pras

30 minutes ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

This concept of modern Israeli restaurants has always been confusing to me.

Israel is populated by a lot of the former Jewish diaspora from Poland to Russia to Romania to all parts of Europe and Eastern Europe. To me, modern Israeli restaurants serve borscht, chicken soup with matzoh balls, pierogies, gefilte fish, and all manner of Ashkenazi cuisine. Then there was Ashkenazi cuisine, which is closer to what I think everyone refers to as modern Israeli cuisine, since it has significant Middle Eastern influences, and is therefore more exotic.

So, along comes the concept of modern Israeli cuisine, which fuses Arab Middle Eastern, Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and even Mizrahi cuisine, into a variety of dishes that really look and taste like Middle Eastern food with some Eastern European influences. All of this is a long way of saying that I might enjoy eating at a local version of Zahav if it were to come here, we're really not talking about a whole different category of cuisine. It's mostly Middle Eastern, and we have plenty of good options for Middle Eastern food in our area.

As a side note, I think you meant one link to be "Ashkenazi" and one to be "Jewish".  I think the food of Israel is neither of the two, but it is as Don put it "fusion".  And the fusion really isn't from the Eastern European side of Jewish Cuisine, it is from the Sephardic (literally Spanish, but this is a discussion for another time), side of Judaism.

This article from Thrilist also tends to disagree with you.  I have spent considerable time in Israel, (albeit a long time ago now), and I was never served borscht.  chicken soup, gefilte fish, etc. (which are all dishes my mom can make in her sleep).  In my opinion, Israel has established a cuisine of its own.  It is certainly middle eastern, and borrows from its Sephardic Jewish population, so it is a fusion of Egyptian, Yemini, Syrian, Persian, etc.

And while there are good (and great) Middle Eastern restaurants around here, there is nothing which conjures my memories of eating through Israel.

Has anyone heard if there are any modern Israeli restaurants planned for the DMV?

On 12/5/2017 at 4:44 PM, Mark Dedrick said:

I have definitely enjoyed Potbelly from time to time, but I attribute that mostly to their peppers. I think putting those on anything would make me enjoy it. 

I am not afraid to admit that when my offices brings in a catered lunch, I will have some extra peppers as a side, and take home the leftovers.  I have often stayed up at night thinking about the peppers!

Closed.

On 11/18/2017 at 6:43 PM, DonRocks said:

I tried a Rite-Aid six-pack of Flying Dog Brewery's "Bloodline Blood Orange Ale,"; and given my personal distaste for American IPAs, I find the blood orange undertones to be a welcome undercurrent to the noticeable hops in this ale.

This is absolutely nothing like a "pumpkin ale" - its finish is primarily sour, with just enough hint of blood orange flavor to keep it from creeping into Baby Gueuze territory. 

I didn't think I'd like (or, should I say, "not dislike") this beer to the extent which I do - it's okay, and if you find yourself in a drug store, you can do a lot worse. The nose is my favorite aspect, and if you're drinking it from a bottle, one snoot full is all you'll need if you don't mind using a single nostril.

I can't tell if you like it or not?  Why did you compare it to a pumpkin beer?  Although it may seem weird, this beer is very good when mixed 50/50 with the Truth) (called a True Blood).  I also happen to really enjoy it just the way it is.

Blood line is in their year round rotation now, and for good reason--it is pretty damn good.

The latest Brewhouse Rarity from Flying Dog is Snake Oil Black Lager.  Brewed in conjunction with Woodberry Kitchen, this beer pours pitch black with an overpowering smokiness on the nose.  The flavor is pure smoke (from mesquite smoked malt) and heat imparted by fish pepper hot peppers.  The heat is really there in this beer, in the front.  It is kind of a punch you in the face spice, which I have not ever experienced in a beer.  I am not saying I didn't like it, just that it is unique, especially when paired with the smokiness from the malt.  I imagine this would go really well with some BBQ, maybe even some other spicy food.  If you are going to try this, it make wreck your palate, so consider yourself warned.  That being said, I think if you like heat, you should give it a try.

9 hours ago, KeithA said:

I can't speak to the coconut curry sauce as I've never tried that but my wife typically gets the udon dashi bowl everytime we go. 

I used to frequent Bethesda often, but I haven't been in a while.  If the coconut curry is the same, I would suggest you give it a try as it is VERY tasty.

Finally was able to visit on Friday.  This spot probably deserves a whole new thread, because this is a totally different more modern and upscale restaurant, which is no comparison to the old location.  When we arrived, we were promptly welcomed and seated.  When looking at the decor, it is amazing that the space used to be a diner.  It was completely gutted.  There is a partial open kitchen, the space has a modern feel, which is full of natural materials, lighting is mostly retro bulbs.  There is also a central bar.  The deck is really nice with a ton of plants, and heaters (the outside space was full!).  

The menu focuses on small plates, with some entrees.  We stuck to the small plate theme.  Our choices we started with a plate of olives, which was probably the only disappointment of the night, not because of the contents/quality of the olives, but because of the volume--there were probably 8 olives in a $4 dish, which seemed a bit on the skimpy side.  Next we got a beet and yogurt dip.  This was not what I was expecting, but never-the-less, it was tasty.  I was expecting a smooth dip, but the beets were diced, and had some apple mixed in along with some pistachios--it was good, just not what was expected as a "dip".  This was followed by roasted cauliflower with a harissa sauce as the bed of the dish.  The heat in this dish was understated, probably because it was balanced with a sweetness.  The flavors all played well.  The grilled octopus which has been discussed previously here has become ubiquitous lately, was a really good rendition.  It was s single long tentacle, which was incredibly straight and tender.  Our 7 year old ate almost the entire thing, but did miss the chewy texture from octopus sushi.  We also got sauteed baby spinach and kale, which was flecked with feta and preserved lemon--this was a nice diversion.  Finally, we got the grilled haloumi, which was also well prepared.

Our daughter also got an order of mac and cheese, which was very refined, with a shape I have never seen, it was certainly an upscale version, and the 7 year old, who has become a mac and cheese connoisseur, approved and ate every last bit.

For desert, we had the home made doughnuts.  They were glazed in cinnamon infused honey, and served with a scoop of home made vanilla ice cream.  

All in all a great dinner and we can walk there in about 4 minutes from our house.

24 minutes ago, JBag57 said:

Thanks for the heads up on this!  I just joined the Reserve Society on the "sours and wilds" side (Terreux).  I figure I will be able to pick up some of the barrel-aged beers as singles as the year goes on.  The Bruery is currently firing on all cylinders, and I had not heard that they were setting up this DC outpost.

I purchased the same exact membership.  I was really excited about being able to choose a sour/wild package.

The Bruery which hails from Orange County, CA, is about to open their east coast hub in DC at Union Market at some point this month.  If you haven't heard about the Bruery or their beers, they are known for making "big" barrel aged beers, wilds and sours.  Although they are currently available in local stores, most of their more rare offerings never make it to the retail channel and are sold through their website/clubs.  Their Reserve Society is now open for new members and will allow you to pick up your allocations at the DC location.  Definitely worth checking out.  Membership gives you first crack at getting your hands on their most rare beers such as Black Tuesday or Chocolate Rain.  I have had the joy of drinking Chocolate Rain, it is a beast of a beer, clocking in at 19.6% abv.  Although the beer is such a beast in the ABV category, it is exceptionally smooth and balanced, there is a good amount of sweetness to balance out the abv, it drinks like an 8% beer, and has so much flavor going on.  I am not generally big on the liquor barrel aged big beers,  but this is something special.

If high abv liquor barrel aged beers is not your thing, perhaps Flimishmish is.  Flimishmish is a tart blonde which is aged on apricots in oak barrels.  The result is nothing short of amazing, with a refreshing natural apricot flavor coming through.  It is one of those beers that I dream about. 

Shalom in Kemp Mill.

I am sure my parents have some really old Manischewitz in their "wine cellar".  Does that count?  Some of it may be approaching 40 years.

When I asked my 7 year old what she wanted for dinner last night she said "soup dumplings!"  We headed to JDS.  I haven't been here in several months.  It seems they are always changing up the menu.  Now, they hand you a menu and a paper menu and ask you to circle on the paper menu what you want.  We got one order of dumplings, and I got the dry saute seafood hot pot.  Brooke loved the dumplings, and ate almost the entire order.  I am not soup dumpling junkie, but they were very good.  I was most impressed with the dry seafood hot pot.  It had lots of shrimp, breaded and fried fish filets (likely founder), squid, and imitation crab for the seafood offering.  This was punched up with bean curd sheets, lotus root, potato slices, soy sprouts, and cilantro.  It was all coated in a red slick of chili oil, with sliced garlic and ginger, flecked with a ton of dry chili and szechuan peppercorns.  The fish was bite sized, breaded and fried, and added to the top of the pot to keep its crunchy texture.  It slowly absorbed the chili oil.  The flavors of this pot were really good, and perhaps better than at Big Wang's (I often wake up at night thinking about this dish at Big Wang!).  It was both spicy and flavorful, with enough numbing to make it impossible to stop eating.  I was definitely a pig and ate the whole thing.  At the end I was sweating profusely.  While it is true that I am a heat head, I will not take heat over flavor, this dish really hit the spot, as everything was in delightful balance.  I would take this any day over the dish at Big Wang, if you got to customize the dish like you can at Big Wang.  For this reason, the dishes are very closely rated, with JDS getting a slight nod for the complexity of flavors.  

I had dinner at the Chipotle in the Kentlands last week because they were hosting a fundraiser for my daughter's school.  The concept is just not as fresh to me as it was 15 years ago.  It just isn't so appealing to me anymore.  When they first hit the scene around here, I thought it was truly novel, with really good flavors, etc.  Perhaps there is just much more competition now.  Anyone else feel the same way?

19 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Don't forget, however, that Danny Meyer is a different person than he was twenty years ago - he's worth several hundred million dollars, and his priorities have changed almost by definition. Shake Shack was cute when there were 1-2 of them, but Meyer's primary responsibility now is almost surely managing his wealth.

SHAK was a food cart in 2004, but currently has a market cap of $1.35 billion.

This is not an indictment of the man, and I'm happy for his success, but I wouldn't assume that nothing has changed.

His emphasis on customer service was wise and intelligent, but a lot of his reputation has been driven by massive amounts of PR and marketing (this is not a bad thing, but it certainly hasn't *understated* that aspect of him. If you read the press, it's like, "There's Danny Meyer, and there's everyone else," and that's simply not true - never has been).

This 60 Minutes piece paints the picture that he is still very much involved.

From the owner's of Vasillis comes Sin & Grin Tacos.  Located at 353 Main Street in Gaithersburg, which was the original Vasillis location in the Kentlands.  It just opened, so I haven't tried it yet, but I am happy to have a new spot to try that I can walk to in about 3 minutes from my house!

From the owners of Taco Bar, comes Ixtapalapa Taqueria, located on 355/Frederick Road in Gaithersburg (411 MD-355, Gaithersburg, MD 20877).  The menu is similar to the original Taco Bar, but both are slightly different.  I did not have tacos on my visit, but they looked much the same coming out of the kitchen as at Taco Bar.  I did try the chilaqiles, which are not on the Taco Bar menu.  They were very good--fresh nacho chips with shredded chicken, green salsa, queso fresca, onion and avocado.  I punched it up with a bit of their habenero  salsa, and the pickled onions with flecks of shredded habenero.  Although the menus are similar, this is more "full service" as there are places to sit, some ambiance and they bring your order to the table you choose.  Worth checking out.

I have a memory of my grandparents taking me when I was very small.  I am pretty sure it was in Georgetown, but it was certainly a long time ago.  I was at Great Falls over the weekend and saw a boat in the canal, but not giving rides.  I also didn't ask about rides.  My almost 7 year old did complete the Billy Goat Trail, and she didn't complain, and actually said she wants to do it again.

For the past three years I have volunteered, which has always been a blast.  I am guessing that the heat on Saturday made people stay away from the really heavy stuff.  I was pouring Green Flash, and had a pretty steady line of people.  They brought a Brett aged Tripple, which was awesome and kicked pretty quickly.

If you like beer (and this year rose) and you are looking for something to do this Saturday, you should head to Snallygaster at the yards.  You will not be disappointed.  Good beer, good food (trucks), good music, good weather, and all proceeds support Arcadia, a non-profit whose mission is to create a sustainable local food system.

On 9/19/2017 at 9:59 AM, Ericandblueboy said:

Why is every restaurant serving grilled octopus?  Are octopus falling off the truck?  Sysco has buy a duck and get 10 octopus free deal?  Are people eating these things like they're chicken wings?

I think they are serving it, because if it is made properly it tastes awesome!

18 hours ago, mtureck said:

Entirely correct.

Humus should be spread first. Then a few falafel, then toppings and tahini, then a few more falafel, then more toppings and tahini.

The ideal, which is hard to find here but is prevalent in the middle east, includes french fries as one of the key ingredients that's layered in.

Only thing I disagree with is that they do not put "fries" inside, they put "chips" inside.

I have seen them at pretty much every Asian Supermarket in the area during the past couple of weeks.

As reported by the Washington Post.

John Wood in by Joe Zimmerman--Bethesdamagazine.com