cheezepowder

Domaso Trattoria Moderna is in the Hotel Palomar in Rosslyn at 1121 North 19th Street (at North Lynn St). Phone 703.351.1211. Website here. Tom Sietsema's Dish here. We had dinner here the other night and enjoyed it. For my appetizer, I had the polenta which came with a thick sauce of truffle torta ambros, marscapone, and truffle oil which was good and very rich. The polenta was the firm type (a cylinder sliced diagonally lengthwise) although I think the menu said soft polenta. My husband had fried mozzarella with roasted peppers, crispy leeks, and white wine sauce, and the pepper flavor was a nice addition to the fried mozzarella. Both appetizers were plated nicely. For bread, they served us two pieces of rosemary focaccia, small parmesan breadsticks that had a bit of spiciness to them, and two thick slices of white Italian bread with a chickpea garlic spread. I thought the bread was good - dense, slightly chewy crumb. The bread was room temperature/slightly cool. For the main course, we ordered pastas. I had the gigante tortelloni filled with potato and small bits of pancetta and came with shavings of pecorino on top. It came with a slice of crispy pancetta as a garnish. The menu said there was also goat milk butter, and I think that was in the sauce. The tortelloni reminded me of pierogies. My husband had the mushroom risotto. For dessert we had the chestnut and chocolate terrine which was a mousse in a small cup made of chocolate in a mesh design. It came with a candied chestnut, quince and moscato compote, and a white chocolate garnish. They also gave us complimentary bombolini filled with pastry cream (these are on the menu so I'm guessing they just had some leftover). We were really stuffed at this point though, and we couldn't finish the desserts. (My carb-heavy choices of polenta and potato-filled pasta probably didn't create the most balanced meal.) The service was friendly and attentive. I have a sample menu which looks the same as the menu we had, but I don't remember all the details so I can't be sure. The prices on the sample menu for salads and appetizers are $8 to $12, soups are $6, and pastas are $11 to $15. For the Secondi meat/seafood dishes -- whole roasted Mediterranean sea bream (and baby artichokes, riviera olives, red bliss potato and lemon white wine sauce) is $25, herb rubbed roasted beef tenderloin (and baby arugula, red onion marmalade, and red wine essence) is $28, grilled jumbo shrimp (and buckwheat polenta and lemon sauce) is $27, a grilled veal chop (with roasted cipolline onions and smashed parsnips) is $38, and a half boneless organic chicken (sautéed with pioppini mushrooms, roasted chestnuts, and chiavennasca grape) is $19. Desserts are $8. There's also a separate bar menu with some different small dishes.

How did things go with this project - did anyone make their own cookbook? We have many favorite dishes that my mom made through the years. She didn't use recipes for these dishes - she just eyeballed quantities of ingredients and improvised as she went along. I'm thinking of working with my mom to write recipes for these dishes and create a family cookbook that I can give to family members as Christmas gifts. I just started looking at www.lulu.com (though I would need to get moving to get it done in time for Christmas).

Never having worked at a restaurant, I found Tim Carmen's article "Server Trouble" educational and entertaining (I couldn't wait to get to the end to see how things turned out for Tim.)

I searched and found this article which says the owner is Craig Carey "who worked for Great American Restaurants for two years and eventually wants to get Big Buns Gourmet Grill into other local markets." I wonder what happened to the plan to serve hot dogs as mentioned in the article.

Here's another pasta dish: Ravioli with blue cheese cream sauce Heat heavy cream in a pan at low to medium heat, add a few chunks of blue cheese, stir til cheese melts. You can add more cheese to taste, and the sauce will have thickened a bit. You can sprinkle a little salt, garlic powder, parmesan, etc. to taste. In the meantime, cook one of those refrigerated packs of ravioli. Pour sauce over finished ravioli.

Bacon flow chart (click)

Big Buns Gourmet Grill, 4401 Wilson Blvd in Ballston (but it's not actually facing Wilson Blvd. It's on the other side of Vapiano in a courtyard between Wilson and Fairfax.) Click for website. I saw this place one day after leaving Vapiano and was curious to try it. It's a fast food burger place. They offer beef, chicken, mahi mahi, or portobello burgers (in a bun or bowl) with your choice of cheeses, toppings and sauces. They also offer regular fries, sweet potato fries, milkshakes, malts, floats, sodas, and beer. Near the soda fountain, they have four Italian soda type syrups that you can mix in your drink, like cherry to make a cherry coke. I had a beef burger which came well-done but was still juicy. (They didn't ask how I wanted it. I don't know if that's an option.) It's not a very thick burger, but it was wide enough that I needed to hold it with both hands. The burger was $5.95, not counting additional charges for special toppings. The fries were each $1.85. I really liked the regular fries, they were thicker than shoestring fries and had a very potato-y flavor though it would be nice if they were just a little crispier. The sweet potato fries were thinner than the regular fries and were ok but nowhere near as good as the ones at Eleventh. Has anyone else tried Big Buns?

Tom Sietsema reports that Asia Nora's building was sold and will become a hotel called One. Its last dinner service is Dec. 21. Food Flash here and additional info at Metrocurean here.

Try Praline in Bethesda. Thread here. (I haven't been there recently so I'd call to make sure they still have pot pie on the menu.)

Does anyone know if/when the cart will start staying open til 8pm? Pupatella, if you're reading?

Thanks for all your suggestions! I'd never heard of Grosvenor Market, but it's convenient for me so I went there today and found it! (Pennsylvania grown, $4.49/head).

That sounds very similar to a tomato chickpea soup I made using this recipe on Orangette, but her recipe came from Once Upon a Tart by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau. I really liked the soup, and the pureed chickpeas gave the soup a nice texture.

Has anyone seen Romanesco at a local grocery store? I tried the Whole Foods Alexandria today but didn't have any luck. We had romanesco at Dino a while back and were fascinated by the shape.

If anyone is looking for a local source, the Curious Grape in Shirlington carries the Vosges bacon bar.

In today's Wash Post's Free Range food chat, someone asked about angel biscuits made with yeast. Has anyone tried these before? They sound interesting. Here's the description (the Wash Post also provided a recipe for Marcy Goldman's Flaky Angel Biscuits in the chat.)

Wash Post article on the closing.

You could try Equinox. I don't know how current their website menu is (or how often it changes), but they have white truffles on the dinner menu that's currently posted on their website (including white truffle ice cream). The website also says they're taking reservations for a White Truffle Dinner in Dec. ($250/person), and they are also having a black truffle dinner on Nov. 26 with Guest Chef Tarver King of Woodlands Resort and Inn (click for details).

"The greatest danger could be your stupidity." Also, I like these.

The menus are up on the website. The dishes seem conservative, and there's no vegetarian entree option on the dinner menu.

It sounds like you're describing a Monte Cristo sandwich. (DR thread here).

Towards the end of this Ask Tim entry, he says "The location on P Street NW closed down earlier this year, not only because of ongoing construction in the Dupont Circle neighborhood but also because the franchisee needed to devote time to an ill family member." Also, the article doesn't sound optimistic about another DC location anytime soon.

Tracy O'Grady developed her miniature rack of pork from looking for a unique cut of pork, and it sounds like she'll keep the pork chops around for a while. Click for WashingtonPost article.

Sounds like you're going to make reservations anyway, but for anyone else, I'd definitely recommend making reservations for Locanda. We stopped in Friday night without a reservation, and unfortunately, they had nothing available (the hostess was very nice about it).

If you want to learn more about wines, the Curious Grape in Shirlington offers free wine seminars in their store which I've found to be worthwhile. I recently took their seminars on vintages and sherries. For each one, they gave everyone a taste of wine with a paired taste of cheese/sausage/chocolate as they discuss the topic and each wine and pairing. We tasted 7 wines for the vintages seminar and 8 wines for the sherries seminar. As a wine beginner, I thought it was a great way to learn more about wines, and the best part is that it's free. You just have to make a reservation. Note that you're standing during the seminar so wear comfortable shoes (like if you're coming straight from work and have on heels). Also, their seminars are not always on their website so I would recommend signing up for their email list to get notices of all the seminars. (They don't have a signup on their website, I signed up at the store). Their next seminar is the first of a five part Burgundy seminar. (click for website and scroll down for details) Here's an excerpt from their description:

Could you post your dough recipe?