vengroff

Sounds very promising, Mark. I understand they are committed to developing a quality cheese program. Could you comment on the quantity and quality of offerings beyond the stinking bishop?

As part of my ongoing exploration of the DC-area culinary landscape, I recently had dinner at Kaz Sushi Bistro. We had the tasting menu, which consists of three small cold dishes prepared at the sushi bar, three small hot dishes from the kitchen, a selection of sushi, and dessert. It was priced at $50 per person. Along with the meal I had a lovely junmai daiginjo sake, priced at $10.95 for 180ml. I was quite impressed and would happily go back to repeat the meal. We enjoyed diced octopus with wasabi, mussels broiled in their shells with spicy Japanese mayonaise, beef tongue carpaccio, tuna tartare with creamy tofu and shredded seaweed, and sauteed sweet shrimp in a spicy tomato and mushroom broth. Many of the dishes were spicy, but in a subtle way that balanced wasabi or chili with other flavors. The only miss was the beef shortrib, which was a little dry. Our favorites from the sushi selection included tuna with a sliver of black truffle, a candy-sweet scallop, and a seared strip of salmon. Dessert was a simple refreshing scoop of yuzu ice-cream. Try as I might, I can't resist the urge to compare Kaz to Nobu, or at least to Nobu Next Door. It lacks the glamour, glitz, and attitude, but at some fundamental level the goal is the same: to accentuate the cuisine of Japan with the best the rest of the world has to offer. Indeed there are some common elements, whose original provenence I don't know. For example, the sauce on the mussels was not unlike the creamy-spicy sauce Nobu serves with crab or tempurad rock shrimp. There was also a sablefish in miso dish on Kaz's menu, which I can only guess resembles Nobu's overhyped black cod in miso. I didn't leave Kaz feeling stuffed like I would have after a $100 omakase at Nobu, but I was definitely satisfied, and felt that a higher percentage of the dishes were winners. The vast majority of what we were served was creative and compelling. With the exception of the Cafe Atlantico brunch, I would be hard pressed to come up with a better mid-priced set menu option in this town. If you have other nominees, by all means let me know.

I drink their coffee at Murky Coffee on Captiol Hill. They are "totally committed to serving the people of Washington the best damn coffee there is."

Gotta make up for all those well-done steaks somehow...

Thank you for joining us for this Q&A. I was wondering if you could share an insiders view of FTV's audience demographics. eGulleteers watch an awful lot of it, but I wonder who else does. What is the audience that watches the network and how does it vary by time slot and program type? Also, how have the demographics shifted and/or expanded over the years, and have these changes been consistent with the goals of the network brass?

I guess you weren't there on the night in February when I was. There were a significant number of men in sweaters and slacks. I was new to DC at the time, and quite surprised. I always wear suits to places like Maestro, but mainly just because I feel I tend to get better treatment.

Thanks Craig. Now I see the problem. The technology they use to take you to the site that has been found is the same as what pop-up ads use. Thus the site is useless to anyone with a pop-up ad blocker.

Thanks, Craig. Also note that they provide the a bunch of names in the form of keywords, in the hopes of attracting search engines, but none of them work in the search either. You can see them by viewing the source of the document in your browser. <META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="wine, wines, , wineries, winery, store, stores, online, internet, ecommerce,e-commerce, cabernet, merlot, rhone, chardonnay, zinfandel, Shiraz, syrah,sauvignon, champagne, sparkling, online, internet, buy, purchase, for sale,discount, list, listing, directory, links, favorite, winetasting, tasting, deloach, benziger,boutique, handmade, cheap, value, b2c, direct, california, napa. Sonoma, paso robles, oregon, B.R. Cohn , Babcock, Beaucanon, Beaulieu, Beckmen, Bonny Doon, Bonterra, Buena Vista, Creston, Cristom, Chandon,Estancia, Ferrari Carano , Fetzer, Firestone, Frog's Leap , Geyser Peak,, Groth, Gundlach-Bundschu, Hidden Mountain, Springs, heitz, Hinman, Honey,Inglenook, Iris Hill, Iron Horse, J. Lohr , Jade, Jaeger, RobertMondavi, Lambert, L'aventure, Loring, Martini, Deutz, Matanzas Creek , Mayacamas, Mutt Lynch , Piper Sonoma, Pipestone, Quail Ridge, Qupe, Rutherford Grove , Rutherford, Silvan Ridge, Silver Oak, Simi , Stag's Leap , Sterling, Eden , Yamhill, York, Zaca Mesa"> I hope they didn't send it to anyone in Utah. There's an article in today's WSJ about an attorney who has filed over a thousand anti-spam suits. Under Utah law, spammers pay the plaintiff's legal fees.

I got the following spam today: I went to look at the site, which looks like just a single page. No matter what I type in the search box, nothing comes up. I've tried several wineries, like Miner, that I know sell online, but got nothing. Anyone know what this site is or who is behind it? And here's a challenge: can anyone get the search engine to find anything?

It might be worth getting back to the orginal article for a second. What pushed Gillian Clark over the edge were not requests for sauce on the side, or no garnish on top, but things like "Atkins diet followers who order the steak and potatoes..., then have the chutzpah to ask for extra steak instead of the potatoes." That strikes me as cheap, not picky. And there's, "could that be fried instead of broiled?" That's really making something an entirely different dish, not just some adjustments. And finally, "can you cook the beef 'rare but with no pink at all'?" That last question should presumably be handled by the server politely outlining the levels of doneness that are offered, and should never make it to the kitchen at all. My theory is that when faced with too many completely outlandish requests, certain chefs may overreact and push the boundries to far back in the, "my way or the highway," direction. Chef Clark blew her top in her email, but the blame can hardly be put all on her.

Joe, In New York, people began to dress down a bit at top-end places when the big banks and law firms started going business casual. But as far as I can tell, that hasn't happened here. When I walk around downtown at lunchtime it looks like midtown or lower manhattan did in 1998. Everybody has a suit on. So why do they want to go casual at Laboratorio, Maestro, or Citronelle? (Does Citronelle still require jackets, or have they given in?) Do you have some insight, or just a warning that people should dress more appropriately?

I'm in.

Tom is not thrilled by the food. Haven't been yet myself. I find Georgetown so inconvenient that I tend not to go unless I know it's goint to be worth the trip. Can't get the Metro there, and if you drive the traffic and parking are terrible.

You should try DC sometime, where the charm of the north meets the efficiency of the south.

Welcome, PCircles. Judging from your website, I would say that you shouldn't have much trouble getting yourself on the mailing lists of the major restaurant PR firms around town. I suspect they'll keep your mailbox more than full with notices about what's new, hip and trendy, or at least what's aspiring to be.

do they live in jersey? They mostly come from wherever people dream of being actors, models, and artists, don't they?

I've never tried it myself, but I bet it would work just fine. Brush with some evoo, clamp it in the basket, and grill on both sides until it just starts to get flaky. I forgot to mention one of my favorite things to serve with grilled fish is some chopped red onion pickled in champagne vinegar and white pepper for 24h.

Salmon is probably the easiest and one of the best grilling fish. Halibut fillets are one of my favorites. Tuna can be done, but the grill has to be really hot so that the outsides sear well before the inside cooks. Whole rainbow trout stuffed with, or wrapped in bacon, are a real treat. I also like clams. Toss them on the grill just until they open then serve with drawn butter.

According to the respective companies' web sites, a Big Mac has 580 calories, while a Krispy Kreme glazed yeast doughnut has 200.

How's Dunkin' Donuts going to survive? First Starbucks hits them on one side, now Krispy Kreme on the other.

eGullet leads the way again...

But in this case it was not a chef responding to a review, but a chef bashing the behavior of her customers that started the whole thing.

Four weeks ago, chef Gillian Clark of the Colorado Kitchen wrote a letter to Tom Sietsemsa of the Post (a recent eGullet Q&A guest). She complained about customers who wanted to re-engineer her dishes to their own specifications, ignoring the time and effort she had spent designing them in the first place. The backlash from readers was immediate, and blistering. Diners expeted that when they are footing the bill, they should get exactly what they want. In today's Post, Candy Sagon follows up on the story with Chefs Bite Back: In Some Cases, the Customer Isn't Always Right. Bob Kinkead, Judy Rodgers, Susan Lindeborg, Tom Collicio (through his staff), and others weigh in on where the line between artistry and customer service should be drawn.

It seems to me that there are two main reasons people like to bring their own wine. One is that they think they have something particularly special in their collection that they believe is better than what the restaurant has to offer. The other is that they want to save money. At Mark's level of restaurant, I don't think the first reason is very compelling. His full time job is to make sure he has an incredible inventory of ready-for-drinking bottles available at all times. I have not had the pleasure of dealing with him personally, but my experience with other sommeliers at that level is that most of them are very passionate about what they do and are more than willing to engage in a conversation about your preferences and price range and locate some very nice bottles for you. Unlike many, I don't find the second reason compelling either. The value of my time and energy, not to mention long-term cellaring costs, just doesn't make sense to me. The restaurant is not getting my extra cash, but that doesn't mean I'm not spending it elsewhere. Adding on top of that the value of the expert advice of a Sommelier who has sampled more about wine than I ever will, and I feel like I'm clearly coming out ahead.

That sounds like it's worth a trip. How is it served? Do you specify the cut that you want?