Malawry

The room was only starting to really roll when we finished our meal and toured the restaurant. (My partner and I were dining fairly early.) The design of the restaurant makes it seem as if there are several small dining rooms in one large, open space, but the vibe definitely picks up as each of those spaces fills up. There's a combination of local big-shots, tourists, visiting movie folks (Vancouver having a bustling business in on-location filmmaking), and just ordinary folk packing the house. Nobody looks anxious, not even people waiting for their tables in the upstairs bar they use for overflow waiting, not even the buspeople running around trying to keep all those tables watered, breaded, cleared, and reset. Everybody's having a good time. And yes, just about everything was simply grilled or simply steamed. This was a meal about the quality of the product and the pride in preparing it simply. I can completely see why that might be less interesting than the more experimental cuisine at a place like West, where we dined the subsequent evening, but for my partner and I the experience was captivating. We loved Vancouver and part of that is because we loved Joe Fortes.

I didn't buy the code word on eBay, but whaddaya know, Chef Brian gave my partner Erin and I a fantastic experience at Joe Fortes tonight. I contacted him in advance and explained that we wanted the best seafood from the Pacific Northwest and figured he was the best candidate to provide it while we visited Vancouver. I got that idea from reading this thread...Steven and Ellen are right. I have never eaten fatter, meatier mussels, sweeter king crab, richer arctic char than we sampled this evening. We also enjoyed flawless service, including a few visits from the restaurant's beloved Maitre d', Frenchy, and plenty of detailed explanations of the fish from Chef Brian himself. (How does the guy make time for it in the middle of service on a weekend evening??) A tour of the restaurant finished the evening, with Chef Brian explaining the design and inspirations for the dining room at Joe Fortes.

Yeah, I had to visit Earth Fare right after they opened, while visiting my folks in Greensboro. I was not impressed. My parents were quite excited about it though. If I lived there, I'd probably stick to Deep Roots Market for hippie natural foods, the farm market for produce, and a combination of Harris Teeter and Fresh Market for the rest.

Care to elaborate, Mark? BTW, Pascal Dionot is no longer working as front-end manager at 2941. (Chef Francois Dionot, Pascal's brother and founder of L'academie de Cuisine, told my class this last Tuesday.)

I would love to come, but will be out of town until 2 July. Maybe next time.

I have always meant to make Ben's for breakfast. How are their fried apples and salmon cakes? Those are the menu items that always intrigue me when I stop by for a chili burger. (The breakfast menu is posted on the wall, as is the regular menu.)

Wednesday: Baby red leaf lettuce dressed with very olive-y olive oil, lemon juice, Maldon salt Spring pea and vidalia onion risotto Braised white beans, inspired by a classmate demo, with bits of onion, carrot, celery, tomato Quick-sauteed baby zucchini in clarified butter, with fresh herbs Seared balsamic-glazed shrimp Pound cake Queen Anne cherries from the tree in my front yard, simmered in a touch of rum and brown sugar (the cherries are still a week or so from being fully ripe) Purchased butter pecan ice cream

I am certain that sending a contribution to the restaurant will be effective. I'll ask for more information on Saturday when I see my friend again.

My insider connection reported a much larger dollar figure than the $3500 reported. More than that, I am not at liberty to say. She said the event was a big success financially. Unfortunately, I did not make it.

Ooh yes, the pickle bar is one of the best reasons to visit Parkway on Grubb. All you care to snarf cucumber pickles of various types, pickled tomatoes, sauerkraut, and a few other random things (carrot-raisin salad). What is the Thai grocery? BTW a few more notes on one of the other Sil Spring locales you mentioned. The bakery that is in the Woodmont Center at University and Colesville is not really worth a detour imo, with the possible exception of their apple fritters. I was hooked on those for a while, getting them before school in the mornings. I've found the rest of their baked goods to be too sweet and too pedestrian besides. The place does remind me of the Sweet Touch Bakery in Greensboro, NC where all birthday cakes seemed to originate when I was a kid. I agree Silver Spring dining basically blows. This is a neighborhood so ready for something exciting foodwise. The area is so close to turning into a real suburban destination (how's that for an oxymoron?) and lack of real dining options are one of the few things keeping that from happening. It's frustrating to have to drive to Bethesda or into the city for a great meal. And I know I'm not the only one feeling this way. I'd love to support a great restaurant closer to home. It's odd that this area has one of the best farmer's markets in the area and a perpetually-crowded Whole Foods Market but still no great restaurants...clearly those who live here are interested in good food or they wouldn't be supporting those other food resources.

Welcome, Ledervin, and thanks for your assessments. I've only eaten at Woodside once but thought it was pretty good...I just thought Parkway Deli on Grubb Road (in another part of Silver Spring) was better which was why I never returned. Mmm, whitefish salad platters. Kristen's Cafe is worth checking out, as well as Snider's Grocery right nearby. We used to rent to a former pastry chef at Kristen's (while she was still working there) and she brought us the most terrific treats from the cafe. Bar cookies and almond-raspberry tarts and homemade challah. And Snider's is a gem, an independent supermarket with an old-fashioned deli. They sell chubs and other old-school Jewish-type fish as well as a good selection of housemade salads. I was hooked on their slaw for a while. These places are both along Georgia Ave near the intersection of 495, though, not near the AFI or other downtown Sil Spring attractions.

Zucchini parmesan, with early zukes from the farm market. Used obscenely expensive olive oil and good parm-regg. Penne with tomato sauce

It probably helps that both Steve and I work around there.

I spoke with one of my classmates, who is working at Equinox, about this just yesterday. She said they do not normally serve a brunch at Equinox and that everybody who works there and is involved is personally bringing a dish for the brunch. Sounds like a chance to sample a lot of different treats otherwise not available at Equinox.

I don't dine in restaurants where the chef is known as disinterested in (or disdainful of) flexibility if I can help it. To me, customer service is even more important than the integrity of cuisine. It's entirely possible to accommodate requests as long as they don't disrupt the flow of the line, as Susan McCreight Lindenborg said. The small size of Colorado Kitchen could theoretically make the possibility of changes more difficult than, say, in Ortanique with its two-level kitchen. Just the same, I'm turned off by inflexibility as an attitude, and there are (important) restaurants I have not visited because the chef has a well-known disdain or even temper when confronted with special requests. I love places like Gramercy Tavern partly because they are so willing to accommodate their customers. That being said, I ate with a friend at CK several months ago. She was accommodated when she requested green beans instead of onion straws with her burger (she was on the Atkins diet).

Sorry. Try This. I pasted all the info that Kurtz wrote in the column to my original post. (It's at the end of the column.)

The following appeared in Howard Kurtz's Media Notes column today (Washington Post):

Americanized pad thai with shrimp, eggs, tofu, garlic scallions, lime, peanut, etc etc. No ketchup. Homemade egg rolls with bean threads and shiitakes, sweet chili sauce Farm market bok choy with sour-salty dressing Chocolate crinkle cookie sandwiches, filled with hazelnut cream from a visit to Kalustyan's

Steve, I ate at Matchbox last night too. Small world! I hung out at the bar and had a happy hour martini while waiting for my husband and our friend. They make all sorts of infused vodkas: watermelon, mango, pineapple, etc. I enjoyed the Chinatown martini, which included the watermelon vodka, sour mix, and some Sprite. Sugared rim. Very very sweet. The martini menu is unusually long, one of the longest I've seen. The bar is quite friendly and I hope to return and eat miniburgers there for lunch again sometime soon. We shared mini burgers (is it possible to not order these things?), Erin had a small house salad, and then we split the Matchbox Meat and the Fire pizza Steve mentioned. The burgers are excellent, larger than I thought they would be (3-4 bites maybe?). Erin liked the tumble of onion straws while I was all over the brioche buns. The pizza is good, but not in the stellar category. Maybe Vengroff's right and it just needs more time in the oven. I think I expected more yeasty, chewy aspects to the crust. I found I was much more into the toppings than the crust, though. The sauce on the fire pizza had a nice bite to it, tamed by the slightly smoky gouda cheese. I thought the basil leaves on top were a nice touch, but Erin thought they were a little too...grassy. The meat pizza was much better, especially because it includes big chunks of the wonderful housemade meatballs and plenty of red sauce and cheese. Graig was kind enough to give me a peek at their kitchen. I'm curious as to how they are organizing things for both prep and service, since they have a kitchen on the top floor, storage along the back stairs, the pizza station on the ground floor, and apparently a walk-in behind the bar. People who work there must lose a lot of weight despite all those burgers and pizzas! I loved the little matchbox covers embedded in the tables. My parents collect matchbox covers; perhaps I will take them there next time they are in town.

The last of the homemade fettucine from last weekend, tossed with sour cream, English peas, capers, and canned Italian tuna (I shared the can with my three cats rather generously). Lots of fresh ground pepper on top. Mm hmm.

Tom, could you talk a little about your ethics and food writing? You've made it clear that you insist on anonymity. How did you make that decision, and have you ever written a review that wasn't anonymous? To what degree do you allow restaurateurs and chefs to influence what you write? Have you ever accepted free meals? Why or why not? How did you arrive at these conclusions?

I finally ate at Crisfield Seafood last night. This place has been around forever, I think over 50 years. They operate two restaurants, the original one with the green exterior just south of East-West Hwy on Georgia Avenue, and the other in the art deco Lee Building at Georgia and Colesville. (You could walk to either from AFI.) We ate at the green-fronted one. I've seen the menu at the art deco one and I think the menus are virtually identical but can't say for sure (I saw that menu about a year ago.) As we approached, my husband asked, "Are you sure you want to eat here?" There's no doubt about it, Crisfield is a scruffy kind of restaurant, especially from the outside. Still, I was curious, and if I'm going to mention Crisfield on eGullet then the least I can do is take in a meal there. When you enter, there's a U-shaped bar taking up most of the main room. And then there's a room to your left with some narrow wood tables, two-tops and six-tops. We ate in this room, behind a table of six guys who I think have been eating at Crisfield every Tuesday since 1976 or so. The wall is tiled to about shoulder height. There's a shelf running close to the ceiling with beer steins, and a wall china cabinet with oyster plates. There's also pictures of various 1950s, 60s, and 70s personalities I didn't recognize under the beer steins, smiling with their mutton chops and dewy eyes. I guess they ate at Crisfield once, too. The table was preset with paper placemats containing information about the Chesapeake Bay. Our menus were delivered posthaste, along with a big bowl of oyster crackers perched on a plate holding four paper dunking cups of tartar sauce and four paper dunking cups of cocktail sauce. There were also lemon wedges around the edge of the plate. The menu is about as straightforward as these accompaniments, and it's heavy on the crab. Crab-stuffed flounder, crab-stuffed shrimp, crab imperial, crab crakes, and crab Norfolk style. There's also a selection of ordinary American seafood dishes...fried clams, oyster chowder, etc. The menu reminded me of my childhood experiences at The Hungry Fisherman (which I think was a chain.) I ordered the broiled crab-stuffed shrimp, my esteemed housemate chose the fried shrimp, and my husband selected a bowl of clam chowder and a crab cake sandwich. The soup came right away, and by the time we'd all taken a taste the rest of our food arrived. I sampled everything ordered, and here is my assessment: Clam chowder: It does taste like it's made in-house, but the clams seemed canned to me...too tough to be fresh, unless they're left on the stove too long. But the soup had a decent body and plenty of potatoes and celery. All right for a crappy November day but not worth a detour. Crab-stuffed shrimp: This dish was clearly fried, not broiled. Three shrimp per plate, butterflied and filled with a crab-cake type mixture (mostly crab, mayo, and breadcrumbs as filler), breaded and fried. Served with french fries and slaw (you can choose other forms of potato if you prefer). The crab had a nice sweet, rich flavor and came in decent-sized lumps. The shrimp was more ordinary and a little overcooked from its time in the fryer, but it was palatable. The fries clearly had been fried in the same oil as the many fried fish dishes. And the slaw was goopy, creamy, and sweet...the slaw of my childhood dreams. It tasted like it was made freshly every morning. Fried shrimp: came with the same accompaniments as the crab-stuffed shrimp. These were weirdly butterflied just like the crab-stuffed kind, then breadcrumbed and deep-fat fried. The result was shrimp tails with two stiff curls of shrimp attached, bending in different directions. The shrimp tasted all right though. Not much to report. Crab cake sandwich: comes with fries or slaw. It's a breadcrumbed specimen looking suspiciously pre-formed (it's just a little too exact to be handmade). Comes on a very ordinary hamburger roll with no lettuce, tomato, or anything else for that matter. Tasted all right but uninteresting and uninspiring. The prices are quite high, imo, for what you are getting from this place. My shrimp dish cost $19, analogous to the seafood chains like Legal Seafoods but without much atmosphere or added intelligence behind the food. Crab cake sandwich was $10, and the fried shrimp were $16 or so. I think any fondness I may have for Crisfield is based more on nostalgia than the actual excellent rendition of American seafood dishes I'd hoped for. Still, I'd return and eat the clam chowder at the bar for lunch sometime, since it's close and all. And you can go in your shorts and flip-flops with your unpredictable child and probably all have a decent time. They do offer oysters in season, and they just put soft-shell crabs on their menu. Perhaps these types of limited-availability items are better. I will try again sometime and report back if there's anything worth noting.

I didn't have to learn French to attend L'academie de Cuisine, which is run by a Frenchman and has a French name. We had to turn in menus in French for grading, but the menu was written on a whiteboard in French every morning so all we had to do was copy down French. I've used absolutely no French in the kitchen, but I sure have boned up on my Spanish skills. I don't think I was ever mistreated, but I definitely had to develop a thick skin. I can joust verbally with the best of them at this point and I laugh at myself first most of the time anyway (let's face it, most of my mistakes are on some level hilarious). As for physical stamina...you learn fast how to move fast, how to cut fast, and how to juggle several hot pans at the same time. If you care about being able to handle it and work at it you will be able to hold your own in a kitchen. I'm a slow person in terms of movement by nature so I had, and still have, a lot to overcome. But I knew that in advance and tried to prepare myself for it.

Tom, your Live Online discussions are one of the best parts of your involvement with the Washington Post and Washingtonpost.com. Your willingness to put yourself on the line every week, and your interest in honestly responding to reader questions, come through in your hourly chats every Wednesday. What do you think of Live Online? How has your involvement with Live Online changed the way you review restaurants? Do you see Live Online as a shifting medium? (You posted a letter emailed to you directly from a chef to the chat recently, and used it as a jumping off point for discussion. This is a little different from your usual Q&A format, and I wondered if it was indicative of your wanting to stretch what your Live Online sessions usually entail.) When taking on your role as lead reviewer for the Post, did you ever consider not continuing the Live Online sessions that your predecessor, Phyllis Richman, had started? Why do you think you are the only major newspaper restaurant reviewer hosting this sort of interactive discussion regularly? And how did your involvement in Sidewalk.com influence what you've done with Live Online? Thanks for taking the time to join us here at eGullet, and for responding to all our questions. Even if I didn't live in the Washington area I'd be reading your reviews, and your Live Online transcripts, every week that they appeared.

Why, it's on Colorado Avenue, in the District. It's a little hard to find. The burger is only available Fridays at lunch and Sundays at dinner. I wonder what the cheese is on a truffle cheeseburger? I somehow always picture cheddar as the cheese on cheeseburgers, and truffles plus cheddar sounds wrong to me. I want to hit the new Palena cafe next time I visit the Uptown.