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Spiral Stairs

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Everything posted by Spiral Stairs

  1. Spiral Stairs
    Here are the restaurants that never come up that I wish would come up: Every single restaurant included in the 2006 Entertainment coupon book, which I received as a Christmas present. I've never heard of the vast majority of the included places. I ran a bunch of them through the friendly search function here, but gathered precious little information. Suffice it to say that the book does not appear to include a lot of "destination" restaurants. Maybe once I'm near the book (I'm in my office; it's at home), I'll post a few of the more promising examples to see if anyone can say word one about them.
  2. Spiral Stairs
    My wife and I whip up a batch of "Tuna Shit" to provide comfort and cause guilt. To make the Shit, boil and drain one pound of rotini and then stir in (1) a big can of tuna, (2) a few heaps of mayonnaise, (3) some Italian dressing, (4) some Caesar dressing, (5) a bowl of peas, and (6) parmesan cheese (Reggiano designation unnecessary). Salt and pepper to taste. Truth be told, it doesn't make us feel guilty.
  3. Spiral Stairs
    Although that particular cocktail party doesn't look like very much fun.
  4. Spiral Stairs
    I think it's the ninth comment. To wit:
  5. Spiral Stairs
    Because I am neurotic and just plain weird, I just killed a quarter of my lunch hour trying to figure out what the hell prompted Terry Theise's post. It appears to have been prompted by an anonymous comment on the City Paper site from December 2003. See here. Phew.
  6. Spiral Stairs
    I had the black truffle risotto last night -- that's a lot of truffle! It was delicious. My wife, whose appetite waxes and wanes, ordered the gnocchi. Lucky for me, her appetite waned and I snagged about half of it. Whatever grilling/toasting they do the gnocchi gives it a really pleasant, almost meaty, taste and texture. I also had the diver scallops, which were decent. But I wished I had gone with my initial urge and tried the wild boar. (As a general rule of dining out, I believe in always trying the wild boar.) I was happy to see that Sonoma continues to pack the house, which is a good sign for my poor restaurant-deprived 'hood. (Entrepreneurial restaurateurs, a world of riches awaits you in Capitol Hill!) However, I wondered if the restaurant's infrastructure was prepared for the packed house. Service was pretty slow. After immediately asking us if we wanted tap or bottled water, there was a very long wait before our server returned to ask for drink or food orders. I reached the point of executing the Confused Head Swivel, searching for our server. (Perhaps we discouraged a return visit because our foursome was busily involved in conversation. But still...) Once we got into the swing of things, the pace was better.
  7. Spiral Stairs
    (Just to make sure I'm not unjustly labeled with a scarlet "N", I did cancel all those reservations. To my recollection, I've never no-showed anywhere. Thank you for this opportunity to issue this clarification, which shall be inserted into an appropriate place in the Rockwellian Record.)
  8. Spiral Stairs
    Ugh. I was afraid of that. I recently had to cancel a spate of OT-made reservations, including three RW reservations, because, after I made the reservations, my wife inconveniently became pregnant and hyper-sensitive to all the smells that emanate from restaurant kitchens. (And it just didn't feel right to say, "Have fun fighting off your nausea, hon! I'm off to carouse all night and eat all the things that disgust you with people who don't suffer from this 'pregnancy' affliction!") I hope I'm not marked as a complete schmuck as a result.
  9. Spiral Stairs
    Last night, the Food Network aired "Secrets of Kitchen Stadium," which was quite DC-centric. There was an extensive piece on Roberto Donna, both his initial Iron Chef failure and his preparations for the rematch. Another piece documented the competition to determine which DC chef would appear on the show this year, including an interview with Tony Williams and charming snippets with the three competitors (Ris Lacoste; Morou Ouattara; and, uh, the chef from Tosca). Here are the future air times, in case you'd like to set your Tivo: February 02, 2006 10:00 PM ET/PT February 03, 2006 2:00 AM ET/PT February 04, 2006 7:00 PM ET/PT February 04, 2006 11:00 PM ET/PT February 05, 2006 3:00 AM ET/PT
  10. Spiral Stairs
    That much of the rest of the population votes wrongly is no reason not to vote. That's what I seem to be saying every election year, at least. Plus, it's like a game to see if you can get your Gene Shalit-like witticisms into the Guide. Ben's Chili Bowl? "I was bowled over!" Restaurant Eve? "Like the Garden of Eden in Alexandria!" Au Bon Pain "gives me bone pain!" Half this board's membership devotes half their time to converting restaurant names into funny homonyms. Get them in print! P.S. And it's a good phone book. P.P.S. I did not know until just now that you don't get to use the 30-point scale to rate; you only get a 0-to-3 scale. That's a pretty blunt instrument.
  11. Spiral Stairs
    That's what they did for our anniversary dinner. The card accompanying the mix says something like, "Everything great takes a little work." I thought it was a nice sentiment. (Made good scones too.)
  12. Spiral Stairs
    To me, recognition of a birthday or other special occasion is not a question of obligation -- there is clearly no obligation on the restaurant's part to recognize such things. It is a matter of good business practice. A card, or a little bag of coffee, or some candy, or a scoop of ice cream, or a visit from the chef: All of things cost little or nothing, but will generate goodwill that will likely spread from the benefacted customers to their friends and family (and message board mates). If I'm not offered one of those things on a special occasion that the restaurant has been made aware of, I don't think the restaurant has failed to satisfy an obligation. I would certainly never ask for anything special. (And I usually don't even tell anyone of the occasion.) But, when they do know but don't do anything, I think the restaurant has missed a cheap chance to build loyalty and spread a good reputation by word-of-mouth.
  13. Spiral Stairs
    D.C. lacks, unfortunately, a "signature" cheap cuisine. Chicago has hot dogs (and, as it seemed to me when I lived there, burritos). New York has pizza-by-the-slice (and, one could argue, falafel or any of a number of other ethnic foods). Philadelphia has cheesesteaks. My hometown of Kansas City has barbecue. In each of these cities, the signature cuisine is ubiquitous and cheap. It's a go-to food, usually available at all hours in many places. And it becomes a source of civic pride. (Witness the football-related bet between Tony Williams and the Philly mayor, in which Williams embarrassingly could offer only half-smokes.) The half-smoke is hardly ubiquitous. Pho, maybe? In certain pockets perhaps, but again, not ubiquitous. Anything other candidates?
  14. Spiral Stairs
    I was very happy to read that Cathal and Meshelle eat at McDonald's on their "date nights." It makes me feel less like a godless heathen for all my various anti-foodie, pro-corporate lapses.
  15. Spiral Stairs
    This point was made upthread, but I'll make it again because it's the conclusive one for me. Putting aside the issue of Segways as an aid to the disabled (an issue not presented here), what difference is there between a Segway and a bicycle? No one expects to ride his or her bike up to the hostess stand and ask the restaurant to supply a storage spot for it. If you want to ride a bike, then it's your responsibility to find a place to store it. If you can't find a place to store it, then maybe you shouldn't be riding your bike. Lobby government officials for public storage spots, if you'd like, but don't expect a private business to accommodate your hobby. Now, it is apparently the case that Segways are sometimes used as mobility aids. Does that fact mean that we should always assume they are used as mobility aids? Of course not. We don't assume that every dog on the street is a trained service animal. And if, for whatever reason, it isn't apparent from the circumstances that a service dog is a service dog, the dog's owner should inform others of it when necessary. The solution isn't to treat all dogs as service dogs. Likewise, the solution to the Segway issue isn't to treat all Segways as mobility aids.
  16. Spiral Stairs
    Whoa. Cool.
  17. Spiral Stairs
    I enjoyed a really excellent meal at Blue Ribbon, on Sullivan Street in SoHo, this past weekend. It's a small, casual spot that has earned a reputation as a late-night dining spot for cooks from other restaurants (the Blue Ribbon kitchen is open 'til 4AM). It does not take reservations for groups of 4 or fewer, so be prepared to eat late, eat early, or wait. We ate early on Saturday, and had no wait for a table at 6:30. Had we arrived a half-hour later, we would have encountered a much more crowded place. A small bar can entertain the waiting, though. A bone marrow "marmalade" appetizer is one of the house's well-known dishes. Served on toast with a kind of ragout (can't recall exactly what), it was milder than I thought, and likened by my friend to a creamy beef stew. The most remarkable thing about Blue Ribbon is the length and breadth of the menu. For a place with such excellent food, the menu is incredibly diverse: oysters; paella; comfort foods like burgers, fried chicken, and catfish; stand-bys like rack of lamb and roast chicken; more adventurous items like the aforementioned marrow, and sweetbreads. I had the catfish, served with good but unremarkable mashed potatoes and really remarkable collard greens -- crisp and not at all soggy. The catfish was very good; the striped bass also ordered at our table was very good; but the rack of lamb ordered by my remaining co-diner was my favorite. Super-tender and melt-in-your-mouth. We didn't have the time or stomach for dessert, but the options were predominantly simple classics. Service was excellent. The wine list was long, but my friend took the helm and I didn't analyze it. We had a Gigondas. Blue Ribbon was exactly what I look for in a restaurant: Top-notch food, without stuffiness or pretension. It was friendly without being cavalier, cozy without being trite.
  18. Spiral Stairs
    Could be the highly anticipated bistro spin-off of NaNoLab.
  19. Spiral Stairs
    It may be human nature to lie, but it's also human nature to be irritated when the lie is revealed and it becomes evident there is some other, unexpressed, reason for the differential treatment. I really didn't get a duck-call vibe from that commenter (and I swear it wasn't me -- in fact, I've never even been to Corduroy). You're right to note that the restaurant has a choice of damage control strategies. I think the best option, which I think was suggested during the chat, would be to say, "The scallops are our most popular dish, and the kitchen is overwhelmed with orders right now, so there would be a very long wait." If the diner still wants them, the server could say, "We would be happy to serve you an order of scallops later at the bar, or box an order up for you if you'll wait at the bar." Or some crap like that.
  20. Spiral Stairs
    I don't agree with this at all. I, too, would be irritated if I had been told a dish was unavailable but I subsequently saw it served to others -- especially a dish that, like Corduroy's scallops, has attained some renown -- absent a reasonable explanation. Corduroy's explanation, as posted in the chat, is reasonable, but it doesn't appear to have been provided to that diner. I am the sort of person who likely would not have made any issue of it. Nevertheless, I didn't find anything in the diner's comment to be out of line.
  21. Spiral Stairs
    I think it's time that we stop supporting mega-corporate empires like Restaurant Eve, where every night after closing a team of grunting ogres squint under green lamps, count the gold coins they've extorted, embezzled, and otherwise stolen from the innocent and pure-hearted citizens of Alexandria, and prepare to transfer their ill-gotten gains to the foreign caves and labyrinths in which their loathsome brood plan further attacks on our sensibilities.
  22. Spiral Stairs
    For those of you who, like me, are confined to an office having failed to pick up a copy of Express, it is purportedly downloadable here. However, the link to download today's edition is presently broken.
  23. Spiral Stairs
    I'm a sucker for space, and RFD's got a lot of it. I've eaten there a couple times, but it must not have been memorable, because I don't remember what I had. I do think it is a pleasant place to have a few beers, compared to the chaos next door at Fado (and, dare I say it, Matchbox).
  24. Spiral Stairs
    A timely piece from the Post: Can a Recipe Be Stolen? (More about recipes than property rights inhering in the appearance of the finished product.)
  25. Spiral Stairs
    Perhaps I used the word "art" too loosely -- though I can't offhand think of something widely considered art that is not copyrightable. As for the food example, copyright doesn't require duplicatability. A painter who paints ten nearly identical images of the same landscape has created ten copyrightable expressions, and a photograph of any one of them could violate the copyright that attaches to that image. I can't think of any good reason why foodstuffs would not be considered a tangible medium of expression. Art needn't be permanent to be copyrightable. (For the record, because I may be in over my head, I am a lawyer who took an art law class in law school, but I'm not presently anything resembling a copyright lawyer.)
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