youngfood

Headmixtress Gina is redoing (has redone?) the cocktail program here.

The rumored ramen and dumplings spot expected to open soon above the Pug has a name. Sounds like a very small space, but it is good to see more places to eat in an area that has plenty of places to drink, but is still developing good eating options.

I enjoyed a group meal there recently. The shrimp tacos and duck quesadilla were hits; the pork rib carnitas and the lobster dish less so. Minigolf was fun and surprisingly a challenging course. Cocktails were more well-thought out than you might expect, but inconsistently executed. They seem to offer a real menu upstairs, but basically treat the downstairs as a bar, so I haven't tried the more limited menu from down there as yet. I predict Don puts this place ahead of Napa 1015, but still behind Granville Moore's and Taylor when he next updates his NE dining guide.

I love that bottle! Have been drinking it all summer long with my crabcakes and other shellfish. Whole Foods has been listing it around $7.99 most of the summer and I think it's probably my favorite under $8 bottle, and one of my favorite summer whites period. Reminds me of Muscadet, but I gather Picpoul is the grape

Is there really not a thread for this place? It's in Washingtonian's Cheap Eats issue. My first visit was generally charming. I loved it for its total lack of pretentiousness and particularly enjoyed drinking my beer out of a frosty mug. Fits the "casual, cheap, could get any of your nonfoodie friends to go here" bill very well, which I'm not sure a lot of decent places to eat inside the District do.

Also in the slightly outside your desired location category: Taylor on H Street NE otherwise fits the bill quite well. Only a mile from Union Station, no metro station though you could take the X2 bus.

Sounds like you were in the bar doing their lunch special, which is a limited version of the lunch menu for a discounted price. I suspect if you asked for the full lunch menu, they'd let you order sides or whatever else off of it you might want. Not sure if Proof does fries though, I don't recall ever seeing them there.

I believe the Jefferson has been closed for serious renovations for over two years now, so the odds of your comment being relevant they finally reopen are not good. http://www.jeffersondc.com/

Did they insist that you commit to ordering three full courses before being willing to seat you on the patio? When a friend and I asked about taking one of several then-open tables on the patio around 6:00 the other night, we were told they were available, but only if we ordered a full three-course meal. I thought maybe they just wanted to make sure we were really going to order food and not just have a couple drinks, but they actually told me we could not have the table if we only had 2 appetizers and 2 entrees. Poste is in my doghouse after that. Whether this was an accurate explanation of their policy or not, the impression left was that they don't want my business, so they wont get it. Glad to hear you had a good time though. I've always liked the space, the food, and the location.

Softshells here. As good or better than the crabcake, the fries, and the coleslaw which were all excellent. Huge, fresh, jumbo, simply sauteed.

And now with a fancy (relatively) new column/blogging gig at the Atlantic's Mixmaster. Lots of great stuff here in what appear to be ~weekly columns.

I had a hard time believing that any place that I'd never been before would live up to the hype that the Enzo Fagione's Chef's Table received in recent posts here, but I have to say that I concur. A recent meal here was as tasty and interesting as any I have had in recent memory. And the Chef really does treat the table as if it is his own, delivering and describing the innumerable courses and adjusting the menu to your tastes and the amount of room in your stomach. I think Don wrote somewhere that the Chef was demonstrating "Maestro-like creativity" and that description seems spot on, especially throughout the Komi-like opening series of small bites. I'd also note some Citonelle-like creativity, in particular in his bacon n eggs panna cotta and the presentation of the lobster risotto a la Chef Richard's "Lobster begula." The atmosphere here wont be mistaken for the Tasting Room at Eve and the wine pairings aren't selected and served by Mark Slater (ie nowhere near the level of the chef's creations -- though quite generous, I doubt I'd do them again), but the superlatives about the overall experience of having an extremely talented and creative chef prepare a meal with his own hands just for your table clearly justifies the high price of admission. Next time you are plotting a several course feast, add this table to the list of places you consider.

Except that lots of other scrap sellers do. Calvery Woodley discounts cheese scraps, various fish purveyors discount fish scraps, WFs sets them out like they are something special, but charges you the same. Apparently it works, but I wonder how many of the people who buy them realize they are paying the same price they would if they just asked for a small cut of whatever cheese they wanted.

Does the bread just soak up juices and then taste delicious later or what role does it play here?

Hmmm. So it wont be true Neapolitan or even 'Napolean' and he doesn't think he will want to have a coal fired oven, which I guess means he'll comply with the legal restrictions prohibiting building a coal-fired oven. Sounds like a lot of thought and research has gone into this already...

I don't disagree that wine and cocktail program can be an important part of a restaurant and of its review, but I think this conversation is getting a little carried away. By comparison, if you look at the Washingtonian's Top 100 reviews for the three very top restaurants cited in the quote above, only the piece on Eve mentions either wine or cocktails. I think that is appropriate -- I don't know how much Todd Kliman, Tom Sietsema or the Washingtonian's other food writers know about wine, so if I am going to look for an expert opinion on comparing top wine lists, I am going to look to the wine columnists in those publications. When I've seen comments about wine lists in the one page restaurant reviews that these publications typically produce, I tend to find them not-so-helpful, e.g., "the wine list is strong in Bordeaux and Burgundy."

Because having an "agenda" and producing "agenda-driven" pieces are totally different claims?

I've only been to Sova to grab coffee/espresso, but apparently they are introducing a serious wine and cocktails program with help from Derek Brown and Dan Searing. Portland-import & Oregon Bartenders Guild alum, Jamie MacBain is the new Bar Manager and will oversee a cocktail menu that features on grape-based spirits. This sounds like a potentially huge addition to the neighborhood! http://frozentropics.blogspot.com/2009/04/...-from-sova.html

Closing 4/29 per Washingtonian. Story says they have a new restau-bar/lounge coming in Crystal City and plans to reopen Farrah Olivia in DC within a year.

Metrocurean offers some more details and insight on the new Jean-Georges spot (another steakhouse) slated to open at the soon-to-be W hotel downtown. I've long been a regular reader of hers, but Amanda seems to have really come into her own the past few months. If you don't already follow her, you should. I think she is an absolute must-read for DC dining information.

A series of quick bites on the hill this weekend... Friday - a late quick bite at Locanda. The fresh pastas here remain quite good, but the space gets really loud when the restaurant is full. Saturday - a later dinner visit to Sonoma. I didn't think the menu showed too differently than it would of with or without Barton Seaver's temporary presence, so the highlights were a few cocktails from Justin, including a delicious and well-frothed old school whiskey sour and my introduction to Cynar. He didn't have his full set of tools with him, but he graciously whipped together some pretty impressive stuff for us. Tragically, I think we were the only couple in a packed bar who had any clue of how much cocktail-making talent was behind the bar that night -- their loss was our gain. It was one of those moments when you want to stand on a chair and interrupt conversations to tell everyone in the room to get a clue... Does this happen to others? I've been having these moments a lot recently -- I'm thinking particularly of the clowns who show up at Proof and order shots of grey goose or rail tequila and the outgoing Administration goons who asked Gina for Kahlua shots at PS7s a few months back... Anyway, it sounds like the new place in Glover Park is going to be great with a large bar area and some interesting drink options. Lunches - take out sandwiches from Taylor Gourmet, which has been doing very good business on my few recent visits. I've stuck mostly to chicken cutlet subs, but have to think this place is filling a huge void for good sandwich options in the DC area. The second half of a footlong seems to survive a night in the fridge quite well and the bread from Sarcone's is great.

Locally-farmed pork belly + 7 day brine + 6 hours slow cooking = crazy delicious. And is it me, or is the staff here about as charming as the food is wonderful. Almost makes me wish I was moving to Old Town instead of staying in the District...

Boy this is a help needed.... Greenbelt doesn't offer much that fits the bill, I don't think. Maybe Siri's Chef's Secret if Thai is ok. Or Osaka for sushi. Todd Kliman is a fan of it and the "white tuna" is very good. Other good spots to eat in Greenbelt are generally lacking in ambiance, but might make good second date spots if you are both into casual and ethnic. Pho 88, Da Rae Won, and Myong Dong all serve good food.

Goodeats is being typically modest -- this is going to be a FANTASTIC event! If you have gone in the past, you will not want to miss it this year as the event is going to be more intimate and of a higher quality than in years past. The smaller venue means more thought went into getting the very best restaurants, bartenders, products involved. And the cause is more needy now than ever.

Any other tips for decent spots to eat in Columbia, SC that do not pose serious socio-political issues? Proximity to the University preferred. Thanks!