DonRocks

Two recent vegetable plates I've had have been at Corduroy and Komi, and they are just as good as the other things at these fine restaurants. At Corduroy, it's listed as a main course ($mid-upper teens), and at Komi, you can assemble it yourself from the $4.00 side orders.

Trio of Burgundy Sorbet In his New Years Eve fervor, Koji had decided to make a dessert with Champagne, and then he realized that they have tons of Burgundy on the wine list. Hence this dessert, a fitting ending to the brilliant savory courses at Sushi-Ko (this evening was the inauguration of the soup with grilled hirame and steamed ankimo, served with baby spinach in a broth brilliantly thickened only with kuzu starch). The trio begins with an aspic of sparkling white Burgundy - a 2001 Michel Frères Blanc de Blancs - which Koji had to special-order, served with peeled and macerated white grapes. The charming server Kiyomi (who, out of sheer coincidence, happens to be Koji's wife!), threatened a lawsuit against me if I didn't completely finish each sorbet as I would logically progress in a Burgundy tasting: sparkling, white, and then red, the latter two wines being on their by-the-glass list. The White Burgundy aspic with White Burgundy sorbet was made with the 2003 Rijckaert Hautes Cotes de Nuits "Aux Herbeux," and the Red Burgundy aspic with Red Burgundy sorbet uses the 2001 Jean-Jacques Girard Bourgogne. This little burst of inspiration is a perfect ending to a meal of raw fish, and will set you back $7.50. Which brings me to Komi. (Subject change). But it's not really a subject change, because the first time I ever met the great chef Johnny Monis was at Sushi-Ko, where Koji introduced us. And it's not surprising that Komi is one of Koji's favorite restaurants, and it's also not surprising that the first time I met Sebastian Zutant was at the bar at Nectar, because there's a common thread running through all this: if the words elegance, finesse, detail, lightness, and complexity strike a chord with you, then Koji, Johnny, Sebastian, and our beloved duo Jamison Blankenship (whom we just lost to Bouley) and the immensely talented Jarad Slipp are already in your basic repertoire. Cheers, Rocks.

I came home hammered one evening and made spaghetti and put anchovies and Nutella in it.

That's easily understood when you notice that when Addie's hands out their dessert menu, they list three ports under their "aperitif" section. Cheers, Rocks.

A classy gentleman would never relieve himself, discretely or otherwise, whilst atop a piano.

The Grill at Galileo gets a lot of attention here (justifiably so), but Breadline doesn't get enough. A "turkey sandwich" ($6.90) might sound unimaginative, but the one at Breadline reestablishes just how great and important a restaurant this is. The turkeys are roasted daily, and must surely be brined, because the meat is flavorful like Palena chicken is flavorful, and is offered up in thick, generous handcarved slices (a perfect mixture of white and dark meat) on the best focaccia roll in town. The sandwich is at its best topped simply with lettuce and mustard (tomatoes are not available off-season), and it stands as one of the truly great lunch items in all of Washington. And it's healthy, too! Gobble one down and see for yourself, Rocks.

Sleep comfortably knowing that I'm happy there's another option, yeah Siam. Blisters for Four Sisters I've never been a fan of their western fair, and have always preferred Minh's, so there!

[Teaism recommendations split into separate topic here.]

Not to quibble (because in general, I agree with you and applaud your point), but do you think this Cambodian family goes out and eats boatloads of various glazed buttermilk donuts?

No, but you have to NOT be from Washington DC. Rocks.

Yeah, but it's funny how that $150 turns into $550 in a matter of several hours. Masa: what would a block of ice have cost in 19th-century Mali? About the price of a meal being all relative: in terms of affordability, yes, but even if I were Bill Gates, I still wouldn't be guzzling 47 Cheval Blanc every night [*], because (here it comes) at some point, after the 5th, or 10th, or 500th bottle, you have to look at larger issues and examine your own downward spiral into glutonny accompanying your ever-diminishing child-like appreciation for the finer things in life. Cheers, Rocks. [*] I'd switch to Petrus every other Tuesday.

I thought Varmint was the dishwasher.

Be thankful you weren't with me for lunch at Lavandou last week - your streak would have been broken. Not so much bad as bland, Rocks.

Why don't you just go ahead and subtitle this thread, "Chronicle of a Happy Marriage Ending in Divorce."

Click here for the article in the January 5th Washington Post, which tells about the chef's 100-pound weight loss.

Would someone please compare and contrast Mie N Yu with Dragonfly?

Does six-weeks-old count as an update? The service is wonderfully friendly (both Jimmy and Sharon Banks are uber-charming), and families with children are treated with respect. There are no better tropical drinks being served in all of Washington than here. The small plates upstairs are good and satisfying, in a gloppy fingery sort-of way, and the short ribs are obligatory. Cheers, Rocks.

Sitting at the corner table this evening, looking out through the window onto 7th Street, I saw a juxtaposition of expensive, thick, shimmering draperies, the Chinese-language sign for OBA Bank on the wall of the building just outside, and the bright, flashing lights of the Regal Cinemas Gallery Place Stadium 14, all within my purview and framed and layered like some kind of Franco-Cino-American Visual Napoleon. Then turning towards my left, looking across the expansive, elegant, empty dining room where, for two hours, I was the only customer with a minimum of a dozen staff working the area, I felt like I was the central character in a Fellini film. And so it is with IndeBleu, a bizarre combination of Zaytinya (large, hip, faux-ethnic), LeftBank (all things to all people), Kinkead's (many ingredients per dish), Nora (attention paid to raw ingredients), Heritage Dupont (Indian fusion [i hate the term "fusion" too, but what else would you label a crispy wild-mushroom dosa with blue cheese gratin and truffle oil?]) Zola (swank, MCI-Center digs), Komi (young, polished, genuinely friendly and caring service), and Maestro (a hard-working, hand-selected chef brought into Washington from overseas. I had a really nice dinner tonight at IndeBleu - five courses, all ranging between $9 and $12 (entrees are in the $20s and $30s) - the meal included a demitasse of potato-marjoram soup as an amuse-gueule, excellent fresh-fired oiled-and-herbed mini-naan throughout the meal, and a little tray of mignardises after dessert. The food tended to be bit heavy and busy for my taste, but I'm fairly certain the ultra-modern exotic nature of this restaurant, coupled with its proximity to the MCI Center, will have a far-reaching appeal to tourists just like that of Zaytinya. It's always difficult to judge the service when there's a 20-to-1 waitstaff-to-diner ratio, but everyone I met, downstairs and upstairs, was fabulously friendly and wonderful, including the quietly charming Chef Garg. Good luck to IndeBleu - I look forward to going back and trying it again. Rocks.

The Inn at Little Washington is another example of a restaurant that takes a credit card for every reservation.

Care to add any insight as to what's pouring out of those taps? ← Going from memory here, I recall there were perhaps 15-18 different beers, ranging from garbage (Bud, Miller Lite) through the tolerable (Harp Lager) towards the good (Allagash White and a couple of others), but I don't remember anything being unusually seductive. Cheers, Rocks

eGullet

Thinking the soft opening was last night, I gave The Ugly Mug 24 hours to get their act together before strolling in. As it turns out, I had the first beer they ever served (or, at least, charged for) - I shimmied in this evening just as they opened their doors for the first time. It was nice to see Graig Glufling back in action, though the entire staff is exhausted from working 15-hour days getting ready for the opening. The pizza is back, the miniburgers are back - this time with American cheese, and just like at Matchbox, you have to ask for mustard! For now, they're going to be sticking with standard pub fare although if you're adventurous you can get a crabcake or fried calamari. This is going to be more of a bar (thirty-six taps at a twenty-seat bar), and less of a restaurant, than Matchbox, being directly across 8th Street from the Marine Barracks. I have never seen five flat-screen televisions looming so large behind a bar. They are fully wired - even having a flat-screen TV by the pool table in the tiny back room - and they're going to be ready to party on New Year's Eve, featuring a $60 identify-yourself-with-a-bracelet, all-you-can-drink, all-you-can-eat-buffet that runs from 9 until closing (with Champagne toast). Cheers! Rocks.

I agree that it's part of our culinary heritage (anything that has been around for 100 years is an important part of history), although I can think of numerous things that were around for many years that were examined and questioned - often to the derision of the people posing the initial questions - and then ultimately, when enough people began to see that they were wrong, became either greatly diminished in importance or abolished altogether. Cheers, Rocks.

I was once criticized for playing 4'33" too slowly.

I just got off the phone with the General Manager at Corduroy. About three weeks ago, Tom Power decided to ask for a credit card at the time New Year's reservations were made, and there were apparently only a couple of people who had reserved before this point. Unfortunately, Pat was one of them, and so bore the brunt of the awkward request this evening. But based on the conversation I just had with the GM, there was no intent to be disrespectful or impolite; the person Pat talked with had simply noticed there was no card number on file and was trying to do her job. It's as simple as that. Honest! Now go and drink heavily, Rocks.