ctay122

Hi everyone, it's been a long time since I've been here, but glad to be back.

Has anyone dined at the Inn at Little Washington or the Goodstone Inn lately? Hubby and I last ate at the Inn at LW 2 1/2 years ago for our anniversary. Hubby was felling bad which subsequently ruined dinner (I still had a good time and one of the best meals I've ever had). I am trying to decide where to go for my birthday the beginning of Dec. We usually go to Marcel's when we have an occasion like our son's birthdays or ours, but I am in the need of a change. Though I am disappointed that the Washingon/Middleton B&B accomodations are so high for a Thursday night stay (I think the prices have gone up since we last stayed at the Middleton Inn, $425/night for the Gamekeeper's Cottage? Ridiculous!).

I've never been to the Goodstone Inn, though it was recommended by a friend, I am wanting to know if there are any opinions out there as to if the Inn at LW is still a good pick or if the Goodstone is something to consider. Thanks for the help!

I've heard mainly bad reviews of the restaurants here. However, I am surprising my hubby with tickets to see Cirque du Soleil there in Sep. Due to time constraints we will have to have dinner there and I have no clue where to eat. Taking the water taxi to Alexandria is not an option, so we mainly will be stuck there. What is the best place to eat there? I thought about McLoone's Pier House mainly because I see they have Shepard's Pie which hubby loves, but don't want to be disappointed (though after reading reviews I am not very positive about dining at the harbor at all).

We went last night and sat at the bar and had a cocktail before dinner. Hubby had a whiskey sour and I had the Titanic (I think the bartender said elderflower sorbet, juice, grapes and champagne). It was really refreshing and wonderful. I probably could of had another, but at $13 a glass decided to hold off. The tab came to $22.58 without tip. I did notice that the bar menu seemed to have a lot of things that appealed to me.

The restaurant itself is gorgeous and has a wonderful atmosphere. We met many of the locals dining there, and everyone was friendly and seemed to be having a good time. There is also an outside dining area that is beautiful, but because of the storms that blew through were not in use.

For dinner we decided on the tomato water risotto and vanilla pork belly. Both were awesome. I could have eaten more of the risotto. Not sure if the bread is made there, but it is really good and served very warm. There were two young men who wandered around the room serving the bread and water and seemed to keep our bread plates and glasses full.

For the main course I picked the tempranillo braised lamb shoulder and shank served with a tomatillo salsa, olive oil bread and chimichuri verde. The lamb was cooked perfectly and the salsa with the oven roasted tomatoes and tomatillos was outstanding. My husband had the filet. He ordered it medium. It came I would say between rare and meduim rare. Also it was stone cold. We tried to get the attention of our server, but she was no where to be found. The owner, Stephan, noticed me looking around and he immediately came to the table and asked us what the problem was. I give him kudos for being so observant. I think the server should have stopped by our table when we received the entrees to make sure things were ok, but she did seem to have a lot of tables. The dish was returned to the kitchen and I little choice but to eat my dish alone while hubby waited for his. By the time he got a new order, I was finished with mine. I really am at odds what to do in this situation, as it's very awkward to be eating when your partner has nothing in front of him, but I didn't want my entree to get cold. The rib eye was perfect the second time around. For dessert we ordered the strawberry terrine and the two vanilla ice cream (yummy). We were also served a complimentary brown butter pudding (it was so smooth and very tasty), complimentary glass of dessert wine and a taste of one of the bartender's new cocktail, a margaritini (I think he called it) which is blended with agave and watermelon. Oh, and we also had a sample of the coconut sorbet wih blueberry sauce. Other than we both thought the entrees were slightly over seasoned, we enjoyed the meal immensely. I think Trummer's will really bring something special to Fairfax and we're glad we don't have to drive into DC anymore to experience some fine dining. I can see that it is going to be quite a busy place in the future. We will definitely return.

Our tab for dinner, which in addition to the above, included a glass of wine ($9) and 2 coffees was $108.15 without tip. I was really surprised and delighted. We normally spend twice that or more when we go into DC. I can't wait to go back and try something different. I'll have posted some pictures on flickr since I can't figure out how to add them here. Search and use Trummers as the tag.

Thanks for the review. I made a reservation there on Thurs night for my husband's birthday. Chef Miller has worked at the French Laundry under Thomas Keller and for Daniel Boulud, so I have high expectations. Living in Woodbridge, we need some decent restaurants within a reasonable driving distance besides these awful chain restaurants (my husband refers to Woodbridge as a cultural black hole. I am really looking forward ti it.

We visited Trummers on Main in Clifton last evening and were quite pleased. While Trummers still has a few rough edges it is nice to have a respectable dining spot in western Fairfax that appears to have great potential. Clifton is a nice little town that is an oasis of calm sandwiched between Fairfax and PW counties offering an escape from the traditional "town center" restaurants or an abusive drive into DC. Trummers can seat 210 people.

The menu was well conceived and covered all the basic food groups with a leaning towards fish on the entree side. As for starters we had the grilled romaine with a poached egg that was very good as well as a tomato water risotto which was prepared perfectly. Entrees were suckling pig and roasted chicken... again both were very good. Serving sizes were respectable and the food presentation was on par with most upper end DC restaurants. The wine list was well thought out with a decent range of offering. Wine pricing by the bottle was reasonable with by the glass prices being a bit to the high side as was their bourbon pricing.

Service was attentive and friendly with the owners close at hand to make you feel welcome. Our bill for 2 including a bottle of wine ("Roaring Mel" NZ Pinot Noir), starters and entrees was $113 plus gratuity

Overall Trummers did a very nice job at a reasonable price point. Being new they have a few small kinks to work out but none that impacted our evening. While not in the league of Citronelle, Trummers appears capable of holding their own against most upper end dining spots in the metro DC area.

I attended the cake show today in Burke and posted photos of some (about 93 photos) of the cakes on www.flickr.com

Search for

National Capital Area Cake Show

Check out the Jimmy Buffet Cake (pics 416-423). It has elements from JB songs and was really awesome!

Michael and I celebrated our 10th anniversary at the inn last night. I have posted pictures on flickr of our dinner if anyone's interested (look under ctay12254). Sadly I forgot to take pictures of our amuse bouches...we had 2 different ones consisting of a four spoon portion (beet mousse, shrimp, risotto and pear wrapped in proscuitto) served before the appetizer, one before the second course (rutabaga soup)and then cucumber sorbet before the main entree. We had a wonderful dinner and the service was outstanding.

Mendocino perhaps?

Looks like a possibility and that the little Georgetown connect bus runs along there. Thanks.

Husband and I have a 730 reservation tonight at 1789 and we're looking for a place to hang out in Gtown for an hr/ hr 1/2. Any suggestions? We don't want to hang out downstairs in 1789. Thanks.

I arranged my boss's retirement dinner at Bebo this evening. There were 18 of us and we were in the private room and ordered off the full menu with separate checks. Our service from Salvio was wonderful and the food was delicious. I and several others had the skewered quail with Roberto's homemade sausage, my husband had the pork chop, others had the meatballs and garlic bread, and several had the pizzas and calzones. We weren't rushed at any time and although we made reservations for 6 and it was well past 645 when we got around to ordering, we never felt any pressure to rush through our dinner and had a wonderful evening. Hats off to Roberto, Laura and Salvio for making it a memorable evening. Everyone enjoyed the meal and it for many it was their first time at Bebo. I couldn't have been more pleased as people thought I did a great job arranging things but ultimately the quality of the meal and service made the evening a big success.

I have a 7:30 reservation on Wed the 16th for RW week that we can't use (someone graciously gave me their reservation for Tues).

If anyone is interested in taking it, please PM me. Made on Open Table.com

I have given the reservation away, thank you.

I have a 7:30 reservation on Wed the 16th for RW week that we can't use (someone graciously gave me their reservation for Tues).

If anyone is interested in taking it, please PM me. Made on Open Table.com

I inadvertently ate horse meat when I was in Belgium. I was in the Army at the time in 1977 and my platoon did a 3 day volksmarche. I was in a NATO unit with other Belgium solders participating. We got bag lunches everyday from the Belgiums. I thought I was eating a sandwich of rare roast beef, though it tasted a bit off. Later I was told that it was horse meat. They all thought it was a joke, but I was rather upset about it because I had a horse when I was in high school and would never consider eating one!

Hope this was a blast, got trapped in an evening work meeting w/ da bosses. Would have much preferred to attend the charcuterie-fest, the food I'm sure was fantastic!

It says 6p in the header...

I've been brain dead lately. We're looking forward to it. We'll be there between 6:15 and 6:30. I'm hungry!

I'm still looking for a kick off time for this event. Since I work in DC I'll be coming straight from work. Is anyone going to be there prior to 6?

Count me in, as well as my+1

No, but I'm not sure even the maestro himself could have saves this. I guess it wasn't so much sucky as just bland. I had the funghi and proscuiotto, my daughter had a Margharita. The crust was OK, the cheese was OK, the sauce was OK. I almost fell asleep while eating it.

My husband and I ate at Bebo on Halloween Eve. We wanted to try the pizzas since I've read mixed reviews here about it. I had the Rolli di Prosciutto Ripieni and my husband had the Prosciutto e Funghi. I thought that the pizzas were amazing. The crusts were perfectly crisp and the toppings came together beautifully. We sat at the bar and the bartender (we didn't get his name, only that he was from Serbia)was friendly, efficient and gave us just enough attention to make a perfect evening. Chef Donna was not manning the pizza oven. I thought the pizza cook did a great job (and we told him so) and we definitely will go back for more pizza.

Late lunch today--heading to Hudson at 2pm for a burger and fries, outside, preferably.

My husband and I are heading to Bebo tonight between 5 and 5:30 to try the pizza (and avoid the Trick or Treaters). We'll be sitting at the bar if anyone wants to join us (short blonde and salt and pepper haired guy).

The idea that restaurants take a loss during restaurant week is a fallacy for the most part, the difference between regular service and RW is the margin that the restaurant maintains, when offering a discount the margin becomes smaller and affects the net line of income, however the business brought in in a successful RW creates a positive entry to the gross. the offset being that many fixed costs of operating benefit from RW in the leaner times of august by having a higher income, but fluctuating costs(food,labor) are negatively impacted as a percentage of income. thirty dollars is a good deal of money for many people, myself included, and the ability to offer a good meal at that price is a good judge of a resataurant. RW is not a headache, merely a busier than average time as many operators will seek to maximize income by booking more guests than the norm. When a restaurant offers a limited menu in the original format of restaurant week it streamlines production and can turn tables faster, when a restaurant offers it full menu it cannot do the same, so the repetitiveness of RW for staff is greater with a limited menu, but the overall business does better because of the greater number of guests. The decision to participate in RW is made when we consider what the restaurant will be like in a "normal" mode of service for the time period versus the increase in business from RW. Many restaurants are busy every night, every week all the time and have the ability to forgo RW b/c they will not be adversely affected, or they choose not to participate because it doesn't make sense in where they are postioned in the market(think Cityzen, Citronell) most other restaurants in DC need the influx of business in August. Besides the income benefits to being busy in a traditionally slow period is the opportunity to cook for people who haven't been here and hopefully will return. The impact that a RW meal has on the individual is prety significant in that 30 is not far off our average hguest check of 36 or so, so we can move forward believing that poeple who come for RW will return. I don't have any stats, but the retention rates for RW guests is probably all over the board, some poeple love us some may not and in the end its probably the same percentages as any other night, because the quality of the experience is the same, because we don't skimp on our efforts whether there is a full menu offered or a limited one. In short, the headache is only there if we make it a headache for ourselves, we want to have people eat here, we want them to have a good time and the more people we can impact the better. Tangentally, I don't like the 500 dollar participation fee I think it excessive and would rather it go to a charity rather than a trade association.

ps we're doing the majority of the mernu in an attempt to split the difference

Thank you for the insight into this event. I wasn't even aware that there is a participation fee. I'm sure this is news to alot of us.

My husband and I have been very lucky, in that except for one instance in the 3 years we have been attending RW (both summer and winter) we have never been rushed through our meal. This is probably not the norm. I was curious as to how you are able to plan your reservations during this time, considering guests who like leisurely meals. I suppose this isn't the time to do it? Normally we are those diners who may take up to 3 hrs or more at your table.

I understand the reason for August RW is to boost revenues when the restaurants are generally slower and Congress is out of session. I feel pretty good about my RW picks which are all on TK's list (best bites blog); Vidalia, Prime Rib and (took a chance booking the week after RW) Corduroy.

I waited too long and couldn't get in at Corduroy at the time we wanted. The thing we like about Corduroy is they offer the full menu and full portions. So far I've booked Circle Bistro, Palette and Cafe Promenade (the last two we have never been to).

I was wondering if anyone who had seen the most recent Top Chef knew anything about the blue-ribbon adorned Chaine des Rotisseurs who were part of the tasting group on the elimination challenge.

I confess, I knew nothing about this group when I saw them. Personally, I found them to of be rather snooty.

When looking at their US website- it's kind of chintzy. The Baltimore chapter has professional members which are chain restaurants like Ruth's Chris and Mccomack and Schmidt's. And also- no group in NYC, Vegas, or LA.

Anyone know the deal about this group?

I don't know anything about them, but I think they looked utterly stupid and I agree seemed a bit pompous. Maybe next time we have a DR event, we can dress up also. We can start something up and have little ribbons and color code them according to how many DR events we have attended. Add little star pins for how many posts we've done. Add Twenty Dollar Tuesday bling bling (bronze, sliver and gold for number of events attended).

If I offer gazpacho, does that make me common? i'd also rather not take a loss, its bad for the business you know. futhermore if i offer a few choices, and they are strong dishes, how am i chiseling anyone?

Chef,

I can't see you offering a gazpacho that would be anything but ordinary. Why do restaurants participate in this event? Is there any kind of pressure to participate? I would imagine most places barely break even as far as the RW goes or even take a loss. Good restaurants such as yours probably don't need the additional headache. Is it all over publicity? What benefits do you get out of this? I am just curious, though I am glad you are participating because I have a reservation.

By the way, have you decided what you will be offering yet?

I am at 346 cookbooks and still buying. And yes, I do cook from them.

For good reading and authentic Sicilian recipes I suggest 3 books by Vincent Schiavelli: (deceased actor, and also host of The Chefs of Cucina Amore) Papa Andrea's Sicilian Table, (Recipes and Remembrances My Grandfather), Many Beautiful Things (Stories and Recipes from Polozzi Generosa) , and Bruculinu America: Remembrances of a Sicilian-American Brooklyn Told in Stories and Recipes. I never realized what a good storyteller he was as well as a cook. I think anyone who has a love of cooking will thoroughly enjoy these.

Rissa, Michael and I wish you the best of luck. We're sorry we will be out of town that week for the holiday. Please let everyone know where you're going, you are also part of the reason we enjoy Corduroy so much!

Cape Neddick

We will be taking our first trip to Maine next weekend and are looking for some good eats. We will be in Portland for one night, Kennebunkport for one night, and Ogunquit two nights. We will also be driving up through NH, so would love to go to Portsmoth for brunch or lunch. We are looking to eats lots of lobster and other typical regional cuisine. In Portland, we would just like to try a great restaurants, no specifications. Suggestions appreciated!