Lola007

LOL, Daniel. Déjà vu re the rye bread discussion. It was so-o-o outrageous the last time it was discussed on CH (and the sin involved in eating corned beef on anything but good rye bread!), that the comments got deleted. I still haven't been to Deli City, so I can't comment, but you know that I would love a Flakowitz-NY-style deli here in D.C. I think it could work if it were located in say, Bethesda or around Friendship Heights.

I forgot to mention how pleased I was that the judges liked Bryan V.'s dessert! I must say, based on my one-time experience at Volt, I think Bryan is a talented pastry chef. I had a delicious peach tarte tatin and probably would have enjoyed what the judges had (spearmint ice cream with some sort of chocolate ganache combination?). Yum.

I couldn't agree more. Sometimes I have the impression that people need to take more responsibility for their own choices. For example, I'm not terribly adventurous when it comes to seafood and am also recently trying to broaden my horizons by trying more Indian dishes and some spicier Thai dishes. Sometimes, I like a dish and sometimes I don't. But just because I personally didn't find something appealing doesn't mean it wasn't good.

I don't recall what the judges said about Kevin's pork dish, but certainly it wasn't a hit with them. Besides Jen's major screw-ups, what stood out for me(and the dish I specifically commented on in my post above) was the under-cooked lamb. I agree with what you said about Laurine's failure to push harder to have the lamb cooked to her liking, especially b/c she told Tom she would do so. I also think she made a huge mistake when she didn't explain the dishes when serving them. At the same time, I also think the FOH person should not have been made responsible for a particular dish given all the other things that person needs to do. And like I said before, if the judges hadn't said that they would be assessing each competition on its own merits, it would be fine to rate cheftestants based on cumulative performance (kind of like getting a final grade). I also think that because the judges emphasized teamwork and even talked about leadership in this competition/episode, they could have considered other factors (e.g., Michael V.'s behavior in the kitchen, some of the stuff Robin said, and perhaps the lack of a true team effort on Jen's team. I think I saw something somewhere (Tom's blog or elsewhere) about Mike I. not helping as much as he could have. Surely, someone could have helped Jen.

I agree, Anna. I just think the judges shouldn't have said that they would judge each competition individually, when in reality, that isn't what they're actually doing. I haven't followed Laurine's cooking all that much. I know that Jen has done well in the past and has shown that she's a real contender. I felt bad for her, but I have to say I still take issue with the the judges' determination that Laurine's poor showing as FOH was worse than some of the dishes that fell miserably short. After reading Tom C.'s blog, I'm even more convinced that they're just making excuses. There was no way that they were going to send Jen or Kevin home at this point in the competition. Tom's blog: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/tom-colicchio/clambs-lamb-and-a-traffic-jam

I am convinced that they violated it again in sending Laurine home. Granted she didn't do a great job as FOH, but Jen's and Kevin's dishes were major FAILS. And as much as I love Kevin, the sight of the bloody lamb dish made me ill. Clearly, the judges took into account their past performances and were loathe to send either one of them home.

That's right. And it's worth checking out. Although the Foggy Bottom FM is a really small market, what I like is that it's never that crowded and you get a chance to taste a lot of different kinds of fruit. Sunnyside farm had at least 8 or 9 different kinds of apples available for tasting.

I got there around 6pm this evening--too late for my favorite kalamata olive bread from Atwater's! But I was in time to taste some a-mazing apples from Sunnyside Farm & Orchard (West Va.). And it is true that you learn something new everyday. I tried a Nittany apple for the first time. It was sweet and firm (not as crisp as a honey crisp) and is also good for baking. What I guessed (correctly) is that it was developed at Penn State University. Very yummy apple. I also bought some pink lady apples and a fuji apple too. Sunnyside's honey crisps weren't as good as the ones I bought last time from Quaker Orchards. I went by Quaker Orchard's booth, but didn't get any honey crisps as they were GIGANTIC (larger and heavier than baseballs) and I can only eat so many apples...I took a look at the pears (bosc and bartlet), but was indecisive. I could use a pear advisor. Quaker Orchards had several varieties of apple butter and also honey crisp apple sauce. I bought a jar of sugar-free apple butter for a friend who was recently diagnosed with diabetes. He claims that almost all sugar-free desserts are bad. I hope he likes the apple butter. (I'm not going to tell him about Copper Pot Kettle Company's peach & prossecco jam and all the other sweet stuff I'm buying and eating these days...)

Dean, +1. I just posted about my dismal experience at Pizza Autentica--also greasy w/ crappy-tasting and rubbery-looking cheese for $3.29. I'll take Vace any day too!

I'm sorry to report that the slice of pepperoni pizza that I ate (or rather attempted to eat) at lunchtime earlier today was terrible. I don't know which was worse-- the tasteless cardboard-like crust or the rubbery cheese. It has very little sauce, which was too bad because the sauce was decent; it even had some kick to it. That's what I get for being in a hurry! P.S. I'll go out on a limb and say that Sbarro's pizza is better than Pizza Autentica's. So is Domino's.

I just want to put in a quick word for Ching Ching Cha. It's no longer a "hidden gem," but could use some more patronage, especially during the week. I was there yesterday afternoon with a client and we were the only ones in the place. I know that weekends tend to get more crowded, but I was also there a few weeks ago, and the place was almost empty again. Yesterday I had a pot of spicy ginger tea, and my client had the flowering peach blossom (beautiful flower with a deep pink center). During my previous visit, I had a pot of one of my favorite teas--Yunnan gold needle--a full-flavored black tea with a touch of honey along with an order of silken tofu. Ching Ching Cha is one of my favorite places to relax, do business, catch up on reading, and especially to warm up on a cold day. I really hope it sticks around.

Dean, I was hoping you would weigh in here, so thanks for your comments. I was actually at Ching Ching Cha yesterday with the Korean guy/visiting scholar I spoke about earlier, and the owner of Ching Ching Cha mentioned that she had eaten at the Honey Pig the night before, but ordered the wrong thing (beef, instead of pork, which is supposedly the thing to get there). Honey Pig is definitely on my list, and now I'm interested in Oe Gad Gib too (the chicken with ginseng soup sounds particularly interesting). @goodeats, thanks much for trying to help.

It sounds like I missed quite a treat, Anna! Thanks for the update and lovely soup description. Today I'm in Chevy Chase in search of good soup in between client meetings...

I quickly read through this thread. As others have commented, communal tables aren't new to DC or other American cities. Le Pain Quotidien's communal tables are the ones I've frequented most (and which, in my personal experience, have yielded more social interaction here than in Belgium). I've also eaten a few times at the communal table at Mario Batali's Lupa in NYC and it was OK although on one of the occasions when I was with a small group, we would have preferred a private table.

Zora, I stopped by the TJ's in the West End and picked up your favorite to try. The almonds are delicious! I also got a bag of Organic popcorn w/ olive oil.

Well, sometimes it's good to change. I always have Bonne Maman strawberry and fig preserves at home. And like I said before, if the Peach and Prosecco jam is like a fruit butter (and from what I've heard, it seems to be), it will go well with cheese. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate today, so I didn't make it to the Penn Quarter market to pick up the jam. Will probably have to wait until next week...

Local geography has never been my strong suit and I've seen my share of nitpicking on the subject (most notably about my own neighborhood-which isn't Shaw, btw), so I'm resisting getting in the mix. If you want to have a good laugh, how about a web site that includes "Annapolis" as a DC neighborhood? I'm not joking. It's that way on Urbanspoon.com.

Well, to me it was a surprise, because so many people I know here in the DC area who live and venture out to the suburbs more than I do, including Korean-Americans have told me that Mandu paled in comparison to so many restaurants in Annandale. Anytime I've mentioned that I'd probably end up going to Mandu before making it out to Annandale, they've made faces as if to say it wasn't very good or not anywhere near as good as the Annandale restaurants like Honey Pig. So when the visiting Korean scholar I'm working with said that he and and his friend felt at home at Mandu, I was pleasantly surprised.

I just noticed that Teaism's Penn Quarter location has udon noodle soup on its menu. Has anyone tried it? I've been there tons of times, but have never noticed that they had soup.

I might have to wait until the new place opens too. I've heard great things about Artisan Confections' fleur de sel caramels. The new shop near the Clarendon metro will be TOO convenient. I hope someone will post about the official opening date!

Thanks, Escoffier, especially for pointing out that some of the restaurants mentioned are no longer in business. I'm primarily interested in passing on this info to the Korean guy I'm working with and may accompany him to one of the restaurants. I may also do some exploring on my own although I rarely go to Annandale. I know that there are just a few Korean restaurants and food carts in D.C. proper and that the more authentic, better restaurants are probably in Annandale. To my surprise, the Korean guy told me yesterday that he really likes Mandu and that the food reminded him and another friend of his of the style of cooking they are used to back in Seoul.

Japanese peach gummy candy (Kasugai). Highly addictive stuff.

Thank you so much for posting this! I am working with a visiting Korean scholar, and he'll find this info helpful in several ways. And it's also especially useful to me since I'm a novice when it comes to Korean food!

I'm a fan of Metromint's lemon mint water. I also like the peppermint and chocolate mint too. Other flavors include cherry mint, orange mint, and spearmint. I've tried all of them except for the cherry mint. I'm on Metromint's client list and just got this special offer because HALLOWEEN is right around the corner-- Free shipping on cases of Chocolate mint water: http://dev.metromint.com/get/cowaca.html Locally, Whole Foods carries most flavors of Metromint. I think the P Street location has the best selection. When the chocolate mint was new, they gave me a free bottle to taste.

Zora, those almonds sound heavenly. I hope they get them bak in stock soon. Meanwhile, I'm obsessed with just about anything that combines chocolate and sea salt. I just picked up a bunch of Lindt "dark chocolate w/ a hint of sea salt" barss at World Market.