StephenB

What happened to the Washingtonian contest in which the magazine promised a $150 dollar gift certificate to Notti Bianchi for the best list of three favorite courses -- appetizer, main course, dessert -- from local restaurants?

The announcement was a few months ago. The deadline was November 17. I have written to Catherine twice asking her where the results were announced and where I could read the winning entry.

The first time she said it would be on Todd's blog. I was unable to find it there, although it's possible I missed it.

The second time, more recently, she didn't respond at all.

I have felt that Washingtonian has improved in recent years from its suck-up-to-advertisers begninning. So surely there must have been a winner to the contest that Catherine announced here on this board, it must have been posted somewhere, and the result must be available somewhere.

So congratulations to the person who won, whoever you are. Please reveal yourself, and share your winning entry.

What is the parking situation at the new venue?

Details of our Jan. 29th Hong Kong Palace dinner are here.

13 people showed up at HKP. Here's what we had:

tangy spicy wonton (2 orders)

preserved pork (special) (2 orders)

beef & beef tendon with szechuan spicy sauce(2 orders)

fried dry fish with peanut(2 orders)

spicy oil-touched chicken(2 orders)

steamed cod fish with ginger & green onion(2 orders)

chicken with hot garlic sauce

beef with vegetable in peppery broth

chengdu smoking tea duck(2 orders)

ma po tofu

spicy sichuan ribs

pan fried celery & wooden ear mushroom(2 orders)

cumin lamb(2 orders)

stir-fried sliced pork with chili pepper

garlic flavor fried flounder

It was exactly the right amount, neither too much nor too little. We paid $25 pp. I hope the attendees will say what they liked best.

We're now up to 15 for tonight, assuming everybody shows up. That includes my +1, the lovely Elliott. For those who haven't been to HKP before, if you're coming from DC, the easiest thing is to go out Rte 50 to Patrick Henry, turn left to the first light, then right and right again into the little mall, which is across the highway from Sears. Daniel suggests we double up on some of the items I've selected, which is exactly what we shall do. Otherwise, the menus are printed and ready for distribution. Is anybody hungry?

Note however that this is exclusively a take-out business, not a sit-down restaurant.

There are a few tables on the porch suitable for clement weather, not nowadays. Their hot and sour soup is worth a try. I also like their sliced pork appetizer. This hole-in-the-wall take-out place actually owns the fancier, less worthy, Bambú, down the street on the corner of MacArthur and Dana.

Pho 75 was closed for Ox Year, and we were a bit early for Hell Burger, so we bumbled into Guajillo for lunch today. We were glad we did. The tortilla soup was filling and comforting for a snowy day, with chicken, vegetables and dumplings. For dessert, I had the chocolate flan and she, abstemiously, the vanilla. If everyplace in Washington shut down except that tiny mall, we could eat quite well forever.

What's all this? I thought it was established that Don Rockwell are the two missing sisters at Four Sisters.

I think it is the time to change the subtitle (Chinese New Year, Anyone doing anything for the Year of the Pig?).

I prepared 4 courses for the Lunar New Year dinner and we had a good time.

1. Spring Roll with Gu-Jeol-Pahn stuffing

2. Dumpling Soup

3. Lion Head Meatball

4. 溜三絲 (I have no english traslation. Anybody?) Stir-fried Julienned Bamboo shoot, Pork, Shrimp, Leek and Chive with oyster sauce based starchy sauce.

And please don't forget the delicious dessert, sliced pears with pomegranate seeds, followed by an assortment of digestifs.

For the Jan 29 7 p.m. dinner at Hong Kong Palace, we have a table for 12 reserved under my name. I have selected 6 appetizers and 9 main courses to start with, and I willl print up the menu for everyone. Gung hay fah tsoy!

Thanks, Zora and Waitman! I hope I will be able to return to Montreal when the weather is warm, but I've purchased my tickets (Amtrak there, plane home), and will have to dress in many layers! I'll check out the B&B and work on a brisket plan.

You can see a lot of Montreal using the underground -- in shirtsleeves.

Yes, me. And that chair.

The usual suspects defied the inauguration crush by convening at Ray's the Steaks Sunday night. There was a tie-up at the mouth of the Key Bridge, but other than that the traffic was OK, especially after I got into the backflow of an ambulance. When we entered, Michael said he had a special table reserved for me way in the back, which turned out to be an acidulous reference to my snarky complaint some months ago about the marathon hike at Restaurant Eve. Serves me right.

We had pork bellies, shrimp scampi, crab bisque and various kinds of steak (mine was the Blue Devil with chipotle), followed by coconut pie and white mousse with strawberries. The food, as usual, was scandalously satisfying.

For the first time, the menu is published on the web:

http://www.northernvirginiamag.com/restaur...ays_the_steaks/

When I asked Michael what had provoked his William Blake quote (from "Tyger, Tyger") on this board having to do with "fearful symmetry", he said that was a reference to their providing both ketchup and catsup. Huh? I confess the joke escapes me, if it is that.

The homebound trip was free and clear. The touristic hordes had retired.

The Four Sisters dinner was good but not extraordinarily so. I'd like to return, but not anytime soon.

Chinese new year is early this year. JNH Owner/Manager Audrey tells me she will concoct a special Year of the Ox dinner on January 26 for $30. Any takers?

For lunch today, I had shrimp in garlic, hot buns, skirt steak, a pile of ff, flan, 2 glasses of red, all for $17 plus tip, and it was all tasty, or as they say in Argentina, sabroso.

There were only 15 people in the restaurant, including two lovely blonde college students named Courtney.

I have to say I thought that Au Pied was one of the great restaurant disappointments of my life. Lots of porky goodness -- check the onion soup -- but otherwise just OK. Felt like I'd wasted my Big Night Out.

The point of APC is not the subtlety of the cuisine, it's the ambiance. It's a noisy, friendly, rough-hewn place, where people at the next table are automatically your BFF. English is not a problem, especially if it's clear you're not Anglo-Canadian. Yes, the portions are gargantuan, but what the hell, leave some over. Or better yet, pass things around. Is the poutine sinful? Yeah, but you're at a party. And they do offer, in season, a world-beating plateau de fruits de mer. The servers are harried but maintain a Gallic irony. All in all, it's an exciting, efficient way to dip into the foreign culture next door -- and feel part of it. If you want gorgeous food elegantly presented, go to Toqué.

I just made a reservation for 4 Sisters dinner under DR.com. It doesn't mean that I am going to be a coordinator but I realized that making a reservation was a bit urgent. I took a look at the menu. They have a family style menu for 10 people and I would like to tweak some of dishes. If Lilai is available for us on that day, maybe we can get a great help from her.

I think that's a perfect idea. The menu is daunting for someone who isn't intimately familiar with Vietnamese cuisine. Thank goodness the multi-cultural Grover is. We have 15 people signed up, so the dinner for 10 should be a good start, and we can take it from there. It's an opportunity to try a lot of different stuff. Where they offer a choice on the pre-fixe dinner, my votes are: 2,2,1,2,1,2,1,1.

And I wonder if we can add the Hot Pot, which looks scrumptious.

Anyone up for a repeat visit to Joe's Noodle, China Bistro (mama's dumplings) or the new shabu shabu (which is the old shabu shabu menu, but with new owners?). happy to organize for later in Feb/March

Certainly yes for JNH.

I would like to participate in the Jan 29 outing to HKP, and please put me down as a probable for Jan 7, 4 Sisters, as well.

On Christmas day, four mixed non-Christians sneaked in before the flood at 5:30, and ingested:

A 4 tangy spicy wonton

preserved pork (special)

fish in broth with vegetables and peppercorns (special)

C 33 chengdu smoking tea duck

C 2 ma po tofu

C 20 spicy sichuan ribs

pan fried celery & wooden ear mushroom

This is what I will order on the eve of execution.

I also can't make this Tuesday. Not enough notice.

Unless you just like to throw around Blake quotes, I guess you're talking about a tiger-burger.

TIGER, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Sounds delicious. Grrr...

Curiously, there seems to be an inverse ratio between fanciness and accessibility. Any of the Chinese or Korean places in shopping centers will do. Most of them have handicap spots available to those with stickers, but even if you miss out on those, parking is reasonable on the lots. If you hanker for Vietnamese food, forget about Eden Center, it's a parking mess, but the new Four Sisters location is OK. For Argentine grillada, Victor's Grill. All the places associated with hotels, of course, have garages or valets. Thai Square on Columbia Pike is hit or miss for access, but if you go close to 6 you're OK. The two Ray's on Wilson have handicap spots. I don't know of anyplace in Old Town where parking is reliable. Restaurant Eve is bad. The answer for those places is taxis. Some of the restaurants mention parking on their websites. An ancillary problem has to do with being taken on a marathon hike to the rear of the joint -- amazing how often that happens. But rocks has a good list of Virginia restaurants, and all you have to do is call. At the same time, you may sensitize the staff to your needs.

Yes, we paid for it. And in fact there were people in the group who kept it going by asking idiotic questions, such as, "Where in Spain did you go to cooking school?" The chef said he was going to talk for 25 minutes because that's how long it takes to boil the rice. At least I think that's what he said. It could be that the sogginess of the rice was due to the endless extension and revision of his remarks.

But we got even. As a token of our appreciation, we gave the manager a subscription to the Harvard Business Review. Poor guy. He'll probably get as weary pouring over that as we got from listening to him.