Arcturus

For Kosher they're SOL, but I don't understand why they wouldn't just roast some bacon in a sheet tray in an oven and hold it for those of us that appreciate the beauty of the pig.

Turkey bacon is one step away from tofurkey. Bacon is perfect on its own.

Is there ever a reason NOT to do 24 courses?

There's a serious storm of talent assembling at Rogue 24. Color me intrigued.

FWIW, 2 amys has never used 00 flour, unless they have changed the recipe.

Surprised it took you this long to pop by.

In the late 1980s, I lived a year in Chicago near Greek town and pretty regularly frequented Girodano's at Harrison and Halsted. It was important to note the location, since the age of the pans and oven made a substantial difference in the taste at various locations around the city. While the crust does lack a complexity that others such as original Pizzeria Uno's or Duo's, Gino's East, etc... it was pretty good especially at this time of the year.

As a side note, Gino's East used to be next door the Northwestern's Cardiac Center, and remember more than once someone having sausage, that were as large and wide as a hockey puck, joking it was ok since the doctors next door could just walk over and save you from the heart attack.

Actually on my return to the metro area, I spent many hours trying to replicate stuffed pizza at home, which is quite a bear which home ovens. In terms of a real deep dish or stuffed pizza outside of the Chicago area, I've always wondered if it's economically possible for a restaurant to survive with that style of pizza. Even in Chicago from what I read and heard from friends, 'skinny' pizza is more popular these days.

While I'm sure Giordano's was respectable once upon a time, my visit there last summer all but confirmed that those days are far behind them. Premade, flavorless dough and marinara, (both confirmed by the manager when we asked to talk to him) plastic-quality cheese, and a scant portion of low-grade pepperoni were the components of our pizza, which had about three bites taken out of it before tapping out. The rest of it was (probably) finished by the nearest homeless person on the walk back to the hotel.

With that said, I'm probably a bit of a pizza snob. So take that for what it's worth.

I thought at one point, I had heard some rumblings that Alberto's served pretty authentic deep-dish. Has anyone tried theirs? @thetrain, I would just order online from Giordano's, Gino's East or Lou Malnati's, put on your own choice of meat and get the real stuff.

Giordano's is trash, but either of the other two are awesome. Love me some Gino's East.

Metalocalypse-Toki Wartooth

It's a good move naming it after the backup guitarist in the world's biggest death metal band. But I think Skwisgaar would have been better, he IS the lead guitarist.

My husband is taking me to Cityzen for my birthday tomorrow night. I can't wait.

Quick question - for my last birthday dinners (at Komi and Restaurant Eve) we had huge tasting menu dinners. They were wonderful, but so much food and we both left feeling extremely full. I hesitate not to get the tasting menu, because we don't get to experience these great restaurants that often, but I am wondering if I should skip it this time and get something more sensible, like a 3 course meal.

Is this a dumb idea? Should I get the tasting menu and try to exercise some restraint (let's be honest, this is not my strong point)? or will I be just as happy with the 3 course meal?

Any recommendations if I do go with the 3 courses?

Thanks!

What my wife and I did when we went there was to both get a three course meal with different dishes for each course and have the plates brought out one at a time and split them. That way you can get close to the experience of a tasting menu without the "massively full" feeling. You can also add another course or two if you don't think you'll both be full at the end of the 6.

Either way, you'll enjoy yourself. Dining there was absolutely the best fine-dining experience that I've had in DC. Everything was conceived and executed flawlessly.

Potentially. If it were me, I'd ask if they were oven-braised (may want to check on the turkey prep as well).

The short ribs will more than likely be sous vide. And the turkey is equally delicious, so you can't really go wrong.

More seriously, I'm not sure that 2.5 stars gets you cult of personality status.

Not that it should, but stars don't exactly equal a chef's talents.

If there's a great chef in an older dining room (like New Heights) that doesn't stink of opulence, or maybe has a green server or two (like Trummer's), then it's impossible to gauge how much of the star rating went into the food and how much went into the ambiance. I wonder how Schwa, for example, would fare in DC in terms of star rating- the chefs are the servers, there's almost no light, and music is blasting far over normal talking level. There's no element of luxury there, but the meal itself was the best I've ever had, but I doubt that it'd get three stars in DC. The actual review from Sietsma for New Heights (and Trummer's, for that matter) glowed about the food with a few exceptions, plus it seems that he's not a fan of "modern" cooking techniques, which are utilized in both places. It all obviously comes down to personal opinion, but "star-rating" should only be an element of judging the talents of a chef, not the defining factor.

I think there's definitely a "good ol' boys" element to the DC fine dining scene, where someone generally has to be lauded by their already established colleagues in order to "make it." Being a former employee of both New Heights, it's one of the things that has been very frustrating to see, since Logan not only has a massive amount of talent, but is a genuinely good guy and great teacher as well that deserves to succeed. The only meals that I've had in DC that are comparable to what I've repeatedly had when I've eaten at New Heights in terms of quality and creativity were at Citronelle, CityZen and Palena (outside of DC, I'd include Trummer's as well). The food that Logan has been making is absolutely on par with those places (and was in my opinion even better-executed than what I had at L20) and is very similar to what Michael Carlson does at Schwa. And I'll be damned if that's not saying something.

Very gracious of you to do. Cheers!

Indeed. Say hi if you decide to stop by again, I'm the one with the beard that Edan is so obviously envious of.

Can not help you are taking offense to my comments, I am sure you read my past comments and understand there is no bias. Just relaying my comments.

Your comments are appreciated and respected, but your presumption that I don't know how to do my job well is not. The majority of the time that Edan's not working the oven, I am, and it's something that I've put quite a bit of effort into learning well, and the same goes for the other cooks. Comments on the food are one thing, comments on the people making the food are another altogether.

They have one person that can make the pizza and without him there it is simply not worth going.

I'm going to disagree with that, bordering on taking offense to it.

Edan is, without a doubt, the man, but we have a good crew and he is certainly not the only person on our team whose pizze I've eaten, including my own (Dr. X-mus, I'm probably the guy "normally at the oven that's not Edan."). Keep in mind that we're a young restaurant and the kinks are still being worked out- things are not yet exactly the way that we want them to be, but that's a daily challenge for us, and one at which we are improving every day. The same goes for the food timing issues- it's been difficult to train servers to execute that exactly as we need, but that definitely is a concern of ours as well.

As for the expediter issue, we have realized that and just hired a person specifically for that position. We're confident that's going to be remedied in the near future.

I'm curious about your "crispy to the center" comment regarding the pizze in question as well, because usually the issue is that it's too moist in the center, due to the moisture content of the cheese. I've never seen our dough to the cracking point in the crust, let alone the center.

Can't recommend one over the other, but be sure to stop at Halo Farms when you're there. Everything they sell is amazing.

Vienna Beef dogs Chicago-style are the best, right?

Oh my god. Correct.

Now I'll have to go into the city. This is great news.

And if you're in Ohio, you're gonna need to be hung over.

Blanket statements like that are always accurate.

My local Thai place deserves its own thread. I go in about once a week, & get the same lunch special-chicken ka pow, w/ tom yum kai (spicy chicken soup) & a small spring roll-$6.50. The food has always been good, but prior to the roof collapse & renovation, the atmosphere was very diner/luncheonette-white linoleum, bright lights, soda cooler. Now it's painted a nice pumpkin color, has comfy booths & tables, & has a lovely little bar. It's never too crowded, which, is a good thing, but I'd love for them to have more business (I'm selfish, I want them to succeed, so I can have my thai food).

I didn't feel I should comment, because I get the same thing over & over, but tonight I got takeout-larb chicken, shrimp cashew, & pad ped talay (shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels in spicy chili/basil sauce). I asked for the larb & pad ped talay to be hot & wow! this is the spiciest larb I've ever had, & delicious! Pad ped talay is equally spicy, I could eat this all day long, as long as I had lots of rice...a frosty Franziskaner weissbier for me, pineapple Fanta for the kids (they like it milder, hence the cashew shrimp), & we're all happy, & ready to wrangle puppies all night long.

I realize I need to quit complaining about where I live-I have Thai Nakorn & El Paso right around the corner & for honorable mention-Mamma's Kitchen, Viet House, Chef Huang's (lunch buffet), Restaurant Cosmopolitan (cevapcici) . Still untried-Su Pollo for Peruvian chicken & Alexandria Grill Bread & Kabob...it's not like I'm starving down here, though we have our share of dismal chains...

...As well as Samrat Indian, on Telegraph.

Thanks for the mention, I'll definitely check the place out.

I think it's Toronto's Chinatown that has the world-class reputation, not Ottawa. And, like DC, the best Chinese is in the burbs, not downtown. (Markham/Richmond Hill area - check the Toronto topic here on the board.)

Toronto's Chinatown is absolutely fantastic. And the best thing about the city is that it's so easy to eat well for not much money. Check out a Petite Thuet while you're there.

Also don't stay more than one night at Niagara Falls. There's some stuff there, but it's all touristy and overpriced, especially compared to what's in Toronto and Buffalo in terms of food. And definitely go to the Canadian Side and prepare for it to be bitterly cold.

In Pittsburgh I never liked Primanti's- I always thought the coleslaw tasted like Cigarette smoke and the bread was mediocre. It's good drunk food, but if you're lookin' for more than that I'd go elsewhere, like Aiello's in Squirrel Hill (pizza), Monte Cello's downtown (pizza), Le Pommier on the South Side (French Bistro), or China Star on McKnight Rd (excellent authentic Szechuan). Definitely research the restaurants that you want to go to in Pittsburgh, because it's extremely spotty when just driving around and looking. We've had some memorable dining experiences there, but quite a few were memorable for the wrong reasons.

The Great Andre Tchelistcheff was famous for smoking russiian filterless cigarettes moments before tasting wines up until his late 70's. Whenever he tried to cut down on his cigarettte consumption, he complained of his inability to taste wine without them. So it seems to be a question fo what you are used to and not the cigarette smoking per se. Andre was the greatest figure int he California wine industry bar none!

Now that's interesting! And very cool, too...

I agree that it's an issue of "what people are used to," but were the aftertaste of cigarettes and/or espresso present at some times and not others when seasoning food, I'd be interested to see if there are differences between the two on average. Like I said, it makes sense to me, but I drink coffee infrequently and don't smoke.

-How was over-salting in any way shape or form be relating to a chef smoking? How does one correlate to the other?

The theory behind this is that smoking less than a few hours before seasoning food kills a cook's palate so they use more salt. The same goes for espresso, in a lot of Italian 3-star places, cooks aren't allowed to drink espresso or smoke within 2 or 3 hours of dinner service. The palate should ideally be clean when seasoning food.

It makes sense to me.

Going to be in Chicago from October 7-12 (for my first marathon - woo hoo!), and want to start making any tough reservations. Dinner-wise, we will probably only have Thursday night 10/7 and Monday night 10/11 (though there is a possibility we will be free Friday night 10/8). As for lunches, we will have Friday, Saturday (maybe), and Monday. Is Alinea such a not-to-miss experience that we should use our Thursday night to go (they're only open Wednesday thru Sunday)? I want to do a Bayless restaurant, but which one, and for dinner or lunch? Any other must-eat experiences?

Go to Schwa if you possibly can, it was the best meal of my life, especially if you're not one for the pretense of fine dining but love the food. Alinea was very good, but I'd go to Schwa first if it's possible, in no small part because they played some Slayer in the dining room. Alinea feels a bit stuffy, Schwa feels like a bunch of friends hanging out in a tattoo parlor/restaurant sharing booze and having a good time.

Go to Hot Doug's and get the Foie Dog ($9) for one of the lunches, and make sure to hit Kuma's Corner, which is a metal-themed burger place. Imagine Hell-Burger with slightly better burgers, servers, and far better music. Oh, and create-your-own macaroni and cheese in a portion well over a pound.

Put the sign back up, and chain it to the tree.

Aiello's and Mineo's are both open late, both on Murray in Squirrel Hill. I prefer the pizza of the former.

There's also The Dirty O.

it really does

You old softie.

There is clearly a lot of talent running the kitchen, service, & beverage program.

I feel like I should interject here and elaborate on this. Not only is there a lot of talent, there are some genuinely good people in charge of the operations of this place that deserve patronage. Restaurant people abound in and around DC, but neither the Trummers nor Chef Miller display any of the arrogance or apathy that is all too common among people in this industry.