ScotteeM

[Edited to start with] Every salad du jour I've had at Restaurant Eve has been wonderful! I have loved the ginger salad and the tea (?) salad at Myanmar in Merrifield. I've also had a great Caesar salad at Kinkead's.

OK, full disclosure: Last night Michael comped our deserts so that we would say nice things about his restaurant. Further disclosure: That wasn't necessary. I'll get the negatives out of the way first. It took us an hour to get there. An accident on the Beltway that didn't figure into my travel calculations forced me to call the restaurant and apologetically tell the hostess that we would be a little late. The restaurant was operating at capacity by 7:00, with every one of the 42 seats in the main dining room occupied. There were another 15 or so people in the space between the bar and the main dining room, and the bar was also full. That was a lot for 3 servers and 4 runners (by my count) to handle. Other staff pitched in, too, but it was still a strain on the kitchen's and servers' capacity to deliver. We were there about two hours. The staff never lost their poise or friendly tone, and everything came out great in the end. It was a fabulous way for us to celebrate our anniversary, in a lovely space with great food and friendly staff. After we started on our bread and spreads, the couple at the next table, more recently seated, wanted to know what was in those interesting little square bowls. We promised them they'd get their own set to enjoy. I still can't decide which spread I like the best. I have to keep trying them all! My husband insisted when we ordered that he was not inclined to share his sweetbreads. But when the plate came out, piled with crispy fried pieces, he relented and allowed me a couple of bites. Wow! That was wonderful. I already knew how my devilishly good eggs would be, and they didn't disappoint. The olives in pastry were the perfect appetizer: salty to stimulate the appetite. Ultimately, we over-ordered, and I ended up taking home a heavy parcel. But that enabled me to enjoy the Milk and Cookies, and my husband said his Peach Charlotte was delicious. It's probably been more than 30 years since I last had an egg cream. I'm ready to go back next week, but I'll wait, just to prolong the anticipation. Michael, et al., thank you for a wonderful evening! We'll be back.

So sorry, Dean! He sounds like a special guy.

--> QUOTE(Mrs. B @ Sep 7 2006, 01:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> From where does one get squash blossoms in late October? Are they shipped in? Don't know about October, but my across-the-street neighbor has a huge squash plant in bloom in his front yard. . . . tempting.

I'm very glad her job is safe. Did I meet her at the preview dinner? If that was Emma, she was wonderful! If not, I hope to meet Emma, and our server at the preview dinner was still wonderful!

My husband and I were just saying the same thing tonight. Chef Chiang, wherever you are, I hope you and your family are well.

It's one thing to make factual statements about service and express disappointment. It's quite another to assume motive on the part of the individual whose behavior one is criticizing. So maybe she was in the weeds. It happens. It doesn't mean she hates you. My husband and I have reservations for this Saturday also, and I can't wait! I loved the preview dinner I attended, and I can't wait to share this place with my husband! By the way, as we're going over the river and through the woods, from Northern Virgina, for a 5:45 reservation, I am not sure how much time to allow for travel. To get to the Thursday evening preview dinner, it took me 95 minutes--during rush hour, of course. The trip home was barely 30 minutes. For those who have made the crossing on a Saturday evening, would an hour be enough time? And if we're early, what time does the bar open?

We have enjoyed Wegmans dry-aged as well, and sometimes they do wonderful sales! But often they don't have the cut we're seeking.

But it's not rotting, decayed, spoiled, or moldy--at least not the part we bring home and cook. And I don't feel we're paying LOTS extra, over the same cut in the same store, not dry-aged. OK, rib eye over chuck eye, maybe, and I buy the latter sometimes, too. But the dry-aged product is a a real treat. If you eat meat, try it sometime when it's on sale (just don't cook as long as you would regular beef). If you don't eat meat, what do you care if I like it?

Last night we had dry-aged beef from WFM (Clarendon). It was a bone-in rib eye, on sale for $14.99/lb. Ours was 1.8 lbs (including bones). The flavor is more concentrated, beefier than regular steak. We do buy it when it is not on sale as well. We do feel that the additional price is worth it for us. We don't buy it every time we want a steak, but when we want to treat ourselves, that's a pretty easy way to go. It's great on the charcoal grill, or in a hot-hot cast-iron pan. This is how we like to spend some of our disposable income.

My experience with Pho is limited, but I like the place in the Pan Am Shopping Center on Route 29 at Nutley, not too far from Vienna. I've had Pho to go from there, and eaten in at their sister branch on Backlick in Springfield. I've tried other dishes at Pho Cyclo, but not the Pho itself. I've liked what I've had, and the place is usually packed at lunchtime, with lots of folks having Pho. It's in the Yorktowne Shopping Center on Gallows Road at Arlington Boulevard.

Channel 9 news this morning reported that Citronelle is going to get a $5m makeover as part of a renovation of the hotel into a luxury resort.

Reports of Laboratorio's demise are apparently premature. The email I got this morning announced that the Laboratorio will be open this coming Friday and Saturday, September 8 & 9.

Has anyone been to Cosmopolitan Bakery & Catering, on Kings Highway in Alexandria? I read about it on Tyler Cowan's blog and elsewhere, and it sounds like I might like it, but I can't tell if they are strictly take-away or if they have seating. Anybody know?

That would have shocked and offended me, too, and I don't understand the reasoning. To me that seems extremely unfair. I have encountered menu items not marked as spicy that were, indeed spicy in the extreme (though since Chef Chiang I have learned to appreciate appropriate, authentic spicing). I chalk those up to careless menu printing, lack of proofreading, and carelessness of the restaurant management who don't bother to change the menus or warn folks ordering the dish in question. If I like the place well enough, I simply mark my own copy of the menu and carry on (or out).

I'm thoroughly confussled.

Is that opening to the public? Or "friends and family"?

In the latest issue of La Cucina Italia, it was spelled Zabayon.

Congratulations, Mrs. TJ! You're an inspiration to us all!

My husband returned from hunting and gathering at Wegmans in Fairfax this afternoon with a quarter-pound of perfectly ready Quatres Feuille in his shopping bag. He usually buys cheese from Aldo at Arrowwine, so I was a little surprised that he had bothered with Wegmans, until I tasted the cheese. I've previously given Wegmans a mixed review, but I want to reinforce that their actual cheese counter is really great, and many of their cheeses bear little signs saying "Ready Today" or "Ready in X Days". My husband reported seeing Tito, late of Arrowwine, behind the counter today at Wegmans. They were already doing a decent job, but now I can report that a good cheesemonger is there.

If Roberto is bringing his Grill across the river, I will definitely put it into my Thursday rotation!

But it was just a salad! I don't think that's grounds for a public trashing.

I'm not sure what you read as political in my answer or anyone else's. I'm not trying to argue, either. Just trying to point out what I consider to be a health risk worth considering. The better informed we are about the food we eat, the better we are at making choices about foods.

I have to agree with you there, although it does vary from store to store. Clarendon and Old Town have excellent dry-aged beef, although Springfield's is all pre-packaged and probably not aged at the store. It's one of our favorite indulgences.

I Googled "irradiated eggs" last night, and I have to say that I found little to recommend them. Yes, they are free of salmonella contamination. However, the irratiation process destroys the vitamin A, adversely affects the protein content, and apparently turns the omega fatty acids into free radicals (or something else into free radicals--they're rampant in irradiated eggs and not so in fresh eggs). I stopped reading after a few lines, deciding that I'd rather take that 1 in 20,000 chance than eat a food that has been turned into a carcinogen. And with all the molecular alteration, I wonder how irradiated eggs perform in sauces and baked goods. I have not found any such information about pasteurized eggs, so I would consider that a safer choice for mayonnaise.