Escoffier

Ladies and gentlemen, our initial trip to Super H and sushi making afterwards will take place on February 11 at 9:00am. Rather than try to plan everything on such short notice (and the fact that there is some personal stuff we have to take care of), we're going to give everyone a week to plan.

Saturday AM my wife has yoga, so I'd be bringing my daughter, who is two. She's pretty good for a two year old, but Timothy Treadwell thought those bears were pretty good too.

If there are no objections to bringing my daughter (we usually go there anyway around this time), I'd love to.

Unfortunately I have to decline the kind offer of sushi at your house afterwards, but hopefully another time.

You daughter is more than welcome. We had something come up for this weekend so we're going to postpone to next weekend. Hope your groceries hold out for another week .

We like the lottery.  Enough said!

Hmm, the Mommy and Daddy, "because I said so" system

[opens can of worms]

Goldenticket did a nice job explaining the basics behind why we use the lottery system. 

Whole bunch of good explanation deleted in the interest of space savings...

[/closes can of worms]

A fine explanation and one that makes a lot of sense. As there are a lot of new users (myself included in that somewhat wet behind the ears group), I'm always asking "why?" a habit (some would say nuisance) left over from early childhood (and there's no truth to the rumors that I'm entering my second one.....yet). Maybe the combination of your and Goldenticket's explanation should be pinned to the first page of DR.com so that you won't have to answer that question (yet again) to someone else (not that you probably don't have at least one or two other things to do).

Í'm really looking foward to this event.  I am shamefully ignorant of Korean food.  It would be helpful, Grover, if you could give short descriptions of the listed courses.

Is it all right if I offer a bit of a tease for the listed courses?

* Chap Chae * - Vermicelli noodles stir fried with beef and veggies (you had this for New Years)

* Bul gogi * - Thinly sliced, very tender beef - barbecued at the table

* Hae Mool Pa Jun * - Pancake with scallions, shrimp, oyster and squid. Korean "pizza"

* Dolsot Bibim Bap * - Grilled and marinated beef and veggies on rice, topped with a fried egg. Served in a very hot stoneware pot

* Nakji Bok Geum * - Spicy stir fried octopus and veggies

There will be a mix of spicy and non-spicy foods so that you all get an idea of the scope of Korean cuisine. This is a sample of the food. There will be lots more as well as panchan. Be sure to come hungry.

Korean chopsticks are very thin and metal. If you aren't sure of your chopstick dexterity, forks will be available and there is no shame involved. (It took me a while to get used to using them and I've been using chopsticks almost forever). The other utensil will be a long handled spoon... it's for soup and rice. It's your friend and will bring back memories of being a kid.

Most of all, enjoy and ask questions. Grover (who happens to be an expert on Korean food) and I (who happens to be an expert at eating Korean food) won't laugh at any question. I've already asked all the silly questions and she still likes me. Grover will bring a Korean cookbook so you can copy any recipe you really like (if you happen to write Korean )

113...

MBK +1

cucas87

RaisaB +1

.

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sashorter

eoksala +1

MsEB +1

rbh

eta: The list keeps growing...

Pardon me for asking what may turn out to be a stupid question (I'm known for doing that and getting really strange answers), but why can't this be limited to the first 30 or 56 or whatever respondents and then a second dinner planned for another time? All of these PMs have a datestamp, why can't that be used? Somehow the idea of collecting names, drawing names out of a hat (or the electronic equivalent) and then having a bunch of disappointed people doesn't sound like a very organized or nice way to do things (especially when those disappointed people show up at your house with pitchforks and torches and ropes and things that generate blunt force trauma).

Seems to me this becomes a logistical nightmare (and if a number of the same people "win" the dining lottery, the possibility of charges of favoritism thrown about by the sore "losers"... . I realize the lottery is totally random, but you know how paranoid some people are). Now, I'm sure that I'm going to be one of the lucky ones but what if you've scrambled to be one of the lucky ones three or four times and missed everytime? The way my luck runs, I wouldn't win if there were only two entrants and there was space for five.

OK! So far, we have....

B.A.R. (shopping)

Principia (shopping)

Demetrius (shopping and cooking)

scottreitz (shopping and cooking)

tenunda (shopping and cooking)

9:00am Saturday morning at Super H good for everyone?

Further caveat -- parking can really suck at Pentagon Row.

True but no one ever seems to park in the underground parking garage. Every time I go there, there is always space available in that garage. It's fun to drive in, park, walk up to the ground level and watch the vultures circling the parking lot. The parking garage is near Sur La Table.

Final cost of the dinner will be $35 including tax and tip but not including beverages other than water.

Oh, there's tea as well...Koreans love bori cha and I guarantee it will be there.

Also, I know there are a couple of +1's out there that are missing from the list.  Please let goldenticket know and she will add them.  This event has been thrown together in a short amount of time and did not start off as organized as I would usually like.

Final cost of the dinner will be $35 including tax and tip but not including beverages other than water.

Well, gosh, for an event that was planned as a $20 Tuesday, it's pretty well a fait accompli (who'd a thunk that what I envisioned as a get together for 5 or so people turned into a 30+ dinner with 8 or 9 courses?)

Hillvalley and Goldenticket are doing a great job of taking care of the logistics. Grover and I are getting the menu together and I'm pretty sure the people who come are going to have a great time and eat very well.

They could claim that they were founded by aliens, but that does not make it true.  As for Sutton Place being a strong regional brand, it wasn't.  The previous owners had made many mistakes, and it was a shell of what it had once been, plus they oversaw the closure of the final Balducci's.  The new CEO was the founder of Fresh Fields (which was a much better store than Whole Foods could ever hope to be).  You can find more about the name change at thiseGullet thread (the linked article is unavailable).

As for Blue Point, I have not been in many years, but the one memorable dish was a flat bread with caramelized onions and blue cheese.  It was simple and but amazingly good.

When I think about it, I realize that I stopped going to Sutton Place/Balducci's about the time that Trader Joe's opened their first store in the area. It was an okay place to pick up English clotted cream or the occassional bottle of wine (and take out dinners now and then) but we never did any serious grocery shopping there.

Blue Point had/has some great PEI oysters on the menu, a really good (and very simple) Swordfish steak and some really good bread. I'd say that most of my meals there have been good but not outstanding (as you can see, not overly memorable either).

Not only that, but they closed the original store that the Balducci's name had made its reputation on.

There was quite an article about this (NY Times?) from what I remember. A number of my Manhattan friends weren't very happy about it either. I vaguely remember their 'store closing' sale and the angst it caused.

Too true.  BUT, ever tried the lemon pies???  Just askin'.

they were wonderful in a strange sort of citrusy, acidic way, weren't they?

Underwood deviled ham.

I had a girlfriend who used to make me deviled ham sandwiches on Wonder Bread with mayonaisse and tomato and lots of black pepper...totally to die for...I still love tomatoes on sandwiches with lots of pepper...

I would like to be on this list as well if it is a possiblity

What we will do is take a page from hillvalley's book and when we get to 5 people who are willing to get up at 0dark30 and trudge to Super H for a 9:00 shopping expedition, we'll go. As the list grows (it will grow, I hope), we'll do a lottery and take 5 people at a time. We don't want to be a disruption to Super H but do want to explain what those strange foods are. Fair enough?

I'm not sure why they would trade a strong regional name for one that was totally foreign to the area, but who am I to ask?

[Rant On] I agree that banning smoking in the bar was a great thing. Nothing worse than being a non-smoker and having to run that guantlet of stale, lung clogging smoke to get to your non-smoking table. I have the same problem with other restaurants who put their smoking sections at the front of the house by the door and expect non-smoking clients to wade through that stuff to get to their table. [Rant Off/]

I'd like to get on the list if at possible, especially after today's foray into the DC farmers' market in NE.  I was very confused as to what some of the things were, but I ended up with some really fine-looking snapper.

Speaking for Grover, (she lets me do that sometime), would you be interested in doing shopping and then returning to our house, preparing sushi with the groceries that Grover and I bought and then having that sushi for lunch? Korean sushi that Grover prepares doesn't use fish and isn't spicy but certainly is good to eat.

So, to recap, shopping, preparing sushi, eating same...good?

I am not sure that I am following this, Sutton Place bought Balducci's several years ago, and changed their name, not the other way around.

I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. Balducci's is a grocery chain based somewhere up there in the frozen north (Brooklyn, I think). Glutton Place was a local, 2 or 3 store, grocer/restaruanter.

From the Balducci's website:

Balducci's was founded as a fruit-and-vegetable stand in Brooklyn in 1915 by a young immigrant from Bari, Italy named Louis "Pop" Balducci. Balducci's quickly acquired an outstanding reputation throughout New York. In 1946, Pop and his son Andy opened their first retail store in Greenwich Village; this expanded, department by department, until they finally opened a new store on 9th Street that would become known as the food mecca in New York. Balducci's merged with Sutton Place Gourmet and Hay Day in 1999. The Greenwich Village store remained in operation until 2003.

So, I guess you could look at it either way, but I'd say from the company "history", Balducci's was the eater and Glutton Place was the eatee...

Anyone been to Blue Point recently?

I've been once for drinks/apps and that was pre-Balducci's.  It's just one of those (many) Alexandria places that I don't have any great desire to check out.  I have friends who love it...

Anyone around here have experience (good, bad, or otherwise) dining there?

We've had some really good seafood there, both in the Glutton Place and in the Balducci reigns. I think the seafood is better now that Balducci's owns it, but the service was a tad better when it was Glutton Place. Of course, we always ask for (and get) the same waitperson (whatever happened to waiter/waitress?) everytime and she takes really good care of us.

Generally they have 4 or 5 different types of oysters, a couple of fresh fish specials and beef for those who don't want fish...personally, we've always eaten fish and it's always been good.

Roasted garlic and oyster mushroom Korean snack in a neat plastic cup. Good tasting and good for you!!! Yum!

FYI

If you get sweat easily or love cold weather, I wouldn't recommend ginseng at all.

Ginseng is known for stamina booster but raises body temperature.

She knows of what she speaks...she makes a soup with cornish game hen, rice and ginseng...tastes great, makes you sweat like a madman...

(but she tells me it's good for me)

Mike,I really,really think you shuld close it out already.

I second this motion...we have a quorum...

A lot of the food in Super H supermarket in Fairfax is strange (I almost said foreign) to most American shoppers. My wonderful +1 (Grover here on DR.com) would like to know if up to 5 people would like a guided tour of the foods at Super H and a bit of help in shopping for Korean food and vegetables.

My wonderful +1 and I decided we'd skip our usual trip to Super H and go to Wegmans because a co-worker had told her how wonderful it was and what a marvelous shopping experience...etc, etc, ad infinitum..first, it took 20 minutes to find a parking space within a short cab ride to the door. Secondly, we had to dodge a huge number of flying Loudon valley cart drivers who were obviously getting ready for the Monday morning commute and demolition derby and then we went looking for food we like to eat. Ever try to find tofu in Wegmans? It's in the organic food section...why is it in the organic food section? It's the only tofu they have. Now, I don't know about you, but we're used to being able to select from 5 different types of tofu from 10 different tofu makers. We're not vegans but tofu is very important in our (Asian) diet. Next we went looking for tomato sauce...needless to say, things were placed in totally non-related areas, and the layout of the aisles left a tad to be desired. Maybe Wegmans is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it was the first, last and only time we have gone there.

Springfield Butchers

Bland Street

Springfield, VA 703 245-0111

great butcher shop, have cut crown roast of pork, crown of lamb (anyone see a pattern here?), special cuts for parties...etc...extremely good but call ahead because on the weekends, even if you get there an hour before they open there is a line waiting.