Please Introduce Yourselves

[DanielK]

...The one thing that stopped me from seeking out better restaurants in the past was the cost. Well, from what I've learned in reading the many posts here and researching thereafter, the price differential is not all that much from an expensive dinner out at some of the high-end chain restaurants that my wife and I sometimes treat ourselves to. That's going to change now. Thank you for opening my eyes to the possibilities.

I can't speak for Rocks, but I can't think of much higher praise for the website than this.

[JMac]

Hi folks, been lurking for a month or two after discovering this site on dcfoodies. I don't envision myself as being a big poster but one never knows.

I am a lawyer by trade who happens to be a food, wine and beer enthusiast. I am a mildly accomplished amateur cook. Even though I can be pretty serious about food, beer and wine. I don't care for the term "foodie". Plus, I am not above making Bisquick pancakes for the kids on weekends. This fact alone probably disqualifies me from the foodie category anyway. Before my law school days I worked in several restaurants up north. I have recently embarked on a quest to get back into the industry. So in addition to lawyering, I also sell wine for a local company called GVCH which imports and distributes two lines of Argentinean wines - Aconcagua and El Fogon - ask for them at your area retailers.

I like all kinds of food and drink. If I had to do commit to just one general type of eating and drinking it would be Mediterranean and all of that entails. You know, fresh feta, fresh herbs, pita, pasta, garbanzo beans, olive oil, vinegar, lemons, fish, a little red meat here and there as well as Argentinean wine of course . I must also include beer, but not Mediterranean beer. The beer would have to be German, English, Belgian, American micro, Italian micro or French micro.

Cheers!

Justin McInerny

[jglassman]

I'm Josh. I will say things when I have things to say. At the moment, I just want to access the dining guide.

[tieak]

Just wanted to say hi. Don, I love the site, thank you for a great job

[Kschmitz]

Hello! My name is Katie and I love food. I'll try just about everything, love to go out to eat, and am always cooking at home. I do not work in the food industry, but like to spend a lot of my time reading about what is going on food-wise in the DC area.

[jweiss15]

Moved here recently back to DC from a 3-year stint in New York and am glad to slowly be discovering a slightly-harder-to-find but still-vibrant food scene in DC, as well. Thanks!

[blitton]

Hello,

I grew up on your typical American cuisine, by that I mean casseroles and other exotics mashed together lovingly from a can or a powder, and I would only know that life could be better than this by visiting my Italian relatives and finding myself amazed that food could be a much more interesting experience. Fast forward into adulthood and I found myself eating something I hated, except I no longer hated it. It was with this realization that all sorts of sundry awful things, like the vegetables I was always told to eat, can actually be delicious if prepared well and helped along with artery clogging fatty goodness.

I have since been on a frenzied exploration of cooking and food and find it to be one of life's simplest and most irresistable pleasures. In conversations with others, it is also clear to me that people think I'm insane and don't seem to share my feeling that good food preparation and the enjoyment of its labours is a near mystical experience. I tell someone I made croissants, they tell me they make Pillsbury crescent rolls all the time. I'm a jerk, I suspect, if I point out that this isn't quite the same thing. So it is in search of people that share my passion for food, or perhaps exceed it, that I've found myself lurking in the background of the site.

I am not a professional in the industry. While I love cooking I suspect my career in software development is probably an easier one to pursue than excellence in the culinary field, though I'd be lying if I didn't consider it at least on occasion. Nevertheless, I look forward to being in an environment where my relative culinary skill is mediocre at best, for it is in that environment that the enticing possibility of learning a good deal exists.

[bhammonds]

Hello all,

I am a "newbie" to the world of food and restaurant blogs, having recently read about this wonderful resource in the Sunday Post magazine from a few weeks ago. I lived in Nothern Virginia (Annandale) for 25 years before retiring to south central Pennsylvania - a true restaurant wasteland! I get down to the DC area several times a year and always seek out new restaurants to try for lunch. I am paticularly interested in small, "hole in the wall" off-the- beaten-track ethnic restaurants that provide wonderful food at reasonable prices - no fancy surroundings needed. Vietnamese is a favorite, as there are NO Vietnamese restaurants within an hour of where I live now.

I'm looking forward to checking out fellow diners' experiences and suggestions !

Barb the Bee

[KMango]

Hello all,

Barb the Bee

If Ken the Doll starts posting, I will start giggling mercilessly!

Welcome to DR and to a wider world of culinary options.

[krisberin]

Hi! I'm back in the DC area after a 3 year stint working abroad in England...I'm looking for an Indian restaurant that will match or at least come close to what I've had in London. Any recs? I live in Shirlington and I read a rumor on here that there was talk of a farmers market happening in Shirlington?? Looking forward to rediscovering all the great restaurants this area has!

[norajane]

Hi, everyone! My name is Mollie and my family and I just moved to Rockville from NC.

I am very excited to be a part of this board!

[bhammonds]

After haunting chowhound.com for ages, I finally decided to visit here. I'm partial to good food/no atmosphere restaurants. I love the show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

I'm a lifelong Washingtonian (suburbanite), having mostly lived in Silver Spring. Vietnamese is my favorite cuisine, Indian my least favorite. I love the original Ledo's and don't hate the off-shoots. I still miss Tops Drive-ins, the Reindeer and Polar Bear frozen custard stands, and the Original Gifford's stores.

I look forward to learning about new eateries on donrockwell.com.

Mister Big - I am a newbie to this blog as well; what a wonderful grin to see a post from someone who remembers Tops Drive-Ins and Giffords! Bet you and your dates and double dates split a Giffords Big Top on more than one occasion!

[Drew]

I've heard about Don Rockwell for quite a while, but I finally got around to registering. I write for the Website DC Foodies and assist at the DC cooking school CulinAerie.

[Loweeel]

I'm a long-time lurker, worship at the altar of Michael Landrum, and love big red wines (especially my obsession, Petite Sirah).

Thanks for letting me in, Don!

[goldenticket]

Hello and welcome to all the new members!

I want to extend an invitation to join your fellow DR.commers at the picnic on Sunday! Lots of details in the linked thread - the basics are:

Sunday, June 7

12 noon until ??

Fort Hunt Park, Site C-2 (6 miles south of Alexandria on the George Washington Parkway)

Bring your favorite dish to share, or a case of water, paper products, etc.

Feel free to post in the thread or PM me or Scott Johnston if you have any questions. No reply required - all are welcome, so come on out for a fun day of great food, drink, and company! The weather looks like it's going to cooperate, but we'll be there rain or shine. Hope to see some new faces

[Lucy]

Hello, everyone--

I used to lurk on this board quite a lot, but I admit I am responding to a a gentle reminder that I hadn't so much as logged on in a year. I can explain! In a former life I was the restaurant editor of a fine local publication, and I did a little food writing myself. Then I left the job and had a baby, and both budgetary and maintaining-my-sanity constraints meant that I did not want to be reading about restaurants I could no longer regularly patronize.

But now my baby is a toddler, and I am able to contemplate going out more regularly again. And, you know, I miss thinking about other restaurants than the ones where I can safely take a child. (Bless you, Austin Grill!) So here I am, and I look forward to spending some time on this board again.

[wineguy4865]

Hello All, I am the GM and resident Wineguy at Grapeseed Bistro and Wine bar in Bethesda, Maryland. I am a victim of the the oh so common curse of working for years in restaurants, which leads to an obsesion for good food, good wine and great company. But because I work in a restaurant it means I never have time to go out and dine. So I have always heard wonderful things about this site and figure I should do my research here before I venture out into the world of DC/Md/Va dining. Thansk for all your help for making the few dining experiences I have the best they can be.

[achevres]

Hi! Making my first post because I definitely want to stay on the list. This board was very helpful on a recent trip to DC.

[Dskco]

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm a newer food blogger in the DC area. I started less than a year ago. I'm just a normal girl who likes to eat, try new restaurants and foods.

I wanted to blog about my dining expirences to allow people to see what the interior of a place looks like, if they cared about presentation, if its a cute place to go on a date, etc. I've read many reviews, but I wanted to make sure there were photos to help explain the expirience.

Anyway, I know I'll learn a lot from this site and please check out my site if you have a chance! www.lunchinginthedmv.com

[peasoup]

hi all. I'm new here, too.

[Max29122008]

Don,

Thanks for letting me join. I have heard a lot of great things about Don Rockwell, and am happy to call myself a Rockwellian (is that right?).

I joined for two reasons:

1) My wife and I are huge foodies. We love to go to restaurants and we love to cook. So we are excited to be part of an online community of foodies like us.

2) I try to stay on top of new restaurants and openings and I was always finding myself getting beat to the punch by my friend who is a member, so rather than trying beat him I thought I would join him and try to get the scoops as well.

Thanks for letting me join and I look forward to learning everything that is DC Metro area food worthy.

[ajhoop]

Hi. I'm Andy and live in DC. My wife and I enjoy eating out, though we don't get out as much as we used to now that we've got a little one at home. I think this is a great resource and I check in regularly.

[wfolib]

Hiya, I am Oli. Greatly enjoyed the picnic this weekend with the terrific weather, upbeat crowd and fantastic fare. Thanks for the site and the opportunity for such a phenom resource.

[aselee]

Hey, my name is Anne & I love food.

I used to work in the restaurant industry but currently am content to enjoy great tasting food with fellow enthusiasts. Some of my favorite places are Marcels, Citronlelle, Blue Duck Tavern, Westend Bistro etc....

It's great to have someone as talented as Don Rockwell to give great tips on dining out and describe experiences at different restaurants. It truly helps when making a decision on where to dine out.

I am looking forward to learning more and meeting new people as well!!!

[spromisel]

My first post...joined a month ago. My name is Steve and I like pretty much any cuisine from any country...the more unusual the better. I like to (attempt) to cook....tend to be better at Iranian and Lebanese than more standard fare. My family seems to live on chicken so I have dozens of chicken recipes to lean on, and I will always look for red meat when I'm out at restaurants.

Wish there was an Ethiopian restaurant in Rockville area....

[nedababe]

I love food, my childhood dream was to be a chef. Unfortunately, I am not a chef, but I am fortunate enough to have a job that requires me to take clients out to dinner all of the time so I use this site to get the inside scoop on restaurants.

[Werequat]

Hi, My name's Dave, and I eat food. I cook food, search high and low for food and tell people when I find good food. Those of you who have eateries, I will be by to taste. Those who don't will hear about the places I've been to:)

[antshe]

I've been registered for a while but never posted.

[itsgayle]

Hey all. Long time fan/reader...first time poster. I have a 3 year old and a 6 month old so I am always looking for recs when it comes to decidedly non child friendly spots. My current faves are Komi, Central, Jaleo and some other places I haven't been to in, well, 6 months.

On a professional level, I am a Social Networking Expert for a wedding site and a green recruiting firm. You can find me on Twitter @itsgayle.

[CarolynSV]

I'm one of the "Lurkers" so I will just add a short note. I joined this blog looking for reviews of decent to good restaurants expecially in the Gaithersburg/Olney area. Im alsways interested in others' opinions so when I decide to go out with friends we can try something new.

[jswerman]

I'm one of the "Lurkers" so I will just add a short note. I joined this blog looking for reviews of decent to good restaurants expecially in the Gaithersburg/Olney area. Im alsways interested in others' opinions so when I decide to go out with friends we can try something new.

I'm with you Carolyn. I'm hoping to learn a bit more about some of the hidden gems around the area, as I feel as if I'm eating at the same few places over and over again.

[ktmoomau]

Hello,

I am ktmoomau. I wandered over from chow after reading a lot of posts and lurking without joining for a while because, in all honesty, the boards over there were a bit slow and I needed yet another food related website to read. And since Michael Landrum only posts updates about Ray's here I decided to join. It's nice to see so many familiar faces. I look forward to reading people's posts. I grew up on a beef farm in Western Maryland. I live in Arlington with my hubby who is extremely nice about taking me out to new places I want to try and trying new things he might otherwise not. I write, but not about food really, there are so many people that can describe food better than I can, I just pride myself in being able to cook it and eat it well. I am also a jeweler but don't have a lot of time for that anymore, but I am hoping to be able to devote more time to that soon. Anyway that is me in a nutshell.

KT

[asdca]

I am a longtime lurker, who unfortunately always draws a blank when I have people in town and need restaurant suggestions! DR.com has been my salvation and I decided I should finally register and maybe participate!

[iantexas]

Hello- Also a first timer. From Austin, TX- I've lived in the District for about 12 years. I've had a chance over the years to hit the big name places in DC, am now looking for reviews of new and up and coming spots. Nice to meet everybody!

[dclawman]

Bring on the chocolate! I've lived in the DC area for more than 25 years and have eaten at my fair share of restaurants. I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting places, especially ones that can cook a great breakfast or bake an amazing pie. Steve

[leptirica]

Hello everyone,

My name is Jen and I love food. That includes eating it, cooking it, talking about it, etc. I moved to MoCo back in 2001 and I'm always on the lookout for good places to eat. I'm a transplanted New Yorker so I had a hard time getting used to seeing nothing but chains in the 'burbs, but for that matter I don't recognize NY when I go back nowadays due to the same prevalence of chains. Go figure

Anyway, I'm always looking for decent places to eat so I figured I'd join the site for the much-vaunted dining guide. It better be good!!!

[subtareign]

Just want to say hi to all the folks at Don Rockwell.com. My name is Alex Taylor and you can find me behind the bar at King Street Blues in the Kingstowne location. Great site for industry peoples. Thanks for the service!

[BigPoppa24]

Thirty years of high and low dining in the area. Always open for new tastes and cuisines.

[Harewood]

Hi;

My name is Clare and I'm a bartender in Clarendon. I previously have tended bar in DC and in Merrifield VA. I've very much enjoyed reading the dining guide!

[Ztras]

Hi, I'm a long-time lurker, and my goal is to see a ventworm cake in person

[thegbirch]

I will use your post as a means of introducing myself. My name is george. What attracted me to this blog were the good things being said about it in the media and my moving to Frederick last year where I am not familiar with the restaurants. My hope is to learn more about places in my area while following comments about D.C., NoVa, and Baltimore.

[JoshW0615]

I've been lurking for a long time now, so I guess I should finally introduce myself.

I currently live in Reston Town Center, where Passionfish is my restaurant of choice (I can't resist their happy hour w/ all their specialty drinks and bar apps @ $5).

I'm moving to Courthouse soon, and am super excited about being close enough to eat at Rays the Steaks and Rays Hell-Burger on a regular basis.

[wyoming]

I have been getting emails recommending that I introduce myself to this forum...so here I am. I hail from Laramie Wyoming and visit Washington on a regular basis for my work with Head Start. Seeing as how we don't have many food choices out here, I savor my trips to your great city! I love to explore the city on foot and find new restaurants for dinner. I really love Dino in Cleveland Park and always find my way there every time I visit. They remember me and always welcome me like I was a local. From my side of the fence, that kind of customer service is very hard to find and keeps me coming back. And the food isn't too bad either! I'm heading out your way next week and will be staying in the Woodley Park area. I'm looking forward to the vietnamese restauraunt down the street from Dino.

That's it for now.

Rico

[cg20854]

looking forward to learning much and contributing what I can..DC area native

[lindzjax]

Budding foodie in Dupont, eager to learn more!

[odessea]

My name is Devon. I live in Del Ray and work in public broadcasting. I started becoming a foodie-in-training a few years back thanks to Restaurant Week and I've continued onward with visits to my favorite haunts in the area: Corduroy, Volt, Majestic and PX. Looking forward to adding many more, slowly but surely, to the list.

[lisameans]

I am not affiliated or connected with any restaurant. I enjoy trying new restaurants with my husband and friends. I am interested in reading about local restaurants provided by people like me and are not professionals.

[mcwaffle]

Hello all,

First time poster...found the site after Googling the Obama visit with his daughters to The Dairy Godmother in Del Ray...found most of the topics and postings very interesting and thought I would join in. Not in the restaurant biz but like lots of "Office Space" workers in the area have dreams of running my own little place someday...perhaps a BBQ/Micro-Brewery joint which is much needed in Alexandria.

Anyway, am cooking a dinner for my wife today to celebrate her new job and am going to grill some NY Strips and such and looking for a good recipe for a steak sauce to make homemade.

Thanks,

McWaffle (I am half Irish-half Belgian)

[bioesq]

Hello all,

First time poster...found the site after Googling the Obama visit with his daughters to The Dairy Godmother in Del Ray...found most of the topics and postings very interesting and thought I would join in. Not in the restaurant biz but like lots of "Office Space" workers in the area have dreams of running my own little place someday...perhaps a BBQ/Micro-Brewery joint which is much needed in Alexandria.

Anyway, am cooking a dinner for my wife today to celebrate her new job and am going to grill some NY Strips and such and looking for a good recipe for a steak sauce to make homemade.

Thanks,

McWaffle (I am half Irish-half Belgian)

The Washington Post had an interesting recipe for a spicy Korean steak sauce about a month ago. It sounds interesting.

[DanCole42]

Welcome, McWaffle!

If they're good NY strips, they won't need more than a healthy amount of salt and pepper. If you want to up the ante, grind up one or two toasted cloves with some toasted coriander and plenty of dried porcinis, then use it to coat the steak.

Bearnaise sauce is sure to wow, but if you've never made it before I wouldn't recommend breaking it out for a special occasion (and potentially ruining said occasion if you screw it up and spend the evening throwing pans at the wall rather than celebrating your wife's job). If you want to try it, recipes abound on the 'net.

You could go the au poivre route. Up the amount of pepper. After the steaks are cooked, set them aside to rest for a bit. If there's not enough oil in the pan, add a little butter. Saute some thinly sliced mushrooms, letting them sit for a bit on each side (rather than moving them around) to develop some good browning. Deglaze the pan with some beef or chicken stock (homemade if you have it, otherwise just use water), scraping up the brown bits as you go. Reduce, then add some brandy, cognac, bourbon, or whatever and ignite away from the flame. Reduce until syrupy, then remove from heat and stir in some cream. Salt to taste.

Much more simply, just drizzle the steak with some good blue cheese (roquefort?) or make a gremolata. For the gremolata, I like to substitute rosemary for the parsley, then just mash it up with plenty of garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, salt, and lemon juice. Heap liberally onto the steak.

Let us know how it turns out!