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I don't find that Calvert-Woodley has a very inspired collection of zinfandels especially for such a high-volume store. The only notable zins it has are Ridge (2 labels), Rosenblum (1 label), and Rancho Zabaco (2 labels). I don't know Chevy Chase Liquors, but as far as the other 3 stores go, Schneider's by far has the best zinfandel selection ... stocking multiple labels of the likes of Edmeades, Rosenblum, Seghesio, Turley, etc .... Not boutique wines, but definitely some small production labels from those larger producers represented. If you're in the Calvert Woodley neighborhood, another store worth looking at is Circle Wine & Liquor (5501 Connecticut Ave.) near Chevy Chase Circle. It has a decent zinfandel selection as well, and a superior collection of domestic wines compared with Calvert-Woodley, in my opinion. I'll have to check out the Wide World of Wines however! Edited to fix link

Well stated, Sara. There's not much else to add except to say that Derrick is a quite a gentleman, a gracious & efficient host, and quite the mix-master. I could eat the chicken, burger and fries several times a week. And the ravioli was delightful and perfectly flavored. It's wonderful that Palena allows customers to order from the main menu, in addition to the bar/cafe menu. Go there. Today. Well, tomorrow ... when it's open (Tuesday-Saturday). Edited to note that the bar/cafe section ONLY is also open on Monday evenings.

Cheesy? How about Saddleback Ranch on the Sunset Strip, a place built around a mechanical bull? Or a cheeseburger at a local In N Out Burger? For more upscale, definitely try A.O.C.

If you like beer, take a tour of the Sam Adams Boston Breweryin Jamacia Plain. It's one of the better brewery tours I've been on. Plus, it will be away from the hectic Fleet Center/downtown area.

They say that good things happen in threes, morela!

For anyone interested, I received this email in my in-box this afternoon. Apparently, the City Paper launches its restaurant finder next Thursday. The link below promises a sneak peek. Don't know if it's only open to subscribers at this point or not. Yes, I admit. I rated a few places. For fun, I did a search for all of the restaurants in the DC area that are rated with five "sporks," meaning "excellent." Here's the list: Addie's (Rockville), Afghan Restaurant (Alexandria), Cafe! Cafe! (Arlington), Country Cupboard (Kensington), Kinkead's, Mandalay (College Park), Minibar, Palena, Palena Cafe, El Pollo Rico, Roof Terrace Restaurant & Bar (Kennedy Center), and Sunflower Vegetarian Cafe (Vienna). The vast majority of places appear to have received four sporks, meaning "very good." Discussion? --------------------------- SUBJECT HEAD: CityPaper Restaurant Finder: Come and Get It! THE WAIT IS (ALMOST) OVER! Washington City Paper Restaurant Finder is going live on Thursday, July 22. But as a loyal rater, you get a SNEAK PEEK. Click on the link below to test-drive the site--search for meals by cuisine, location, price, rating, and/or other ingenious criteria. Read the insightful comments of fellow raters, add your own, and please let us know what you think. Thanks for your ratings and your feedback--and bon appétit! http://restaurants.washingtoncitypaper.com/finder.php

Mr. Dente~ If you decide to spend any time around Santa Barbara, this thread can hook you up with some good eats in the city of Santa Barbara and the town of Los Olivos: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=39399

Sara and I are Thinking of meeting some friends in the Adams-Morgan vicinity next week for drinks/dinner... We might start at Mantis and then move on to somewhere close by for dinner. I've thought of Cashion's but was also considering somewhere we hadn't been before: Both Santa Rosa Seafood and San Marco caught my eye. Any recent reports from the eGullet crowd? Or any slap-downs akin to: "You are a fool. Why would you eat at either of those two places when you could eat at [fill in the blank]!!!" Edited to fix dumb-ass typos

My girlfriend and I enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch at Baxter's on Hyannis harbor on the Fourth. A pound of native steamahs, 1/2 pint of fried scallops and side of fries, along with two lemonades, ran us about $28. The clams were juicy and of high-quality and the scallops were very tender and just lightly breaded. Unless you eat in the Club, you order and wait for your food at the counter, then bring it to a table. Baxter's has a large outdoor seating area right along the docks out back and a good-sized parking lot for customers as well.

You should definitely check out the Blue Benn Diner, a classic old-style diner. I've been away too long to recommend much else, unfortunately.

I'll admit to signing up for this if only to get my two cents in. I recently got an email from them talking about launching their ratings system online later this month ... around July 20th, I believe. It's all gonna be VERY interesting.

Here are a few Happy Hour ideas from the Post: Bethesda Happy Hour DC Happy Hour

Rosemary's offers half-priced bottles of wine every day during Happy Hour. Its wine list is workaday, perfectly adequate for happy hour purposes. They do have a nice area of outdoor seating as well. I've never eaten the food there beyond some bread and hummus, I believe.

For a nice mix of good food & atmopshere, the Marine Roomin La Jolla is worth considering. The Best Western in town has some good deals, much more affordable than many of the higher end resorts closer to the restaurant's location.

I appreciate your point, Mark. I'm not willing to concede that BYOs shouldn't be an option for diners, but I understand the appropriateness of restaurants marking up their wines--to a point--to cover the cost of professional services such as you offer as a sommelier and to turn a reasonable profit from wine sales. And I understand the decision of some restaurants--particularly those with high-quality wine lists--to not allow corkage. It only really makes me frustrated at those times when I encounter an establishment with a mediocre wine list (and one with a limited or uninspiring by-the-glass selection) that marks its wine up 3 times or more. But it is nice to have the option of bringing your own bottle of wine to a restaurant. For instance, during a recent trip to California, I picked up some craft wines and wines that are hard, if not impossible, to get in the DC area. Certainly, I could choose to drink all at home. But inevitably, there will be an occasion when I would want to enjoy them with a meal in a restaurant. In corkage-friendly restaurants, it certainly behooves a customer to not abuse the privilege. Do *not* bring in a bottle of Reunite or a box of Turning Leaf. Do *not* bring in a wine that is on the restaurant's wine list or that closely resembles something that it offers. Do offer the sommelier or owner a taste. Do consider the service provided in opening your wine and bringing the appropriate glasses when tipping, especially if there is no corkage fee charged or the fee is minimal. By the way, this all reminds me that Sara and I need to take up your invitation to visit Citronelle in the near future!

The other nice thing about Nectar is the availability of each of their wines by the glass. Granted, it is a small, but a unique and well-balanced list. I will admit that I am one who considers an establishment's wine list when making a dining decision. Not all of the time and not in all classes of places, but some of the time.

To keep up the working metaphor, let me say this: As a native New Englander and a long-time Vermont resident, trying to eat pancakes without maple syrup is akin to being up a creek without a paddle. Bad service can overshadow an otherwise good, and even a great, meal. Few establishments seem able to manage impeccable service which itself is memorable. Nectar is one of those rare exceptions which triumphs in both camps--food and service. Another restaurant that comes to mind is No. 9 Park in Boston where I've eaten a number of times recently. But, I love a good greasy spoon, too, provided that they bring me silverware, fresh coffee and, yes, syrup for my pancakes. So I'll admit to being a demanding & sensitive diner. If I said anything different, you can be assured that Sara would call me on it!

I'm not sure Joyce would drink at any "Irish" establishment in DC. He'd probably jump the shuttle to NYC or Boston. That said, the voices of my ancestors are telling me that if Joyce were a bit short of the fare, he would probably wind up at Nanny's or the Dubliner. If heard some good things about Murphy's in Alexandria, but I've never been. And if I'm in the Dupont area, in a pinch, the bar at Jury's Hotel pours a nice stout.

There are homemade, inexpensive tamales and pupusas sold at the spanish market on 17th Street near R Street near Dupont Circle.

Indeed. This thread explains why Sushi-Ko is the place.

I have enjoyed 2 bottles of the 2001 Mas Igneus Priorat Barranc dels Closos in the past 2 months. Wine Spectator gives this vintage a '89," and describes the wine as: Alluring, with roasted fruit, wild herb, smoke and spice. Balanced, but shows a traditional, almost rustic character that will appeal to those who prefer character to polish. Drink now through 2010. 2,000 cases made. My own palate found this wine to have a roasted berry bouquet, with a jammy and somewhat herbaceous palate, not quite as earthy and rustic as suggested by the WS notes, but very enjoyable.

So far the Equinox preparation sounds the yummiest to me.

Was in Boston over Memorial Day weekend and my girlfriend and I ate at No. 9. Thanks again to Eli for securing us two seats at the bar on a busy Saturday night and to Ryan for his hospitality behind the bar, as always. It was another enjoyable and delicious meal at my home away from home in Beantown. Sara and I shared the chef's seven-course tasting menu ($85) which consisted of Oregon Morel (foie gras farci, spring pea foam), Seared Black Bass (bacalao ravioli, confit tomato, saffrom aioli), Pasta Alla Chitarra (littleneck clams, pancella, pepperoncini), Sweetbread Schnitzel (spiced cabbage & celery salad), Niman Ranch Pork Belly (spring dug parsnip puree, rhubarb confiture), Selles-Sur-Cher (fermier, Loire Valley, roasted beet & wild flower honey terrine), Tropique Sorbet (4 citrus flavors including kumquat & lemon), and Honey Phyllo Napoleon (early summer blueberries, fresh ricotta, lily white). For me, the highlights were most certainly the pasta and the sweetbread schnitzel, with the pork belly finishing just behind, much like Smarty Jones in the Belmont. We shared a half-bottle of our favorite wine, the 2001 Rafanelli Zinfandel, and a taste of the 2003 Saracco Moscato d'Asti with dessert.

Glad you enjoyed Trattoria Delia. Thanks for the report on Single Pebble--I'll have to visit when I'm in Vermont in May. (1) A Single Pebble report... Sara and I ate here with my parents at the end of May. It's a very cozy restaurant made up of 3 separate dining rooms. Each table features a lazy susan in the center so dishes can easily be shared among the party. Nice. For appetizers, we had excellent radish cakes and good steamed dumplings. For entrees, we had Chinese long beans, Peking duck, Chow Fun (pork & shrimp) , and a very good spicy noodle dish (I forget the name) which was good & light but not greasy. The cocktails here are also good. Two we enjoyed were the ginger martini and the lychee martini. The food was delicious. As someone who's eaten lots of Chinese in places such as NYC, San Francisco and Washington, DC, Sara found it to be much better than she expected for a small city. The only downside of the meal was when Sara inadvertently was splashed with a fairly large amount of water from a wet rag being used to clean the table above us on the landing. (2) Trattoria Delia report... Trattoria Delia remains a solid Italian restaurant. It has a well balanced all-Italian wine list as well. My only wish is that the menu would change more often. It appears to be the almost identical menu from 3-5 years ago. That said, our dishes were enjoyable. We had two nice salads to start: the Insalata Proscuitto e Aceto Balsamico (baby mesclun greens & Prosciutto di Parma w/ balsamic vinaigrette, wood-grilled caramelized onions, toasted pine nuts, and shaved parmesan cheese) and the Insalata con Gamberoni e Fagioli (Large, wood-grilled shrimp and cannolini bean salad of fresh sage, fresh fennel, balsamic vinegar, and extra-virgin olive oil, served on a bed of arugula). For an entree, I had the Spaghetti alla Pescatora (fresh clams, mussels, shrimp, and calamari sauteed with olive oil, white wine, garlic, herbs and fresh tomatoes, served over imported spaghetti). The mussels, in particular, were delightful. Sara had a nightly special, the linguini & soft shell crabs. The dish was good, but overall there was too much linguini, and only a sauteed soft-shell. She also found it to be a bit oily. With the meal, we tried two different white wines. Both were good value ($26 and $32 a bottle each) and enjoyable. One was the Argiolas Vermentino di Sardegna (similar to a gewurztraminer); the other was a white produced by Feudi di San Gregorio (similar to a pinot blanc as I recall).

My girlfriend (sara) and I had a delicious lunch at Smokejacks at the end of May. Our only regret was that we weren't able to have dinner there with its impressive menu & wine list and amazing cheese selection. For lunch I had the Big Bold Burger (Local LaPlatte Black Angus Beef with Cabot Cheddar on Focaccia with Bacon Roasted Potatoes). The beef was rich, tender, and cooked to order. My only complaint was that the focaccia bread made it nearly impossible to eat the burger with my hands. A knife & fork had to become involved. Sara had the Mac & Cheese (with Many Cheeses, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Caramelized Onions, Parsely and Scallions). It was very complex & creamy and of impressive portion. She finished it for lunch in the car the next day, when it was just as good. She compared this dish to the pasta carbonara she had at Prune restaurant in New York City. The drink possibilities at Smokejacks were endless. Sara enjoyed a spectacular bloody mary: the Extra Bold Bloody Mary with Freshly Squeezed Vegetable Juice and Many Chilies infused Vodka. I had a delicious house-made prickly pear & lemongrass soda. It was one of 7 (I believe) yummy soda varieties. I also threw in a glass of Ridge, Coast Range, CA 2000 zinfandel w/ my burger. Smokejacks seems like a restaurant that could easily stand its ground and even excel in a much bigger city. Next visit, I plan to eat dinner here.