John William G

I grew up in a small town in South Carolina in the 1940s. Almost the only thing I saw people drink were beer and bourbon.  When I started sneaking my first drinks in my late teens, those were the only things I would have.  As I grew older and lived in many different places I tried a lot of wines and liquors, but nothing really became a favorite or constant drink. Then about 15 years ago I tried a bottle of Cointreau.  I liked it.

Now Cointreau is my favorite drink.  When my wife and I are relaxing with a drink in the late afternoon or evening, she has a glass of wine, and I a glass of Cointreau. I pour about a jiggers worth over four or five ice cubes, and sit back and relax.

Right now, in a small glass in front of me, is Cointreau, my favorite drink. I am relaxed, and enjoying it.

My wife and kids going with me to Chez Francois.  

4 hours ago, dracisk said:

 I don't think I've ever encountered a hole in the ground outside China. 
 

Well it has been a number of years sine I lived in Morocco, but back in the late 60s there were holes in. the ground everywhere.

I’m not sure that take-a-way and curb side delivery is a good thing.  Paper and cardboard can carry the virus.  When you pickup a meal who knows who has touched the paper, paper bag, etc.  Even if all of the  cooks are healthy, who knows the status of the people who deliver the paper to the restaurant?

For those who might be interested, Restaurant: Impossible will broadcast the show featuring the Foxfire Grill on Thursday, Jan 23.

7 minutes ago, ktmoomau said:

Hello All, 

I am looking for a good bread cookbook for my SIL. ...

You might take a look at Jim Lahey’s “My Bread.”  There are recipes for all kinds of bread, and all are no-knead.  In addition to the nice discussions of the procedures, there are numerous photos of how to follow the recipes.  For example, the basic recipe is accompanied by 24 photographs covering three full pages showing every step in the process.

My wife and I have been enjoying meals at Chez Francois several times a year for the last 10 or 15 years.  I have never understood the horrible reviews it sometimes gets.  There are occasional dishes that are not up to their usual standards,  but as a whole I have always enjoyed my meals there.  I think one reason I like it is the same reason some people hate it:  It’s the same old thing.  No new dishes, no brand new menus, just the same old wonderfully prepared classic French dishes.

We had lunch there yesterday. I had onion soup, a simple salad, Rainbow Trout Filet (with toasted almonds, and lemon brown butter) and hazelnut cake for desert. Their onion soup is still first rate, prepared as it should be prepared.  The trout dish was delicious.  Here is a photo of the trout dish (sorry for the photo’s poor quality):

For those of you who have never been to Chez Francois, I urge you to forget the reviews you see in places like the Post and try it for yourself.

As the article says, there is not much of an overlap between these restaurants and the restaurants with the best food.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/05/us/politics/washingtons-fund-raising-hot-spots.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

I was not surprised to see this on “Nextdoor Digest”:

“Hi All!! I want to thank all of our customers for your patience in working through our transition. I appreciate all the helpful feedback! We have determined that our original menu is the best fit for our customers and neighborhood! There will be some changes since we usually change our menu in the fall. We will still be offering our lunch specials and our Happy Hour will remain the same with reduced drink specials and $7 appetizers. Thank you all for your loyalty! Terri Fox Owner Foxfire Grill”

 

I am not familiar with the restaurant:Impossible  people, so I went to the Foxfire yesterday to see how they had changed it.  I was not very impressed.

On the inside they had added some panels to the ceiling, and to some of the walls.  I assume that in addition to the  looks they wanted to reduce the noise level.  I don’t know how successful they were with the noise level, but I was not impressed by the looks.  The also changed some of the seats to look like swings—i.e., they had cords running from their sides to the ceiling.  I thought they were silly looking, but some people may like them. My wife thought the overall appearance was improved.

Then came the menu:  Other than drinks there were only 10 or 12 items on it!  Now that was a change. Our waitress said that there would be additional items latter, but that was all for now.

I tried the coconut shrimp appetizer ($10.00), then a “loaded wedge salad”($8.00), and ended with a “French Onion Burger” ($18.00) In other words I tried about 25% of their menu.

The shrimp were strange, to me.  They were fried, sitting on a very thin slice of pineapple, with small pieces of pineapple all around. I didn’t find the combination of fried shrimp and pineapple to be very tasty. The salad was good.  The burger was served with barbecued flavored potato chips, which I liked.  The burger itself was served on a very large bun, maybe two inches think.  I had to cut off half the bun before I could enjoy the burger.  It was not bad, but nothing special.

Founding Farmers,  that is correct.

22 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

I gazed at your picture for awhile and gave up - I see three slices of industrial-looking bread topped with what looks like industrial Brie, green apple slices, and (I think) caramelized onions in some sort of chutney. I suspect people didn't comment about it because they didn't want to dis your meal, but there's nothing special here.

It is bread, brie, crisp apples, and onion jam.  And it was delicious.

Since no one has made any guesses about my "Where did I dine?"   I'll give a hint:  It was at a very popular Northern Virginia location of a DC area restaurant chain.

Where did I dine?

The Foxfire Grill, on the Little River Turnpike, in Alexandria. I had never eaten there until recently, but have had several good meals in the last month.

Here is a photo of he last meal I had at Mama's Fish House:

In Maui I have had several excellent meals at Mama’s Fish House in Kuau Cove.  Not only is the food good, but views around the restaurant are beautiful.

1 hour ago, dracisk said:

Trummer's On Main?

That’s it.  The beignets were very, very good. The caramel sauce did not appeal to me, but the other added a nice taste to them.

4 hours ago, DonRocks said:

(These are beignets, with chocolate and vanilla dipping sauces, I assume?)

They are beignets.  The sauces were "salted caramel" and "bailey's crème anglaise."  

10 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

I'm still waiting on the Trout Almondine!

I’m sorry about this. That was at L'Auberge Chez Francois, as was guessed.  I thought I had posted a “yes” to that guess, but I don’t see it. 

6 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Geez, we may need a hint for this one.

Part of a Sunday brunch, at a restaurant in Northern Virginia. 

10 minutes ago, dslee said:

Brunch at Gravitas or Market Table Bistro?

Neither of these. 

1 hour ago, Ferris Bueller said:

Looks like it could be Chef Geoff's.

Nope.

Where did I dine?

On a recent trip to Charleston, in addition to breakfast at the Vicious Biscuit, I had a wonderful meal at a restaurant I had never heard of, the Coda del Pesce.  The restaurant in not actually in Charleston, but on the Isle of Palms, about a half hour drive from the city.  It was well worth the drive.  There is a nice view of the ocean from most of the tables in the restaurant.

They began by serving us some Italian bread with an olive oil and basil dip.  For the first course we shared  the “Local Flounder ‘Braciole.’”  It was delicious.  For my second course I had “Heritage Bone In Pork Chop.”  (In spite of this description in the menu there was no bone in the serving I received.)  It was excellent.  They have a good selection of wines to go with the meals—mostly Italian, as one would expect.  We had a bottle of J. Hofstätter 2016 Gewürztraminer which was very nice.

I was with a group of three and all of us were extremely happy with our meal.  If you are in the Charleston area, and have time to drive to the Isle of Palms, you should not miss having a meal at the Coda del Pesce.