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I headed over to the Best of Washingtonian Event last week and Trummers on Main was there serving Lightly seared Wahoo, served with compressed cucumbers, mini-cucumbers, blueberries covered in extra virgin olive oil, sea beans, tapioca pearl caviar, soy caviar

This dish is on their tasting menu, clearly they were pulling out all the stops. This was definitely one of the most labor intensive and refined dishes at the event. I really hope this restaurant does well, it is certainly worth a trip from DC to the 'burbs.

I wish I could take the metro there, because I would not mind spending an evening at their bar with all of those delicious cocktails.

They filmed me there for lunch. If you see an incredibly handsome man text-ing his payment to Rebel Heroes on Food Network Canada that was me! Hopefully they don't broadcast my credit card number.....

Sub was excellent by the way. Macho meatball is the way to go.

I just went to Trummers on Saturday night and got the tasting menu. I am incredibly impressed at how well this restaurant is doing after only being in business for a year. The food was excellent. It is an absolutely gorgeous restaurant. I like they have an inexpensive and creative bar menu, regular menu and a tasting menu, something for all price points.

I interviewed the chef last week and he mentioned that they will be opening for lunch around the 20th of July.

We posted an interview with Arnold Myint today over at EatMore DrinkMore http://eatmoredrinkmore.com/2010/07/02/eatmore-drinkmore-interview-with-arnold-myint/

Restaurant Eve was one of his favorite restaurants in DC. He was super nice and kind enough to grant us an interview, so make sure you cheer him on!

I saw a sign today announcing the opening of brgr:shack outside the ballston metro (click)

Has anyone heard anything about this place? Is it a chain or a new independent shop?

Very excited to hear that Acqua al 2 has opened up in DC. I've eaten at the Florentine original a number of times and at its San Diego spin-off once while visiting my brother. Frankly, I think the restaurant is stalking my family... but I am happy to have such a delicious stalker. Hopefully, I'll get to our DC branch soon, but I tend to think you are better off using the pasta sampler as a means to identify which of their pastas you like, because some of them could be really good, but some were just mediocre. The star of the menu, though, is the filet in either the balsamic reduction or the blueberry sauce. I started out a firm believer in the superiority of the balsamic and came around over time to recognize the greatness of the blueberry. There's just nothing like it... and I can hardly wait to have it again now that it is in my backyard. (Not literally. That would make for a huge backyard.)

I'll put up a report on how this one compares to the original after I get a little firsthand experience with the new Acqua al 2.

We just went to Acqua al 2 and it is just as good as the original, you won't be disappointed.

Why must you torment me Michael Landrum, teasing me with the hopes and dreams of your delicious take on seafood at a reasonable price!!!.

Michael, Would you be willing to open yet another Ray's Hell Burger in a secret location that is only available to Don Rockwell members and fans of Gil Scott-Heron? I think the lines are going to be a tad ridiculous after this last Obama visit.

From the Washington Post

When in Rome ... Go to Ray's Hell Burger

President Obama treated Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to a traditional American lunch at the Arlington eatery Thursday before returning to the White House for a joint news conference.

Obama ate a traditional cheeseburger, while Medvedev added jalepenos, mushrooms and onions to his. The pair shared an order of fries, according to the White House. No word on which superpower paid for the meal. (Update, 1:47 p.m.: It was Obama's treat.)

Both sat, scrunched in at the tiny table in shirtsleeves, while the packed-in patrons gawked. There was much cheering when the pair came out.

It may not be the most glamorous location for a visiting head of state, but Obama clearly has a thing for the burger joint.

In May of last year, Obama and vice president Joe Biden stole away for a similar mid-day lunch, prompting a similar amount of restaurant chaos and forever making it even harder to get a table at the Virginia establishment.

Medvedev is in town for one-on-one meetings with Obama before the two head up to Canada for the meeting of the G20 nations.

From Tom Sietsema today in the post

TOM SIETSEMA WRITES:

For starters, as of *today,* Ray's Hell-Burger Too opens at 1713 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, the space previously scheduled for Ray's: The Game.

Owner Michael Landrum says, via email, "While we are still making good on our promise to introduce exotic and wild game burgers to the DC area with Hell-Burger Too, we felt that regardless of how much people love the original Hell-Burger, there were too many outstanding justifiable complaints about the Hell-Burger experience ... to open a purely esoteric menu concept."

On the immediate upside at Too, he says, that means table service, credit cards a turkey burger with fresh sage, hand-spun shakes and beer and wine. And on the game front, the new joint is serving a wild venison burger and a wild boar burger done "Hanoi-style" -- although I'm not sure what that means.

The Game, in other words, has been postponed by permit , construction and other delays. But stay tuned.

Um, wow.

I'm not usually one to care much about Yelp reviews, but I'm not sure I've seen a place so widely loathed as what I'm reading here. Even the filtered reviews were almost all one-star reports:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/fire-station-one-silver-spring

And I know that there's apt to be a bit of exaggeration in some of those, but I'm shocked to see multiple claims of servers being clueless about the beers FS1 is serving. That's kind of important for a restaurant calling itself a "brewing company."

My brother posted a review of Fire Station 1 on my blog about it. He is not a picky eater by any stretch. He had pretty low expectations, just a good place to get a good beer and burger. Not a very high bar to meet.

I agree with Fuzzy510, Yelpers love to pile on bad reviews, however, across the board this place is getting panned.

The word on this place is that the food is terrible and it is not much of a bar or a brewing company. Which is sad because it is a cool building. My brother lives in the area and was pumped for a new bar in Silver Spring, unfortunately this place falls short.

It's still new so I think it is fair to give them time to turn it around.

If you're interested in providing in-depth coverage of Top Chef DC on EatMore DrinkMore/TopChef DC Blog, send me a direct message.

Anyone want to take a bet on the first contestant to get kicked off? No offense Lynne Gigliotti, i think you may go early.

Komi is worth every cent as long as you appreciate fine dining.

ArlNow is reporting that the owners of Liberty Tavern have purchased the Alpine.

http://www.arlnow.com/2010/06/02/liberty-tavern-group-to-take-over-alpine-restaurant/

I am super, super, super excited about this.

Dear Acqua al 2,

Please open for lunch.

From,

Your friends at EatMore DrinkMore, who happen to work nearby.

Just got back from dinner at Evo Bistro. Unfortunately I was not a fan of the restaurant. Nothing was bad, the food was decent overall but there certainly was not any dish that stood out or made you stop your conversation and say "this is so good". I think a good tapas restaurant should have that wow factor. The food seem to disappear in the background. It is a very loud restaurant. They have an automated wine bar, which is a bit overwhelming at first. To be honest it loses its appeal after a few minutes when you realize that you are just paying a lot more to pour wine for yourself. You have to buy a card for $25 and then can only re-up in $10 increments, so you end up paying a lot for 2 glasses of wine and then you have a dollar or two left on your card and you can't do anything with it since it is below the cost of the cheapest pour. The service was pretty mediocre overall.

This review is probably more negative than it needs to be. The meal was fine. Nothing we had was bad, it just didn't wow me. I felt this place feel into the common trap of tapas restaurants where you spend a lot of money and you leave hungry and sober.

Our share of the meal was about $95 w/ tax and tip (that doesn't include the $35 spent at the bar before dinner). I think there are a ton of restaurants where you can spend $100 for a couple and get a much more memorable meal. We had great company with us, so we still had a good time at dinner, but I don't think we will go back.

I really enjoyed Red Mango. This place is a gold mine. Next to Lululemon and WSC.

Love the real fruit toppings.

I posted a review on EatMore DrinkMore http://goo.gl/SM0I

I headed over to Pupatella on Saturday, and the people in front of us in line got the last pizza. It was opening day, and they were far busier than they expected so they ran out of pizza dough, I was more upset for my wife who has not had their pizza before and had to watch everyone in line enjoy their delicious Neapolitan pizza. It turned out to be a blessing. Since they were out of pizza, we got a salad w/ Arugula, prosciutto, Parmesan and a lemony dressing, a risotto ball the size of a fist, and the gnocchi. I am really glad they ran out of pizza because I would have never tried the other menu offerings since I like their sandwiches and pizza so much.

The gnocchi was fantastic, simple flavors, well executed. I highly recommend it, plus its a huge portion of deliciousness for the cost. Since they were out of pizza we got a free glass of the fizzy italian red wine mentioned above. Very refreshing, and complemented the meal.

I really liked the design of the place and I am happy they did not go the route of fake stucco walls, and ivy every where you look. I am looking forward to heading back and trying the pizza and gelato.

Went to Komi last night. Absolutely incredible meal. Flawless. We happened to sit at the same table the Obama's did (right next to kitchen). My butt feels very presidential right now.

I got some tips on how to make their famous dates, when I perfect the recipe, I will post it.

I asked the servers about the Obama visit, they were all super excited and honored to have them there. Everyone had very positive things to say about them. I asked if Obama was a good tipper and the waiter responded coyly that it was a matter of national security, so he couldn't tell me.

The house-made ricotta is awesome. It was the first time that I ordered an appetizer and wanted to order a second helping of the appetizer as soon as I was finished the first.

I highly highly recommend you head over to Northside Social to check it out.

A friendly server added to our enjoyment, as did the free parking in the weird parking garage down the block that no one seems to know about.

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - don't tell anyone about that weird parking lot. Its a SECRET.

So, I was over on Georgia Avenue this morning where there's a newsstand,where my husband was picking up the Racing Form to handicap the Derby, when I spotted this place called Pacci's Neapolitan Pizzeria - http://paccispizzeria.com/ - opening today. I had to run in and check it out, and there was the wood-burning oven and the pizzaiolo from Naples. I had a brief chat with the owner who assured me that this would be the real thing. They're making fresh mozzerella - and hopefully this will be vera pizza Napolitana. We were going out of town for the weekend, but I hope to check it out on Monday. Looks so promising!

I have not had a chance to check out Pacci's yet. My brother went and loved it. He posted a review on my blog here.

It sounds really good. Glad to see all of the Neapolitan pizza places opening up.

I am actually shocked that a DonRocks member was not eating at Komi last night when Obama was there. I was expecting an insiders report this morning.

It must have been date night.

Good Zing don.

Any chance you can get that recipe from Mr. Monis, those dates are seriously delicious. I have tried to make them on my own, but they don't turn out the same.