monkey2000

That sounds like Jose. Jose was named Chef of the Year by Bon Appetit in October and was included in Food & Wine's list of Tastemakers in November (they termed him the Approachable Avant-gardist). Anyway, if you want treat yourself to something really special, go to Jose's minibar during your visit to DC, http://www.cafeatlantico.com/miniBar.html.

<center><b>Noche Vieja 2004 At Oyamel</b> Dinner 8:00pm to 10:00pm A special New Year’s Eve menu selected by Bon Appetit’s Chef of the Year José Andrés featuring: “Carnitas “ Braised pork w/ tomatillo salsa, cilantro, onion & chicharron “Pozole” Spicy pork and hominy soup served with radishes, onion & lettuce “Ceviche De Ostras Con Plátano Y Caviar” Oyster ceviche with banana and caviar “Langostino Fresco (Cigala) Enchipoltadas Con Epazote” Langoustine with epazote and chipotles in adobo “Cóctel De Langosta Y Aguacate Estilo Tradicional” Lobster cocktail with tomato sauce, red onions, avocado and totopos “Quesadillas De Oro Con Flor De Calabaza Y Queso Oaxaca” Quesadillas with gold paper, squash blossoms and Oaxaca cheese Vegetarian substitutions available upon request A glass of sparkling wine to toast the New Year plus traditional party favors. Unlimited antojitos $80 per person Please note prices do not include beverages, tax or gratuity Festive music and atmosphere LIVE mariachis We also offer an earlier seating, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Please call for more information. <i>For reservations and more information, please call (703) 413-2288. We require a major credit card to hold and confirm your reservation. Please if you must cancel, call within 72 hours of your reservation or a cancellation penalty charge of 100% will apply.</i></center>

I believe that sandwich would be the Manhattan. My favorite when I was training to be a movie theater manager at the late Jennifer Theater, then as a GU student and when I was living in Friendship Heights after school. Also try it as an Upper Manhattan with turkey, a "lite" version they sometimes feature, really good.

Here's the FOX story http://www.foxnews.com/video2/windows/0,3783,12085:56,00.wvx

Yenching Palace: what can you say about restaurant whose most recent review is from before you were born? Deemed horrendous by many but near my home and dear to my heart. I love the exterior. Great place to go for old school Chinese restaurant cocktails in oddball tiki barware. I liberated one that looked like Danny Glover's character in Enemy Mine. "Private room" features large round table with lazy susan and is perfect venue for birthday parties. The food, eh. Stick to the chicken in garlic sauce. I cannot recommend anything else. Rip's: Bowie's finest dining spot for many, many years, this motel restaurant/liquor store is like a door in time that takes you back to era when lobster newburg was chichi stuff, Irish Coffee and French dips were ethnic food and when a quarter quiche lorraine was considered light fare. Plus I adore the biscuits, the crab balls are wonderful and the blue cheese dressing is amazing! Chic orange and brown plaid fabrics and race track theme only enhance the atmosphere. Pied de Cochon: started going a high school hooligan playing hooky and looking for a place to hide out before heading home after "school". Consumed many hangover brunches while living in Georgetown, usually the early bird dinner special that ran from 4-6. And many nights out ended there. RIP Speaking of dead favorites, a few years back my family tried to make our annual Easter pilgramage to Busch's Chesapeake Seafood Restaurant to find it was gone! Not closed! Gone! They had bulldozed the place and removed every wheel, fishing net and plastic crab. Sad. Millie and Al's: for the pizza!

Has anyone seen the October issue of Bon Appetit? DC's own Jose Andres was named Chef of the Year. Previous winners include Thomas Keller, certainly not bad company to keep. It seems to me that this recognition is a great thing, not just for Jose, but for DC restaurants as well.

Crack-Fil-A is the best fast food joint. Perhaps, the strongest testament to Chik-Fil-A's power is that I will actually travel to find it. And I almost NEVER leave DC. For a while, it was the main reason to visit Annapolis Mall. Now that there is one in Bowie, I am more willing to leave the city to visit my parents. And on a trip to Pennsyltucky for a wedding, my date and I kept searching (in vain) for a Chik-Fil-A to stop at. Damn. What is it about this stuff? The butter on the bun? The sugar in the crust? The warm pickle slices? I think there is another more sinister explanation: it's not the Colonel with his wee beady eyes we need fear. It's the bible thumper who owns Chik-Fil-A. That guy is the one who puts a highly addictive chemical in his chicken that makes you crave it fortnightly.

Hmmm…is it good? I can only relate a recent experience that won’t have me returning to Ginger Cove/Reef anytime soon. Tired of the same old places, a work colleague and I decided to give the Ginger Cove/Reef a try for lunch. We arrived around 1:30, the place was empty except for the sidewalk and we were seated upstairs near the bar. We looked over the menu for a few minutes before the server appeared. I inquired about an item on the menu and she informed me that the kitchen was out of that. I asked about something else. “We’re out of that too.” She also informed us that several other items on the menu were 86ed and that lobster bisque was the soup of the day. I ordered the bisque and the lamb shank and my friend ordered the vegetable curry. When the soup came out, it was a beautiful bowl of creamy orange liquid. I commented that it was awfully orange for lobster bisque. Funny, it didn’t taste much like lobster either. My friend tried it. Nope, not much lobster flavor. Still the soup had a pleasant, slight curry flavor. Then I realized the chunks we thought were lobster were actually mussels. We called the server over and pointed out the error. “Let me see what’s going on” and she headed back to the kitchen. When she came back, she informed us that the kitchen had run out of lobster bisque. Whether she made a mistake or the kitchen simply subbed out the bisque with the mussels, I don’t know but whatever. Then our entrees came. My friend’s $12 vegetable curry was more like a $12 vegetarian’s consolation prize: a mound of rice surrounded under-spiced curried lentils and overcooked veg. It was a lovely shade of beige. My lamb shank, well, my lamb shank didn’t look right. In fact, my lamb shank was baby lamb chops. We summoned the server again and pointed out the error. “Let me see what’s going on” and she headed back to the kitchen. When she came back, she said “the kitchen has switched over to the dinner menu”. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon? “Obviously, you’ll only be charged for the lamb shank” she reassured me. Gee, err, thanks. I’m generally pretty easy on restaurants. My thinking is you got me in the door, now show me what you can do. Execute it well and don’t make me feel like I got ripped off in the process. As long as you meet that standard, you get an A. Snootiness, overpricing, bad food, a pattern of carelessness or stupid mistakes, etc. and you'll get marked down. Ginger Cove, hmmm... I should say the food wasn’t horrible, just nothing special, just “eh”. Well, the veg plate brought to mind food consumed by people who don’t mind martyring themselves for their vegan ideals. Couple that with poor service and communication breakdowns between front and back of the house and I’m not likely to return. There are other places willing to take my money that work a little harder and do a better job.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Aug26.html

The minibar ministaff needs a minibreak! Seriously, recharging the batteries.

minibar will be closed until 24 August