astrid

I agreed that they’re guilty of misleading their customers. But there are major violations and minor transgressions, and for me a largely undetectable change in the bread counts as a pretty small trespass, far below the sins of, say, industrialized “organic” agriculture or factory farmed “free-range” eggs.

I actually approve of a change to a local breadmaker. Seems like an environmentally friendly and a sound logistical move. I only found TG recently, so I probably never tried the old bread, so maybe it’s really as special as San Francisco sourdough bread and I’m missing out.

I’ll stop eating at TG when someone reports that the pork in Pattison Avenue fails to meet the USDA’s definition for pork.

Bethesda to Clifton requires a longish stretch on 66, which can get backed up even on Saturday night. But an hour or a little more should get you there.

Yes, please!

Seeds

Pinetree - low prices and great vegetable selection
Johnny's Selected Seeds - the gold standard in quality but highish prices. The seeds are tested for Vermont, so they're not necessarily well adapted for Mid-Atlantic.
J L Hudson - they have some truly exotic stuff for a low-fair price
Stokes - good flower seed selection and fair prices

For fruit and nut trees, I'd also recommend Burnt Ridge. They have a fantastic edibles selection at a good price.

Never tried seed starting lights, but I can raise good seedlings if a window gets 5 hours of direct sun. For plant starting, I highly recommend Lee Valley's Windowsill seed starter.

+1 and I have come to think of RW as a working staycation (we're working and staying put, but at least we get to eat!), so covering a lot of ground this week.

Went to Oval Room on Tuesday and was really liked it. Everything was more cozy and less fussy than I was expecting.

Really loved Eola's offerings, but they're not offering anything off their regular menu.

Blue Duck Tavern's lunch was delicious.

Passionfish was good, especially liked the lobster roll and the apps.

Another Willow RW disappointment. The execution was felt off for some reason.

Still to go: Trummer's, Tosca, Kushi

Prior Experiences:

Adour toned down their RW offering last summer, so it might not be as nice a deal as its reputation would indicate.

Zola was horrible for lunch. Bad service, really bad food. Was a total waste of $26.

Birch and Barley was its usual excellent self, accompanied by nice inexpensive beer pairings.

Sushi Taro has been consistently good to us, though their wait staff always seems a little clueless.

Kinkaid's was a good deal for $20.

Rasika was a disappointment, some good dishes but - hated being upcharged for flatbread, our overly intrusive waitperson, inedible desserts.

Prime Rib would be great for lunch. They have a wonderful crab imperial. Very very old school establishment.

Just want to add to the love for Eola. Even though only a few dishes were offered for Restaurant Week, they were all wonderful, comforting expressions of mid winter. I particularly loved the pitch perfect brioche pudding and the rich oxtail barley stew. +1 was quite fond of his cookie plate. We received efficient and pleasant service throughout our dinner. We’ll definitely be back for the bacon flight* and the regular menu!

*Once a month, Eola has brunch, and that includes a variety of bacons from a variety of breeds. The bacons can be ordered individually or as part of a bacon flight.

+1 and I had an excellent first visit to Vermillion. We ordered one tasting menu and some a la carte dishes to accompany. Everything we tried was at least very good and there were some outstanding dishes - bison carpaccio with truffle oil and burrata, a well executed bacon wrapped rabbit loin, and an incredibly decadent mushroom gnocci.

The service was excellent too. Prompt and attentive, without being the least bit intrusive.

I went last night around 6 and it wasn't too bad. There was steady traffic but the wait wasn't too long (we waited less than 5 minutes for starters and 15-20 minutes for the pizzas). This is good news for me - I'm contemplating a move to the neighborhood that's largely motivated by proximity to Pupatella.

That's a very generous and gracious offer, and definitely makes me rethink my harsh assessment of Casa Nonna and I'm hopeful that the Casa Nonna experience will improve with age.

I didn’t like anything about my visit in October. Portions were tiny for “family sized” and prices were consequently quite high, service was downright neglectful, and several dishes were sub-Buca di Beppo. It makes me sad that I had spent $90+ on an unsatisfactory meal there, rather than a great meal at Dino’s or Palena Cafe. It was so bad that I would have complained if my dinning partner that night wasn't a friend of the chef.

Pizza nowadays encompasses basically anything starchy with topping, so "flatbread" definitely fits in that definition. I've even seem recipes for polenta pizza.

I see them in every Asian supermarket in the area. They're typically next to the sweet potatoes and yams.

Take a look at Trader Joe's. They typically stock a couple varieties, in mixes and straight up.

We went to the Rockville location for lunch on Saturday and came away unimpressed. The prices were quite high and not justified by the quality or quantity of the food. None of it was bad, but none of it was good either. We had the special prime rib sandwich (muddled flavor and overcooked), mussels (bland, small, and overcooked), and shrimp and grits (3x the price of Marvin’s dish and maybe half as good). Maybe it would be a better experience if it wasn’t Saturday lunch and someone other than the junior fry cook was manning the kitchen, but they really should do consistently better at their price level.

Cilantro - If you haven't ripped it out yet, it might be worthwhile to keep the roots (the ones you don't want to make Thai curry paste with, that is) in the ground. I've seen some huge ones in my community garden during the spring, so I suspect cilantro is a biennal in warmer parts of zone 7.

If you want a bit more space for winter gardening, you might want to consider using agribon (http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-5452-agribon-ag-19-floating-row-cover-83-x-50.aspx).

I haven't experienced any problems with napkins, though restaurants typically charge a yuan or two for disposable napkins. A lot of Chinese people tend to pack a small sachet of kleenex to avoid using the restaurant's napkins.

Smoking is quite terrible. If you're in a larger group, you can request a private dining room away from the main dining room. Otherwise, you can try to get seated next to a wall/annex and cross your fingers.

For service, you just have to develop a certain rudeness towards the waitstaff. Most waitstaff in China has not been trained to anticipate your needs, so you have to rudely grab them as they're walking by and loudly make your demands.

Just back from NZ. Tried French Café’s 10 course. Did not go to a hangi or Sezn. Overall, I was impressed with the food. There’s a lot of mediocre food out there, but definitely some gems worth seeking out.

The Good

Salut (Whangarei) – The alleged best place in town (A Deca) was closed for the night, but Salut Bar & Brasserie was a great choice for us. We had a game heavy meal. Everything was good but I was particularly impressed by the ostrich appetizer.

French Café (Auckland) Quite possibly the best meal ever for me. The food is contemporary/localvore food similar to CityZen/Deveraux’s, but every dish was so well conceived and exquisitely executed that everything was stunning, including dishes that we didn’t think we’d like. If you’re anywhere near Auckland, save an evening (you need at least 3 hours to finish the 10 courses) and make a reservation ASAP.

Fleur’s Place (Moeraki) – Specialize in cream sauce fish and roast dishes that you would expect to find in a quaint Irish fishing village. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere and very friendly service. The food was fresh and full of comfort and quite substantial. I tried the muttonbird (fledgling sooty shearwater) – tasted like a combo of anchovies and duck.

Bayside Restaurant (Westport) – Another really good restaurant. Fresh ingredients, very good preparation and a fabulous view from the deck. We had breakfast there, it was so good that we ordered more off of their lunch menu.

Boat Shed Café (Nelson) – See above. The view was not quite as nice as Bayside, but they served me a wonderful grilled crayfish (lobster) tail. They're know for their trust the chef menus, but it's actually a bit cheaper to order a la carte and get exactly what you want.

Fish and Chip takeouts – It’s often cheaper than groceries and consistently yummy.

The not so good

Solero Vino (Queenstown) – Highly recommended by Lonely Planet and Rough Guides. Tiny portions and poorly seasoned and prepared. All the dishes tasted like my cooking mistakes. I don't understand how any kitchen could put out such unappetizing dishes.

Slip Inn (Havelock) – Pretty good place overall, but let down by their mussels 7 way. Havelock claims to be the mussel capital of New Zealand, so you figured that the best restaurant in town would have nice plump mussels. What we had were rather puny and quite expensive (works out to be $2 per mussel). Their beer battered blue cod was much better.

Ninn’s Bin (Kaikoura) – Their crayfish was pre-overcooked and not cooked to order. The result is mushy and cold lobster meat. Not anywhere near the level of a good East Coast lobster shack experience, and at twice the price.

Anyone been to New Zealand in the last two years? We'll there for three weeks in November, one week in North Island and two weeks in South Island. We'll try to get to the French Cafe in Auckland and Sezn in Christchurch (if it's open in November), and we'll definitely go to a Hangi. Anything else that we shouldn't miss?

About a year ago, we had the 10 course tasting menu at Devereaux's in downtown Greenville. It has the same ownership as Soby's. One of the best meals of my life and started me on the financially ruinous path of fine dining.

The Nationalists took the best chefs to Taiwan. I'll have to try them next week. Hope the lines are short.

Anyone here tried "name chef" establishments in Shanghai? I'm thinking of Boulud or Jean Georges. If so, how's the pricing/value proposition compared their North American restaurants?

We're out. Just found out that we'll be moving on 10/23, on top of an already overcommitted October. Have a wonderful time!

Anyone been to New Zealand in the last two years? We'll there for three weeks in November, one week in North Island and two weeks in South Island. We'll try to get to the French Cafe in Auckland and Sezn in Christchurch (if it's open in November), and we'll definitely go to a Hangi. Anything else that we shouldn't miss?

Still me +1.

I'm planning to bring my foolproof Thai red curry boneless chicken thighs and oven roasted fall veggies (garlicky brussel sprouts or roasted Korean yam/kabocha with onion/cardamom).

I also have several unopened #10 tins of freeze dried survival food, should foodpocalypse occur during the next four weeks.

PS - my +1 requested Google remove the old Pupatella truck location from Google Maps. Hopefully there won't be anymore people looking for Pupatella in the middle of Ballston.