pras

5 minutes ago, DanielK said:

First restaurant casualty - there have been several retail closures already.

Technically, Shop House was the first casualty, but I don't know if that really should count.

Max's

3 minutes ago, DanielK said:

It doesn't say that ALL of their meat is mechanically tenderized, just that they label when it is. It could be that you go tomorrow, and most of the case doesn't have that warning, and you go to Giant/Safeway/HT, and ALL of it does.

Fair enough.  When I was there last weekend, everything was labeled that it was mechanically tenderized (even their prime offerings).  I guess what I should have said is that I won't buy any mechanically tenderized beef, which may limit me to Whole Foods (I can walk there from home) or maybe Wegmans (but I have never checked their packaging).  Giant, Safeway, and HT are way off my radar (not meant to be a snob, just not stores I shop at).

4 minutes ago, DanielK said:

Shouldn't that be the opposite reaction? Costco is the only major retailer that has been voluntarily labeling the meat that is mechanically tenderized - all of the others are selling you the same meat without labeling it.

I applaud their transparency, but now I cannot cook their steaks to medium or medium rare.  Mechanically tenderized beef is not something that was ever on my radar.

I don't know if this has been reported here before, but be careful when buying beef.  According to the article, Costco has been good about the labeling for some time now, but apparently it is now the law.  for those of you who don't know what I am talking about, the article talks about Costco (and evidently other retailers) practice of blade tenderizing beef, which creates the possibility of contamination.  I guess I will no longer buy beef at Costco.  Credit--NPR.

Looks like the location is actually a bit further south down 355 than first reported--Credit: Bethesda Magazine.

For a great walking tour which ends at Coit Tower, do the following:

After starting at the Ferry Building, continue up The Embarcadero (water is on your right) to Greenwich St (by Pier 27), turn left.  You should see a sign to walk up the hill via wooden stairs (VERY STEEP but worth the view; you will smack into he middle of some apartments).  This will ultimately take you to Coit Tower, where you will have a fabulous vista of the city. 

Continue down the other side of Coit Tower (either using Filbert or Union Street) until you come  to Washington Square (the church there: Saint Peter & Paul is where Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio).  There you can have a fabulous lunch at Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store (566 Columbus Ave. (bet. Green & Union Sts. Phone: 415-362-0536).  They make the most incredible focaccia sandwiches (they get the Focaccia from Soracco bakery (corner Stockton & Filbert).  If you don't have time to sit down for lunch @ Mario's, grab some focaccia to go at Soracco; it is awesome and my mouth is watering just thinking it!!!

Wegmans generally carries them when in season.  Although I don't know if they are proprietary, I got something which is at least similar at the Pentagon City Costco over the weekend.  I will look at the package when I get home to see what exactly I purchased.  I added the last sentence as their website lists availability in August and a little bit of September so now I am confused as to what I purchased.

I was invited to the Bethesda location for the soft opening.  The official opening date i s Wednesday June 14.  Although there were some rough spots with the service, which is to be expected, especially during a soft open, we were very pleased with the experience.  Like Don said above, it does seem gimmicky, but the food really was very good and healthy. It is a very exciting place for a vegan or vegetarian (all but one desert is vegan).  The food is very flavorful and beautifully presented.  Of special note, the crudites bowl is very underplayed on the menus, but is a beautiful dish, displayed like a flower arrangement.  We are very excited to eat here again, hopefully very soon.

This is more troubling to me than AB buying up breweries, because you can let the product speak for itself in those cases, but Rate Beer is intended to be an independent rating system.  I for one have posted my last rating on the site.

About a month ago, I had an opportunity that not many people have.  A beer that me and my team pitched to the brewery was created, and I was invited to help brew it on Flying Dog's 15 barrel system.  It was a long day, a bit more than 8 hours, which started with feeding the grain into the mill, and capped off with pitching the yeast into the fermentation vessel.  During down time we were given a behind the scenes tour, got to watch the bottling and kegging line, tour the hop fridge, etc.  Yesterday the fruits of my labor were unveiled at the brewery at their pre Savor BBQ.  The beer is amazing.  The style is the current go to rage style.  Hazy New England IPA.  Best ultra fresh, which it was.  The grain bill was mostly 2-row malt, with some white wheat, flaked oats, acidulated wheat, and honey malt.  This beer is intensely dry hopped with the "holy trinity" for the style of galaxy, citra, and mosaic.  The result was juicy and fruity, hazy and lazy.  If you want to try it, you will have to head to the brew house, but go fast, do not stop at go, and make sure you get there while it's fresh.

8 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Saw this on Facebook.  Didn't even remember that I "liked" them.  I haven't been to Mama Wok in over 10 years.

"To our former customers, we are happy to let everyone know that Wai has started working/managing Mama Wok (9900 Key W Ave #C, Rockville, MD 20850). Many of your favorite dishes including the from Michael's Noodles are now available at Mama Wok! She is excited to see all of you soon!"

I had stopped visiting MaMa Wok.  It used to be my go-to neighborhood spot.  Now there is a reason to head back there.

My family regularly heads here when we are craving sushi or sashimi.  I can never predict what will be going on when we get there.  Either there are over 20 people waiting for tables and the carryout is dead, or the carryout is rockin and the dining room is empty.  Regardless, the food is always top notch.  I figured that on Friday with a lot of people out of town the wait for a table would be short.  I was right

Once seated, I started to notice that there were a lot of new faces working.  After our order was taken, I looked to the sushi bar to see if Sonny was there--he was not.  I began to wonder if Sonny sold the place.  Later that evening, a friend of a friend confirmed that they are certainly under new ownership.

What does this mean for Yuraku?  Who knows, only time will tell.  The food we were served that evening was still high quality and the staff was friendly and efficient.  Hopefully the change in ownership doesn't change the experience.

You can sample along with crabs and double deadrise at the first annual Flying Dog AYCE (and drink) crab feast.  Not only does the pricing look unbelievably reasonable, FD puts on really fun events.

More coverage from Bethesda Magazine.  I can't wait to try the new spot.  I will also be in WIlliamsburg next week and have plans to try the location there.

1 hour ago, DonRocks said:

Exactly. The first day they're open, someone take a picture of their pastrami and/or corned beef sandwiches. If they're really intending to come here, I don't think Washingtonians want some "partial product" - maybe the days of foot-high sandwiches are gone, but I hope there's no business plan to serve mountainous sandwiches at first, only to make them smaller-and-smaller as the months pass - that's not what Katz's is. It's going to be tricky for them, because they can only guess the DC market for giant sandwiches (although few are as giant as Stachowski's, so that would make a good research trip).

Although they sell "sandwiches" I think a better description is a mountain of meet with flimsy bread on the top and the bottom.

7 minutes ago, Rising Suns said:

Katz Deli, the 129-year-old pastrami palace on New York’s Lower East Side, is looking to expand, and D.C. might be on the list, the shop’s owner tells WTOP.

http://wtop.com/business-finance/2017/05/katz-deli-coming-dc/

Best news of the day!  Katz's is my favorite NYC deli!

I had it on tap last night at the brewery.  I thought it had a more pronounced Old Bay flavor than in past years.  They also confirmed that Double Dead Rise will be back this summer as well.  If you see that in the wild, please try it, one of my favorite beers they make!

12 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

I like Hermann Wiemer better. Good stuff.

Probably the best winery in the finger lakes next to Heron Hill.  Although I haven't been there is a long time.  Also, Wegmans stores in Virginia typically have a pretty good selection, which makes sense as the Finger Lakes are in their back yard.

Class 520 opened there second Montgomery County location in Bethesda on Friday, May 5.  The other location is in Rockville.  If you don't know what Thai Rolled Ice Cream is, do a search on you tube watch a video or two or three, be mesmerized, then try out this specialty.  Essentially, you pick a flavor, they pour some liquid ice cream base on a cold stone, work it for a while, once it approaches freezing, it is put into a think sheet, then rolled and put in a cup.  At 520, the journey ends at a fixins bar.  I got the strawberry green tea.  It is on the expensive side, but worth the experience.  They also sell bubble tea in a light bulb shaped glass.

IMHO, a large part of what makes a good falafel sandwich is the sum of the ingredients and how they are arranged in the pita.  At Amsterdam they give you a pita full of falafel, and you add the salads, they also (unless they have changed) don't give you a plate.  It is therefore very hard to get a good mix going on.

Officially releases Friday May 5.  There will be an event at the brewery.

Q by Peter Chang sets May opening date (credit--Robert Dyer)

I had the pleasure of taking a trip to Troeg's located in Hershey PA this weekend for a private tour.  The trip was arranged by my beer club at Flying Dog.  They were very proud of a new offering, which we were given samples of--Freaky Peach.  Freaky Peach clocks in at 9.9% ABV.  The following description is going to sound very cliche, but I assure you that this beer was really good.  Chances are that unless you visit the brewery (which I highly recommend), you will not have the opportunity to try this beer.  The brewery describes this as a bourbon barrel aged sour peach beer.  This beer has an aroma of bourbon, which you would suspect would come through in the taste, but the mind can certainly play tricks on you.  I noticed also zero bourbon in the taste, except maybe a hint at the end (I imagine as it warms the bourbon character comes through more).  The flavor is bright and reminiscent of ripe peaches and apricots.  The sourness is not overpowering, but actually enhances the fruit flavor.  This is a seriously complex beer worth trying.  It is also deceptively smooth, with the relatively high ABV well masked.

On 4/24/2017 at 2:11 PM, TedE said:

DFH 120 Minute is probably still the king of high-test Imperial IPAs.  I've heard it referenced as a "quadruple IPA" to distinguish it from lowly double IPAs, borrowing the nomenclature of Belgian Tripel and Quadrupel ales.  Available twice a year and selling out regularly even at $10 per 12 oz bottle, it clocks in somewhere in the high teens to around 20% ABV depending on the batch.  My understanding is that once you get to that strength fermentation becomes harder to control and recipes can't be dialed in as easily, so every release is a little bit different.  Anyway, I only bring it up now because I saw it over the weekend at the DC Costco being sold by the case ... for $199.  That is certainly the most expensive case of beer I've ever seen!  Someone told me you can get it at the brewery in Milton, DE around release date by the case as well, and I'm sure it runs about the same.

The brew pub in Rehoboth usually taps a couple kegs from the Spring release over the summer which is where I usually get my yearly fix.  It does cellar very well, and they have other vintages available in bottles from time to time for comparison.  I know some beer geeks collect this one and have done vertical tastings going back several years.

Pretty good deal, but I can't imagine having a case!