ScotteeM

Congratulations to all involved on the much-anticipated opening! Now I have to figure out where to have lunch on Thursday! I'll stay tuned here to help my decision.

It depends on which day of the week and time, and what time of year. I've gotten last-minute reservations, same-day, for a weekday, and on a Friday for a Saturday, but I prefer an early time (5:30 or 6:00). They will undoubtedly be very busy the first weekend after their vacation. It is possible to make reservations from their website, which uses Guestbridge. Of course, as with Open Table, if you come up with nothing for the date and time you want (assuming it's not during their vacation), call the restaurant directly, and you may be able to get a table. Enjoy!

I drive by that place 8-10 times a week (it's on my way to work), and I've never been there. Who knew Rocks was so gentrified? The parking lot is usually full on Friday nights, so someone likes to eat there.

In case anyone needs to know: Maestro is closed for dinner now through Sept. 11, reopening on Tuesday, September 12. Breakfast and Brunch service will continue as usual. I hope they all have a wonderful vacation!

Here is another fabulous single-purpose gadget that I don't think I should live without!

The Burke market was down one vendor yesterday, but still very busy. Not much corn, but I arrived at my usual 10:30, so there might have been more early. I also missed the orange cherry tomatoes from Red Rake Farm (Hanover, VA), and my hands started to shake at the realization. Next week I set the alarm clock! Next week I'll also try the feta cheese mentioned by DameEdna at Blue Highland Dairy. Inexplicably, their booth at the Burke market is not usually crowded, although yesterday they had sold out of heavy cream and half-gallons of whole milk. I have fallen in love with their cottage cheese, which is nothing like the bitter versions I've gotten at supermarkets, that made me give up on the product until now. I did pick up a bunch of purslane, which was delicious minced up with (red) cherry tomatoes in the cottage cheese. I didn't know what it was, but the vendor had a clipping from the WaPo attached to the display, and it looked interesting. Peaches, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, onions, and potatoes were in abundance, and will decorate my dinner plate tonight.

LOL! Yes, I think we do!

I used this recipe a few years ago when I made it for my local gourmet club's Hawaii theme dinner. I used collard greens instead of ti leaves. My recipe is basically the same as Laniloa's, BTW.

I have an appointment in north Arlington this afternoon, so I'm shooting for lunch at Portabello's, maybe around noon. Edited to add: Forgot one of my errands, so probably more like 12:30.

Words to live by! This is my new motto. Thank you, Nadya, for leading the way!

I confess I didn't know what "wild yeast" was (it's in the bread), so I looked it up. It's sourdough made out of thin air! It's capturing the yeast molecules that are everywhere in the air. Whatever--the bread was delicious in the sneak previews--along with everything else.

I was hooked on this from my first bite at Bamian a couple of weeks ago! What I recall seemed closest to Kabocha squash, although I don't have a lot of experience with many varieties of squash. Maybe it was butternut. I'd love to know, too, so that I could attempt to approximate this at home.

Whoa, Danny--my issues had nothing to do with attire, but with overall lackluster service and misrepresentation of their menu. I laid it all out in a post upthread, after my husband attempted to discuss our problems with management. Their food is good, if expensive, but they advertised one prix fixe menu out front and offered another, briefer menu when we got inside. Also, when they hosted that cognac tasting, they simply served their standard dishes, without demonstrating any attempt to pair the food with the cognacs. However, I agree with Antonio, that turning away paying customers who are dressed reasonably (and I saw some eclectic attire among patrons on my visit) not only deprives the restaurant of their dollars that night, but probably ensures those folks will not return and may tell some of their friends who will stay away as well. It's very easy to generate bad word-of-mouth publicity, and hard to undo that.

The interactions my husband and I have had with Indebleu (described above) suggest that their emphasis is not on customer service.

My husband and I are aiming for brunch at Tallula today, before we hit the WF in Clarendon to restock our pantry.

Seared dry scallops (from Wegmans) with tomato beurre blanc over rice Sauteed corn and heirloom tomato salad with scallions and basil

My Baltimore-native mother-in-law was known for her crabcakes, pan fried in bacon drippings. That is how she taught me to make them. I think the ones I've gotten from the Fishermen's Exchange in Baltimore were deep-fried, about the size of baseballs and full of lump crabmeat. Now, the way I hear it, this could be illegal in certain jurisdictions. Wasn't Chicago enacting some sort of regulation on frying in restaurants?

Well, tomorrow is a full moon (yippee!) although it is kind of hot. We'll see what happens this week. Thanks!

The maple rosemary marinade on this pagegoes well with lamb--reminiscent of the Maple-Rosemary marinade that Trader Joe's used to carry. I would cook the lamb as rare as possible, because I am guessing that this cut could get tough if overcooked.

And if one person is finished and says you may clear his plate, please don't take the butter and bread away while the other person at the table is still eating! OK, so it was just the butter, and my husband's bread plate that went with his empty entree plate, because he grabbed the bread basket before the industrious busser reached for it. If I had not been looking elsewhere when this happened, I would have stopped her from taking those things, but once it was done, it was too late.

Wegmans has Dry sea scallops at $9.99/lb now, with a sign crediting "abundant supply" for the reasonable price. Last night I used them to make Pan-Seared Scallops With Beurre Blanc Sauce from epicurious.dom. With the scallops, I served smashed baby Yukon Gold potatoes and steamed green beans with lemon-chive butter.

I've not tried that gumbo recipe, but I've had huge success with every recipe I have made from the Frog/Commissary Cookbook. The Frog was one of my favorite restaurants in Philadelphia, long ago! I'll have to give that recipe a try.

From the Black's Bar and Kitchen thread: A couple of weeks ago, my husband called Wegmans to ask if they had softshell crabs, and was told the season was over. I thought the season lasted until September, with supplies waxing and waning through the summer. In checking my facts, I found this on Virginia Seafood: So what's the real story? The live softshells that Wegmans had in June were wonderful and reasonably priced, but they don't seem to have any now. Surely the season is longer than 1-2 months!

I'm kind of left feeling like a heel! I did what was posted on this thread: I mentioned in the comments section of my Open Table reservation that I would be bringing a bottle and toasting "To Rocks," (and although my husband probably felt silly, we didt that). Our server said nothing about corkage (or anything else) when he opened our bottle, which led us both to assume that our reservation message was satisfactory. Of course, in hindsight, I realize that this constituted using my participation in the website as a means to gain favors, which was not my real intention. And, for the record, our reservation was made the day before--not a month before as mentioned upthread. Sorry for any misunderstanding! We will go back, because the food was that good. Please, people, know that the back of the house is amazing and you will enjoy a phenomenal dinner if you go there!

Today I accepted Joe H's challenge and lunched at Bamian. I started with the Mantu appetizer (#4), and then had the Palau Kabob with lamb (#3 Entree) and Kadu (#5 Side). The Mantu was awesome! Delicate patry like a home-made pasta, with a delicious, well-seasoned filling, topped with yogurt and mint as well as "meat sauce." It was delicate and flavorful and I want more! The Kadu was incredible! Sweet pumpkin and tart yogurt. I'm already hunting for a recipe for that. The Palau was delicious, but I had a problem with the lamb. It wasn't awful, but it was well-done (grey) and I didn't taste much marinade. I spooned the two sauces over the lamb and rice--was I supposed to dip? I loved the meat sauce, and while I thought the other sauce was OK, I am no fan of cilantro, and it was heavy with that. I can't wait to go back and try the chicken kebab! Oh, the restaurant is beautiful and elegant: white tablecloths, well-lighted room, lots of space between tables. I loved the room! Service was great.