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curiouskitkatt

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Hi all,

I'm Stuart.

Aside from regular daily job with State government my hobby is food and wine.

As such, I am also an officer in a major international food and wine society as well as another national food and wine group.

I think this is going to be a hoot talking and learning (I hope) from all

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Hi everyone, I moved to DC about 6 months ago from Ohio and am thrilled to be here. I love cooking, baking and following the restaurant scene. I don't eat out a lot for budget reasons, mostly, but I keep an ever-growing mental list of places I hope to try one day. (Maybe I should start writing those down...)

Looking forward to exploring all the threads on this site!

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Hey, my name is Jen & I love food. ;)

I work at the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown in the restaurant, Fahrenheit.

It's been about 2 years since I started enjoying great tasting food. By that I mean, more quality food. Some of my favorite places are Blue Duck Tavern, Marcels, Westend Bistro etc....

It's great to have someone as talented as Don Rockwell give us such great tips on dindig out and his 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!!!

~Jen~

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I can't seem to write descriptively about food and I recall someone being blasted for describing their meal as "good" and "tasty".
Have you watched an episode of Top Chef lately? Gail's favorite description of almost everything she puts in her mouth...wait for it..."tasty." Write away!
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Hi, I'm David. I arrived in Washington in 1970 and found a job as a management intern at Treasury Department. My immediate boss was something of an epicure and pointed me in the direction of the best moderately priced restaurants in town. My favorite lunch place was Chez Francois on Connecticut Avenue. Alas, they eventually moved out to Maryland and converted from a moderate bistro to a special event restaurant. I still miss it.

David in Arlington

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Greeting, been in the restaurant business since I was 15, recently took a 2 year break to work in the 9 to 5 world - and hated it. Back in the biz now and loving it (again). Been on Don's for a couple of years now and not as active as I should be. Wife and I love to cook, eat and do all things food. Originally from Chicago, traveled and ate all over the world and and have lived in the DC area since 2000.

Speak to you all soon!

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Hello! I'm SunJun, and I've been a lurker here for the past month or so. I also found this site accidentally while I was searching for places to eat.

I'm afraid my real restaurant experience is delegated to a summer as a delivery boy, floor sweeper, and fryer cleaner for a deli in my home town.

However, I am a big fan of good eating, and after spending several years exploring the neighborhoods of St. Louis, I'm looking forward to the wide range of culinary delights here in the Washington DC area. What I've sampled has been great so far, and I hope I'll be able to share some of the experiences of my humble little palate with everyone.

Bon appetit, y'all!

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Hello,

I'm Bill, and I've been lurking for a while now (I prefer reading to writing). There's nothing like a discount to pull me from the weeds. I use the dining guide frequently, and did attend a DR event last year some time. This is a great community, even if I stay at the edge.

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Greetings!!

Just a quick note to introduce myself. My name is Jackie and I love to cook and eat different cuisines. Mexican foods is one of my favorites. Can anyone please recommend some of the best Mexican restaurants in the DC area. Thank you ;)

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Hi -- this is my first post and it's very intimidating! Here goes... I found this site when I was outraged 3 summers ago at paying more than $2 for ONE tomato at a farmer's market in NoVa. How can it be so expensive and hard to get good, quality ingredients!?!?! I was looking for CSA delivery services, and somehow ended up here. I tried CSA's for 2 summers, and loved the local, super fresh angle. However, I got discouraged by the Kale and Cabbage overload, and my husband rebelled at eating one more "rustic frittata" loaded with kale. So now I just plant a few tomato plants by the lamp post in my front yard, and hope 1) the dogs don't defecate on them as they walk by, and 2) my neighbors don't consider my garden the blight of the 'hood. Ah well, I do bring awesome tomato/mozzarella platters to all summer cookouts!

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Hi, I'm Sara, and I was finally lured out of lurk-dom by the discount offer. (But I've been meaning to post, I promise!) I've really enjoyed reading posts on this site for the past months, and you all have steered me towards great meals and saved me from disappointing ones. Thanks! Currently, my favorite restaurant is Proof -- I just can't stay away -- but I'd love to find a place worthy of adding to my rotation. Looking forward to posting more in the future!

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Hi everyone,

I am a 55 year old transplanted girl from Bklyn. Since I am Italian - I love to eat and cook. This weekend we had a family graduation At James Madison University. The family of 25 had a ball eating the delicious raviolis from The Italian Store in Arlington. The smoked sausages from Whole Foods were great. I just wish I could fine really good veal( nice and thin). Of course, if the veal is good I can always pound them like Mom.

I love reading all your comments- you sound like my kind of people.

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I'm one of the frequent lurkers scamming all the great info from the regular posters so we know where to eat next. Eight year resident of LeDroit Park and happy to be in a city with lots of food action going on. Thanks for the prompt to introduce and I intend to become more active.

dinalew

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I've been reading DonRockwell for a while now and have found everyone's thoughts, opinions and rants useful and amusing.

Here are the basics about me:

I grew up in the Northern VA suburbs and now live in Arlington. I have never worked in food service (does a summer spent working at a winery count?) and am not a [good] writer. I'm not sure where my interest in food came from but I do remember the first thing I made growing up was Rice Krispie treats. (Which, come to think of it, I should make more often.) Currently, I'm a meeting planner for a non-profit trade association in Tyson's.

My tastes vary from the strange (I like orange juice on my Cheerios) to rather basic (I like packaged ramen noodles. The blue flavor is my favorite.)

A random sampling of where I've eaten this week:

Tackle Box, Tara Thai, La Sandia (new Mexican in Tysons I), Earl's

Happy eating everyone,

-d

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Greetings! I'm a long time lurker here on the boards, but due to work and family I have yet to find time to post any of my own dining adventures here. Nonetheless, I am grateful for all the wisdom and guidance provide by the regular contributors here as it has steered us to some wonderful culinary experiences in the region.

I am originally from the Pittsburgh area and moved to Frederick, MD six years ago. We are big music fans, traveling into DC and Baltimore almost weekly (if not more often) for a show. Over that time, we have discovered many a wonderful restaurant (and thanks to info on this board, avoided a few bad ones). The tastes of my family range from cheap and tasty (e.g., Peruvian chicken, BBQ chicken, chili dogs) to upscale gourmet atmospherics (e.g., Belga Cafe, Tosca, Chez Francois L'Auberge), all of which are well served here.

Recent regional dining experiences of note:

Brewer's Art in Baltimore (great spot for dining before a show at the Lyric Opera House)

Rock Creek in Bethesda (a perfect choice for my wife's gluten-free diet)

Al Crostino on U Street, DC (our favorite pre-show dinner spot before heading to the 9:30 Club, Black Cat)

Isabella's Tapas in Frederick (entertaining visiting friends last weekend)

Bistro Lepic in Georgetown (French cuisine on a budget with outdoor dining in the alley)

Blue Moon Diner in Charlottesville (fabulous blueberry pancake breakfast after seeing Feist the night before)

Out of town:

Steuben's in Denver (perfectly executed comfort food, our favorite discovery of the past three months)

Positano Coast in Philadelphia (celebrating my wife's b-day just last night, a wonderful experience)

Cheers,

Rob

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Been enjoying the forum for quite a while now and finally decided to join in. My wife and I get out to eat (without kids) 2-3 times a month. Current favorites include Komi, Palena, Bistro Bis and Cityzen. Still in mourning over Maestro and Scott Bryan (when he was at 2941). Unless I have overlooked the topic, I'm surprised that no one has posted regarding Vincent's wine tastings at the Tyson's Ritz. We went to our first one last month and thought it was wonderful. Vincent was his usual charming self, the wines were great, and we were completely surprised by the tastes that chef Jeff Sklaney sent out in pairing. The food was as good and as memorable as any we have had in months. I look forward to continued participation in this board.

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HI, I'm Alice. I've been a long time lurker. I love the site and have gotten tons of great tips. Hope to get my courage up and post something useful soon.

Despite the fact that you're stealing my name, I welcome you to dr.com!

;)

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I am originally from the Pittsburgh area and moved to Frederick, MD six years ago.

My husband's originally from Pittsburgh - he tended bar at Lava for years, and was the first manager at Tiki. He and I lived in the SouthSide for about four years before moving here.

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I have been reading donrockwell for about three months, since meeting a regular poster at the bar at Restaurant Eve. (Great meal that night, though I mostly enjoyed seeing what Chef sent out for his friend.)

Now that summer is here, I get to spend my days reading and writing, so I may try to post a bit. I am a law prof, who writes about the National School Lunch Program, laws the interfere with locavores, edible schoolyards, and, um, the death penalty.

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Hi, I'm Jeff and I'm new here... found the site through a friend and have already found a ton of useful info in just a week or so or random browsing. Hopefully I'll have some useful stuff to contribute over time as well. I'm not in the food business although it was a dream for awhile when I was younger... I did spend three summers in high school working at restaurants; if I never see another Bloomin' Onion in my life I will die happy.

While I like a lot of different food, there is a special place in my heart for anything involving fire and meat. I smoked a couple turkeys last year for Thanksgiving and Christmas (to rave reviews, if I do say so myself!) and I think those will become permanent traditions at our house. I'm also looking forward to trying out some venison recipes on the smoker... we have no shortage of deer where I live, and surprisingly the wife seems to like it. The benefits of living a little further out... lots of deer (free if you do your own butchering!) and local farmer's markets (mmmmm, fresh local corn soon!) which we frequent in the summer. Unfortunately, it also means that I'm pretty much dependent on Wegmans or Whole Foods for a decent seafood selection... ah well trade-offs, right?

--Jeff

"I'm not an alcoholic, I'm a drunk! Alcoholics go to meetings."

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I'm Sweth; I'm yet another lurker (mostly because I don't have the patience to hang out on sites that don't give me useful RSS feeds that I can use to find threads worth participating in) drawn in because of the email promising some sort of nebulous free card thing.

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I'm Sweth; I'm yet another lurker (mostly because I don't have the patience to hang out on sites that don't give me useful RSS feeds that I can use to find threads worth participating in) drawn in because of the email promising some sort of nebulous free card thing.

Welcome Sweth (I think). Won't the "Track This Topic" option do what you need? I've never actually used it before, since I track every topic anyway, but I think some people do.

Cheers,

Rocks.

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I too am a long time eavesdropper, but this is my first actual post. My name is Mike Hill and up until last October was a DC resident for 5 years. My short story is that I was helping my friends' parents run their restaurant in downtown Trenton, NJ while in undergrad when I thought it would be a great idea to put a business plan together and one day open up shop for myself. I also knew that I eventually wanted my MBA so that brought me to Howard University in 2002. While in B-school, I was a server at Firefly and upon graduating in 2004, found myself unable to leave the industry. Ended up working for Kimpton for nearly 3 years as Area Bar Manager for Topaz Bar & Bar Rouge, GM of Firefly and AGM of Poste, and learned from and worked with some extraordinary talent including Rob Weland, John Wabeck, Derek Brown and Tricia Cominsky. I must say that being GM wiped any and all future aspirations of ever wanting to run my own place, though the beverage aspect still excites me day in/day out. I took a 'change of scenery' opportunity in October and relocated to Atlanta where I am currently running the beverage program at Food Studio which is owned by Fifth Group. Atlanta is great, though I miss DC a lot and hope to one day return. Don and I used to take turns kicking each other around on the tennis court... Next time I'm in town I won't take it so easy on you!

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Guest RouleurBrewer

Hey, I'm Richard. I'm a grad student right now, so I'm doing more home cooking than eating out. In particular, I'm interested in homebrewing beer, baking bread, and using whatever weird things I can find at the farmer's market. I also spend a fair amount of time following the ideology and business of local foodways, but that's secondary to the pure fun of making your own food by hand!

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Just a quick note to introduce myself after more than a year of lurking...

My name is Alexandra and I work on the Hill. But my real passion is food.

I grew up in Cincinnati, which is a real foodie town. Cincinnati chili, Graeters, and just tons of good, inexpensive, divey places to eat. On the food front, DC is a bit of a disappointment, but places like Arrowine, Italian Store, Huong Que see me through.

That list makes me sound like I live in Virginia - but that's just where the best food is. I own a house in DC's Bloomingdale neighborhood. We have a few food gems of our own: Thai X-ing, Big Bear Cafe, adn Timor Market for milk in glass bottles. The Bloomingdale Farmer's Market (small but selective) opens this weekend.

Best dish I have eaten recently: the duck confit and potato gratin at Cork. Cooking implement I couldn't live without: the microplane - it just gets my parmesan cheese so perfectly fluffy.

I look forward to being a contributing member!

Alexandra.

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Don and I used to take turns kicking each other around on the tennis court... Next time I'm in town I won't take it so easy on you!

You're better than me. ;)

But I just bought two of these babies!

I've been training 4 U.

And, I'm going to beat the living snot out of this ape tomorrow (don't laugh; he's 6'4", serves 130 mph, and is the #1 player for his age in the nation - other than me).

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Greetings! I'm a long time lurker here on the boards, but due to work and family I have yet to find time to post any of my own dining adventures here.

...

I am originally from the Pittsburgh area and moved to Frederick, MD six years ago.

Hi Rob, welcome to DR. I've seen you around on the Frederick Maryland Online blog and look forward to more Frederick-area talk on here!

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Greetings Everyone,

Im originally from Seattle Washington, just moved here 4 days ago..

I came here for the food really and thats the only reason. I am a BA graduate of the Seattle Art Insitute in Culinary Arts. For 3 years I was the Lead Line / Sous Chef for a Fine dining Seafood restaurant there. I was offered the Chef De Cuisine, and promptly turned it down as I still want to learn more, though the offer was flattering.

Was recommended this site by a local foodie friend here so Here I am!

Hope everyone had a great weekend, and thanks in advance.

PS: An appology is in order, as I got some advice and reread my post, I realized i came off very harsh. I guess im a bit home sick already and it came out in my writting.

Regards,

Joseph Crenshaw

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Hello everyone. I am an Arlington resident, where i live with my wife, daughter and dog. We try our best to eat responsibly, using our brains as much as our appetites in deciding where and what to eat. We buy as much as we can at the Courthouse farmer's mkt, are trying out a CSA for the first time this summer, maintain a veggie and herb garden spring thru fall, and compost as much as we can. We enjoy a night out for a well prepared and thoughtful meal, though those evenings happen less now with a daughter on board. I am new to this site but seems like a great source of info that i am looking forward to exploring.

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I'm Eric, residing around Tysons Corner. Now that I'm engaged and soon to be married, I have a captive audience for fine dining. I'm systematically (rather than sporadically as I did in the past) going through all the top restaurants in DC. First up will be Citronelle, CityZen, Komi, Eve, and Minibar. I'm not affiliated with any restaurant or blog. I have two passions in life: golf and food.

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I'm Eric, residing around Tysons Corner. Now that I'm engaged and soon to be married, I have a captive audience for fine dining. I'm systematically (rather than sporadically as I did in the past) going through all the top restaurants in DC. First up will be Citronelle, CityZen, Komi, Eve, and Minibar. I'm not affiliated with any restaurant or blog. I have two passions in life: golf and food.
Welcome, Eric!

I look forward to reading your future posts.

Meanwhile, please note that here at DR.com you have 24 hours to edit whatever you write without anyone knowing you've made changes. Since you are getting married, might I assume you have at least three passions in life? :lol:

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As you may have guessed, my name isn't really HopSing. He was the cook on the old show Bonanza. As a Chinese-American, these stereotypes always amused/dismayed me.

Anyway, I read this forum almost every day. I was a lurker until Don Rockwell asked us to reveal ourselves, so I did.

Like some of the other introductions I read, I also hail from Brooklyn. My father had a laundry on Coney Island Avenue. My house was across the street from my favorite Italian restaurant, Vesuvius. When I went to the Amalfi Coast a couple of years back, the food reminded me of my beloved Vesuvius. My favorite food is pizza and I was in pizza heaven, with a great pizza parlor (we called them parlors in those days) on every other block--the best being on Avenue J near the Midwood Theater. My sister told me the Avenue J pizza place made Zagat's. So of course, next time I was home, we went there. Disappointment. Not the pizza I remembered from the old days. Pizza in DC isn't that good but has improved in the last decade. My ideal pizza would be the crust of Sbarro's with the toppings of the Italian Store.

I regret that Chinese food is not trendy. I hear good things about Hong Kong Palace and will be going there with my Chinese class next month. Aside from that, I go to Charlie Chiang's (snooze) and PF Chang's (my parents would be rolling over in their graves). Before Chinatown became MCI Center and knocked out most of the Chinese restaurants, I used to go to the Ruby Restaurant. The owners were from my parents' part of China, Taishan in Guangdong Province. It was comfort food for me--especially the roast pork with bean cake. Why doesn't anyone have that on their menu. Seems tofu is always relegated to the vegetarian section.

Eating out is one of my hobbies and where I spend most of my money (unfortunately). My husband and I cannot seem to make it out with a bill under $100 these days. I eat mostly in Clarendon which is close to where I live. The restaurants are good but pricey and hard to get entrees under $20. They knocked down one of our regular places, Aegean Taverna. The food was so-so, but the live Greek music on Saturday's was tops.

My biggest pet peeve is the markup on wines. They are outrageous, esp. at McCormick and Schmick. Lesser pet peeve is that Virginia doesn't allow you to bring your own bottle of wine.

I do enjoy this forum and look forward to reading future posts and learning about new restaurants for me to try.

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Hi - I've been a lurker for a while now, much like others and have enjoyed reading everyone's candid reviews! I live in Clarendon with my husband and although I love to cook at home - we really like eating out and trying new restaurants, dishes, etc. so we're always anxiously awaiting what restaurants are opening next! It seems like this board often has a jump on what's going in & where before anyone else knows! :lol: Case in point - Thirsty Bernie's on Lee Hwy... we noticed it last weekend and had to peek inside! Of course, when I googled for it - this board was the only mention of this new restaurant on the web - I'm counting on getting the official opening info through here too! And of course - this board is a great place to get the latest "reservation/no reservation/list" policies for Ray's! :lol:

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Of course, when I googled for it - this board was the only mention of this new restaurant on the web - I'm counting on getting the official opening info through here too!

I didn't say this, but ... start looking for something late next week. Cheers and welcome, Rocks.

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Awesome - you're already delivering! :lol: Thanks! Now - if anyone has any idea of what we might get to replace the Mac Grill and Sushi restaurants in Ballston Mall... when driving by the other day, the old Mac Grill had doors open and there appeared to be some workers coming and going? Maybe another chain? :lol: (btw - is there a thread for "what's closed, coming in, etc.?)

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Awesome - you're already delivering! :lol: Thanks! Now - if anyone has any idea of what we might get to replace the Mac Grill and Sushi restaurants in Ballston Mall... when driving by the other day, the old Mac Grill had doors open and there appeared to be some workers coming and going? Maybe another chain? :lol: (btw - is there a thread for "what's closed, coming in, etc.?)

Macaroni Grill is going to now be a Union Jack's. I don't know a thing about them though. Welcome, levjn.

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Hello all! I thought it was about time that I made my first post. My name is Steve, and I've been a member since February and a lurker since '06. I was first turned on to this board by shaggy (Dave), who is my boss in the up-coming Eventide Restaurant. My job as opening bar manager has been helped immensely by the information, contacts (thanks Joe Riley!), gripes and wishes that have been shared on this board, so I must thank you ALL for that. I hope I can return the favor with a cocktail or two very soon, so please ask for me when you visit. Hopefully that will be soon.

I will keep perusing these pages on a daily basis, so keep up the interesting posts, and I'll try to add a few of my own, now and then.

Steve

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Hello, I reside just west of Warrenton, VA. And, my husband and I just love really good food. There are actually very good to excellent restaurants out in rural Virginia and we do visit them. Neither of us have any background in the food industry, but I do cook pretty well thus we eat a lot at home.

I have been lurking here for 1.5 years, decided to come out and post. Posting on this site is intimidating for me because I am not a good writer and have to edit myself over and over and over..., and also, I detect anger in some of the posts against other posters. And who wants to be the recepient of that!

My husband and I went to Corduroys for some drinks at the old location the last week it was open. I was hoping to meet some other DRs while we were the there but the totally excellent bartender (can't remember his name) and Scooter (he is a regular DR poster) told us we were too early for DRs. So instead of hanging around (fear of alcohol intox and I wanted to be aware enough to savor my food), we went to Poste for chacouterie (yeah, it is mispelled but I do not feel like looking it up).

Neither of us work in the DC metro area so going to "the city" is kind of a big deal. We plan on going to Ray's the Steaks this Friday for a birthday celebration. Hope it works out. I do not have a Plan B if we are unable to secure on-site reservations. Any suggestions for a comprable meal in the vicinity would be appreciated.

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