dwt

26 minutes ago, saf said:

I do not want to cook tonight.

I feel the same. Haven't informed the SO that dinner will be leftovers. If I get significant push-back, I might need to step up my game in the interest of domestic tranquillity😉

Last night, I fired up the charcoal grill for the first time in months and slow cooked/hot smoked Atlantic salmon fillets, which turned out nicely. Sides were steamed fresh asparagus and leftover spaghetti with mushroom sauce.

I've been a fan of these folks for several years:  https://www.tbcroasters.com. Their products used to be stocked by Whole Foods, specifically in Silver Spring, but were dropped for no good reason a while ago. WF told them they were located too far away, yet the same store stocks La Colombe, which is about the same distance away in Philadelphia. Trager Bros have 2 Virginia locations in Lovingston and Afton. Their coffee might still be on the shelves at MOMs markets but I haven't checked in a while. I've been ordering from their online store. My go-to is the whole-bean, dark espresso. It's one of my life's little pleasures to open a new bag and smell the freshly roasted, oily beans (yes, they are oily). If you give them a try, let me know what you think.

I miss Frank☹️

21 hours ago, pras said:

For me the first memory I have of something special was brunch with my grandparents at Normandie Farm in Potomac.  I'm not really sure how old I was, but I certainly do have a foggy memory, which includes their famous popovers.

I was struggling to remember the name until I saw your post. My parents and a classmate celebrated my 16th birthday with dinner at Normandie Farm. It surely qualifies as my first fine dining experience.

6 hours ago, Sundae in the Park said:

The food was good but not particularly memorable for Vancouver

You nailed it with that phrase. I'm glad to have dined there, but would not do so on a return visit.

And I did not sufficiently praise the Blue Horizon hotel. I was surprised at how nice and large our room was. The workout facility was decent. And the location was ideal for us. I think bang for the buck was spot on.

We stayed at the Blue Horizon Hotel https://bluehorizonhotel.com/, dining at places that were within walking distance:

Joe Forte's is on Eater's list of essential Vancouver restaurants. We went there to enjoy northwest seafood (king salmon, halibut, etc) prepared in a manner that let the fresh ingredients shine. Oh, and oysters too. I ate so many oysters on this trip and enjoyed sampling the west coast offerings. The atmosphere reminds me of a traditional DC steak and seafood house, with lots of wood paneling, waiters in white jackets, and a pianist playing schlocky music. There were even a few parties wearing suits and ties.

Miko Sushi is a casual spot at 1335 Robson where we had a very good lunch. My nigiri were beautifully prepared and of higher quality than I would expect relative to price. Service was very warm. Apparently a lot of hockey players, both local and visiting, have dined there as evidenced by their signatures and compliments to the staff adorning the walls.

Kingyo Izakaya http://www.kingyo-izakaya.ca/ on Denman was lively and a lot of fun. Service was excellent. Our waitress even accompanied us to the front door and held it for us when we were leaving. When was the last time that happened? We had a variety of items from the specials menu. I don't recall everything (must have been the sake) but the tuna sashimi and the smoked sockeye salmon collar were standouts.

In general, this neighborhood, stretching along Robson from Bute to Denman and along some of the side streets has a number of Japanese and Korean restaurants worth exploring.

CinCin Italian is also recommended https://cincin.net/. They have a wood-fired grill and someone knows how to use it to good effect. Grilled octopus served over greens was tender, nicely dressed and a very generous portion of octopus (not just little tentacles). My grilled whole branzino was perfect: the skin was crisp and the flesh moist (something I never manage to accomplish at home).

23 hours ago, jondagle said:

I think I’ll try Il Canale tonight. I can’t believe there’s not already a thread. 

Thread is here: https://tinyurl.com/y93sebrr

Mark: Thanks for giving this thread a bump. I need to get back to La Chaumiere -- it's been too long. Dover Sole, mmmm. And the quenelles de brochet are calling to me.

Had brunch here for the first time and everyone (party of 4) was very pleased. We ordered doughnuts, oysters on the half shell, hang town fry, hangar steak, an omelette special, and redfish. Everything was very good. I'm not a brunch person but thoroughly enjoyed the lively atmosphere and food. Service was excellent -- a remarkable team effort with at least 5 different staff members visiting our table. 

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2018/Owner-of-Popular-DC-Restaurant-To-Open-Tacos-Tortas-and-Tequila-in-Downtown-Silver-Spring/

The owner dumbed it down a few years ago in a cost-cutting move. He got rid of or forced out the excellent GM, Nancy, and the last chef who made the restaurant chef-driven. Others on the staff headed for the door. The menu then became nearly set in stone, with little variation. We had only dined there maybe 2 or 3 times since the massacre and, though I'm sad for folks who work there now, we won't miss it. 

Excerpted from their web site:

"Chef Andrew LaPorta has helmed the kitchen for the last two years" [...]  "As of January 1, 2017, Mr. LaPorta has purchased Pesce from Ms. Palladin. The core ethos that has brought Pesce success will not be changing. Mr. LaPorta is honored to be assuming the mantle that Ms. Palladin has worked so hard to maintain."

I'm a little sad that I probably won't see Regine again. Always enjoyed chatting with her.

Closed? Opentable states that the restaurant is "permanently closed." Their web site is gone. Called the number and the phone rings but was not answered. I never had a bad meal there and enjoyed some that were terrific so I will miss them if they are gone.

Pesce

2 hours ago, Simul Parikh said:

That's what I used!

Yes, your mention of the recipe up thread reminded me of the NYT article and video. The one time I tried it, I thought the crust had really good flavor. I had a little trouble getting the moisture content right. I need to find the time to try again.

With 12 pages and growing in this forum I hope I'm not duplicating information that's already been provided. I like the dough from this recipe and the associated video was helpful to a newbie pizza maker.

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016230-robertas-pizza-dough

3 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Forget Michael Schlow - he's a non-entity.

Wow! Seems kinda harsh, Don. I don't have a clue who MS is, though the name seems vaguely familiar. Is there a story you'd like to share?

3 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Whomever the Chef de Cuisine is will determine whether or not this is a good restaurant, and I don't think that has been revealed.

So true. Remember a certain hotel restaurant back in the day that folks on this forum swooned over? Actually, it may have been back in the pre-DonRockwell/eGullet DC forum days. Firefly, with John Wabeck at the helm. Sigh.

I'm wondering if this place is still in business. Their web site is dead (buy this domain ...)

On 8/23/2016 at 0:16 PM, ktmoomau said:

I had the lamb bolognese

I'm not complaining or anything -- just find it amusing that Matamoros has served this dish in nearly every restaurant at which he's worked.  Would love to see his bouillabaisse and lamb tacos make a return appearance. 

He sure has jumped around a lot in the area.

Not all the meters, just a few on the south(?) side of the street.

Thanks for the garage info.

33 minutes ago, MC Horoscope said:

If you are heading south on Georgia Avenue to Crisfield take a right at the street just before the restaurant. There's a parking garage and on street metered parking.

We used to park on that side street almost every visit back in the day. The number of spots was severely reduced when that building with the garage was constructed. About 3 of the on-street spots are now 15-mins only with threats to be towed all day, every day. I suspect these were allocated to serve Crisfield's customers picking up their take-out orders (a big part of their business). 

You have to pay to use that garage, correct?

On 2/14/2015 at 1:13 PM, DonRocks said:

If you made a list of Top 10 Classic Dishes in the DC area, the Stuffed Rockfish at Crisfield would be on it.

Had this last night and it was darn good. Rockfish was a little over-cooked but the crab "stuffing" made up for that.

It's probably been over 20 years since I last ate here. Part of the problem is parking in that area. I circled the blocks around the restaurant twice before giving up and parking up by the Vietnamese restaurant on the other side of Georgia (next to where Jackie's used to be). I didn't realize before then that there is a pedestrian walkway on the railroad bridge over Georgia (I've lived hard by DTSS for over 30 years without knowing). The nice young woman working the register pointed out that customers can use the lot belonging to the tire shop on the corner of Georgia and East-West when they are closed.

Nothing much has changed over the years: the menu, the pictures on the walls, and people waiting for dining room seats (I've always sat at the counter). The beer selection has improved. I think there were 4 taps. I had the always reliable DC Brau IPA.

3 hours ago, dracisk said:

I didn't go there expecting haute cuisine, but this was many levels below even minimally competent pub grub.

Thanks, dracisk. @DaveO, this ^ is exactly my sentiment. I don't expect much from a sports bar. A decent burger would be nice. Don't expect anything decent @ firestation1 or you will be mightily disappointed. I don't enjoy trashing places. I generally avoid posting negative comments about restaurants. And this will be my last post regarding FS1.

5 hours ago, dracisk said:

I very rarely actively loathe a place, even if it's sub-par or worse, but I LOATHE this place. What a waste.

+1. Food is bad, service is unprofessional. And yet it has been crowded all 3-4 times I've visited 

They still do