Nervous Eater

LeoNora bakes artisan baguettes, boules, croissaints, brioche, fruit tarts, pain au chocolat, and more. One of my favorite bakeries in the DC area, to be sure. Great prices, as well. Located on the side street next to Liberty Tavern in Clarendon.

Your mention of P&C reminds me to mention Timor Bodega, as well. It's on Rhode Island Avenue near (in?) Petworth and is alternatively called "Field2City".

You should definitely add LeoNora in Clarendon to this list. Thanks for doing this!

Thank you, June and Dean, for the info!

I'm interested in these pans as well, specifically the carbon steel frypans. My question is: can these be used to sear/create fond/create a pan sauce? Presumably you're using an acid (wine) and maybe finishing your sauce with an acid (lemon/vinegar/etc.); will the reaction between the pan and the acid negatively impact the taste of the sauce or the pan itself? Thanks in advance to anyone who has any advice!

I worked from home today, and decided to take a long lunch and drive from Clarendon, over the bridge, to finally check out Stachowski's market. FYI, parking at 12:30 was no problem for me (I parked on P right next to the shop). I was immediately impressed by what I saw. Dry aged porterhouses, slab bacon, pancetta, duck prosciutto, linguica, fresh sausages (some boudin with confit pork looked particularly awesome), lonza/coppa (can't remember which, but involved some dark cocoa in the rub), korean-cut spare ribs, whole chickens (smoked and raw), and some INCREDIBLE looking house roast beef...PERFECT medium rare. I'm trying to use up some babes in the woods pork I've stockpiled in the freezer, so I didn't buy anything to cook at home this week. But I did walk out with some Linguica, cheese, massive loaf of bread, tomatoes (snacks for this weekend) and...the 11.99 four-meat grinder. I must echo previous sentiments: this is one of the most impressive sandwiches I've had in recent memory, and was more than enough for two to split. We're talking HUGE, which is not always indicative of quality, but in this case it was home run. If you love classic italian-american hoagies, run- don't walk- to get this sandwich. I live right down the street from the Italian Store, but if I have time to make it to Georgetown I'll choose this sandwich every time. I'll be back VERY soon. Here's to their success!

I hope so! It would definitely fill a void. I miss being able to pick up raw clams or rockfish at the market.

What an incredible fucking disappointment.

I heard a rumor (on the arlington blog, arlnow) that Wilson Tavern has just changed ownership and completely put an end to all the great food (oysters on Monday, lobsters on Tuesday, shrimp po'boys, etc.) and instituted a standard mr. days-esque crappy bar food menu. I'm hoping that these rumors are unfounded (and just that...rumors) but has anyone been in to see the changes, or can anyone confirm? Just early last week I was in and had a fantastic soft shell crab sandwich, so if this is true it is a very recent development. I love what Wilson Tavern has been doing lately, so I hope this isn't true.

Last night: Shrimp with Dario Cecchini's "profumo del chianti", pimenton, and lemon. over sweet corn pureed with shallot, burro di bufala, and south mountain milk Greens with lemon and garlic Tonight dinner will be: Buffalo Chili with ground dried anchos from Penzeys, some Buffalo chuck from the courthouse market, cumin seeds, valrhona cocoa powder, dark beer, etc. Cast iron cornbread with keswick cheddar cumin creme fraice, chopped white onion, more cheddar

A few friends and I went there about 3 months ago, what we found was a total dive bar, welcoming bartender, aging alcoholics, david allan coe on the jukebox, cheap double shots of bourbon, and Bud draft (the only draft beer they offer). Not planning on eating what I assumed would be typical dive bar fare, I was surprised to see an elderly gentleman in the back cooking up that day's special: curried chicken thighs. Served over basmati with a heap of cilantro, they were fantastic.

Dinner last night: Chilled early spring soup (roasted asparagus and green garlic from dupont pureed with a couple canned san marzanos and south mountain cream), vincotto, pickled shallots, brioche (LeoNora!) croutons. Weisswurst (German gourmet) over endless summer arugula* wilted with shallots, red chilis, green garlic, muscat grapes, and pork stock. Cheap cold white wine...the house was hot. Keswick choclate pudding for dessert.

I've had a great experience with SMC. We ve been getting home delivery for about a year. Never an off taste from whatnI can detect. Skim for cereal tastes like 2%, and whole cream top for cooking is unreal. The cream is fantastic too. That said, I haven't yet had clear spring. I'd be eager to try their milk. They're at the FC market and DuPont, correct? While I'm at it, I'd be curious to put up SMCs cream against Lewis dairy. Worth the special trip to Balduccis if I'm making stracciatella or something else where cream is prominent?

I'm probably late to this unfortunate news, but sadly the owner of Buster's Seafood, one of my favorite market vendors, passed away early this month. Understandably, they have not been to market (at least Courthouse) since then. Keep them in your thoughts. Hopefully the family can make it through this rough time and continue the business in his honor. If anyone does spot them at a local market, please post here as I'd like to go offer my condolences.

Thanks for the help! FYI Leonora does have panettone but they go fast. I haven't snagged one yet but hopefully I can get one today

Happy holidays all! I'm looking for our area's best panettone...any ideas? Am I better off just diving in and baking my own? Thanks in advance!

First post, new member...excited to join the site! I live in Arlington, work for the Federal Government, and love exploring all there is too eat and cook in the DC area. At home, I mostly cook regional Italian, but always up for experimenting. Looking forward to all your insight!