sweetfreak

There is a crepe place here in DC called Cafe Bonaparte. Up until a few weeks ago, I had only tried their savory crepes. By the time I finished my savory, I was too full to think about a sweet. Until I went with two friends and one insisted on ordering a sweet to share. We got crepes with Nutella and strawberries topped with whipped cream. The menu offered to add vanilla ice cream for $1, so of course we did Sheer gluttony, but man, I am dreaming of going back.

Okay, I have to have one of these. Having never been to Citronelle, is the "lounge" easily distinguishable from the more formal restaurant? How busy is it generally for dinner?

Oh I am so glad to hear this! I read about this place in the Northwest Current and was curious. Live very close by, so I will definitely try it. Has it been crowded when you have gone?

Thanks for the report! I have really enjoyed Zola every time I have gone. At times, I have had slow service, but nothing terrible really. And the place has great atmosphere. Agree on the website front...I have made the mistake of going there myself and feeling stuck.

Went to Sette for the first time on Saturday night. Just read a few of the above posts so I have to start by saying we had great service. I wish I knew the name of our waiter because he was great. Also, we had a party of 6 and when we arrived, they told us it would be an hour wait, but then we were seated almost immediately. No complaints there. My husband ordered a pizza with sausage and I snuck a few bites. The sausage was nicely spiced and the crust was very good. I split with a friend the gnocchi and the eggplant parmesan. Although, the gnocchi was great comfort food, with its fresh mozz and basil, the eggplant won out here: I would definitely get this again. The eggplant was perfectly roasted, not breaded and fried, and layered with fresh tomato sauce, and more mozz. I savored every bite. They did not have the Nutella donuts on the dessert menu. My friend ordered a warm chocolate almond cake, which was fine, but just that. Anyway, I noticed there had been no talk recently about Sette, so I thought I would provide an update.

I don't know how others would define it, but I am pretty sure it wouldn't include a low-carb menu

A new Morton's opened up in Bethesda and it has a bar area that they are calling Bar 1221. The bar menu is much more reasonable than the regular one, but what is really notable, is that before 6:30 pm and after 9:30 pm, all of the "bar bites" are $3. I was there on Friday night and I think our group ordered everything on the menu: the petite filet sandwiches, mini cheeseburgers, chicken tenders (or as they call them, cougenettes (???), crab and artichoke dip, potato skins. I don't think anyone ordered the "colossal shrimp". The biggest hits were the filet sandwiches (of course), the mini burgers (cheddar cheese and mini brioche buns) and crab and artichoke dip (lots of lump crab). They have an extensive martini list too but I just stuck with wine.

If six of us wanted to have dinner at Ray's on a Friday or Saturday night, and not too early in the evening, how far in advance should we make this res?

Had a good first experience at BlackSalt last night. First, the atmosphere. I really liked it. I felt it was cozy, yet sleek. Liked the planters of grass on the tables. Liked the raised booths. Liked it. Our server was very attentive. When two of us told him it was our first time there, he spent a good five minutes explaining the menu to us. Perhaps we did not need so much explaining (but then I had read so much on egullet), but he was very enthusiastic, nonetheless, and we appreciated his interest. I feel like BlackSalt wants to be the chic, more refined, more worldly sister to Addie's and Blacks. For example, my friend ordered the scallops as an entree. This dish is one I have ordered several times at Blacks. Same components: scallops, whipped potatoes, crawfish, and sauteed spinach. But at BlackSalt, it was presented on a large square plate, each scallop nestled in its own dollop of whipped potatoes, on the side were the crawfish bits and on another side, the sauteed greens. Very pretty presentation. On to the food. They were out of the sardines. They also did not have the fried calamari on the menu last night. They had another preparation of calamari that did not sound as appealing to me. I ordered the shitake mushrooms, described by Morela, as well as the ham- wrapped shrimp to start. The ham-wrapped shrimp was the best thing I ate all night. The shrimp were resting on something that for the life of me I could not figure out what it was. Does anyone know? It was white and chopped and tasted delicious. Should have asked our helpful waiter. I wanted to love the shitakes, as I love mushrooms and loved Morela's description, but I was not in love. They were okay, if a tad rubbery, and didn't have much flavor, to be honest. But maybe I made the mistake of eating the ham-wrapped shrimp at the same time as the flavors there were intense. As an entree, I ordered the wood-grilled dorado. This was delicious. The fish was so moist and served on creamy polenta and sauteed swiss chard with pine nuts and garlic. I cleaned my plate. I am sad to report, we did not order dessert, even though they looked phenomenal on the other tables. It was getting late, so we opted out. The tiramisu on another table looked excellent in a big martini glass. Next time, for sure.

I am going to BlackSalt for dinner this week for the first time and am very excited about it! I have been following this thread and trying to figure out how to order. For those who have eaten there, would you recommend going the appetizer, entree, dessert route? Or the try many small plates route (followed by dessert, of course)? Will definitely report back...

Yeah, after posting, I realized that there probably is a bigger price difference than originally stated. Which led me to another thought that I had the other night when I dined at the new Alero: I wonder if keeping the Alero name will hurt business because people assume that it will be the same decor, food, etc. Since it is much swankier inside and the menu is different, I would imagine that others would be as surprised as I was that this is Alero.

You know, I would say the prices are somewhat higher than the Cleveland Park location, but not crazy. $7-8 for apps and entrees in the $17 range. I should add that they also had some interesting sounding dessert options like fried apple empandas with ice cream.

Last night, we tried the new-ish Alero on U Street and were very pleasantly surprised. This Alero is NOTHING like the one in Cleveland Park. The decor and menu are entirely different. The interior is quite swanky. A large bar area with a variety of seating options: the actual bar, many high tables and couches and chairs around coffee tables. I tried both a frozen swirl margarita and one on-the-rocks. I preferred the swirl only because the rocks version contained so much ice, there was very little margarita. The salsa with the chips actually has some kick, unlike many other Mexican restaurants that seem to be afraid to add heat to their's. For a starter, I shared an avocado half stuffed with shrimp topped with an "Alero" sauce. The combo was cool and refreshing. As an entree, I ordered the chicken enchiladas in a mole sauce. These were not your typical goopy-cheese, red sauce enchiladas. The chicken inside was terrific...so flavorful, and the mole sauce was a delicious companion. On the plate were three small tortilla bowls, one filled with shredded cheese, one filled with refried beans and the third with rice. It was a very nice presentation. Appetizers appeared to be more interesting than your average Mexican restaurant: crab cakes, calamari, etc. I would definitely return. Others may scoff that this is not authentic Mexican food, but it was just so much better than it's Cleveland Park cousin, I had to post about it.

This is big news: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Jan18.html A new Ray's!

Just to add: The Holiday Inn Georgetown is really upper, upper Georgetown (past the Social Safeway), so Bistro Lepic would be a good choice as it is right across the street.

I forgot to report on my New Year's Eve at Ceiba (aka Amateur Night)...it was great! I strayed for the first time from the mojitos and tried both a Playa del Sol and a margarita. The Playa del Sol was a great surprise...a frozen drink with rum, amaretto, pineapple, coco lopez and grenadine. Not too sweet, though, and a bit of summer on a winter day. The margarita was prepared just right too. I tried the duck empanadas, which I really liked. Followed by the scallops a la plancha, which I have had before and did not disappoint. The only (big?) disappointment of the evening was NO CHURROS! We asked at the beginning of the meal and they assured us that we could get them, but then informed us at dessert time that they were unavailable. What a letdown. Overall, though, we had a great evening. I really did not notice any flaws sometimes associated with New Year's Eve.

Is it just me, or is there no menu posted on the website?

By the way, I live right near Krupin's and drove by over the weekend and there was a new sign out front calling it K's Deli. I wonder if it is the same? Is this a new name?

We're going to give Ceiba a shot. I have liked it very much in the past.

I don't know what about my posts made me sound like my feathers are ruffled over going to BDC tonite. I was just looking for some lighter food recs initially, but I guess this place has its friends and foes. Like I said earlier, I am looking forward to the company, some wine and the atmosphere. I am nothing but relaxed .

Well, there's the easy answer to eating light. Why do something on your own time and dime that you don't wanna do?! ← Cause I am going with a group of friends, one of whom loves the mussles at BDC and is dying to go. Company much more important than any other factors.

God, I wasn't that excited to go tonite, and now I am even less so. That said, I have always just accepted the rudeness as part of the schtick. I never thought it was a "French thing" because I lived in France for a summer, and never experienced the brusque service of BDC, even in bistros. The service and attitude at BDC reminds me of Coyote Ugly, sans the half-naked girls dancing on the bar. The attitude is supposed to be part of the fun, right? Agree that the bustling atmosphere is a draw. The food is not. The only thing I have ever liked there are fries dipped in Bernaise, so maybe I will scrap my original post and just eat that.

Has anyone ever made Muddy Buddies? I think it is made with Crispix, not Chex, and it is basically cereal, chocolate and peanut butter, mixed together and tossed in a bag of powdered sugar. Positively addictive.

I can't find a thread specifically on Bistro du Coin, so sorry for making this a new topic. But I am going to dinner tommorrow night at BDC, and am wondering if there is anything I can eat there that is not fried, covered in cheese and cream, or pate-d. I know, I know, I am not usually concerned with fat content, but I am trying to pace myself during the holiday season, and my friend picked BDC for dinner. So, any suggestions? I should add, I am not crazy about mussels and realize this would be the obvious choice.

After a 2 hour (!!) wait at Matchbox on Friday night, we finally got a table and immediately ordered a plate of 9 miniburgers (there were 5 of us). I can report they are as good as ever. On my first bite, juice from the meat was running down my arm. The pickle slices seemed thicker than I remembered, which was a good thing in my book. And those onion rings are like crack.