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For those of you in the city on a Saturday, I'd highly recommend a trip to the Smorgasburg in Williamsburg. It's a summertime/warm weather collection of small food vendors, mainly from the Brooklyn area but with some Manhattan favorites rolled in. All kinds of food here -- donuts, cold noodles, cold ramen, fried anchovies, teriyaki balls, BBQ, fried chicken, fresh fruit popsicles, you name it. Many "big" names are represented -- Momofuku, Blue Marble, etc. There are lots of take-home goods too -- pies, jams, mustards, olive oils, etc. We go almost every Saturday morning. If you're in Manhattan, one of the easiest ways to get to Smorgasburg is by the East River Ferry. It's a $4, quick and enjoyable ride across the river. Just get on at East 34th Street pier and get off at the North Williamsburg stop -- probably a 10 minute ride all together. Subway access to the Smorgasburg is unfortunately pretty poor. Let me know if you have any questions!

Hmmm, could you be referring to a certain comment directed at a certain Mr. T?

Tom just tweeted that 4 female servers were fired at PS7 today because none would confess to drinking from a customer's beverage as was reported in his chat yesterday. I feel really bad for the 3 who just lost their jobs b/c one wouldn't fess up. I also hope the chatter didn't make it up.... Link to Tom's chat

I feel embarrassed that I'm just seeing this now. What a sweet, sweet sendoff. Thank you Don. As I said in our PMs, you do so much for the DC dining community and I have truly appreciated being a small part of this community. I still plan on coming back to read often and if anyone wants to get together while in Manhattan or Brooklyn, just drop me a line, I'd love to have a dining companion. I'm exploring the food scene here with gusto, perhaps a little too much gusto given I'm getting married in a few months. Oh well, who said a white Snuggie doesn't make a nice wedding dress?? Thanks again, and hope to keep in touch! Anne

Perhaps because his weak, weak, weak response didn't even come close to addressing his @sshat comment on the show the other night. I saw it, it didn't look "sarcastic" to me at all. And saying you have women working for you doesn't make you not a sexist -- I've worked for A LOT of sexist men (and probably worked with a lot of sexist women).I'm not keen on going to Zaytinya knowing it will help him professionally and financially, but I'm a pretty ardent egalitarian and found him awfully offensive. That being said, I don't begrudge anyone else their choice nor will I be organizing a massive boycott outside the restaurant. To each his own. I'm almost more interested in how common this is -- one of Tom's chatters said today "it's interesting that women are expected to cook at home but not in a restaurant". Is this still an industry where it's that much more difficult for female chefs?

Went to Eve yesterday for the Lickety Split lunch. I won't comment on the food but to say it was delicious as usual. What I did want to comment on is one thing that I think makes Eve special -- the amount of knowledge the staff has about the food being offered. A woman sitting next to me at the bar asked the bartender what "XYZ" was (can't remember the name). He replied "Madame, it's a type of cow". At most restaurants, that would be the last you'd hear of it. Not at Eve though. The conversation continued "type of cow popular in the 1940s....creative animal husbandry....England....about 194 of them in the U.S. today". Um, wow. And then, to top it all of, she asked what these cows looked like. "A tan animal, perhaps a bit darker than tan, and it has white tufts of hair." This is what I love about Eve. You can really trust the staff to know the food, to guide you in the right direction, and not laugh at your crazy questions. I need to come up with something better than the cow question next time I go...

This place has become my go-to pizza delivery option. They have a new location on U, and you can do online ordering for either location (Connecticut or U). Here's the website. I love that they have alternative sauces (garlic, herbed olive oil, etc) as I'm not a fan of tomato sauce. They also have wheat crust, it's thin and a little sweet. Quite good. Boyfriend loves the paninis and wings -- he really likes the bread they use for the sandwich. They're quick, incredibly polite and very nice. A nice leg up on the Dominos/Pizza Hut/Pizza Bolis options.

I have a friend who swears by one of the grocery store/list apps. She had to go through the effort of organizing the app to reflect her store, but now it tells her what to get on which aisles. I don't shop in big box stores enough to find it useful (she paid something like $10) but she just loves it. I can try to find out exactly which app it is if anyone has any interest...

Some friends are thinking of heading here tonight for a drink (or seven). Has anyone spent some time at the bar? Is seating conducive to a group? Are there bar tables beyond seats at the actual bar? Just trying to get a flavor for whether a group of us would be scrunching in there b/c it's mainly for food or if it's a good bar destination too. Thanks so much!

One other quick note, is anyone else noticing that posts migrate progressively closer to the right side of the screen as you move down through the topic? Has the forum become hierarchical, with responses/replies moving the posts right-ward? It just makes them look squooshed as you get further into a topic...Perhaps it's just my antiquated computer though. And it certainly doesn't take away from the entertaining discussions!

Harry's is my go-to place on Christmas Night. It's one of the only places in the city that's open and it represents to me all that is good and wonderful about escaping from your family after a long day of thanking Auntie Bertha for yet another nutcracker gift.

This kind of "least common denominator" argument doesn't really move the discussion anywhere. I saw the same thing from a number of folks during the whole "smoke-free" debate. It basically boils down to "we are doing something that a group of people doesn't like, but we want to keep doing it without any attempt at finding common ground, so we'll play the 'it's a free world' card and tell you all to go away". Sounds awfully self-serving to me. The argument seems to imply a lack of respect for how others feel on the issue at hand and a complete unwillingness to think about compromise. Perhaps this is more commentary on the structure of our little debate, so feel free to ignore, I just find absolutist arguments like this to be discussion-killers. FWIW, I like to look nice when I go to a restaurant, but no one on earth would call me a fashion maven. I think there's a difference between looking presentable and wearing a couture headpiece replete with neon ostrich feathers straight from Milan. I like it when others in a restaurant respect the spoken AND unspoken dress code but I feel no need to point out that others look like slobs -- they point that out quite well themselves. Thus, I respect someone elses right to walk into a restaurant in Crocs but I expect that person to realize some folks will think they are underdressed.

Question -- Open Table has a "Dress" recommendation for each of the restaurants listed there. Who supplies that? The restaurant? Or does Open Table make that determination? Do people here take that as the dress code they should adhere to? Or do folks tend to look at how others are dressed when they go? I was a little surprised to see Central listed as "casual dress", but I suppose I see both "dressed to dine" and "damn, blew out my flip flop" on the occasions I've gone. Heck, I'm not sure I even know exactly what casual dress means.... ETA Maggie O'Houlihan.

Dan, this may not be as fancy as you're thinking, but the site Etsy.com (website where folks who make homemade goods can sell them) has a food section. I order baked goods and candy from here pretty frequently for gifts, but they have other types of food too. It isn't a dedicated foodie site, but it may be a cheap alternative to starting your own website, etc.

It actually sounds very European, not something I'd usually associate with Friday's. When I was in Budapest and Vienna last month, almost all of the wait staff had their own small wallet with cash in it. Actually made things a lot faster.

My dad and his work group spent quite a bit of time here too, and so I did also by extension. I think his dart team used Mr. Egan's as a home base. It was probably one of the diveiest (sp?) bars I've been in, but it had a depressing charm (and a cast of characters) that made it a nice weeknight home. My dad was quite bummed when it closed.

Had lunch at Tosca today -- it reminded me why I love this restaurant so much. It just feels to me that their excellence is effortless, and yet it's not so posh (despite its environs) that you don't feel welcomed each time you go. I started with fresh mozzarella with beet carpaccio -- the mozarella was incredibly creamy and the varieties of beets (maybe 4 or 5) were tasty and firm. For my main, I had a simple whole wheat spaghetti in a tomato basil sauce -- beautifully executed. The sauce had real taste -- something absent in so many tomato sauces -- and a dash of parmesan added to it gave the dish a nice saltiness. Yum. I want to highlight my dessert. I'm not usually a fan of molten chocolate cake -- too rich, too trendy, etc. But Tosca has paired its small molten chocolate cake with a blueberry granite and raw sugar, and it was fabulous. The bit of tang from the blueberries nicely cut the chocolate and the combination of temperatures made this dessert a real success. I need to remember to go back here more often -- Tosca is just a really great restaurant.

In college, it became a regular dare for the boys to try to eat 100 of their spiciest wings. This generally coincided with "power hour" or "century club" on the drinking side, so puking generally followed at least one, if not both, endeavors. Ah, the University of Maryland -- Harvard of the ACC. I ate Cluck-U fairly frequently, sitting in my my dorm room at 4:30 am. Generally it was some sandwich with Roman in the name -- not terrible at the time, and they delivered later than anyone else. Not sure I would eat Cluck-U today -- it has gone the same way as Disco Jumbo Slice in my mind...

Canned tuna (crappy or not) is a staple for me -- easy, quick, and a ton of protein. How do folks who do eat it spice it up (other than buying the spency brands)? Any suggestions?

This is a fantastic list, thanks so much!

Hi all -- I need some expert advice. I don't drink beer, but need to spend about $40-50 buying someone some beer. I was thinking of trying to get him a mix of brands. He likes really hoppy beer. Does anyone have some suggestions for some brands to look for? I'm looking for some types that maybe aren't that easy to get or are kind of unusual -- he's made his way through most of the traditional hoppy brands. Thanks so much! Anne

Tis true. They sent out a message on Facebook. Open from 11-1. Having this a block from my office is going to be disastrous.

Holy amazing, Batman. I'm not sure after dinner at CityZen last week and Eve's Tasting Room this week that I can ever go back to normal eating again. We did the five course tasting menu with friends last night and it was fantastic. Our server was incredibly knowledgeable, unobtrusive and laughed at my corny jokes. My meals last weekend and this weekend are an excellent reminder of just how much better a meal can be with such kind and well tailored service. I can't remember everything we ate, so I'll just hit the highlights. An amuse bouche of some sort of (pureed?) salted cod, so creamy, made me want to have a whole bowl of it. I had three thick slices of pork belly with an array of Asian sauces -- I particularly liked a vinegary one with some heat added to it through some chilies (not sure what kind). Scallops in a creamy spinach and dijonnaise sauce were very good also. For dessert, I had Eve's version of Pain Perdu with carmelized bananas -- those bananas were perfectly done, not too mushy. We had asked if it was possible to get 2 birthday cakes to go, and so Todd (I think?) brought over a complimentary one for us to try before we left -- more sugar! We enjoyed it, although it is VERY sugary (not a problem for me, wasn't the boyfriend's thing). I have a birthday cake in my fridge right now and am trying to convince myself to wait until at least noon before I take a bite. I loved Eve, it was every bit as good as I imagined it would be, and I can't wait to go back. Slightly off-topic -- saw two couples eating in the tasting room last night. Both sat on the same side of the table. What do board members think? I have no problem with it (am not criticizing at all) but I kept thinking it would be hard to have a conversation....I like to look at the person I'm dining with if it's one-on-one!

Hi all -- I am heading to the tasting room tonight for the first time ever. I have a kind of odd question -- does anyone know if the famed birthday cake typically appears on the tasting room's menu? If not, how terribly gauche is it to ask for the birthday cake as my dessert course? No worries telling me I'll be the height of tackiness -- I'd rather know before I ask!

This restaurant continues to be amazing. From the insanely delicious food to the seamless, unobtrusive service to the little touches that make your night, it is a star performance. My S.O. and I celebrated our one-year anniversary here tonight. When I made the reservation, they asked if we would be celebrating a special occasion and I told them about the anniversary. They made our night more special by presenting us with 2 glasses of champagne and a card signed by all of the staff, as well as a dessert plate with "Happy Anniversary" spelled out in chocolate (it was pretty enough that I managed not to actually attempt to lick the plate). These simple offerings really made our dinner that much more enjoyable. We both got the 3 course tasting menu and were glad we hadn't opted for the 5 course menu as it probably would have been too much food. I'll try to remember what we had but forgive me if the details are a little hazy. I'm also a terrible food writer. My S.O. started with a "chicken fried beaver quail" that was out of this world. It had a light, crunchy coating that was salty without being overly salty. The quail flavor really showed through. For his entree, he had braised lamb with beans and spinach and he adored it (I didn't taste it). I can't remember his dessert. I started with pork belly that was so good I got angry that I had given S.O such a big piece and actually contemplated taking part of it back. It came with a persimmon "ravioli" and had just a touch of some sort of apple-based sauce. The pork belly was perfectly cooked, with a nice strip of fat in the middle of it. It was, as the S.O. described it, "the kind of bacon they serve in heaven". For my main, I had a lemon-flavored turbot that was shaped like a sausage -- our server told us that the chef shapes it with plastic wrap and then poaches it. It was served with some sort of creamy, milky artichoke gratin and some fried spinach. For dessert, I had a pumpkin souffle with a side of vanilla ice cream that is covered by warm apple cider. The chef offered 2 amuse bouches (amuses bouche??) tonight -- the first was a mushroom fritter (neither of us cared for it, but we don't like mushrooms) and the second was an olive oil custard with a paprika like oil topping. It was delicious -- the custard was firm, and the topping gave the salty custard just a bit of heat. Our "pre-dessert" was a deconstructed smore, with a dollop of dark chocolate (ganache?) placed on top of a bed of marshmallow with a sprinkling of graham cracker. Maybe, just MAYBE, I ate mine AND his! CityZen really makes dining an event -- we spent 3 lovely hours enjoying each other, our surroundings, and the fantastic menu. Our service was beyond great (the way they replace your napkin if you get up to use the restroom is so elegant) and our server really helped to guide us through the evening. I can't wait for next year!