ScotteeM

I can't help you. I tried twice: once at the bar and once for an early Sunday brunch. Service at the bar was as you described. Our experience in the dining room was much like yours. Server didn't know what beers were on offer and didn't want to bother to find out. Forks, spoons, and even plates were an afterthought, brought long after the food had hit the table. Creamy polenta was identified by the server as "mashed potatoes, or polenta, or whatever you want to call it." Food that should have been hot was room temperature. There were only 3-4 other tables occupied when we were there, and servers spent most of their time huddled in a group speaking in Italian. The food itself was quite good, but not worth what we had to endure to get it.

Bangkok 54 for lunch yesterday. From their special, "Thai Restaurant Week" menu, I had an appetizer of chicken meat balls, which were light, tasty, coated and deep fried. The spicy sauce that accompanied them added new dimensions, but the meatballs were delicious on their own as well. Also had marinated flank steak, which was sliced, marinated, grilled, sauced, and served over stir-fried baby bok choi and shiitake mushrooms. One of the best parts: having half of the flank steak to look forwad to for lunch again today.

Although we eat dinner later at home, when we go out we like to have an early seating, before the kitchen and waitstaff shift into high gear. Saturday night we were the first patrons in the restaurant at 5:30, and were warmly greeted with "Welcome Back" by managing partner Manuel Iguina and all of the staff, even though it was only our second visit. Chef Frigerio stepped out of the open kitchen to greet us and chat for a few minutes. Saturday night's menu was a bridge between winter and spring. The venison has been replaced by spring lamb, and suckling pig has taken over from the double pork chop. Fennel is giving way to baby spinach and Swiss chard. Chef Frigerio told us that next week there will be even more signs of spring on the menu. One of those signs was a lovely little starter, a special that night: a raft of blanched asparagus spears supporting a beautifully poached duck egg dressed with a tiny bit of preserved truffle. As I know from the farm co-op I've joined, duck eggs are seasonal, and are available now. When we broke open the egg, it created a lovely sauce over the asparagus. Plate-licking good! (Don't worry, we used bread.) Spicy Shrimp With Crispy Spinach combined grilled jumbo shrimp with baby spinach tempura, set on a plate scattered with mildly salty capers. Said Mr. M: "This was a terrific combination of flavors. I don't know what I expected really as 'spicy shrimp' sounds so basic, but this was a star." Seared Sweetbreads were slightly crispy on the outside and soft as butter on the inside. Sunchoke puree, provided a background that showcased the light flavor of the sweetbreads, while toasted hazelnuts and thin-sliced fried sunchoke chips added a nice crunch and counterpoint. Our wines for this course were, respectively, Albarina by Algareiro (Spain) and a Chardonnay from Argentina. Mr. M's main course was another special: seared squab on a cherry sauce. He loved every bite, and I got none to sample. My suckling pig was perfect: a double rib chop, some boned rolled leg (ham), and a disk of sausage that was crisp on the outside and creamy inside. We both had glasses of a Pinot Noir from Oregon that the sommelier described as "great but with a funky label": Wine by Joe. To finish the night off, we had little bowls of butterscotch pot de creme with toast foam. Again, we wanted to lick the bowl! The saltiness of the "foam" topping provided a contrast that showcased the butterscotch. Then Mr. M had Mascarpone semi-freddo with a caramelized pear, and I had "Pineapple Carpacchio." The latter was a plate artfully arranged with grapefruit sorbet, and then little stacks of grapefruit gelee under fresh grapefruit sections topped with very thin slices of pineapple. It was a refreshing end to a rich, lush meal. Stefano Frigerio is proving himself to be an outstanding chef committed to cooking with the seasons. His skills at using all parts of the pig, for example, give diners new experiences that aren't available on every street corner. Have you been to Mio yet? If not, why not? I can't wait to go back!

At least you had a pump! I had to take the carafe down to the stream. One false step on the bank and my salad dressing was mud.

Must find a way across the Potomac again! It's been too long since my last visit.

I can't believe it's been three years! This group has had a huge impact on my life, in ways I can't begin to express. Thanks, Don! Now, let's eat!

Live with a Doberman, and you can hear White Fang and Black Tooth every day. It's just uncanny! I remember those two and the pies, but can't remember Pooky.

Mio Saturday night. Not even a spilled glass of wine marred our dinner. Menu is transitioning from winter to spring, and Chef Frigiero was lamenting the late arrival of local spring produce. Nonetheless, he managed to put out a spectacular dinner for us.

I know that this is very after the fact, and I haven't actually eaten there myself, but there is The Steak House in the Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner.

It is not a good location, considering traffic patterns. I work less than a mile from there, but never even attempted it because it is not easy to get to or get back to work from. The Caribou Coffee franchise in that location has the right idea: delivery. Edited to add: Also, the idea of cilantro in the burger kept this hard-wired cilantro hater away (it tastes like soap!).

From Grub Street: Soho: Fabio Trabocchi has written a personal note to Bruni and has worked with B.R. Guest to lower prices across the board at Fiamma (including dropping the price of the seven-course menu from $138 to $125). Sorry to those who ate at Fiamma last week. [Diner’s Journal/NYT] ----------------------- I also want to point out that his prices aren't much higher than they were at Maestro.

Received in an email yesterday:

We usually make our dinner reservations on Saturdays for 5:30 or 6:00, depending on when a particular restaurant opens, so we finish up between 7:30 and 8. In most cases, restaurants aren't packed at that time, and we can enjoy a relatively quieter meal. Honestly, noise levels usually bother me more than my husband, but he was very disturbed by the volume at Central. Maybe we just both need to plug MP3 players into our ears and enjoy the food.

My husband and I were to Central once last summer for a 6:00 reservation on a Saturday, and while we enjoyed the food very much, and the decor, the noise level was a bit much for us by the time the restaurant was in full swing. This is a problem that has prevented me from returning to some of my favorite restaurants, sadly. We have a gift card for Central and very much want to go back and enjoy another dinner. Is there a quieter part of the dining room that we should request? Would a table in the bar area be quieter, especially early in the evening?

I have been looking forward to this event ever since it was announced. Actually, I've been watching this thread for a Gamasot dinner to be organized! But my life has taken an unexpected turn in the last 3 weeks, and I don't know now if I will be able to attend tomorrow night. If it would be easier for the restaurant, I'll cancel now. Otherwise, if I can decide tomorrow afternoon, depending on work events, then there's a slim chance I'd make it. What to do?

Alton Brown at Les Halles?

Are those dishes still on the menu? Do they have a chef who is re-creating what Chef Chiang had done there? Or are they just trying to pass outdated information off as current?

Speaking of bar food, Let us again praise the Lickety Split Lunch! Two courses from the special menu, for $13.50. The courses include specific glasses of wine and two desserts, but also the soup, salad, and sandwich of the day, any of which, ordered solo, comes to more than $13.50, along with several other menu items, as long as you order in the bar. I've had the hot ham and cheese sandwich twice now, and it doesn't get any better than that!

I could be mistaken, but I think the reference to "one-pounder" was to a one-pound lobster, which would yield about 4-5 oz of meat, by my math.

As soon as I read the news on the Washingtonian website about Stefano Frigerio and Nick Stefanelli taking over the kitchen at Mio, I made a reservation. These two were sous chefs under Fabio Trabocchi, and I knew they must be very talented in their own right. I was not disappointed last night. The space is beautiful, pulled together by the long slender metal sculptured screens and a hanging piece that evokes the image of a boat. I'm glad, though, that we prefer to dine early, because with little to absorb sound I can see this room getting very noisy when it is at capacity. At $70 for five courses, the Chef's Tasting Menu is a great deal. It demonstrated the chefs' deftness with fish, fowl, and meat. Seared Hamachi with lemon sorbet in olive oil was perfectly rare fish, preserving all of its richness and flavor. Foie gras Ballotine with corn meal crisps and huckleberry sauce was rich and unctious as it should be, with a little pile of fleur de sel on the plate to add crunch and contrast. We hadn't known that dish was coming, so didn't have a sweet wine at hand, but Manuel Inguina arrived unexpectedly at the table and offered us a splash of Dulce Moscatel 2005 by Silvano Garcio (Murcia, Spain), which was the perfect accompaniment. Sage risotto with pan-roasted quail was earthy and rich, with complementary flavors, a comforting dish for a winter evening (ok, it was a balmy night, but it is February). Butternut squash/quinoa "risotto" provided a bright flavored light textured backdrop to rich roasted monkfish, with tissue-thin crisps of Seranno ham added crunch and salt, and a red wine reduction tied it all together. Duo of roasted rack and leg of lamb was beautifully rare and tender, with a nicely seasoned crisp crust, over smoked mashed potatoes seasoned with thyme. We finished off the evening with a lovely light dessert of mascarpone semi-freddo and poached pear slices. Manuel looked very happy when we mentioned Stefano and Nick, saying how excited he is to have them in the kitchen. Both men have clearly been influenced by Fabio Trabocchi--how could they have spent so much time in his kitchens and not have been? But this is no Maestro clone. This is a good restaurant in its own right, sharing with Maestro the use of locally produced ingredients, all parts of animals, and cooking that takes skill, time, and attention. This is not a specifically Italian restaurant, but more generally contemporary Mediterranean in style. The wine list is varied and reasonably priced, including at least 15 bottles for $35 or less. We started with a glass each of Verdello (Castelo de Medina?), and then shared a bottle of Terrasola 2004. The staff were all extremely friendly and helpful, the service was attentive but not intrusive, and we were happy to say hi to two familiar faces in the kitchen. We can't wait to go back. ETA: Don't miss playing with the sculpture outside the restaurant: Put your hands on the lighted rings and enjoy the music!

I recommend against tank top, cutoffs and flip-flops, but pretty much anything neat and clean goes. Some folks really dress up, and some are quite casual, with all the in-betweens. Some of it depends on the occasion or other activities before or after dinner.

I'm in for either date. Should we move this to the $20 Tuesdays thread?

There was a crawfish sandwich on the menu at the Fair Lakes Whole Foods seafood counter yesterday as a special. I asked, and was told it was crawfish salad that they also sell to go. I didn't try it, don't know how it is.

I'd be interested in that!

I stayed away from the Lickety-Split lunch for too long! I second the recommendation for the mussels with merguez. The curry sauce on the shells makes for messy eating, but it's too delicious to let that stand in the way. Today's sandwich du jour was a hot ham and cheese. Ham cured and smoked in the restaurant, from one of Joel Salatin's hogs. It was the most amazing ham and cheese sandwich I have ever had, and so far removed from what we usually think of as ham . . . . I can't think of any words sufficiently superlative. It was over the top!