mhberk

I LOVE that place!

As long as I'm in "Joe H mode," a great little divey Italian place in that area is Trattoria E Pizzeria Da Enrico in King's Contrivance Village in Columbia, Maryland. ← The only reason I made that comment was because you were familiar with Iron Bridge in Ellicott City as well. And I LOVE Trattoria E Pizzeria!! I went to high school about a quarter mile from there and would go there every day for lunch when they opened (they also have a location in Ellicott City). I listed their italian hoagie in the "Italian Hoagie" thread. I've always been impressed with their food!

As long as I'm in "Joe H mode," a great little divey Italian place in that area is Trattoria E Pizzeria Da Enrico in King's Contrivance Village in Columbia, Maryland. ← Speaking of King's Contrivance, has anyone been to the French joint there? Any opinions? ← Are you referring to King's Contrivance the restaurant? It WAS a three star restaurant at one point (10-15 years ago), but it has gone slightly down hill recently. It is still very good, but there isn't the consistancy that it once had.

Get the pizza - it's very good. The pastas may look seductive, but the pizza is what makes this restaurant stand out. ← Man, you DO get around don't you Rocks?

It DID take a while to load (with no "skip" option). I guess I'm lucky that I don't have speakers hooked up here at work

Well, it looks like the new website is up. I am ready to go there. Looks like a very creative menu.

If you're looking for "lively", then I would probably recommend the Penn Quarter area (right near the MCI Center). There are several restaurants there for you to endulge in. There is Zaytinya, Zola, Cafe Atlantico, Jaleo, IndeBleu, and several others. EDIT: Zaytinya, Cafe Atlantico, and Jaleo are all owned by Jose Andres who was named "Chef of the Year" by Bon Appetit. Oops, I missed the part where you were looking for French or new American. Oh well. IndeBleu might meet your requirments.

What would you like for $45? Are you thinking apps/salad, entree, and dessert? Does it include drinks and tip?

If you're going to be in the Cleveland Park area (which is where Palena is), you might want to try Indique or Ardeo (which are on the same block as Palena). Lebanese Taverana isn't too far either.

It is different, and in French there's even a different word for it: théine (pronounced TAY-een) as opposed to caféine. Santé, Roches Acides. ← I did not know that. Very interesting Rocks!

I don't drink it much either. My brain gets too frazzled when I drink it. I prefer tea (which my sister in-law, who is a biochemist, tells me that the caffeine molecule in coffee is different than in tea).

It's interesting you would mention this. I was just thinking about this (out of the blue) a few days ago. When I was in culinary school (during the mid-80s), I used to help out with a lot of chef gala dinner events here in MD. Some of the bigger ones used to have some of the chefs from the US Culinary Olympic team. Rudy Speckamp was by far the most respected one of the group. EVERYONE (even the other chefs) would crowd around him to see what he was creating. I always remembered his place, but have never been. Infact, I was going to ask Mark S. if he knew anything about it or what happened to it. I just found the website. I might need to make a special trip out there. Anyone been or heard anything about it?

Is he really? How did I miss this? If he's still making his creme brulee, I'm there!

Thanks for all the feedback!! After much consideration, I have decided to take the advice of FunJohnny and oliveDC. It was the Turkish coffee chocolate that really caught my eye. I will definately make another trip to try IndeBleu next time Thanks again.

Well, tomorrow (1/29) is my birthday. For dinner, my wife and I are going to Zaytinya and then to the Wizards game at the MCI Center (which should end around 9:00 or 10:00). We would like to stay down there after the game and get dessert and coffee somewhere. I don't get down to that area too often, but I would LOVE to hear what desserts you guys have had down there as suggestions to make my evening complete. I am open to anything, but we will be taking the subway there so the restaurant would have to be within walking distance. Thanks in advance!!

Well, you guys have inspired me to have my Valentine's Day dinner (which we will be celebrating on the 19th) at 1789. My wife is a big fan of lamb so I'm sure we will thoroughly enjoy our experience there. As for me, I will choose one of the other recommendations since "I can't eat a poor little lamb".

I've always been impressed with Ardeo. The service is excellent and the food is creative and served to almost perfection. I always felt that Ardeo has been a little underrate. Besides, any place that serves Mighty Leaf tea is alright in my book.

I'm pretty sure that they do that calendar every year

There are a TON of place within walking distance! The aquarium is right next to Harbor Place. Clickhere for a list of restaurants there. Among that list, the bigger sit-down ones are Califonia Pizza Kitchen, Capitol City Brewing Company, Cheesecake Factory, City Lights, J. Pauls, Paolo's, Phillips Seafood, Wayne's Bar-B-Que, and Pizzeria Uno. There is also a big eatery section IN Harbor Place. On the other side of the aquarium there is an ESPN Zone and a Hardrock Cafe right there as well and Little Italy is a very short drive away. What type of food were you looking for?

I've only been to Normandie Farm for brunch and usually get the popovers as they come out of the oven. Other than that, I have had no other experiences/pleasures with popovers (I guess I don't know what I'm missing). I'm somewhat familiar with Rockville. But since I live in Columbia, I usually have to live vicariously through the posters here when it comes to restaurants. I DO make "destination" trips to the DC/Montgomery Co. area, but I don't remember Phineas.

Gastro, They did not have popovers (atleast not last night). They DID have their cornbread (which I must have had about 5 or 6 pieces - which is why I couldn't finish my dessert ) and some kind of onion bread. If you like popovers, you HAVE to go to Normandie Farm for brunch!

You weren’t the only one that has spoken negatively about the their service. I have heard and read it other places as well. It is very possible that my expectations of the service were so low, that I may have been pleasantly surprised in return. This could’ve, in turn, caused me to view the service better than it actually was (I am constantly doing this with movies when I hear a great or terrible review). It’s also possible that I had one of the few teams that actually performed well. My waiter said that he had been there for almost 3 years. His busboy (who looked to be 15) kept our water glasses full and knew to serve on the left and clear on the right (or is it the other way around?). My waiter’s name was Joseph (an African-American gentleman). And I just called Vidalia and they said that he is the only “Joseph” that works there. You might want to call ahead see if you can get sat in his section. I hope that you enjoy your meal Saturday night (I'll be arriving at Ceiba right around the same time)! If I were to do it again, I would’ve probably chosen other selections for my courses (not to say that what I had was bad). Just to let you know, the dinner for the two of us (including one $12 glass of wine) came to $105 before tip. I would’ve been just as happy ordering items where I didn’t have to “add” additional $$$ to get. I had heard so much about the shrimp and grits, that I HAD to try it. BTW, I would suggest the Lemon Chess Tart for dessert. My Pecan Tart was too sweet. Their menu might change from night to night (the menus are printed daily), but you can see a more detailed sample of their menu here.

Just got back from Vidalia. Overall, we had a great experience. I had always read that the biggest complaint that diners have with Vidalia is the service. Well, our server had 3 deuces and 2 four tops and the service was flawless! As for the menu, this is what they offered: Apps: Cobbtown Chopped Salad Field Greens Five Onion Soup add $4 Tuna Tartare add $5 Sweet Potato Soup Ragout of Snails add $5 Shady Lane Salad Grillades and Grits add $5 Entrees: Pan Roasted Winter Fluke Viola's Chicken and Dumplings Shrimp and Grits add $8 Chesapeake Rockfish "Smith Island" add $8 New York Strip Steak add $10 Kabocha Squash Risotto Cassoulet "Southern Style" Braised New Frontier Bison Short Ribs add $7 Lamb Top Round Steak add $8 Atlantic Salmon Sides: Baked Macaroni and Vermont Cheddar Cheese $5.50 Butterbean Succotash and Applewood Bacon $5.25 Braised Greens, Smothered Onions and Bacon $4.25 (I wasn't able to get the dessert menu) My wife had the onion soup and the risotto (which were both VERY good!). I had the tuna tartare and the shrimp and grits. The tuna was excellent. It tasted as though it was tossed in a midly spicy soy-ginger dressing before served. My entree was good as well, but not as good as my appetizer. Not having shrimp and grits anywhere else (thus unable to compare it to somewhere I'd had it before), I wasn't really sure what to expect. Had it not been for the sweet onion ragout, the main course would've been mildly bland (which is understandable considering the components of the dish). My only complaint about the shrimp is that the texture appeard to be dry (as if sitting under the lamps for too long). But, once I bit into them, they were very juicy. Overall, we had a great experience with the food, service and atmosphere.

We're going to Vidalia tonight and Ceiba on Satuday. I tried to switch my reservation for Vidalia to Thursday, but they said that they are completely booked for the rest of the week and they are not taking any more reservations.

For more of an upscale evening, I would recommend The Kennedy Center and a meal at either Marcel's or The Circle Bistro. Both have pre-theater meals.