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ScotteeM

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  1. ScotteeM
    Stopped by for take-out today (had my dog in the car) and over-ordered, of course, but there's nothing wrong with these leftovers! I had the chicken mole tamale again, and it was better than I remembered. The Mexicali with carnitas is a wonderful bowl of rice, lettuce, cheese, salsa and meat of your choice, with the sauce of your choice and sour cream. I wanted to try a Horchata, but they couldn't make it today, so instead I got a lengua taco. I like that they wrap the tortilla flat to keep warm and the meat filling is in a little container. Keeps the tortilla from getting soggy before one has the chance to eat it. The lengua was really tasty, and much better than what I remember having at Fuego Cocina y Tequileria (much better tortilla, too). It was a very happy lunch! Also, the lady behind the counter is extremely nice and helpful.
  2. ScotteeM
    Indeed, as has been mentioned up-thread, the tamales are made fresh once a day, and when they run out, they're out. They're worth a visit earlier in the day, if you can swing it.
  3. ScotteeM
    We were there yesterday (Friday) for lunch. I tried the chicken mole tamale and the pozole with flautas and loved all of it. The tamales have plenty of filling and it is delicious, and the corn meal coating is thick enough to hold together but not so thick that it overpowers the filling. The pozole was rich and unctuous and tasted of long cooking. The flautas, with their fresh-made tortillas and finely chopped filling, were the best I've tasted. In fact, all of the components were the best I've tasted of each of them. My husband had the fish and chips (again), which seems to be consistently wonderful. I agree about the service--it's friendly and helpful without being overbearing. We are still working our way through the menu and enjoying every visit.
  4. ScotteeM
    I don't understand why Trummer's On Main isn't anywhere on the list. We enjoy Sunday dinner there 10-12 times a year, and I think that the food coming out of that kitchen is superior to much produced by many of the restaurants on the list.
  5. ScotteeM
    Margarita's Latin Grill (Salvadoran food) in the Burke Village Center says on their website that they deliver. My husband and I have eaten in and gotten takeout from this restaurant and we like most of their food. It's fresh and cooked well, and reasonably priced. The menu on the website is annoying, because it's broken up into categories and has strange background colors, but it's worth wading through that. HTH
  6. ScotteeM
    Mturek, Don has written his own list, and it is here.
  7. ScotteeM
    My heart just stopped for a moment when I read this. I'm so sorry to see this news. I am glad now that I got to enjoy a dinner at Rogue 24 last November to celebrate my birthday--and it was such a blowout celebration that I was recovering for days after (chronic fatigue + 3.5-hour dinner = total (but happy) exhaustion). I still miss RJ in Merrifield and I am sad that he has left DC, but I am grateful for what he did while here, and I'm happy for his family that he is doing right by them.
  8. ScotteeM
    We were there last night and had the half salumi board with the grilled artichokes--a perfect combination! The space is very attractive, and the service was excellent. We had an early dinner, and by the time we left at 7:30 the room was almost 100% full, and as a previous poster said, the noise level was a bit more then than I could tolerate. Before the room filled completely, the volume was not bad. One reason we eat early when we eat out!
  9. ScotteeM
    Going to dinner at Requin on Wednesday was bittersweet"”the last time we were there, Grateful Dead concert videos were on the TV screens and The Dead were playing on the sound system. The space hasn't been altered, but why should it be? It is a great space"”a great dining room and a great kitchen. Service was gracious and (mostly) efficient from the moment we walked in. Our server took his time answering our questions about the menu and checking with the kitchen to ensure that my food would be gluten-free (I had emailed earlier in the week and received a positive response). As others have said, Chef Jennifer was at the pass checking every plate before it went out of the kitchen. The vegetable planche made for a fun start to the meal. All four offerings were delicious, accented with a few grains of coarse salt (fleur de del?) by the chef at the pass, which really drew out the flavors nicely. My hands-down favorite was the pastrami-flavored celery root, which really did have a nice pastrami-like flavor (maybe someone's reading this thread). I didn't expect to enjoy the shisito peppers as much as I did. The four different dishes provided nice contrasts, while adding up to a very nice whole. I noticed quite a few other tables ordering it, too, and with good reason. It was all delicious. My very favorite dish of the night was the fingerling potatoes. Others have described it in detail, but the interplay of flavors and textures really appeals to me. My husband loved the dish as well, but said he would have liked more potatoes for $10. The weakest dish of our meal, in my opinion, was the Bouillabaisse. The fish and shellfish were all nicely cooked, but for me the broth was overly salty. My husband had the toasted bread with it, and he said that mitigated the salt taste. There was garlic visible in the broth, but I am used to bouillabaisse with a more tomatoey and herbal broth than this one was. I ate the fish and left the broth, and I'll try another dish next time. The chicken other tables were ordering looked good. We aren't dessert people, but we did try them. Profiteroles for him (not enough, tasted good) and the chocolate soufflé for me (too much of a good thing). A word of caution for those seeking gluten-free desserts here: Ice creams containing gluten ingredients are made in the same machines as those without gluten ingredients, so if cross-contamination is a concern, the ice creams may be off-limits. We're already contemplating our next visit, obviously!
  10. ScotteeM
    We asked our server on Wednesday night and he said that all they are offering at the moment is individual cheese selections a la carte. He didn't mention any beverage specials.
  11. ScotteeM
    Don, considering that 1) Requin is still advertising on their Facebook page that they are hiring and 2) the first part of the new Wharf project is expected to open sometime in 2017, I am fairly certain that you haven't missed this pop-up. I'm working on my writeup of dinner Wednesday night (mostly positive), but I will say that I overheard other patrons asking staff how long the pop-up would be in place, and the staff had no idea, or at least were giving that impression. There wasn't any air of imminent departure during our dinner. Hope you'll go!
  12. ScotteeM
    Um, no, I don't believe that's been proven. I believe that I can tell the difference. It's not just taste, but color as well.
  13. ScotteeM
    Phililp Togni Vineyard 1992 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Bottled. Carefully decanted. Very much enjoyed.
  14. ScotteeM
    We met relatives from out of town for an early dinner last night. I agree with Star, that there is something for everyone on the menu. Also they were able to accommodate my need for gluten-free food, which is always a plus. The fried green tomato tower and the Caesar salad (with an abundance of anchovies, as requested) were enjoyed by those who ordered them. Wianno oysters on the half-shell were fresh, good tasting, with a nice (not overbearing) cocktail sauce, for what we thought was a good price. Three of us had the NY strip steak, cooked to three different temperatures as ordered, and the special order replacing the asparagus with mac & cheese was easily accommodated. A plus was that the runner knew who was supposed to receive which steak. One of us enjoyed the Beef Burgundy, which was a special. The steaks were well-seasoned and had a nice char on them corresponding to the level of doneness (less char on the rare, more on the medium-rare and medium steaks). The plating, however, was peculiar. The steaks were draped over the peppery garlic mashed potatoes and the asparagus in the center of the plate. I didn't find that attractive, I had to move the steak off to the side to cut and eat it, and the asparagus sandwiched as it was between the potatoes and the steak became overcooked. Service was somewhere between distracted and negligent, which was odd as only a couple of other tables were occupied when we were there. We had to flag down our server several times to place orders and to get the check at the end of the meal, and even when we did, he had to finish lighting candles on tables before he could attend to us. It's a nice, neighborhood restaurant, and was a great place to meet family staying in the area. I might eat there again if I find myself in that area on a Sunday night when many other places are closed.
  15. ScotteeM
    Has anyone been recently, for lunch or dinner?
  16. ScotteeM
    It's just two of us, so we're keeping it simple. Last night we had Imperial Crab (reputed to be O'Donnell's recipe), brown rice cooked in mushroom broth (stems of shiitakes and onion tops), with sauteed shiitakes & chopped green onions, and a green salad. Tonight we have a rack of pork, which I'll probably cut down and save half for another meal, roasted butternut squash, and sauteed radishes and radish greens. We might start off with some Surryano ham and Surry smoked lamb slices, and maybe some bubbly.
  17. ScotteeM
    I'd recommend calling the restaurant and getting the info straight from the horse's mouth, as it were. Enjoy!
  18. ScotteeM
    Thanks, Don! This is now high on my "must try" list, and to think I pass by this one day every week and never ventured in!
  19. ScotteeM
    Hear! Hear! Don, you know well how I feel about this site. Thank you so much for your leadership!
  20. ScotteeM
    I don't know restaurants in that area, but I remember taking our nieces and their friends to dinner in DC. We had 1 gluten free (me), 3 who would eat anything, 1 vegan and 1 who hated/hates everything. We chose Zaytinya, and 4 out of 5 of us really enjoyed the meal (yes, the one who hated everything did indeed hate everything, but she did eat). My experiences with the restaurants in Jose Andres' empire have always been good, as far as accommodating special diets.
  21. ScotteeM
    It is legal in Pennsylvania, although I'm not sure whether it's just at farm stores or at some grocery stores as well.
  22. ScotteeM
    Grand Opening this Saturday: "Annandale Grand Opening" on lotteplaza.com
  23. ScotteeM
    We've lunched there two or three times in the past couple of years, when we've found ourselves out that way. The Pad Thai is my very favorite of all I have tried in Northern Virginia. I like the flavors and the fact that it is not sweet. Pad See Ew was OK but not as great as it is at Elephant Jumps. And my husband reported that the Panang Curry is not his favorite (he likes it best at Bangkok 54). That being said, Thai Basil certainly serves a lot of people and folks are willing to wait in line for lunch there. It's a huge standout in a field of meh restaurants, fast food joints, and a couple of other gems in that area.
  24. ScotteeM
    It's a case of "follow the money." Isn't everything? It is not in the best interest of large dairy companies that buy milk wholesale from dairy farmers that they sell directly to consumers (and thus make a living wage). Laws regarding raw dairy products are set by the states and vary from one state to the next. At the federal level, it is illegal (last time I checked) to take raw milk across state lines with the intent to sell. It's treated as if it were an illegal drug! Some states allow raw milk to be sold for pet food, but require that it be denatured by adding a substance, like charcoal, that makes it unappetizing but doesn't make the milk harmful. Some states allow it to be sold as is as pet food. A few allow individuals to own a "share" of a cow and receive milk from "that cow" weekly. Some states allow none of the above. And a very few allow dairy farmers to sell their products directly to consumers without pasteurization and homogenization. Whatever the local laws, it is vital that the consumer know the source of the unpasteurized products, know that the farmer is handling the milk carefully and maintaining hygiene that isn't as necessary when the milk is being pasteurized. Don, I'm not sure exactly why raw milk has a sweeter taste, but I agree that it does. It could be lactose. I know that some folks who have the so-called "lactose intolerance" reaction to pasteurized milk do not have that reaction to raw milk, and my understanding of the reason is that pasteurization kills certain enzymes (it kills all the enzymes) that facilitate digestion of lactose. If I didn't have access to raw milk, I wouldn't drink milk at all. If you have access to raw milk from a reliable source, enjoy!
  25. ScotteeM
    The signs are up, and so are the shelves. I drove by 2 weeks ago and peeked in the open front door, and it looked like they might be almost ready to start stocking the shelves. Projected opening is in January, I think, but I'll bet they wouldn't mind opening before Christmas, if they could. I'm not sure how much worse the parking will be than it was when the store was a Safeway. It will be a couple of miles closer to me than the Super H-Mart in Annandale, although when the new H-Mart (I'm guessing it will be super) in the Burke Village Shopping Center (in the former Giant Food space) that will be the most convenient of all. I can't wait for both of these stores to open. I've never shopped at a Lotte, but I love H-Mart in all its forms, so I'm eager to see the new Lotte. I'm passing by there more often these days, because the holistic vet I worked for for 15 years has just opened his own holistic care and training center down Portsmouth on Woodruff Court, offering acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, massage, chiropractic, laser, physical therapy and all sorts of training for dogs (everything but the training for cats). <<<<Shameless plug.
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