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DaveO

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Everything posted by DaveO

  1. DaveO
    Those are miserable friggin numbers. The kinds that put a business out of business!!! You have to overbook. Of course when everyone shows you have pissed off a lot of unhappy people who can't get a seat. That can't work. Or you have to get late last minute reservations that do show up on weekends, or you have to get walk in traffic. Or both of the latter. No matter what you do you have to keep people happy otherwise bad reviews flood in. Its not easy. If the weekend last minute reservations or walks in dry up then you are dead in the water. Its a rough business and industry. I wonder if those percentages hold up across the industry? Those percentages destroy any ability to plan on purchases and scheduling from week to week. That is a rough road.
  2. DaveO
    John Travolta first made his name in film in the 1970's, often as the result of dance scenes. During the 1970's Travolta was young lithe, rangy, and an excellent dancer. As he aged, gained weight, and took on dramatically different roles, some of them included memorable dance scenes, not the least of which was the one in the whimsical film "Michael," made in 1996. Travolta played an angel on his last trip to earth and was staying in a motel in Iowa. Three reporters from a Chicago rag and a pet dog are sent to the motel to uncover the Angel and then return on a road trip back to Chicago. While stopping at a roadside tavern for some nourishment the following dance scene ensues: Done to the music Chain of Fools, Travolta, as the pied piper of dance:
  3. DaveO
    That video is too much. I watched Batman in my youth, and I feel like I recall that particular show and scene. The actress is Jill St John. I don't believe she was in Star Trek. The dance scene with Batman was too much. A riot. When he rolled his fingers across and in front of his eyes it made me think of this somewhat better dance scene with Uma Thurman and John Travolta;
  4. DaveO
    Good season, Wiz. Possibly the best or 2nd best season in the last 34 years or so. Ughhhhhhhhhh. Hoping for a somewhat better season next year.
  5. DaveO
    I stopped at Republic Kitchen and Bar the other night and enjoyed it being early enough and taking advantage of the HH bar menu. The mussels were a huge portion, well prepared in a solid broth with bread to soak up the broth, tomatoes, and onions. Tasty, and enormous value. The setting is attractive. A large rap around bar dominates the inside, along with a enormous window line, and high ceilings. Its light bright and airy...and I'm a sucker for that kind of dining setting. The restaurant offers plenty of covered seating outside. Over the course of variable outdoor conditions that is a huge bonus. Upon recommendation from one of the staff I also had the shrimp and grits. Again tasty. The shrimp were well prepared and zesty, the grits were smooth....the only thing that got me was the broth was virtually the same as that with the mussels. Personal poor choice for that evening..too repetitive, but again hearty and tasty. I went back through the previous comments and have to agree with some of the previously referenced pros and cons of the location. It is a previously dark stretch for foot traffic. Yet with Kappanos opening catecorner to this location and Rustico a half block away on Wilson it has a restaurant, bar, and dining attractiveness. Nearby parking is in the eyes of the beholder. Ballston Common Mall offers enormous covered parking at all hours, and if one walks the length of the mall to the East end the restaurant is 1 block away. That is convenient in my book and eliminates the need to hunt for a street space. But it is also within a few moments walk from one of the densest residential populations within the entire region with blocks of 20 story residential buildings all within a few minutes walk. That is dense and rarely seen anywhere in this region. On its East side there is a similarly but somewhat less dense population in the Virginia Square region. There are a lot of potential visitors to the restaurant and bar in that area....one just has to have an establishment that stands out for quality, value and ambiance. I think Republic Kitchen and Bar is on the way to meeting that challenge. I was around and working and dining in that area at the end of the 90's as Josh above referenced. It was a bit strange. Rio was always jammed. Virtually always. Bistro Bistro and restaurants that followed it were hit and miss and they stared across a small courtyard from one another. If one hits the right chords for the market...there are a lot of customers in the region...and now there are lots more than there were 18 years ago.
  6. DaveO
    The Playoff Wizards Crushed Indiana the other night, 102-79, staving off playoff elimination, winning the game after 3 straight losses and moving the playoff results to 2-3 in favor of Indiana. First team to 4 wins takes the playoff series and competes against Miami for the Eastern Division Championship. What was simply astounding was the rebound margin in favor of the Wizards. The Wiz had 62 rebounds and the Pacers had 23 leaving a margin of 39 rebounds in the favor of the Wiz. That is the 3rd highest rebound margin in NBA playoff history with the largest margin ever being 42. Something like that virtually never occurs. Certainly not in the Playoffs and not with teams with entire rosters of players at the highest levels of the sport. It was historic. In this playoff series as in so many that have occurred over the decades one sees incredible swings; one team crushes the opposition in one game and in a following game the team that got crushed returns the favor and demolishes the other team. I've always found it astounding. It has occurred every year, year after year, in series after series going back to the beginning of the professional sport. In this latest match up it must have been a combination of the Wizards playing inspired ball with desperation and drive and the Pacers playing with absolutely no emotion or mental or physical effort. One never knows what is going to occur for the most part. (current exceptions being Lebron James and Kevin Durant virtually ALWAYS playing great) It makes watching the games worthwhile.
  7. DaveO
    yes. We kibitz about bialy's. thanks for the correction. I have yet to visit Bread Furst. I don't recall exact prices at Marvelous Market when it first opened on upper Connecticut Avenue, I do recall they were relatively high compared to anything else and that the breads were so dramatically better than anything in the market. They were food delicacies and treats and worth every additional penny, nickel, dime, and dollar(s) above all else in my ex-wife's eyes, my eyes, and our guests eyes. Prices were high. I knew it. I stood in those bread lines almost every week and at times more than once a week. Of course price is always in the eyes of every beholder. I always find it interesting to read the reviews on places I enjoy and frequent. Discussions on prices ALWAYS vary...from too high, to just right, to relatively inexpensive...all for the same restaurant or bakery or market. Always. I'll probably be there this weekend if not sooner. I'm sorry I haven't been there to date. What is your choice of delicacy; the type of food for which you would pay a premium and not consider it a burden but rather a treat (if any) ? I'd pay a premium for great ryes and be less likely to do so for a challah.
  8. DaveO
    The Wizards are now 1-3 in the second round of the playoffs following a first game win. The last 3 games have included one strong win by Indiana and 2 games that could have gone either way. In the two close losses the Wizards gave up big leads. They faltered in the stretch. Tough to watch, especially at the end of the close games. On the other hand over the years it is a pattern for how teams develop. The Wiz do have a very strong young backcourt with an excellent playmaker and an excellent shooting guard, and both players can switch roles with Bradley Beal able to distribute the ball and John Wall able to be a big time scorer. Here is hoping for a victory in game 5 and continued fortunes in future years.
  9. DaveO
    The third installment of the series at theAtlantic.com on WWI. This piece focuses on technology. Its quite interesting as it gives a sense of the bridge of changing technology over time, between what was in existence at the time, what was developed to cope with changes, and the early versions of technologies we see today. In my view: an awful lot of armor and an awful lot of destroyed and twisted armor by ever larger projectiles.
  10. DaveO
    Tomorrow is its last day. That makes 5 in a row neighborhood eating and drinking choices all closed as development will replace the existing old buildings with a hotel and office building respectively.
  11. DaveO
    Geez: that is a 2 hour video. Oh my, I lived in walking distance to Memorial Stadium at that time. But as a college student then WS tickets were way too pricey. Regular season games were a treat, and in September it was cool to watch the end of the season back then, especially as the Orioles of that time were regularly playoff contenders with great teams. Painful loss from my perspective....though those 2 teams were apt representatives of fervent blue collar cities. Also, while the Orioles had a starting pitching staff with 4 20 game winners, the Pirates had a starting pitching staff that included Doc Ellis, the guy that threw a no hitter while on LSD. That alone might be the most unbelievable sporting accomplishment in the history of competition.
  12. DaveO
    Will there be a change occurring? "What The Hell Is Going On With TruOrleans?"
  13. DaveO
    That Big Chair Ownership/management situation was incredibly messy and screwed up. Its the 2nd time recently I've been aware of an effort to shift the management/control of a restaurant/f & b place while not disrupting the lease and not making an outright shift. I doubt it either party had all their ducks in order. Experience suggests not to trust these types of changes, at least in the cases I've seen.
  14. DaveO
    That is interesting. I enjoy the atlantic monthly and its various associated media. It has always been a thought provoking publication. One tiny anecdotal note; from the perspective of the bar school that has been staffing all sorts of places for decades; there has been a relatively scarce number of lesbian clubs relative to gay mens clubs over many years. While a tiny issue it is reflective of having to travel further for one group of folks. In one context the research and theory reflects ethnic patterns in US cities for decades and decades and certainly reflects back on a period from the beginning of the 20th century to WWII within certain metropolitan regions. Its interesting research. It does suggest that restaurants take note of these trends. Meanwhile people should explore other areas as Joe has referenced, imho. As a sidenote, @Tujague: I was part of the leasing team for what was considered a hot dynamic property back in the beginning of the 1980's; Georgetown Park. It never met expectations, and actually did poorly as a property and a draw to shoppers. Its most recently been completely changed in character. In any case the character of folks that spent time in Georgetown then was very similar to how you characterized them now. It hasn't changed significantly imho. Still its an historic area; its quaint and attractive and the waterfront is a very attractive draw.
  15. DaveO
    I visited Lincoln for HH the other night. For transparencies sake I was visiting one of their bartenders, Alex. Alex is a friend, and in my mind and in the minds of several others with more experience is possibly one of the most knowledgeable craft cocktail bartenders in the region. He is geeky about the topic, reads on it all the time, has created his own bitters, infused alcohol, and has been studying the topic for years. years. He is also a good chap in my estimation. Alex disdains publicity. He is not a highlighted publicized bartender/mixologist. Yet virtually every featured cocktail on the Lincoln menu is one he created or teamed on to create. Alex works Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at Lincoln and handles the biggest nights at the restaurant. He has also been featured in several publicity efforts by Lincoln. But he isn't well known. His call. In any case I cocktailed on two maple crusta's a bourbon based drink that were very tasty and well made. A nice confluence of flavors. I was very early at the HH. Alex was preparing all the syrups and mixers, as his cohorts were doing additional set up. The crew behind the bar was amiable to customers and among themselves and seemed to work well together and responded quickly to customers. They were paying attention all the time. On the bar menu side, I was there so early the kitchen wasn't open, so started with a hummus dip with crackers. I'm a big hummus eater. I enjoyed the consistency of Lincoln's version. Additionally I ordered the Pennsylvania Duck Sausage. Very flavorful with a flaky crust and a sharp mustard. Excellent bar food. Chatted with some customers including some regulars. They like the bar, the drinks and the staff. From the comments of the staff, perusing reviews, and noting some customers...this is definitely a go-to restaurant for nearby hotels...but it has a terrific bar environment, a friendly staff....and I can certainly vouch for at least one tasty, well made strong cocktail.
  16. DaveO
    Happy Mothers Day
  17. DaveO
    Suffering at the moment from last nights cocktailing
  18. DaveO
    Don: I'm not educated on WWI but saw the Atlantic piece said that 2014 is the 100 year anniversary and went through the pictures and some of the history. WWI is BIG HISTORY. The photos in the first two installments of this 10 week serial are stunning, grim, and powerful. The details from your reference are flabbergasting; so large, so extensive, so devastating, so destructive and evil. It blows my mind about us as a human race. That war laid waste to Europe. it only took 21 years after WWI ended for folks to start a second devastating and even larger war. In the 21 years between the end of the first World War and the beginning of the 2nd WW the people in charge of countries could count on husbands and wives and mothers and fathers to sire and raise a new generation of young people that could then be sent off to kill one another....in mass numbers....AGAIN. Back to WWI. I've read some of the literature...but those pictures are painful. Trenches, mud, soldiers weighted down by armaments, people in gas masks, devastation. Its friggin painful and ugly.
  19. DaveO
    ....and that video also provides the real reason why James Bond preferred his martini's shaken...not stirred.
  20. DaveO
    One note of interest. I was fascinated and intrigued to see the last item on the bread menu; bialys; available on weekends. I don't believe I've ever had a really excellent bialy in this region. I'm quite psyched. I kibbutz about bialy's with far flung friends on the web. They were a rare treat from the NYC region and from my youth. On a side note on bialys. If you wish to see a very bizarre glitch in google search, use maps.google.com Search for bialys DC That is a very weird result.
  21. DaveO
    I lived in the neighborhood when Marvelous Market first opened in the 90's. For me, the former location was North and out of the way for a weekday treat during commute time... ...but the weekends. We would often walk up Conn Ave to the old location. THE BREAD LINES omg. Out the door. Down the block a bit as I recall. But they moved reasonably quickly. What an irony. DC's bread lines at that time were the demographic opposite of bread lines through history and around the world. But the quality certainly justified long lines, patience and getting the best bread in the region at the time. I'll be visiting Bread Furst and its way out of my way now.
  22. DaveO
    This thread made me curious. I contacted two folks I know from St Louis, both big sports fans and big local sports fans. Do the natives in St. Louis care or miss the former St Louis Cards football team. One of the two was older and would have followed them for most of their period in St Louis. One was younger and would have grown up with them. The responses: Most in St Louis don't care, or are ambivalent. Having the Rams makes up for the loss of the Football cards...so there isn't much of a residual fan base in St Louis per these two perspectives. Meanwhile between the Cardinals football team and the Wizards basketball team we happen to have threads on two franchises with miserable records. Possibly to spice things up and add an element of team success we need a thread on the Washington Kastle's tennis team. They have a phenomenal record and are local. Anyone been to their matches???
  23. DaveO
    At some point in the beginning of the '70's when I was at my parents home I started to go to this barbershop that was pushing the envelope for men's haircuts and becoming a stylist. The shop was run by two brothers who were youngish (probably in their 20's) immigrants from Italy. They were tremendously outgoing friendly fellows. One of my uncle's and my cousin raved about them. More relevantly these two brothers were active soccer players in Euro dominated soccer leagues in the region. They were popular in Italian leagues. I was part of a long cadre of members of my town's soccer establishment, wherein our high school teams were almost always good and our members played in various ethnic leagues throughout the region. As players went on to college they continued to play in these ethnic leagues where the skill levels were always dramatically superior to those of native Americans. The leagues were fun, the players were neat to meet, and the skill levels in the leagues helped all the kids from my town to dramatically improve our own skills. Our whole cadre of kids from my town went to these barbers and coincidentally started playing in the Italian leagues in our region. Italian only teams had players with British, Germanic, Polish, Jewish, and Irish surnames...all from my town. Before that we had mostly played in German-American and Polish-American leagues through our various connections. The Italian leagues were very spirited and had a strong skill level. A lot of fun to play in. ....and by the way these two brothers gave great hair cuts. They put some style into haircuts on heads that had all been subject to traditional short cuts previously. Of course it was the '70's and longer and longer hair was in vogue. Here is to those two brothers...where ever they might be.
  24. DaveO
    The Wizards won their first game of the 2nd round in Indiana. Bah Boom History. The Wiz/Bullets haven't won the first game of the 2nd round since 1982. That is 32 years. Its a lifetime. What I found dumbfounding was how poorly the Pacers' center, Hibbert played. Last season in the playoffs I thought his performance made Indiana one of the favorites for the crown this year. And it did. For half a season. Then he went bad and the Pacers became mediocre over the last third of the season and during the first round against Atlanta. Hibbert is interesting. He is a local. Played his high school ball here and played his college ball here at Georgetown. He was 7' 2" in high school. One of our former employees played HS ball with him. He was a high school star...but not because of talent...because of height. When he got to Georgetown he was a project. Long before they worked on his basketball skills they worked on his athleticism, coordination, and strength. By his Junior and Senior years he was good in college and became a high draft choice. He still had years of development in front of him. Last year and the first half of this year he blossomed. He was playing at an all star and dominant level. And then he crashed. In every way. Its very hard to figure. He is slow and late on every move. He is a problem for Indiana...and as a Wizards fan I'm happy. But for him...I hope he learns what is wrong and fixes it. Hibbert has been an excellent testimonial to hard work. Its as if Hibbert is playing while he has some kind of virus that his slowed him down...a mystery virus that has yet to be medically detected. Meanwhile...with a lousy Hibbert for Indiana...the freaking Wiz were great in a many facets. Shooting, teamwork, rebounding, teamwork, teamwork. Go Wiz.
  25. DaveO
    One hundred years ago World War I began. It lasted for over 4 years and resulted in approximately 37 million deaths and injuries, with about 15-16 million deaths and about 9 million of them being military personnel. It also involved approximately 70 million soldiers being called to serve; about 60 million in Europe. All of those are staggering numbers. Before World War II it was called the Great War. Devastation on a grand never before experienced scale. The Atlantic is running a review of photos from the war years. They are grim. This weeks pictures available on the web: The Western Front The series began last week: Pictures From Last Week
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