JennyUptown

They must have finally hired a publicist. An acquaintance of mine, the type who is usually "in the know", just e-mailed me asking if I wanted to go to this "new" spot that is supposed to be "hip." It's called Ginger Cove. <blank stare>

Lebanese Taverna Chipotle An Indian feast from the best place near your office

Still... OK, I'm immature sometimes and I admit it. Where is "L'Asso"?

L'ASSO??

That's what I was thinking. I would rank at least thirty places as "hot" above that usually empty spot.

I was in a wedding at the Vanderbilt Mansion (on Long Island) that was catered by Lovin Oven (???!!!!). The name is goofy, but the food is phenomenal. They cater for a few venues, however I don't know off the top of my head whether or not any are in Westchester.

I can't believe no one has said anything about La Tasca yet: AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Does anyone have anything to say about the food on Provo (Turks & Caicos)?

Truth is I work in thet neighborhood and I've always thought there were fewer good restaurants than there should be. ← I definitely agree. Everytime I try to plan a group night out, it's a struggle. Firefly is great, but tough for groups without notice (to secure the back room).

Drinks at IndeBleu will definitely give you your fill of uppity and lively.

mdhl - were you affiliated with the restaurant? If so, what did you do and where are you now?

In what part of town will you be staying? Do you tend to like quiet places or lively ones?

Ah, no need for that! It might have some useful discussion. Or Rocks can merge this (and delete me).

Here's one discussion re: happy hours

I have been really disappointed in the service at Matchbox during my last few visits. This [formerly?] great little spot is close to my office so it was a frequent choice for casual business lunches and post-work dinner/drinks with friends. Lately, the service, particularly the hostess up front, has been freakishly rude. I realize that restaurants have policies, such as not seating incomplete parties, however the expression of said policies can be done in a polite, pleasant way that doesn't make a customer feel like he or she is a third grader being sent to the Principal's office. Service once seated has, from my perspective, also declined. I went to Matchbox frequently enough that some of the staff became familiar and I enjoyed their casual friendliness. But now, it seems like 90% of the staff has turned over and the friendly former servers have been replaced with icy automatons. Very sad. I used to look forward to visits to Matchbox. I'll still go, but not with the same enthusiasm.

Is this place still open?

Has anyone checked out the "soft opening"? I might have to take one for the team this week. If the drinks are still good, I may be able to get past the trite bed thing (while sitting at the bar in proper stools).

Have you eaten at the Cleveland Park or Dupont Circle locations? I'm curious to hear how you think they compare with U Street. Some friends of mine also ate there on Saturday and were put off by the prices. I tried to warn them...

Isn't that line for Pegasus, the lounge above Heritage India that is owned by the Cafe Milano folks?

I am the coupon lady. Today I received a coupon via Heritage India's e-mail mailing list. It's good for $7.50 off a $20 lunch bill, or $15 off a $40 dinner bill. The usual exclusions apply (tax, beverages, tip not included), it's only good at the Dupont Circle location and it expires on March 31. Click here for one of your very own

Oh god...I wanted to smack her throughout. The "piece" read like one of the Washington Post site user reviews IMO. Quite a few DC digs in there. "But it's got so much energy foodwise anyway..." I don't regularly read Food & Wine so forgive my ignorance, but is she a regular contributor? Edited to add: the blurb is entitled "Urgent Dispatch from an Editor on the Road" so I answered my own question. Wow, that little thing is poorly written.

Well, feel free to send him down here to DC. I'm looking for some new places with fun atmosphere.

I had a last minute business trip to Philadelphia yesterday and somehow managed to spend time in two Continental locations (are they more than two) in the same day. It was a bizarre little trip with my boss comprised of lunch with the client (at his hotel, the Four Seasons - nothing to wow the palate, nothing gross either). We had time to kill and decided to see a movie at one of the Ritz theaters, but got there so early that we wandered around, looking for a place to sit for a bit. This Continental (apologies for not knowing which neighborhood...perhaps near Penn's Landing? Totally guessing.) was diner-like. I had a glass of Riesling; dieting no fun boss had Diet Coke. We sat at the counter and our server was friendly and charming. She didn't mind at all that we were just sipping and chatting so we tipped her accordingly. Post-movie, we took a cab back to the Four Seasons to get the car and wouldn't you know, there's another Continental. Living in DC now (where stylish tends to mean the most expensive place in town), and having lived in NYC, I feel like I've experienced the full range of hole-in-the wall, stylish and/or pretentious places. But I felt very comfortable in the Continental Midtown. Sure there were contrivances like the swing-chairs upstairs, and the server uniforms. But the food and drinks were pretty good and moderately priced. Our server was pleasant and when we gave her a sense of our timing, she responded accordingly (e.g., not too much time between courses and no disappearing at check time). Overall I thought the place was really fun as well as a good value.

I went to the Au Bon Pain web site today to check out the soups offered. One new sandwich caught my eye: CHOCOLATE CHERRY MARSHMALLOW Marshmallow fluff topped with chocolate wafers on toasted Chocolate Cherry Bread Does this sound like something you would buy for lunch?

Focus, people. Let's talk about FOOD. The stuff we want to eat, not the stuff we don't.