JPW

Pig n' steak rocks! I occasionally stop by on my frequent trips up and down 29. That is also the location of favorite road sign of all time -- "Stop Light .53 miles" I just love the precision of it.

Sorry I missed this thread and I'm glad somewhat responded and bumped it up. Haandi is very good, a favorite of mine. Hopefully, I'll get around to Grapeseed before too long. It's gotten some good mentions and the menu looks interesting.

I buy in the People's Republic only if I'm desperate through lack of proper planning. To fill my booze needs, there's a Virginia ABC in the strip mall across from the Total Wine I like in McLean. Elsewise, I go down Connecticut across the border and go to one of the stores there. The storage/environment in the SS booze store is horrific. But I have to ask... Al, What were you doing looking at White Zin? I have a whole new opinion of you now.

In the wasteland that is Mexican food in DC Andale is a real oasis. Not a hugely verdant one, but one that is the goal if I decide that I just have to have Mexican food. Not the EL Salvadorian/Mexican "South of The Border fusion" cuisine that infest the area around my house in SS, not Tex-Mex, but real straight forward Mexican. The last time I was there was before RM (the new place whose name it seems has become restauranta non grata around here) opened. Even then I was amazed at how empty it was on a Friday night. It's not a huge space, but if memory serves me right no more than half the tables were filled. Hearing about the crowds that follow the path of least resistance to RM instead of taking the back roads to Andale makes me feel bad for my fellow travelers.

Shopping: I head out to Total Wine for the huge selection. They do tastings every Saturday sometimes they have two tables going with 6-8 bottles per. I've picked up a couple bottles that I would not have otherwise tried (most recently a Temparanillo (sp?) and an absolutely luscious Amarone at about $17 each). In DC, Calvert-Woodley is also huge and MacArthur beverage has a smaller, but very lovely selection. Learning/Dining - There used to be a couple embassies that did public "cuisine of.." dinners for reasonable prices. I haven't been to one in a while, but I went to one a couple of years ago at the Australian embassy. Among mid-price DC restaurants (aka not cheap ethnic and not Citronelle), our own John W at Firefly always has an interesting wine list and a nice selection of by the glass pours.

AHA! Now it all becomes painfully clear......

I wonder how many people can actually tell you what's in those cabinets. I think mine have a couple of flower vases and a couple of ice buckets. But I could be wrong.

That could indeed be the case. However, having been burnt twice, I will most likely try other spots when I am in the area making Mrs. JPW happy by buying stuff for her at Kate Spade. Cheers.

The Georgetown Pizza Paradiso is to be avoided unless you're willing to undergo something akin to a root canal in order to obtain some of the magical pie. The pie is just as good as it is uptown, but everything else about my experiences there was painful. The exact details are a little fuzzy as my 2 visits there were both last fall. The tapenade had been sitting in such a cold fridge, that the olive oil had congealed. I don't know about you, but I prefer my EVOO in the liquid form. After I spent 15 minutes trying to flag down any waitor, I finally found someone to take it back to the kitchen. Nothing was brought in return nor was I asked if we wanted anything else and it appeared on the bill (but not for long). The iced tea more resembled a brown colored water than an actual drink. The space was so crowded that I had to ask the next table's permission to use my knife and fork at the same time. The only thing besides the pizza that saved me from a truly disastrous experience was the efforts of the one competent waitor in the whole room. Unfortunately he had to cover for the incompetence of everyone else on the floor (including the hostess) and for all I know, the kitchen as well. I will not be making a return visit. edited for spellign

Very cool, Carolyn! Should be a most excellent adventure.

In today's metro section of the post. Wegman's I see it now, next stop Silver Spring!!!!!!!!! (Please?)

Steve, Having spent 7 years in school upstate, I'm always on the lookout but I have yet to find a good selection. Even the massive Total Wine in McLean has a lamentably thin selection that is largely populated by the well-marketed but otherwise forgettable Bully Hill. If anyone finds any, I too would be interested, especially Hermann J Weimer Gewurtz and Reislings or Lucas Seyval Blanc.

Latest guilty party -- Lebanese Taverna Woodley Park. A mid range Oregon Pinot Noir more than room temp warm with a lovely nose of grain alcohol I should have taken my own advice to look how they store, but I really wanted some red. The bar is right inside the front door, with wine storage on the back bar under bright lights with a Friday night crowd and the HVAC really pushing the temps up high. Other wine racks located around dining room include one that is on the far side of a half wall that is about 3 feet from their brick oven! Sorry I didn't pull a bottle just to see what it was.

No it isn't, it is still largely owned by the Wegman family.

Over-educated and underpaid? So that why Dr Mrs JPW, PhD and Dr. JPW, PhD were fated to love Trader Joe's. Now if only we had gotten our degrees in something useful, like marketing.

I do. Tuna, mayo (some plain and some wicked wasabi mayo from Trader Joe's), red onion, pickles on lightly toasted rye and topped with some pepper jack. In the oven under broiler for a couple of minutes. MMMMMMmmmmmmm!

Thanks for the link bilrus. I was unaware since that was before I joined, but I'll be sure to take a look now. edit for spellign dificulltees

I didn't know that you could do any further damage to Bud Light I like nehru jackets!

bilrus, I agree with your sentiment, but I don't know if we'll be able to get that, in as much as the chat is being done in a time compressed period. It would require more thought, and hence more time, for tom to get into more philosophical/larger theme issues. I'm sure the "Where to go in ..?" or gossip questions appeal to him because they take so little time to think about and answer and he can please a larger portion of his audience. Perhaps he'll deign us with an eG audience, so I don't have to say what I think he's thinking, but what he thinks about what I think he's thinking. edited to sort out my mind

For those of you who are not "Sopranos" fans, Vincente Pastore is Big Pussy Bonpensiero.. He got rubbed out a few seasons ago for being an FBI "ear." He has since showed up with his own show on one of the cable channels (TLC?)where he rides around with a bunch of Repo Men. Unfortunately, he was one of my major problems with the 1st IC-USA. As a judge he showed a knowledge of food that ran from pizza to mom's spaghetti. His constant jokes making fun of the food and teasing the chefs was to me the icon of how nobody (except for maybe the chefs) took the thing seriously.

How about RFD? A must see for beer fanatics.

Rick Bayliss?

Just another thought along the same lines... Most places in US serve beer WAY to cold. If it's 95 degrees out and I'm having a light lager, I want it ice cold. But if I'm drinking say a highly flavored and hopped IPA, then it should not be served with ice crystals.

It can be worse that that. In my experience at mid-level places, the wines by the glass are often served from the bar. The whites will be in a reach-in (read beer) cooler and will come out at about 40 degrees. The reds will be either on or behind the bar. Depending on how close they are to a glass washer, the exhaust fans for the coolers, or in some cases the kitchen door, they can be absolutely hot. I always find it wise to cast an eye at the bar to locate the wines they are pouring and make your decision from there.

Fireflies in Del Ray opened just before I left the world of being a renter for the freedom and care-free world of home ownership in SS. As far as I could tell, it was really nothing more than an upscale pizza shop.