MelGold

Also noteworthy, it's dinner only for the first week.

I am looking for the cook who made the POUND CAKE and the ISRAELI COUSCOUS. Please, please PM me. (Or if you know who made it, please share and I will PM them.

I made the Israeli Couscous Caprese Salad...if that's the one you're talking about, I'll try to remember what I threw in there as I made it up this morning.

Deadline was extended to midnight tonight. There's still time...http://pabeef.org/soyouthinkyoucangrillnew.aspx

Want the chance to win a new Weber kettle for summer? Today's your last chance to enter. Check out the full So You Think You Can Grill? contest thread under Events & Gatherings.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the final day. You know you have a winning recipe in your repertoire. Prizes include a brand-spankin' new weber grill (good for future picnics) and some other swag. http://pabeef.org/soyouthinkyoucangrillnew.aspx

If you're eating in the burbs, I've always found Yama in Vienna or Blue Ocean in Fairfax delicious...and both offer much more by way of an authentic experience than just sushi.

I'm sad...really wanted to go this month, but that's the night of Zoofari. People who have never gone to DC Central Kitchen to help out, go! It's a great opportunity to meet some new people or catch up with old friends while helping a wonderful organization feed thousands.

Testing recipes? http://pabeef.org/soyouthinkyoucangrillnew.aspx

The Beef Checkoff, through the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative, will sponsor an exciting new recipe contest this spring in conjunction with The Food & Wine Festival at National Harbor.

If you have a sizzling beef or veal recipe that thrills your guests and leaves friend and family salivating, we invite you to submit your original recipe. Only amateur chefs and grill masters with an original, unpublished recipe that's prepared on the grill or in an outdoor kitchen are eligible.

The top four semi-finalists will face-off in the Beef. It's What's For Dinner.® tent at The Food & Wine Festival, June 12 - 13, 2010.

Find out more here.

* Funded by The Beef Checkoff.

Several years ago I went with my wife...

About six months after that we were in the area and gave a second chance.

So you haven't been back since Dean took over the kitchen?

I had thought of Lugars but the other coordinators want to stay in borough so we don't have to figure out how to get 20 people from place to place. It's on my list of must-try-in-my-lifetime restaurants though.

I'm planning a bachelor party for my best guy friend in NYC at the end of February, and we're looking for a good steak dinner at a respectable locale on Saturday night before the debauchery begins. I have a few places in mind - Bobby Vans, Craftsteak, etc. - but was hoping there was a "Rays the Steaks" type place in the City. You know, great steak, better prices, no need to dress to the nines... Lots of the attendees are traveling from far away (Germany, Texas, etc) so we're trying to keep the entire weekend relatively moderate in the price column.

Thanks in advance for any leads.

Mel

A friend of mine from California is working a gig up in Philadelphia this month & is craving an evening at a wine bar. Any recs? They're staying downtown in the heart of it all. Thanks.

Dino's also doing a small cooking class for kids 5 to 11 yo in honor of Kid's Restaurant Week on Sunday the 14th from 1 to 3 pm. $25 per kid...learning how to prepare polenta and pasta. Chaperone's get a comp glass of wine while they watch. Call the restaurant at 202.686.2966 to reserve space.

Summer is for patio dining, people watching and pink wine!

PATIO PINK WINE FLIGHTS @ DINO

Starts June 8th & runs thru the summer

This summer, Dino is offering a special flight of palatable pinks for your sipping pleasure. For $15 a flight, you’ll enjoy pours of Latorrai Vin Gris, Lambrusco Pederzana and our exclusive Peter Solva Lagrein Rose. This summer flight is perfect when paired with our small plates, and available even if you’re not sitting outside. (Specific wines might change due to availability)

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Hope to see some of you tomorrow night at the Hilton Washington. Personally, I'm looking forward to yummy bites from The Inn at Little Washington, Granville Moore's, Eventide as well as quenching concoctions from Dino & PS7. If you're coming, say hi!

Have you called Backyard Barbeque & Catering? They are based in Arlington, but will probably service Montgomery County. I have had their stuff and it is pretty good. They can do a whole smoked pig.

I'm going to try to come...will bring dessert of some sort.

Who's coming? Tickets are still available!

Now it's going to be impossible to get a table!

My only complaint was the restaurant charging tax on the pre-determined tip as well as the meal, and we also tipped on the entire wine bill. And the wine store called part of the percentage a "booking fee", and then called the remainder the gratuity. I don't know what caused the "party of 6+ (or you pick a number) to be charged a set tip in the restaurant universe, and I don't get it.

I've worked in and with restaurants, and am friends with quite a few servers/managers/bartenders, so take the following for what you will...my observation is that the automatic tip for large parties is there to protect the server. The large majority of us on this board tip and tip well, but the vast population of diners out there don't. When there's a large party seated - especially in a special section of a restaurant that usually doesn't get seated like Planet Wine or a private dining room - that server is typically on duty that night to just take care of that table (which also takes considerably longer than a regular 4-top would). If they get stiffed because the diners can't do the math correctly or they're really cheap, that server worked a full shift for pennies. Unfortunately, it has become a necessary evil...much like putting down a credit card to reserve tables at popular restaurants on Hallmark holidays.

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Have you bought your tickets yet? Clickity

Are the weekday hours still 8 am to 9 pm?