youngfood

Is this lunchtime only or can it be ordered in the evening?

A few highlights from a jaunt through Napa: Schramsberg Winery Tour (Calistoga, $25, by appt.) The first US sparkling wine makers to utilize the Méthode Champenoise, the tour is serious and informative, and leads you into their caves where their 'champagnes' age. It ends with large pours of five of their bottlings including 2-3 tete de cuvees. Really neat and delicious stuff. The caves are gorgeous and the price of admission was justified by the time tasting their wines in a candlelight-lit area of the caves alone. L'Auberge du Soleil (Rutherford, expensive lunch/dinner). This place has an amazing view. Specify outdoor seating when reserving. The food was very good, but the opporunity to dine on their deck overlooking their pool, the valley, and the distant mountains is the reason to go. Candlelight Inn (Napa B&. I loved this place. Its beautful, pretty reasonably priced, very friendly helpful staff, and serene. They are at the end of a cul de sac and have a lovely back yard patio with pool. Zuzu Tapas & Wine Bar (Napa) Thanks to Metrocurean for the tip on this place. Its just a nice little tapas spot with a comfortable bar area for a light meal of fairly traditional tapas with lots of local wines avaiable by the glass.

Culinary highlights of a recently completed week in SF/Napa/Sonoma. We ended up enjoying some of the cheap eats more than the highly touted and more expensive spots. The real highlight of the week was Cyrus, which I will post about in the Sonoma thread. Dim Sum at Yank Sing. Their special shang hai ginger pork dumplings are amazing. These are full of juices and are properly eaten on a chinese soup spoon and dipped in ginger sauce with little pieces of pickled ginger placed atop them. I'd never had them before, but was talked into trying them as they seem to be the house speciality. Wow! Also, probably the best and most interesting shu mai I've ever had. Pork rice noddles were quite good too and came with cilantro bits, which was an interesting delight. Super Burrito at El Farolito in the Mission District. Super cheap, enormous, flavorful hunks of carne asada, with all the fixins including a half avocado that you watch them slice with a spoon directly onto your burrito. Fresh made individual cup of coffee at Philz in the Mission District. I'm a murky coffee enthusiast, but this was really something else. They take your order from about 20 different types of coffee (tasting notes posted on a board to help you select), put several scoops of the beans into a milk shake can, grind them into the can, and then pour them into a little individual drip canister into which they pour the hot water to brew your individual cup. Ok I admit I'm partial to the name and this is basically how all coffee is made, but it was pretty neat seeing my individual cup prepared for me. They also mix in cream and / or sugar for you. I had the ambrosia and was blown away. http://www.philzcoffee.com/ Breakfast at Dottie's True Blue Cafe. Ok this is in a kinda sketchy part of town, but its not too far from the better parts and the food is worth it. Fresh baked goods, tons of daily specials, fresh squeezed OJ, amazing french toast, and interesting fresh ingredients to go in your omlette, frittata, or strata. Picture a place the size and ambience of Jimmy T's (or your local tiny dive) serving really awesome, gourmet breakfasts. We were somewhat less enthusiastic about our experiences at: Chez Panisse Cafe (I think I wanted to be wowed and that doesn't seem to be their style. Also sitting next to extremely loud classless individuals can be distracting and unfun); Zuni Cafe (admittedly didn't try the chicken and the burger was unavailable - limited to lunch or late night menu); and Hog Island in the Ferry Building (they were out of a couple of types of oysters, no longer run happy hour all week long, and I should have taken Crackers advice and tried their farm on the seacoast). Cyrus, on the other hand, was simply amazing.

I'm celebrating my graduation from law school with a trip to San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma next week. I've got some great meals plotted out, but haven't had a chance to focus in on which wineries to visit. Please help! If you were spending one day in Napa Valley and another in Sonoma, and you had never been to either before, what wineries would you visit? Thanks!

Any other tips on wineries to visit in Sonoma (or Napa)? I'm making my first trip out there next week. Thanks for any and all advice!

Sorry to miss it, but I will be in Northern California celebrating having completed law school.

I had a similar experience when taken there a few year ago. As a hotel, I don't think it's in the same class as the other two. Foodwise, you can't go wrong with your options. If you want a lux hotel, I'd do one of the other two, otherwise I'd pick based on which restaurant you most want to try. Maestro is a little different from the other two in that it is an Italian menu. Cityzen is a more modern chic environs. All three offer amazing dining experiences. Have fun and let us know how it goes!

We were there on Saturday as well and were much more pleased than you were. Service wasn't perfect, but we really enjoyed our meal, the menu, and the chef's vision for the place. As a fish lover, I'm thrilled by Hook's arrival on the scene, I only wish it was located somewhere else. The tuna entree was probably our favorite of the dishes we tried. I've not seen blackfin before so I don't have much of a point of comparison on that, but our worries that it would pale in comparison to other types of tuna were misplaced. It wasn't a 'wow, must try' dish, but I didn't see anything wrong with it and left thinking maybe you can't get good bluefin in town anymore, but you can at least get good blackfin tuna. I was really intrigued by the wine list. LOTS of affordable options. As in more than a dozen bottles for under $30, including 3 muscadets. Our server didn't know much about the list, but when we asked for help picking among the muscadets the chef himself came out to discuss each bottle with us. Apparently muscadets are his favorite. Anyway, I thought it was neat (not the kind of thing that happens to us often) and chef did us one better by adding purslane (apparently an indigenous local herb) to one of our entrees because he thought it would improve its pairing with the wine. And he was totally right. The space was a little loud (or at least the table immediately next to the bar where we were seated was), and our server was a bit green and occassionally absent, but this was one of my favorite meals out for a very reasonable price. Anyway, if you like good seafood and aren't looking for a quite romantic spot to dine, I highly recommend it.

Funny that Chef Donna has launched a content-less blog before putting any content at all into the Bebo website.

FYI to the muscadet trying crowd - Hook has THREE muscadets on their wine list - each for $30 or less. When I asked for a recommendation from among them, Chef Seaver came out and professed that it was his favorite grape, and thoughtfully described each to us. We went with the Les Grandes Vignes Muscadet Loire France 2005 ($28) and were pleased.

Belga Cafe would get many more mentions if it wasn't located in the culinary wasteland that is Capitol Hill. Beck's may be the mussles hot spot of late, but they do a great job with several different preparations of them here. Plus, dining al fresca is a great option at this time of year. Entrees are priced in the high twenties, but they are doing some interesting stuff. This is a serious restaurant and one that is doing some interesting things from salads to onion tarts.

I'd be surprised if they were crowded that early in the day. I've never had a problem anytime before 11.

Jimmy T's is swell and at 5th, though the attitude is much less after the former waiters left a year or so back. Still a great greasy spoon. Definitely go there over Tunni's or Bread & Chocolate. Montmartre is the best brunch near the Market, though they don't open until 11:30 and are more mid-range pricing than cheap.

BUMP. Others participating include Montmartre and Schneider's all day today, and most of the other hill venues tonight.

Bah humbug to the grump who's been complaining publicly about his one bad experience at Citronelle for months now (think he's already aired it months ago in the Post chat). And double bah humbug to poo pooing at some much deserved recognition for Mark & Chef Richard. As a young person I'm sympathetic to concerns that young diners might be treated with less than full respect at fine restaurants (no one - not even folks who like their meat well-done deserves this), but I also hate to see these folks who insist on continuing to bash somewhere after one bad experience. This is the behavior that gives online posters a bad name. Congratulations to all the well-deserving Beard Award winners and nominees!

Not a restaurant, but Rachel Ray has a recipe just for you. In lieu of breading and mayo/egg, she uses potatoes and olive oil to hold things together (no mayo, lard, cream etc) and tops it with a roasted red pepper dressing. I had them recently and they really weren't bad. I think the recipe is online at food network. (Fill in your jokes about Rachel Ray and about my losing any credibility I might have had here).

Wow - world's greatest burger! Who can explain why the burger is so much better here? I can't. I asked and the GM said good meat and attention to detail. The mayo doesn't hurt either, but there's something more to it, isn't there? Anyone have any ideas what? We had a much better time here than we did when they first opened. Service was impressive. Early predictions that the GM will be a RAMMY nominee for next year. He was flying all over the place making sure people were on top over everything. Actually, it seemed like there were a few managers on duty and all were pitching in, checking in, and not hesitating to clear random diners' plates. I was impressed. The fries, blusser, kit kat, and shrimp burger were all really good too. I still prefer the tuna burger to the shrimp, but it was surprisingly good and full of shrimp. What's the story with blusser? How'd Central come to be its exclusive distributor in the US? And it may be my imagination, but I thought the prices had been reduced, back towards what they were when it first opened.

Apparently word is out. They are already completely booked for Saturday night.

Awesome. Reminds me of another of my favorite pieces from The Onion re: Starbucks.

People who complain on Todd's Tuesday chat and then post the same nonsense on Tom's Wednesday chat are LAME! And if they insist on ordering their meat overcooked, then they get what they deserve I might add... (ETA - I'm kidding. At least sort of.)

I guess we will have to agree to disagree here. Bis apps run from $10-16, entrees from $24-29, while Johnny's apps are from $6.50-18, entrees from $16-28 (all but three over $24). You are right that Charlie Palmer can be very expensive if your order their biggest or fanciest dishes, but if you are ordering on the cheap, they offer two entrees for under $24, while Johnny's offers three. Regardless, I think Johnny's should and eventually will match their neighborhood competition in offering a discounted lunch menu.

I'm not sure I follow this. Johnny's prices are pretty comprable to Charlie Palmer and Bis and the location is the same, yet both of them offer discount lunch options.

This place has taken its hits for very bad service, and rightly so, but we had some very good service at the bar last night. I was nervous when I didn't see Stephanie working, as she used to be our solution to avoiding the service follies , but the two guys at the bar last night were both impressive. I didn't catch his name, but we had a younger, thinner, unshaven guy who took great care of us last night. He was kind, informative, attentive, everything you would want and hope for from good bar service. The other gentleman working was also going out of his way to be friendly and attentive towards the patrons around us. I was really encouraged - hopefully this is a sign that chef has heard the complaints and is replacing or directing his staff to improve on their issues. We had some very good food last night as well. The calamari was very disappointing and the worst I've had in a long time. We barely touched it. It was just bad in every way - overbreaded, oversalty, overcooked... Everything else was great. The papardelle special with rabbit & favas was a star - probably the best pasta dish I've had at Bebo. Also, I hadn't noticed their cheese program previously. We enjoyed both the gorgonzola dolce (if you like strong stinky cheese this is for you) and the buche noire - a lovely goat cheese in vegetable ash crust. Most of the cheeses were about $2 a taste and the tasting size was pretty nice, so it seems a great value. Anyway, one good night of service does not mean things have changed, but I'm hopeful its a sign of good things to come.

I haven't been, but have been wanting to try Rib Tip on H Street between 11th & 12th for greasy spoon breakfast. Its gotten some relatively positive reviews for good, basic breakfast here and here.

Metrocurean says it does M-Sat 4-7.