rbh

augghh. Wish I could go, but I'll be out of town this weekend.

Places not on the Post list: Grand Slam Sports Bar in the Grand Hyatt near Metro Center is a preferred option over nearby ESPNzone, which does have the horrendous cover... but I think it only applies to the main seating area (the area facing the sportsbook-like electronic scoreboard). They'll show all the games and food it better, though I still won't say it's great... it's still bar food. RFD has those three flat panels above the bar as well as other TVs scattered throughout the front of the bar.... I don't know if they've got a satellite feed to get the full complement of games. again, not great food, but a better beer selection.

Another review in The Hill.

Zest is excellent. I had one of the best stuffed pork chops there. Also the grilled calamari in olive oil appetizer was quite good. Very reasonably priced, casual atmosphere. Attentive staff. IIRC, decent, but not a large, wine selection; not too high a markup. Brunch was a bit of a disappointment, but dinners were good. Definitely worth a stop in if you're in the area.

Sette Osteria - as folks said, good, cheap, late. Raku - blech... I had a rather bland meal there last spring and have had no desire to go back. The Dupont Circle branch is not close to the Bethesda outlet for food quality, though I admit it's been at least a couple years since I've been to the one in Bethesda. I think everyone's talking about Luna Grill being closed? You could also try Cafe Luna at 17th and P; cheap, open till midnight.... decent food for the price point.

Had a great meal on Tuesday. It was good to start matching some names w/ faces and it was good to get to know biotech and Billy DeLion and their wives. Thanks to mdt for organizing everything; thanks to Chef Power and his staff for the outstanding meal and all the work that must have gone into it; thanks to Rissa and her staff for keeping everything in order and making sure everyone was happy. The pork cheek was just so good.... it almost melts in your mouth, it was so tender. I liked the soup and was mopping up some of it w/ the bread. The shrimp was tasty - the only dish that made me think I should have gotten the wine tasting... a riesling would have gone real well with that dish. loved the venison also. I too thought the syrah sauce was great and was trying to douse every bite of venison or chestnut with it. In some ways, for dessert, I wanted chocolate, in others, after all the creations, I just wanted something simple. The cookies and the candied orange peel satisfied that quite nicely. mmmm, to have had a bowl of the ginger ice cream with the cookies to dip into it.

You could try calling their main office. I think I've only been to one of their cafes; but I love their coffee, and usually go up to Rockville to buy beans at their roasting plant. There, they've always been very pleasant. I've gotten the impression from their newsletters and such that the owner's focus is still on roasting and selling great coffee (and not so much on the cafes) - if you just look at their mission statement, there's nothing about their cafes. As such, perhaps a few complaints directed at that level will help make them aware that there are issues at the cafes they should address.

Sounds about right for China Garden... you see the hordes of people.... many Chinese, you think it's going to rock.... it's not a bad meal, but you're not wowed, and are left thinking that the work (the wait) wasn't worth that, given the other options. At Fortune, the wait is hit-or-miss.... I've gone at times and there's no wait at all, even for a large group... other times, it's 20 minutes. You do have to compete for parking with the Sunday home depot crowd, but it's doable. I'll try to make it to that one whenever it is. It's one of the best in the area. Right along that 2 mile stretch of Rt 7 from 7 Corners out to Bailey's X-Roads are 3 of the places on your VA list - Mark's Duck House (other side of Rt 50 from Fortune), Fortune, and Lucky 3. I've heard good things about Lucky 3 and Mark's Duck House, but have been to neither. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make the HEOTB outing.

I just noticed today that a Juan Valdez Coffee opened at 7th and E and there's a sign up on the 7th Street side of the MCI Center that a Shimba Hills Coffee is opening soon. Anyone know anything about these places? There's a token mention of Shimba Hills on MCI Center's web page, but the link is broken. Nothing against Starbucks or Caribou, but I welcome the opening of other coffeeshops downtown for some variety.

I thought I heard about it a couple years ago - when jdland kept a great web page on new condo development in DC. Anyways, I have a friend who's moving into those condos and she said that the TJs is scheduled to open in June.... and it will have some indoor parking reserved for it. It's dragged because development at that site had been behind at least a year. According to tracking trader joe's, the store will be 11,800 square feet. I vaguely remember hearing about TJ's opening up on Capitol Hill also, but have't seen anything lately about it - and the above post would seem to squash it. eta: link to tracking trader joes.

in 1996, me and some friends trudged through the snow in annapolis to rams head in the downstairs part that actually feels like a pub (and not the yuppified upstairs with the stage and such, not that there's anything wrong with that but it doesn't fit the snow story). work was cancelled and none of us had anything better to do then to quaff some brew. I think there must have been just 2 other tables filled in there - to occupy 2 bartenders. it was just nice to be there with good friends and not have it be loud like it normally is there.... and the bartenders could take it easy and come converse with us as well.

Since I moved down into DC, I haven't been keeping up with the openings and closings on Rockville Pike; so exactly which storefront did Rocklands take over in Wintergreen Plaza (i.e. what was there before)? I hope Ten Ren is still there for bubble tea. Also, fyi - the Oriental Market there has the best prepared foods, imho, of any of the local chinese grocery stores. The smoked chicken is almost as good as A&J's. the rest of the market is pricier and has less selection than Maxim and Kam San.

Agreed - Spezie accomodated me very nicely one time w/ a group of 10 - they put us in the back room - that would fit 12 if you put seats at the heads of the table. and you can get by easily on $50-$60/person - good size portions. Wine's not the cheapest there, and that could stretch your dollar, but not by too much over.

not the best but you could also look at the upstairs part of District Chophouse over on 7th.

Ever since I moved into the District from Rockville, one of the places I've missed is A&J! a typical meal for 2, when I go: a big dish: either the fried chicken that Rocks mentioned, the cold noodles with ham/egg/bean sprouts (a great summer dish - I wish they would also make it with shredded chicken instead of ham), or the pan fried dumplings (guo tie) Cucumbers w/ hot garlic sauce Seaweed salad if we don't get the fried chicken, then definitely getting the smoked chicken - they do a real good job or getting a good smoke flavor through the whole chicken. either the sliced beef or sliced pork in sesame bread (shou bing) - kind of like a chinese sandwich and then sometimes the scallion pancake (zsou you bing) or the steamed bun (show long bou - but these are nowhere close to being as good as joe's shanghai in NYC) grand total for a typical feast about $15 before tax and tip. maybe one can open up in the ever shrinking chinatown.....

looks like no (just wine/beer license - type D, instead of C) click

Another place up that way is the Elkridge Furnace Inn. I was there last summer for a wedding and the food was excellent, and the place is nice and cozy (basically a large 250 year old house). I can only imagine how tasty it is when prepared in smaller amounts. I have a friend that said when she worked up there, they often did business lunches there.

The free underground parking is in the same building as China Garden - it's on Wilson Blvd, east of Lynn (just make sure you don't go too far, otherwise you end up on rt 110 to crystal city!)

FYI - unless they've loosened it up there a bit; China Garden has a policy of not seating a group until you're all there. They're extremely busy, and you'll likely need someone there early to get a number.

I miss Wegmans - spending 4 years in Ithaca, NY does that. But now that I live in the District, I just can't justify trekking to Sterling/Fairfax/Hunt Valley for it. Don't know about Whole Foods, but it definitely puts Giant and Safeway to shame. Though I heard they don't make the apple fritters anymore Maybe that big plot of land that DC will never figure out what to do with, aka the old convention center, could house a Wegmans.....

Tony Cheng's Mongolian BBQ in Chinatown is the only place I know that has it, or at least it used to. It's been a little while since I've poked my head in there. But the March 2005 Washingtonian review indicates they had it at least as recently as a year ago. The joong, depending on the flavor you want, you can get at Chinese grocery stores, like Kam San in Annandale or Rockville; or Maxim in Rockville. Also Oriental Market (?) in Wintergreen Plaza in Rockville has a nice selection of prepared foods including joong.

Duck Chang's (Annandale) - 1975 according to its web site. Mike's Crab House (Annapolis) - 1958 Cantler's (Annapolis) - 1974 not sure how old Middleton's in Annapolis is.

It's been a few years since I've been there, but Argia's in Falls Church is pretty good for pasta. Circo's not bad if you're in the Courthouse neighborhood, but not necessarily worth going out of your way for.

Went for Restaurant Week tonight. There were 3 choices for the first course and the main course and choices for the dessert. I had the ribollita - a vegetable and bread soup. It was good and thick, but I kept having flashbacks to the amazing bread soup at Komi with the lamb sausage and it just didn't compare. Friend had the aurgula and radicchio salad, which was good. The third appetizer which we didn't try was a risotto. My main course was the fresh grilled salmon fillet with olive oil, rosemary and breadcrumbs. The olive oil/rosemary flavor was good, but I'm not sure if it was just not very good salmon or it sat on the grill too long, but the salmon itself was not very tasty and was dry - normally I expect salmon to have a stronger flavor and this didn't. My friend had the Florentine boned loin of pork, breast of turkey and rolled, stuffed veal roasted in red wine and mixed herbs (Arista, Tacchino E Vitella Arrosto Agli Aromi). It was good, but didn't wow us. The rosemary potatoes it came with were quite good. The third entree which we didn't try was pasta quills with peas and mushrooms. With the meal came two types of foccacia bread and white italian bread. Foccacia bread was a bit heavy on the salt. Dessert was choice of vanilla/chocolate gelati or a lemon-lime creme. We tried both. The gelati was what's expected, but nothing memorable. The lemon-lime creme was excellent - just the right tartness (with a graham cracker crust) to refresh the palate. The place was packed full - and filled with balloons, apparently it was also I Ricchi's birthday. We had a very pleasant waiter, but it was apparent that he was very, very busy. Food was prompt. They need to get longer-burning candles..... we were there 2 hours and went through 3 long candles. I have to agree with JLK though, the regular prices are pretty high - the entrees alone would've been about $30, the desserts were $9 and the appetizers were about $8. So it's a good deal for RW, and I'm glad I finally tried this place, but can't help feeling like I could've had a better RW meal somewhere else. In prior restaurant weeks, I went and tried places like Corduroy and DC Coast and got wowed and went back again when it wasn't RW. Didn't get that same feeling tonight.

Komi might be a bit much for a 2nd date, but they've got homemade lollipops at the end. and good food and good wine.