laniloa

My thoughts exactly. I've been there a few times and have enjoyed my meals but not enough to suggest it as an option. I'm drawing a complete blank on what I've eaten there.

Ummm..yeah, sure, I am. (think that'll work?)

I had another great dinner at Nectar last night. I went with two friends, one is really down on DC (not just restaurants, the whole area even though I keep trying to tell him he lives in the suburbs and doesn't take advantage of what DC offers). Anyway, that is just a bit of background as to why I wanted to bring them to Nectar to be dazzled. They were. First, the food. I ordered the hangar steak. I love this steak. It makes you wonder why so many others mess up hangar steaks and serve tough or overcooked meat. This was medium rare and fabulously tender. No steak knife needed. One friend ordered a salad, the other the crab appetizer (sorry I just didn't pay enough attention to the descriptions) and they both had the scallops for main. Now, both are big guys and started making cracks about the portion size which I think are normal portions, just not the ridiculous double or triple sized portions you get at so many places. But, like I said, they are a lot bigger then I am and that is more of an issue for them. They quickly stopped talking about the amount and kept repeating damn that's good or some variation for most of the rest of the meal. We had a wonderful wine that I have completely forgotten the name of. They ordered scotch instead of dessert. Now, I like a good drink but there was no way I was going to skip one of the great desserts at Nectar for a drink I could have wherever. I ordered the baked Alaska and 3 spoons. Turns out one of my friends has fond memories of baked Alaska from childhood and the other had never had one before. It was gone very quickly. We discussed whether it would be rude to tilt the plate to our mouths to enjoy the last of the invisible hot chocolate. A word about the service. I like the mix of very attentive (the water and wine glasses were never empty) and leisurely pace of the meal. I enjoy having some time to enjoy my drink before ordering and being able to chat after dessert without being rushed with the check. And as one friend mentioned, he doesn't like the setting (referring to the bar and its not being conducive to a pre or post dinner drink) but liked the atmosphere (referring to the seemless service where everyone had a hand in taking care of us). Score one for DC. And they are going to let me pick the restaurant again next time.

Sunday the 1st would work for me. I'm pretty open on time.

What -- do my eyes deceive me??? The fabulous cookies and caramels are again available if you ask??? You just made my day.

I second the Reeves recommendation. We have a rule at work that all work party cakes must come from this place because they are so fabulous. We had a wonderful strawberry cream cake a couple of weeks ago that just screamed summer.

I'm going to have to back out also -- sorry but a family thing is calling.

We always refer to it as the back bar. It is not an extension of the front bar but in another room just behing the main dining room by where you go out to the atrium.

Do they offer the same specials at the back bar? I work a few doors away and we skip the front of the house for the back bar for our happy hours. Much saner. Great bartenders.

Funny, I had this with lunch on Saturday. I was determined to order something other then my usuals. I didn't like it at all but don't think it wasn't prepared well so much as not to my taste. I thought there was far too much sauce and it had far too much sumac. I couldn't taste garlic or paprika -- only sumac in the sauce -- and came to the conclusion that I might not be all that fond of sumac.

The only thing I can't work around is a commitment on the 6th. I'm flexible all the weeks you mention BUT you've made me start drooling at the expectation this was going to happen SOON!

I went to Key West a couple of weeks ago and had a truly wonderful meal at 915. They had a lovely butter lettuce salad with nectarines and a muscat vinaigrette. I swear it was a mouthful of summer in every bite. I'll be eating it daily once the nectarines show up in the farmers markets locally. Other enjoyable dishes were a warm spinach salad with carmelized shallots, pine nuts, golden raisins and serrano ham. I'm not sure where the line is between cooked spinach and a warm spinach salad, but this was marvelous -- wilted spinach with crispy ham and creamy pine nuts to pull it together. The sugarcane pork kababs were overspiced but tasty. Also great was the breakfast at Blue Heaven. Definitely get the pancakes. We had both blueberry and pecan at my table. I liked the blueberry better -- seemed more appropriately summery.

I can't do the 6th but could make any other date that week

I'm interested!

So, your website mentions classes but none planned for the future. If we can't learn how to make pitas at Zaytinya, can we convince you to hold another class on something sweet and fabulous????? Between the raves about your desserts on this board and now these fabulous shots I'm sure the class would fill quickly!

heh, heh, heh I work across the street. I'll be having limeade everyday!

I'm not hearing any desserts (I'm not counting fruit as a dessert!) I'll bring something with some form of chocolate. Maybe oatmeal, chocolate, cherry bars.

Let me jump on the bandwagon and add my thanks to Monica, Chef Sudhir and his team for a fantastic evening. I now have many new favorite Indian dishes! My favorite were the masala wada with a lovely coconut sauce -- mostly becuase it is something I probably never would have ordered for myself and really enjoyed. I'll be back to Passage to India to get more of anything using the tamarind sauce.

Not according to Federal Government Executive. Sorry I don't have a link to the article but I see it hanging in the Dept. of Commerce cafeteria! It lists Dept. of State as No 1 and Commerce as No 2 and had Labor pretty low. Any Federal employee can gain access to the Commerce building and, therefore, the basement cafeteria (with outdoor courtyard seating for nice weather). Others need to be cleared by an employee. I don't know if the same is true for the Supreme Court cafeteria but we used to go there sometimes when I worked in the Senate (horrible cafeteria -- House food court is much better).

I had the low-carb duck confit with chery sauce yesterday and it was delish. I also had a bowl of gazpacho because I can't help myself -- must order it each time. While it does have carbs, they are the good, veggie carbs and not the starchy processed bread, pasta, or rice type.

I haven't found a place locally that serves anything like what I used to eat when I lived in Hawaii so I make kalua-style pig and laulau style chicken (sorry, I don't eat seafood) at home when I get a craving. I think some of the local schools could clean up in the summer with a huli-huli chicken stand! I haven't mastered haupia yet (attempts have been tasty but not resembling the actual thing) but it is the next thing I'm going to tackle. You can order poi and taro rolls overnight delivery http://www.alohafriends.com/productsbyrequest.html You can order a full luau at http://www.luauking.com/poi.html To order campy luau accessories http://www.tropictreasures.com/ To order leis http://www.hawaiiflowerlei.com/

I've gone with small groups to the bar at Ceiba and really enjoyed it. They have the actual bar, but they also have barstools along the wall. There is an L-shaped part where you can cluster and not have to sit in a row or feel as if you are blocking the flow of traffic.

Went for dinner last night -- blech. I had gnocchi with butter, sage, and poppy seed sauce. The gnocchi were rubbery mush. I was expecting a brown butter with sage sauce. Nope. Just melted butter with a couple of non-wilted sage leaves tossed in. The poppy seeds provided an interesting flavor but it seemed more afterthought than conscious effort. My friend's pizza was much better then my pitiful pasta. IF I go back, I'll stick with pizza.

Is that your way of offering to help us make this happen!

I believe that if you can get enough people to fill a class (8 or 10), they will let you pick the menu. I'd totally be up for a class that included the pitas.