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At the risk of being a shill for my local, the Reef has a very respectable burger. I haven't had enough in the neighborhood to rank it against, say, Jack Rose, the Black Squirrel, or Smoke and Barrel, but it's a solid burger.

Still a couple of spots left - any takers?

Sadly, I sprained my wrist over the weekend so can't join this month.

Culture's individual.

[Not to get into a semantic argument, but that's pretty much exactly the opposite of what culture is.]

a : the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations

b : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also : the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in a place or time <popular culture><southern culture>

c : the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization <a corporateculture focused on the bottom line>

d : the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic <studying the effect of computers on printculture> <changing the culture of materialism will take time — Peggy O'Mara>

Trail mix

Followed by the most lovely grapefruit that a most lovely colleague brought to me after hearing me complain that I'd been so busy and miserable at work that I haven't had time to buy any fresh food in forever and was missing all the delicious winter citrus. What a sweetheart.

Hash made from pork steak and roasted potatoes left over from a smashing dinner at Mio. Gut bomb, but YUM.

By the way, brand recognition goes far beyond trust; it stimulates use. Being named a Yelp Best Restaurant means nothing to me personally, but seeing the visual identity at a restaurant reminds me, if self-consciously, that I value the site as a glorified address book (21st century Zagat), that their mapping app is excellent--and that I need to remember to use both.

Imma put a big homemade sticker on my door that says "mentioned on occasion on DonRockwell dot com" :-)

For better or for worse, Yelp has an established brand and visual identity. While DR is a significantly better product, aside from including a shout-out in narratives, such as websites and possibly press interviews, restaurants probably don't know how to promote or recognize the site officially. Ever considered printing up some stickers with your logo and "Best Restaurant" or something on it? Or, since cost is an issue, a PDF that could be distributed and then laminated for their walls? In order to build a reputation and the recognition as a consistent, trustworthy source of information and advice, you need to establish a standard brand identity that can then be promoted in a way that benefits both the site and the restaurant/bar/distributor.

(which raises the obvious issue of what her profession is--the world's oldest, I assume).

Whoa. Did you really just go there?

I'm so sorry you have to go through this again, and hope all turns out well for you. I've never had to adhere to a diet like this, but I've really appreciated reading about your experiences and creative determination to continue to eat well. The community is rooting for you!

Rest assured, we're not going over to a strictly tasting menu only format. Apparently there was a glitch on our website today & that was the only option shown. We're still offering up everything a la carte, so you can come in and have as much or as little as possible. Oh, and I might be a bit biased, but the drinks aren't half bad either.

Feel free to contact me with any questions at jeff@fioladc.com.

Cheers!

Thank you so much for clarifying! You may want to let Todd Kliman know too, since he implied that you had switched over on his chat today. Incorrect news travels fast... Looking forward to dining with you!

No longer annoyed.

Leftover pork from last night

Brussels sprout hash

One of the things I love about teleworking is being able to actually cook something for lunch, rather than reheat in the microwave. (Okay, I just reheated the pork, but veggies are just sooooo much better made fresh.)

Peking pork chops

Spinach sauteed with shallots and garlic

I'm no good at frying, so I didn't get the great texture on the pork that I think is important to this recipe, but I also don't think the marinade/batter in the recipe could have achieved a good crust anyhow. But the sauce is good--I'll probably use it again.

I spent a few days at Holy Cross in the fall and was allowed to order every meal from a reasonable sized menu. I didn't have much of an appetite, and if I had to eat I wanted it to be bland, so I wasn't up in arms about the food. I had cornflakes and tea for breakfast (I travel to crappy places enough that I can tolerate Lipton) and vegetarian for every other meal--baked potato with sour cream that I'd mash up with a side of boiled broccoli, grilled cheese. I figured that if they were going to cook the food as badly as I thought they would, I might as well not make an animal die for it. And the pain medicine allowed me to transport myself back to my younger days when American cheese on white bread was yummy and a baked potato was a baked potato. The surprise on the menu was the "lemon sherbet." Served in one of those cardboard cups, it was actually more of a gelato, with a fantastic texture and a refreshing tang. I ended up ordering this at every meal, though the aforementioned pain meds have prevented me from remembering the brand name.

Did you use palm sugar or brown sugar?--the recipe says that you can use either, but they taste quite different. I have found palm sugar at Asian markets and at Whole Foods, and I really like the flavor. Occasionally, I will substitute it for light brown sugar in recipes to get more depth of flavor.

I used brown sugar. I too like the flavor of palm sugar better--it's one of those X factors that really elevates the flavor of the food in Thailand and at good Thai restaurants. I don't have any in the pantry, though. Does it keep well?

Also, side question: does coconut milk freeze well, or does it break or separate when you defrost it?

Green tea

Sweet coconut pancakes (dadar)

Needing to find something to do with the more than a cup of coconut milk left over from my pomelo salad, I dug up this recipe for Indonesian coconut pancakes. Verdict? YUM. I omitted the pandanus leaf because, hello, pandanus leaf? And in the future, I'll include more water in the filling and not cook it down so much because it turned out a little dry and sticky (I am dreading cleaning that saucepan). But it's an otherwise solid recipe that I think I'm going to put on the menu as dessert for an upcoming dinner party.

To true believers. Is anyone left?

It's worth the effort. I found some pomelos at Harris Teeter in December and made this using a combination of this recipe and Chef McDang's. It was fragrant and delicious, sweet, sour and hot. I found you need to eat it fairly soon after you make it, as it diminishes in quality the longer it sits. Now I want to make this again soon.

Pomelos seem to be everywhere right now--I saw a big pile at Whole Foods yesterday, and I got mine at the Giant last week. I had the leftovers for lunch today, and the texture definitely suffered, but the taste is still awesome. I also prepped the dressing, coconut, and peanuts for a whole batch but only made a half, so it will be easy to throw together a fresh salad some evening this week. Good stuff! Now if only the Giant or Whole Foods or anywhere convenient to Columbia Heights would only start stocking green papaya, I'd be a happy girl.

Moving on from a reductive night to an over-worked night...

Thai pomelo salad

Thanks for the website, Fishinnards! I've been wanting to make this for a while, but this is the first time I've managed to gather up pomelos, unsweetened coconut, and all the other ingredients at one time. It's a great recipe and transported me back to Bangkok. But it's a bit tedious to make--lots of chopping and toasting, and taking apart that damn pomelo took forever. More of a pain than I thought, but totally worth it. This would be a huge hit at a dinner party.

I predict that this will last only until he can report to his school friends just what he is eating and the "EEWWW, GROSS" response will put an end to it.

My mom used to eat blood and tongue loaf sandwiches as a kid until one day she asked what was in it. "Uh, blood and tongue," my grandma told her. I think her six-year-old brain thought it was a euphamism. She hasn't eaten it since.

My dinner tonight... Beans on toast and a hunk of cheese. Feeling reductive lately.

Count me in!

I have nothing to contribute in the way of advice, but I will observe that in France you can get really wonderful croissants almost anywhere. Here's a picture of one I enjoyed in Sainte-Maxime on the French Riviera last spring.

I was thinking that the croissant I bought this morning fell into the "average" category until I saw that photo. I now realize that my standards have fallen to an indefensibly low level.

I really wish I'd stumbled into Smoke and Barrel at the beginning of an evening out rather than at the end, when, famished and a little tipsy, I devoured my pulled pork sandwich at approximately the speed of light. I can't, therefore, provide thoughtful details much beyond "yum!" The smoked meat is piled on a respectable bun with a scoop of good cole slaw, with the surprisingly spicy sauce on the side. And I don't think anything has ever tasted better after a night of beers with friends. A side of sweet potato home fries was excellent.

Even though I live less than two blocks away, I first learned about Paila from the Washington Post's Good to Go piece a couple of weeks ago--and it's apparently been open since February! I just don't seem to find myself on that block very often, but I will now, having found this promising, new, locally owned restaurant.

The chacarero, one of the sandwiches featured by the Post, was good, dripping with mayo, though it kind of made me wish I was blowing the calories on Fast Gourmet's chivito; it really needs some kind of acid, like escabeche, to cut through the richness, although that might be accomplished by jalepeno, which I opted out of. The cheese empanadas were terrific, served with a sort of pico de gallo. Though they didn't have much filling, the dough was great and well-fried in obviously fresh oil.

I'm so delighted to see so many strong local places opening up in my neighborhood. A belated welcome to Paila!

I got stuck at Jet Pack Rock Whatever bar last weekend, and it wasn't even good for an airport bar. Solid beer selection, but disinterested service. I made the mistake of ordering the barbeque chicken salad, which was a joke. Literally. I laughed when it arrived, a trough of lettuce topped with a pound of shredded cheese and at least as much chicken, drizzled with an inoffensive but clearly bottled sauce (KC Masterpiece?) and served with a side of ranch. It's the kind of dish that is so damn big that the people sitting next to you stare when it arrives, and then peek back regularly to monitor how much you're able to eat.

I like Matsutake. Fine food with gracious service.

I must disagree on Cibo, though. Knowing I didn't have any food at home, I picked up the "Italian" prepackaged sandwich after flying back in and got a slab of average cold cuts sprinkled with some sawdust herbs and topped with a single leaf of lettuce on really not good bread with no condiments. Not worth it.

Is it just me, or is anyone else like, fuck the New Year.

Every. Damn. Year.