bookluvingbabe

It is a kid's dream place.  Table side guacamole made to your specifications.  Drinks made with liquid nitrogen table side too.  The damn chocolate piñata.  

I like the carne asada a lot. But I have a soft spot for the nachos.

Thank you for organizing it.  We had fun, although BL-6th grader's patience was not what I might have hoped.  (I think the last picnic we attended he was 2 and I remember chasing him around...)  

The Girl Girl's Weird Thing were my favorite tomatoes. 

I took everything I learned from this thread and then ignored it when we went to Chicago.  We did a quick trip to see Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and to see Hamilton.  (Both Mr. BLB and BL-6th grader were ungrateful about the Hamilton tickets because they didn't think they needed to see it again.  Heathens...) 

We stayed at the Palmer House and I really loved the location.  We did one over priced breakfast in their dining room.  Definitely not worth it.  The bar was hopping every night and I had a lovely cocktail there the first night while trying to get work done while waiting for the others to fall asleep.

The best meal was at the Little Goat Diner.  We ubered over, over the protests of BL-6th grader, who then proceeded to love everything we ate.  Fat Elvis Waffles, Pork Belly Fries, Smoked Corned Beef Hash, sausage, bacon and blueberry pancakes.  We didn't come close to eating it all.  The cookies we ordered to go were lovely too. I should have bought more.

The Sienna Tavern was a nice lunch spot with good salmon and a charming carbonnara that is mixed in a jar in front of you.

The Grill Room across from the CIBC Theater had excellent steaks.  It wasn't cheap but it was a very good meal.

Our one failure was that no one was hungry before Wait Wait and we didn't get out of there until almost 11 pm.  Mr. BLB and BL-6th grader went to Vapiano's while I headed to the hotel for a burger at Potter's Bar.  

We really enjoyed Chicago (we did the Hancock Tower and the Art Institute) and would happily return for more exploring and more food at the Little Goat Diner.

Looking forward to it.  Will likely bring something I purchase on the way as my week has gone to hell.  

No clue that we will be bringing but I'll be there with a very grown BL-6th grader.

Mr. BLB surprised me with his adamant dismay at the upcoming closing of Eve, reminisced about the pulled pork sandwich from 2006-07 and insisted that we had to go one last time.  Our anniversary was Wednesday and Friday was a half day of school for  BL-5th grader so we made the journey to Old Town yesterday.

It was a perfectly lovely dinner, lacking a bit in salt, but it didn't wow me the way Eve used to.  We started with eggs, fois gras, and the scallops.  Entrees were the cod and the veal sweetbreads.  And then a scoop of peach sorbet for BL-5th grader. The sorbet was served with a base of finely chopped walnuts.  Fortunately he didn't mind, but I would have been peeved had it been my plate since it wasn't mentioned when we ordered.  (No allergy, I just don't like nuts...)  The other desserts just didn't appeal to us so Mr. BLB and I skipped it.

Service was slow and there was a long delay between ordering a cocktail when we were seated and receiving it well after our first course was done and cleared.  

I'll be interested in the next chapter of Eve but last night was a shadow of what I remember. 

"Spring Menu Coming Soon."  

Sigh...

I am unlikely to venture into a completely new cuisine without a menu on the website that I can study and do some research on in advance.  

Just popping in to say how much I appreciate this thread and the others in the travel section.  We'll be in Vancouver for a few days before we go to Alaska and it is reassuring to find solid advice here.  I had focused on the tourist stuff first and now I need to figure out the food.  (Stanley Park, Calipanio bridge, Grouse Mountain, Aquarium, Fly Over Canada and Minor League baseball..)  Looking forward to it all!

13 minutes ago, Lydia R said:

Interesting how the rumors eventually evolve. It'll be a while before the Rockville Wegmans opens at Twinbrook Quarter. Looking upthread, it took 4+ years for the Landover location opened after its initial press release.

BLHusband and BL5th grader were both quite excited about this.  I pointed out the chance of it being done before he finished 8th grade and we weren't in the neighborhood every week day were slim.

They both harrumphed at me... 

On 3/20/2018 at 11:17 AM, DonRocks said:

After what I read in that article, he might be going back to being a bachelor. And he's also undoubtedly feeling some pressure because he just bought an expensive condominium, with great public fanfare.

It's true that "extraordinary" is legal rhetoric - we'll need to see what Jennifer Carroll, Marjorie Meek-Bradley, Gina Dakkouni, and various other former and current female employees say (and rest assured, they will be subpoenaed if this goes to court). If Chloe Caras knew she'd be doing this, she would have been smart to keep a journal, and tell as many of her friends as possible about the details of what went on.

One problem with lining up female-after-female is that - if you've been inside banks 2,000 times in your life, and have robbed only 3 of them, that still makes you a bank robber.

(That's a variation on my standard response to people who say, "I've eaten just as many meals as you, Rockwell!" Response: "I've slept on mattresses almost every night of my life, and I don't know the first thing about mattresses." )

Has Jose Andres commented yet?  He gave Isabella his start.

Thanks!  This is super helpful!

I will be in Houston in November at the Hilton-Américas for a conference.  As luck would have it, DS is off of school for a long weekend and it is Mr. BLB's birthday.  

What are the top things for a tween and his Dad to do while Mom is working?

I can't remember how old BL-5th grader was the last time we attended--pretty darn small, I think, possibly even an infant--but I've got this on my calendar.  

Thanks!

On 2/19/2015 at 11:46 PM, DanielK said:

Gillian Clark left CA at the end of the year, and is now the chef at Kitchen on George in Mobile, AL.

I'm with Polly - fried chicken at A&J > fried chicken at HKP.

Jeff Heineman does an awesome fried chicken at Grapeseed. Right now only Thursday lunch, though I heard him making noises about extending it to Thursday dinner as well.

Gillian Clark is now the executive chef at The Gentry in Brooklyn.

I have no idea if this was real Dover Sole as the price always keeps me from ordering it at home.  But it was on the menu at Palo on the Disney Cruise Line and I tried it.  It was delicious! (The real winner though were the little potatoes which were nuggets of buttery heaven.)

I don't know if I'd like it more if I wasn't always comparing it to Blaze and wishing that the Blaze at Montgomery Mall was still open.

We don't eat much pizza and we like interesting toppings.  I want garlic, not garlic oil.

And if I'm at Crown Farm, I will usually opt for Chop't or splurge at Coastal Flats.  It just doesn't rank high enough to get my money these days.

Ray's the Classics was the first restaurant we took a 2 week old BL-5th grader to. 

Sigh....

On 5/5/2005 at 4:29 PM, bookluvingbabe said:

{Don--I know this is off-topic but I'd like to hear what people I trust think about the Philly dining scene... Delete if you must!!!! } [(*)]

They've extended the Dali exhibit and I've got tickets for 9:30 on the morning of the 20th. A good friend is meeting me there from NY.

We may add in a trip to the Barnes or the Constituion Center but right now I'm just thinking about lunch.

We probably go to Philly once every 18 months or so and have pretty lousy luck with dining. Before we default to cheesesteaks (which we often miss if the parking and traffic is too bad...) I did discover I can get a table at the following places:

Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Hotel

Morimoto

Le Bec Fin
Buddakan

What's a girl to do????

Thanks!

Jennifer

---

[(*) Little did you know that almost eight years later, your "Delete if you must' imperative would result in a brand new forum!]

I try!

We made the trip to Leesburg and stood in a very long line in the rain at opening one Saturday in September.  

The bagel ones were interesting and prompted the trip.  Would I go out of my way to go back?  No.  

Daytona Beach

We finally found something we really like in Daytona in our 6th summer there!  Don Vito's in downtown Daytona is old school, red sauce Italian.  We went twice in three days and ate the leftovers for breakfast. We tried a variety of pasta and meat dishes, along with desserts and weren't disappointed by any of them.

In fact, BL-5th grader and I are heading to FL for a cruise for winter break and rather than doing Disney before the cruise or going and staying near the port, he asked if we could detour a bit and stay in Daytona so he could go to Don Vito's for dinner.

How can I say no to that?

On 8/14/2017 at 10:24 AM, Ericandblueboy said:

We ate at Boma, Yak & Yeti, Tiffins, Boat House, and Jiko.  Boma is a buffet, a decent variety but nothing special.  Yak & Yeti is mostly American Chinese, but it's air conditioned and takes reservation.  Tiffins and Jiko are signature restaurants which execute the food at a higher level - nevertheless, it's in Disney so there are people like me who wore flip flops and have small kids in tow.  We went to the Boat House at Disney Springs just to get some seafood.  The "African" restaurants tend to be meat-centric.

I think Tiffins is my current favorite Disney restaurant.  We also really liked our Boma dinner but BL-5th grader is having problems eating chunks of meat with his current orthodontia.  He felt like he was missing out on a lot.  He couldn't eat any of the meat at OHana and he was really sad about that.  He did his fair of the shrimp though...

On 6/21/2017 at 2:58 PM, silentbob said:

We're booked to stay at the Contemporary Resort for two nights before a timeshare week several miles away.  The idea of a California Grill dinner around the time of the nightly fireworks seems appealing, but that might be a bit late for our two young kids.  Food quality aside, anyone know if the experience of viewing the fireworks from here is really all that?  Alternatively, is dinner around sunset time (which unfortunately will be 5:30ish when we go in December) a good option too?

P.S.  It's been 25 years since I visited WDW and my guess is that we'll return to Disney once or maybe twice when the kids are older.

Sorry I missed this at the time.  We have done dinner early at California Grill many times and then come back for the fireworks--as long as you save your receipt, they will let you come back up.  It works out well. If you do Sunday Brunch, you can also return for the fireworks that evening.  

Hamilton--best thing I have ever seen. Amazing.  Loved it.  Only had one moment during one song (The Room Where it Happens) where I thought, "gosh, this song could be a little bit shorter and I'd be okay with that."  Otherwise I was mesmerized.  It was the best possible first theater experience for BL-5th grader, especially since his vocal ensemble performed "You'll Be Back" at school right before Thanksgiving.  He was in awe. 

We did end up at DB Bistro Moderne. It turned out that my foodie child was tired and cranky and would not look at the menu so we ordered him the burger which he managed to eat in no time at all.  I looked over and it was gone.  We started with the Alsatian Onion Tarte which was excellent.  I also got the burger and I did not get the fuss--give me a Palena burger any day. Oh wait...

The butternut squash agnoloti, ordered as a side dish for the table and as back up for the crank boy, was bland.  Mr.BLB ordered the charcuterie plate.  The pate in the upper right corner of the photo was the best pate I've ever had.  It was a huge portion and he could not finish it.

We finished with the opera cake and the sorbet assortment (caramel apple, cranberry and dark chocolate).  The cranberry was the hit of the day.  I had actually partially wanted to go because there was a pavlova on the menu but cranky boy wasn't interested in it as it was a sweet potato pavlova and that was "weird." (I'm not sure how much of this was just over excitement about getting to the theater and seeing Hamilton...) 

So glad we did it and I hope to some day be lucky enough to go to Hamilton again. 

I'm going to preface my comments about Gary Danko with  this:  my flight to SF out of IAD was cancelled and the rebooked flight out of DCA was delayed FOUR hours.  By the time I was in the hotel it was 4 am for body clock.   I slept a good 5 hours and then was up and working for the next 10 hours.  Good times.  So I wasn't at my best!

It was a very good meal.  Was it the best meal I've ever had?  No.  It did not match Citrus in L.A. in 1996 or Citronelle in 2004, 2006, 2006 or 2009.  Or Eleven Madison Park on Election Night 2008.  Or the Church in Stratford in the 2000s.  Is it the best thing I've had this decade?  Probably but I don't get out much anymore...

I started with an amuse buche of parsnip soup.  I had the Brandy French 75 to drink.  Next up was the poached egg carbanara, which was the  winner of the evening.  Perfect and just the right size.  The scallops with the butternut fondue was done nicely but it was not special at all.  The ousseline pork with salsify, Brussels sprouts and other tiny chopped vegetables was all good--I'm a sucker for anything with salsify in it.  It was probably a slightly larger pork portion than needed. The souffle was a tad underdone but that was my fault--I managed to lightly tap my water glass against the plate and it shattered.  They redid it but the timing was a bit off.  That was my only disappointment of the evening. 

I'm glad I made the effort to go. I would have regretted not going and nothing near my hotel appealed to me in the least.  But it wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be.

They were very nice and able to move me to a 5:30 pm reservation.  Looking forward to it!