JPW

With Peanut due to leave the shell on Sept 18, it's very difficult for me to commit to ANYTHING right now. Could possibly do the 7th, but the 21st would be virtually guaranteed to be a no go.

I win!!! Marc - I'd like to clarify a few things. It was actually Steve who mentioned the Todd Kliman article on Gillian Clark in the City Paper and which explored some of the racial issues surrounding her endeavors. I don't think that it mentioned daSto. Unfortunately, City Paper online archives tend not to go back very far so it is not a surprise thatt you cannot find it. Todd posts here occasionally, so perhaps when he sees that you are interested, he could dig up a copy. I wondered only if you had seen it and meant in no way to imply that I thought that you had lifted your column from his piece. My apologies for misrepresenting your column. I was searching for a quick way to describe to Fat Guy (aka our benevolent overlord Steven Shaw) how the Metro section is laid out. Mea Culpa.

Let me guess....... Please allow me to be the first to welcome Marc Fisher to eGullet as an active participant. Well, am I right?

Thought that I'd finally start putting in my two cents on this thread. Dinner last night was homemade ravioli filled with cannellini bean puree in a balsamic flavored butter sauce. Accompanied by a green salad containing some amazing tomatoes from the local farmers' market dressed in a vinagrette.

Peeked in the window at Jackie's last weekend. It is next door to My Le, the little Vietnamese place. They have light fixtures up (can't say I'm a big fan of them) and most of the drywall appears to be done. Tough to spot, because the only sign that says Jackie's is at the top of the building and not easy to notice if you are close to the building.

New notes on wine/beer at Red Dog. They've got a list with about 5 bottled beers and a wine list of about 6 white, 6 red, and a rose. Forgot to steal a copy of it, but I was not too excited by anything. [rant] The service there continues to suck ventworm nuts! Mrs JPW (who is by now quite noticable) and I stood at the host stand for a solid minute with 4 or 5 different employees staring at us before anyone said anything to us. We sat outside for lunch and there were no more than 6 tables occupied outside and another 6 inside. The 4 top next to us got one sandwich .... 20 minutes later (yes I timed it) they got the three pizzas that they had ordered at the same time. Mrs. JPW and I were finally able to order sandwiches (after watching the 4 top go to the bus stand and get their own silverware). Food was then delivered to another table near us, and then re-directed to the 4 top, where it was finally re-directed to a third. Our sandwiches finally arrived 27 minutes after we had ordered. At least we got the food that we ordered, unlike the two ladies behind us. I've now given what is otherwise a lovely spot with acceptable-to-good food 3 shots. The service has been consistently crappy to the point where I will NEVER go back. [/rant]

The debate between Gillian and several eGulleters is the story. Fat Guy, This particular location in the Post is for a rotating cast of columnists to do generally "day in the life of" pieces that can be used as parables for larger issues. In this case, I just feel that the "reportage" took center stage over the exploration of larger issues that could have been more interesting.

Steve, Several good points that I agree with. However, it is common practice for larger newspapers to reprint stories that have run in other (smaller) media. Howard Kurtz, the Post media writer has noted this several times. Sometimes it is done well, with attribution to the original author and that author's own input. Sometimes, it is done poorly and is done in very ethically questionable ways by even the best newspapers. The City Paper does not have the same reach as the Post. It's not always the easiest thing to find, even in Silver Spring (the only place I frequent regularly that I see it is Whole Paycheck). To spread awareness of the larger issue beyond the readership of the City Paper would not necessarily require adding too much to Kliman's piece. I wonder if Marc Fisher was even aware of the Kliman piece. Just my opinion on this one.

I would assume that if he had, they would have mentioned it. Well Marc? You obviously have lurked here at least once. Wanted to revise this based on my original comment in the general food media thread. It would have been nice if Marc had contacted someone beyond Gillian to get other perspectives of the issue. However, it is important to remember that this is an op-ed column not a reported article. As such, he is free to present the discussion that occured here in whatever light he wants. I, for one, feel that he wasted too much column space on the debate we had with Gillian. To me the following (at the very end of the column) represents something more important that he would have done well to focus the piece more directly on -- From the column "White people think they're supposed to have this reaction in defense of the black community," the chef says. "But the people who say 'da sto' don't see anything wrong with that. And the white people who criticize this are saying that there is something bad about saying it that way." This is just too circular, too sensitive. But it's the kind of mini-furor we've come to expect in Washington, where dining is as self-segregated as church and radio. "When we opened, black people wanted to know if this place is black-owned before they'd sit down," Clark says. Now, her dining room is a leading indicator of the area's changing face. All of which is just so much sociology to Clark, who insists that "I consider myself a chef who just happens to be black. Not a black chef."

I would assume that if he had, they would have mentioned it. Well Marc? You obviously have lurked here at least once.

John, One of the things that I admire about your cooking is the attention paid to the quality of ingredients. I still dream of the smoked duck breast salad. Where do you provision your stuff around DC (especially relevant if it's open to public)? Is it easier today than it used to be to find top-notch-kick-ass supllies around DC? PS - Unfortunately my surburban life, impending child, and budget conspire against my ability to come down to Firefly as much as I'd like, but I'll see you soon!

Paula, Through all the Jager induced hazy days in my early 20s, that is a thought that would have NEVER crossed my mind. It always reminded me of menthol flavored cough syrup.

At $3 /pound, this isn't a crime against grocery, it's a grocery crime against you!

I loved Greek food since I was first introduced to it at a little place I worked at on St. Thomas USVI called Zorba's. The owner was a greek guy from Chicago. I've got to say that my favorites have more to do with ingredients than the particular dishes they are used in. Yogurt, lemon, oregano, mint, olives, etc. The various dips are my favorite expression of Greek flavor - hummos, taramasalata, tzatziki, etc. The nice thing about Greek food is that it is incredibly easy to make at home.

The fact that I didn't even catch that when I read the food section yesterday morning tells you how out of it I have been this week. But I'll rise to the bait Don. This proposal is idiotic. Imbecilic. To punish a restaurant for something that, as often as not, they have no control over? Impressively dumb. If you could prove that a bottle was ruined by how a restaurant treated it, that would be one thing. Mighty hard to prove (except perhaps in the case of certain restaurants who have previously been called out on the treatment of their wine). I can see a disgruntled busboy walking around trying to break the restaurant by using a syringe to pierce all the corks on the vintage reds. Sorry, that's about as motivated as I can get in responding to this otherwise unnoteworthy thing that appeared where the wine reviews should have been.

No kick coming here. I'd love to play Mr. Mom - drinking, smoking cigars and playing poker with coupons with all the hotties in my neighborhood. Michael keaton never knew how good he had it! Unfortunately, my mother in law has a different take on this idea!

Re the "chef" thing - Went back to look at that thread and saw a grand total of two posts on it that could be considered critical. An opposing viewpoint that said (and I quote because I liked the name): And a grand total of one wise-ass comment (which for this group of juveniles is incredibly tame!). My opinion? More of a molehill than a mountain. PS - Chef Gillian, would you like that new monikor inscribed on a plaque to hang over the front door?

Considering Mrs. JPW's idea of cooking is pan-fried tofu slabs, I do all the cooking. She does the dishes (usually). I also do all the grocery shopping. I figure my cooking = my ingredients.

Pho 79?

Chef Gillian, Thank you for your extensive response to Don's question. While I am still processing it, another thought came to mind. Don, although our great and kindly forum host, failed to provide a biography that might give us a better idea of what kitchens you worked your way through. More importantly to me, what are the personal roots of the food you make today? You have previously mentioned that you were from NY. Is this the source of your cooking direction? Thanks. Joe Willey PS- I, too, have done my fair amount of muttering at special orders. The main exception was the guy who always wanted double bacon and double butter in his carbonara. I guess a half a stick of butter and about 4 oz of bacon weren't enough for him.

I think that in grocery stores, since margins overall are so thin, that they price to the level the market will bear. My favorite local grocery - Snider's in Silver Spring MD (DC) - lemons are 3 for a buck. I can't recall other prices off of the top of my head, but their produce although not tv commercial pretty is generally good and cheap. But they are also a little family owned place and not a chain. The thing that I love about it is that lemons are ALWAYS 3 for a buck! Every week and every month. They will occasionally have real sales on surplus seasonal produce (corn is starting to get cheaper by the day), or something that their wholesalers had overstocked. For example, red bell peppers typically $2-2.50 a pound can occassionally be found at $1 a pound.

Also don't forget that hillvalley and tomdc discovered they live approx. 40 feet away from each other.

Dievole aka the faces

A few edits on hill valley The third wine was "Gotim Bru" from Castell de Remei in the Costers del Segres. It is a blend with tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Tempranillo is swiftly becoming one of my favorite grapes. I found it went perfectly with Chef Michael's steaks. It was Montesino, not Montesierra. Can't recall the exact blend. Hillvalley had the flatiron steak, as did I. Mine was cajun style. My thoughts - I HATE deviled eggs. But I of course had to try. These, with the steak tartare brought tears to my eyes they were so good. The ones that are typically inflicted upon me when visiting my wife's relatives in the south will now be even more unbearable. I will probably never again have deviled eggs unless they come out of this kitchen. I absolutely ABHOR calamari. To me, it's the nastiest stuff on the face of the earth (although shellfish are close). Again, I would not insult the chef by not trying them. While that peculiar texture of calamari still sent my stomach into convulsions and I had to force myself not to expunge it instantly, I have never consumed a piece of seafood that tasted that effing good! I actually managed to eat (and keep down) about half of mine before passing the rest to hillvalley. For me, this is record calamari consumption. The cajun flatiron was absolutely stupendous. A beautiful piece of meat, perfectly done. I smiled while savoring. I smiled on the way home. I smiled as I crawled into bed. Mrs. JPW and I will definitely be back when Peanut leaves the shell and she can once again consume meat that is not overcooked to death.

The next eGullet DC & DelMarVa chat will be with Gillian, and will officially begin next Monday (in a separate thread), so hone your blades, screw your courage to its sticking place, and get your questions ready. Cheers, Rocks. Interesting. I went back and read the thread and thought that I might parse Chef Gillian's (wanted to put both in there so noone would be offended) reply. This I find to be about as prejudiced as you can get. Made even more amusing by using the word "see". You've not seen all of us. How do you know we're all white? Ah yes, it must be because the level of writing is so good. We all know that only over-educated white people write like that. For that matter how can you know that we are all "over-educated"? Have you looked at all off our resumes? Perhaps your inability to interpret several of the posts as "very toungue-in-cheek" is the same as our inability to discern automatically that you were being "very toungue in cheek" with the name. Not quite the same as saying nobody has actively complained to you. Have you surveyed the whole neighborhood? Starting from you automatic assumption that we're all white (I know now it's because only white people use computers!), should we then assume that all of the customers or employees that you are referring to are black? How about this. Maybe it's not about race at all. Could it possibly be about education? Class? Birthplace? Perhaps because in all the communications people have seen from you, whether here or elsewhere, you portray the attitude of someone is never wrong and is unwilling to be at all flexible to the ideas of others. People tend to react negatively to that. You own your places so you have the right to set the rules. If I don't like the rules then I don't have to go. (and I haven't yet and don't know if I will or not) No bad pun intended at all, but isn't this the pot calling the kettle black? Also I did not see anybody criticizing the merchandise in the store (but maybe I'm wrong). Overall what I saw was some people thinking that it was just not a good name and poking some fun at it. It's not that people are offended, I think it's more that this is a very unpretentious place and some found it somewhat pretentious. It's also not just you. Look at the Kliman thread and see what we did to him. (And I have no idea if he's black or white). In this post I have reacted somewhat sarcastically to Ms. Clark's post as I found her tone to be rather overly aggresive. Hopefully, with a little respect for the opinions of others on both sides we can focus on more constructive topics in her interview. Respectfully, Joe