trencherman

tonight: pork loin stuffed with a mixture of shallot and nectarine (should be apricot but they've disappeared) and an heirloom tomato salad. (I bought a huge box of slightly dodgy ones for $15 at the local farmers' market last Wednesday.) Kneadless bread to mop it all up with.

We ate at Rivera's last night and will definitely be returning. It was quite late - around 830 when we arrived but there was still a small number of other diners and we got a very friendly welcome. Although tempted by many of the items on the menu I chose the Pollo a la Brasa, almost for reference....at that time of night I didn't expect it to come crispy, straight from the rotisserie, and it wasn't, but it was not at all dry, and was very nicely spiced. The yuca fries with the chicken were hot and very very crisp, the 'mixed salad' a salve for the conscience more than anything. Trencherwoman had the shrimp soup...a huge plate that was fine once the flavor had been adjusted with salt and hot sauce. As is often the case the really memorable things were the appetizers...the tamale de elote was one of the lightest and tastiest things I have had in a long time and the pupusa with cheese was very good too. All that, four Cristal beers from Peru and a decent tip came to fifty bucks. We'll be back.

Hi...I'm Bruce, I live in Oakton VA and am interested equally in cooking and eating out. I've recently had very good experiences eating out in Mexico and Ireland but from a local point of view still miss 'Maestro' dearly. Fabio 'ruined' all other local up-market restaurants for us! The Oakton/Vienna/Fairfax area is good for most food-buying but I would like a better supplier of fresh fish - neither Super H nor Wegman's impress me that much. This seems to be the best food site I've yet come across....I look forward to being part of it.