Billy DeLion

Add my recommendation for the Swiss Bakery. It is my fairly new indulgence to stop by on the weekend and get a box of their excellent cookies to keep around the house. Other items I've tried were also very good, including the shelved and refrigerated sundries. One disappointment though was ordering holiday pies through them. I suspect that they farmed out this work because I did not feel the pies were up to the other items quality(and the volume of people picking up was huge). We won't order the pies in advance from there again. Breads and especially the dinner rolls were great for the holiday dinner. BD

I was in Galileo that night, and being unawares of Iron Chef history paid little attention, but the staff said the applause was due to his performance on Iron Chef. BD

I want to thank Joe H for his reply reminding us all to cherish our health. I enjoyed Nadya's story and laughed again as it made its way into the Post. Reading this thread - and it's evolution into the realm of disabilities - has compelled me to post in order to remind many people here that they vastly underestimate the complexity and emotions involved in the life of a person who faces a disability everyday. It may seem easy and logical to make assumptions about their behavior and the "rules" that should govern such behavior, but it is not and much leeway needs to be given. Sorry about the non foodie soapbox, but it is my reaction to this thread. Sincerely, BD

I'm just back from my first every RW experience and I am very pleased with Mendecino Grill. Great menu, great service, great atmosphere. We arrived about 20 minutes early for an 8:30 rez and iwith no room to sit at the bar, they had a table ready for us in 5 minutes. My wife had the pheasant pate app. It was served with a grainy mustard, excellent marinated chanterelles and toast. The pate itself was flavorful without the fattiness I find in many pates, a meaty perhaps hint of smokiness (hard to tell as I only got one bite !). I had the black truffle risotto (4 dollar upcharge). Delicious, creamy, earthy truffle flavor with what seemed to me a slight delicious cheese flavor in there. I cleaned the plate. For main courses my wife had the steak with I believe a potato gratin. I won't say the steak was a disappointment but she found it average in a good restaurant kind of way ( 7 dollar upcharge ). The real problem was that a few weeks ago she had the steak entree at Restaurant Eve and no offense to the excellent Mendocino Grill, but she was very spoiled from that Eve steak. For my entree I had the bouillabaisse. One word, SUPERB ! I would recommend this dish to all. It was a beautiful marriage of flavors. The shrimp, mussels, scallop, clams, and firm white fish all held their own ground against the perfect accompanying tomato saffron broth. Extreme compliments to the chef on this one ! No one flavor dominated but the dish was like a symphony. For dessert I had the apple dumpling maple cinnamon ice cream dish, it was a fine dessert. My wife had the molten chocolate cake and pistachio ice cream. This dish is a triumph. Rich, rich creamy chocolate paired with a pistachio ice cream that was remarkable. The ice cream was not overly sweet at all and was redolent of the pistachio flavor, along with many nuts. All in all we would definitely return to this restaurant and most likely will since we work in Georgetown. With a glass of chardonnay with wife's app, upcharges, coffee with dessert and a generous tip to the great waiter and DC's ridiculous tax the bill came to $110. A great night out after a tough week. BD

Hi All, I am headed to the in-laws for X-mas weekend in upstate NY. I'll be traveling on Friday, our anniversary. To surprise my wife I made a reservation at Blue Hill( I'm pretty happy with opentable at getting me a rez some 3 days out). I've never been and am wondering if perhaps some forum cognoscenti have eaten there. Any feedback would be most appreciated !! Thanks, BD oops, Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Thanks for the great post ! That's going to give me quite a list to carry to store.

For those of us who don't know, what does the Lickitiy Split entail ? And by the way, thanks to this board (particularly Jacques' many enthusiatic posts) I knew just where to take my Mother-in-law during the her annual Thanksgiving inspection. Thanks Restaurant Eve I'm now gold and the envy of the brother-in-laws for the next year ! BD

It's interesting to me that this topic came up and I have to confess I'm so new to this board that I hesitated to relate an experience which I should have because the experience was not positive. I work in the district and live in NoVa and by reason of necessity can't leave Georgetown until around 8 pm on Friday evenings. Consequently (thanks to this forum !) I've made it a habit to stop at Bangkok 54 for dinner many Friday nights. So many in fact that I guess I'm considered a reqular by the staff. Last Friday I stopped and I ordered the crispy pork for the umpteenth time. Well it was QUITE different from what I was used too. Indeed there were many pieces of very overdone pork in the dish. The size of the pieces of pork were very inconsistent - in contrast to what I had enjoyed many times in the past - and the sauce was definitely not up to par. Chalking it up to a bad night, maybe someone was sick, maybe some kind of last minute problem, who knows? I ate my dish and reflected on my many other positive experiences there to remind myself why I patronize the establishment. As we were putting on our coats a familiar host came up and asked us how we were doing. Small talk ensued and I asked if a new chef was working. Sensing my overtones a discussion of the dish took place and indeed she told me that someone different was cooking. It seems someone else in addition to the regular cook. ( Perhaps this is due to the HUGE influx of business I saw after the Post Fall Dining Guide came out online ) The staff member suggested that when I order next, I ask that the "old" chef prepare my dish. I'm not sure what kind of solution that is to what was an obvious problem, but at the time I thought to myself that I would just order regularly the next time and see where the chips fall. I think rather that avoiding a certain chef that they need to supervise the new person more closely and keep the kitchen on track. We'll see what I happens and I will endeavor to report back. Thanks for the great forum I've learned alot here. BD

Hi to all and many thanks. New DR poster here. I've been in DC about 5 years now and purchased a home out in Springfield last year while maintaining a commute to the district workdays. Posting my thanks because I went through this thread and added alot of the books to my amazon wish list. Yesterday the significant other gave me "On Cooking" as a BDay present. WooooHooooo thanks Rockwellians ! you folks are a great community and resource. BD PS I've picked up many many other tidbits of knowledge in many other threads. So many thanks for them also !