porcupine

Intimate in the sense of "highly personal".

According to whom? Perhaps here's the real issue: the multicultural society. I'm 40 years old, lived almost all my life in Mongomery County, raised by middle-class parents (of Protestant and Catholic backgrounds) who were raised in the Pittsburg area, and guess what? ...where/when I come from breastfeeding is an intimate act that is not appropriate to perform in public. Nor is it appropriate to take an infant to a fine restaurant (or concert hall, or other public venue with paying patrons where the prevailing notion is to enjoy an adult night out). Am I more or less in tune with prevailing cultural conditions in the DC metro area? I dunno. I thought my cultural and socioeconomic background was pretty typical for this area. <shrug> Perhaps not. I'm not saying that I'm right or that you're right, but that we clearly come from differing backgrounds, so we should each make an effort to tolerate differing opinions. And to behave with consideration for others in public (the very essence of etiquette).

They are. Second-hand news: I popped into Mandalay once for a late lunch and saw a bunch of equipment and lights over one of the tables. The photographer was just finishing her shoot. Joe explained that he got a call saying the Post was going to publish TS's review in a few weeks and would like to arrange a photo shoot. He was under the impression that this was fairly standard practice. FWIW.

I owe Dean an apology. I had a great meal at Citronelle and wrote a lengthy post about it here. But I've dined at Dino twice in the past week and said nothing. Sorry, Dean. Dino is no Citronelle. But then, it isn't trying to be. I believe that it is trying to be a neighborhood joint where you can dine well without the expense or effort of a Citronelle. And it works. My favorite dishes tend to be the simplest ones, because I can see and smell and taste (and even hear, if Dean is nearby ) the enthusiasm and love for the high quality ingredients that went into them. But many of the more complex preparations are fine, too, like the arancini (what to do with lefover risotto), and the meatballs, and polenta with wild mushrooms. On Tuesday we took two friends there, and everything was excellent. The standout was a fantastic ribollita: rich, warm, satisfying, flavorful, filling - comfort food but on a higher level. It's a very succesful recipe that I hope gets put on the regular menu (at least for the winter). On NYE we took two other friends there. The best dishes were the mushroom tart and the lobster and pork cheek garganelli. On another forum I once wrote that my favorite restaurants are the intensely personal ones - the ones where you can imagine the chef (or owner) jumping up and down like a little kid when the first local tomatoes of summer come in - the ones where all the little details are a manifestation of someone's deep love for and personal involvement in food. I've been known to throw a party after discovering some new foodstuff, because I want to share the joy with my friends. Dean and Kay are like that, and it shows. Is Dino among DC's best? Probably not. But it's one of my favorites. It's the kind of neighborhood joint that makes me wish I lived in the neighborhood. PS two hours after posting my (now deleted) screed on the etiquette thread about breastfeeding, I was seated in the upstairs corner table under a painting of... a breastfeeding woman! Quick karma, Dean. Nice.

Yeah, I wrote a flaming tirade and deleted it later. It's a hot topic for me, but later I decided that the rest of DR.com doesn't deserve my ramblings. [go ahead and delete this one, too, Don when you need to]

Another wonderful tip gleaned from DR.com. Thanks, folks. I needed to stock up at Cheestique today, so went to Los Tios for lunch. Platanos, a pupusa (pork and cheese), and a tamal de elote. Perfect. <urp>

That about sums it up.

Hey! That's my joke!

I'm afraid to tell but the last line on the menu reads: MENU 250 It was worth it. [warning, unabashed sentimentalism follows] Mr. P and I were celebrating the 20th anniversary of when we started dating.

Yes, I'm about to answer my own question: Truffle Menu Now through the end of February, Citronelle is offering an eight course black truffle tasting menu. It's extraordinary. Make your reservations now and start saving your spare change, because this meal is worth it. I will even go so far as to say that this was the best restaurant experience of my life. Soup and Sandwich: a small cylindrical glass of truffle and foie gras soup, with a tiny straw; the presentation made it look like a hot coffee drink with whipped cream, but the flavor was deeply earthy, bold, and rich. The sandwich was stunningly simple: two tiny slices of bread enclosing the truffle. It tasted as though it had been fried in butter. I enjoyed a lovely Champagne with this dish (um, Mr. Slater, perhaps you could tell me which one? please?). Foie Gras and Truffle Salad: a confession - I don't really care for foie gras. Until last night, that is. The salad part was simply frisee with cubes of foie gras and shaved truffle, but it was plated with a small stack of thinly layered foie gras and truffle (7 and 6, I believe). Another visual trick, as it looked like a miniature European style torte of coffee and chocolate. This was my favorite dish of the evening. And I thought I didn't care for foie gras. Two Cheese Souffle: my husband's favorite of the evening, a simple (again) souffle made extraordinary with truffle emulsion and more shaved truffles on top. I regret not being able to name the cheeses, and I forgot to ask. Flourless Lobster Pasta: by this time I was getting a bit pickled, having followed the Champagne with an Alsatian riesling, so I'm not sure if I got this quite right: what looked like ribbons of fettucine were nothing more than lobster. How did Chef do that?! This example of the chef's legerdermain was served with chunks of lobster meat, some sort of creamy sauce, and yet more shaved truffle. Warm Yellowtail, leek-truffle vinaigrette: Yep, genuine hamachi, barely cooked on the outside and still raw inside, with truffles. My least favorite of the evening, I can only describe it as outstanding and not life-changing like the previous dishes. Black Feather Chicken, israeli couscous gratin: a slice of chicken breast wrapped in cabbage and a touch of bacon (bacon! I love bacon!). With truffles. Wish I could describe the couscous better, but by this time the subtle and balanced Chateauneuf du Pape that Mr. Slater poured was beginning to push me over the edge. You should see the illegible scrawl in my teensy notebook. Definitely having coordination and memory problems by this point. Chocolate Mushroom Vacherin: The first dish to not have truffles in it was shaped like a mushroom. Cute. And tasty. But by now I had finished the Chateauneuf, definitely memory-impaired, and the gracious Mr. Slater was pouring me a Banyuls, which I intended just to sample. Oops. That one went down easily. Petits Fours: I have a vague memory of something paper-thin with almonds, and something chocolate, and something with blueberries. Sorry I can't report better than that. What was particularly stunning about this meal was the basic simplicity of the dishes. The first was a perfect showcase for the truffle's flavor, but after that, in each dish the main ingredient highlighted the truffles while at the same time the truffles highlighted the main ingredient. And the whole meal was portioned so that we weren't uncomfortably stuffed at the end, merely just past full. Despite the food coma and hangover I'm now suffering, it was worth it. I think I've written this before, in other threads, but once again I'm stunned that DC has talent like this and yet people are still writing that it's a second-tier food city. They're nuts. And I love foie gras.

Which would be useful information if there was anything edible there.

Is Chef Cox a big fan of the steak tartare at Circle Bistro?

Well, I have reservations for January 14, FWIW. Maybe I'd better make a backup plan.

homemade marshmallows. sssssssugar.

So last night a friend asks me "where can you get good steak tartare around here?" and I didn't have an answer for him. So I'm asking youse guys. Any ideas? Thanks. --- [The following posts have been split into separate threads: Old Europe (SRJ)]

Yes.

1961 Chain Bridge Road McLean VA 22102 703-748-9801

Sounds like we need a support group: "Hi, my name is Elizabeth and my cutlery keep sliding off my plate". The bummer of it is that it's such nice looking cutlery.

As you may recall from an earlier thread, I've been on a hunt to find a suitable replacement for the late, lamented Connaught Place, for my near-weekly Indian food fix. The hunt didn't last long at all, because I keep going back to Infusion. Infusion was started a few months ago by the owners of Connaught (also the owners of the very good Raaga in Falls Church). The menu offers a lot of standard Indian dishes and a few Indian-inspired dishes. But most importantly, the chef from Connaught is there and is willing to prepare almost any dish from the old Connaught menu. (For that matter, he's been known to prepare dishes that are not on either menu, if you just know what to ask for.) And some of the staff is there, too, which means no matter what I order, they always bring me a little dish of paneer makhni, just because. Mostly I've gone for the lunchtime buffet, and I'm pleased to say everything I've tried is as good as - sometimes better than- Connaught's version. The buffet often has dishes not on the regular menu. Some of the excellent offerings (I'm not going to describe them all): lamb rogan josh (which a friend swears is really more like a dahiwala, but it's good whatever they call it), palak chicken, dal makhani, chicken tikka, samosas, pakoras, tandoori lamb kabobs, dhaniya gosht, chana masala, lauki kofta (squash dumplings in tomato-onion sauce), kurkuri bhindi (fried okra), aloo papri... And the desserts! Outstanding gulab jamun, kulfi and mango kulfi, carrot halwa, but best of all: rasmalai. Not many restaurants serve rasmalai. I'm not a shill, just a devotee. If your holiday shopping takes you to Tyson's Corner - heck, if you're in TC for any reason! - stop in for the lunch buffet or dinner. Spend lots of money here so that they're wildly successful and will never go away again. And do try the paneer makhni. Infusion is on the outside of the mall, lower level near Hecht's and <shudder> Sbarro.

L'Academie de Cuisine offers a nice basic knife skills class. FWIW, I love my Global, but when I dropped it off at La Cuisine to be sharpened, I picked up a 9" Messermeister San Moritz Elite, which I also love. (Yeah, I know, I don't need two chef's knives - I'm just a gear geek.) Here's one more vote for 'try before you buy' - find one that fits your hand and won't fatigue you.

d'oh! well, perhaps the week after. Thanks for the heads-up. Of course, if anyone else wants to organize it for a sooner Tuesday, please don't wait for me, but pm me for more details.

How about Jan 10 at Dino? Dean has made a very nice offer of giving us the early-bird menu at $20/person, and at any time of the evening if we want to go on a Tuesday. I haven't said anything yet because I'm not free 'til the 10th. If you're interested, stay tuned; I'll make another announcement on this thread sometime early in the new year. Notes and disclaimers: the $20 early bird menu will not include drinks, tax and tip; check out http://dino-dc.com/menu/dino_sera.pdf for the menu. This will be an informal event in the spirit of $20 Tuesdays, open to all, no preregistration required and no prepayment accepted. Dean has asked, however, that if we accept this offer we give him a preliminary headcount one day in advance so the kitchen doesn't get slammed (a very reasonable request). The restaurant can accomodate 20 in the private dining room upstairs (if I understood Dean's message correctly).

Went to Rasika for an early dinner before a play last night, and it was pretty good. The interior is gorgeous, with dark wood tables and earthy red, orange, and yellow paint on the walls. The bar and lounge area are spacious, but the curtain separating them from the dining area doesn't keep out smoke or noise. Even the tableware is stylish, but the cutlery is rather unfortunately unbalanced, so that it slips easily off plates and onto floors - even when the waiters and not klutzy me are handling those plates. mango lassi: not on the menu, but Rasika has them. Very good, thick, only lightly sweet. reshmi kabob: minced chicken on a stick. A competent rendition. sev batata puri: six small crisps mounded with potato and two chutneys (tasted like the ubiquitous tamarind and, um, green). These were excellent, nice texture and mix of tastes, but rather sloppy to eat with a fork. I kept fighting the temptation to pick them up with my fingers and pop 'em in my mouth whole. edit: Now that I can see the menu online, I think we may have been served the dahi batata puri instead lamb dahiwala: very complex and subtly spiced, mild flavor with coriander foremost. Seemed plain at first but I found myself taking more and more tastes of the sauce, because it was intriguing. paneer methi: cheese cubes with fenugreek leaves - very tasty but glad I only got a half-portion, as it was a rather unsatisfying dish despite its complexity. (Rasika gets major props for offering all the vegetable dishes in half-portions.) palak makki: spinach with baby corn - delicious, complex, compelling, probably my favorite of the evening. Dessert proved interesting. I asked the waiter if the carrot halwa had walnuts (I'm allergic), and when he (finally) returned after inquiring, he said that every dessert except the apple jalebi had walnuts. "Bad menu planning", I thought. While enjoying the apple jalebi, a manager asked how everything was, and I expressed mild displeasure that so many wonderful sounding sweets were inaccessilbe. Well, the waiter was wrong, although a majority of desserts have either walnuts or cashews in them. The manager, sorry that poor information kept me from ordering what I wanted, brought me the carrot halwa (over my protests, as I was stuffed silly by this point and besides it was a simple misunderstanding) free of charge, which was very kind of him. apple jalebi: much better than I thought possible. The manager explained that the base is a traditional Indian dessert, deep-fried batter soaked in honey-rosewater-saffron syrup; the dish was updated by using the batter as a coating for apple rounds. This was served with a small scoop of cardamom ice cream. I could hardly taste the rosewater, and the saffron was detectable but not overwhelming. carrot halwa: sweet carrots with golden raisins and cashews, served with cinnamon sabayon. A nice take on a traditional dessert, not as sweet as I've had elsewhere. The sabayon didn't really do much for it, though. So far as I could tell, the kitchen seems to be on its game, but the service needs work. Though polite and attentive, the waitstaff were fussy, frequently rearranging flatware or glassware when it wasn't necessary. I know some people on this board like attentive service, but I prefer mostly to be left alone once my food's arrived. For me, the line between attentive and fussy is veeeery thin, but that's just my peeve; ymmv. Would I go back? Yes. Definitely. Just be aware that this is not your hole-in-the-wall, traditional flavors, mama's-cooking-in-the-back ethnic restaurant. PS the website really is awful. <oooh my head>

In case anyone's interested, Meyer lemon panna cotta: Place the zest of one Meyer lemon in a jar with 1/2 cup whole milk and place in the refrigerator for one to two hours (no longer). Strain into a pot and add 1 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup sugar, and scald. While this is scalding, soften two teaspoons gelatin in 1/4 cup milk. Stir this into the scalded mixture. Strain into lightly buttered ramekins. Chill for at least two hours (longer if you want to unmold it).

Meyer lemon panna cotta.