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We had a family dinner there a couple weeks ago with bar snacks, appetizers, pastas, and secondi. Everyone in our party thought they knocked it out of the park in all aspects. Their charcuterie particularly impressed us, it's really really good, maybe the best we had in the city (neck to neck with SSB). It's now going to pull us back, $10 pasta Mondays or no. The comparison to Fiola Mare would never have occurred to me "“ the focus and cooking style are very different. And they're definitely in different budget brackets "“ I actually think Morini is a good deal for DC given the quality of ingredients/preparation for the price. The food reminds me more of Ghibellina, Tosca, or Bibiana. I like the airiness of the restaurant space and the easy parking situation. I also like the easy going service we've received so far. If it remains at the level that we're currently experiencing it, it'll probably be our go-to for out-of-town guests.

Second The Rogue Gentleman rec. It is better than Rose's Luxury in my opinion. Especially if you enjoy craft cocktails.

Thanks for the detailed post! We are planning to go there in a few weeks, so this is very helpful. We have done the fast pass for Busch Gardens and King's Dominion, and been thoroughly spoilt by the experience.

What's communicated to the customer in an authoritative form is what counts - that includes what the wait staff tells the customer, what's printed, what's on the website, and what's on the chalkboard. If the owners allow their waitstaff to write misleading stuff on their menu board, that's an institutional issue.

I agree with jayandstacey, a mandatory 18% service charge is just another way of imposing the cost of labor onto customers, while fooling the naive ones into believing that X dish or Y drink is going to be cheaper than it will be on the bill. If sales tax was an issue (I don't think it's one either, other business transactions are taxed on the full amount "“ though sales tax for goods versus no sales tax for services does get fuzzy), there's an easy solution. On the menu, list the pre-tax and pre-tip price (ugly number), and the all-inclusive price next to it (whole number). On the top, say that the all-inclusive price is what you will pay, period. That all inclusive price is what you would be quoted in many civilized countries (where they'll also tell you the price includes VAT). Having the menu tell customers that they don't have to tip but not mention the mandatory 18% service charge, smacks of bait and switch, and certainly makes me less likely to patronize this place. It's a somewhat less offensive version of Dan O'Brien saying on his website that he'll cook Seasonal Pantry suppers, then being shocked! shocked! that people are upset when he's not there to cook. It's the sort of blaming the customer (for having reasonable expectations) behavior that can turn me off of establishments.

No worries. Last winter was rough. All my pomegranates were killed to the ground, though most have resprouted with some vigor. Hopefully we'll revert back to the mild pre-2013/4 winters soon. Glad to hear that the roses have done well for you.

I thought Fort Hunt was a really nice location with nice amenities, though I can see how it's just too remote for many people. I like Katelin's idea of trying out a potluck in a condo/apartment party room. I think my condo building (a block from Virginia Square on the Orange Line) rents out its community room as well, though it's not as nicely appointed as those in newer buildings and we don't have grills. If anyone lives in a building with grills, that would be even nicer.

Thanks for the recipes (they were all awesome, definitely going to make the shrimp and feta salad very soon) and for resolving a minor mystery between +1 and me - I thought the cookies were snickdoodles and +1 thought they were a Chai cookie - I guess we're both right!

The rhubarb crumble I made is chopped fresh rhubarb with some sugar and cook in the oven at 325 for an hour, drain the excess liquids and then cook for another 30 minutes. Then top with a mix of sugar/butter/flour topping and cook at 375 for another 20 minutes or so until the top is light brown. The cherry whisky is made with sour cherries, Seagram 7 whiskey, and a few spoonful of plain sugar. Let it sit at room temperature in a cupboard for at least 1 month before drinking. The cherries are also tasty. The pickled cherries are made with sweet cherries, a few spoonful of sugar, a few sprigs of rosemary (two 5-inch sprigs is probably enough for a quart), a teaspoon of black peppercorn, and cover with white vinegar. Put in a dark cupboard for at least 6 weeks before eating.

The black raspberry limeade with mint was an impromptu recipe. I had an excess of limes (thanks Great Wall's 10 limes for a buck deal) and some fresh black raspberries (from Larriland Farm) in the fridge that I wanted to use up. For the 1/2 gallon pitcher, I used the juice of 10 limes, about 1 pint of black raspberries, a generous handful of mint, and about 1.5 cups of turbinado sugar. I started by food processing the mint with sugar, then added the raspberries to the food processor. My pitcher came with a steeping filter attachment, so I put the raspberry/mint/sugar mixture in the filter and then filled up the pitcher with water. Then I added the lime juice and added a bit honey to adjust the sweetness, and let it steep for a couple hours in the fridge. Then I removed the filter with mint and raspberry fragments. But you can definitely just let the full mixture steep and then run it through a coffee filter or a couple layers of cheese cloth. The noodles with mentaiko and ramp pesto is really easy, just gather the ingredients and toss. The only tricky thing is gathering the ingredients. Ramp pesto is just ramp leaves with grapeseed oil or olive oil, blended until smooth and frozen for later use. You can use green garlic or garlic scape to make the pesto. Or even use commercial basil pesto, but the flavor will be different. If you want to make it from scratch right now, garlic scape is still available in farmer's markets and would be your best bet. Or maybe making a version with arugula and some garlic cloves. This is the noodle that I used - Costco has them in stock irregularly at about half the price on Amazon. I just boil it in salty water and let it cool. Mentaiko is available at most larger Asian supermarkets in the area in their frozen food aisle, in the Japanese section. You thaw it a little bit, then peel the membrane outside of the roes, then mix with about 2/3 as much pesto, some fine citrus zest, and juice of a lime or lemon to make the sauce for the noodle. Then just toss with noodles and eat. I also added some roasted king oyster mushrooms to noodles. That's just a couple king oyster mushrooms from an Asian supermarket, roasted whole at 375 F for 45 minutes, cooled and then roughly chopped, then added to the noodle sauce mix. Roasted king oyster mushroom is also great when tossed with some rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a bit of chives or green onion. My favorite use of Mentaiko is actually a warm butter-based noodle. Just thaw and peel some mentaiko, add a generous knob of softened butter and juice of a lime/lemon, then toss with warm noodles and finish with some shredded toasted nori to soak up the excess sauce.

A word on the timing and temperatures for traveling in late May. We're relatively cold tolerant and dislike crowds, so our travel time worked out well for us. It's still vvvvery quiet in late May, especially in Cape Breton. We got a mix of blustery overcast days 5-10 C and pleasant sunny days 16-25 C. There was also a day that was 29 C, when it was hot inland but cool and very pleasant along the coast. Late May is still very early - they had a big snow storm in early May and the trees were just starting to leaf out when we were there May 23-31. In Cape Breton, the last frost date is the first week of June, people don't bother planting anything tender until mid June. Late May to end of June is shoulder season, most attractions will be open but possibly only partially staffed or running on partial schedule. A lot of things are not open at all before May 15. We didn't have any problems with bugs, but were made to understand that it's been a late season and that bugs can be a problem during this time.

I will definitely bring a rhubarb based dessert, in addition to cherry whisky. Still pondering about savories - noodles with mentaiko and ramp pesto? Also, I can't help but wonder if the reason people don't come to events like these is that they just don't know they exist, since events get posted in the Events and Gatherings subforum, with no visibility to those who just view the main DC restaurant subforum. I'd venture a guess that putting a temporary sticky at the top of the DC forum that links to this thread (or to a thread for something like the Amoo's dinner) would increase attendance at these events, at least somewhat.

We managed to make the entire itinerary of Halifax-Lunenberg-Moncton-Fundy NP-Cavendish-Charlottetown-Cape Breton-Halifax in 7 days plus 2 half days. Our rental car logged 40+ hours of driving. restaurants that I would recommend unreservedly Little Louis (Moncton) - this fancy French restaurant located in an industrial part of non-descript Moncton was a real find. We were a little skeptical but the pictures of the dishes looked impressive and nothing else in Moncton looked promising. The food was outstanding - creative, fancy, tasty...a real event. If you're anywhere near Moncton, this is well worth a detour. The service and dining room were also quite nice. Ratinaud (Halifax) - the French owner of this sausage and cheese shop loves duck and goose, and does wonderful things with pork and rabbit and beef, and sources a wonderful assortment of cheeses, and bakes beautiful bread daily. I ate a year's worth of foie gras during our multiple trips to the store. This is the perfect place to buy supplies for a picnic or get some late afternoon salty snacks. EDNA (Halifax) - impeccably fresh food that's properly prepared, in a stylish modern restaurant. I do feel like it's not as special as others on this list because I've eaten at very similar restaurants in other cities. But then again, I really enjoyed every one of those meals - it's probably impossible to get a bad meal here. Bitehouse (Baddeck) - if you can snag a reservation here, go. The overall experience is very special and it's a steal at the current price. Dave's Lobster (Charlottetown, there is now also a Halifax branch) - amongst the best lobster rolls I've ever eaten. Definitely recommended. Fredie's Fantastic Fish (Halifax) - Their seafood is extremely fresh, the batter is properly seasoned and light, and the fries are excellent. Their prices are also quite good for the portions. The lobster roll was the only thing I didn't 100% love, because the bun wasn't buttered and toasted, but the lobster used was fresh and generously portioned out. Fleur de Sel (Lunenberg) - good fresh seafood with some creative flair, in a classy dining room. Good places but some reservations Water Prince Corner Shop (Charlottetown) - we had a very sweet and properly cooked lobster here, and the scallops and mussels were good too. It's a bit pricy for what we're getting, but no complaints about the quality. Glendora Distillary (Mabou)- the kitchen here put out an excellent burger and lobster club, but overall it's not sufficiently interesting/special to go into the unreserved category. We went on a distillery tour and sampled their 10 year single malt, it's fine but didn't seem too interesting. Chanterelle Inn (Near Baddeck) - the food was good home cooking made with care, and I suspect that it gets much better during the high season when they hire a chef to help. In previous seasons, Chanterelle had employed the Bitehouse owner to cook for them, so I suspect they have high standards when their dining room is fully open. Seafood Stop (Cheticamp) - the seafood wasn't quite as expertly cooked as Water Prince, resulting in a few things being a tad overcooked. But the prices are very very reasonable and the food was fresh and bountiful. The rest Old Dublin Pub (Charlottetown) - the oyster we got here was okay, but not nearly as good as the ones I had at EDNA or Little Louis. The Bicycle Thief (Halifax) - It's probably the most disappointing and we're still kicking ourselves for not going to EDNA again instead. Think upscale TGI Fridays (in theory, we haven't been to a chain upscale casual dining place in many years). Everything was okay, nothing other than the house made ginger beer was good. But this style of restaurant definitely has its fans because the restaurant was fully booked up until 10 PM on Saturday (we ate at the bar). Chip Shack (Charlottetown) - it's cheap and the fries are not terrible, the the owner is a very nice lady. But the lobster roll filling was the closest thing to bad that I ate on the trip. It was amongst the worst lobster rolls I've ever eaten whereas Dave's lobster rolls are amongst the very best.

Haha, Seattle is lovely but Paris is PARIS. All the chatter here makes me want to visit there next. A further inducement, since you're considering stopping over in Reykjavik en route to Paris, is that Iceland has some fantastic restaurants. My favorite, Seafood Cellar, has closed. But this place certainly sounds intriguing and the chef has a gorgeous new book out.

Compass Rose Crane and Turtle Ghibellina Casa Luca Sushi Capitol (if friends are not West Coast)

No Paris experience, but I had some fantastic meals in Seattle/Portland last year. Also want to put in a good word for Willows Inn on Lummi Island, which just won the James Beard Award for best chef Northwest. If you're paying with money rather than with miles, the current price difference between flying to the West Coast v. flying to Europe will be considerable. That's why we ditched our plans for Spain this year and opted for Atlantic Canada instead.

We're in. Me +1. Thinking of bringing cherry whiskey, but might be willing to share my pickled ramps if there are any left by Father's Day.

We have not been to Addis Ababa but we have been to Lucy and liked it a lot. Anyone here been to both? On the Virginia side, I feel that Enat is much better than the rest.

Per this Atlantic article and it's easy enough to find others, many and likely most Amish do not practice organic or sustainable farming.

A weekend getaway took us to MAS, Parallel 38, and Alley Light in Charlottesville. MAS was as good as our fond remembrances from a visit several years ago. Warm weather brought the added benefit of sitting on the patio in the afternoon sun, definite improvement over the dark and loud interior. Everything we sampled was pretty good to very good, I don't think you can go too wrong with this (long) menu. Parallel 38 is staking out some sort of gravitational orbit to CAVA Mezze in my mind. I think that is an overall compliment. A lot of similarities in approaches but Parallel 38's takes are a bit more adventurous and more likely to be accompanied by unusual flavors, and perhaps a bit less consistent. Alley Light is good. REALLY GOOD. Okay, I wasn't fully on board with their charcuterie board because I don't think cooked ham should ever end up on a charcuterie board. But otherwise everything was awesome. Especially especially the seafood board, anyone seeking out a tastier and better seafood platter need to get this, and get the large size version. We also went to Ashlawn Highland Plantation for a tour and I was charmed by the experience. Probably fewer than 2 dozen visitors on the premise in total. We had a wonderful and knowledgeable guide for the 35-minute house tour. The grounds were beautiful too - it should not surprise any visitor here that when you type in "Ashlawn Highland", Google auto-complete offers "Ashlawn Highland wedding" as the second choice and "Ashlawn Highland Wedding Cost" as the third choice.

Staunton; Charlottesville +1 and I had a nice weekend getaway to Staunton and Charlottesville. In Staunton, we ate at the Shack, Zynodoa, and Nu Beginning Farm store. The Shack continues to be very good, for both dinner and Sunday brunch. The only sorta complaint would be the odd portioning choices, esp. for a prix fixe menu - some things in a category are more than 2X the size of other things. It's not really a complaint since both portions were in the realm of reasonableness, but it's odd. But other than that, everything was very good and the service continue to be friendly/warm, and the lines have died off a bit so it's easier to get in. The Zynodoa menu didn't speak to us as much, but what we ordered was quite good too, but not at the level of the Shack. The dishes we tried seem exactly like the sort of dish that HUSK in Charleston might serve, if that tantalizes anyone. Nu Beginning is a store with a cafe area serving breakfasts and lunches. The people there are wonderful and the food is pretty good for the price. It's a very fine choice for a quick bite to eat for breakfast, lunch, or early dinner. They have a neat array of organic milk, meats, produces, jarred goods, tea and coffee, at reasonable prices. If you want something more wild - I bought some mighty fine ramps and morels from a fellow named Digging Jay and would happily recommend him based on my experience. Easy to communicate via phone and email, and seems like an all around good guy. His website lists prices to include shipping costs, but he actually charged me a good deal less because I was buying stuff out of his van. The farmer's market in Staunton was too early for most things, but I did get some nice herb plants for $2.50 each and saw some nice looking vegetables (mostly greens and loophouse produce) for sale.

I am partial to Bojangle's for my occasional fast food chicken fix. For something a little different, I think Izakaya Seki makes awesome karaage and Thip Khao makes an excellent fried quail. I never waited more than an hour for first seating to Rose's in 4-5 visits, but the quality to cost proposition slipped a lot for me since the opening. There are simply better, more exciting places to hit at similar or lower price levels.

If we have a replay of the last growing season, which was relatively cool, I will be very happy. The bugs showed up much later than usual and most veggies did quite well.

My pomegranates, which survived the previous winter with most of their top growth, appear to be killed to the ground by this latest winter. The cooler temperature may balance out the lower precipitation. Greens and peas will like cooler temps, but heat lovers such as okra and sweet potatoes will be less productive. I would plant based on near term forecast than predicted summer temp trends.