jdl

Maryland college students are eating better than their parents.

"Its specialties are Pho style brisket, cornbread-stuffed pork medallions, fire grilled salmon, Pacific Rim noodles and deconstructed cannolis. There are plans for a lobster tank."

Sounds slightly better than my college dining center. (Today's, and every day's, special: salted startch!)

Not quite a dirty little secret; this was on the front-page of The Post last August.

Plus, there was ample coverage in print, Web and broadcast outlets of the guilty plea in the Arlington County meals tax case. Etc.

Plus, in December, there was this.

Also: This.

the Kliman and Sietsema reviews didn't exactly gloss over the issues.

Roberto Donna in a deposition: I'll be a salaried employee at G3, earning $50,000/year.

G3 paperwork on file with the DC Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration: The restaurant's owner is RCR, which is owned by Mabel LLC, whose managing members are Corrado Bonino and ... Roberto Donna's wife.

I think you can do exceptionally well with the three-course here -- and if you're feeling extra-hungry, just ask if they can add another course for an upcharge.

If there's a savory foie gras course on the menu, be sure to get it, though now I can't remember if it was on the tasting menu side or the other side. (We supplemented the tasting menu because we're true gluttons.)

Enjoy your meal....

"Fabio Trabocchi, the highly regarded chef who took over the kitchen at the fabled Four Seasons restaurant in October, is already gone, insiders said. Trabocchi prepared his last meals yesterday. There was no immediate word on whether he quit or was fired — or a combination of the two."

New York Post piece

Bruni didn't "resign." His term as restaurant critic simply ended. He's still going to be on staff at the Times, writing for the Sunday magazine.

Congratulations Joe, Jane, et al!

2009 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards

Newspaper Food Section

The Washington Post

Disclosure: I am an employee of TWP. (But I don't write for the Food section. [Except for the two times that I did.])

Expanding to Alexandria?

And Dupont Circle?

The site, which Rockwell says gets 10,000 visitors a month, generates zero income for him, yet he often feels tethered to it like a parent with a pack of unruly children.

Here you go, you crazy kids: Click.

Mmmmmmmmmm, Donnhoff.

I just had another one of them 98 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Spats.

Three words: Oth. Er. Worldly.

One of the two bottles of '76 Bosconia Gran Reserva that I had last year was among my favorites of 2008. Those wines are great!

You mean pretty well for himself.

Yeah, that.

Jeez, for a guy who gets slagged with regularity around these parts, that Tom Sietsema guy sure did pretty well by himself in this year's nominations.

Don't worry about not ordering the pea shoots - unless they restocked this morning, they didn't have any for you.

That Taiwanese crispy chicken is ridiculously good.

What about Corduroy? Lovely room, delicious food, warm service and very well-priced wine list.

I'm in. Where do we sign up?

Seriously!! (Though I think I gained about 12 pounds just thinking about that meal.)

Rachel, I'm wondering what your favorite dishes are among all of those that you've cooked/tried since you arrived at the restaurant.

That is, how would your greatest-hits tasting menu unfold?

Also, what would you drink with it?

Rocco's publicist must work overtime.

Doubtful that any publicist would have loved this story as the thrust of the piece was hardly flattering/favorable: Rocco could flat-out cook, and then he stopped and made a fool of himself - and boy, what a waste of talent that was.

Just to be contrary, you can get great pho within 9 blocks of DC at the Rosslyn Pho 75.

Great -- now I find this out, after having moved from DC to the inner-burbs of Maryland.

Just noticed this place today. Pho on the menu, but a very limited selection: Chicken and beef. (I'm guessing the beef is tai, not tái nam, sách or gân - didn't have time to actually do any investigating.)

Anybody tried it? Thoughts? Will hopefully be able to swing by later this week, though I don't have high hopes, as there seems to be a law stipulating that good pho may not be served within 9 miles of downtown DC.

The DC Chefs piece on Mina/Bourbon notes that the steaks will be cooked thusly: "First, they're poached in clarified butter, thyme and shallots at 118 degrees for between 20 minutes and two hours. Then they're seared on a wood and charcoal grill at 1,000 degrees .... [then] grilled to the degree of doneness requested, then dressed with fleur de sel."

I'd eat that.

On November 10th I got a PM that said, "Jockey Club opened last Saturday."

I text messaged back, "Worth an early visit?"

The reply: "They weren't ready to open."

Mmmmmmm, white truffles!

I think that there are plenty of other food stories/businesses that could use the press a lot more than the already overwhelmed and busy cupcake joints.

That somebody or something could "use the press" should never, ever play when it comes to making editorial decisions.

ETA: To clarify here, I'm talking about writing stories about people/places that are trying to sell things. ("Businesses," I believe they're called.) Not the whole giving voice to the voiceless thing. Businesses that "could use the press" should not rely on the press to get them more business.

What does the price of pepperoni on Connecticut Ave have to do with anything? I wanted salami. And it wasn't worth $1 per piece. It's not like we're talking about Alba white truffles here.