JRage

Furins in Georgetown makes great cakes and they are usually up to the challenge of making custom cakes... I'd ask them to see what they can do...

Hey everyone, Sorry I haven't been posting lately, I've been pretty busy working on getting Sonoma up and running (as quickly as possible?!?). We are excited to be opening our second restaurant/wine bar and very excited to be in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Thank you for all of the encouraging posts over the last few months, they've been nice to read throughout this process. We are sending out the first round of email invitations to some "preview" events and I'm guessing that many of you were early subscribers on our website. I think it would be great it we could organize an eGullet "preview" event for many of you. Since there are a lot of industry people, I'd probably arrange it for a Sunday or Monday night... So, if you get an invite, when you respond, mention that you'd like to be involved in the eGullet event, so we put you on the appropriate list. I'm not saying that this group would get any special treatment, but then again... ...maybe I am. Looking forward to hosting you all and many thanks again for all of your support and encouragement. Warmest regards, Jared Rager Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar Mendocino Grille and Wine Bar

Actually, the restaurant was designed by Griz Dwight, of GrizForm Design Architects. Griz was formerly a Senior Project Manager for Adamstein and Demetriou and has worked on many beautiful DC restaurants. In addition to Oya he is working on a number of projects right now, including... Sonoma, (Capitol Hill) which is the 'soon to be open' sister restaurant to Mendocino. We've been very impressed with his work and his knowledge. As I understand it, the owner of Oya did act as his own contractor though. Anyway, welcome Oya...to the Washington restaurant scene.

Dined at 21P last night and we had a nice time. Olives, olive oil with rosemary focaccia was a nice starter. I enjoyed the tuna tartare and the pan seared rockfish, both were very nice. Wife had the lobster bisque and a blue corn tamale. Service was good, space looks beautiful, I think they've done a nice job. A welcome addition to Dupont's restaurant scene.

That's actually a cool idea... I'll have to test that out when I take my kid to a real playground.

Nadya - May I borrow some of your irrational attachments? Not that I'm out getting my groove on, very often, but when I've been at work late or I've been kicked out of my Apartment for various reasons, I always end up at Kramerbooks. Big old slice of pie with ice-cream, some sundae toppings and I can't remember where I am. As for Sakana, there might be better sushi, even on the block, but I love that place. I'm pretty sure they don't even like me that much, but it's comforting to get my green tea and my regular sushi, consistently good every time. El Tamarindo used to be a very irrational attachment, as we would go there late night usually extremely inebriated.

Much appreciated...

I'm seriously considering changing my username to ThreadKilla, since there are at least a dozen threads out there that have gone silent after I post on them. Maybe once and a while someone could post the 'sound' of crickets chirping after I post.

Actually, It'll look like a big bag of money, the bag will have handstitched trim and baby hand prints all over it. Now everyone is going to be totally underwhelmed with the actual cake...

What design are you getting? You'll see, it's something my wife wanted to do, I'm pretty sure the inspiration was Martha Stewart. It'll be a surprise.

That cake looked amazing. My son's first birthday is coming up this weekend (his party anyway) and I just placed an order with Furin's in Georgetown. I'll post a picture when I've seen it, but they were very willing to custom design a cake for us. Prices are very reasonable as well, and I know from experience that their cakes are great.

Thanks for asking Don! Mendocino Grille and Wine Bar offers a 15% discount on all food items for industry people and additional specials on Sunday night which include $5 cocktails and half-priced wine list (open to everyone, but designed with our industry peers in mind.) Combined with our Sunday Fare menu (California "comfort food" like Kobe Beef cheeseburgers, fried organic chicken, and macaroni & cheese) industry night at Mendocino offers our restaurant and neighborhood friends an informal (and inexpensive) chance to check us out.

Add Mendocino to that list of restaurants who are extending the Restaurant Week specials a second week. And fresh berries with organic yogurt is a dessert option or a starter for lunch. And a fruit cobbler.

Small correction, the lunch menu is not a "full menu" for restaurant week. I've had some requests for the Restaurant Week Menu at Mendocino, so I'm posting a link to them here. (They aren't up on our website.) As far as the supplemental fees, the few items that have it, range from $2 to $5 (and that is on the VA organic kobe beef.) As far as reservations go, even for lunch, it is a good idea. We only have about 50 seats, so if you really have your heart set on eating at Mendocino, better safe than hungry. If you are solo, then you can always eat at the bar and don't need a reservation to do that. Restaurant week can be crazy though, so you really never know what is going to happen. Let me know if there are any more questions! Mendocino Lunch - Restaurant Week Mendocino Dinner - Restaurant Week

Yes, Thank you dbortnick! We are all looking forward to checking out the new and improved Poste. At Mendocino Grille and Wine Bar we have the whole menu available for lunch and dinner for restaurant week, (there are a few items with a small supplemental fee) but for those of you who have been wanting to come in but are on a tighter budget, it is an amazing deal. We did the same thing last time and it was really well received. Enjoy!