StephenB
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Everything posted by StephenB
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It is absurd to think that your spiciness is the only way. I don't aspire to hit the top of the Scoville scale. But what makes you think that your taste for spice matches mine or others'? The spiciness doesn't put me off, the autocracy does. But count me in, and I assume you'll let me order for you the next time.
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I would like to go, but I have no idea what you mean. Are you saying you will do the ordering and others' preferences will not be accepted?
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It's pretty easy to get there, but just for the fun of it, what would one enter in one's GPS?
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Dave, your photos are so good that I can smell them (except the exterior shot). Did you see the Maestro? Did he look happy? Or did he look like his feet are itching for another move? And was the place inundated with screaming, adoring customers, which is of course what he hates the most?
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This was the perfect afternoon to go to Ray's Hell Burger: It was raining on and off. Key Bridge was clogged (we took Chain Bridge). We went after lunch and before dinner. BHO was at 5 Guys. His visit to Ray's is now officially old hat. The place was half empty. Lots of parking. Ray's the Catch is still a week or two away. -
Breakfast - The Early-Morning, Polyphonic Food Blog
StephenB replied to txaggie's topic in Shopping and Cooking
Mr. Sesser's reply to my query: << I grew up calling them hard-boiled eggs, but outside the U.S. no one knows what you're talking about. Okay, this hard-boiled egg first of all was cooked just to the point where it was hard but the yolk a tiny bit runny, in other words it had some juice to it. The yolk was the darkest orange I've ever seen. I don't know how to describe the taste, but the chicken definitely wasn't running around pecking at dirt. The taste was so fantastic you wouldn't want to do anything to it, not even sprinkle on some salt.>> -
Breakfast - The Early-Morning, Polyphonic Food Blog
StephenB replied to txaggie's topic in Shopping and Cooking
My favorite food writer, Stan Sesser, reports in the Asian Wall St Journal that he had a kaiseki breakfast in Kyoto that featured "the best hard-cooked egg I've ever had." Is hard-cooked the same as hard-boiled? Short of mixing it with other stuff, or sprinkling it with spices, how is one egg better than another? Does it have to do with chicken feed? -
I think I had #11, which was a noodle concoction, satisfyingly spicy, but the few shrimp in it were lost. The beef and tofu dishes came with rice. We got 4 orders of kimchi for the 3 of us -- a zen alignment. I intend to go back to explore the other options. Wait a second -- maybe I had #12. They sell humongous clams in the seafood section -- 3 for $1. I got a package of the somewhat smaller topnecks, still nicely sized.
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Outback Steakhouse, Australian-Themed Chain
StephenB replied to hm212's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
Interesting behavior by the waiter, leading to two people being "taken aback". The only time I've experienced something like that is when I went to Hooter's with my 30-year old son, and a couple of waitresses sat down with us and batted their eyelashes at my handsome boy. I figured maybe this is what they do, but it wasn't happening at other tables. I'm not sure what "flair" is. -
Deviled eggs with caviar.
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Here is the comment of my college roommate, who has lived in Japan since 1985 and is a professor at a Japanese university: "Fugu has poison all through its body, some places more than others, females more than males, and more or less depending on the time of year. You can get stoned on fugu, and some people aim to to that -- obviously with the connivance of chefs. This is a kind of risk-taking that I can imagine in Japan, but not so much in the U.S., at least until fugu reaches teenagers who would otherwise sniff glue. "So my hypothesis is that some customers, and of course some chefs, put themselves at risk. Also I wonder if deaths from fugu in Japan have increased in the last 10 years, in line with a general increase in suicides as businesses fail. A second source of suicide by fugu would, of course, be chefs whose customers have died from it." To that, I would add: Fugu chefs in Japan study 5-7 years to gain their certificate, they have special knives and a cadre of assistants, and still people die. This is not a trivial subject. When I was in Tokyo some years ago, a well-known sumo wrestler was a victim. The buzz that you're supposed to get from fugu is le petit mort, which can also be translated as orgasm. In this video, note how the fish continues to struggle as it's being cut up: http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/200...ty_and_dead.php
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About a month ago, my broker asked me how the lifestyle of my acquaintances had changed since the economic downturn. I asked around but nobody seemed to understand the question. One friend gave me a lecture on macroeconomics and the greediness of the financial community. Another said he had stopped using credit cards because he doesn't like the interest rates. When I pointed out that there is no interest if you pay promptly, he said he doesn't care, he just doesn't like the rates. Another (she will recognize herself here) said she likes bargains. When I asked her if that means she'd changed, or adjusted, in some way, she said no. Finally, I got a real answer, though I can't believe it's typical of the community at large. One well-to-do friend said he had changed his landscaping contract from five visits a year to four. Thank you -- at last -- for a real answer! I told him I understood how he had earned his summa cum laude degree -- he responds to questions. But the consensus from top to bottom seems to be that people haven't thought about it much in terms of their personal behavior, or, perhaps, they're unwilling to address the subject in conversation.
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From The Wall Street Journal (article by Amy Tan): Vietnam is one of the world's largest producers of coffee, and Hanoi's cafes are well-versed brewers. The drink to order is the celebrated coffee brand: Weasel, named after the way the coffee beans are processed. Local animals, actually civet cats rather than weasels, feed on coffee berries and expel them as they go about their daily business. The berry seeds -- coffee beans -- that pass through their systems undigested are then hand-collected and roasted. "Apparently, chemical alterations within the (animal's) stomach create a unique flavor to the coffee," explains Mr. Nguyen. "Strong, but not bitter. And silky, almost chocolate-y." To me, it tasted a bit like buttered toast; a sweet nuttiness, creamy and mellow, mixed with an underlying burnt aroma. In Hanoi, a half-kilogram bag of Weasel brand coffee retails for about $50. -------------------------------------------- I'd say the first person to taste this delicacy was even braver than the first person to eat an oyster.
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Jim, an excellent précis. I would add that before he burst onto the scene here, he cooked for the Chinese Prime Minister, a top hotel in Beijing, and then the Chinese ambassador to Washington. And the excitement we experienced as he jumped from one restaurant to another in NOVA was beyond cultism, it was fanaticism -- American boisterousness, perhaps. Sometimes, after we'd tasted his wares we would demand that he come out of the kitchen for a curtain call. He hated that. After a smile and a bow, he escaped as soon as possible. One of our group, "pandahugga," complimented him in Mandarin, and that was even worse. Like many geniuses he just wanted to be left alone to do his work. According to press accounts, the same thing happened in Atlanta. I don't know if he's found a more comfortable environment in Knoxville. But if he ever comes back here we'll try to restrain our enthusiasm, at least on the surface.
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Le plateau de fruits de mer.
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As we all know, Dean & Deluca is pricey on groceries. In the seafood department today, I spotted a batch of supersized topneck clams with a sign that I thought said $40. Is that for a pound or a dozen, I wondered. That would be in keeping with the preposterousness of some other items there. But the counterman let me know that I'd missed the decimal point -- they were going for 40¢ apiece! I said that was great but I am not a shucker, and value my digital appendages. A supervisor happened by and said that he would shuck them for me, preserve the liquid, pack them in ice, etc., etc., except that the shucking knife he'd ordered hadn't yet arrived. A friend with whom I was shopping said Let's take them to your place and steam them open. I said How many do you have? He said 17. I said I'll take them all. In the end, he packed 14, rejecting 3 as unworthy. Price: $5.60. They peeped open after about 20 minutes of fumes and I thumb-wrestled them apart without misadventure. They went down very easily with a squirt of lime juice. Tasty, meaty and still cool despite their steambath. What a deal!
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At lunch today, Melony the Manager volunteered that on January 29, when a baker's dozen of us convened there, she was off duty, and the woman who was taking her place confessed subsequently that the group seemed to be uninspired by the spice level of the servings. It's true that the Scoville Scale was down a bit from what I'm used to at that place. This is not to say that the food was bland, only that it could have been kicked up a notch. Anyway, the woman in question is now gone, and Melony promises that dishes will not be dumbed down, even a little, when she recognizes us. Of course we all understand that extreme Szechuan food is not palatable to everyone who frequents the restaurant. So we just need to say we're from the rockwell group -- or flash our membership card. And let the peppers erupt. As if to balance the equation, the tilapia bathed in a variety of spices, and the jumbo shriimp with garlic and cumin, brought tears to my eyes, mostly but not all of joy.
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Mark, what wine would be suitable with Nashville Hot Chicken?
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Grover, thank you for planning an interesting, unusual experience. How do you say in Korean, Matte imashita!
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Date Change - dr.com Dinner at Evening Star Cafe
StephenB replied to Escoffier's topic in Events and Gatherings
Matt, you have done an excellent job in both words and pictures for which we all are, or should be, grateful. The only thing I can add is that the sparkling rosé at the opening was, um, OK, but not as good as the Dr Pepper. -
Lunch today: A27 Shredded Pork with Hot Pepper and Pressed Bean Curd A03 Fried Dumplings with Pork Filling N36 Spicy Noodle with Spinach and Ground Pork T21 Homemade Bacon with Leek A tribute to Bobby Byrd (D-WVa)
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Momiji, Sushi in Chinatown
StephenB replied to jstevens75's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
I wanted to go in for a nice fluck. But they must be hard of herring. Instead I got scrod. What a fluke! -
Reluctantly, I have to agree with my friend M'sieu Escoffier on the rough service, all the more surprising since they were trained by the rigorous Michael Landrum, who coincidentally was not on site during this meal. There was a sense of rushing us through. The waiters awkwardly leaned across the table to scoop up plates. My cutlery disappeared after the appetizer and was not replaced until I flagged down a waiter. I was served a bottle of beer without a glass. The waiter first said they had rack of lamb (for 1) and then after checking with the kitchen at my insistence said no, it was lamb chops. All in all, it was what I would have expected on opening night except that opening night was much smoother. As for the other clientèle, I have no idea if they were expense account people or visitors from Mars. But business continues to thrive. At 7 p.m., only one table was unoccupied. The thrust of all this is that we have very high standards regarding Michael's restaurants, and this was just an off day. If Wm Blake were there, he would have said (to continue Michael's "fearful symmetry" image), Did He who made the lamb make thee?
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Restaurant Week is eminently worthwhile at Hook's. I had the calamari, stiped bass and chocolate pudding. Each course was prepared with care and skill, and kind of generous in terms of portion. Little things matter: sea salt instead of a shaker. My companion said of the French coffee, "I keep pouring milk in but it doesn't change color." The tiny waitress was so adorable I could have put her on my watch fob. Two RW meals, plus soft drink, coffee, iced tea and chamomille tea, amounted to three RW lunches, well worth it. The captain told me they also serve a plateau de fruits de mer, which I intend to try.
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Readers may discount what I am about to say with the knowledge that I am totally in the tank for Michael Landrum. I have eaten at four of his emporia and have never had less than a marvelous meal. Opening night at the new RTS location was, not to put too fine a point on it, glorious. The quality of the beef, the ergonomic chairs and booths, the Bernie Madoff décor, the self-flushing toilet -- what's not to like? It's true there was a teensy problem with the ventilation toward the beginning of the evening, but a loving Jehovah smiled on Michael and made it balmy outside so that all the doors could be opened, and the smoke dissipated. It never was so bad as to cause teary eyes or scratchy throats, but the imperturbable staff took it seriously, and by 7 o'clock there was nary a whiff of the problem. We must have had four waitpersons at our table. One said she was the dessert server. They all seemed skilled in their tasks, though there was a sense of opening night jitters. Anyway, it's a nice, open space with the same menu as down the street, along with the styrofoam boxes if you need them. My companion said he's taking his Swiss relatives there next Summer -- and the Swiss know service!