dbortnick
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Posts posted by dbortnick
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We here at Poste, in the hotel Monaco, regularly handle convention groups with menus and prices that seem to fit your requirements. You can contact our Private Dining coordinator, Sean, at 202-783-6060 ext 162, for more information. Hope this helps, enjoy your visit to DC.
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"Does anyone else know of any other places that offer a large selection? ...For example, anyone know anything about Poste?"
For dinner we'll be opening up the entire menu to restaurant weekers, although a few dishes will have slight up charges. Lunch, however, will be slightly more limited. See ya'll soon.
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There are no limitations here. Let your imaginations run free. I was thinking for one of mine...
Chef, from southpark...so I could pick up some of his game. That man is one big pimp.
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Board? Take a trip to the "Neighborhood of Make Believe"....
The proposition: You can spend one week in a restaurant kitchen, hangin with the chef, learnin some new tricks, and gettin the inside scoop.
The question: Where would you choose? Whom would you like most to hang with? and most importantly, Why?
(For the sake of not excluding too many chefs and breaking their hearts, post your top three)
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The minute you mention "expect" or "enjoy" this says more about you--your subjective preferences--and your awareness of food and chefs--than it does about DC. Daniel, I don't mean this in a negative way, but there are many talented chefs in DC, some doing more simple enjoyable things and some doing more modern, more creative enjoyable things--sometimes it can be a creative French or Spanish or Japanese chef executing the simplest dish with the fewest ingredients. That's what's great about the American culinary scene. Whether you're able to enjoy that freedom, that diversity, is entirely up to you.
Whoa, I think you lost track of my intention here. I am looking for Italian. Ofcourse I am aware of the many chefs doing just that kind of ideal with other cuisines and interpretations. The first thing I ate when I got back last night was sushi....couldn't have been happier. Again, I was looking for Italian suggestions.
Oh, and thanks to DCMark for being blunt and humerous, your reply was probably the most on point response I got.
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Spezie does look (atleast menu-wise), similar to somewhere in Italy. I will have to check it out. As far as Palena, indeed the cooking there is wonderful, kudos Frank, but not quite that traditional Italian simplicity. A thought I just had was that DC's equivalent to Italian snack bar food would be the many half-smoke stands that line the mall. For the most part, they are cheap, simple, and delish. I think what I have stumbled across here is a double edged sword. On one hand I will return to the numerous cuisines I have missed, i.e. japanese and mexican, but on the other hand I will once again have trouble figuring out where to go for that nice, simple, fresh, and inexpensive meal. A somewhat anomaly in DC.
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As I set to return to DC in a few days after an extended culinary adventure in Italy, I worry....will I find anywhere to eat in DC that closely resembles some of my favorite trattoria, osteria, pizzeria, pannineria, and ristorantes in Italy? The food, undoubtedly simple, fresh, and seasonal, is mostly hard to find in the states. There is a definate tendency in the states to put everything but the kitchen sink into a dish. But in Italy, long standing culinary traditions are evident as every food establishment serves the same combinations of 3 or 4 ingredients, and than it is left to the chef's hand to transform them into something magical. I would never expect to enjoy as much in DC something as simple as a plate of Gnocchi with tomato, olive oil, and mozzarella, or a ravioli filled with artichoke and brie cheese, tossed just with a little olive oil and parsley. Please folks, calm my nerves, and enlighten me on where I can pick up from where I left off when I return to DC.
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Me too, excpet I'm too tall and arthritic.
Don't let your handicaps keep you from Makoto, its well worth the visit, and at $45 the chefs' menu is well worth the experience. By the way, you don't sit on the floor, you sit on some sort of wooden box that doubles as jacket storage....too cool. I would agree that for the best fish, makoto is the place, however, for a great sushi fiesta, I would look more to sushi taro, sushi ko, or kaz sushi. All those places are more upbeat, modern, and loose. Oh, and in the summer, rooftop at perry's is butter.
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Shakey's!, now that brings back memories. We used to go to the one on rockville pike, which if I remember correctly might be a hooter's now? I remember their pizza being cut in triangles, I'm pretty sure Ledo's is the square slice you are thinking of...
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I grew up in rockville and have fond childhood memories of saturday lunches at Bagel City (on Rockville Pike, somewhere between Montrose and Twinbrook), and picking up Theo's pizza (on Seven Locks Rd, b/w Montrose and Wooton Pkwy) for Wednesday nights. Ofcourse that was quite a long time ago so I don't even know if Theo's is still there. And please don't ostracize me for suggesting it, but I have always had good burgers and french dips at Houston's. There I said it, begrudgingly.
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I think of Woodside as more deli than diner, but in the grand scheme of things, who cares? You can get anything a diner has at most delis, plus a whole lot of delicious jewish treats. a.k.a. matzoh ball soup, reuben sandwiches, latkes, whitefish salad, fried matzoh/matzoh brie, gefilte fish, chopped liver, salami and eggs, bagels 'n lox, blintzes, knishes, ooy don't get me started. Therefore, seeing as how we've incorporated delis into the diner deal, I'd like to add a couple personal favorites, Krupin's on Wisconsin Ave in CC, and Celebrity in Potomac, MD. Long live the deli!
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One of my favorite things to do, is to buy a wine for under $10 and roll the dice on it. Its a crap shoot, win some lose some. Fortunately I sometimes find one I really enjoy and I make note of it to buy a bunch next time to have for friends and guests. The ones I don't enjoy get served to unwanted guests.
I have a lot of luck with Argentinean wines, they are a great value, i.e. Bodega Norton Malbec. In general I end up with good cooking wine though. -
Thanks for all the kind words 8Track. I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. Stay tuned for our winter menu changes, I'm getting really excited!
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Why won't they just go away? Maybe its a sign....desperate times bring desperate measures.
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Truffle, as far as your question about my position at Rafael, it was a three or four week 'stag', and this was in November and December of 2001.
As for Cusco, I can't be nearly as informative, as I was often hiking and camping. I can though, tell you this.... Cusco is a town more for the bars, clubs, and lounges than for the cuisine. It's most young travellers favorite spot in Peru, constant fun and 'all in a good way' densensitized to travellers. There is a small joint just off the plaza de armas, across from la cathedral, that has an incredible chorizo sandwich and chicha morada (think purple corn kool-aid). If you want great traditional food, and aren't on a tight budget, El Truco, is a must stop.
However, as I mentioned before, Cusco is most heralded, other than the connection to Machu Picchu, for its hip night scene. My favorite spot was Los Perros Couch Bar. NYC style meets San Fran laid back meets Andean foothills, not to mention backgammon. Wish we had that here in DC. Mama Africa is a dance club where every traveller seems to stop by, but I didn't think much of it. There is a bar called Ukuku that shows movies and has internet access as well as good people, an all around useful place. This isn't even the tip of the iceberg, but its a good starting point.
One other thing, if you happen to be there for New Years, as I was, it is definately one of the most unique (naked races around the plaza de armas), fun (drinking and dancing with people from atleast 10 different countries), and dangerous (a firework exploded on my side) places on earth.
A last note, if you go to Aguas Caliente, the small town experienced by all travelers who visit macchu picchu, do head up the main hill to a restaurant called Kikkis. It is owned by a really friendly guy named kikki (from NJ) and the food is delicious, as prepared by his Peruvian wife.
Thats it for now.
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Peruvian food..here goes....
Much like the United States Peru is a bit of a melting pot for many other cultures, and nowhere is it more apparent than in the cuisine. True, the majority of Peru is still dominated by native Incans, Quechuas, and other Andean cultures, but in the largest cities, namely, Lima, the population is as diverse as many other world cities. The biggest influences to peruvian cuisine are Asian. In even the most traditional of peruvian eateries, the use of soy sauce, sesame oil, and MSG is prevailant.
The most indigenous peruvian foods can be found in the mountain cities. Along the coast, especially in Lima there are many restaurants featuring traditional Peruvian cuisine, but nairy a few are not somehow influenced by atleast asian cuisine. I spent a few weeks working in the kitchen of a cevicheria called El Pescado Loco, in Linse, Lima. Hands down this was the best ceviche that I have had. Pretty impressive for a working class cevicheria, but like all cities some of the best food are in the lesser developed areas. Two surprise ingredients they put in the ceviche were sesame oil and MSG. They do love their MSG, its used just like salt. This wasn't the only restaurant where I observed this.
I also spent some time in the kitchen at a restaurant called Rafael, in Miraflores, Lima. Now, unlike el pescado loco, this was an upscale restaurant with a top notch chef, one of Lima's hot spots for haute cuisine.
At Rafael I experienced true artisinal cooking within the constraints of a developing nation, a great thing. For this meant that everything was fresh, it had to be, because quality refrigeration was nothing to rely on. You see the purveyors brought in everything the morning they caught it or killed it. The turkey I got to cook my Peruvian family a thanksgiving meal was still warm from its own body heat. This is a delight not often experienced in the US where many foods are caught, frozen, shipped, thawed, and sold as fresh...a crime if you ask me. But I digress, at Rafael, the food is Mediterranean-Peruvian. Rafael incorporates such techniques/dishes as confit, braised baby lamb, tortilla espagnole, vitello tonato, housemade pastas, breads, and ice creams. However, even there, sesame oil, MSG, and soy sauce are used in preparing tiradito, a cross between ceviche and sashimi, also highliting the japanese influence in Peru.
One of the best ways to experience Japan's foundation in Peru is to go to Matsuei, a sushi restaurant in Lima. This is where Nobu got his start after he left Japan. In fact Nobu talks a bit about his Peruvian experience in his cookbook.
But if traditional Peruvian food at its best is what you want than you must go to Las Brujas de Cachiche or La Huaca Pullana. The neat thing about La Huaca is that it overlooks one of Limas only ancient ruins sites. Not to mention the papas a la huancaina there are like nothing else I have ever experienced. Basically they are mashed peruvian potato balls served with two sauces, one a blend of fresh cheese, cookies, and nuts, the other a green sauce made from huacatay, Peruvian Marigold.
Two other can't miss experiences....pisco sours at la caleza and pollo a la brassa, available on every block in every city in peru (or so it seems).
Well time is short, more to follow, so much more to write........
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I cooked in a couple restaurants in peru, specifically Lima, and spent a few months eating eating eating everything I could. So if there are people still interested in information on what I feel is the world's best underappreciated cuisine, I'd be glad to write all about it.
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Oooh. Red Hawk?! Is that from Cowgirl Creamery? One of my all-time favorites.
Did this place just open?
indeed it is cowgirl creamery's organic triple cream!
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Sunday or Monday is fine for a fresh bird, especially a large one, i.e 12+ lbs. What you will want to do is put your turkey in a brine (salt water more or less). I usually brine my turkey for three days and than one day out to dry out a bit. And I promise it is the juciest most flavorful turkey. If you are interested I can post a recipe for the brine.
Suggestions for group lunch in NW D.C.?
in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining
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You can come see us at Poste in the Hotel Monaco.