LauraB

Let's review: 1. You thought the quality was good 2. You thought it was a good value 3. You liked the idea that you could cook without having to meal plan or shop during a busy week 4. You liked that you weren't wasting food because the portions were sized correctly 5. You liked cooking rather than ordering out What's the problem?! Oh, that someone else, some unnamed foodie God, might look disdainfully upon you. This is unnecessary suffering. Go forth and enjoy your Hello Fresh without guilt or shame!

Which shops do you especially like to visit on these days?

I've had days like this....and loved them!

Bazaar Spices at Union Market has it available on their website, which leads me to believe that they'd have it at the UM shop -- I've had good luck finding hard-to-find spices there. You can call them at: 202-379-2907.

The former NYT's restaurant critic, Mimi Sheraton, was on the Diane Rehm Show (WAMU) earlier today. She was there to talk about her new book, 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die. I really enjoyed the interview and you might too. You can hear a recording of it here. The only unfortunate aspect was that Steve Roberts was the guest host and he has got to be my least favorite of all of Diane's guest hosts, but he didn't detract too much from what Mimi had to say about a whole lot of foods, cuisines, and culinary traditions.

You're not alone

Their Craigslist posting about the openings is here.

Eater is reporting that Frederick de Pue is no longer the Chef at Table, being replaced by Chef de Cuisine Patrick Robinson. I don't know how to interpret this -- I was under the impression that de Pue was the owner as well as the Chef. This article makes it sound more like he was fired. At any rate, it's been a tough year for de Pue, having had to close Menu/MBK not long ago. We loved our experience at Table last year.

Thanks to all who offered suggestions, both in this thread and via PM. After interviewing several candidates, we have selected one. They will start in January, and if all goes well, I'll report back, in case anyone else could use a recommendation for a cleaning service.

Since my original post, I've been to Slipstream quite a few times and it continues to please. I have switched from coffee to tea and I've been very happy with their teas which are supplied by Song Tea in San Francisco. My favorite is their Gold Peony Rolled Leaf -- it's an Oolong style tea and it's delicate and delicious, I find it almost addictive. My second favorite is their Fragrant Leaf which is a green tea and really lovely. The teas here are made very carefully and, I have to say, I now prefer them over Teaism's teas. I never thought I'd find a tea that I liked better than Teaism's Yunnan Gold -- but I have. I wish that Slipstream would sell their tea leaves in bulk; on the other hand, I somehow doubt that making it at home would in any way equal the process they have at Slipstream. I also have to recommend Slipstream's Zucchini Bread. It's shaped to look like a muffin and it's really good! And also their breakfast sandwich made with mustard cheese -- that mustard cheese is delicious -- cheese studded with mustard seeds. They are also now serving lunch, which they hadn't been doing previously. I don't have any information about the details of their menu. And, finally, it seems that the owners have had a change of heart with regard to Wi-Fi. They now have free Wi-Fi, which may explain why the place is now packed and tables are harder to come by than previously.

I was glad to see that Bar Americain was included in the updated NYC index that Rocks just posted. A couple of years ago we were in NYC and had reservations at one of the top restaurants in the city. Unfortunately, we weren't feeling all that well that day and really didn't feel up to going to that place. So, we cancelled that reservation. At the same time, we needed to eat. Bar Americain was literally one or two blocks from our hotel and, while I had reservations about eating at a TV-star's restaurant, we went. It turned out to be great! I no longer remember the details of the food, but I do still remember that we thoroughly enjoyed the experience (despite our extreme fatigue). The ambience, the food, and the service were all top-notch. We still remember it fondly and would not hesitate to return if circumstances lead us there.

Any recent reports from Maple? Anyone been since the expansion?

Four of us had dinner at FishNook last night and it was a really special experience in every way: food, service, ambiance. The evening began around 7:15 and went on until well after 10:00, so a 3-hour extravaganza of wonderful food and conversation. The setting is really nice, kind of cozy, actually, and the stools were very comfortable. Jazz was playing and that created a lovely atmosphere without being too loud to impede our ability to hear one another. Ferhat was a one-man-band, simultaneously filling the roles, of Chef, GM, Sommelier, Server, and Busboy "“ and he did it all with finesse! Even though he was in constant motion, he happily conversed with us and it was really interesting to learn about his thought process, his cooking techniques, how he chooses dishes and ingredients, how he prepared for opening FishNook, and so much more. He is also really charming and quite funny! The menu we were served consisted of 6 on-menu dishes and 3 off-menu dishes, so 9 "˜courses' altogether. It was very similar to what choirgirl and others described upthread, so I won't go into much detail about each dish, except to note where we were served something a bit different. I do want to say that EVERY course was really delicious. We also had the wine pairings and we enjoyed them immensely. As an amuse, Ferhat gave us thin waffle potato chips with thyme that were even better than Fishnet's french fries. Next was the Ceviche with red snapper, corn and avocado. Some of the best ceviche we've ever had. The soup course was a white Cauliflower with a Parmesan Crisp "“ this soup was very fine and showed the influence of Tom Power on Ferhat "“ he said that he learned to make soup from Tom. The parmesan crisp was the perfect accompaniment. The Sea Scallop dish was well-described above and I have to emphasize just how perfectly cooked the scallops were and how beautifully the squash puree and baby bok choy combined with the scallops. I also really liked the dishes these were served in "“ hammered metal bowls from Turkey "“ I'm not one to take pictures in restaurants, but I wanted to with this one. It was a lovely presentation. Next, we were each served one Shrimp on a skewer that was cooked in olive oil on a salt block "“ I'd never seen this done before and it was fascinating to watch. That was followed up with shrimp on a skewer that had been cooked in butter on the salt block. Ferhat asked us which we preferred and interestingly, the men preferred the butter-cooked shrimp, while we women preferred the olive oil shrimp. It was a tough choice, though, because both were delicious. After this, Ferhat broke down a Maine lobster and that was fun to watch. He added it to a Risotto with Green Peas. Yet another lovely dish. The final savory offering was the Salt-Baked Branzino and Garlic Eggplant Puree. Rather than whole fish, Ferhat chose to bake fillets and he explained why and how he did that. Once again, both the fish and the eggplant were perfectly cooked. After that came the desserts. First up was an off-menu "˜Beer Float' described upthread, made with a Port City Porter and ice cream; one of our party was abstaining from alcohol, so Ferhat made him the same dish with root beer. We all loved this dish. And, finally, our dessert was an Apple Galette, which I have not seen described above. Made with Braeburn apples because, as Ferhat explained, they don't give up their juices. We had the pleasure of watching him construct the whole thing before baking. When done, it was served with Moorenko's vanilla ice cream. The perfect end to a perfect meal. What an experience. And, consider that this whole meal was only $55 per person! And $25 for the wine pairings, which were generous and perfectly matched to the food. This dinner is an incredible value. But beyond that, it's just a very special experience all the way round, with a delightful host. All four of us couldn't stop exclaiming about it on the way home. We hope to repeat it very soon.

Don, I would greatly appreciate that! I'll send you my email address.

Don, I hope this one is better than your previous two. I'm curious how you went about finding your new house cleaners?

I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for a cleaning person (or service) who works in the District. Major considerations are reliability and the ability to speak English well enough that I can communicate with them. Thanks for any suggestions -- post here or send me a PM.

^Thanks, Rovers. I guess my mistake was to type in my preferred dining time on the home page. I've discovered if I skip that step and click on 'Find A Table' without specifying date and time, I'm taken to a page where I can get a neighborhood drop down box. But, if I put my info into the forms on the home page, I don't get that option.

It seems that many websites have been recently redesigned by the very same web design firm. They all look really pretty and glossy, huge photo at the top of the page, but I've found that, without exception, they're far less user-friendly than they used to be. All gloss, very little function. They all seem to have been designed by someone who never actually used the site previously. Case in point: Open Table. I used to be able to search DC restaurants by Neighborhood. If that's still the case, I haven't been able to find it. It seems the only way to search DC restaurants now is by 'Cuisine' or 'Cost.' And, while those are certainly useful categories, for me, 'Neighborhood,' is the most useful of all. I just tried to make reservations and I had to search through 284 restaurants all over DC to find one I wanted in the Logan Circle/14th Street neighborhood. Am I alone in this, or are others finding this as well? Or, can you tell me how to find a neighborhood search on OT?

Turkey Avgolemono Soup made with broth made yesterday from this year's Thanksgiving turkey and meat from same. I love Avgolemono soup and this was a very nice variation on the traditional. FYI: the turkey was a brined and prepped bird from BlackSalt that was just fantastic. All we had to do was put it in the oven for 3 hours. This may become my strategy from now on.

It's true. I left a doctor's practice because, while I liked the doctor and her nurse practitioner very much, dealing with the front desk was a nightmare. They treated every patient with complete disdain and disregard. You could stand in front of them for 15 minutes while they were on a personal call and they'd never once make eye contact with you. (I later learned that several people I knew had left that practice for the exact same reason.) Seems like a good analogy to JBag's situation and I would have done just as he did. No matter what business you're in, no matter how good your product, your FOH can cost you a lot of business if they treat customers/clients/patients/patrons badly.

This is potentially very exciting news, if Evans's BBQ is as fantastic in its niche as his fine dining cuisine was in that category. One of the best meals of my life was at the Inn at Easton just a few days before he closed it. Those short ribs and the fig cake are still legend in our household.

Ouch! That's why I always write a long post in Microsoft Word first and then copy it into DR.com. Had that happen one too many times myself. BTW, where is this place?

Well, it turns out that no matter why you can't show up for your Hilton or Marriott reservation, it's going to cost you: "Inspired By Airlines, Hotels Increase Fees - Marriott And Hilton Announce Penalty For Last-Minute Cancellations" by Joe Shakey on nytimes.com

I recently made a fantastic winter soup from a recipe on the Food52 site. It's called Caul-do-Verde and is a variation on the traditional Caldo Verde. The soup had really great flavors. It was a bit time-consuming to prepare, but so worth it. You roast cauliflower which has been tossed with EVOO, smoked paprika, cumin, and S&P. The roasted cauliflower is added to sauteed onions and garlic and chicken stock and then it's all pureed (I used my Vita-Mix). Sausage, mustard greens, and parsley are added to the puree and it's cooked further. This soup was SO creamy, you'd think there was actual cream in it. I used a golden cauliflower and Tuscan chicken sausage. Just fabulous!

We went for dinner this evening to Etto and what a delight it was! We had gone several times in the early days last year, but had not been in quite some time. So, we were happy to see that Etto has not lost a step in the intervening months. As we had had a big lunch earlier in the day, we ordered only small plates and mostly they were on the lighter side. We started with 2 Salumi: the Fennel Pollen and the Spicy Calabria. These were both very, very good, and the Fennel Pollen was just excellent. These put to shame the charcuterie we had at The Partisan last week. The Celery, Celery, Celery and Walnut salad sounds boring but was delicious "“ the addition of shaved pecorino added a nice salty accent and the citrus vinaigrette brightened it perfectly. The Eggplant Caponata and Savoy Cabbage (the caponata was wrapped in the cabbage leaf and then dressed with additional sauce) was really good: nicely briny and with a crunch from an unknown ingredient. Shrimp in Romesco Sauce: the shrimp were perfectly cooked, heads on; the sauce was served on the side and, frankly, who doesn't love romesco sauce? A very nice dish. The Lamb Sausage with Sauerkraut was MrB's favorite (but then, MrB has never met a sausage he didn't love). I have to concur, the sausage was really delicious and the sauerkraut, while not as tangy as I might like, was a nice accompaniment. MrB also had a starter of Chicken liver mousse on crackers with quince jelly which he really liked. There was not one disappointing dish in this entire line-up and the dark German-style bread that they served (free!) was great. Our server, Camilla, was really pleasant and very knowledgeable. You don't hear much about Etto these days, which is really a shame. It's quite a gem when it comes to small plates of creative and delicious food.