DaveO

The best risotto I ever had was by a friend whose MIL, native Northern Italian, taught her to cook. This woman was an astonishing cook. Seeing this thread has me aching for her risotto and other dishes. A.C.H.I.N.G. She has long departed this area. Joe's piece and comments suggest I need to visit Roberto.

Opening tomorrow morning May 6th, having passed final inspections. Picture attached:

Blueberry pie with lemon curd topping by Acme Pie Company with coffee. This is pie heaven.

you said it brother. oooof. I was in college then. That video is a striking recollection of an emotional intense time period. Its very sad but so much of the political anger of today is reminiscent of that era.

Might be. I don't know the definition of outlet pass. Love, though, is one of the players that uses it pretty frequently and more regularly than most players. Its a play that involves teamwork. The guards and small forward have to break to the other basket. Its used so rarely these days. Love's father must have evidently really admired Wes Unseld...hence Love's middle name. I just wonder if Love was schooled in some older traditional methods that end up spurring a focus on things like outlet passes. I don't know. Its just a guess. I'd like to see a guy like Love on the Wizards. I don't think Nene is long for the basketball world. He is very brittle and is also getting up in years. Nene is such a plus for the Wizards...but I don't believe he'll have a lot of productivity in front of him, primarily because of one type of injury or another.

Wow. There is a heckuva rent deal connected to that opportunity. Good luck to the winner. hmmm....I wonder if that base rent comes with a percentage clause??? regardless the rent part of that equation is danged great in this marketplace.

@ Steve R: I went back and viewed videos of Earl Monroe, the Knicks, Bullets of those days and video that included Earl in college. It was a revelation and a hammer to the head in terms of recollection. Earl was a unique one of a kind inventive, thoroughly coordinated master and magician. Have there been other players who had a style like his? I don't recall any. He combined a unique level of body coordination with amazing hand eye ball control, a body of moves, fakes and spins that included his head, shoulders, arms, waist, hips and legs feinting and faking in every way possible, He had to have had the softest of hands and large ones to boot. He had a lot of dipsy doo shots when he faked a shot, got the defender to jump, went under him and put in a shot with spin, in a way that Kevin Mchale gained fame for in the 80's. He also had an incredibly soft touch with his shot. Earl was supposedly a great high school soccer player in Philadelphia and Don made a reference to Maradonna and what were incredible ball control moves. Earl did it with his hands. He certainly had to have carried the ball endless times among his spins and twists, but it was difficult to call, and frankly was so bball artistic and unique that it deserved being allowed. LOL. He said he used to do magic tricks for the Bullets at half time. I don't recall that. I went to a number of Bullet Knicks games in the old Baltimore civic center. The mano a mano match ups were legendary. Earl vs Clyde was the highlight. Two magicians covering one another with the highlight being Earl's offense versus Clyde's defense. In some of those videos there are scenes of Clyde strategically taking a defensive swipe and Earl just beating him by a millisecond with the ball and body leaving Clyde in the dust. I'm sure there were other incidents when Clyde beat Earl by a similar millisecond and stole the ball. It had to be a treat to cover him one time. Earl was a unique one of a kind dude on the court, possibly even in his late 40's or early 50's and even with 2 hip transplants. His hand eye coordination was unmatched and oh those soft touch shooting hands. My goodness. I know there were better shooting guards; West, Jordan, Kobe, maybe some others...but Earl was great, magical and a one of a kind.

This video of Earl the Pearl is so slick. He was an offensive wizard. When he was traded to the Knicks he toned his game down...but oh my he was slick:

Inches from opening per the initial health inspection and story here

This story concerning an attack on Tyler Cowan is truly bizarre.

Starting yesterday or today Google just changed the way restaurants are listed and shown on a mobile device in a google search of various types. A screen shot is provided: If mobile users are searching using terms such as: coffee shop, restaurants, italian restaurants, seafood, and the searchers location is known by google this new type of visualization will show with 3 or 4 restaurants taking precedence on the page and gathering a lot of visibility. If one searches for any restaurant/coffee shop etc and adds the type of restaurant and a location/ ie DC, U Street, Annandale, Bethesda, Georgetown, etc. the search will narrow in on the *highest rated* restaurant in that neighborhood. Its not highest rated by any type of review metric, but rather highest rated based on any type of local/maps type of ranking. In an area full of competition that top ranking in a group of only 3 or 4 could have significant impact. At least for owners/operators I'd check it out. I did a search on a mobile for restaurants U Street, DC. With so many restaurants on that corridor Ben's Chili Bowl showed first with a picture. From a google maps ranking perspective, Bens Chili Bowl has a unique advantage that would be difficult to match for most restaurants anywhere; it has thousands of references in web documents over many years because of its very long history. In other areas though, where the existing restaurants don't have those decades of references its something for restaurateurs to investigate, I would imagine.

Some examples of early Thompson journalism before he gained fame.

Popped in at Cedar over the weekend. It was between brunch and dinner and definitely off hours. I had been there off and on over the last few years and enjoyed it immensely. Of note, one of its former highlights is no more: Matt the bartender moved out of the area about 6 months ago. He was skilled, pleasant, helpful and designed some terrific cocktails. I'm not happy having to reference that website that rhymes with shmelp but one can find Matt's name referenced and applauded quite a bit in the various Cedar reviews. I hope they are discerning and come up with somebody similarly talented.

Listening to different versions of the song brought back a flood of memories. It is a good song. Nice choice, Don. I certainly remember it during my own drug oriented days of the 70's and recall seeing it performed by the Jefferson Airplane. An ode to the drug environment. Its musicality is excellent. It was reintroduced to the broader American public in the 1980's with various movies about Vietnam. Supposedly while popular in the States it was also popular among soldiers in Vietnam who were struggling in a killing war, and had great access to alcohol and drugs to kill the pain. Certainly its strongest movie application was in the film Platoon where that bolero like teutonic feel was well juxtaposed with the events in the field with the war.

Some are old here and most aren't as old as us. Fortunately!!!! The Dead!!! Count me in.

Planned a trip and rendezvous at the Native American museum for this weekend with the main reason being the opportunity to eat at the Mitsitam Cafe. What I didn't plan for was that my old friend and visitor is not a big fan of at least Southwestern native food having lived in New Mexico for quite a few years and having not enjoyed that which he had sampled. On Saturday the museum was crowded. A protest was going on planned by the Cowboy and Indian Alliance against the XL pipeline. On a side note, while waiting outside, I was sitting next to the man in the yellow vest in the picture. He is the President of the Lalakotah Indian tribe and had come in from South Dakota. Very nice gentlemen and it was an interesting conversation. By the time my friend arrived we were both starving and went right to the cafe. Oh my it was crowded and understaffed. The menus looked interesting but the staffing was weak and the lines were long. I ended up with of all things turkey, if only because of the staffing limitations. I'll have to go back. The menu is too interesting and diverse to avoid...I'll just try and hit it on a less busy day.

Ah, Don, Don, Don. Criticism, and perspective are fine ....except when one was there. Then its experiential with its own personal unique memories. I saw Jefferson Airplane perform and saw Gracie Slick belt out that song. What an astonishing anthem to smoking ever more dope, rolling ever more doobies, and engaging in ever more personal efforts to experience the peace/love phenomena. While I was at Woodstock I didn't get to see them/her. I did see them at a phenomenal free concert at the Sheep Meadow in Central Park, right around that time. We were astonishingly close to the stage. Maybe 20 feet. The height of the stage was not great at all. Distance between performers and fans was minimal. Jefferson Airplane and Santana, whose music was so new, powerful, driving and dramatically, favorably different was so extraordinary. This free concert was not that crowded. How we got the word that there would be a performance was a unique gift during hippiedom. Gracie Slick was an iconic female rock star. Voice, presence, attitude, some terrific songs, a drug oriented group and she was danged pretty. (my god I feel like a bieberite). As in the woodstock video she would cup a hand around one ear, ostensibly to enable her to hear better. I desperately wanted to be one of those fingers!! That was a great song for getting high and higher. ....and that said from somebody who hasn't rolled a joint or smoked a doobie in 2 decades and very few times in the decade before that. But ya know.....the song is bolero like. I agree. So thanks for the comments and provoking the memories. (as an aside yesterday I was with an old compadre visiting his new granddaughter in DC. He lives in Colorado. In the midst of wide ranging discussions he referenced that the problem with legalized dope was with "digestibles" The high lasts too long and longer than users anticipate. My immediate first thought.....that is the purpose of it. That guy and his wife have had conversations with myself and 3 others I know, all of whom anticipate traveling to Colorado to smoke dope with them. Maybe we should all get together, Smoke some doobies, bake a cake and listen to White Rabbit.) LOL

I certainly heard that warning. I don't recall it occurring. I do remember a few spankings, etc. Not a lot. A cousin and I were discussing this recently. He recalled a bunch of them by both his father and mother, including one where after he did something his mother let him know his father was going to hear about it. My cousin prepared by putting books in his pants over his rump. Didn't work. His father figured it out. So I had a follow up conversation about this topic with my mom. She remembered hitting me some. Neither of us think it was much. My memory on that one was the time she hit me and I realized that those spankings/ hittings no longer hurt. I have a strong memory of the moment I realized that penalty no longer hurt or stung.

All of the above stories are moving and great. I liked this one because....as a Jewish American kid (who grew up in heavily Italian American influenced areas in the NY metro region) I had several great memories. My dad generally worked 6 days a week, but on Sunday's he would often start the day visiting a local deli to get food for Sunday mornings. Bagels, cheeses, lox of several types, various smoked fish, etc. I went with him to that deli a lot. It seems the same guy always served him. That fellow had the same first name as my father and a very big lower lip. They'd kibbutz. He'd slice lox and have us taste it. He'd advise on the best of smoked fish. Those were big great breakfasts. So many Sundays. A great way to start off a great day. My mom always told us she was a miserable cook, but by the time we were kids she was a noted good cook and she also filled the table w/ huge quantities of food. Two of her best dishes were remarkably and exactly like her mom's two best dishes, chicken fricassee and chicken soup. They were masterpieces. She did a lot of other good meals. She was great w/ a variety of Italian styled veal dishes. She did some wonderful pastas. She soaked up the best of the neighborhood and region. We'd occasionally hit this amazing family style Italian restaurant in Newark, NJ. I was pretty sure there were mafioso there even as I was a young kid. The place was a BYOB type of place. When we went there a lot of guys would know my dad. I knew they weren't his friends or family. LOL They introduced my parents to the owners and had them "take care of us". My dad was a partner in a little business located in Newark for probably about 20+ years following WWII I know he was paying the mafia protection money. I guess these guys "liked him". The food there was simply unbelievable. Beyond that of any other place I had experienced. It was really a family restaurant, not extravagant or fancy and in less than a stellar location. They made a dish I can't forget and am trying to replicate. I so wish I had gotten an original recipe. Of recent I'm trying to replicate it. My attempts are passable but not close to that dining nirvana. The dish was called chicken oreganata and there are a myriad of recipes on the web. I've tried a variety and they don't quite get there in terms of what I recall from my youth and at a couple of other similar type restaurants in the NY metro area so many years ago. It was a good area to grow up in from a food perspective and my mom could really load the table w/ wonderful foods.

ugh....went there once. Just hated it. For a neighborhood place that was reliable, reasonable and offered good food I enjoyed Thai at Corner. Sad to seem them leave. I hope they opened or will open elsewhere.

that is a sad and cr@ppy story to read about. It seems to be a longish term issue. Federal Realty is a big time real estate group. My recollection is they purchased that site from a seller who I doubt sells cheap so I suspect high rents. That is crummy. That great chef/restaurateur should get a business assistant/partner to help him make a fantastic restaurant a financial success also imho. The last part is difficult and heavy rents don't help if the volume of business ebbs and flows and faces consistent competition. Sorry to hear about it.

I loved the first Rocky. I'm partial to movies of that ilk, with characters of that type, and stories that provide that kind of emotional lift. Did it deserve the Academy Award over its competitors that year? I don't care. I also loved some of the movies it competed against that year and from time to time I've seen those others referenced above additional times. In fact what an astonishing quartet of wonderful stories in film, each significantly different. They were all worthwhile winners, imho and all are worthy of seeing again.

I haven't the foggiest idea which restaurant this might be but one thing wouldn't surprise me: Huge increases in rents. Rental rates have soared. Some restaurants with old expiring leases are probably looking at enormous increases. I've been hearing about rents from several sources. If some restaurants have tried to renegotiate in view of expiring leases I suspect they are planning closures. Of course there could be many many reasons, but I have heard abt rents from several sources. In certain submarkets the retail rates have gone through the roof.

Great great story. I appreciate it. I grew up in Northern NJ then moved south for college. I got to witness the amazing Knick/Bullet rivalry of the storied knicks teams against the bullets when they matched up so well--every position had a great match up. Willis/Wes Gus Johnson/the Great Debuscherre Earl/Clyde Bradley/Marin and so on. Those were classics. My loyalties are divided. I still like the Knicks...but so many woes over so many years since those great teams. The good bullets outlasted the good knicks as some key players were younger than the great knicks of those classic days. In the interim the Knicks had some more highlights...but haven't been able to get to the top. oiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. Great story on Earl. here is my tale. In my college days my closest friends and I had an intramural team called the Pearls. We've stayed in touch over so many decades. In '99 one passed away. I was a contact person for his family while he was in the hospital in critical. At death I contacted people on their behalf about the funeral. One was a woman from those college days. One was an ex Pearl--her old boyfriend from those days. The woman was able to make the funeral. She and the fellow who passed away had maintained a great friendship over the decades. She actually flew in from the far East. Her old bf couldn't make the funeral. (an aside--on one weekend in the late 70's the fellow who passed away, the guy who couldn't make the funeral and I played bb for 3 straight days in Ohio taking on everyone in fierce competition) Some other old friends made it, including old "pearls". One of them saw her and invited her to his daughter's upcoming bat mitzvah. I told the ex boyfriend about this and he got invited to this bat mitzvah also. Co-incidentally the old gf and bf were not married at the time. They hit it off and rekindled old feelings. One year later they were married. The old pearls held a reunion to celebrate this rekindling of an old flame and honor the fellow who passed away...and on a certain basis was the reason they got together again so many years after first having a relationship. The reunion was in NYC. I was able to get a hold of Wes Unseld to tell him this story. He gave me Earl's home phone number. I called Earl a lot. I think/recall I got his g/f or wife at the time. I related the story. I left messages. We were offering an "appearance fee" as I understand that is how things are done with old celebrities and old sports heros. He never got back to me. Later I read that was a tough period for him. C'est la vie. I hear he is doing better now. That was my one shot to meet Earl. It never occurred. I did get to meet Willis though, when I was a teenager and shake his hand. In retrospect I'm surprised I've washed that hand ever since. That meeting was a thrill of my teen years. Here is to old Knicks and old Bullets when they had the greatest rivalry mano a mano in all of basketball. I suppose the Celtics/Lakers had a similar rivalry in the 80's but it wasn't as mano a mano'ish at every position. One final Knicks memory. I had floor seats at MSG one time way back in the day. They were underneath one of the baskets. Bob Lanier crashed through into the fans while chasing a ball. There he was lying down, stretched over fans. I got a close up of his humongous feet, reportedly the largest in the NBA at the time, maybe ever. Those were humongous feet. Two of them. Each beyond enormous!!!! It made the game. Watching from under the basket is not a great vantage point but those feet alone were a sight to behold.

Last night the Wizards accomplished a franchise FIRST. This franchise goes back 50+ years. Its a first. (took a long time). It was the first time the Wizards(nee the Bullets) ever won the first two games of a playoff series with both games on the opponents court. Yikes. That is a lot of history. (back in the day...the playoffs used to rotate game by game between cities. So way back in the day this feat was impossible. (frankly I should be reading novels rather than wasting my time on these little statistical anomalies)