Rovers2000

Something has slipped re: Hardywood's barrel program.  Their Gingerbread stouts the last two years (Kentucky Christmas Morning used to be one of my favorite winter beers) have been borderline undrinkable to me.  Anything they put in a rum barrel seems to come out just disgustingly rum forward.  I'm not sure if it was their rapid expansion or what, but its unfortunate.

I share your praise of their farmhouse pumpkin though - its a nicely restrained version of the style.

Went for a late dinner after the Caps game (ugh) last night.  Really enjoyed it and will be returning.  Highlights:

- The duck was unbelievable, possibly one of the better renditions I've had anywhere in DC.  Great textural contrast with the crisp skin and perfectly cooked meat.  Really liked the house made corn tortillas as well.

- Taco of the day was goat - nice level of spice.  Between this and the duck, the "taco omakase" sounds like it could be a lot of fun

- The cuttlefish / shrimp noodles with a coconut broth were interesting, if a little challenging to eat.  

- Butternut squash with a peanut mole wasn't something I'd naturally order but was really good.  It was between this and the charred cabbage and we went with the waitresses recommendation

- Crisp octopus was another great combination of flavors - though the octopus may have been on the chewy side.

All that said - no "misses" in the entire meal and things trended towards "awesome" vs. "ok".  They started off the meal with a gratis shooter of watermelon and mezcal - which simply confirmed that I'm not a mezcal guy though they happily subbed out mezcal for regular tequila my margarita (which was well made)

I would imagine, from an HR perspective, it would be pretty challenging to enforce the non-compete based on the broad generalities (10 miles is relatively significant in this case) making it somewhat easy to argue that it would prevent Frank from earning a living in a meaningful way.  Plus, based on the way it appeared, the termination on the front end likely could be viewed as voiding that non-compete unless there was some severance agreement also baked in.

10 hours ago, TrelayneNYC said:

I'm sure you can use the usual Uber/Lyft

I once took an  Uber from my firm's office in Silicon Valley back to our apartment in SF. It cost about $50 and took roughly a little over an hour. Shouldn't be too difficult to get to/from Napa.

Thanks - I wasn't sure what the tolerance of the drivers in the area would be to the trip there and back.  I'm out in SF speaking at a conference and tend to always err on the side of not driving if I don't need to so was debating the "driver" vs. "uber / lyft".  Appreciate the perspective

Anyone have any car service's that they've used to get from SF to Napa?  Its a day trip and I suppose I can also just grab an uber / Lyft as well - but figured I'd at least ask.

Another great meal at the Grotto last night.  Brought along two colleagues who had never been and both had a great time.  I will continue to get the soft shells every time I'm there...they are wonderful.  Happy on a personal level for Dean but am sad that a place I have so many happy memories anchored to will be departing.  I'll be back at least a couple more times.

Wine Madness is just nuts - the 2006 Brunello Riserva from Costanti was awesome and a steal at the wine madness price.  

Rocket Frog (full disclosure, one of the owners is my neighbor) makes a Gose (Kai Gose to the Beach, named after the brewers son) with pink guava that in my opinion is a perfect summer sour.  Crisp with the fruit used to accentuate the tartness of the beer vs. turning it into "juice".

I believe Arrowine stocks it.

26 minutes ago, deangold said:

Two events coming up: 

It's Not Restaurant Week but Better! $35 tasting menu 8/11 thru 8/18

One last quack" Dinner with the Duck 8/25 $65 or 7 course tasting menu

DinosGrotto.com for info.

Can you still get soft shells or is it restricted to the “not restaurant week” menu?  Not a big deal one way or the other but figured I’d check as I’ll likely be in again over the next two weeks. 

4 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I've never been.  Is it accessible from both Maryland and Virginia?  Which side is better?  What is there to do (with kids)?

I got engaged on the VA side.  Its more hiking and cool views of the falls (though some areas are quite precarious, depending on the age of your kids) than having a "stuff to do".  On the VA side its down the street from Great Falls center (though there isn't much there food wise).  I've never been to the MD side, so can't give you a comparison there.

His fried lemons made an appearance on the frito misto at Bibiana recently.  

2 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

Mmmmm soft-shells

I'll be in with my wife for a date night tonight and am already looking forward to some tasty softshells (and wine, always wine).

Whoa, those subs look excellent.  They'd definitely make it into the "pick up from Ballston Quarter" on the way home from work rotation.

I read the article in the city paper and it made me nostalgic for the Wednesday nights I would be driving home from work - notice Dino didn’t look crowded as I crossed Connecticut on Ordway and walked up the street with my girlfriend who turned into my wife to traipse through the wine list and enjoy whatever specials Dean had the menu   

We didn’t get to Shaw as often as either of us would have liked due moving to Arlington and being overwhelmed with one kid then twins.  We will be in a number of times to say goodbye this summer. 

Thank you for everything Dean.  And if you have any of that house cello you want to get rid of...😉

Trader joes cauliflower gnocchi (my wife and I - and the kids - really like these.  Particularly if made in the more Parisian gnocchi style of pan seared) with fresh grilled corn and heirloom cherry tomatoes.  Finished with butter and parmesean and a dollop of costco pesto.  It reminds me of the gnocchi from Proof (☹️).

One of my favorite easy summertime dinners.

I think the sheer size of the space and the fact that the retail aspect of the shop seemed like an afterthought (at this specific location) likely were problematic.

The retail component is one of the big things I think Screwtop over in Clarendon does very well.  Though with Total Wine on the other side of the development, maybe that was a hard sell.  Its unfortunate as I enjoyed the bar for after work drinks with colleagues when I was in the area (and its walking distance from my house).

Sam Adams was my gateway into "craft" beer in college (specifically Sam Summer Ale, which I saved up enough at the beginning each summer to afford a single case of and hoarded from my roommates) so they will always have a soft spot in my heart.  Though they're testing that by tweaking the recipe this year.

From a pure business perspective - with the incredible industry consolidation, this was a pure survival play.  It insulates both brands from a larger acquisition.  

I've been to both breweries numerous times and while I tend to spend my money in different places - brews from each will always have a place in my rotation if for nothing other than nostalgia purposes.

Good for them.  While folks can twist themselves in knots arguing that Sam “isn’t Craft” without them craft brewing wouldn’t be what it is today.  I think this preserves both entities spirit which in my mind is a positive. 

My forecast for Ballston Quarter is that it will, over time, be successful...in time.  It likely will take a round of misses on the restaurant front from the folks who got in on cheap “early open” rents but the infrastructure is quite good.  

I will likely have moved by the time it happens, but I’ve enjoyed seeing the progress happen on my daily walk to / from the metro.  

18 minutes ago, mtureck said:

It's a shame that Spero writes his menus in a way where you really can't tell what you'll be getting...

10 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Hmm, I've seen this quite often (everytime you order an omakase, for example).

I think both of these are fair.  The point I was trying to make I guess is that Tom missed out on a dish that I thought was excellent b/c he had a similar judgement to my initial one.  I simply asked a bartender and got an answer that allayed my fear.

41 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Tom gives Rev 2 stars.  

One thing I found interesting was that he didn't order the duck based on the licorice aspect.  I actually almost didn't either (I despise black licorice) but unlike Tom apparently - I asked one of the bartenders what they thought about that and received the "its fresh licorice dust" and it is "very subtle".  To be honest, I didn't get a ton of licorice flavor and as I said above, I thought the dish was a home run.

Its a shame that Tom missed out.

On 1/26/2018 at 11:36 AM, DonRocks said:

My guess is that naked scrapple has such a strong taste of offal that it needs something really sweet to neutralize it, and perhaps the Pennsylvania Dutch had access to maple trees.

I think Filipino banana ketchup might work well, although I don't know why that just popped into my head.

I suspect the vacuum-packed loaves you buy at the supermarket have a fair amount of non-animal filler, so they're milder.

I actually never thought of scrapple as having a particularly "offal-y" taste to it.  For me it was more a textural thing (crisp exterior, almost melting interior).  For me, as my food tastes of evolved, I've thought of it as basically a fried rillette.

I believe Red Apron at times has a pretty solid version - anyone else know any reliable places in the Arlington (preferably) area that crank scrapple out as I now have a craving 😎

My wife and I enjoyed ourselves at Reverie last night.  Its a funny little space - but I liked the quirkiness of the location and the informality of the place in general.  I also would say that you can get the entire menu sitting at their bar which was relatively empty at about 8pm last night (we had reservations - and sat looking into the kitchen which was fun).

We ordered:

- Scallop crudo - this was a very good dish - though the "sauce" could overwhelm the scallop if you weren't careful in terms of loading up a spoon / fork.  Refreshing and light.

- Beef Tartare - I really like beef tartare and this rendition, while not mind blowing, was solid.  The oyster sauce was interesting as were the black garlic chips.

- Mushroom - pictured in the post above, its a beautifully constructed dish and the mushrooms were really tasty - that said, I feel like 26 dollars was a bit excessive for what you get on this front.  Additionally, I think "yolk fudge" isn't totally the way I'd frame that component of the dish.  While delicious - I thought it a bit of a curious classification.

- Duck - Order this.  I thought it one of the better renditions of duck that I've ever enjoyed.  Its also a LOT of duck - my wife and I were pretty stuffed after making our way through it.  

- Bay Ice Cream - for whatever reason, I seem to like Bay leaf in cream components (I've enjoyed Bay whipped cream as well) - who knew.  This was fine - but I probably didn't need more food at this point since I was relatively stuffed.

We paired the meal with a really nice "winter" rose that was balanced with the food we ordered and rang up for about 60 bucks.  I had a glass of a nice italian orange wine at the bar (which had some nice funk to it) - and their by the glass list ranged from 14-20 a glass which seems to be the norm these days.  

All in all - I'd recommend going here.  Reservations were easy to come by, the staff was gracious (though our waiter seemed to be on the greener side?  There was a pretty long gap from when we received menus and when he returned to get us drinks - but serve was fine from there on out) and as I said above - I liked the refined food in a casual setting vibe.

Just heart breaking.  Jane was a wonderful person and filled Glen Manors tasting room with warmth whenever she was there (which was almost every time we visited).  

I can’t fathom how distraught Kelly and Jeff must be.  Jen and I are going to make a trip out there next weekend to have a glass in Janes honor.  

This is similar to what has happened at Capital One Arena this season.  No bags bigger than 14x14 are allowed.  

Its been a pain for me (when I walk to games after work, having to leave my bag in the office) but I guess its just the new normal unfortunately.

On 2/1/2019 at 9:20 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

The menu online is the menu we had.

We even finished the wine they brought ($50 corkage fee)! 

That is (in my view) nuts from a corkage perspective...that said - I was pretty surprised that they didn't have anything even resembling a wine list online.  I assume they had bottle / by the glass selections?  I likely wouldn't have pulled a bottle from the cellar for this dinner - given for this type of cooking I'd rather let the restaurant guide me a bit - but I find it a little odd that the only thing they reference in their menu's is their small cocktail list.

I'm going next week with my wife and would be curious to know what the deal is on the wine front.