youngfood

Fantastic post over at Counterintelligence (one of my very favorite blogs) listing 25 top summer delights.

What'd you put on it? I've been eying these at Ecofriendly for a while now, but really have no clue what to do with goat. Do you treat it any differently than a boneless leg of lamb?

Cook's Illustrated Pizza Bianca recipe is great. Really fantastic crisp, but not thin crust and quite easy to prepare with their bake in baking sheet trick.

We were there on Friday. I didn't get to do the list and drank A to Z Pinot (2006) for a great price and also Santa Barbara ZCS (a zin-carignan-sangiovese blend, which was popular at the table but a little heavy on the cherry-blackberry jam for me). And to answer my own question, they will seat a party of this size with some restrictions and it wasn't nuts at all, but rather was the perfect spot for a group of 10 guys. Thanks to whoever the nice woman was that put up with my obnoxious pals.

I can't compare Pho 88 to the other contenders, but I can say without a doubt that Pho 88 has quickly reached the top of my Beltsville area dining guide and deserves its own thread! --- [How's that!

Oh man - I'm not sure I've ever been more disappointed to be going on vacation!

Nice investigative reporting!

I'm not sure there's much I can say about this dinner that hasn't already been said, but that wont stop me from trying. The chef is doing some really interesting stuff here. His menu is entirely understated, but so too is his style of cooking. He simultaneously under informs you about what is coming (I was beyond surprised by each of the first three courses based on the sparse menu descriptions) while managing to use great restraint to produce delicate, intricate flavors. The highlights for me - aside from the great company and some really fantastic wine - were the kanpachi and the lobster. I was unenthusiastic about the kanpachi going in as I imagined a piece of fish wrapped in pastrami and that just sounded a bit overkill. Even if I'd realized the chef was only going to use the pastrami spices, I'd have been a bit worried about them overpowering this relatively light fish. And who puts mustard on fish? Well my fears were misplaced - the mustard ice cream was a dramatic hit and the carraway and other spices really produced a fantastic well balanced dish. The lobster blew me away though. Butter poached, but - as Don said of the chef's cooking overall - nary a bit of butter and cream was discernible. The lobster meat was just incredibly delicate - much lighter than I've ever seen accomplished before. And the flavors were fantastic. Again, I was worried about cherries being a bit overpowering, but neither the cherries nor the butter poaching ruled - rather the 'fragrant' component of the butter was the strongest. I'm not sure what besides Chinese cinnamon was in there, but it was not your typical rich lobster dish and that was a very good thing. A couple other observations: 1. the staff did a great job with us. One gentleman in particular explained each dish with great detail, which was necessary - at least with this group - in light of the sparse menu descriptions for each dish. The level of detail he provided made it almost like we had a food sommelier and was a lot of fun. 2. Being able to BYOB sans corkage was a blast with a big group like this. It made for a lot of fun, so thanks for everyone who brought something interesting to share.

Washingtonian's Best Bites had a post on this. I think we are going to do Vidalia, which has been done RW well in the past. Better bet might be to go to Corduroy because of, not in spite of, the fact that they are RW this year. That said, I wonder how many folks will still show up there expecting RW.

Pamela's is my all time favorite pancakes! Thanks for reminding me about it!

Go, go, go! He's there through 8/1. The place was tragically almost empty tonight, but our short meal was outstanding and one of the top few meals I've had this year. It is well worth making a visit to Mio before Chef Frigerio moves on. Duo of Cuttlefish Stew, English Peas, Toasted Bread - amazing, deep rich broth of crawfish based stock (I thought it might have been veal?) with many different cut/bites of tender cuttlefish. This dish was a great balance of rich earthy broth with light seafood and the texture of the cuttlefish was just right. Grilled Escolar, Spring Garlic, Manila Clams, Clam Sauce - I hesitated to order this dish because I had a hard time seeing clams with escolar, but my fond memories of the Chef's past use of Escolar convinced me that it was worth a shot. The serving size was hearty and the escolar comes beautifully off the grill with perfect grill marks, while remaining moist. The manila clams produced a rich clam sauce and weren't the least bit chewy or overcooked. I wish more restaurants were serving Escolar and I wish more restaurants weren't afraid to serve fish well shy of medium. The fish was salted with a red sea salt from Hawaii that the chef says is great with fish. Ricotta Cheese Cavatelli, Young Goat Ragu - the Cavatelli was light and tender, the goat ragu earthy and delightful. Where else can you get goat besides Mio and Komi? And Chef Frigerio's insistence on purchasing whole animals means you can end up seeing a variety of goat parts in this dish - ours had some goat prosciutto on top and I think he was doing a rack of goat for folks ordering the tasting menu last night. Mio may not be a perfect restaurant - the location is blah, the wine list doesn't pair quite right with the cuisine, and the front of house has never impressed me the way the food does - but there is some great food coming out of that kitchen and I can't think of anywhere that is doing what Chef Frigerio is offering that doesn't require a tasting menu. I hope his next spot offers the same opportunity.

Washingtonian blurb just posted on best bites blog . I say you go and fill us in.

Never liked the crowds here, but had our first series of crowd behavior run-ins on Sunday. Whatever - last night's dinner was all market and wonderful: Spicy Gazpacho (Ina Garten recipe): Heirloom Tomatoes (Tree & Leaf); Cucumbers (Toigo); Red Pepper, Onion & Garlic (Next Step) Crabcakes (Chris's Marketplace) Grilled Corn (New Morning Farm) Salad of Mesclun mix with Arugula & Purslane (Gardener's Gourmet) Grilled Peaches (Spring Valley) I LOVE DUPONT MARKET!

Boo! Some slightly fuzzy details from the post online

I think they are a little too small for that even when combined to form an L-shaped room, but I could be incorrect. Vidalia's Onion room is big enough. Booking a group that big can be a real pain and wont come cheaply.

Sounds like Michel Richard's got next (via Metrocurean).

Central, Dino or Cafe du Parc? Mio's wine list is full of inexpensive Spanish wines.

Is Hollywood East in Wheaton the reigning dim sum champion for the DC metro region? Is there somewhere great in Great Falls as well? I've not made it outside DC proper for dim sum as yet, which, of course, means I've not had any good dim sum while in town, and am trying to decide which spot in the 'burbs to try first, but Wheaton is way too far from me to drive to without knowing I'm getting the best dim sum in town.

Da-hum! I'm not sure it was the best I've ever had, but it's been a few years since I've had one anywhere and it wont be again. That is an awesome sandwich and better than I thought was available in DC. Which begs the question of where if anywhere is the second best deli sandwich in DC and why on earth isn't anyone opening up a deli in another part of town?

Does RTS have a maximum party size? Would it be nuts to try to eat here with a group of 8 or so if one was able to drop by that afternoon to make a quasi-reservation for a party of that size?

Bad news from Tomchat though Tom suggests improvements to come soon:

Accepting that there is no equal on the DC scene, what is the closest we come to what Peter Chang offered? Is there anything remotely close?

Probably a good idea based on my experience tonight as they were packed and are not somewhere to that I will rush to return to. This is a good addition to the Hill (for what that is worth), but for anyone who tried Rays last week it is almost sure to pale in comparison. I liked my burger much better than Five Guys, but I really don't think that is saying much. Big picture, this is probably the best burger on the Hill (only real competition seems like the pimento cheeseburger at Taqueria Nationale on mondays for lunch which is too inconsistent: sometimes great, othertimes overcooked and overseasoned - though I will have to try Argonaut's) and likely to do well given its location, competition and otherwise tasty and reasonably priced product, but not somewhere that is or should be a destination. Most exciting parts of my burger was the applewood smoked bacon. Otherwise average sized, average beef taste, average looking tomato and lettuce. I tried the regular fries which were mediocre as well - not quite crisp enough on the outside, not quite creamy enough inside, not quite seasoned enough to be otherwise noteworthy, the onion rings were more exciting - made with Vidalia onions and nicely breaded, the toasted marshmallo shake fun, but not going to put any serious ice cream shop out of business. It is hard to be more descriptive about this spot: it beats Five Guys, it is not competition for Rays and it does not change the face of DC dining. I'm certain GSE isn't top five burgers in town and doubt it is top ten. After Palena, Central and Rays, I've got Eat Bar, Chef Geof's and Taqueria Nationale all well ahead.

Well said. I'm looking for a wine column that will inform me about wines that I don't already know and can still afford to purchase. I particularly enjoy a column that highlights a varietal or region that I'd never heard of previously. Some of my favorite wine pieces over the past few years are the WSJ Gaiter-Brecher pieces on Torrontes & Arneis from the past month and Don's piece on Godello from a year or two back. The Torrontes piece was informative about a grape that many know of, but don't know well, while the other two introduced me to grapes that I'd never before tried. One nice thing about columns that feature a particular varietal or region or even vintage is that it is particularly conducive to highlighting a series of bottles in a variety of price ranges, which probably allows you to reach a broader readership than you might otherwise.

Tuesday's Tomchat said maybe September.