Escoffier

I'd be interested if this is going to happen on a Tuesday in August (considering that there are no longer any Tuesdays in July) but only if there is a reduction in the price because I abhor Sangria...

If you read the comments that accompany the article on WTOP's website, you'll see that BK isn't held in the highest regard (and that some people think RHB is overcrowded and "dirty"...and has anybody noticed that RHB could also stand for Red, Hot & Blue? Just askin', you know)

Grover and I decided to make the trip to Tallula last night and put the new (well, not that new) chef and menu to test. I'm just going to list the food we had (it was the seven course tasting menu...don't say you weren't warned) and then comment afterward. Chicken Liver Terrine and Rabbit Pate with pickled chard stems, shallot and orange marmalade. There's nothing I can add to the description of this except that the Terrine and Pate were excellent. The wine: Mumms "Cordon Rouge" NV Hamachi Crudo, cucumber gazpacho, Thai basil, grapefruit gelee. Grover gave the highest compliment she could give a chef about raw fish; "He could be a sashimi chef." The wine: Anton Bauer "Gmark" Gruner Vetliner Charred Spanish Octopus, chick peas, pear onions, sherry vinaigrette. Amazing, the octopus had a nice initial resistance to the bite and then the almost creamy meaty interior of the tentacles. This is done sous-vide. The wine: Viaconde de Barrantes Albarino Poached Sockeye Salmon, corn puree, ratatouille, pistou, smoked almonds. I wasn't sure about the corn puree so I was pleasantly surprised at how nicely it complemented the salmon. I could have had this dish as the only dish of the night. The wine: "Young Vine" Barbera d'Alba Eco-Friendly Foods Kid Goat, Yukon gnocchi, spinach, garlic, cinnamon. Not the harsh tasting goat you're probably thinking of, this was very smoothly flavored, almost a beef like flavor. The gnocchi could have stood alone. I hope Tallula never stops making their own gnocchi, it's excellent. The wine: Soter "North Valley" Pinot Noir. From the Willamette Valley. A lighter Pinot with a light start and a very quick finish. It brought out all of the flavors of the dish but didn't overpower any of them. Roseda NY Strip Sirloin, local tomatoes, beets, watermelon, salsa verde, green peppercorns. Great beef, what more do I need say. A perfect medium rare (closer to rare then medium), tender and very flavorful. The tomato, beets and watermelon were presented on the plate as round accompaniments and added a nice bit of color. The tomato was excellent and the beet had that great earthy flavor that you expect but the watermelon was the surprise favorite of the two of us. A nice unexpected surprise. The wine: Firefinch "Ripe Red" a light, fruity, mellow red. A great wine to finish off dinner. Very easy to drink, I'd buy a couple of bottles just to have a wine to drink with friends even without food being involved. And (almost) last but certainly not least: Goat cheese cheesecake, blueberry preserves, creamsicle ice cream, berry cobbler. Enough said. This speaks for itself quite well (and didn't last very long either) The wine: Kluge "Cru". One of the better wines from Patricia Kluge's vineyard. Definitely a dessert wine, sweet and smooth without the aftertaste. Oh, and we can't forget the epoisse, portwine fig compote. Jessie, our server paired the wines and, as usual, did an excellent job...and thank you, Barry. An auspicious start.

Every time I read anything on Yelp, it always comes across as if it's either written by junior college graduates (thanks Don) for their clubbing buddies or some PR flack for the restaurant being considered. I think anything written on Yelp should be taken with a large grain of salt.

Before all the publicity, Flavors was a great place to go, place an order, wait for 10 or 15 minutes and go...then...hordes descended, you couldn't get your fix of fried chicken without wading through 30 or 40 people in line...the aggravation, the aggravation...(that was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. When we first started going to Flavors, it was a neighborhood only (somewhat) place. Came the good reviews....)

Please don't tell people about Blue & White. It's an Alexandria secret and let's keep it that way. Let those other people go where ever it is they want to spend too much money...don't let them ruin B&W like they ruined Flavors.

They all start that way...check back in 6 months...

Home works without the CTRL...no reason to hit more keys then necessary to overcome poor ergonomics.

In version 2.0 it was on the left side of every message. That way if you decided you weren't really interested in 1000 ways to cook a dishmop", you could click the Top button and return to the top where you could... I used it quite a bit. If there are 30 new topics and I'm only interested in 3, after I've read those topics, I'll use the All Forums Read button so that the next time I look for new topics, I don't have to wade through the ones I've ignored before.

Annoying is having the Back to Top, Mark Board As Read, Forum Home, and Delete My Cookies at the bottom of the page and View New Content stuck in the upper right of the page. I've had no problem with returning to the last message I read, but the ergonomics of this upgrade are horrible.

They have great spicy fried chicken. When we want it for lunch, we call ahead and when we get there it's ready after a short wait. Like all the other Korean fried chicken places (KFC?), they fix chicken to order.

There's a bakery in Annandale beside Anangol (across from Gom Ba Woo), there's a bakery on LRT across from Jerry's (and near to Yo-Fruit), there's a bakery near Il Mee near John Marr Drive...(sorry to be so vague but I don't have the exact addresses (or Grover) close by)

As long as we're going to enumerate things that are different...why is the Return to the top of the page button gone and now relegated to a somewhat grayed out line at the very bottom of the page? Why can I click on either of the duplicate lines and go to the last post in a forum? Which beggars the question, just why are there two lines for every forum?

You should have come to the dining room side of the house. You could have joined us for a tasting menu of the following:Beef Carpaccio with Grilled Watermelon, Chives, Basil and Blue Cheese: The red cubes in this appetizer aren't the beef, they're watermelon. What an interesting idea and what a great taste. The watermelon sweetness, the tartness of the blue cheese and the bite of the chives made a great combination all combined with great Beef. This was paired with Chateau la Bellevue Rose. Soft shell Crabs with Mustard Sauce, Tasso Ham and Cheese Grits: Some of the largest soft shells I've seen and definitely some of the tastiest. Half a soft shell breaded and quickly fried. These were perfectly cooked. Both Grover and I cleaned our plates and wanted more. The wine was a Verdejo; Castillo di Medina Smoked Eggplant Ravioli with Roasted Red Pepper: I'm not a vegetarian, but a dish like this could make me one. The eggplant (which I'm not usually a big fan of) was a really nice smoky accompaniment to the red peppers. The wine was a San Jose Villa di Ontur. Veal with homemade Date Salad and Tagliatelle Au Jus: Shredded Veal, Dates, Mushrooms! A dish we sampled more than ate as we were getting dangerously close to food overload. The Veal was very good. There are times when having more then one stomach would be welcomed. This was one of those times. We continued with the San Jose Villa di Ontur for this. And last but certainly not least: Pork Tenderloin, Polenta and Mushroom Gravy: If you want to taste excellent Pork, ask Chef Artley for some of his Pork Tenderloin. This was moist, flavorful and the polenta and mushroom gravy made it feel like I was at home again. The wine was a Malbec but, things were starting to get a bit hazy so I'm not sure which one. For some reason, we didn't want (or ask for) dessert. We finished with coffee and left satiated. Even with tasting menu sized portions, this was a lot of food. I'm still not hungry. All of these dishes are on the new menu. You should join us next time.

I'd like to second this. Chef Tony Chittum has a special way with seafood that is just amazing. Some of the best fish we've eaten outside of Italy we've had a Vermilion.

But they do save money on printing, I don't think the lunch menu has changed in the nine years I've been in the area. The group of people I go to lunch with try to get there right at opening time, that keeps the din to a somewhat manageable level (ohboy! Mike's is LOUD!).

Three of us tried Tommy Thai on Monday. I had the Thai Pesto Seafood and the other two each had the Pad See Ew with chicken. The Thai Pesto had a decent assortment of shrimp, squid and scallops in a mildly spicy pesto sauce (marked with one star on the menu for spicyness). The most interesting part was the olives stuffed with peppers (jalapenos?). An interesting addition and one I can't recall ever having before. The Pad See Ew was served with rice in a light creamy sauce. The chicken was tender and plentiful and the dish was very nicely spiced. Lunch ran about $12 per person. The concensus was that we'd return.

El Paso also has a restaurant close to Springfield on Commerce St. (that's the original location, the new one is on Cooper Rd.). Standard Tex-Mex but the portions are large, the service is good and the chips and salsa seem to be free-flowing.

I've been to Sahm Oh Jang a number of times, buy my mango jellies at Le Bledo (and it really is Chutny without the "e") and eat at Delia's probably twice a month. I think we'll have to have this added to the Eating Springfield forum.

Just as well add Chutny to that list. Afghanistan food in the right rear corner of the shopping center across from Delia's. Hmm, sounds like it's time for a Springfield Food Tour..

As many times a week as we go to that strip mall, I don't think I've ever seen it...so now I'm going to have to look for it. There are also a number of restaurants behind that strip mall (including a Pho place that's not bad).

I'm trying to figure out exactly where this is. Could I get a hint or two? If it's reasonably close to where I work, a couple of us can add to their sales figures.

Free advice, albeit somewhat late...you'd have been better off picking any random Korean restaurant in Annandale (well possibly not Hang Gang ). Once Woo Lae Oak decided to go Korean fusion, they lost all the street cred they had.

Grate. Deaf-lee eggsecuted.

Hmmm, sounds like McDonalds, Burger King, and .... Cheesecake Factory...