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LauraB

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Everything posted by LauraB

  1. LauraB
    Cashion's Eat Place is taking over the Taan Noodles space and opening up a casual seafood place called Pop's Seabar.
  2. LauraB
    Given your location, I'd recommend Iron Gate Inn on N between Connecticut and 17th. A bit further are Bombay Club and Equinox, on Connecticut, just below I.
  3. LauraB
    Hi Alex, Your style of wine sounds exactly like what I really like in a wine. I'm interested in learning where they may be available locally at the retail level. In the meantime, I'm glad to see that you are being asked some intelligent questions upthread. My question, however, has nothing to do with wine per se. As a former Frederick, Maryland resident myself, I'm wondering, what brought you to Frederick?
  4. LauraB
    You beat me to it, Pat! He's amazing -- 16 saves! The most ever recorded in a World Cup game. MVP of the US World Cup team, IMO.
  5. LauraB
    One of the greatest features of Uprising for me, an early riser, insomniac, is that it opens at 6:00 am every day of the week except Sundays, when they open at 7:00. As you know, it's highly unusual to have places open this early. AFAIK, only Starbucks opens this early. There are just some days when all I want to do for breakfast is get food and coffee that someone else made and it's usually very early. Uprising is a wonderful alternative to Starbucks for that purpose. This past Saturday morning was such a time and I was thrilled to be able to go to Uprising and find Donnie and crew hard at work at 6:15 am, lights on, doors open. I emerged with 2 freshly baked, still warm, muffins and a cup of their drip coffee. The cherry muffin (only available on Saturdays) was really good -- lots of cherries and not too sweet. The blueberry was not as good, to my taste, but not bad at all. The coffee was a whole lot better than the bitter and burned stuff they serve at Starbucks.
  6. LauraB
    You don't say what time you're looking to have dinner, but assuming it's early, if you get to a lot of places when they open, you can get a seat at the bar and often have access to the entire menu, depending. We've done that with Rasika -- dining at their bar is not a production. Fiola is also nearby and dining at their bar is really fun. Oyamel is just a couple of doors away from WM. The new Menu MBK from Frederick de Pue is just around the corner from the Partisan, at 8th & D. Cedar, at 8th & E also has bar dining, I believe.
  7. LauraB
    We went on a week day a few weeks ago and the crowds were much less than on weekends and did not interfere with our ability to enjoy the show. (We had tried earlier on a weekend and gave up after 5 minutes.) We both concluded that this exhibit, with its focus on the connection between Degas and Cassatt does not include either artist's best works. I agree with Tweaked above that the most interesting feature was Degas's studies of Cassatt at the Louvre. Speaking of the Louvre, museums and crowds: I can remember as a student in Paris in the 1970s being able to visit the Louvre and Jeu de Paume and walking right in without having to stand in line and leisurely enjoy the art in uncrowded rooms. Twenty years later, you had to stand in a long line outside and wait to gain admission to the museum itself. Once inside, your view of the artworks was seriously impeded by large tour groups of foreign tourists each videotaping the artwork, not even bothering to look at it with their actual eyes. Sad.
  8. LauraB
    Now open!
  9. LauraB
    I'm a little late to the party, having cooked my first dish from this book last night. No one has mentioned it upthread, so I wanted to let everyone know that 'Saffron Chicken & Herb Salad' (page 188) was just fantastic. It makes a great light entree for hot summer evenings. You make a syrup by simmering orange wedges with honey, saffron, white wine vinegar and water and then I pureed it in my Vitamix -- makes a beautiful, light orange, silky puree that is very aromatic. You mix this with boneless chicken breasts that have been quickly seared in a grill pan to produce grill marks, and then transferred to a roasting pan to finish in the oven. After the chicken has cooled somewhat, but is still warm, you tear the breasts into large chunks and mix in the orange puree. An herb salad is made of fennel, basil, cilantro, mint and a red chile and dressed with a little olive oil. I served the chicken on a bed of the salad and this made a really nice, light dinner. The only change I made was to substitute sliced cucumber for the fennel because I'm not a fan of raw fennel. The orange mixture took longer than the one hour suggested to reduce sufficiently, but otherwise I had no issues with the recipe. It makes enough puree that you only need half of it for the dish. I'm planning to use the remainder to dress some fish fillets tonight.
  10. LauraB
    Yes, they are. I'm not sure of the exact date they started lunch service, but it was months ago.
  11. LauraB
    We finally made it to Uprising on Saturday morning, after having walked by half a dozen times when they were either not open, or we didn't have time to stop in. We were very eager to visit the shop because, peering in the windows, we could see that they had a copious amount of really comfortable seating -- large upholstered chairs, sofas -- not the usual sparse assortment of uncomfortable concrete slab type seating you find in most coffee houses/bakeries. The 3 of us spent almost 2 hours there and enjoyed every minute of it. The staff, especially Donnie, the owner, were very friendly. It's bright and airy and not too loud. We were happy to see that there was a steady stream of customers during that time, but it never felt crowded. We were there to have a conversation, but they do have free wifi. They bake 8 different muffins that are offered every day: blueberry streusel, banana walnut, chocolate chip, lemon poppy seed, black bottom, pumpkin, cranberry orange, and coffee cake. In addition, each day they bake several additional muffins that rotate according to which day it is. On Saturday the additional muffins were: two different kinds of savory: bacon, egg and cheddar or spinach, tomato and parmesan; maple pancake, strawberries and cream, cherry and espresso. MrB had two muffins: the bacon, egg and cheddar which he said was very good; and the coffee cake, which I had a bite of and liked a lot. My daughter and I had the spinach, tomato and parmesan. To my taste, it was too sweet -- I would have preferred if it had had more of the savory ingredients. Donnie brought by samples of freshly baked espresso muffins and oh my, those were great! All during the time we were there, freshly-baked muffins were constantly being brought out of the kitchen. According to their website, whatever's left over at the end of the day, they donate. So, you can feel assured that the muffin you're eating was freshly baked a short while ago. Not being a coffee aficionado, I'm not going to comment much on the coffee, except to say, as Ferhat noted above, they are using Ceremony coffee. They offer the usual assortment of coffee drinks. My daughter was quite excited to see that they were selling bags of Ceremony's Destroyer Espresso Roast -- a favorite of hers. Uprising is a great addition to the neighborhood and we will return soon!
  12. LauraB
    I don't know how many DR members saw the very first SNL episode in October 1975. I was a grad student at Duke at the time and a bunch of us were gathered around my small black and white TV in the living room of my rental in Durham. We were blown away by what we saw that night -- nothing like it had ever been broadcast on television in our lifetimes. Some skits appeared to us as if they were commercials, except that they were so bizarre that they couldn't possibly be true -- our jaws were dropping. Needless to say, SNL became essential viewing every Saturday night after that. The following summer of 1976 my life took me to Europe and my one regret was that I couldn't see SNL every week.
  13. LauraB
    We were meeting friends to see the Garry Winogrand exhibit at the other end of the museum. Having arrived early, we spent our time in the Wyeth exhibit. It is a beautiful show. Unfortunately, I only got to see the first two rooms -- I was captivated by Wind from the Sea and found it hard to move on from that room. I really enjoyed all of the studies on display that were precursors to the painting. And, gazing at that painting, I could feel the breeze on my face and smell the dust in the room from not having been inhabited in such a long time. It was highly evocative for me of times in my childhood. Planning to return to see the rest of the exhibit very soon. (And by the way, the Garry Winogrand exhibit was fantastic. Unfortunately, it closed last Sunday.)
  14. LauraB
    I saw fiddleheads at the Dupont Farmers Market last Sunday -- can't recall which farm stand they were in.
  15. LauraB
    Done!
  16. LauraB
    Ivan Locke gets into a car at a remote location and begins driving toward London, a 90-minute drive from where he starts. The entire film unfolds in his car as he places and answers dozens of calls over those 90 minutes. He is a man of incredible integrity and, as a result, he blows up his entire life during that drive. He is someone who is accustomed to being in charge and controlling everything that happens around him. He assumes that he can continue doing so, and it is fascinating to watch him try, while it becomes increasingly evident that he cannot do so in the face of these events. It's a harrowing, roller coaster ride for the viewer. The end of the film leaves the story unfinished and that felt exactly right. We left the theater feeling stunned and as if we ourselves had driven that car for 90 minutes down that highway. This generated the most conversation we have had about a film in a long time. FIVE STARS.
  17. LauraB
    Joe, I really enjoyed reading your post on The Shack -- thanks so much for taking the time. You make a very compelling case for driving down to Staunton -- we had always hoped to get to the Glass Haus but it didn't happen. Can you (or anyone) recommend a place to stay in Staunton? Seeing as how it's a 2.5 hour drive or more from DC, might as well make a mini-trip of it and enjoy the area.
  18. LauraB
    If I understand your post correctly, Mockingbird Hill will be a coffee bar between 8 am and 3 pm. Just wondering, will you be serving anything besides coffee?
  19. LauraB
    We went for an early dinner last week. As Tweaked has noted, the food offerings are very similar to the original in College Park and we were very pleased to see that the quality of the ingredients and cooking was also as good as we've come to know it. The ambiance is quite different, as you might imagine. The CP location is kind of a do-it-yourself design. This one is a lot sleeker. Both are in keeping with their location. We both had the mahi mahi grilled: I had the sandwich, he had the platter which consists of the fish fillet served over a large amount of very fresh greens. We also had their very good fries which we were happy to see are just as good as the originals. They have quite a number of beers on tap. I had a Champion Killer Kolsch from Charlottesville that I liked a lot. We had a nice chat with Ferhat and were interested to learn that the developers of the building actually approached him to open there. They are apparently committed to independent businesses as the 3 Derek Brown bars/restaurants are located there as well as the independent coffee shop, Uprising Muffin Company, next door. We asked Ferhat if he intended to have delivery service like he does in College Park. He said no, but he did add that they've had a lot of requests for delivery from people who live upstairs in the building!
  20. LauraB
    I agree completely about the Oval Room -- we've had nothing but excellent experiences there. So glad that the venue itself will be refreshed. I also agree that you hear nothing about CityZen despite the fact that it is, arguably, the best restaurant in DC. On the other hand, I doubt they have trouble filling tables there. I'd like to add two: Marcel's and Corduroy. Every time I've been to Marcel's it's been an exquisite experience in every way. Yet, you hear almost nothing about it. Corduroy gets its due here on DR.com, but otherwise it travels completely under the radar. I always mention it as an excellent dining option and the vast majority of people have never even heard of it.
  21. LauraB
    Have you tried Harvey's at Union Market?
  22. LauraB
    Chris' Marketplace sells empanadas at the market -- don't know if this is the place you have in mind. I've never tried their empanadas, but they have excellent crab cakes, gazpacho and a soup called Fresco.
  23. LauraB
    I'm not sure why visitors from California would want to bother eating at a Mexican restaurant here. Why not try something that is less ubiquitous out there? Anyway, I might send them to Taco Bamba in Falls Church. It's less a restaurant than a carryout joint with some seating, but the food is darn good. Many different kinds of tacos that are very good, excellent posole. There is zero ambiance and they don't serve alcohol, but the food is worth the visit. Like DCDuck above, I've not been to R&R Taqueria either, but it does seem to get the most love from those who have been. It's in Elkridge, I believe.
  24. LauraB
    When I first read Goldenticket's post, I banged my head against the wall and thought, "Why didn't I think of that?!" We love Union Market, have been there many times, including with the people we are meeting at Union Station. Rappahannock Oyster Bar is one of our favorite dining venues in DC. My concern is that UM gets very crowded and chaotic on the weekends and the purpose of our meet-up is to catch up and I fear that we may not be able to find a table and even if we do, it'll be so loud that conversation will be difficult. So, I have some hesitation about this option.
  25. LauraB
    Oh, yeah, my mother served canned lima beans too, as well as canned beets. Emerging from childhood I thought there were 3 things I would never eat: lima beans, beets, and liver. Many years ago, I was at a dinner party and the hostess exclaimed excitedly that she was roasting beets. I thought to myself, "Oh, my God, how am I going to choke them down?" Well, of course, they were fantastic and I've loved beets ever since. A few years later, I encountered lima beans at an upscale restaurant. They were fresh, of course, and I really liked them. Not so much that I would seek them out over other beans, but I don't avoid them anymore. At a farewell party that German friends threw for me in Berlin as I was preparing to return to the U.S. after several years there, they announced with great fanfare that the main course was liver in a curry sauce! I thought about feigning illness and fleeing, but fortunately, I stayed and took a very tentative bite and kind of liked it. It's sad how bad childhood experiences can taint our feelings about certain foods. And, unless we're forced into trying them, we may never know what we're missing. And then there are good childhood experiences! I don't think my grandma was a world-class cook, by any means, but boy could she make a great rhubarb pie with rhubarb she grew in her backyard. I can still see and taste those pies. Rhubarb remains one of my favorite foods. She also grew tomatoes and she used to pay me and my sisters 5 cents for every tomato hornworm we could locate "“ luckily, we didn't have to actually touch the worms, just alert her to their presence and she would dispatch them with great glee. Her meatloaf, which she cooked in a pressure cooker, was fantastic to my childhood palate "“ it was slathered in a homemade tomato sauce (no doubt made from the tomatoes in her yard) and accompanied by potatoes that were also prepared in the pressure cooker. I was scared of that pressure cooker, but wow, I loved the food that came out of it! She also made her own jams and jellies and, to this day, I miss her apple butter. In addition to her cooking, she taught me every card game I ever knew. She had so much life in her and I'm convinced that my lifelong love affair with food started with her.
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