Rovers2000

I'd also bundle Liberty Tavern in with the above NOVA recs.

I'm not sure how available it is other than the winery, but maybe Hillsboroughs Onyx?

I normally pick the ones I make at home from the fish counter at BlackSalt - just a hop across the Chain Bridge from Arlington

I'm in Miami this weekend and plan on trying Yardbird and some others mentioned up thread. However I'm on my own today without a car in Coral Gables until about 4. Any recommendations on places for lunch that might be walkable? Or a cab ride away? Thanks!

I enjoyed the RdV wines, but do have to give them credit for the branding exercise as well as the incredible capital raising job they apparently did in the construction of the place. Literally my first thought upon walking through the facility was "Ruud clearly has a knack for lining up investors or is independantly wealthy". Please don't construe that as a knock - it should be viewed as the opposite as I'm extremely impressed with his business saavy / taste in design. In terms of cost for me the best bang for the buck (by FAR) is the Hodder Hill from Glen Manor. It is priced lower than the high end wines at Linden and the other notable VA vineyards and in my opinion (based on my tasting above) stands a cut above the others in terms of its taste (admittedly, that may be simply my preference). That said, I did purchase a few bottles of the RdV b/c I enjoyed my visit and like supporting VA wineries that are striving to (and succeeding in) producing high quality wines. If I paid a tariff to do that, so be it. **as a note, there are cards that come with the wines that recommend aging both Lost Mountain and Rendevous for a few years.

Had a gluttonous lunch at the Ashby Inn with my wife and two good friends yesterday. I won't go into the wine as I touched on that in the VA wine thread (we did also have an excellent Italian half bottle and a great Chilean wine) but Neal was really tremendous to talk to. In terms of the food we had: Pretzel Gougeres (we ordered multiple orders of these) - great pretzels with melted fontina. I literally could've eaten an entire bag of these. Spring Vegetables, Mustard, Horseradish - to me the only miss of the day. These were excellent local veggies, but I was envious of my companions dishes Razor Clam Ceviche Scallops with Potato Crisp Asparagus Soup Burger, rye toast, saurkraut, Salted potatoes BBQ Pork Loin, Fried Egg, Fries - this was unreal. About as delicious as a sandwich as I've ever had. The egg worked well with the slightly smokey pork loin and the fries were extremely crisp hand cut Grilled Hen Bacon Sundae - I know bacon may be "trite" but this was excellent with the bacon adding a nice salty note in conjunction with some cashews and dried marshmellow. I really look forward to going back to the Inn and staying...this really is a gem and if you're looking to spend time out at any of the excellent vineyards in this part of VA, I would echo all of the sentiments above and say make the Ashby Inn part of your day.

Yesterday through an excellent lunch (I'll be writing it up shortly) at the Ashby Inn along with visits to RdV and Linden Vineyards I tasted some truly excellent wines - not just excellent VA wines but wines that would stand up against others from around the world (in my opinion). I had: '09 Glen Manor - Hodder Hill '10 Glen Manor - Hodder Hill '08 Linden - Hardscrabble '09 RdV - Lost Mountain '09 RdV - Rendevous '06 Linden - Hardscrabble '09 Linden - Hardscrabble First, it was awesome the the Ashby Inn had so many VA half bottles which made it possible to work through so many during a truly great meal - although I believe we grabbed their last half bottles of the '09 Hodder Hill and '08 Hardscrabble. Second, I have to say - if you can do it, go visit RdV. I thought the salon tasting was really cool and the facility itself was unreal. One of my companions mentioned he felt like he was in Napa back in the 90's - having no basis to relate to that comment, I will simply say that it really is a beautiful facility and I could have spent more time just wandering around their cellar. Additionally, it is very interesting hearing the folks at RdV and Glen Manor (when I had been a few weeks back) talk about the influence of Jim Law - that discussion prompted the impromptu trip to visit Linden vineyards after what was a pretty full day. It was a worthwhile addition to the day. One thing that stood out for me was how different the wines are. My favorites of the day were probably Glen Manor followed very closely by RdV. The '09 was delicious but while Neil at Ashby told us we were committing "infanticide" by drinking the '10, it was clear this is a wine that not only is good already but has tremendous potential. I am very happy I was able to purchase a case (thanks to Joe H for the heads up on its release) from Jeff and will have a tough time exercising the patience to let this fully mature. The RdV tasting pitted their wines against a Caymus Reserve Cab and a young Bordeaux. I thought both wines stood up favorably to the two and look forward to trying their '10's when they are released later this year. In terms of Linden, while I enjoyed the wines, I felt that there was a ton of green pepper in their wines (the '08 had a higher proportion of cab franc) which just isn't to my taste in the same vein as some of the other wines. That said, I still have a bottle of '09 which I thought was the best Hardscrabble that I look forward to sitting on for a bit. We did not squeeze in Delaplane Cellars in, but intend to go check that out the next trip we make out to RdV.

I get pretty solid use with the pizza steel. It has held up well, is easy to clean, and basically stays in my oven like a pizza stone (and has proven to be awesome at finishing off roasted veg, in their roasting pan, for the last 5 minutes of cooking). If I had a yard I would totally put together the steel / weber kit that Kenji wrote about recently.

Garagiste is actually based in Seattle. The reason I jumped in and ordered was b/c in my research on them, it seems like they have done a pretty good job being advocates (obviously not as necessary anymore) for WA state wine, which I really like (but have only really gotten into over the last year or so). Their emails are funny (and at times can read like reviews here ) and while I read many of them, their exploration of European (mainly French / Italian) doesn't catch my eye like the WA state wines that pop up from time to time. I also thought I'd read they were opening a distribution center on here, which would be interesting if it ever came to fruition.

I dipped my toe into today's Garagiste offer (2011 un-named WA state Syrah). I've read about them a bit, but figured at the end of the day, it might be worth a try. Anyone had good / bad experiences?

The dining room at Eventide (with it's curtains that can be pulled to section off areas) would probably work as well.

I'd recommend Range. The food / drink is reasonably priced and I really like it for catching up as the tables aren't on top of one another and its actually a pretty relaxed environment. I've had multiple business get togethers as well as personal catch up's and I've been pleased on all fronts including price.

A wedding gift in the form of a very generous gift card had as and another couple at Volt last night. Just so happened that they released their new menu this weekend and brought in the a la carte option back...I'm not sure if this was the reason, but Voltaggio was in the kitchen and was definitely expediting and heavily involved in the plates (sitting at one of the non-Table 21 chefs tables gave us a great view into the kitchen). When looking at the menu, the options were tasting or the a la carte side...since there were four of us, and conveniently four options within each of the four (non-dessert) menu options we essentially said "bring us one of every option and we'll share them". This ended up being a great strategy as we were able to work our way through the entire menu (including all of the dishes on the tasting menu side, with the exception of a rabbit plate that sounded wonderful). The menu is currently online so I simply copied it below. I'll add my thoughts on the dishes that I felt were the highlights but I truly felt that all the dishes were well executed: Fruit's & Vegetables: SPRING PEAS buttermilk, shrimp, peanuts | 10 - This might have been my favorite dish of the night. Peas with an impossibly vibrant green sauce, with perfectly cooked pieces of shrimp dotted on the plate. This dish made me think of spring and was extremely refreshing (served cool) YOUNG CARROTS baked in aromatic salt crust, marsh samphire, sheep’s milk | 10 GREEN STRAWBERRIES surryano ham, bitter and sweet greens and herbs | 14 - This was another great dish, it actually is also served with house made burrata which was a wonderful creamy addition to the dish that really picked up the sharp tang of the green strawberries. MOREL MUSHROOMS pickled ramps, sprouted wheat, sea lettuces | 18 Pasta: CORN GNOCCHETTI fish pepper, charred leeks, fava beans, purslane | 10 - The table felt the pasta courses were some of the strongest of the night and this was the one I liked the most. The table did fight for essentially every dish as we passed them so I feel very confident saying these are ALL worth ordering. The corn gnocchetti was really nicely done and burst with corn flavor. STINGING NETTLE RADIATORE pork belly, leaf mustard, cippolini onion | 11 - The pork belly literally was one of the more perfectly cooked that I've ever had. I really liked the radiatore pasta. CUTTLEFISH BOLOGNESE miso cavatelli, ink paint, parmesan | 12 - While I liked this (as did my table mates), know it is strong in its fish flavor, but a very nice plate. SOURDOUGH LINGUINI olde salt clams, smoked potato, chives | 14 Fish: RAZOR CLAM wood sorrel, horseradish, toasted yogurt, grapefruit | 14 BLUE CRAB FROM GULF COAST sprouted quinoa porridge, asparagus, egg custard | 19 - a great marriage of simple flavors, I could've eaten a few of these. The nicely sized pieces of crab working well with the quinoa and egg custard. COD CHEEKS charred spring garlic, smoked raisin, pickled grapes | 23 BUTTERFISH wilted green cabbage, chorizo, purple top turnips, mustards, green apple | 25 - This was the other highlight of the fish courses for me. I loved the wilted cabbage with the chorizo as they added a nice punch to the mild butterfish. Meat & Game: CHICKEN LIVER pickles, radish, rye toast | 16 - I am a sucker for chicken liver and this was perfectly smooth and an excellent rendition. YOUNG CHICKEN wilted red ribbon dandelion, sunchokes, black trumpet mushrooms, dates | 23 PORK AND BEANS fragrant legume broth, fava beans, red pearl onions | 29 - The favas were a bright addition here to the well cooked pork. The bartender had mentioned this was her favorite new dish and I can clearly see why. LAMB hulled barley, slow braised neck, chick peas, lacinato kale | 33 - This was my personal favorite. Perfectly cooked lamb with the slow braised neck gave two nice texturally different tastes of lamb. Dessert: CHOCOLATE marshmallow, crushed chocolate chip cookie frozen custard, salted peanuts | 11 - We deviated from our "try every course" b/c this sounded so good (and our waiter when we asked if we were missing anything by going this way, couldn't really come up with anything that was must have aside from this)...it was as delicious as it sounds. The only knock I would say was that I felt the wine list favored the high end of the price range. Maybe I'm spoiled, and the wine director and I were talking about how awesome the wine list was at Range, but I didn't feel like there was a whole lot below the 90 dollar a bottle range worth ordering...that said, it was also tough to go the bottle route with such a wide variety of dishes (we went with two light italian reds and both were excellent). We had pre-dinner cocktails at the bar and I REALLY liked their take on an old fashioned, with aged rum vs. bourbon. Service was also spot on, never feeling overbearing while always present when something was needed. I will definitely go back to Volt, although in the future I may try to grab two seats at the bar and eat there, I'm very glad we took the opportunity afforded us to enjoy sitting with a view of the kitchen to watch them work. It was very cool to watch how fluid it was as opposed to some kitchens which seem to have a frenetic pace to them...this looked like a well oiled machine last night - and the food it produced certainly was expertly cooked & composed.

Thanks Joe, they had mentioned they would be releasing it in the spring sometime, so I'm glad to hear they stayed on schedule. I may have to order a case myself and pick it up when we head out there next Month. In terms of the salon tasting, I'm scheduling a visit for mid-April I believe....I'll also check out Delaplane and some of the others out there.

Did Roberto's 4 last night and our group really enjoyed ourselves. Let me preface my thoughts by saying that this was the first time I've ever had Chef Donna's food. I also won't go into the detail that some others went into b/c there was some overlap. Below is what we had: -Pizzetta - Robiola Cheese - Black Truffles -San Daniele Proscuitto - Gnocco Fritto - Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale -Crocchetta Black Cerignola Olives - Mortadella Mayo -Diver Sea Scallops Crudo - Caviar - Ligurian Olive Oil -Norwegian Salmon Cured In-House - Yogurt - Cucumber - Sicilian Olive Oil -Fried Head-On Shrimp - Saffron Sauce -Chantarelles Mushrooms - Asparagus - Shallots -Scrambled Egg - Pioppini - Burrata Cheese -Frascatelli - Clams - Speck -Chitarra Spaghetti - Cuttlefish - Black Ink Sauce -Raviolo Del Plin - Potato - Leeks - Butter Sage Sauce -Risotto - "La Tur" Cheese - Alba Hazelnuts -Squab - Chestnuts Duck Liver -Cervena Venison - Sour Cherries - Sunchokes -Pecorino Di Fossa Cheese - Saba - Dry Fig Puree -Panna Cotta - Raspbeery - Blood Orange Granita - Candy Zest -Gianduia Jar -Bicerin -Bombolini First, this was a TON of food for 85 bucks. From a pure value perspective, I don't know if I've had a a better meal in recent memory. My personal favorites were probably the Scrambled Egg, served in a shell topped with the burrata, the Ravioli Del Plin, and the Squab with Duck Liver but there was not a single dish I didn't like. I also have to call out the texture of the Panna Cotta as being a textbook example of what the dish should be like. Delicious. By the end our group was groaning we were so full, but everyone demolished each dish that came out. Its certainly an interesting setting for this type of meal, when we got there at 7 it was definitely loud, I actually thought it was refreshing to have this type of experience in an environment that wasn't particularly stuffy. We also did the wine pairings which matched the food well. If I were to do it again, I'd probably bring some bottles of my own, but this isn't a knock on the pairings (of which they are very generous with the pours for 45 dollars). All in all I really enjoyed the experience and it lived up to my expectations based on JoeH's posts and many of the others in this thread. Its not often I'd say that a weeknight meal that crested the 300 mark for 2 was a great value, but this was. I would highly recommend the experience for anyone who is currently sitting on the fence.

I'm curious as to when Glen Manor might be releasing their Hodder Hill again, when we were at the Vineyard (last summer) it was out...I'm booking an appointment at RdV for April and was debating going the extra 30 miles to Glen Manor in the same day.

Pick the next VTC beer and I'll buy you one of those instead

Also, and there is a thread in this forum on it, but the Grape Crate www.grapecrate.com might also be a solution for you.

There is a great bussola ca'del laito valpoicella ripasso there (I've ordered it twice) for about $36 which is roughly 11 dollars over retail (Calvert Woodley). Mark Slater had sold me a bottle of this at retail back when he was at Ray's and it really is a great version that goes with a lot of the menu at Range...kudos to them for taking this approach.

Lunch at Proof is tremendous (and a good value, as I think for 20 bucks you can get a full entree and rotating glass of wine), but its tough to go wrong with Estadio (I love me some pork belly sliders).

I had it on draft a Boulevard Woodgrill last weekend and very much enjoyed it (served in a tulip glass). Definitely a ton of grapefruit that really mellowed out the overall hop factor (although, its definitely still there). I actually had this about an hour before consuming a HopSlam at Eventides bar and I would say this beer, while not necessarily standing up to the smoothness of HopSlam, still belongs in the conversation along with Troegs Nugget Nectar. I do think from a price perspective, this beer is a better on a dollar by dollar basis than HopSlam - I'd drink this regularly whereas the other is more like a once a year treat.

Clearly, the focus above has really been on the foods...I take it the wine pairings were also a part of your meal? I'll be heading there in the next month (and as someone who never experienced the lab or Gallileo) and was curious as to this piece of the experience.

I have one of the steels and think its worth the money. I've been really pleased with the results from it vs. the old pizza stone I'd had.

I would 100% be on board with something along the lines of that event. As a novice in both charcuterie and sausage making, I'm sure it would be extremely educational.

Heading to Fort Myers, FL on Friday for a long weekend visiting my father in-law. Any suggestions for good (mid-range) food or bar options in the area? Also wouldnt mind anything wine focused, but some cursorsy searches haven't revealed much in that vein.