babka

So I took my brother to Passenger on Sunday and he introduced me to Port Charlotte 7 Scotch and, um, yeah.

On Monday, I went to my favorite liquor store so we could properly toast his departure that night and not only did they not have it, the man working Scotches had never heard of it and, when I said I thought a California distributor/marketer might possibly be involved as my brother often had it there, tried to tell me I didn't know what I was talking about and that Port Charlotte couldn't possibly be a Scotch because he'd never heard of it and I was describing a California involvement which meant it wasn't Scotch.

(Side note: This is not an uncommon occurrence in the Scotch section of local liquor stores. This salesman was more offensive than most, but I have no problem asking for--and receiving--generous, friendly assistance with any other alcoholic beverage, but the Scotch aisle, should I be so foolish as to respond to an offer of assistance with a description of what I'm looking for, often leaves me, well, in need of a double. Does anyone else run into this? And without spilling a gigantic barrel of worms, do men run into this? 'Cuz apparently I'm still feeling a little raw. I'm no expert, but I spent six months in Scotland drinking my way through a good number of distilleries--I ain't raiding Daddy's Glenlivet no more. Unless it's Christmas and way too much family is under the roof. But I digress.)

So--does anybody in town carry it? If not, can anybody suggest somebody that would order it without the ego trip?

The question for reviews in general is whether the critic can shoot on the count of three, but the restaurateur can only take aim after ten paces, unless he cheats.

I've clearly not given the brain cells sufficient lubrication this evening to usefully contribute to this conversation. Allow me, then, to simply say that my maiden voyage to RHB was today, and it done good. Food, yes, but more--asked a gent at an outdoor 3-seater if I could share his table, as the place was predictably packed, and he looked surprised (a stranger? asking to sit with me? well, yes, there aren't any other seats here for us as despise A/C), then said yes, of course. We had a lovely chat, and then we started talking with the 3-seater beside us, and it's a good, good place.

"Thai Sweet Chicken" potato chips.

the marmite ones were better.

New-to-me NW options:

Yazuzu

Siam House, which I haven't tried yet but, unlike Thai X-ing, delivers during the week.

With three mouths to feed last night and a fridge holding only week-old mashed potatoes, I made the happy discovery that Yazuzu delivers. Thirty minutes and $27 later, the delivery containers were stashed in the recycling bin and the table had a beautiful, perfectly tasty platter with two sliced sandwiches and nine salads. If you're in the neighborhood and in sudden need of a reasonably healthy middle-eastern spread, this stuff's good and fast. Portions are small and nothing is drenched in oil: Two sandwich combos & one side combo was just about right for dinner for three not-particularly-hungry women, so plan accordingly.

In rough order of preference (but really, it doesn't much matter), we had these sides:

Muhammara (hot and sweet red peppers ground with walnuts)

Mujadara (ground lentils and rice)

Hummus

Hindeeh (braised dandelion with onion)

Salatat Schmander (beets)

Mechoui (spiced roasted strips of peppers and zucchini)

Salatat malouf (minted cabbage, according to the menu; cumin cabbage according to our taste buds)

Laban (cucumber yogurt; went well with the garlicky chicken schwarma)

Persian Cutting Board Salad (eh. cucumbers, tomatoes and onions. eh.)

and these sandwiches, neither with much filling but both lovely when sliced and added to the platter:

Merguez sausage (made in-house)

Chicken schwarma (garlic!)

Aw c'mon Babka -- my daughter does the 9 course meal. Be a sport...

and yet you wrote:

The kids each devoured the 9 course and my wife and I had the fiver.

No further comment, Sport.

They'll call a cab for you. And Happy Birthday, by the way

thank you!

Five courses. We're not total masochists. Will happily report back.

We're going to the Tasting Room tonight for my birthday dinner, but our reservation is on the late side--8:30--and we both have work tomorrow. Any ideas on what time we might find ourselves stumbling out the door? And is it possible to find a cab in the neighborhood so that we don't have to worry about driving?

Thanks everyone!! At the last minute, a neighbor offered me her oven, so I wound up cooking the birds separately. The overcooked bird went into the trash; the perfectly-cooked bird was carved into tiny bits and tasted fantastic, like a free-range chicken only with more flavor, oddly enough.

Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving, and that everyone is fully recovered.

thanks! if I go with option (a), any guesses on how much extra cooking time I should build in?

I've got the day's first 911!!

I have two 10 pound heritage birds sitting in the fridge. I dry-brined them Tuesday evening with salt, pepper, and sage--basically following what I do with Zuni chicken--and they've been air-drying since last night.

At 6 this morning, I woke up to the realization that I'd forgotten about cooking the damn things.

I have one oven. I don't need to cook anything else in the oven. I think my options are:

a) side by side in one roasting pan (they fit, though there isn't much space between them), or

butterflied and roasted on two shelves.

Side by side is the easier option, because I've got 26 people coming to dinner at 7:30 tonight, but would that work? I think I'd bring them up to room temperature with an icepack on the breasts, then plop them into a heated cast iron, one by one, for 5-8 minutes, to give the bottoms a head start, and then put them in the heated roasting pan (or use the flat roasting rack?) and roast at some oven temperature that I haven't figured out, rotating them a couple of times to even out exposure.

Butterflying the birds would allow more air circulation, but I have unpleasant memories of cutting through a turkey's backbone from an unfortunate deboning experience last year...should I suck it up, gulp the wine, and go for that instead?

(happy thanksgiving madness everyone!)

New York is easier for me to navigate than Tyson's Corner, and so I had my first taste of Fabio Trabocchi's cooking a week and a half ago at Fiamma. They were still in soft opening, I believe, full prices but only one floor open for dining, but given this thread, I wanted y'all to know that he seems to be doing damn fine.

We ordered the tomato salad with a triple cream mozzarella, a risotto, and the lobster ravioli between the two of us. Everything tasted as it should, only better: The sweet/acidic tomatoes perfectly cut the creamy cheese; the risotto was both brothy and chewy at once; and the lobster ravioli was just plain _good_. There was an amuse of tomato water to begin the meal, and a small assortment of petit fours to end it.

(I'm sorry for the lack of details: Notwithstanding the light food, there was a full bottle of wine involved.)

The front of the house was mostly marvelous. They've invested money in good people, and it shows, notwithstanding soft opening hiccups. There was a wonderful sommelier they'd hired from L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon and a beloved server from Picholine, and if the above-thread mention of Jared is true--and it's coming from Don, so I guess it has to be--then I think BR Guest is pulling out all the stops to present a showcase worthy of Fabio's food.

I just don't think that I should have to rave over a "meh" ok meal -- especially when it costs $120 for two, including one cocktail, one glass of rose, and one beer, and no desserts.

meh. even at $22 for one, Agraria isn't good. Last summer, when it opened, I recalled a hamburger worthy of Palena and an aviator cocktail, courtesy of Derek, that left me eager to return. Then prices went up and reviews went down and I didn't bother returning until yesterday, when I used a RW lunch to test the current waters.

meh. The beets in my beet salad were beautiful but the whole was painfully salty; my medium-rare hamburger was medium; my fries were hot but not crisp; my chocolate cake had no taste.* I asked my waiter, as he removed the uneaten half of my salad, to let the kitchen know that the dish needed a lighter hand in the salt cellar--the beets and baby arugula were too gorgeous to suffer such humiliation--but I gave up with the burger, eating half (over-cooked and strangely bland, it was still better than the lean cuisine alternative at the office), nibbled on the cake, and asked for my check. The service was good and kind. My waiter even removed the salad and the cake, about which I said nothing, from my bill, charging me just $16 for the burger instead of $20 for the full RW menu.

meh. meh. meh. Agraria, I want to like you, but your food is worthy only of your location.

*Note: ShoeBoxOven was not responsible for the cake. I asked: None of her delicacies were available for dessert.

If you catch the 8:15 showing at Georgetown, you can have cheese & dessert at Citronelle afterwards and very happily imagine the preparation of your plates.

Idle Time, on 18th street, has several of the Time-Life Foods of the World sets. $9.50 for each boxed set of two. I snatched MFK Fisher's Provincial France, but Italy, China, and Latin America are still begging for homes....

Chestnut Soup served with Pig’s Ears filled with Sausage, Sweetbreads and Pancetta

Unexpectedly sumptuous. You can indeed make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

Seared Nantucket Bay Scallops served with Fresh Porcini Mushrooms and a Parsley Sauce

I think I may have possibly finished the parsley sauce with my fingers when the fork and bread could get no more. The scallops were lovely, but that peppery minty greeny sauce could make a napkin taste good.

Trio of: Bomboloni, Bicerin & Roasted Figs with a Port Reduction

Bicerin: Chocolate-coated valium.

Thank you, everyone, for the lovely evening!

Final Spread for 13:

cheese & crackers & bread

leek soup

egullet's slkinsey's turkey two-ways, braised & roasted.

roasted butternut squash & gorgonzola pie

creamed corn

greens with peanut sauce

cranberry chutney with orange zest & whisky

indian curried vegetables

baked potatoes with cheese

russian crepes

spinach salad

rice & beans & stinky cheese

stuffing, forgotten on the stove & discovered after dinner

the forgotten champagne & dancing off calories, followed by

homemade carrot cake, two apple pies, 1 cherry pie, and a fruit salad.

I only made the turkey and the squash pie; everyone else either brought a dish or showed up early to cook. Somehow the dishes all got done before everybody left and nobody called the police, despite, we realized on a late walk, being able to hear the music from a block away....

Hi.

It's midnight and I've already overcooked half the turkey.

That might be ok, except that 8 guests somehow became 13 this afternoon.

And that will probably be ok, except that, in laying out the china, I discovered that that my former roommate apparently took half my good plates and glasses to college with her.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

replaced yesterday's braise with a new one.

calculated: have now washed three primary pots six times each.

realized that since I already invited the neighbors so as to get access to their oven, I can borrow their chairs and plates without guilt.

consuming fresca cans and glasses of wine in roughly a 2:1 ratio.

Hi.

It's midnight and I've already overcooked half the turkey.

That might be ok, except that 8 guests somehow became 13 this afternoon.

And that will probably be ok, except that, in laying out the china, I discovered that that my former roommate apparently took half my good plates and glasses to college with her.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

New Orleans Birthday Girl: "Is this a fried LEMON?"

New Orleans College Girl: "Oh my god--I think these are fried mashed potatoes."

New Orleans Birthday Girl: "I thought we had fried everything back home!"

(palena, as usual, serving up a home-run last night...)

I don't think Tom liked it very much.

My brother's getting married in July, and I've offered to host an informal brunch at his house the morning after the wedding. I've done this with small groups of friends for past weddings, and it's a good way to recover from a hangover and hang out informally with the newlyweds, with no stress on their part, before everyone flees home across the country again.

This time, however, it's getting complicated. First, the number of guests has hit 60. Secondly, the logistics are such that there's not much time for cooking or shopping before the brunch actually starts:

Wednesday, July 12: Drive to Pittsburgh

Wednesday-Saturday, July 15: Pre-wedding assistance duties, wedding Saturday evening, play & drink at the reception until the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday, July 16, 10 AM: Brunch starts.

Everyone I'd normally press into helping with the brunch, myself included, will be coming in from out of town for wedding duties from Thursday through Saturday, which means there isn't much time for cooking....and while I'll have help in the kitchen on Sunday morning, nobody wants to roll to it much before 9 AM.

So I'm struggling with the menu. So far I've got a couple of sweet, yeasted breakfast loaves, bagels & cream cheese & salmon, fruit, and bread & cheeses & cold-cuts, but it's the warm dishes that seem to anchor brunches, and I don't have any of these yet. Maybe a couple of stratas, or--???

Help!

mdt said:

Correct on the oysters, but you forgot to mention that service was sloooooooooooow.

service? you had service?

dude, I clambered over the bar to shuck my own damn oysters and pour my own damn drinks. You must have missed me in your hunt for waitstaff....

Agraria is the new contender for best tasting burger around DC. Grade A fries, too.

If I may dare hearsay...that's a burger that would do Landrum proud.

Seriously. We stumbled into Agraria after vodka & oysters at Sea Catch, so my memory, washed with a beautiful alcohol haze, is sparse on details. But oh my stars, I want this place to succeed. It's beautiful, with enormous windows, a few fireplaces, and a color scheme that shades from bright whites and soft hipster to dark, flickering private rooms, but I could eat that hamburger as a last meal in a windowless, flea-ridden hut and die a very happy woman. The beef is a perfect, thick, oozing medium rare, with a pickle something that sparks up your mouth. We nibbled at the charcuterie plate, which was perfectly fine, but the hamburger...I didn't even want ketchup, which is no small thing in the hamburger game. And while I usually hate all cocktails not called "Martinis" (sugar and alcohol tastes, to me, like soap and coke--why suffer?), the chartreuse aviator something or another was, um, another happy factor in the alcohol-hazed bliss.

But the prices are high enough that I worry about Agraria's health, particularly without a chef. The hamburger, at $13, was one of the cheapest items on the menu; the cocktail was $12, add in tax and tip and you'll rapidly understand the poor masses standing at Tony & Joe's across the way. It's true that puts it into Palena cafe territory, but Cleveland Park for fine-dining, even on the cheap, is a no brainer. The waterfront, in contrast, draws a beer and burger crowd. Unless Agraria puts a few items on the menu to satisfy that crew, either in the form of a happy hour or a few gently-priced menu items, or unless it finds a chef who can draw Washingtonians to a new, parking-unfriendly corner of town, I don't see how it can attract the traffic it needs to keep that enormous space afloat.

which would be a damn shame...because did I mention, the burger would do Landrum proud?

this place has 'hillvalley' written all over it....

“Build your own Bloody Mary” Bar for Sunday Brunch

At the Sea Catch Restaurant

The bar will consist of 10 different infused vodkas, 6 different juice setups, 20 different added garnishes and condiments. The guest will choose either an infused vodka, at $10.00 a pour, or from one of our many vodka choices behind the main bar. Build your Bloody Mary how you want. Return to the Bloody Mary Bar to recondition heir drink for no additional charge*.