Giancarlo Buonarotti

Vermillion's new chef is quite good if you can tolerate the ambiance of the restaurant which desperately needs a serious makeover. The food he has prepared for my guests and me on. two different occasions was really excellent, I just don't frequent there because the dining rooms are so frumpy, old and worn out appearing. La Fromagerie is also quite good. Landini Bros has a nice dining room and a few good things on their menu, service is usually exceptional for Old Town but it is pricey for what you get I think. It can be a nice dining experience. Oak Steakhouse is a steakhouse, looks very nice, a plus for Old Town but very expensive formula style restaurant. A trip to Fiola would have been less and more enjoyable for me. Our waiter was excellent.

Balo kitchen in Annandale at The Block has what I believe to be the best pho around. They also have a food truck called PhoWheels you can follow on instagram to know where they'll be for lunch or dinner. Their broth is delicious, not the typical salt bomb.

They hauled the art out of it yesterday, It was sold, the new owner is re-opening as 219 with some changes to the menu, more later as it develops.

This was a beautiful evening of fine dining, my favorites were the Risotto with black truffle, diver scallop, the maine lobster ravioli ginger bisque, the veal cheeks and tongue and the gorgonzola cotognata amarone, believe a nebbiolo was served with the kobe beef(very very flavorful -mine was not so tender though) that was very nice and the Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1993 was , eventhough still a baby , superior. The size of the group taxed the wait staff but they performed flawlessly and were delightful (like most Italians are) I particularly enjoyed meeting several people who were quite charming and was happy that Sthich's favorite restaurants in town were mine too. Looking forward to another simialr event, perhaps at Marcel's

I am looking forward to meeting everyone at this, my first DR event. I am also looking forward to dining at Maestro for the first time. I have signed up for several of Fabio's cooking classes both there and at the Casa D'Italia and have 3 up coming dinner reservations at Maestro in the next 2 months. See you this evening.

Ditto on the Taberna tapas vs Jaleo. Same holds for the Mezze at 100 King, they are nicely portioned and most are beautifully prepared, obviously not the mass production of Zaytinia and Jaleo.

Tuesday, March 7th, 2006 6:30 PM Ritz Carlton, West End www.ovariancancer.org

Tony Chittum and Danny Rock! Another great meal and the New Italian King in DC! Anxious to return again asap! Will Tony be on the list of teachers with Fabio and others at the cooking school at the Casa D'Italia?

My experiences at the Italian store have been all but wonderful. I have failed to find anything there that remotely resembles anything Italian with the exception of a decent wine selection. Their fare is gaffone italiano for americanos and they do that well. Otherwise the Italian Anti-defamation League might ask them to cease and desist use of the word Italian in any of their preparations.

" For those of you who don't know, La Piazza is a small Italian restaurant across from the Braddock Road metro station. All of their pasta is made in house so it's always fresh. " La Piazza is a very nice little place and the people are lovely, I would say they serve "New Jersey Italian" with an authentic twist. They have even made more authentic sauces off the menu for us at times. They create exactly what they profess to do and do it well unlike so many others who profess to be one thing and are another. Their prices are excellent too and they know what al dente means. It's on my list for many reasons. Their bread is excellent too. I have never had their fresh pasta.

I met the Chef the other night, he is Philipino-American or Hispanic American. He told me that he worked for Tom TPoer when he opened Corduroy I believe and was at Citronelle prior to that. He did put together a nice dinner for us too. CV

Let it Rip!

I am addicted the the papparadelle and will be back for more, thanks to Danny, on Sat night. On Monday I took the cooking class at the Casa D'Italia at Holy Rosary RC Church. The director Olga apparently has been guilting great chefs in Washington and Baltimore to teach a class there for many years. Some of their past and current performers are Cesare from Tosca, Ricardo from Sotto Sopra in Baltimore, Roberto - Galileo, Fabio - Maestro and many more. If anyone sees Tony Chittum tell him I am going to turn in his name in to Olga to get him on their Spring Cirriculum. Heaven is just a meal away!

Sotton Place bought Balducci's and then took their name. They have a new chef who I was told was "pretty good" but after an abysmal lunch for three I chose not to return for dinner. They had hired a Consultant who I was told ate everywhere in Old Town (poor bastards) and made a plethora of changes to their menu but still left some of the old standbys. The Bar went NON-SMOKING which is a big plus in Tobacco Country. The bar remains a favorite in town if the regulars can get over leaving their butts at home! They re-modeled the store and are very pleasant but the new Whole foods is going to give thema run for their money.

The olive oil was like the nectar of the gods! Maybe we can get them to figureout a newway to get it into the country. Have youhad their "bone bread"? They make a very very nice foccacia, maybe we could send them up to Ray's the Steaks with some ofit-it has such a nice cell structure. They also do a dried, seasoned version that is awesome with Bouliabase or broken up in salads and soups. I'm getting hungry.

Two generations, the bakery is owned by the son and daughter. The father who formerly formerly owned a large bakery in Syracuse with his brother, mom works in the bakery as well. The third generation is a beautiful baby girl who is about 6 months old. I'm there pretty often too.

I believe the Uptown Bakery has a very nicely done product and now has a new owner, there was an article in the Post some time ago about him, if anyone can find a link to it it would be appreciated. I have had their Cibatta and it is excellent, I know they do bread for several restaurants in the city too.

I believe you are correct, they are doing the breads for Trader Joe's and Five Guys too but they are according to TJ's and FG'S receipes. They have a nice baguette and a great apple pie that they used to serve at DISH-the one Tom S raved about. They also have a cibatta that they call Bone Bread that has a very nice cell structure and can be popped into the oven at 450 for about 5 minutes and is oh so good. They are also a very nice bunch of folks!

By far Old Town's best bakery, the breads are exceptional too and worth the short trek over the bridge. Ditto on Adelman's post on Firehook Bakery

[Thanks very much for the time you have put into this and all of your other scheduling diva activities! It is appreciated. CV

Bag Jaleo for Cafe Atlantic Bar,Stick with Ben's, Hit the Eastern Market

I was there in the dining room with some friends, we had the shaved fennel salad, the papparadelle, the shrimp linguine and the beautiful luscious gorgonzola risotto-OH MY GOD was it wonderful!

Went to Circle Bistro for the first time. Ordered off of the RW menu but thought it was adequate and adhered to the appropriate RW criteria without all the up charges for ordering off the menu like many restaurants do. Honestly when they do that it defeats the purpose I believe. We had a superior evening, the waiters were articulate and very knowledgeble aboput the menu. It was a relief to experience this as so many places I do not believe train their wait staff to assist diners appropriatelly. Two diners stuck to the RW menu when had a nice char and a beautiful pork tenderloin, both were served hot and juicey. I tested both and really liked them. The polental was creamey but still tasted lkike polenta instead of cake batter like it does at soooooo many places. I had the frisse/mushroom salad with sizzilins' as we used to call the bits of pork in Southern Maryland. It was one of the best salads in the city and that includes Corduroys beet salad which I love and Tosca's radiccio which has been a favorite for years. the General Tso sweet breads were more of a Kung Pao Sweetbreads and delectible morsels of arterial cork, I shared them with everyone so we could all die together- they weree delicious and it was sooooooo nice to have sweetbreads prepared in a different fashion than the typical saute. My hanger steak was tasty , juicey and cooked to perfection, the portion size was very nice and the accompaniments went together magically! The Chef came out to viusit us and was pleasant, unpretentious and enjoyable to meet and talk to. I am definately going toput it on my top four list for DC dining so will be there fairly often. Looking forward to my next visit and happy RW is over.

A lot of the old timers rave about the Alpine and Via Veneto. I have never been to the Alpine but there are several dishes at the Via Veneto that I love. Giulianna makes all of her own pasta and it is as light as a feather. Their sauce is typically a bolognese style but a bit rough around the edges but certainly more tasty than many restaurants especially here in No Va. I have been to several "Italian" restaurants in Fairfax and the NO VA suburbs and frankly I believe they should be shut down by the Italian Anti-defamation League. As a frequent traveler and Italianophile I suggest you traverse the river and go to Notti Bianche, Tosca and Tiramisu to name a few. GB

I looked for Dino's on Open Table for Rw but did not see it. Not that it matters, will make my way over there asap, what are the hot items on the menu?