vengroff

Soup looks great Al. And that leg of lamb. That looks outstanding. I've seen Icelandic lamb for sale lately. How does it compare to the New Zealand, Australian, and American versions?

It was the executive chef Jose Andres who made the offer. You should definitely have a chat with him. His level of commitment to quality food and customer service is exceptional, as evidenced by his immediate response on Tom's chat, quoted below.

For a party of 22 at Zaytinya, I'd expect a tab north of $1K. Maybe $2K if people were thirsty. But then again, not everyone is.

That's insane! I must have one of these. Who sells them?

Sorry to hear that morela. Hope you are feeling better soon. Re: Ellas. The only time I went for the happy hour there were only about 15 minutes left in it, so we just ordered our own pizzas from the menu. I'm not sure how it's going to work out for them if word gets out that for the price of a beer you can gulp down all the pizza you want. But they really do make a nice pie. Re: Rocks's eating habits. I've never heard of anyone this side of Steve "Fat Guy" Shaw putting away three meals in an evening.

Implied volatility of MCD in the options market is about 23-24%. So a 4% daily move is pretty big.

A couple years after I graduated I heard that our beloved cook Steve had been arrested for dealing crystal meth off the loading dock in the back of the house.

I'm curious, Mark. How often do you turn away diners because they are not suitably dressed? And is there a hard and fast set of guidelines, or does it get fuzzy based on other factors, like VIPness as Klc suggested? What happens when a hotel guest pops dowstairs in a nice pair of jeans and a sweater that very well may have cost as much as a cheap to mid-range suit? I've never been to Citronelle without a suit and tie, but I honestly don't know what the exact dress code is. Returning to the original discussion, I'm not sure the presence or absense of a dress code was necessarily the main reason for Le Relais' financial problems.

I almost fell off the chair laughing when Tom told the first angry vegetarian to "order three desserts". I wonder if they offer mincemeat pie...

It was certainly nice to see Jose jump right into the fray to try to do waht he can to make ammends. I also like the edgy new Tom.

Sad, but all too common I'm sure. That's a guy who's letting his own arrogance get between himself and a good a meal.

The number one job of the front of house staff is to ensure that the diners experience is comfortable and enjoyable. This is harder to do with inexperienced fine diners because, like anyone who is in an unfamiliar situation, they are naturally more nervous and on edge. Though millions of years of evolution, remaining more alert and not letting your guard down in unfamiliar situations has been extremely valuable. But having that reaction wired in deep inside the human psyche does not necesseraly translate into the most enjoyable experience for infrequent fine diners. Luckily, the potential embarassment of not using the right fork is nowhere near as bad as the potential pain of having one's arm bit off by a sabre-toothed tiger. It's more work for front of the house staff to get their inexperienced guests past their apprehensions than it is to deal with guests who are already comfortable in the fine dining environment. A good waiter will go the extra mile to make everyone comfortable, despite the very real risk that the certain diners' inexperience will show up again at tipping time.

And one of these days Rosa Mexicano will finally open. I hope it's soon.

Ella's and Matchbox are both good bets. Note that Ella's now has a happy hour with free pizza at the bar from 4-8pm weekdays. Seems like a pretty good deal to me, assuming there is enough turnover to keep the pizza fresh.

The fishmonger in the Farmer's Market on 6th just north of Florida carries it. I think eastern market's fishmonger does as well, but I'm not 100% sure.

The visuals at Zola are stunning. And maybe I'm luckier than Rocks, but I've had no problem finding a bartender who knew how to mix a proper drink--not just the frufry special "martinis." But if I start getting hungry, I prefer to walk across the street to Poste.

Don't forget the impending arrival of Wegman's in this area. They are going to change the grocery landscape of the entire region.

Thanks for the report, Rocks. Klc's work is indeed inspiring. It's incredible that he is able to create, and Jose supports the creation of, really original pastry at such a modest price point. Just think of how many other places out there can barely manage to slice a frozen cheesecake and plate it with a squirt of outsourced rasberry coulis for the same price. Steve and Jose have an incredible knack for finding the sweet spot where good taste and good business sense go hand in hand.

Does Ella's offer any sort of call-ahead/pick-up pizza service? If so it would be a good option.

It won't help much for Saturday, but I'd suggest you put an entry in your calendar for eleven months from today to remind yourself to set up next year's anniversary dinner.

The latter over the former by a wide margin. But these are not Maestro-league places. What about Citronelle or Cafe 15?

The deal is off. This ship has sailed.

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.

the big draw is the all you-can-eat sushi bar.

Well foodwise, which is what we care about here, it's clearly a bad decision. Cruise ships, in stark contrast to the city of New York, are not generally known for their fine cuisine. And among cruise ships, this one didn't even make this list of the top 70. One of it's sister ships, the Norwegian Sky, just barely made the overall top 70, with dreadful food scores. A friend and long-time DC area resident claims the local dining scene was more alive during the Clinton administration than it is now. I don't know if this is true or not, but the hammer doesn't seem to put much value on interesting dining.