JBag57

"Moving on from Patowmack Farm, Chef Tarver King Announces Plans for New Restaurant in Paeonian Springs" by Karen Graham on paeoniansprings.com

Bucolic heaven is Paeonian Springs.

Thank you, genericeric.  Hours and food selection leave a bit to be desired, to say the least.  Also, it is not their fault that the Resort itself is not firing on many cylinders at present, but with so many people (owners, renters, guests) up there during the pandemic, it is frustrating that they are not taking full advantage of the pent-up demand for a place to shop for some things that not found at, or are somewhat different from, the offerings at Blackrock Market.  DeVine would do well to fashion itself more after the Basic Necessities shop down in the valley.

On 9/29/2020 at 11:01 AM, genericeric said:

Wintergreen Resort (Nelson County) has the whole mountain wired for high speed - would double check when booking based on whether you go through the resort itself, Airbnb, etc but its set up for it.  Fair warning, takeout food options are very limited on weekdays - weekends are better.  If you do go, check out Basic Necessities carry out in the valley, and their excellent wine shop.

Someone needs to convince Basic Necessities to work on taking over operations at the DeVine wine shop up on the mountain near the Wintergarden Spa.  The current proprietor doesn't seem to have his/her heart entirely in the establishment.

On 9/6/2020 at 4:16 PM, alexandria1 said:

We feature seasonal, intentional ingredients

I am sure that there is some other way to interpret "intentional" as not being the opposite of or contrasted with "unintentional", but I can't get this meaning out of my head!   

Downtown Crown has a sister store in Falls Church, Dominion Wine and Beer, and it is easily in the top 5 of Northern VIrginia beer retail spots.  They also have Georgetown Square Wine and Beer in Bethesda, which may have a similar selection to Downtown Crown, they both probably get all of the top beers distributed in Maryland.   Dominion is limited to beers that are distributed in Virginia, as are all other retail shops in NoVa.  I now might have to cross the river and head up 270 to see what they have to offer that I can't get in Virginia!

ETA: I knew this all sounded familiar--I now realize that I said much of this a couple of posts up!  Please feel free to delete.

Back in April, I got the "Parma", one of the Italian cold cut subs, and found the standard sub roll that was used was pretty subpar.  I didn't find the meats compelling either.  The most recent time before that was probably 10 years ago, and , in a moment of deja vu, realized that I had the same reaction back then.  Most of the Town of Vienna raves about them, though.  If Santini's put about 10% more meat on their "Godfather" it would unquestionably run circles around the Italian subs here.  (I prefer the Godfather as is over the Parma, but the bread-to-meat ratio is slightly high.)

I haven't been to The Sandwich Shop, but used to frequent Chase.  When it opened, the TSS menu prominently featured Boar's Head meats, which I figured I could buy at several local supermarkets and make the sandwiches myself.  Or do restaurants have access to some premium grade of Boar's Head?

Bier Mi is a great list of breweries within an approximately 100 mile radius of my address (in Vienna, VA), but very few of the listed breweries actually deliver "to my location."

One that does, Ocelot Brewing, from out somewhere near Dulles Airport, has been my go-to.  (NRG Provisions would be another go-to if I lived in their delivery radius).  Ocelot has some good IPAs, a nice Italian Pilsner, and everything they make is at least above average.  Free delivery, $70 minimum order, and they deliver all the way East to Alexandria, but only in Virginia.  Ordering is done through a link on their Facebook page, which takes you to a document that might be a Google docs form.  Order before Noon on Wednesday for delivery on Thursday or Friday.  You enter your order, and they call you to obtain payment information.

(I would provide some kind of link, but I simply don't know how...)

IMPORTANT EDIT: I just went to make my order for this week, and their Facebook page says that DELIVERY IS TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED (my guess is this will turn into "permanently") as they figure out how they will address Phase 2 operations that will start soon.  They do not have any outdoor capacity, so they stayed with pickup and delivery up to now.  It was definitely great while it lasted!

Mama Chang or Taco Bamba (this is in the strip mall right across from the Patriot Center).

Reported a little over a week ago:

https://www.alxnow.com/2020/02/13/old-hat-gastropub-is-official-at-former-king-street-blues-in-old-town/

Catherine Douglas Moran of tysonsreporter.com is today reporting that Urbano 116 (original in Old Town Alex.) is going to open in the Brine space at Mosaic this summer.

Dominion Wine and Beer in Falls Church is about as good as they get in Virginia (Norm's in Vienna being my sentimental favorite)!  A good number of out-of-state breweries do not distribute in Virginia, which puts the stores at a disadvantage relative to DC, but some progress is being made.  In DC, Craft Beer Cellar on H St. near Union Station has had a pretty diverse selection, but I haven't been in a while.

There is a Circa at Navy Yard near Nats Park, and I believe I heard that an Open Road would launch somewhere in that area by next Spring.

There used to be a donut place in that building, and maybe something even before that. 

They have pizza by the slice at least at lunchtime (the only times I have ever been) and they do a decent job of not overcooking the slices in the reheat process.  Many options available by the slice as well.  Two slices is way more than enough for a hearty lunch!

Will crushed it at Pizzeria Orso in his time there, I have high hopes for this new place!

4 hours ago, Pat said:

We've gotten wraps  from the Roti by the ballpark to take into the two postseason games we've gone to. I hadn't been there before this month. It worked fine for our purposes. (We used to pick up sandwiches at Taylor Gourmet in the same row of stores.)

Last night I got a steak roti wrap with romaine, red cabbage slaw, cilantro, and garlic sauce. It hit the spot. All I'd eaten to that point yesterday was a few pretzels, so that could be a factor in the deliciousness of the wrap. I'm not partial to wraps generally, but it seemed the most portable and non-messy way to eat their food at our seats.

I was a little apprehensive checking the online nutrition calculator. I notice it doesn't have the lettuces you can add listed there, but they've got to be pretty negligible, calorie-wise at least. That wrap was 650 calories (not bad), but -- yikes -- 34g fat and 1142 mg sodium.

 

You don't say what style of sandwiches you used to get at Taylor Gourmet, and if the Nats don't advance, this will be useless information, but inside Nats Park, at the Caviar storefront (next to Haute Dogs in the free-standing building in left field), Grazie, Grazie! has been operating there lately (at least the last week of the season and the three playoff games).  This is the operation started by one of the founders of Taylor Gourmet, whose name escapes me.  The offerings are limited to a Chicken Parm sub and the "8 + 1", an Italian cold cut sub that seems to be the same as the "9th Street" (8 + 1 = 9) on the Taylor menu.  Risotto balls with marinara are also available, and maybe one or two other small things.  The 8+1 is $11, a bargain for ballpark prices, and tasted exactly like I remember the 9th Street tasting.  Both times I ate there, the lines were considerably shorter than most other concession lines.  Here's hoping I get to buy another one at the park next week!

(Maybe this is a better fit for the Eating at Nationals Park thread, so please move if desired)

P.S., I think I saw that a Grazie, Grazie! had opened at the Wharf, as well.

Subscribed, and looking forward to next Thursday's episode!

On ‎8‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 3:26 PM, pras said:

I was up at Flying Dog in Frederick last night for my monthly beer club meeting last night.  Recently, they have had several draft only tap house only selections (available for growler or crowler fills).  This typically includes two sour fruited beers.  The base beer is a kettle sour (think Berliner Weisse) with an addition of fruit puree.  Last night they had a tart cherry and a pineapple.  Both were really good and refreshing.  A bit on the sweet side, but not too much, and pretty in balance for the style.  I was more partial to the cherry, which was a natural flavor (the pineapple was too).  Worth checking out if you are in the hood.  For anyone who thinks this is strange, in Germany, Berliner Weisse is traditionally served with a syrup to add to the beer.  

Even more strange is that one of the syrups (raspberry being the other) traditionally used is fairly bright green in color, and is referred to as "Woodruff", which is some sort of herbaceous plant.  I am not sure I have seen anyone trying to replicate that (unless maybe with hibiscus?) in the Berliner Weisses and Goses currently on the market.

ETA-In the "good old days" when Greg Engert had his attention more focused on Rustico, and actually tended bar there, they usually had a Berliner Weisse on tap, and he had the requisite raspberry and woodruff syrups on hand to serve with it.

I haven't been, but DC Steakholders, from what I read in some story a while ago, is a food truck setting up a retail location (cheesesteaks) and keeping the frozen custard equipment running to serve FDB custard products.

A new location of this place is supposed to open at the Wiehle Avenue Metro Station in either late 2019 or early 2020.  Same with Matchbox.  Pupatella is to take over an existing Pizza Hut within a couple hundred yards of that Metro station, I think late Fall or by the end of the year.  Things are taking a turn for the better in that area on the food front.

Yeah, I don't get it.  I never noticed a drop off in quality, but definitely noticed a drop off in size of crowd when I would go in.  It seemed like the initial crowds of late-20s to mid-30s dwellers of nearby apartments gradually gave way to more families occupying the booths, with the bar crowd being almost non-existent.

I didn't go frequently (maybe 4-5 times a year), but will miss it.  Where I want to go next is where several people commenting on the linked article go, those who posted statements along the lines of "not impressed." 

SeaQuench Ale, by one of Don's "favorite" breweries, Dogfish Head, is a great, refreshing, summer sour (lime, lemon), and is only available in cans (IIRC).  It is also very affordable, in the realm of sours, being priced like a "normal" 6-pack of craft beer.  (Sours can get to be almost prohibitively expensive.)  Any sours by Veil, Vasen (which just started canning and distributing to Northern Virginia), or Commonwealth, is likely to be good to very good.  Three Notch'd also cans a passionfruit gose that is pretty darned good.  Aside from Dogfish Head, the other breweries are Virginia-based.  Old Pro gose by Union Craft of Baltimore is a great example of an unfruited gose, with just the tartness and a bit of saltiness, also in cans and generally available at craft brew shops locally.  At the higher end (price-wise), The Bruery out of California is turning out some really good sours, but around here they will mostly be in large-format (750 mL) bottles.  They are fairly widely available, but they also have their own shop with a huge selection in the Union Market area, quite close to St. Anselm (closed Sundays at present).

ETA: minor nit to pick, it is the "Department of Beer and Wine" (not "wine and beer") over there in Potomac Yards, with the appropriate (IMHO) ordering of their liquid offerings.

Forgive me if I am missing something, it is late in the day for me, and most brain cells have been used to capacity.  I do not see how/where batting average is accounted for twice in OPS, in that, as you say, batting average is "included as a component" in both figures.  Neither includes batting average, per se, in determining the value.  Batting average could be said to possibly have a correlation to OBP and SP, in the sense that, the higher the batting average, the higher the "starting point" for each may be.  But, for example, OBP is not batting average plus something else, it is number of times reaching safely over the total number of at bats.  Batting average uses neither of these.

As to your point about OBP, I doubt that any team's data analysis group these days uses that and that alone as "the ultimate offensive statistic", and instead each have slightly differing views as to what stats are viewed as most important.  It wouldn't surprise me, either, if one of those 30 teams is using something akin to your proposed "ultimate offensive statistic" either instead of, or in addition to OPS in valuing offensive output of players.

The North End of Alexandria has Rustico, and, slightly further away, Bastille.  Myself, and a couple of people I know, refer to Rustico as the "cell phone waiting lot" for DCA. (my son flies into DCA on a semi-regular basis in the evening hours)  It is a stone's throw away from the GW Parkway on Slaters Lane, and, at that time of day, you are less than 10 minutes away from the airport exit off of the GWP.

Last-minute Hail Mary here, but does anyone have any recs for West Palm Beach, near Ball Park of the Palm Beaches?  Casual preferred.

Not sure they are at Nats Park any longer, or maybe they moved from their original location, or I am going senile.  I think they were a one-and-done (season) at the park.  I once got something like a banh mi dog, and although the bun and toppings were excellent, the dog itself was rubbery.  Possibly due to constraints of cooking at a concession stand.