vengroff

I recently became a gruver myself. I'd love to learn more. Terry, wherever you are out in cyberspace, please do join us here.

I'm also a lefty. The fork never leaves my left hand. On the ball field I throw left but bat right.

Wise guy...

Now that summer is finally here, I'd love to find a good place for simple grilled fish, Greek style. I'm thinking of the kind of place where you pick from a selection of fresh whole fish on ice. You pay by weight and then they fillet it, or not depending of the species and size, and grill it for you. The grilled fish is then served with a drizzle of EVOO and not much more. Sardines to start, then maybe a snapper or a sea bass or some rougets. Pair it with a light easy-drinking Greek white, and you're transported to Corfu for an hour or two. Can you recommend any places in the DC area where I can have this kind of experience?

I find that if I hit the gym for 45 minutes of hard cardio in the late afternoon, then I have no appetite at all for the rest of the day. I usually just skip dinner entirely. The combination probably nets me 2000 calories.

Kinkead's is another frat-free option within walking distance.

So, all they have to do is write on the label, "we're not sure what the hell is in here. It might contain GM, and it might not, since they all get mixed up once they leave the field." As long as they explain it, and let consumers decide if they like the explanation, that's fine with me.

I grabbed a sandwich at A. Litteri's today. If you are on Capitol Hill, it's more than worth the short trip north on 6th street. Just head up 6th until you cross Florida. Turn left at the Subway (Warning: Use the Subway as a landmark only. Do not go inside.) Litteri will be on your left, about three stores in. They have pre-made Italian subs, or you can fill out a little form and specify exactly the meats, cheeses and toppings you want. You can also take a blank form with you and then fax in your order the next time. Here's my Capicola, Prosciuttini and Provolone, with a side of olive salad and a Limonata.

I've got the opentable certificate points too, but I haven't used them yet. I thought you had to join to use the service. Either I was mistaken, or they have changed their policy.

Sara, The servers we dealt with were all quite knowledgable about the wine list and how to pair the wines with the dishes on the menu. Also, if you let them know your personal tastes, they can guide you to something on the list that will match them. Every wine on the list is available by the glass, so even though only one of you is drinking, you can have different wines to match your different courses. As I said above, I thought the GV was outstanding. I also had a Verget that I liked a lot.

What is so terrible about asking food producers to explain what is in their product and how it is produced? Let the consumer read the label and the price tag and then make their own decision about what to put in their shopping cart based on whatever criteria they want to use. Smart producers will adapt to a variety of consumer preferences and figure out how to profitably provide products that various groups of consumers are willing to buy.

Forget the Ferraris. The fact that it finally stopped raining is reason enough to dine al fresco any place that offers it.

BBQ chicken pizza began showing up all over the place a few years back. I have no idea where it came from or why.

Let's see if we can put this in perspective, shall we. 30 12oz cans is 360oz, which means you spent about 2.78 cents per ounce. 1.5l bottles of Evian and other similar spring waters go for about $2. That's 3.94 cents per ounce. So water is more than 40% more expensive than PBR.

Please see this thread for eGullet's reaction to the article.

For those of you who do not speak French, here is google's English translation of the page. Google Translation of the link above. Note that the first obvious issue is that google translates "chef" to "head."

I should also mention that I had my first Gruner Veltliner experience at Nectar. I'm now eager to get my hands on more of this groovy Austrian grape, and find out what it's all about.

So does that mean Colicchio's grand experiment in choice has failed?

I'm not really interested in becoming a dining room fashion police officer. It's just that I was surprised by what I saw because I assumed that DC dining would be more formal than in NYC. I know the Euro look you're describing, Expat, but that wasn't the type of slacks and sweaters I saw.

Read all about the remarkable turnaround in this Sunday's NYT Magazine. The roots of PBR's comeback can be traced not to it's home town of Milwaukee, but to the microbrew haven of Portland, Oregon, where "in local supermarket sales it trails only Coors Light, Budweiser, Bud Light and Corona." The trend has now gone nationwide; "it is endorsed in 'The Hipster Handbook,' a paperback dissection of cool, and is popping up in trendy bars from the Mission District to the Lower East Side. Sales in Chicago are up 134 percent."

Here is Tom Sietsema's review of Nectar. Remember the thread where Tom discussed umami? It seems he may have been thinking of Nectar at the time. Note also the point he makes about how chef Blankenship "is a careful shopper and displays enough confidence to let ingredients speak for themselves." We had many of the same dishes Tom mentions, but with subtle variations based on what was available on the day. Blankenship and Slipp do an incredible job of putting bringing the dining experience together, from start to finish. If you haven't been, get over to opentable.com and book now. It only seats 42, and it's likely to fill up fast once this review hits the streets.

Might The Circle Bistro work? They have a rib-eye with frites. It also comes with swiss chard, but serious steak friters can ignore that. They also offer a pre-KC menu at $28. On second thought, maybe still too foodie for your group? What do you think?

Thanks for the report, sara. That was great. Did you try out the electronic wine list gizmo? If so, did you find it useful, gimmicky, both, neither?

Moro used to be a good choice when I lived in that area. I understand there are a number of new places along St. John's St now, but I don't know if they are good.

Call me sous chef.