DaveO

I am well aware there are other Peruvian chicken places around;  some better.  Yet El Pollo Rico is still quite good.  Its possible sides have improved.  Today our office had takeout,, with several chickens, rice, black beans, yucca, fries.  

It was great.  Better than great.  Every staffer enjoyed it.  We only get it on occasion.  But every staffer enjoys it.  Similarly one visits on certain nights and it is packed.  I continue to visit, even as I get Peruvian chicken from other places also.

Overall context:  for Peruvian chicken --El Pollo Rico = still good and tasty (white meat was quite moist today)

FOH staff at sfoglina are  being trained right now.  By the end of the session they will know more about pasta than I know (and I've been cooking and working with it for 50 years).  Good for them

Why does pasta taste so good in restaurants??  They use a lot of cream.  Yes they can do it without dairy.  It won't taste as good.

How much cream do I use??  Not much.  They are better.

I don't know if @Genevieve has returned but I'm a big fan of the spicy tonkotsu pork ramen.  Excellent with every ingredient.   Its currently priced at $12/bowl. 

Seriously it is damn good!!!!

Food is great and plentiful.  There is space here.  Ric Flair's remain excellent.

Got there a little after opening at 5:30.  Maybe 30 people or so.  By the time I left about 7:30 there were about 50-70 between the two floors.  From my singular perspective it was an equal mix between olders and those in their 20-30's.  Per a short conversation with Dean, they were blown away by a large crowd that hit them early on Monday.

A large assortment of typical dishes were served during the evening as staff brought out platters of delicacies and you could choose from among them.  The platters kept expanding as the night wore on.   Ooooh.  I had missed on the peaches with bacon at earlier sittings.  That was delicious.  Other dishes were right on target and good.  I could have stayed to "pig out" but what I had was ample and excellent.  Drinks were evidently half price, at least the Ric Flairs were.   Two were ample and I didn't leave drunk.  

Tough tough nut running a restaurant in this city with endless competition and nothing stopping new restaurants from opening.  

I wish Dean the best going forward.

RIP Cokie Roberts.  A brilliant and kind person, a fixture in National political discourse, an incredibly personable individual.  Well loved by those that knew her.  Accomplished and loving.  Big loss today.

Terrific memories including a review of her life and memories/testimonials from her colleagues

On 9/16/2019 at 10:30 AM, deangold said:

After more than 14 years at two locations, it is time to move on. While we have two closing parties left, Last night was our final night of service. I will miss all our fans. Seeing so many couples bring in kids and saying that Dino was where they had heir first date was amazing. Sharing memories and stories the last time made this a real celebration.

It's hard to realize how many weddings, engagements and even divorces were celebrated at our restaurants. The number of birthday and anniversaries celebrated at one of the Dinos must be in the 5,000 to 10,000 range. We were even the spot three families of former customers/friends chose to celebrate the lives of recently deceased loved ones.

Kay and I look forward to our new life able to spend time together! There will be food-oriented stuff happening, just no more restaurants. To keep up on the curated food adventures, private in-home chef experiences, pop-ups, food trips to Italy and more, please get on our email list or follow us on twitter.

I think I am going to sleep for 3 weeks straight! But I wanted to thank all who supported us over the years.

Geez.  I hope you don't go to bed till after the Tuesday night finale.  I have a ticket for the last evening. 

Seriously best of luck going forward.

The comments over the last few days from @Andrew Shapiro, Dino's BarKeep, on FB were quite heartwarming.  Nice to see.

29 minutes ago, dcs said:

We had season tickets for 20 years and did not renew this year. No regrets.

The last 20 years??  Oh my.  I stopped attending games during the Snyder era; bad teams, evil sick management, and it felt as if Snyder had his hands in my pocket while driving to the game, slickly taking the bills from my wallet , while preparing to watch ever worse entertainment.

Oh for crying out loud.  2 games, 2 losses, 63 points scored against the "improved defense".  The "best unit on the team" defensive line" was overwhelmed.  Backs could tackle but weren't great in coverage. 

Looks like one more Snyderskin season-- a disaster.

Last week I had the joy  (or the exercise) of comparing two different two-slice pizzas/deals at lunch.   One set was from Brooklyn Bagel  (facebook page--website being redesigned) in Courthouse.  Two slices and a 22 oz soda for $6.88 (I believe).   The second set was Whole Foods Clarendon;  2 slices at $7.00  ($5 for a Prime member on Friday).  Drinks extra.

Now I like the operators at BB (Brooklyn Bagel) having known them for about 14/15 years.  Good guys.  Did you know they are open 365 days a year?   A reasonably good bagel.  Not the best in the region but clearly good enough and superior to most.   They are open for breakfast, lunch and late lunch.

Coming in for a late lunch there was only one other patron dining inside.  It was slow.   The pizza was sitting at the counter.  I ordered two slices from a meat pizza.  It needed to be reheated, with the oven in the back.  Sort of cumbersome.  The soda is a good size.   But the pizza, brought to my humble table, reheated, was that kind of dreadful, morning/reheated pizza that sometimes passes for breakfast.  It does fill you up.  Tasted ....well terrible.   I mostly finished it along with gulping down the ample sized fountain coca-cola.   At $6.88 (plus Arlington 10% tax plus a tip) it was still a "steal" in todays lunch environment.  The coke was perfectly dispenser quality fine, about 15% filled with dispenser ice. 

Whole Foods offers 1 slice for about $3.80 and two slices for $7.00  ($5 on Friday for Amazon Prime members)  Pizza is pre cooked and kept under heat lamps.  It is serve your own.  Pies are pre sliced and the slice sizes are ample.  Two slices IMO are an ample lunch.

I chose the chicken assiago and a mushroom slice.  Both were ample, the first being larger than the single slice container.  I am a proponent of this pizza.  The crust has a zing to it and is appropriate as a thin to medium crust pizza.  Its tasty.   Toppings are of a nice quality.  Both toppings were of a better quality than BB's and the crust was superior.  What was missing??   The 22 oz coke with ice.  In fact WF (Whole Foods) doesn't have chilled soda so I opted for a $0.79 soda water.  Okay...but its not (sugary/sweet) coke.

Evaluation??   WF significantly better than BB.  (and hey--I like BB)...but not that good in the pizza department.

1 hour ago, DanCole42 said:

Now that Ray's has moved on, what's a good steakhouse experience in Northern VA for two bros to bro it up with some meat?

Bro it up...I suggest the Palm

1 hour ago, Keithstg said:

An Ovi retirement will definitely be interesting. The Caps have had franchise-defining players before (Langway, Oates, Kolzig, etc), but never a generational talent, or best player in the game until Ovi. I could see there being a short-term hit to ticket sales - how much depends on how many Caps fans are hockey fans, or Ovi fans exclusively. I'd bet on the former though admittedly hadn't considered it until your post.

The reasonable read and assessment of Rendon's contract status and responsible parties is much appreciated.

As a fan, I'm a homer.  I like it when the local "stars" stay and resign with the home team.  Regardless I had a job that equates to what Boras does.  In that job you work for your client and your goal is to get the client the best deal possible.  The other parties don't matter.  Most of the time "the best deal possible" is all about the money.  Sometimes its about "the money and other considerations--actually "other considerations" can weigh in a lot, but the job is mostly about getting the client the best deal possible.

Negotiations are at times contentious.  Its private.  The only way outsiders, such as fans will know about it is if someone on the inside leaks info.  In the world of sports I'm sure that purposefully occurs at times.  There have been not infrequent situations in sports where a team leaks the info to try and get a deal that is favorable to ownership.  Free Agency in baseball gives players a power they never had in the past.  If they opt for the money from an outside team....they are villains in the eyes of the locals.  Meanwhile there is little insight into the situation with the owners.  How much do they actually earn over the course of a season.  Virtually nobody knows.  How do they evaluate between making money versus spending more to compete for a championship.  Again, nobody knows.

For some reason one free agency deal from five years ago has stuck in my head.  Nelson Cruz, a free agent DH, had one season with the Orioles where he hit 40 HR's and had a bang up year.  He went into Free Agency again with great stats.  He was in his mid 30's and wanted among other things a 4 year guaranteed contract.  Teams vied for him.  Reportedly only one team stretched for the 4 years, Seattle.  The others, including the Orioles offered him competitive money but all the other teams would  only go with a 3 year contract.  Cruz signed with Seattle.  He had 4 solid, strong seasons, leading them in HR's, RBI's Runs over the term.  Meanwhile Seattle has not been great. 

The following season, I believe partially because they didn't keep Cruz, the O's gave Chris Davis his multi year contract for $23 million/season.   Its turned out to be the current worst contract in baseball.  Davis competes for the worst player in the majors.

What are you going to do???   Contracts are a crap shoot.  Meanwhile in our world, let the players have a shot at making the big bucks.  The owners definitely make out.  Allow the players to compete with owners for all those bucks. 

At least that is my $0.02.

Rick Snider, sports columnist for the Washington Express wrote his final column, as today the Washington Express published its final edition.  (the death of the Washington Express is an entirely different story.  I'm sad to see it go).   Snider's article

Snider makes personal comments and then does an overview of the Professional Washington sports teams;  really doesn't get into depth.  I suppose he wants to leave a good impression should someone want to hire him to write in the future.

As to the Skins he reminds us that except for two periods the Skins have been mostly bad.  The second period though lasted from the early 70's to the early 90's a longish period.  The rough part was to read his impression that there are about 30,000 diehard Redskin fans that will go to games.   That is putrid.  I recall struggling for tickets on the resale market when they were so hot....and growing more and more and more disgusted with the team and the visiting experience during the Snyder era.

On the NBA he doesn't say much except to reference that the DC area is a basketball hotbed.   Maybe.  But it has been 40 years since the Bullets/Wizards have been extremely competitive.  Who would know if that old perspective still holds.

On the Caps side he notes that the team has a strong following but wonders how that will last once Ovi retires.

On baseball he references Rendon, suggesting that the Nats/Lerners should resign him.  I agree.   I don't put an onus on Boras.  Its in the Nats hands.  They can compete aggressively or allow Rendon to hit the open market, and if they are still competing they will HAVE to fork up more money, I assume.

Geez i am sad to see another print media site crumble.  And good luck to Snider going forward.

Spoke with a staffer at Sfoglina.  They are rapidly moving along.   The staffer mentioned Oct 4 or Oct 5 as an opening date.  The restaurant will serve customers inside, on the sidewalk AND in the very large expansive lobby at 1100 Wilson Blvd.  That is interesting as when you watch construction you see how much space is eaten up from the actual rental square footage.  The space has a visible pasta (making ) room that has windows on the inside and fronts the lobby at 1100 Wilson Blvd.  The lobby at 1100 is open 24/7 as it provides access to Channel 7 news and staff.....all of which means that it will provide dining in all kinds of weather...and plenty of space.  

On its own there is a reasonable population close to that site but I'm sure they want customers from "afar".  I wonder how many will go there vs downtown.   All parking in the area is going to be primarily in buildings and not on street.   Interestingly the Bethesda Bagel that opened in the area NEVER has a weekend morning crowd like all the bagel places with which I'm familiar.  Nevertheless it seems packed before work, and has a sizable lunch business.  Weekend mornings, wherein you can find long lines at other bagel shops, have a healthy but not terribly long line...its unusual.   I don't see Rosslyn or Crystal City, for that matter, attracting out of the area crowds for dining.

3 hours ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

I blame Boras for the single reason that he manipulates the market, the players, and the owners for sole purpose of making the most money. His goal in life is to be the biggest, baddest, most vulgar greed-monger in the game, and he has achieved it. It's not about the team, the fans, the game, or the individual player, it's always about money. He has no other value. He is all about greed (and dishonesty, which he can get away with in the current rules.)

I assume Boras' job is probably 90% about the money and 10% about the welfare of the player.  At say 90% it is an ugly public spectacle.  The local fans want their player to stay; the player either on his own, or with Boras' (or another agents) effort is pushing/reminding the player how much $$$$ there is in the open market.  The player goes out on the market.  We don't really know what is occurring but there could be leaks.  The fees can get crazy--say $300 million.  The player looks like an asshole to the home town fans, but the player also secures his future (and many times over at that rate). 

I don't feel bad for the owners.  It was recently announced that the owner of the KC Royals is selling the team for $1 billion.  He purchased the franchise in 2000 for $96 million.  Nice Profit.  Kansas City.  That is a tough franchise.  Limited revenue base.  It mostly can't compete with the big spenders.  Meanwhile the current owner gets a $900 million profit.  Damn good.

When a player is "working the market" to get his best price and his agent is playing the other owners to get one to fork over big big beaucoup bucks it is an ugly sight.  But it is the way the market works in an "imperfect market". 

Frankly I hope the Lerner's come up with the cash to keep Rendon.  I like his play and style.  Meanwhile Harper and Machado, who were among those that got great big killer long term contracts at the start of this season are having very mediocre seasons.  Trout who got a huge payout to stay is having a great season.  It's a crap shoot.

14 hours ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

Scott Boras is an evil slime-bag, and he will take Rendon out onto the free agent market. With Scott Boras as an agent, the player is committed 100% to money-money-money, not the team, the fans, the game, or anything close to noble.

I think Rendon ranks with Matt Chapman and Nolan Arenado as the best third-basemen in the game right now. His reputation is not likely to be pristine after climbing into the pig sty with Boras this winter.

I don't blame Boras either.  I worked as a "tenant broker" for a couple of decades.  It's really the same thing.  As an agent you work the market to get the best deal possible for your client.   If it works for a long term deal the player's financial life is set (if he is reasonable and not a stupid spendthrift).  If it doesn't work for the player, well he has to keep playing.   A player might keep playing to support his team, the fans, and his owner but suffer so badly he ruins his contract opportunities.  A current example is Isiah Thomas in basketball although $2.3 million/year is mighty good.  But he sacrificed probably $10-15 million/year or more for long term.

When viewing what occurs it is ugly.  No doubt.  It hurts the local rooting public.  It also defines "market" in an imperfect world economic system where all you need is for one participant to "break" .   Its certainly not fan friendly.

I hope Rendon stays.  I think to do so the Lerner's will have to "pony up".  If they do I'll probably pay $1-3 more for a beer at the stadium next year.  But I don't blame Boras.

These teams could compete for Rendon if he chooses free agency:   Link

Not only has the ramen been excellent, on their most current menu they have cut the price.  Excellent ramen choice in the neighborhood.

What to do when your steak is over cooked

Thomas Boswell of WashPo agrees.   Boswell's description is superior to the above

I hope the Lerner's reverse their thinking and spring big time for a contract for Anthony Rendon.  He is on a hot streak and knocking the starch out of the ball.

Right now he leads the majors in batting average and RBI' s and is near the top for total bases, doubles, runs, OB% and slugging %.  He has won a couple of games with walk off hits.  Rendon's agent is the agent for Bryce Harper so he knows the Lerner's tendencies.

Come on Lerner's.  Sooner or later you are getting a big fat local TV payoff from the Orioles.  Now is the time to share it with Anthony Rendon.

On 7/31/2019 at 11:53 AM, DaveO said:

Yesterday, in conjunction with National Cheesecake Day:

I researched cheesecakes and purchased a medium sized strawberry cheesecake from CC Factory for about $37/38.  It depleted the sizable CC Factory gift card I had from the beginning of the year and was the third cheesecake our staff had shared.  It reminded me that I hadn't purchased a cheesecake from the delivery service for Carnegie Deli so I checked that out on Google.  Similarly sized cheesecakes sell for about $79-84.  Big price difference.

It also reminded me of a promise here from several years ago to purchase a Carnegie's Cheesecake as that recipe is the one I and probably thousands of rough age and location peers swear by as it is the recipe of a once favorite cheesecake in North Jersey, the chef's son and his recipe moved to the Carnegie following a devastating fire that destroyed the Claremont Diner  (story and a better story here)

All that being said it reminded me that I hadn't ordered a Carnegie Cheesecake.  So I'll do that in the next month or so.

Now back to the purpose of this thread.  Having researched the Carnegie Cheesecake I immediately started seeing ads for Goldbelly, the firm that ships the Carnegie Cheesecakes on Facebook and on Google Ads on Newspaper sites   Endlessly.  They immediately popped up.

That is the result of the overwhelming level of personal data that web sites pull from your searches.  Research ANYTHING, and if there is an advertising connection websites such as Facebook and Google and endless others will thrust those ads before your web searching eyes....EVERYWHERE..

So much for privacy.    There are sites that protect privacy.  Google and its browser chrome are not among them.  They completely ignore privacy, and in fact violate promises for privacy.  Their terms of service, so broadly written allow them to identify your search preferences to thousands of buyers. 

Fry their monopolistic butts is my response.

Meanwhile in a month or so I'll try the Carnegie Cheesecake and report back on that cheesecake that was the "best" of my childhood and the lives of possibly in the aggregate millions in Northern Jersey in the 1950's, 60's and 70's in that section of Northern NJ.

It has been 4 weeks.  I'm still seeing the same DAMN ads.   Frankly it gets old fast.   Clicking on the ads would incur a cost to the advertiser.  Haven't done that....yet.  

So what occurs on my end if I click?   Will the same damn ads run for another unending dreadful month...or will they stop.  

So I have NOT had a gin and tonic at this place.  In fact I didn't know about this place.   Regardless a grad of the bar school is working there and raves about it.  She is a gin lover.  The reviews suggest if you are looking for an original G&T...this might be the place to visit:  http://www.newheightsrestaurant.com/babinga_bar/ 

aka....the gin joint.

...and there you have it...a purty gin cocktail prepared by your favorite barista....

There is no thread on BLT Prime, the BLT branch in the Trump Hotel.....and I'm not going to start one, as I for one haven't and won't be eating there.   Nevertheless a grad of our school, who has been bartending there since 2017 stopped by for placement.   They have 12 bartending shifts available.  (that is a lot).  Our grad told us he is working the busy evening shift hours on Friday and Saturday nights and a few more.  He said he is making great money.  (Didn't say how much--but I suspect his "great" would be a lot of high earning bartender's "GREAT".

They need staff.   Not surprising.

They are busy.  Not surprising.

12 hours ago, saf said:

This is why I tip (and generally pay) in cash. Yeah, I know people say it's only so they don't have to declare it. Maybe, but... when I waited tables and tended bar, I declared my tips. I wasn't the only one. But I never received the full amount of the CC tips. And yes, I tracked them.

Never???   That is horrific.  Assuming you were paid $2.13/hr.   that equates to $85.20/40 hr week:  about $4500/yr for a full time job.   That blows a living wage to shame.

The employer(s?) were taking your "wages" to supplement their income, all the while, while benefiting from a law/ruling, that allowed them to pay you way less than an acceptable wage.  They were making money off of the "wages" customers were paying you.

NEVER is horrific.  At the bartending school we encourage grads to leave employers who take their wages.  If we hear of employers doing that, (after a few such notices) we stop promoting their jobs to our grads.  We consider it abusive of staff.

There is no doubt tipping is a less than great way to earn money.  The example above is the pits.  I know it occurs.  I suppose it would be difficult to learn how often it occurs.  OTOH, low wages keep dining costs lower.  That encourages more dining.  People who work in the FOH have total wages that seriously are all over the spectrum.  We are very familiar with surprisingly low wages and we are also familiar with a few examples where FOH staff makes what  a member of Congress earns (and works about 1,,000 times harder.).  The last example is the very rare exception to the rule.