JPW

What!?! No spiedies!?!

Well, I wanted to start a thread for this as it will be manna from heaven for us good restaurant deprived residents of the chain-infested downtown Silver Spring. Did a drive-by on my way to the TP farmers' market on Sunday. They had a "Now Hiring" sign out. I sent the eponymous Jackie an e-mail this morning with a laundry list of questions. I'll let you all know what I hear back.

I've started to enjoy grabbing quick lunches at the new chain of "Cafe" (read fast food) spots that they have opened. Been to one on Rockville Pike (next to Buy Buy Baby) and the one in the "New" downtown Silver Spring. The full service restaurants however are simply not worth it in my opinion. If you want sit down Lebanese/middle eastern in the District, go a little further up the Red Line to Cafe Ole. Many of you have also probably seen my rants about being served red wine there more than once that is absolutely steaming hot with the resulting lovely alcohol nose.

Another option to gewurz or riesling if the dishes are not too too fiery would be a nice Loire valley rose.

Achaia - Was it on purpose that your screen name is part of one of the more well-known Greek wine producers (Achaia-Clauss)?

Was amazed when I saw the pictures of the grilling. Not only does Michael bear a striking resemblance to me, but with his camo shorts and white tee-shirt on he has stolen my wardrobe, not to mention my haircut!! (Sorry no pictures of myself for comparison, you'll have to take my word on it)

Thoughts from the blue - A kalpa - the passage of one iteration of the world from birth until death was derived from traditional Indian cosmology as 4,320,000 years. At various points the Buddha gave what in comparison to modern scientific estimates is an incredibly accurate age of the universe by adding up all the iterations of existence (each kalpa) arriving at an age of 37 billion years. See ya..

Stealth Merge!!! That Don Rocks is one crafty fella.

Just went through the Pittsburgh brewing web site. They apparently no longer do Old Frothingslosh. The contract with Sam Adams is said to have run 1986 - 1999.

I know I promised babka that I would update that list, but I've been swamped recently. The web site I linked, http://www.eatwashington.com/ is much more extensive than my list. It might be easier for all if you could specify location and particular ingredients. My weekly food shopping can consist of up to 5 different stores around Silver Spring (Trader Joe's, Snider's, Safeway, Whole Paycheck, Takoma Park Farmers' Market). Add one more if I'm making a booze run. Welcome to the DC forum. PS - On a recent trip up Colesville Road to my local Home Despot, I noticed a new strip mall going about 1/2 mile North of 4 Corners. Ot will be anchored by a Trader Joe's -- no more driving to Bethesda for me!!!!

As a secondary recipe, take a look at Batali's "Simple Italian Food". I think that it is page 188. My copy opens to this recipe as this page is the one with the most spilled junk on it.

Old Frothingslosh is a seasonal beer that Pittsburgh brewing puts out around Xmas. It has somewhat more body than regular Iron. As a 'burgh native I still have the commemorative cans with pictures of the Steelers from their 4 Super Bowls (January '75, '76, ''79, '80). YOu will find these prominantly displayed in a rather significant percentage of Pittsburgh area drinkeries and homes. Let's not forget that Alcoa is also HQ'd in Pittsburgh, I smell a deal made at Sewickley Country Club on the 19th hole. As Rich Pawlak said, it's just unfortunate that the new bottles will contain Iron Shitty. Hard to believe that the same brewery used to make Sam Adams under contract when they were making their first big push to be a national brand.

PS- Was just reading the Montgomery County regional section of the Post. Dietle's got nailed for selling to a minor. Doh!!!

Just beware that by digestif I mean a cold beer.

It WAS someone's house. Good honest food. Quality ingredients, simply prepared. It provides a meal that will not astonish you in any way, but you'll be very happy that you went when you leave. PS - stop in at Dietle's next door for a digestif (or 2 or 5)

Well, as you may have realized from our socializing thread, some of the less reputable DC eG'ers stopped by Firefly last night. In fact, we monopolized the bar seating for a solid 3 hours. However, I don't think bar sales suffered at all. By now some of you know that I become obsessed with things that seem inconsequential, even imbecilically microscopic, to most people. So I want to tell you about a mustard dipping sauce. Beautiful in texture, perfect in color, and absolutely lovely in taste. Oh yeah, the pork and cabbage spring rolls that come with it are pretty gosh darn good too. This is a mustard sauce that tells you why you go to good restaurants. This is a mustard sauce that puts a yellowish-brown tinged huge smile on your face. Followed by an absolutely perfect rib-eye. As several noted on his Q+A John's a nice guy -- check the menu description for the steak to see more evidence. We were lucky enough to have John chat with us as he was performing barback duties (when's the last time you saw a chef washing glasses?) I can't recall the happy hour wines (John could you PM me the particulars?), but the Italian white was a great juice to wash the taste of a hot DC afternoon out of my mouth, and the Sangiovese was an excellent accompaniment to everything we had. Great food, great booze, a congenial host, excellent company, what more could one ask for?

So, a lawyer and his elk try to break into a bar... 5:30

Well, usually it's that people don't want to be associated with me. To expand, the 5Guys owner was going to get married for all the wrong reasons. Didn't want his girlfriend to pay for the error of his ways (Check out his band's name - "Spoonfed Adults") We were merely attempting to infuse him with some alcohol fueled wisdom from two married guys with kids on the way. I had forgotten (with good reason) the rather robust vodka shots. Oy!

Following an otherwise painful day, I pulled into Matchbox yesterday at about 4:15. I was first joined by a delicious Dogfish 60 minute IPA and was then joined by a fellow eG'er. Our menu - mini-burgers and sausage and onion pizza. The mini-burgers (as just about everyone knows) come on nice brioche buns and a single pickle slice with some fried shoestrings. The shoe strings were great. The burgers were closer to medium than medium rare. IMO - They were good, but nothing to write home about. The pizza on the otherhand was great. The sausage spicy, the onions sweet, the degree of doneness perfect with some black on the edge of the crust. The atmosphere was very nice. I like the design. I was surprised that it wasn't very busy at all. Cute, very sweet bartenderesses. Following one or two too many beverages , we walked out with a nice buzz and sated stomachs.

Addie's is cool. YOu can often spot me, Mrs JPW, and Peanut there for lunch on Saturday when we are running errands around Rockville Pike.

Well, I guess I should finally try this place. I'm in town today, anyone care to meet for happy hour?

Although it has been moved and added onto, the original part of the Tastee Diner in SS first started up in 1946. Edit to add that Woodside Deli on Georgia has been open since 1947.

chirp chirp chirp

IMHO - Ben is just digging himself a deeper hole with this continuation piece. Maybe I just don't get his point. Ben, are you out there? Care to discuss?

Zagat's = popularity contest, not accurate ratings of restaurants. Since anyone can send in a rating, the raters may be dedicated and thoughtful gourmets or they may be everything out of the microwave yahoos who are in it only to get a free book. Stick with the reviews in the Post. They are all online and in my opinion, the Post doesn't suck up to restaurants the way Washingtonian does. Learn how your tastes line up with the reviewers. I generally agree with just about everything Sietsma writes except that our tastes in mediterranean food seem to differ. For example, he has given Bacchus in Bethesda good reviews and recommends it often in his chats. My experiences there have been relatively disappointing by comparison. PS - Tom, thanks for doing such a great job, we're lucky to have you. But please get a finer gradation in your star system, too many two-stars!!!