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Chica Grace

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Posts posted by Chica Grace

  1. Past 5 years it`s been a great honor for me to work with Tom Power and Rissa Pagsibigan. They are great people and great teachers.

    In this time I`ve met alot of you, waited on you,served you and I feel lucky. You all are very nice people. I hope I did a great job.

    But for me, as the Head Server of Corduroy (for people think that I was a manager, I never was :blink: ), it is time to change. I am going to move on for new challenges. I`ll be leaving Corduroy as my last date of employment will be April 28th.

    I hope I did great for Corduroy.

    Thank you all very much and thank you Corduroy.

    Kind Regards,

    Ferhat Yalcin

    Ferhat: You are by far the classiest , most elegant, understated and excellent server in Washington Dc. i wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. Please keep in touch. For me, on the selfish side, I am never going to know what to drink at Corduroy again with my meal. Your excellent tasted in wine selections throughout the years have made every experience at Corduroy memorable. We will miss you.

  2. Here is the final list for tomorrow's event at Bombay Curry Company. The restaurant will be serving us "family style" with some favorites identified by the attendees. I can't wait. If you can't make it, please let me know.

    Jacques Gastreaux

    cucas87

    crackers

    Capital Icebox

    mdt

    mktye +1

    ustreetguy

    CrescentFresh +1

    MBK

    Catharine

    Masticator

    Bummer! I just saw the list of Dr folks. I'm out in Herndon tomorrow all-day. have a good time!

  3. It's actually Bugey Cerdon, a sparkling rose wine made from gamay. We will be using it in a blueberry cocktail this spring/summer.

    mr ulysses: as long as you have a good stock at fabulous Central, that is all I need to know. I'm sure the well-trained bar staff will know what I mean when I ask for it. An excellent time was had on Saturday night. Thank you for everything. I will be he first in -line to try said blueberry cocktail

  4. To all DR members: RUN. don't walk to Central. Brian (GM) and Justin Guthrie, aka "ulysses" (Bar Manager), as well as Chef Cedric know how to keep diners well-fed, well-served, and well-soused with extremely well-prepared food, excellent recommendations on wine, and total encouragement to mozy-on up to the bar for an after dinner drink. Be wary: there are many tempting items to Central's menu. My good friend Nadya and I decided to venture last night & check out for ourselves: "Gee what is all the buzz about ?".

    First: we did not have a reservation. knowing a table would be difficult, we decided to show-up early , be polite, look hungry and ask to ge seated. we did! Host stand was most gracious and we got a table "right where the action is" - in front of the open kitchen. we later realized this was to our advantage as all Central cooking staff soon became our dear friends, as we proceeded to stuff ourselves with completely indulgent items.

    Second: a perfect cocktail. I ordered a Cosmo, and it came not as the typical "pink" one but yellow-colored with floating cranberries. It was perfectly mixed. Having a perfect cocktail only means one thing - it goes down quickly. Most dangerous.

    Third: What did we eat? The question is - what didn't we? kitchen sent over fabulous onion tart/pizza with lardon. It was not just "a bite" it was more like half a pizza. Our "ordered" starters were the frisee salad with lardon & the duck rillettes with pate. The frisee salad was classic - with a properly poached egg on top the smothers everywhere when you cut into it. The duck & pate combo were "byond" good. I especially liked the pate, it had a mix of froie gras and something else . We kept this dich on our table all night, as we were determined to have every morsel bite - even though its like 50% FAT! UUGH!

    Fourth: As we moved on to mains - those consisted of hanger steak and lobster buger. Both -yummy , delicious. However, by this time, we are stuffed to the point, How can anyone eat more?

    But there is always room for dessert..........

    Fifth: Souffle - that has a perfect texture, & is one of the highest and firmest souffle's I've ever eaten. Had a bit of an orange taste. Comes smothered with a chocolate sauce (EVERYONE must try this - out of this world). We also had the famous "kit kat/hazlenut bars" - which grew in size! The ones served at Central are more like a hazlenut bar - extending the length of the plate.

    Sixth: Complete indulgence. ended with bubbles. A blueberry champagne that is out of this world. Why stop at one glass? I had two. So did Nadya.

    Seventh: By this time, we 've been sitting at our table for hours. Eating , drinking, and getting to know the team at Central. And chef Cedric still offers to make us " a little something before you leave" My God Chef! The meal is amazing, but I can barely move. But, can I take a raincheck?

    Again - DR members - RUN don't walk to Central. Michel Richard's team has again elevated the meaning of service & food in Washington DC.

    Nadya? care to comment from your side?

  5. Hi all,

    Looking for suggestions for a place to take probably about 15 or so people for dinner after a day of meetings. Would preferably like private room. Looking for a place in DC, Arlington or Alexandria. I know Zola and Capital Grille do things like these, any other places?

    -Thanks.

    Roberto Donna's new place in Crystal City has a private dining area. I forgot the name of the place - its the same space where Oyamel used to be. Worked real well for DR dinner. Lots of parking underground. Very accessible.

  6. Uh-Oh. I never heard of them until the first time I went to Corduroy for an HH and Chef sent them out to all of us. Everybody called them "KitKats." Just tell him that life is too short and he has bigger fish to fry. This one's a loser and will give him gray hair :lol: if he keeps fighting this.

    the problem is these divine "Chocolate Hazlenut Bars" LOOK like kit kats. So if Chef Tom does not want everyone to call them by the way "they LOOK", then we need to help with a "naming contest". I'll throw in the first few names : what about "TOM TOM's" or "POWER BARS". This is about marketing the brand. any other suggestions?

    [Edit] Ok, as usual, just reading the latest posts , I need to get over there again at some point. but UUGHH! I can't get my act together for a few weeks. Work just interferes with my life.

  7. Nah, that one was owned by a different family. When it had a fire and closed for good, it was the last of what had been many Cuban restaurants in AM. I finally decided that if I ever wanted to eat Masitas de Puerco again, I would have to learn to make them myself. So I did. :lol:
    You are taking me back to the day Barbara. I practically grew up at el Caribe. My parents would drive into AM every Sunday to buy the Spanish newspapers and then we would got o el Caribe for lunch. When I got older - we moved to La Plaza. What a wonderful restuarant - and I agree 100% on the flounder dish. I remember those gorgeous Renoir reproductions that Raul had in his restaurant. He used to get so stressed working the front of the house. It was funny. My family knew him for years.
  8. Treznor: I'm glad you liked the restaurant, I know I did. I was with my Mom and Dad when I went, and since my Mom is Cuban, there was quite a high expectation on taste and authenticity. And this restaurant passed the test, certainly for the dishes we tasted.

    We had wine and felt we overpaid for the quality offered. So next time I'll take your sugesstion and go with the Mojito or Caparinha.

  9. Hello,

    As a Crew Member (and the Bread Man) at Trader Joes East/DC i have the pleasure of meeting and helping out a lot of very interesting customers. Let me relate to you some of them I've found most enjoyable.

    Many new customers are unaccustomed to the service we offer. I was stocking the bread one day and was asked 'could you point me in the direction of the green beans?' My responce of course was to drop what I was doing (no I didn't drop any loaves of bread on the floor - grin) and take the customer to the frozen section, pointing out a few options, including a few I like.

    Well this guest was amazed. 'You didn't have to do that' she said. 'But of course I did, thats why they pay me the big bucks and feed me so well'. She was truly surprised.

    Also sometimes a customer will feel embarrassed to interrupt me from my breadly duties. I'll take them where they need to go and will hear 'I didn't mean to bother you'. 'No bother', I've said, 'I need the exercise anyway to deal with the weight I'm gaining due to the french toast and scrambled eggs we had for breakfast this morning.'

    Lastly, and I'll close, we do carryout service....we call it 'ship to shore' of course. One time I went down to the parking garage (the 50 space garage is a well kept secret...don't tell anyone) with a women who had a huge cart of food, a young child, and 'a bun in the oven' if you know what I mean. ('Is that a bread joke Ronald?')

    I loaded her trunk with the groceries. She said 'would it be alright if I gave you a tip' as she pressed some money into my hand. I took the money and told her I'd buy something for me and the rest of my crewmates with it.

    Upon my arrival back on ship I went to the wine section and bought a bottle of 'Two Buck Chuck' and had change to spare after my employee discount! We had a good time in the break room that afternoon.

    No, No, No, I didn't really buy any wine. I did buy an assortment of holiday cookies, afterall, I am the 'Cookie Monster' as well as the 'Bread Man' don't ja know?

    Trader Ronald:

    Your store is fantastic. Everything about it is good. Since I work in VA, I often stop by on my way home in DC and just "whip" into those unknown parking spaces in the garage - so roomy and so many of them! Its excellent. Unlike Whole Foods on P st. where you have to "wait" for a parking space, I never have to wait for anything at TRader Joe's.

    Keep up the good work. I'll say Hi next time I'm there.

  10. Finally got a chance to try Cafe Salsa the other day with family who are in-town for the holidays. It is a mix of Cuban, Peruvian, with some Mexican thrown in for the heck if it. Our appetizer, Chicken Quesadilla was pretty standard, but came packed with chicken that was tender with flavor. Yummy! We moved on to the mains:

    - Bistec de Palomilla

    - Chuletas de Puerco

    - Sandwich Cubano

    - Arepas

    The Bistec de Palomilla came smothered with onions in a light brown sauce/gravy with a very tasty side of rice and balack beans. The chuletas de Puerco were tangy & moist . The restaurant served us quite a large portion. The Cuban Sandwich was as good as purchased in Miami - everything was right -the bread, pork, you name it. And finally, the Arepas, which came stuffed with meat that was similar to ropa vieja minus the sauce were also quite good. They offer some wines, I'd recommend to stick to the cocktails. Since it was late lunch, service was very attentive, there were only few tables in the place. Here is their website , www.cafesalsa.com Happy eating.

  11. I have just relocated to the DC area from Denver and have accepted the Executive Chef position at VIRIDIAN on 14th Street. I have changed the menu to my twist on approachable American Contemporary. I am unvailing a new trendy bar menu next week as well as a new exciting upscale brunch menu. BUSY!!! My cooking styles are remniscent of the prior chef, Antonio Burrell,we cooked together for a month or so until he decided to move on, we both cook with French roots and fuse Asian flavors...the new menu was unveiled last Thursday and has gotten raves from the regular diners as well as all of the first timers. If you decide to come try us out, tell your server to notify me! See you soon! Antonio, Michigan is going to put a stompimg on Ohio so you can come pay me early before they play man :)

    Welcome Jeff. Look forward to checking out the new menu. In fact! I just tried to make a reservation for Wed. night and you have nothing available on the earlier -side, as I have tickets to the Studio Theatre at 8 pm. Goes to show - looks like you are catching on! Look forward to the cooking.

  12. I'll be bringing carrot cupcakes with ginger cream cheese icing. They're delish. But beware. DO NOT bring these to room temp before eating. I can't be held responsible for your cupcake experience once they hit 72 degrees.

    Chica: I'm so proud of you!!! finally we get post from you. What I will do is bring my appetite. And therefore, do you fabulous cupcakes justice with my eating.

  13. I'm going to swing by PS7 for a drink and check things out...should be there by 5.15 if anyone would like to join me

    How did you like it? I was there for dinner the other night. Quite good. Everything was top notch. Love the wine list, but of course, Danny is super picky about his list. And of course, everything he offered was incredible. I had sparkling saki at the bar before we went to dinner. How was it for you?

  14. I love having people over for dinner. But I am with most of you - the number of people I invite is purely dependent on how many chairs I have - a total of 6. So, my dinner parties are pretty small. I think 8 is the right number. I go for themes: lke "Belgian" - I buy a bunch of Chimay and other Belgian beers, go to the market and get 4 dozen mussells, and then do french fries right before everyone gets there. And we eat for hours. But mostly, I serve the first course - a soup/salad, and then the main is served family style - so I can have time with my guests. And never run low on vino! I always buy too much, but once - I ran out!.

    I also like to give more formal ones - where things are plated. I recently did that for a friend's birthday and it was great fun. Let's see, the menu was: Starter: Mushroom Pate, 1st: linguine with Tomato Cream Sauce. 2nd: Eggplant Salad with Basil. Main: Fish with Shallot butter Sauce over bed of Spinach. Dessert: Profiteroles.

    So mktye will like this one - I messed up the profiteroles big time. As you know, I am "baking challenged". The dough came out too dense and not "light and airy" like the recipe stated. But I stuffed them with ice cream anyway, and slathered with chocolate sauce. No one noticed. It also had to do with the dessert wine - we had too much and by the end of the meal, we were all doused.

    I used to really love to entertain (though now that I've read the descriptions some folks have written of their 'affairs', I'm not sure I can call it entertaining! I'm feeling a bit inadequate! :) ). After the arrival of my son, my enthusiasm has waned. I'm much more likely to have people over for other kinds of meals than dinner. Brunch, for example, where part of what is served is store bought (e.g. bagels/cream cheese/smoked salmon, fruit) and part is home made (coffee cake or muffins), has become a more regular entertainment choice for me. Morning is a much better time of day for kids (at least mine), so it's a much better time for me to entertain.

    I used to always try out new recipes on guests and like a previous poster, it drove the +1 crazy. Some flops, some winners.

    My dinner parties tend to be much smaller than those described by others, and I don't think I've ever done cocktails and hors d'oeuvres (no dinner). I think my size limitation largely has been a result of living in small quarters where there hasn't been much room for folks to sit.

    A friend who I had over to a dinner party asked me one time how I tolerated the anxiety of whether or not people would like the food/eat the food, etc. I explained that in my experience, almost nobody was unhappy to be served a home cooked meal for which they had to do no prep or clean up, so I never really had much anxiety. My guests may get in the car and complain bitterly on the way home about how terrible something was. But at my house, I've never had somebody even sugget they didn't like something (with the possible exception of my MIL, but that's a whole 'nother thread :) . Maybe I'm lucky, don't know.

    Smokey - I'm with you. Same experience here. Everyone I invite - always comes and always eats. Amazing!

  15. Fall Fall Fall & cooking? What do I cook? Definitely look forward to anything with Acorn or Butternut Squash - from soup, to pie, to whatever. And I'm loving the various greens - kale & cabbage. Oh, and how could I forget about beets! Love beets. Finally figured out how to work with them last year. so, I'm ready with some new recipes.

    Now that I just finished all the tomato, & pesto sauce varieties for freezing - there isn't much room in the freezer left!

  16. For me, one of the things that makes any restaurant unique - is not only the food, but also the people - and in this regard Hans Hess IS unique. As the Don Rockwell board can read for themselves, Hans Hess is passionate about his burger, fries, quality, and the entire process of getting a fresh burger and fresh fries out to his customers. When I first met Hans, I had this entire "build-up" to the situation from my boyfriend, who knew him. We were meeting a bunch of people at Elevation Burger for dinner. Hans took a break and joined us for a few minutes. I must say, that within the course of those few minutes, Hans exuded passion , committment and creativity. When we've returned, I've heard this man talk about the potato process, and how he wants to store them in a cooler for a period of time before he serves them, and what is the best approach to do that? I've heard detailed discussions on the supplier process in the area and the trial and tribulations of being a "one-stop" /unique place, and not a chain with more volume.

    I want to also add, that I just DON'T go to ANY fast food places. The reason I don't go is that my stomach cannot take it. If I have a Big MAc, or anything from Five Guys, sure enough an hour or two later, I've got grease overload and my stomach is churning. So, I've shunned fast food for years. I've dismissed it from my RADAR entirely. I'd rather starve, and I have. So, I had some serious concerns to try the Elevation burger when I first went, thinking " Will this be another episode ?" I had hoped the organic beef would make a difference, but I was still concerned. And I am happy to report, that NO ISSUES. To me, this means, there is actual Beef in the burger and that whatever process Elevation Burger uses to cook - that its not greasy, and makes my stomach happy.

    What I can say is that this guy wants to serve a great burger and great fries, and he is passionate about it. Sit down and talk to him about his ideas, because he has tons of them.

    Meanwhile, Elevation Burger is the only fast food place I will go to. So enjoy - and have a shake, burger, and fries. They are awesome.

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