Malawry

If at all possible I will come. I very much want to try the restaurant.

Yes, pintos with lots of ground meat, bits of bacon, and some diced veggies. The sides to get are definitely the mashers and the beans. I'll post a full description, along with some images, later today.

Hang around with us a little while longer, Meaghan, and it'll be second nature.

They have a very good Sunday brunch too, although they never ever change that menu and that menu is not very long. I like that trout with beurre blanc for breakfast though, it's good stuff.

I suspect he will chat today AND Wednesday. The Post Magazine main feature writer almost always has a chat on the subsequent Monday, but it doesn't supplant regular chats. In the past I'm pretty sure Tom has chatted twice the week after publishing a dining guide.

Waitaminute. Hello Kitty vibrator?

I had a few friends over for scrambled eggs, dried cherry scones with homemade jam and fruit salad this morning. It was fun, but not nearly as fun as your meals together are sounding. I wanna know the recipe for the apple pancake. I remember eating one at Walker Brothers as a kid, while visiting Chitown with my folks. It's a favorite family food memory actually, and I'd love to make one for Mom the morning after Thanksgiving to make her smile.

It sounds like you are all having a terrific time together. Edemuth and I will lift glasses to each of you tonight. (We might have trouble crawling out from under the table after all those glasses though!)

I've made my vote known, for Sunday. Any other takers?

I'd eat at Sushi-Ko if it wasn't in such an annoying part of town. I admit I rarely go to Georgetown or Glover Park if I can help it. Miso with lobster sure sounds good though!

Football? Whazzat? Which reminds me... If we go when international soccer tourneys are on, I bet the line is shorter!

This was the first Japanese restaurant I ate at in DC, and was the first place I sampled sushi lo those many years ago. (Sushi ain't exactly a big thing in North Carolina, where I'm from.) I adored it. Still do. My mom loves them and always asks to go when she comes up since they were here first real sushi experience too. I do prefer Sushi Taro on 17th Street, or Kaz, but when I don't feel like schlepping downtown Tako Grill suits my needs.

Actually that there was only one steakhouse listed, and that steakhouse was the Palm, seemed noteworthy to me. But then this clearly wasn't supposed to be a "best of the best" guide, or even a comprehensive guide. We'll have to pony up for Tom's book if we want that.

I might be up for it too. Mild preference for Sunday afternoon.

Somebody, get some chicken!

I'm game. When do you want to go?

Joe, what makes your area WF better? Have you compared it to the Dupont/Logan Circle store, which I understand carries more selection than the other stores? (They carry more than Tenley, Georgetown, Rockville, McLean or Silver Spring, that's for sure.) I live near one of the newer DC area Whole Foods, which is in downtown Silver Spring, MD. Do I shop there? Yes. Do I like it? I like it enough. But whenever I put Whole Foods up to the scrutiny it deserves, it falls short every time. They just don't carry the assortment they should and could of lots of foods. They just don't support the local marketplace, there are things even Dean and DeLuca carries from local producers (cheeses, breads, dairy products, vegetables, etc) that should be available at Whole Foods but aren't. Most of the things I might buy at Whole Foods I try to buy at the TPSS Co-op we belong to, which is closer, cheaper and sells products from really great local yokels like Eco Farm and Atwater Breads. I'm looking forward to Wegman's, even if they did apparently look over our little Silver Spring area when selecting sites. If they're half as good as Klc says I'll be schlepping out there at least once a month to shop.

Homemade pizzas: one with spinach and mushrooms, one with red bell pepper and mushrooms Tossed salad with lots of olives Meyer lemon sorbet for dessert. Ahhhh.

The link John provided has a little paragraph at the top, which itself links to a lengthier explanation of the new star system, why Tom's using it, and how he arranged the guide. He basically says he included a few no-star restaurants in the guide this year to give readers a baseline as to what he regards as no-star quality in a restaurant (so to speak). I have always imagined that star assignment is one of the most annoying things about reviewing restaurants for papers that require them. I'd hate to assign a value to a restaurant, just as I'd hate to assign a grade to a paper. I also don't see how stars will make dining choices easier or simpler for people, given the criteria which seem strikingly similar to NY Times and Michelin star assignments (whereby it is extremely difficult and expensive to earn the highest ranking). I look forward to Monday's follow-up washingtonpost.com chat, when I bet a lot of these issues will be teased out by reader questions and Tom's responses.

Woe betide Two Quail and Taverna Cretekou, who both earned no stars to their names. What do ya'll think of the new star ratings?

What a great class! The beurre blanc is one of my favorite sauces. I like to make them with various flavor infusions. I've done one with lemongrass and ginger which I served over fish en papillote on a bed of stir-fried veggies. One fantastic one that one of my classmates made was a tomato beurre blanc, where she cooked down tomatoes with the acid, shallots, and a bouquet garnis until the pan was dry before mounting with butter and straining. That one's good enough to eat straight out of the pot! I've also made them with corn, with an assortment of fresh herbs, with whatever looks good in the kitchen. It's a versatile sauce and it almost always goes well with fish...we eat fish but no meat or fowl in my house so I make it often. I'm a believer in straining beurre blanc, but then I usually add a bouquet garnis and don't bother to put the aromatics in a sachet or a tea infuser...meaning they must be strained out.

Michelle, you sound like my kind of shopper, piecing it together from the best of a few ordinary merchants. Does anybody know when the new stores open? I think we should organize a daytrip!

Is that from the NEW, IMPROVED Vengroff kitchen?

A little black dress would work too, thanks much. Ya'll will have a terrific time next weekend. And Dean doesn't need a tiara, he's king of the hill already (in his own mind anyway...and in my coffee-swilling heart)!

*whine* I wanna hang out with the Chicago kids. *whine* I want leftover limoncello. I guess I'll have to make do with an image of Maggie in a tiara, yellow polo shirt, shorts and shoes with no socks. Which would be almost as priceless as facetime and limoncello. There will be a picture, right?