Jimmy Chandler

Count me in!

I went for lunch today and had the sweet corn soup and soft-shell crab with verjus. The soup was lovely, and the soft-shell was prepared as beautifully as any soft-shell I think I've ever had. My one complaint is that the salad that accompanied the soft-shell was overly salty, which I have also found to be true with Tom's mixed green salad with shallot vinaigrette. Does anyone else feel this way?

My wife and I will attend and bring something veggie -- probably my little mushroom duxelle sandwiches.

http://www.jamminjoesbbq.com/ I stumbled upon this on a drive towards Warrenton along US-29. It's a little mobile stand, with smoke visibly rising from the steel pit. No indoor seating, you just walk up to the window and order. I found a mini review in the Post from 2004: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro...e/virginia.html All I tried was the pulled pork sandwhich, no sides. I thought it was the best BBQ I've had anywhere in the DC area, and as good or better than what I was able to sample on a recent trip to South Carolina (where I had some very good BBQ).

My wife and I finally went last night after reading good tings and having a work colleague insist it was better than RTS; our overall impression was that it was pretty good. I had a few complaints, including I found my steak (filet) was somewhat dry and cooked a little past what I ordered. The deviled eggs, Nicole's crabcake, and our sides and sauces were all excellent. My other three complaints, interestingly enough, were exactly Tom Sietsema's complaints in his review from June 2005: Our waiter ignored us (he never checked to see how our entrees were after they were delivered), the steak was too salty for me, and the wine was served too warm (we had the trapiche malbec, which was nice). Note: I did not read this review until after we returned last night from the restaurant. What does it mean if a restaurant has the same problems almost two years after being reviewed by Tom? We complained, mostly about the service, when the manager came by to ask how we were doing at the end of our meal. I insisted I didn't want anything, but that she should inform our server. She gave us a $25 gift certificate. We will go back to try again; maybe I'll try the Kansas City Cut next time (which our server had recommended).

Joe -- My wife and I just went to the Inn At Easton two weekends ago, we also had a wonderful time. I'm not sure if they have any rooms left, but they were running a great winter promotion through the end of March: stay two nights with dinner one night, "continental" breakfast two mornings (I put continental in quotes because it was better than any continental breakfast we've ever had), and you only pay for one night's lodging. For us, this meant a savings of $250 from the usual weekend rate. I would rate our dinner as very good indeed, though I'm not sure I'd put it at the top of the list in the DC as do you. The menu is quite small, but everything we ate was at least good, if not spectacular. The wine list was also good if small -- I wish there were more reasonably priced (say $40 or under) choices, or at least some half bottles. The service was near perfect -- although our first course arrived before our bottle of wine. I had the tuna tartare, grilled prawns and flat iron steak, my wife the tuna, artichoke risotto and monkfish. The monkfish was ok if not quite as advertised; my favorite was probably the prawns. We started with an amouse of a mushroom soup served in a glass; I don't remember the desserts but they were pretty good (we should have tried the pudding). The chef was kind enough to stop by at the end of our meal and chat for a few minutes, and the staff was wonderful throughout our stay. Easton is a lovely town to visit, and a central location for a trip to the eastern shore (we shopped at the outlets, ate lunch in Cambridge at Portside, and hiked at Blackwater Wildlife Refuge all in the same day). I had two other complaints: the room was a little too quirky for my taste (creaky wooden floors, an oddly narrow bathroom) and the method they use for holding your credit card. When I checked in, they swiped my card and I signed for the balance due on the room, but not for dinner (I had reserved the room by paying for one night in advance). Then when I went to check out on Sunday, I expected to pay just for the dinner -- but I was presented with a credit slip for the lodging and dinner. It turns out they swipe your card as a "hold" but don't charge you -- this was not explained at the time, and it made me feel as if I have to be extra careful and check my credit card bill to make sure I haven't been charged double. The woman who explained this to me was obviously frustrated as I am not the first person to complain about this practice -- and I explained it is a bad policy to leave your guests with such a poor last impression of your establishment. If it seems I'm being picky, it is just to note that this is a very good but maybe not great establishment. I think we will return for a dinner again this year, but maybe stay at a cheaper motel nearby. One last note: their website has a lot of useful information, including chef's notes on each of the menu's offerings, but it's design deserves a spot on the worst websites thread. Truly an awful experience of frames causing multiple scrollbars. As a lover of food but a web design professional, I wonder about how restauranteurs who are so good at what they do (service and cooking) are so bad when it comes to choosing who to design their websites.

I need to be at a friends' house in DC after 7 PM tonight, and was thinking of dropping by the bar at Corduroy for dinner, but I'm not in the mood to eat alone. Anyone interested in joining me? Say around 6:15-6:30?

So Clare and Don's has been open in their Falls Church location (between Argia's and the State Theatre on Lee Hwy) for about a month now, and my wife and I have been twice. The first time was two weeks ago for a Saturday lunch, the second time last night when, coincidentally, they were holding a "grand opening" celebration (with the local parrot head club partying in the bar). Overall, I wouldn't recommend that anyone go far out of their way to eat there, but I'm very happy to have this establishment as an addition to my neighborhood. The service is friendly and mostly efficient -- though there were some lapses on both occasions when our server got busy. The food is fine, if never brilliant. Items like a crab cake sandwich or buffalo shrimp seem like the best bets -- simple, tasty. The blackened tuna was no better than what I've done at home with decent tuna from Harris Teeter, the house salad with a key lime vinaigrette was bland and boring. For desert, both times I had the key lime pie and my wife had the Peppermint Patty (Hot Chocolate with Peppermint Schnapps) and left happy. This is an establishment that should have something for just about anyone, is good choice for families with young kids, has a nice, large bar area, and a staff that appears to be happy to have you there. A welcome addition to Falls Church! (Don, you should move the reference in your dining guide from Clarendon when you have the time.)

I second the suggestion that Pazo is similar to Zaytinya, though I thought the food was a little better at Zaytinya, and the service was much better at Pazo. It is noisy, but if they want a little more room and ambience, they should ask for a table upstairs. Another idea, if they like sushi, would be Sushi Sono in Columbia. As it sits on a lake, it has a nice view. If they go, make sure to ask for the specials (which are not written down, but are usually the best items available, such as a roll of cooked lobster with avocado, topped with raw tuna).

Iota's food is ok, nothing spectacular, but on our last occasion there we experienced dreadful service (we were practically ignored the entire meal). Besides Rays (which is the best in the area and quite different in ambience than RTC), close by there is Dehli Club (walkable to Iota), Minh's, Guajillo (next to Rays) and Tallula/EatBar (we haven't been since the EatBar addition).

Don -- What makes you say that Raku/Bethesda is overrated? I find it to be right up there with Kaz and Sushi Ko in quality; my only complaint is noise/long waits, and sometimes spotty service (though our last few trips we've had better luck with the waitstaff). Among our favorites dishes are: - the tuna tartare, with peanuts and topped with sesame seeds, served with a wasabi sauce, bread, cornichons and a salad - (occasional special) toro tartar, wrapped like a sushi roll but with cucmber instead of rice, topped with caviar and salmon eggs and a spicy sauce - (in season in the summer) heirloom tomato salad - yellow tail three ways - scallops w/mushrooms and a cream sauce I'm not saying the entire menu is fabulous, but the quality of the fish is always great and many of the dishes are creative. For the price range, it's one of the area's absolute best. Then again, I'd say the same thing about Zaytinya, and I like 4 Sisters too. I'd agree with the others: stay away from Raku in Dupont.

I was thinking of eating at Rays the Steaks (Arlington) tonight -- I am going to a home less than 5 minutes away at 7 PM. Anyone interested in joining me around/before 6? PM me as I'm not in the mood to eat alone and will have to find another, much less enojyable, meal otherwise. (Rays is open Tuesdays, correct?)

I've had Coastal Flats' lobster roll a couple of times (at the Fairfax location). I think it's usually available -- and the price was around $20. So I'm not sure how much of a "special" this really is. That said, it's a good roll, probably not as good as one in New England where the lobster is freshest, but I think it's quite tasty and reasonably priced. But my favorite part might be the roasted corn on the cob that comes as the side dish.

I will be arriving at the Thursday dinner at Ray's Classic via metro from a downtown meeting, but I will need to get back to VA afterward. I live in Arlington near the East Falls Church Metro -- so if anyone attending would be willing to give me a ride home, I'd appreciate it. Jimmy

It can be tough to find any bar or restaurant that shows the Sopranos, since HBO will sue them if they do: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/14/...ain525452.shtml HBO: This Is Pay TV, & Don't Forget It (AP) Bars and restaurants that try to entice customers by showing Paulie Walnuts, Ralphie Cifaretto and the rest of "The Sopranos" gang on Sunday nights are hearing from another type of enforcer. HBO lawyers are sending out letters telling them to turn the sets off, since it's illegal to show the network's signal in public places.... While there's no actual law against showing HBO's signal publicly, the cable channel says subscribers who get HBO through their cable or satellite provider have agreed to follow the rules against public showings of HBO programming.

Family members want to take us to Amerigo, an Italian restaurant in McLean, for my wife's birthday -- and we don't trust these family members' tastebuds. So I'd like to know if anyone has inside info that could help us decide if we should give it a try or to keep suggesting something else. We already suggested Minh's, Oyamel, and Lebanese Taverna and were rejected on all counts. So I'm looking in that price range in the Arlington/McLean/Tysons areas. Thanks!

What is the basis of your claim? If you mean that their pizza and subs and prepared pastas do not exactly replicate the styles of Italy, you are correct. Then again, neither do almost any Italian-style delis anywhere in the U.S., including New York or New Jersey. Should they have to call themselves "The Italian-American Store" to satisfy you? In fact, what is an authentic Italian restaurant or deli? In Italy, all food is regional; since the people who live there think of themselves as Milanese or Romans or Venetians, etc., first and Italians second, there really is no national cuisine if you want to be 100% accurate. When I ordered a pizza margherita in Liguria I got a very different pizza than the one I ordered in Rome (the former had oregano instead of basil, for what reason I could not fathom, given the abundance of basil in Liguria). But both pizzas were fantastic (the one in Rome, a true Neapolitan style pizza, was so thin and the oven burned so hot that the pizza was done almost instantly, and the crust burnt around the edges). The quality of the Italian Store's food is wonderful and priced fairly; you cannot get better subs with "Italian" ingredients (salami, mortadella, proscuitto, peppers, etc.) in any deli the DC area that I know of. Their stuffed shells in marinara sauce is wonderful, the pizza is thin crust with real mozarella and a good tomato sauce, and I've been told they have an awesome meatball sub . And the service is swift and custom orders are welcomed instead of being treated as a burden. Their staff is knowledgable and the owner interesting to talk to when he's around. Then again, I hope you don't return, because the wait is too long whenever I'm there anyway.