hillvalley

IMO Bethesda Bagels on Bethesda Ave. are as good as it gets around here without driving 5 hours. When I worked in Bethesda on the weekends the line would be out the door first thing in the morning, but that was a few years ago.

I'm down in DC and drowning my sorrows over our pathetic 3 inches in hot coco and Bailey's. Last night while the snow fell is was h.c. and chambord. Both were topped with lots and lots of whipped cream. We're not even going to get a snow day out of this, which is no fun. It was absolutely beautiful here though. Nothing beats DC in the snow. My friend's dad used to joke that God made snow white so that the Capitol and White House would disappear once in a while.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I picked up How to Cook Everything for my sister last weekend. Started going through it the minute I got home and am probably going to have to pick up another copy so her's does not look used.

I love Difebo's. Ate there then night after Thanksgiving, which is a family tradition. The cheesesteak place in Bethany is also pretty good, for outside of Philly.

You'll only encourage him. Rocks, you need help my man. A lot of help. I know, I know. But he made me laugh which has been hard to do for a while. Plus, I spend most of my days with 9 year old boys, who do this kind of thing all day long and I can't join in. Had to get it out of my system. Besides, I am sure he is paying dearly this evening! Getting back to Yucks.....I live a block away and have never seen anyone eating there. It is starting to become a fixation. The manager grew up in the area so I figured he could at least bring a few people in.

In social studies my class of 8-10 year olds is currently studying Japan. Next week I am going to introduce them to tofu, udon, furikake and possibly some oshinko. We are also going to visit a sushi bar to try cucumber sushi and watch me eat some nigiri. (They have made it very clear, that under no circumstances will they try anything with fish in it.) I figure after all that torture they deserve something fun and sweet. I was thinking about Poky, because it is chocolate and not that scary looking. But many of my students (who are special ed.) don't like crunchy foods. Do you have any suggestions? I have easy access to a good Japanese market here (where they are used to my asking too many questions) so I should be able to get popular candy. Also, is there a Japanese equivalent to PB&J or Nutella (that went over very well when we were in Italy)? Thanks!

Don't forget..... La boring toro Boogeymonsters McCormick & S**ts Zit's not tiny ahhh Edited for spelling

I completely disagree with your statement regarding Whole Foods veggies. For supermarket veggies, they are good. But the quality of the veggies you find at our local farmers markets are amazing. Yes, they may not look perfect, but their taste more than makes up for it. Yes, you have to eat seasonally, but 100 years ago that what we did anyway. We are very lucky to have a number of markets (Takoma, Dupont, 36th & Alton) that are open year round, or close to it. What's more, Whole Foods is not very friendly to small, local farms. I also recommend buying your eggs at farm markets. I never knew that eggs could be that shade of yellow without Martha Stewart around. I would also like to add Vace in Bethesda and Clevland Park to the list for Italian products. While it is no Litteri's, they sell amazing fresh mozerrella an the pizza is delicious. Daruma, also in Bethesda, has a good variety of Japanese products, and is a good source for moochi (New Year's cakes). They carry some Thai products as well.

Finally picked up a pack at my TJ's and have to say I don't get it at all. I eat a lot of ginger candy and found this one has too much spice and not enough ginger. Ouch!

I couldn't give you exact numbers but in Philly four years ago the major law firm my cousin works for shut down for the duration. It was the first time in the history of the firm that they closed for more than two days in a row (not including Christmas and New Years). People were advised to stay out of the city.

The beef tenderloin is amazing and there is lots of sauce to sop up with the fantastic pita.

Mr. Eagans....how I miss that place. Smoked one of my first cigarettes there. Restaurants should either be smoking or nonsmoking. Smoke does not know how to keep itself from traveling into the nonsmoking section. Now that I am a nonsmoker, nothing ruins a meal more than someone elses smoke. I think in the next ten years (if not less) it will be impossible to smoke in any restaurant in the country. My question to the foodie smokers out there is how do you fully enjoy your food when you taste buds are numb from smoking?

It's amazing isn't it? There are some seriously bad, yet wildly popular places on the hill. Both Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Aves. have their fair share. You regularly see tables of 10-20 congressional staffers in these places so busy fawning over their members that they completely fail to notice what total slop they are being served. About 15 or 20 years ago there was a French/Japanese restaurant on Penn. Ave across from the Hawk N' Dove. That was the last time we saw inventive cuisine on the Hill. The best thing about both conventions is that the transplants here in DC to work on the Hill leave the city for the rest of us. Getting a reservation at one of the many steakhouses that have cropped up since the Texans came to town will be much easier. If the Republicans (and Democrats) are too stupid to realize that they could a)send a major boost to the local economy and b) eat some great food during their convention then we should think about who we vote into office.

A few years ago the Smithsonian tried to put together an evening about Foie Gras. A few chefs were to prepare dishes and a local producer was going to give a lecture. The animals rights people were so loud that the event had to be canceled. This occurred sometime in the fall. As a holiday gift the woman who is director of events gave out tins of foie gras to her coworkers. It was delicious.

Has anyone tried the fishfry on Sunday?

Conn. Ave between Fesseden and Nebraska Ave. It's in between Politics and Prose and the original Marvelous Market.

For lunch you might try Teaism in Penn Quarter or Dupont Circle and Market Lunch at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. Neither are fancy restaurants by any means, but good food that are worth experiencing.

I would include the garlic, just make sure that it is chopped very finely or your may have a problem (depending on who is enjoying your dip). Another suggestion: Hummus can be done in the blender as well as with a potato masher. I often substitute white beans instead just to throw people off a little.

GG, I love the milk stories, both being able to get fresh milk and Thomas making it come out of his sister's nose. I have never had milk that wasn't store bought. Could you describe the difference? I assume that it tastes better, as with fresh eggs, but what else? Is the color different as with eggs? I imagine there are very few places in this country where you can buy fresh milk on the honor system. How wonderful. Does Thomas help out in the kitchen? What do you do to encourage his culinary ways? By the way, it was unusually warm here in DC this weekend as well. The cold weather has returned this evening though. Oh well.

Probably cause it takes place in Stockbridge, Mass. Of course! My parents would be so embarrassed if they knew I had forgotten! Edited: for spelling

I have to agree - I live on the hill and Montemartre is one of the only places we feel like we'll consistently get good food. I love the mussels, and the liver, if you're into bivalves and organ meat. I have dined there a few different times in the last year, at both brunch and dinner, and found very inconsistent results. On my first visit the mussels were out of this world. On another the mussels were mushy and without the spectacular flavor. Other times the meat was not cooked to order. My last visit was this summer and I remember being disappointed compared to other visits. For the Hill, it is good food, but compared to other French restaurants in DC I think there is room to improve.

You just made me remember to go track down my copy of Alice's Restaurant, which my family plays as we begin our Thanksgivingmeal with freshly shucked oysters. I always pictured it taking place in New England for some reason.

Possible: Zaytinya Jose Andres MiniBar Fresh lobster somewhere in Maine In my dreams: Michelle Richard's Citronelle French Laundry Trio In my wildest dreams: anywhere in Japan anywhere in Italy

I finally made it downt here last night and was not disappointed at all. I went with a friend who is definately not a foodie, and she had a life changing experience. She now understands my obsession with dining out. I think she summed it up perfectly when she said "Nothing shuts us up and the food has done that twice!" How come nobody has raved about the patates taganites (potatos fried in olive oil and topped with yogurt)? This is one of the top three potato dishes I have ever tasted. The fries were perfectly crisp, yet light and moist on the inside. The yogurt sauce contrasted the fried potatos perfectly. It was so good we ordered a second plate full, although the second plate was not fried as well as the first. We ordered the garides me anitho (shrimp in dill sauce), hunkar begendi (lamp with eggplant puree) and spanikopita because of the recommendations here. They shrimp were increadible and we sopped up all the leftover sauce with the pita. (My friend had never had great pita and could not stop raving about it.) The lamb was delicious but I found the nutmeg in the eggplant puree overpowering. The spanikoptia was fine, although we felt it needed a touch more seasoning. We also ordered the beef tenderloin and codfish with skordalia. The beef was perfectly cooked and "like buttah" as my friend kept saying. The codfish was the only disappointment of the evening. The fish was expertly fried, but had very little flavor. The potato garlic sauce could have been delicious but was served ice cold. I don't know if it was served this way to contrast the fish, but I felt the complexity of the flavor was lost because the potatos were so cold. For dessert we ordered the olive oil ice cream. Steve, you might want to talk to the servers about the description they give. When we asked one of ours to describe it he replied "it is oily." The ice cream is many things, but oily is not one of them. It was definately an eating adventure for my friend. We both enjoyed the taste, but felt that the mouth feel was a bit grainy and it reminded us of sour milk. The ice cream was so soft that by the end it was the same consistency as a milk shake. Is it possible to serve it more chilled, or is the softness on purpose? During the summer, this would make a great milkshake. My only two complaints are not food related. Last night the restaurant was freezing. It was warmer outside when we left around 8pm. Many people were wearing their coats as they ate. I realize that it was warm yesterday, but I should not have been freezing while wearing a turtleneck sweater. The other problem was the service. It is very rare that I can say this, but the waitstaff was too attentive. Many times during the evening the runners tried to clear plates that we were not finished with. Yes, there was no food on the plate, but we were clearly enjoying the different sauces. At one point, I had a runner stand there and wait as I took the last bite. Also, the waiter who we were giving our orders to changed at some point in the evening, which we did not understand. Is this a regular practice? Overall, it is a great experience. My friend and I have already planned our second visit and I have this feeling that nothing I eat today will taste that good.

It is a Japanese restaurant that added sushi because customers asked for it. The first year or two the sushi selection was very limited and not always included as a course during the meal.