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StephenB

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  1. StephenB
    I don't think the Washingtonian mention is a diss, as I understand the term. People continue to go to Ray's the Classics, and they continue to have high praise for the food. But because they keep ordering the same things, apparently based on what they know and love from Ray's the Steaks, the menu had to reflect that, and that constitutes a change but not necessarily for the worse. That is a comment, not on the restaurant, which continues to get high marks, but on the clièntele, which does not care to experiment. As for the Tim Carman piece, I agree that Michael Landrum is an interesting character and worthy of journalistic focus. I knew he went to Andover because he sometimes refers to time spent at the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library, which is where it is. But what about the published assertion that he did a tour in the Israeli army? And as for staying free and clear of bank loans, there have been references right here on dr.com that estabishing Ray's the Classics put him in serious hock. Carman seems to deny that without addressing it directly. And then there is the issue of chefs. Apparently, Landrum himself is manning the grill at RTC. Is that a long range plan? And who is continuing to turn out the wonderful chops at RTS, especially the mysterious but delectable calotte, which I have blissfully consumed on two recent occasions? Last time, the waitress said, "Here's your culotte." I said, "'That's a pair of pants, honey, I just want some meat." Under any name, it was very, very good.
  2. StephenB
    Wait a sec! Oct 7? Isn't that the same day as the dim sum lunch at North China? It sounds like a good day, except what are we doing for breakfast?
  3. StephenB
    Sam's Argentine Bakery on Wisconsin Ave.
  4. StephenB
    I'm planning on it.
  5. StephenB
    I'd be up for a dim sum adventure there.
  6. StephenB
    Sorry, I was thinking about the Buñuel movie, Viridiana, about a beautiful woman who has identity problems.
  7. StephenB
    At a dinner at Viridiana celebrating Grover's newly-acquired citizenship last week, I asked her, "If the United States played South Korea in the World Cup, who would you root for?" She said, "That's a difficult question."
  8. StephenB
    Yes. Those pictures are irresistible.
  9. StephenB
    Sounds good. I would like to attend, pending date availability.
  10. StephenB
    How about Mark's Duck House on that date?
  11. StephenB
    Bambu serves food of little distinction but their HK style noodle soup can be of mild comfort in winter months. The funny thing is that it is owned by the hole-in-the-wall takeout joint 3 or 4 doors up MacArthur, Chen's Gourmet, which is much better (and cheaper), and whose hot and sour soup is worth trying. I also like their sliced pork appetizer and their garlic spinach. Bambu, in addition to bland pan-Asian dishes, offers uncomfortably rigid chairs and acoustical din. Despite all, they seem to do good business.
  12. StephenB
    I called Colvin Run to make a reservation for this, their penultimate weekend, but they have discontinued the rolling carvery cart, so I opted out. Is there anyplace left in the area that carves succulent roast beef to order at your table?
  13. StephenB
    Rice 'N Noodles at 22nd & G, NW, is closed, done in by some sort of real estate deal. In terms of economic and social mix, it was the closest I've seen in these parts to Pittsburgh's Primanti Bros. Construction workers, business people, hospital personnel, GW students, professors and even President Trachtenberg were liable to be sharing your formica. Cheap eats from seven or eight cultures were available, including Central American, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino and African American. Everything was available hot -- and HOT (i.e., caliente y picante). I particularly liked the seafood soup, the rice & beans, and various permutations of gyoza. The language behind the counter was Spanish; behind the cash register, Korean. Mixed populations tended to talk to each other. It never busted your wallet. I don't know another place like it around DC.
  14. StephenB
    Scott, I'm on, and thank you for organizing it. Here are some of my favorite JNH dishes, including the dreaded H20: APPETIZERS * means spicy A28 SALTY & CRISPY SQUID A47 * SZECHUAN STYLE RABBIT A50 * PORK KIDNEY WITH MINCED GARLIC A56 * CHOPPED LEEK STEM WITH PORK GARLIC & BLACK BEAN A01 * SHREDDED RADISH WITH HOT SAUCE A14 SEASONED SEAWEED A16 * SHREDDED PORK TRIPE WITH HOT SAUCE A41 FRIED BABY SMELTS & PEANUTS MAIN COURSES F22 * YU-SHIANG PORK HOME STYLE T20 * TRIPLE PEPPER CHICKEN DRY SAUTÉE F29 * SHREDDED CHICKEN WITH PICKLED CABBAGE H20 * FISH FILET OVER VEGETABLE SZECHUAN STYLE H05 STEAMED FISH WITH SHREDDED SCALLION & GINGER F02 BEEF WITH OYSTER SAUCE F09 * SHREDDED PORK WITH HOT PEPPER F26 TENDER SHRIMP SAUTÉED WITH EDAMAME BEANS E19 SMOKED DUCK N11 * PASTA WITH HOT MEAT SAUCE
  15. StephenB
    Frank Deford on David Halberstam: I now most remember a late night a few years ago on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, when my wife and I were out walking our little bichon frise, Bijou. Our apartment was near where David and his wife, Jean, lived, and we ran into him. He immediately said we must have a drink together. I pointed out that we had the dog. Never mind, he said, he often just took his own dog into bars. It'd be fine. And so the three of us, with Bijou, waltzed into the Café des Artistes, took a table and ordered drinks. Remarkably, Bijou behaved wonderfully, even if she'd never been in a bar before. I think she knew that the big man with the deep voice was responsible for her being there, and she better be grateful and good.
  16. StephenB
    A cheerful disposition, a memory for faces and names, a fashion sense, and an epicanthic fold.
  17. StephenB
    Cap, deckle, calotte, whatever you call it, it is stupendously good. From the web; ...the deckle is any part of the strip of muscle and fat that lies right on top of the ribs, according to James Reagan, a specialist from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. When it is taken whole off of the primal rib cut, chefs say it resembles flank steak. But it's more tender and more marbled. "It's the flavor of rib eye with the tenderness of filet," says Eric Ziebold, executive chef of CityZen in Washington, D.C. It's the only cut of beef that he uses without braising. "Once you've had it, it's hard to go back to anything else," he says. Escoffier and I had it tonight at RTS (the last ones in stock). Zut! All the hyperboles are warranted. I don't know if it's the best piece of beef I've ever had, but I can't remember anything better. Thank you, Michael, for a memorable gustatory experience.
  18. StephenB
    I speak for snobs. You have to ferret out the places that offer a mere two or three choices and steer you into a bowl of gazpacho, probably whomped up in a common kitchen. Some of the better restaurants are guilty of this -- Bistro Bis, Taberna, for example. We snobs say, "If you're going to do Restaurant Week, then by god do it! Take a loss if need be for the added exposure. But don't say you're doing it and then chisel the people who want to try you out. Better not to do it at all."
  19. StephenB
    The ingredients of a great lunch: Beautiful weather. A place in the shade on the deck. The mule-driven barge drifting by. A waitperson with a dazzling smile and radiant eyes. Good company. Interesting conversation, mostly about mutual friends. A dozen top neck clams, a dozen Long Island oysters (actually, a baker's dozen in each case because the shucker knows us). Mignonette sauce. A basket of bread heels. Tomato soup with crab meat. Sautéed calamari in a crisp, long-leaf salad. Buckets of iced tea. Enough time, two hours, to relax.
  20. StephenB
    Tosca, Fogo de Chão
  21. StephenB
    In my recent trips, I like to go out Cambridge Street, past Sanders Theater, to the string of Portuguese places that have sprung up in that neighborhood. There are no chains here, service is personal (often by families), and the seafood, especially the bacalhão, is delicious.
  22. StephenB
    Le Pleisse Tuite
  23. StephenB
    I called Hong Kong House in Virginia Beach. No dice. Their chef hasn't changed in 12 years. The hunt goes on.
  24. StephenB
    This is more confoosin than amoosin. Has the genius chef in fact showed up anywhere? Is he avoiding the federales or what? And why hasn't the Journal-Constitution noticed this loss to their area?
  25. StephenB
    I believe that most days he butchers in Arlington until late afternoon, then heads to SS. But on APAT Sundays he stays in Arlington (unless that's changed in the last few weeks). And of course he continues to look for a satisfying hobby to eat up those idle hours.
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