFD awhile ago and I thought that was easily the best one. I need to get down there.

Is there anything better for outside drinking in the summer? There's a few recommendations on the Great Wine Finds thread, but anyone have any other favorites. My usual two go-to's are: -Domaine St. Antoine (Rhone) -- Can sometimes be found for as low as $7. Haven't seen it around this year, though -Saintsbury Vin Gris of Pinot Noir (CA) $12 I hear the 2004 French ros�s are really nice. Domaine de la Mordoree Tavel was one recommendation I got (anyone know where to find it?) (And is Firefly having another ros� fest this year?)

Chef Furstenberg, I enjoy the occasional email essays you send out. Any plans to turn the Breadline blog into a more regular forum for your musings? Chris

That one doesn't sell wine, though, does it?

I really liked the Moral. Franz is right-- I don't think I've had a red for that dirt-cheap price ($5.99 a bottle at Calvert Woodley) that's that good (though Osborne Solaz can sometimes be had for that cheaply and is pretty close).

FYI-- I was in Calvert Woodley today and they have the Gragnano on sale for $11. Best Cellars carries another sparkling Italian red, La Sera Malvasia. Fairly sweet, it works as a pleasant dessert wine.

Anyone had any of the (mostly) inexpensive Spanish wines from Franz's column yesterday?

I was there a few Mondays ago-- I'm sure it will be open unless there's some special circumstances. I wouldn't trust anything the website says-- it hasn't been updated in years (literally).

I was looking at this site when a coworker came over to my desk. Very embarrassing. (How do you explain that one?)

Was up there Sun and Mon. Had dinner Sun at a great new BYOB, Lolita (13th & Walnut). Actually, it's BYOT (T for Tequila) since the menu is Mexican. You bring the booze, they provide the freshly made pitchers of mixes (besides traditional, they currently have strawberry-basil (really good) and watermelon mint). I was pretty skeptical about the menu, since it's sorta upscale Mexican-fusion, but everything was excellent. I had squid stuffed with a chorizo and chickpea mixture and then carne asada with a roasted plaintain and poblano crema. Both delicious, as were the other plates I sampled. Wish this place were in DC. As a bonus, Lolita is directly across from the amazing Capogiro Gelato (no trip to Philly is complete without a stop at Capogiro). They keep getting farther out with the flavors, though. Black truffle gelato? (I nearly gagged from the small tasting I had of it).

Stopped by Sat morning and gotta agree that this was a bust. I don't really get to Pearson's much and was surprised by the prices. They are about 20% or so higher than most other places I go, so the 30% savings wasn't much of a deal.

Pearson's is having an annual sale starting today, going through Saturday. 30% off their entire stock of wine (except those already on sale).

Chive spaetzle and chicken and mushrooms braised in riesling. I love spaetzle, and it's about the quickest most foolproof thing to make.

Tomato paste. For each cup of flour you need roughly a tablespoon. Just mix it in with your eggs.(Careful if you use that paste that comes out of a tube like I did- it has a fair amount of olive oil mixed in. I already use olive oil in my dough so this extra oil resulted in a dough with a hard to work with texture that had me cursing up a storm.)

Goat cheese and scallion ravioli with black olive butter. This was from M. Batali's new book-- I just decided to make it a tomato dough instead. I have to figure out how to take better pictures with this new camera, though.

I don't know if they still have Saintsbury Vin Gris on the list, but if they do that's a good thing to be drinking right now.

Have they started selling meat yet? (An email was sent out a little while ago announcing that they were going to start selling meat from small farms).

Can't make Hank's tomorrow night, but I'm going to try and hit Galileo just before noon. I assume the back patio is open these days?

I stopped in here after working late (they serve food until 1am) in Baltimore one night a couple of weeks ago (been out the country since then) and left very impressed. They've done a great job converting a former warehouse into a stylish, multi-tiered restaurant. I grabbed a seat at the large bar, where the extremely friendly and knowledgeable bartender (I wish I could remember his name) took great care of me as the only solo diner amid the crush of drunk businessmen and cocktail drinking hipsters. I had: Braised veal cheeks - served with artichokes, mushrooms, pine nuts and some reduced braising sauce. Can't go wrong with veal cheeks. Chorizo and potatoes - Very simple, with both ingredients sliced and sauteed along with some onions, but perfect Mussels gratin - Good, but the mussels were a bit on the small side for this type of preparation (ratio of bread crumbs covering the half-shell to mussel meat too high) Fritto misto - Calimari and a certain type of fish I can't remember, with a lemon and garlic aioli Lamb on fougasse - a pile of cold shaved lamb on top of a toasted slice of fougasse bread smeared with a delicous garlic (and yogurt?) sauce. I didn't expect the lamb to be cold, but didn't mind-- it was kinda like a superb deli sandwich Portions were generous for the prices (it ended up being alot of food for one person, but hey, it was very late and I hadn't eaten anything all day) and the interesting wine list is very reasonably priced. They have a nice cheese selection too, that I unfortunately didn't get to sample. This place is definitely worth a drive from DC. Go, and you'll see why Sietsema reviewed it.

Stopped in last night to try a panini, but they weren't on the menu There were plenty of other interesting new things though-- the menu's been greatly expanded since I was there last (or was that just because it was Mon, when only the Cafe is open?)-- at least 15 dishes on there. Had a great artichoke antipasto plate (which also had bufala mozz, cured meats and fava beans).

The tasting sounds like a great idea. Count me in. I have a pasta machine I can bring (and might be +1 with another pasta machine). Hope you have a big kitchen, Mike!

Probably heading up there this weekend. I would strongly recommend sticking to Philly's thriving BYOB scene, as BYOB's are something we don't have in DC (for that matter, we really don't have all that many good, creative mid-range restaurants like they do in Philly, period). It gives you a chance to open a special bottle and keeps the bill very reasonable (especially considering DC's generally high wine markups). A few recs, in rough order of preference: Django (tough reservation, though) Matyson Pumpkin Chloe RX Audrey Claire (very hit or miss) Also, I hear alot of good things lately about Marigold Kitchen and Alison at Bluebell. My sources tell me Vetri (not BYOB) has gone way downhill. PS-- As Tweaked mentioned, if you're a beer drinker, Ludwig's and Monks have excellent selections and good food too. Eulogy in Old City is good for Belgian beers as well (but don't eat there).