Michael Landrum

Come on by to Ray's: The Steaks or Ray's: The Classics on Sunday (Ray's: The Steaks at East River is already doing an event for Leukemia/Lymphoma Society that day) and we'll donate a straight 10% of gross sales to help get those vans back out there on the streets. Based on a typical Sunday that would be about $2000, so hopefully we'll get enough of you all coming out to make that a bit more. On top of that, I'll have Mark pick out a special bottle of wine in the $40-$50 range at each restaurant that we'll donate an additional 25% of each bottle sold. Whatever that amount is I'll match out of pocket. The work they do, and the people they serve, are too important and too crucial, too vital, to let anything get in the way.

As far as incentives are concerned at East River, when I became aware of an opportunity to contribute an endeavor of substance and real value at Benning and Minnesota, the only incentive (and reward) that I would ever need can be found here. Look and listen closely, and please do not delete.

The Mayor's office of economic development (a great group of people, by the way) did provide a grant to the landlord/developer for facade improvements and signage. This occurred after I had already signed the lease and was in no way an incentive (obviously, since it happened after the fact) and I had nothing to do with the process whatsoever. That being said, the mayor's office was genuinely gracious and generous in offers of support throughout the entire process of opening and provided much crucial on-going (non-financial) support on a continuing basis, backing up words with actions even up to and through today--especially through the efforts of Chief Lanier and the entire MPD to be engaged in long-term investment in the community. None of this has anything to do with the election, nor will these efforts decrease at all after the election has come and gone. More so, I have had several lengthy discussions with the office of economic development, exploring ways to provide support to start-ups in developing neighborhoods and to first-time, community-based, business owners--the results of which I hope will soon be seen. None of the above had anything to do with electioneering, and I truly believe it was all done with the a true dedication to the best interests of the city, even the part of the city east of the river. Both Vincent Gray and Kwame Brown have also displayed, and continue to display, great, true, and genuine visible support of our endeavor and the surrounding community development--as much as concerned and dedicated citizens of Ward 7 as politicians. The truth is, the only people who deserve credit for Ray's: The Steaks at East River are the loyal, committed employees and other members of the community who show up everyday to make it happen.

This week's chat was an egregious example, but decreasingly so (i. e. becoming more and more the norm), but I think that Sietsema should either approach the professional world which he purports to cover as a journalist with knowledge and respect, or he should change his title to "lifestyle reporter" or some such fluff which more accurately describes his subject matter and the approach of the work he produces or over which he puts his name of late. As it stands, the tone, tenor and content of his work, if he does indeed stand as the critical voice of record in this town, and as reflected in this chat, is a disgrace and an insult to all who toil with respect and with no small measure of sacrifice to make the restaurant business an honorable profession. Is this really the level of discourse that we in the industry deserve or that a journalist of any caliber can lead and have any self-respect? As a subject for a "Sex in the City" episode, however, it would have been simply fabulous, and dare I say it, absolutely scandalous--like, maybe ten years ago. I know that I, for one, if this is what my life's work were to come to, would simply hang it up and slink away, and not stay in a position where it was my place to pass judgement on others.

It makes it a lot easier on the reticulum. You'd say "yay" too.

It's hard to tell which restaurant you are asking about, but at "Ray's: The Steaks" (but not at "Ray's: The Steaks at East River" yet), over the past six months we have been developing a pilot program of purchasing entire cattle from local Virginia farmers and having them dry-aged as entire sides to our specifications (right now, 35-40 days is our standard). The cattle are pasture-raised on natural grass and finished with an enriched grass diet featuring spent beer grains (yay!!!) and natural silage. This involves a long process of developing relationships, trust, production capacity and processing and aging capability and has just recently begun bearing fruit, with supply steadily increasing as the project develops. Right now, we are concentrating on making available a decent selection on Saturdays, with possibly some limited availability on Sundays and Fridays. In all cases, though, people have been buying them up like crazy and they usually sell out early in the evening--so apologies in advance. On our end, we have come up with some pretty amazing non-standard butchering techniques that allow us to produce some tremendous traditional dry-aged, bone-in cuts--Porterhouse, T-Bone--as well as some entirely unique cuts, like dry-aged, bone-in Chateaubriand, Long-Bone Cowboys, and the Chuck-Eye Cowboy (my favorite), with more on the way. The real excitement from this program, at least for me, is that by guaranteeing a market for local farmers to raise cattle to our standards, rather than shipping off to feed lots, and by buying directly from the farmers, we will in time be able to keep entire communities of family farmers on their farms and engaged in low-impact, economically viable farming and stewardship of the land, as well as adding substantially to the local economies of the surrounding communities throughout the entire production chain. All this without having to charge our guests punitive, prohibitive prices or surcharges for moral superiority and/or guilt abatement. In short (and numbers are just for demonstration purposes, so please let's not get all wonky), when selling to a middleman to be sent off to a feedlot, the farmer clears about $75 a head, just enough to die a slow death of a thousand small bleeding cuts. From me, between the farmer and the processor, they clear about $750--enough to survive and even thrive (in cases where it is not already too late). So, as I mentioned, these cuts are available right now on a somewhat regular, but extremely limited, basis, with a steadily increasing supply as our investment in our local communities begins to grow and as the pipeline from already existing relationships increase its flow.

I believe at one point there were 53 traveling casts.... Tom's dream restaurant I *think* there is one black person somewhere in there (the one that escaped the Kaplan* system). *Not the Mahler gang, but this one. Ooops I meant to link to this one.

The green sauce we serve with the Brazilian Strip at Ray's is actually my Yemenite girlfriend Tal's (translation=morning dew) mother's recipe, modified from its original fieriness, from when I lived in Israel. Surprisingly. in Yemenite custom, it is traditionally more of a breakfast condiment, served with malau'ach or jachnun and a hard-boiled egg. I was in the army then, and on an 18-hour pass, we would wake to her serving us this breakfast, with my recently discarded, unspeakably filthy uniform and undergarments freshly laundered and pressed and laid out for me at the foot of the bed. This was in the sub-tropics and rarely was even a top sheet bearable, and to this day nothing even comes close as my favorite thing to eat--excepting ha-na'al. Rarely was there more than another fifteen minutes after this fueling before heading back out to the fields, but never were the results of schoog ill-spent.

One must remember that alcohol service in a public place is a privilege, not a right, and that the restaurant's liability and responsibility are quite serious and extend far, far beyond the age of the patron being served (or not). It is not a question of whether a restaurant is "strict" or not, it is a question of whether or not a restaurant takes this responsibility to public safety seriously or not. By law, the bartender or server is held directly and personally responsible for any infraction (outside of any repercussions faced by the restaurant) and personally faces steep fines, immediate incarceration, the loss of professional certification (and therefore his career) and the possibility of civil actions. No one is ever "owed" a drink or the right to drink from another's drink, and the behavior at the heart of this discussion would be grounds for immediate removal from the premises in many bars and restaurants, and rightfully so.

It all depends on how much their business and sanity is damaged by the likes of "Anna" or "Anu" (and the culture she represents all too typically) as described here, and the real answer to the question "Why aren't there any good restaurants in Bethesda?" and the bane and downfall of many who came before. Even Silver Spring wasn't far enough away to have not been subjected to more than our fair share of this. Weidmaier and his team are true talents and real pros, more and better seasoned than most, and Mussel Bar is an awesome concept, so if anyone can rise above it, it is them.

Actually, it's funny you should suggest that, because--if Prince of Petworth hasn't already reported on it--I just signed a lease to do just such a restaurant. It'll be right next to the new Roman Polanski Day Care Center, the Dean Gold Agoraphobia-Therapy Retreat, and the La Donna E Mobile School for Operatic Accounting and Business Ethics.

You know, it's funny, I just heard a rumor that on a recent trip to California I met and had shockingly freaky, deviant sex with several lovely luminaries from the adult entertainment industry while feasting on local-caught, unsustainable spiny lobsters and oodles of Schramsberg Brut Rose. Now why can't they be reporting on that gossip?

Also, please remember that the trigger to my moral crisis is the Gulf oil-spill tragedy (on top of the desertification of the reef eco-system, and all the other previous gloom and doom)...How do we even predict the level of destruction that will bring to ALL fisheries world-wide?

Thanks for the help, Dean, but I'm confused--does that mean you advocate a moratorium on mid-Atlantic seafood, as is my instinct? Or the opposite? Also, if you or anyone else knows, what is the current health of the Chesapeake menhaden population upon which both striped bass (for food) and the local crab industry (as bait) depend? Having grown up in New England, where lobster "notching" is as much religion as law, I am also a little confused as to why it is so important for us to eat as many soft-shells as possible before they get the chance to reproduce. Not sure if you got a chance to read the article I referenced, but there's some scary stuff in there. Really, looking for enlightenment, information and guidance more than anything else...Anyone else able to help with my dilemma too? Honestly, this isn't my forte and I don't think I'll ever really have the time to research it properly. Laniloa? Oh, and don't worry, with my alcohol and drug abuse, extra thirty pounds, and frequent unprotected sex with multiple partners, there is not much chance that I will be around long enough to contribute to over-population.

So, from the arguments, or lack thereof, we should not eat any fish, at all, and certainly not sushi or its diametrical equal, the Filet o'Fish. And maybe stop killing whales. Or hate those who do.

To be honest, it is more of a hope that someone more knowledgeable and informed than I can provide me with a moral argument that makes it possible for me to do so.

After reading Elizabeth Kolbert's not-too-thorough, but terrifying nonetheless, article in the current New Yorker (on the heels of the even more horrifying article on the destruction of songbird populations in Europe for Nero-like feasts last week) and in the aftermath of the unimaginably grotesque, but oh so easily predictable, human devastation of Nature in the Gulf I am turning to the wisdom and knowledge of the board to help me with a question that I have been grappling with for sometime. Is there anyway, on any terms, on any grounds, and to any degree, to justify the consumption of, let alone the serving of, fish and seafood at this particular moment in time and history? Let it be said that I don't buy the arguments of sustainability--depending on your view, they are either palliatives to ease the conscience that do nothing to cure the disease (but do much to inflate reputations and do great as cynical marketing ploys, even when the intentions are well-meaning at some point along the way) or mere instances of the band switching from waltzes to jazz as the Titanic sinks. Let it also be said that the proliferation and glorification of the sushi culture disgusts me and is morally repugnant to me in the most severe and unequivocal way possible--both due to the practices of the Japanese fleets and markets and, even worse, the disgusting insistence on killing the most exquisitely sentient of creatures, whales. At the same time, our cruise ships, Red Lobsters (and Arthur Treacher's), Filet o' Fish, and fish sticks in school lunches are hardly any better, and I believe that they all should be outlawed as crimes against Nature and God. So, oh wise ones, I put it out to you--What say ye on the above?

Just wanted to point out that this post is a comment on how mean everyone is being lately, and NOT a general expression of my personal sentiments towards others. Besides, my bumme bolts (thank you, John Barth) have become far too valuable now, and are currently being bottled and marketed, with Don's assistance, to local area supermarkets and gourmet shops--just my way of keeping up with the recent trend of unending bouts of charcuterrhea. Back to work now on the Secret of the Magicke Aubergine....

All content on the board will now be reduced to and replaced by this, to reflect the current situation and to save everyone some time. You may continue with your lives now. Everyone try to stay in the A/C a bit more, I'm beginning to look like the sane one.

OMG!!! Did any one see what went down on Housewives of New Jersey last night? All I can say is god bless Bravo!!!

I wonder if any one thought to check the girth?

Not a comment or response regarding Montmartre, but rather Don's remark regarding the area in general: Note estimated travel time. Much less time than it takes to find a parking spot and dig up enough quarters to cover 'til ten. It may be a chain, but they really do try hard to maintain a local flavor while aiming medium-high.

The editing that placed this comment directly after Arnold's pledge to support an orphanage in Thailand for children infected with HIV/AIDS (presumably as a direct result of the rampant sex trade there) is truly disgusting--especially in a challenge designed to celebrate and extol children, more specifically Tom's and Padma's. Not that chefs trotting out their children is that far off from Toddlers and Tiaras-style exploitation in the first place. Actually, now that I think about it, why am I even surprised? For both of them--or any parent for that matter--to fail to quit the show in shame after this is pretty pathetic.

To quote John Gardner's Grendel: Eek! Oh no! Oh no! I hope I am not next to be sued (for stealing his revolutionary, mastermind-driven steakhouse concept)--especially since I am not a minority!

This story has been seriously mis-reported and is factually incorrect. The blue fin are not being "slaughtered" or "decimated", they are merely being relocated to special resort island paradises as "comfort" tuna where all their needs and comforts are attended to by their kind and generous hosts--much in the same way that the magnificently sentient whales are not being "harvested" but merely grouped together for scenic country hikes to see the spectacular vistas of Bataan. As someone who is relentlessy proud of my slavish, fetishistic adulation of Japanese food culture, the knowledge of which makes me clearly superior to other people, I violently object to the prejudice-based insinuations at the core of this hysteria-induced "news" article and its reports of "environmental" damage.