Tweaked

Ellio's frozen pizza, that brings back memories

How about Speize in the Dupont Circle area....moderately priced Italian, nice front bar area...I haven't been in 3 plus years but I remember having a pretty good meal there (others chime in if the qulaity has gone down hill). I also remember them having a small glass enclosed dining area in the back of the dining room for larger parties.

You might also check out Jaleo (spanish tapas) and Zaytinya (middle eastern mezze)...they don't take reservations and will be crowded on the weekend, so you might think about lunch...plenty of vegetarian stuff.

Looked like they were heading into Heritage...we talked to the bartender a couple weeks ago while at happy hour, and it sounded like the place gets packed late night

Not sure what their dinner crowd is like, but Heritage India (Dupont) must be making a killing with the club kids...easily 100 people in line waiting to get in Saturday night... After sampling their happy hour menu (half price "Indian" tapas/half price drinks), most of the food on the tapas menu is well done, however things get a little one dimensional in the flavor category, lots of dishes come sauced with a yogurt and tamarind sauce, the sauce is good, but dish after dish after dish...well you get the picture...the calamari tapas dish is definitely on the must try list.

My first impression from reading that is they are taking lots of "been there done that" ideas and mashing them into one concept: white on white - done tapas and raw bar menu in a cluby/lounge setting - done beds in a cluby/lounge setting - done long center piece communal table - done lighting system that changes throughout the night - done maybe the music will be good??? I'm sure it will do well with the Table Service crowd.

I went Tapatinis on a Saturday night a couple weekends ago and it was standing room only and you could hardly hear yourself think!

I think it is too, just need the restaurant scene to improve and a couple more upscale drinking places (that's aren't tiny and deafening like tapatinis)

SWEET! Give the Hill 3 or 4 years and it's going to be one of the best neighborhoods in DC!

I went to the one off Route 66, I guess it's in the Ballston area. It's a fun experience if you are with a group of friends, but sort of in a I've done that once and that's was enough kind of way. you get a very ordinary salad, and if I remember right three different fondue stylings (but don't quote me on this)....one for veggies, one for meats, and finally dessert (which is chocolate fondue)...obviously the chocolate fondu is the best part. As stated above it's a fun and different meal, but by no means earth shattering

Head down the 395 to the Landmark Mall exit, swing around the off ramp, past Landmark Mall, go about 3 traffic lights, and turn right onto S. Pickett Street, look for the Home Depot shopping center on the left (after a couple car dealerships) and check out Mediterrean Bakery and Cafe...lots of imported goods. Huge selection of olive oils, vinegars, mediterrean cheeses, olives, house baked pita, great hummus, sweets, sausages, come hungry and have lunch.

Corduroy is very serene

Seems to me that Belga has been slammed since day one and maybe hasn't had the opportunity to work out the kinks that perhaps a restaurant that had a softer opening might get. Obviously the place shows that Capitol Hill residents are pining for more higher end places to eat around the neighborhood.

Went to DC Coast last night...a pleasent experience with out being an exceptional experience. We sat upstairs in what looks like giant hallway...I think I would have prefered sitting downstairs...They offered 2 soups (a butternut squash and a lobster bisque) and two salads (mixed green and cesaer)...we all went with soup which was served in the style of the day, soup poured table side out of little urns. It was a nice large serving of soup, it was good soup, not great soup, with lots of corn for crunch contrast, crawfish which didn't add anything, and supposedly bacon relish which also didn't add anything if it was even there. Again, a good soup, but didn't rewch the heights that other soups in other restaurant in town reach. The same description could go for the lobster bisque. For the entree they offered all entrees with a $7 surcharge for the lobster and the steak. I went with the bbq braised short ribs with grilled red onion, corn, watercress salad and parsnip puree. All the entrees are served in the extra large portion style, it was one huge slab of short ribs. Again it was good, with out being great. There was so many flavors going on that it was a giant party in the mouth. I also tried bites of the double cut pork chops that was cooked nicely to medium rare and nicely moist, again a huge slab of meat, and the scallop dish, we thought the scallops were a little too salty. For dessert, chocies were vanilla bean creme brulee, bread pudding with a banana fosters sauce, and a chocolate mousse cake (nicely light and not overly chocolately). My friend and I split a half bottle of Zinfandel, Steele, Pacini Vineyard, Mendocino, 2001 $22, which went nicely with the short ribs. I'm certainly in the indifferent about RW camp, I think its a great promotion to get people out to restaurants, but not sure if it really showcases a restaurants true potential. Overall, DC Coast does a pretty good job, plenty of menu options, you actually do save about $10 a head (my meal regularly would have been about $40), but not sure I would go again on my own dime, I'd probably walk 2 blocks down the street and go to Corduroy!

I'd like to see more interviews/articles about chefs and their restaurants with perhaps a recipe or two from the chef.

We came, we saw, we ate, we were Komi-ed last night. I think MDT and Hillvalley do a pretty good job describing the dishes so I won't go into a whole heck of alot of detail...but spend your ducts at Komi and definitely go with the tasting menu. We went with the 9 course menu, which turned into 11 with the amuses. We started off with a Malapaque Oyster with caviar, creme fraishe, and vinegar. The presentation is stunning, napkin on plate, pyramid of crushed ice, with an oyster on the half shell perched on top. The oyster was briney and delicious. Next was Hamachi, crispy fingerlings, whipped Greek caviar. Each ingredient is served on a tray in its own little compartment. Scoop up the hamachi with the fingerling, which is like a small crispy waffer, then top with the caviar. Another light but tasty dish. Crab and Sea Urchin, blood orange, avocado, yogurt. This dish comes in a wide shallow bowl, with a tiny pile of crab and sea urchin, orange (although I thought he said it was grapefruit) and avocado, the yogurt is painted across the axis of the bowl. Quail egg, pickled and deviled, 16 month Serrano ham, grilled frisee. A small spoon with the quail egg perched on it, a long strip of ham which ends at a small bundle of the frisee. Mushrooms two ways, one served as a cappuccino with cardamon and yogurt. The other with basil, fennel, ciligiene...the cappuccino is the winner here. Foie Gras, black truffle, chocolate, picked apple. The foie comes as small rectangular log, sprinkle with a little chocolate and topped with a thin slice of the apple. My impression of this dish was that it was like a box of fancy chocolate, with the foie acting as the nuget, it was soft and creamy and had chocolate flavor from the dark chocolate sprinkled on top. It was definitely a superior foie dish. Speck Wrapped White Tuna, farro, sweet-sour squash, beet tzatziki. I'm not sure how they cook this dish, the speck (apparently a smoked Italian ham?) was almost crispy and the tuna inside was incredibly moist. I wasn't sure of this dish at first, but really enjoyed it. Black Tea smoked bacon, brussel sprouts, apple, and some kind of berry jam (elder, huckle?). This was a version of a dish that they had on the menu last spring (it might still be on the menu, not sure), but this dish is all about the pork belly baby... Veal Cheeks, parnsip, yellowfoot chanterelle, cinnamon. I think this was my favorite dish...lets follow up pork belly with some melt in your mouth veal cheek. Cheese course...an excellent cheese course two trays, 10 cheeses! We were too hammered at this point to remember what was served, just lots of creamy goodness. Dessert, a trio was served: banana, marcapone milkshake; apple gratin, blue cheese ice cream, and of course the infamous housemade donuts. Bottles of wine we enjoyed: Hillinger Welschriesling, 2003 Burgenland Austria Anton Bauer Cuvee #8, 2002 Osterreich, Austria Novelty Hill Syrah, 2002 Columbia Valley Washington. Sebastian was also kind enough to match a couple glasses of wine with dishes for us: Lowenstein Riesling, 2003 Rheingau, Germany with the mushroom course Coloma Viura Blanca, 2003 Alvarado, Spain with the foie...if you haven't tried this wine try it...it's excellent Li Veli Negroamoro, 2002, Salento, Italy with the cheese. All I can say is wow, this definitely one of the top meals being served in DC right now. Sebastian and the front of the house took great care of us, especially in our drunken obnoxious state at the end of the meal. Thank you all!

If you mean on the Monday off for MLK Day, then no...Eastern Market is closed on Mondays

DC Coast Thursday

On a bright note, the produce vendor outside, he always sets up on the corner of 7th and what ever that cross street that is directly across from the entrance to the tennis courts/flea market (hmmm, you'd think I would know what street that is by now!), anyway, he had some lovely tiny, tiny fingerling potatoes (cooked them whole for about 5 minutes in simmering salted water, then suate them in butter) and a huge crate of turnip greens (sauted with shallot, garlic, and butter until they wilt). There's also a new meat vendor outside that sells organic buffalo meat (a bit pricey), but he had some tasty buffalo jerky..think he is only there on Saturdays. He's from Cibola Farms in Culpepper, VA and has 5 or 6 huge coolers of frozen meat, buffalo, goat, various sausages and ground meat. www.cibolafarms.com Also the poultry guy directly across from the cheese guy has been bought by the asian produce guy and I think he has already improved the selection, they were having a sale on duck parts today, and I picked up 6 lovely chicken thighs that ran me less then $3!

woo hoo, I have a reservation for Wed night. I'll have to steer my friends toward the tasting menu, which shouldn't be too hard!

Potage St Germain $6.50 Split pea soup with apple wood smoked bacon Velouté de moules et chou-fleur au saffron $6.50 Cauliflower and mussels soup with saffron Crème de marrons $6.50 Cream of chestnut soup All currently on offer at Montmartre. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. ← I strongly recommend a soup, followed by the curly chicory salad with warm goat cheese and croutons, followed by homemade country pate with cornichons...makes for an excellent meal at Montmartre.

"however, Tallula's Celery Root Soup is yum - haven't seen it offered anywhere else." It seems to me celery root is one of those more obsure ingredients that chef's are pulling out of the pantry, so you might start to see more of it...kind of like how Cauliflower has suddenly taken on a new prestige recently. Neither vegetable really ranks high on the taste-o-meter for me.

The only other Hill restaurant news I have is the bar Mickey's on 8th Street (by the Blockbuster) is closing and they are promising a Thai restaurant.

Turnips, carrots, rutabaga any and all root vegetables are staples of bistro cooking, its about maximizing flavor from humble ingredients. ←