Escoffier

15 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Congratulations to new Chef de Cuisine Dan Hahndorf, who stepped up from the Sous Chef position (and also to GM Neel Lassetter, who recently moved back to the area from Charlottesville).

Well, if Neal came back,  we might have to start going to Evening Star again.  When he and Will left, so did we. 

DAMN!

4 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Nothing has been said about Roberto's 8 for years that I'm aware of, but all it seemed to be was a bar in front of an open kitchen, and if you got an "omakase," Roberto would crank out eight courses for you.

From what I see, it's still available on request:

I wonder if they still have that beautiful chef's table at 2941 - it's a similar concept.

It's the bar in front of the open kitchen and you can order off the menu or you can tell Roberto how many courses you want and let him do his magic.  We've been the recipient of his wonderful food many times.

23 minutes ago, Ferris Bueller said:

This place made the most charming restaurant in Virginia (MSN - Lifestyle)

well, at least it wasn't the NY Post.

6 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Remember when Peter Chang was cooking in that shopping center?

Yep,  he was there for about 2 months.  First time YHC and I met Stephen B. was there.

3 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Simul, Yamazoto is a straight shot down Columbia Pike (or even faster, I-395 - 10-15 minutes from your house).

Little River Turnpike (236W) exit off of 395.  Clear the exit ramp and get in the left lane immediately.  Go to the Little River Tpk/Beauregard St. intersection and make the left.  First driveway on the right for Yamazoto.

1 hour ago, JimCo said:

I think Don is right that the best is Nasime but you can't get it a la carte. I think it's only sashimi and only part of the tasting menu. We're fond of Momo as a neighborhood place. Our distant third was Kyoto in the Bradlee Shopping Center. However, we were told by some friends who were regulars there that management cleaned house last fall and that it had really fallen off (and it didn't have far to fall...).

Nasime has an ever-changing four course fixed price dinner and sashimi is always the second course. Been that way since we first ate there the second day they were open through dinner last Sunday night.

11 hours ago, StarStraf said:

I second Yamazato as the best sushi in Alexandria

Technically, you'd have to "third" this 

We ate there once.  Dinner was definitely uninspiring, to the point where I don't even remember what I ate.

On 1/15/2018 at 6:13 PM, Kibbee Nayee said:

Technically on the other side of I-395 from Alexandria, and therefore should be in Annandale, but its address is Alexandria:

Yamazato

It's one of my absolute go-to places for sushi. Quality is high, prices are fair, service is good. But it's only barely in Alexandria....

Have to agree with Yamazoto.  When Steve (the owner) took over from what was at one time a Sushi/Chinese/Korean buffet (Sushi Palace) and turned it into Yamazoto, the change was drastic.  He's made it a serious sushi (and Thai) restaurant.

On 1/12/2018 at 9:40 AM, weezy said:

Driving home last night, I was surprised to see that there is a new place going in where Sultan Kabob sat vacant for so long (I've worked in Old Town for 11+ years and I think it's been vacant all that time), at the corner of Cameron and N. Henry Streets in Old Town.  The new place has hung a sign that says "Old Town Cosmopolitan Grill."  No idea when the opening is or who is connected with it.  Sort of an iffy location, as Henry St is the southbound one-way street to the Beltway access and I think only one public garage nearby, plus up and around the corner from the main drag on King.

As for Sultan Kabob, I will say they had the best awning I've ever seen.  In all that time with zero attention given to it, it never ripped or noticeably faded.  I don't know who made it, but they are top notch awning-ers.

There was an Italian restaurant there for a long time which obviously closed.  I can't remember what was there for a very short time but it was taken over by Sultan Kabob which lasted for a while.  At least that location isn't as bad as 100 King St.

7 hours ago, goldenticket said:

After 15 years in business, Fireflies closed on Christmas Eve. The guys behind Live Oak will be bringing their 'next concept' to the space, according to their Facebook page.

The first time I went there you had to walk up to the counter and give someone your order and they would (eventually) bring it to you. I went back when they changed to real, actual table service.  Neither bunch of times did anything strike me as being overly-great or overly-horrible, just reasonable food at a reasonable price. And then I stopped going for no apparent reason.  I still notice the place as we drive by to another dining destination in Del Ray and always ask myself why I never go there any more. I guess I can stop asking now.

15 hours ago, kitkatpaddywak said:

haha, I think Rocks revels in the notion  that our exchange has broadened to include many things  outside of food. But food is always at the root of all of our interests. 

You might say he "relishes" it. 

5 hours ago, kitkatpaddywak said:

Would this car club happen to convene at the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing?

The Spring (Spring Fling) meet was held in Harrisburg three years ago and we ended up eating lunch at the Hershey Auto Museum.  I'm trying to remember where we had dinner in Harrisburg but am drawing a total blank.  We wander all over the (mostly Eastern) US. Last year we were in Shamokin Falls, PA and there were 40 cars. 

We go to Gettysburg every year for the Gettysburg Get Together (nine years now and still going strong).  We had dinner at the Carriage House Inn in Emmitsburg, MD last year and liked it so much we're going back again this year. (Have to get that food topic in or Don will yell at me ).

7 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Restaurant Sidney Willoughby Run is actually the second restaurant opened by Chef Neil Annis (the first being Restaurant Sidney in East Berlin).

Annis was, among other things, Chef de Cuisine at L'Espinasse in Manhattan, which the bio-sketch says received four stars from the New York Times two months after he took over the kitchen (this NY Times article says that it received two stars). Regardless, the man has some pedigree, and Restaurant Sidney Willoughby Run is probably where I'll end up the next time I'm in Gettysburg.

Call a couiple of days ahead like I do and ask that they prepare a four-course and paired wines dinner for you.  You won't regret a cent of the cost.  Two years ago, we went with a friend that had an encyclopedia of foods he couldn't (temporarily) eat.  Not only did Sidney Willoughby Run prepare four (actually closer to six) courses for him, they were so good that the rest of us were almost jealous of his food.

Well, there actually is a good, innovative and reasonably priced restaurant in Gettysburg.  Sidney Willoughby Run.  For the last two years, I have had my Thursday night "gourmet" dinner there and have not been disappointed.  This is possibly the best restaurant in the Gettysburg area.

14 minutes ago, kitkatpaddywak said:

I actually live near New Oxford, and have driven by said diner countless times withouth thinking of even stopping in for a bite. I shall have to remedy that, and try it out. Thanks for the rec! 

Right under my nose,

kat

I used to date someone from Littlestown and Crosskeys was our after-date munchies destination.  It's grown a lot since the first time I went there but the food is still diner.

While it's not in PA, it's close and, if you're in the Gettysburg area, worth the short trip.  I'm talking about the Carriage House Inn in Emmitsburg. (and then there's Crosskeys Diner in New Oxford for late night/early morning hangover food).

16 hours ago, NolaCaine said:

IWhat bugs me is when there's a tail and sauce. There's no way to detail the shrimp without getting sauce under nails. That knife idea sounds good, but I am not sure I can pull it off. (pun intended)

Never had that problem and I totally manage to eat all of the shrimp (and most especially the tail) without getting sauce anywhere other than on the shrimp.  Looks like it's time for a tail-of-the-shrimp-consumption dexterity course.

16 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Am I the only one who actually eats the shrimp tails?! Unless it's a chilled shrimp cocktail (in which case the tails are just too hard), I down them all; in a shrimp cocktail, I'll simply pinch the tail as I bite the shrimp, and the meat slides right out.

"Bartolo" means "perforated" in Spanish.

Absolutely not.  The tail is the only part of shrimp that actually has a definite (delicious) flavor. Totally the best part of the shrimp (well, that and the head) 

So you don't eat the best part of the shrimp?  What a waste of fine taste.  Getting the meat from the tail as easy as biting the tail near the fins and pulling gently on them with the shrimp in your mouth.  Conversely, there is generally a knife on the table, one quick slit of the tail shell and you are rewarded. I certainly hope the OP doesn't go to Asia (or Louisiana for that matter), they'll have to deal with the entire shell left on shrimp.  This problem ranks right up there with "why do lamb chops have paper hats on the rib end?"

I gave up on SIetsema when he spent an entire review of some Korean restaurant and his biggest complaint was that the server didn't explain how he should have eaten one of the dishes.  Korean tables always have spoons and chopsticks (forks if you're really terrible with chopsticks) and at the end of almost every hand, there are fingers.  Seems to me he could have found some simple, satisfying method to transfer the food from the bowl/dish/barbecue to his ingestion port.  While some Korean servers in restaurants with a large number of me-guks can speak passable English, most don't  He probably would not have received instruction he could understand anyway.  I did suggest that maybe the next time he wanted to go to a Korean restaurant, perhaps he might want to take someone who was familiar with both Korean customs and food.

1 hour ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

Gee, if my last name was Filet, I wouldn't name my daughter Chick.

How about "Fish"...you could get an aquarium theme going.

12 hours ago, lovehockey said:

The Koch brothers? Most of America doesn't know about them.

Well, the sentient Americans do.

On 6/29/2015 at 3:35 PM, DaveO said:

Table Talk in Olde Towne on Duke Street was recently sold  There is no reference in that article whether the seller was the original restaurateur or not.

I reference this post from this thread back in 2005

Guess the owner never got around to selling.

Hmmm...Table Talk  brings back memories...haven't been there for decades.

Table Talk was sold to Jeff Yates who has said that it will not be going anywhere.

54 minutes ago, Free Wilma said:

... the folks from Virtue Feed and Grain are taking over the Carluccio space:

It will be interesting to see what concept they go with; ...

It'll be more interesting to see if they last longer than anyone else who has been in that location.