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Love the pizza hot but for whatever reason (the wheatyness? the thickness?) Mellow pizza is not good the next day. It just stiffens up. Co-sign on the calzones though. Not your standard gut bomb but still filling.

My wife works in downtown Chicago and loves these guys. In a massive downtown metro area they are the only option offering fancy salads in the same style of Chop't or Sweetgreen. She'll walk the extra 10 minutes to a vending machine over the sad salad bar options offering iceberg and 'spring mix'. If anyone has an inkling to become a millionaire today, bring the Sweetgreen model to Chicago.

Found here, 5 fairly peculiar selections from DC made the cut for the Northeast, as well as TNT for the Southeast (wait what). Nominees for The Peoples' Best New Bars 2014: West/Southwest: ABV San Francisco, CA Bar5 at Coqueta San Francisco, CA Brooklynite San Antonio, TX Captain Foxheart's Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge Houston, TX Culinary Dropout Las Vegas, NV Dirty Habit San Francisco, CA Grandpa Johnson's Los Angeles, CA Half Step Austin, TX Harlowe West Hollywood, CA Honeycut Lost Angeles, CA Jimmy's Bodega Aspen, CO Julep Houston, TX Midnight Cowboy Austin, TX No Vacancy Los Angeles, CA Polite Provisions San Diego, CA Qui Austin, TX The Chestnut Club Santa Monica, CA Trick Dog San Francisco, CA Trou Normand San Francisco, CA Virtí¹ Honest Craft Scottsdale, AZ Northeast: 1 Tippling Place Philadelphia, PA 2 Birds 1 Stone Washington, DC Attaboy New York City, NY Bar Sardine New York City, NY Booker and Dax New York City, NY Carrie Nation Boston, MA Dram & Grain Washington, DC Highball Lounge Boston, MA Hop Sing Laundromat Philadelphia, PA Portland Hunt & Alpine Club Portland, ME Pouring Ribbons New York City, NY Red Light Washington, DC Roof at Park South New York City, NY Southern Efficiency Washington, DC State Park Cambridge, MA Tavern Road Boston, MA The Dead Rabbit New York City, NY The Long Island Bar Brooklyn, NY The NoMad New York City, NY The Partisan Washington, DC Midwest: Analogue Chicago, IL Billy Sunday Chicago, IL Blue Jacket Milwaukee, WI í‡a Va Kansas City, MO Celeste Chicago, IL Coup d'État Minneapolis, MN Forequarter Madison, WI Goodkind Milwaukee, WI Heritage Tavern Madison, WI Lucky Joe's Tiki Room Milwaukee, WI Monarch Wichita, KS Parlour Minneapolis, MN Planter's House St. Louis, MO Sportsman's Club Chicago, IL The Berkshire Room Chicago, IL The Kill Devil Club Kansas City, MO The Last Word Ann Arbor, MI Three Dots and a Dash Chicago, IL Thunderbird Indianapolis, IN Voltaire Kansas City, MO Northwest/Mountain: Ava Gene's Portland, OR Bar Code Bellevue, WA Clover Spokane, WA Damn the Weather Seattle, WA Expatriate Portland, OR Hilltop Kitchen Tacoma, WA Imperial Portland, OR Montgomery Distillery Missoula, MT Multnomah Whiskey Library Portland, OR Pépé Le Moko Portland, OR Percy's & Co. Seattle, WA Radiator Whiskey Seattle, WA Raven & Rose Portland, OR Rumba Seattle, WA St. Jack Portland, OR Stoneburner Seattle, WA The Berry & Rye Omaha, NE The Rose Jackson Hole, WY The Trap Room Omaha, NE Witness Seattle, WA Southeast: Cane & Table New Orleans, LA Down One Bourbon Bar Louisville, KY Dutch & Company Richmond, VA Edmond's Oast Charleston, SC El Camino Louisville, KY Husk Nashville, TN Kimball House Decatur, GA Mateo Bar de Tapas Durham, NC Oxalis New Orleans, LA Paper Plane Decatur, GA Pinewood Social Nashville, TN Proof Charleston, SC Sobou New Orleans, LA The 404 Nashville, TN The Broken Shaker Miami Beach, FL The Imperial Life Asheville, NC The Ordinary Charleston, SC The Regent Cocktail Club Miami Beach, FL Tiki Tolteca New Orleans, LA TNT Arlington, VA

I got more guava from the Cigar City bock than anything. That was my 2nd favorite in the pack behind the Double Latte but I know that was one that not everyone was into.

NYT on off-strip dining today. I randomly had dinner at Carson Kitchen last weekend and can vouch for those tacos and the Duck ragout as well. Also, Pizza Rock was a pleasant surprise. Did not have high expectations for a place offering a ton of different doughs, cooking temps, and pizza styles, but I'll be damned if they didn't pull it off. Nice lengthy beer list as well. Downtown Vegas is so, so weird.

I think the 8-16-14 is the best of the bunch since the first first to be honest. Try and find it if you can.

Here in Chicago, Letherbee has rolled out a Fernet and a Malort that are both superior to the more common varieties and are definitely worth checking out if you have the ability... not that making a better product than Jeppson's is really a high task.

That Anderson Valley comes in a 6 pack (cans!) for around $9-10, and is great as a change of pace. Personally I really don't need more than 12 ounces of sour beer in any one sitting.

I had a rare pit beef with tiger sauce here that was very good although the tiger sauce didn't have much mayo if any in it... it primarily prepared horseradish. I'm into pit beef for the beef though, so that wasn't a big problem for me. The sides I had were forgettable (beans) and downright not good (a gluey mac and cheese). I'd go back but next time I'd get a pit beef sandwich and a pit beef sandwich. Can't speak the bbq because I'd heard too many warnings of inconsistency. The pit beef can play though.

Of course, if and when Rose's they start taking reservations, that will begin the chorus of "it ain't what it used to be" (regardless of accuracy). I'd happily wager a drink that a year from now the only reservation you can get at RL will be for the large table family meal option they are about to roll out. Chasing the crown of 'hottest restaurant in DC' is a fool's errand.

The pupusas at RFK are no longer coming directly off the griddle due to popularity but they are still delicious and a steal at $6. An order of those and a modelo tallboy remains as good as it gets for a DC stadium dining experience.

Knocked back a few of these over the weekend. It's a perfectly fine saison that gets a bump for being sessionable - like from a B to a B+.

The orphan barrels have certainly been getting press the last two weeks but I have not seen them in any stores yet. Have you?

Walked in with no wait (table for 2) at 6:15 last Tuesday. Hostess said on any Monday or Tuesday that's almost always the case. Ordered a ton of things that have been covered in depth up above so I'll note on the newer items. The asparagus dish feature good chunks of giant asparagus that get a nice char on them. Definitely taste the grill. The chive oil seemed like the same stuff in the chicken fried oysters (not that I'm complaining), and there were nice chunks of pineapple that somehow tied the veg and dressing all together. Only thing that seemed odd was the fried crispy jalapeno. Delicious on their own but not really sure they were needed with everything else on the plate. Kind of a one ingredient too many sort of thing. Easily rectified by eating them solo though! Rhubarb shortcake with ramp and mint cream was wild. Very spring-y, with the ramps surprisingly balanced when you made a composed bite of everything. A straight scoop of sweet-then-funky filling probably wouldn't be for everyone, but the rhubarb made it work and the shortcake is as great as all the other breads in the house. You can add this to the growing list of dishes here that seem straight up weird when you read it on the menu, but absolutely nail it when you try it. The only (only) thing that was off last time was that every table around us received gratis dishes and desserts that the servers were to happy to announce were "compliments from the kitchen". Like, all of them. Maybe we didn't get them because we over ordered (No Ragrets) but after you see and loudly hear it happen 3 times in a row and you just get the check, you start to wonder if you're the asshole (probably).

Dammit. This is why we can't have nice things. Apparently every person who bought and loved this was a DR.com poster.

World of difference between driving down* bottles or cans and pouring weeks-old growlers to a ticketed event. Brewers seem to be really iffy when it comes to growlers. They want to serve fresh beer and it's hard to get fresher than a growler the day of pouring, but on the other hand no one seems to take much stock in the ability of a growler jug to keep things at optimal condition more than a few days. I can't blame the Hill Farmstead people for doing what they did - if that beer is skunked or even at 75% of what it was a month prior, you have a bunch of beer nerds poo-poohing it in their writeups at BA or wherever. Especially if it's being poured side-by-side to the napalm that is Heady Topper. It wouldn't stand a chance. As for the Fresh Squeezed, I haven't tried it but I LOVED their Chasin' Freshies, which everyone seems to think is inferior to the Fresh Squeezed. *or driving up... I know Black Squirrel used to bootleg SweetWater bottles for sale for quite a while

Le Dip was packed tonight on a random Wednesday. Steak tartare was regrettable - heavy hand on the chile sauce and mustard. Not cool and you could not get any meat flavor at all. The mustard vinaigrette on the salad just served to double down on the nostril clearing. Evening special of cassoulet was very good though (I think damn near every other table had an order). Had to ask for a bread basket but it arrived promptly. Service remains a major plus here. Food is good but not great. Bread remains the best part. Actually asked and you cannot purchase bread to go. That kills any desire to order takeout from Le Dip in the near future.

Try an onion roll next time Dean. Small upcharge but it's at least a passable bread delivery device. If you go during a big rush they'll be pulling out whole turkeys and pulling the dark meat - pretty sure it's all real, but I agree the ham and top round are not as good as the brisket and turkey. If you like the Five Guys style of fries, and the sandwich alone isn't enough of a gutbomb, theirs are very good.

I don't live or work in Penn Quarter, but if I did I'd be feeling pretty pleased with how the last few months have shaken out. Red Apron and Menu now give that area two pretty solid options for grab-and-go meals, not to mention coffee and meats/cheeses/pantry. After trying a couple breakfast sandwiches over the last few weeks I'm not sure I get the hype over the tigelles. If you'd told me they were just thin english muffins I'm not sure I would have known the wise. They're fine and crispy, but for all the inches they've been written about in the last month it's really hard to imagine anyone coming back for the bread. Now the pimento cheese? I feel the need to massively disclaim this because everyone has a different idea of how pimento cheese should look and taste. This is not too creamy. It's a little spicy. It is smoked. Those three factors will disqualify it for many traditionalists. For me, it's the best pimento cheese I've ever had. I've now started buying tubs of it. Luganega links I bought were great. Calabrese links were too lean and a little grainy. I still find sausage and dried meat to be very hit or miss here. When it's good they are absolutely in the conversation with Stachowski for best in the city. But they aren't always good, and at their price points the more I shoot and miss the more likely I am to play it safe and stick to the (much more consistent) pates. Or just a second tub of pimento cheese.

DanielK is right. The PR companies in the food world wish they could run things like the video games industry. The video game industry makes the restaurant industry look like a bunch of Disney Princesses. Reviewers get fired if advertisers don't like reviews, PR companies openly threaten to withhold future advance copies for bad reviews, and some are convinced influential magazines are essentially corporate mouthpieces.

State Line is awesome, and a quick stop off the highway if you're heading to Philly.

RELATED: If you haven't seen the recent Frontline on social media, "Generation Like", you should watch it. By the time you reach the end and hear teenage kids with no clue what the phrase "selling out" refers to, you're going to want to take a Silkwood shower and then double check if those new space flights will consider letting anyone just stay in orbit permanently. I snark on the DC blog sewing circle primarily because of the blatant lack of disclosure by many, and the way it steers what otherwise might have been a decent resource into an echo chamber. I've lived in cities where the local blog scene was a resource. For the most part I don't think DC is part of that group. For the record I'm talking independent writers, not WCP, WAPO, and Washingtonian, all of which produce good content, even if they occasionally poach Don's. Maybe we should crash the April food bloggers happy hour? I'll even register a blogspot for us to make it all legit Owners --> PR --> Bloggers. If it sounds like a human centipede...

Wonderful first meal for me here tonight. Of the boards, the pate is the way to go. I saw some other comments regarding it but after plodding through some soggy pates of late I really appreciated that the texture was nailed here. Even with all the meat flying around the dish I'm going to remember is roasted carrots with a cheese sauce, croutons, and honey. Basically an extravagant pile of glazed carrots. Killer stuff for the last gasp of winter, and makes me excited to see what is coming with the turn to spring.

I struggled through most of a six pack of this last year over the holidays (what can I say - it was a good night). Still recall the oiliness and strong peanut butter essence. Haven't exactly gone running to pick up another. DuClaw hits and misses wildly with their offerings. I bet you could pair a half pour of this with something but other than that situation I don't really get it with this one.

A few days again in Orlando and Orlando North, where I find myself increasingly for work... Ravenous Pig was awesome. Ate at the bar with a lively crowd for a mid-week late evening. Ribeye Tartare ($15) with roasted beets, horseradish croquettes, and pickled quail egg went fantastic with a full pint pour of Hopslam (at $6 a pleasant surprise). Only downside to this plate was the pile of technically edible faux 'dirt' all over the middle - I thought that silly trend had past. The bad gastronomy was more than made up for by the horseradish croquette, which was fritter on the outside with a liquid horseradish cream core. Next course was a special of roasted octopus with dueling sauces of romanesco and mole, with greens and grapefruit as well. The combinations and perfectly cooked octopus (nearly undercooked, melt-in-your mouth, no char but no chew) made for rich, lusty eating. Bartender paired it beautifully with a sparkling rose. Dessert was a foie gras torchon served with 'dark and stormy' gingerbread. Similar to the foie and french toast trend in dc right now, this combo is just sweet and rich enough on both sides to compliment each other. Bartender tossed a half glass in front of me unrequested as well. "We just nearly killed a bottle of sauternes and who needs the last bit more than the guy having foie for dessert?" Can't argue with that. Also had a massive, softball sized/shaped grouper steak at Winter Park Fish Club that came with a cup of ahi tuna chili. Yes, chunks (and bits) of ahi in chili. I can't say it worked 100% but it was interesting enough, and the grouper was good enough to change my preconceptions about that fish. Thicker really works with grouper. WPFC is a super informal shack serving plates and sandwiches paired with a ton of sides (think a slightly more evolved/fancier Fishnet). Cubans On The Run (their joke, not mine) was pointed to me as the best Cuban in the area. The cuban sandwich was just ok but that was my mistake. As I waited I saw all the regulars going towards the heated case for ropa vieja and the like. Fortunately the papa rellena I had while I waited was big as my head and did most of the work filling me up regardless. The liquid crack Cuban Coffee was essential for me as well, and I stopped by several times while I was visiting. I need to come back and explore the fryer and warmers.