JennyUptown

Thank you SO MUCH!

Yes

I wonder if this review - regarding a place "less than 50 miles from downtown" - will evoke a response similar to his review of Pazo in B'more.

Count me as a fan of Magnolia. I ate more than my share while living nearby. As for muffins, at least once a week I find myself craving a banana blueberry bran muffin from Grey Dog's Coffee (Carmine Street near Bleecker). The best, particularly when split, toasted and buttered.

I had dinner at Palena on Thursday with two friends, and then returned for drinks with my parents and a friend on Saturday. There are plenty of things worth returning for (and frequently), but I've found the cheese plate offerings to be extra special lately. They have a spectacular gorgonzola (anyone know who makes it? I might call to find out.) and several goat cheeses of very different textures and tastes. On Thursday, the hard cheese was, I believe, parmesan (salty and delicious); on Saturday it was manchego (Dad scarfed down most of it - I only got one piece! ).

What would your suggestions be for two young single girls looking for good food in a fun atmosphere? No sushi. We're staying at Portofino Bay. Thanks!

Question for the ladies: does anyone know why the bathroom stall still isn't fixed??

Oops, I forgot that they still put out a print version.

What is the price at Ardeo? I considered it, but we had brunch there when my parents visited in February.

What was with all of the italics in Tom's Weekly Dish this week?? Probably a new intern.

I worked from OpenTable.com. They highlighted some local establishments, but I also looked at the web sites of places I was considering (only some of which spelled out their specific plans). In the end, we decided to try David Greggory. We had a nice dinner there not too long ago, and the menu seemed like a good middle-of-the-road (e.g., not a $70 brunch, not dining at Austin Grill either) option. Of course, at the moment I am blanking on what the price was...or if a la carte was also an option. Must drink more coffee.

Hello from DC, Do any of these spots have web sites? Fins Nana's Four Square Bloomsbury Grill The Cosmopolitan Enoteca Vin Il Palio I'm helping a colleague gather info in order to buy a gift certificate for a contact there. Sent him to the sites of Fearrington House and Elaine's already. Thanks!

Has anyone ever had Sunday brunch at 2941?

Bricks - mercifully - has closed. Everyone say a little prayer that something good moves in because I like the space's roof deck (it's not fancy, but it's pleasant enough). After being disappointed by a few new CP tenants - see the tanning place, see Sorriso, see that taco chain - I am reluctant to get my hopes up, but still...

There's another very tempting pasta on the tasting menu that I believe is described as "Bacon and Eggs" - the egg element coming in the form of ravioli made with an eggy pasta wrapper (I'm describing this poorly I know, so please feel free to chime in if you can describe this better). The bacon is, of course, pieces of Palena's house-made pork perfection.

The present gnocchi preparation involves ricotta and nettle gnocchi with castelmagno (almost spelled that "mango") cheese and mushrooms (I forget which variety). I could go for some right now!

The menu was on the short side last night, but still excellent. The minestrone was gone, replaced by a brodetto (sp?) of seafood. Also no breast of lamb. I had the burger and it was great as always, but I probably should have given in to my carb craving and just gotten the darn gnocchi.

Anticipation. Yep, another couple of happy hours at Palena are planned for tonight. Hopefully I won't be stymied by another private event. The gnocchi with castelmagno ( ) and nettle was awesome last time. Could be worth repeating. I also tried that stuffed lamb breast which was not at all what I had expected, but wonderful. I really didn't understand the prep (anyone care to expound on it?), but the flavor was incredible.

Red Sage??? How odd. I'm having lunch there tomorrow incidentally (I have a coupon).

Two things keep me from making this one of my frequent "it's in the neighborhood - let's go!" spots. [Neither is Carole Greenwood] First, it's slightly pricier than I would ideally spend on a casual meal. Second, the menu is rather limited. When I was there, I think they offered five entrees total - a pork chop, the signature steak and three seafood dishes. But it's a cozy little spot and like brr, I was very impressed by the mozzarella with homemade pesto. Really good stuff.

Some friends of mine called yesterday, inviting me to join them for dinner. At Merkado. "What do I do?" I asked myself, desiring to hang out with said friends, but not insult them by suggesting another venue. I thought of the trainwreck of a menu that had been discussed here. I had a flashback to the word "ConFusion." But in the end I kept my mouth shut. Good thing - turns out my friends know someone in the ownership group. And it wasn't a bad experience in the end. I liked most of what I ate. It's not fancy food, but the space is pretty nice. And if you're gay (I am not, thus I received not one lingering glance!! ), it's a hopping, cruise-y scene, even on a Sunday night. After one glass of wine at the bar, our table for four was ready. Not sure if my friends' knowing anyone there sped things up or not. The place was very busy. We were greeted promptly by our friendly. I cringed inwardly as she described the "Asian food with Latin influences...or vice versa" but gave her points for enthusiasm. She let us know about some menu changes and comparing the menu online to the one we saw, there have definitely been some edits (overall, the overwhelming menu has been scaled back from what I can tell - a good thing). What we ate: Complimentary corn chips and salsa (good salsa, not spicy but full of flavor) Cuban Pork Quesadilla w/ Pepper Jack & Spicy Piquillo Salsa 8.00 Rice & Beans 4.00 Charred Asparagus 4.00 I wasn't tremendously hungry so I ordered an appetizer plus two sides (for sharing). The preparation was a little different than I expected in that the quesadilla was sitting in a vast ocean of sauce. Fortunately it was an inoffensive sauce; there was just a ton of it. I would have liked to have been able to pay more attention to the nice stewed/shredded pork inside - if I were to order this again, I'd definitely request that they go light on the sauce or put it on the side. The rice and beans were...interesting and I think I liked it. Arriving looking like a bowl of Chinese-style fried rice, there were three kinds of beans (navy, black and pinto) mixed in with the rice. It was a little dry - I was wishing one of the many accoutremants on the table (hot sauce, ponzu sauce, separate grinders for "Hawaiian" sea salt" and pepper) were soy sauce and a little moisture would have helped. The asparagus was awesome - some butter, a hint of vinaigrette and random flecks of salt. My friends' dishes: Grilled Squid Stuffed w/ Crabmeat & Shrimp in Coconut Curry 8.75 She raved, loving the dish and eating every bite. "Asopao" – Puerto Rican Paella For 1 - 17.50 or For 2 - 33.00 Seafood, Chorizo, Pork & Chicken w/ Rice & Beans & Siracha Crema He also was quite happy, but every once in awhile, he'd pull out a random hunk of seafood and say "what is this?" Steak Frite Nuevo Latino" - Skirt Steak in Mojo w/ Boniato Fries & Xuxu Slaw 17.50 Great textured beef. Instead of boniato fries, though, the steak was served with fried chunks of plaintain. For dessert we had tres leches with sour berry compote. It was ok, but I wasn't oohing and ahing over it the way I have been for some recent desserts (see Tabard Inn, see Colorado Kitchen). The bottom line: I won't be adding Merkado to my list of favorites anytime soon, but I won't dissuade the curious from checking it out either.

I went to Tom's review of Opera (formerly Kuna) to see if Opera is open on Sunday nights. I remembered that Kuna was not. Although the review says "Sunday 6-9 pm" I figured I should call and sure enough, the outgoing voice mail says that they are closed Sunday. The voice mail also makes reference to "Opera, formerly Kuna" and "Italian farmhouse cuisine." I also saw an interesting user review dated March 17 saying that the old Kuna menu is back/coming back. Is anyone able to verify that (by a recent visit)?

I appreciate the update just the same. That's service!

People. The quoting of long posts. Is it all necessary??

That's probably true. In the end, I got my fill of Wegman's while at Cornell. I'm a bad enough cook (and a big enough fan of eating in restaurants) that I'm happy to make do with a combo of Giant, Safeway and Whole Paycheck. Re: Wegmans, though, I blame half of my freshman fifteen (ok, twenty if I'm being honest) on their damn chocolate-chip muffins. I used to love 'em. Fortunately the present iteration is different and I no longer am tempted.