Chef Shogun

Seriously? That's more 'selective' than most Universities!

Noon doctor's appointment. I hope the perceived 'pulling of the stops' does not indicate that this may be it for the season! This definately would have been a great day for it, though.

I thought that was the "Cafe de la Olla" dessert. Either way, they were both spectacular. And yes, the salt air is a total bar gimmick! However, I did prefer it to having an excessively salted rim. Only 'downside' was the latte-like behavior of the foam, in that you have to break through it to get at the liquid, and it didn't dissipate as a foam on a hot liquid would. It also had the effect of creating a pleasent ocean-like scent that I didn't notice until we moved to the table. Perhaps that is the point, to create that sort of transportational effect inside a bar. The 'vitamin' turned out to be lecithin, the chemical that aids binding in merengues and vinaigrettes (Thanks, Alton!). I didn't think you could emuslify water like that, though, but she did have a whole box of the stuff rather than a tablespoon of mustard or egg yolks worth. Guess you can brute force it! Nowthen, on to business! mnebergall and mdt have done a good job of outlining the meal, so I just have a few to throw in. First the thus-far omitted oxtail tacos, which are high in the running for the title of My Favorite Taco Of The Evening. I wasn't troubled by the non-warmness of the two beef based tacos. In fact, I never considered that perhaps they should have been different until it was mentioned in the thread. The enchiladas were good, though I don't remember their specifics. Also good was the Oaxacan tamale, with shredded chicken in mole. The Salmon ceviche (Salmon cubes with avocado and onion(?)) was my favorite of the ceviches. The roasted scallop didn't do much for me. mnebergall is right, the tilapia could be quite good if the sauce was stronger. Don't believe your waitron when he says that the basket of glowing hot, fluffy tortillas are just for eating. They're for the fish tacos that will arive a bit later! Just so we're clear, mdt's typo regarding the chicken soup should be interpreted as 'incredible'; it was by no means 'inedible'. Far from it. In fact, we ate all of it! I had to order up a round of little salsa bowls so we could all share, but still! Yes yes, it's obvious what he meant, but I'd hate for somebody to get even the most fleeting wrong idea about this soup! Ok, no more hyping the tasty soup. Hate to go all Episode One on it. The desserts were all awsome. It's obvious that Steve Klc put a lot of thought and care into their conception. My favorite, despite my LONG-standing weakness for molten chocolate cakes (Especially younger sister Jenn's molten chocolate truffle cakes ), is probably the Cafe de la Olla. The blend of spices and chocolates harmonizes perfectly with the flavors of the meal to that point. That said, if I were to go, have a couple of plates, and then Bogart a dessert, I would probably go with the granita. It would be the perfect, refreshing, palate-cleansing end to what for me would probably have been a spicy and meat-heavy dinner. See also: the passion fruit soup. The desserts are certainly large enough to be shared, though. -- C.S.

Made me want to go read them for the first time! I'm paging through the PDF of the Champagne catalog here at work, and I really like the way this guy thinks so far! Edit to snicker: Check it out, he said 'whiskey-doucebag'.

No candy corn. Ever. Reeces Peanut Butter Cups. Normal size, not the minis. End of thread.

Thanks for the blog, Kristen! Brought back a lot of memories! Nabe, mapo-dofu, bento...

Yes. Yes it is. I'll be there both tomorrow and Thursday if I can swing noon lunch breaks both days! You just have to get there early, say noon.

Friday: Firefly! Champagne, mojito, and the famous fried oysters that were in fact like little fried clouds of tasty meat. Visits to Firefly always seem to kick off a period of a few days in which I'm going to eat far too well! Then, home to watch the debate with a tasty grilled ham/turkey/cheese sandwich, and a big bottle of Rogue which had been darkening my vegetable crisper for too long!

Indeed it does! The place (Osteria - the bar and main restaurant seemed to be well occupied) was nigh deserted! It was quiet Saturday night. Almost...too quiet. What does everybody else know that we didn't? The answer is: I don't know! Other than the service, there was nothing too horribly wrong! The food was acceptably good. The wine was more than just functionally tasty. The noun was qualifier adjective! As much as I hate to re-apply the Osteria Caveat, this was all in the context of 'what we were paying'. The food was good, yes, and was a great value at (the average of) $8 for an entree. Would it be as good a value at $10? Probably. At $14? That's pushing it. Here's the rundown of what I had: Spaghetti carbonara, which we all had at some point. Afterall, who can resist a good carbonara? Definately a fine example of this particular aspect of pasta, though a few more degrees of warmth would have been appreciated. Really just so the pasta didn't cling (Adjectives are failing me here, it really wasn't THAT bad!) as much, rather than for concerns of taste. This was followed by veal marsala as an entree. The veal was tender and nicely seared, and the sauce was flavorful if a touch oily. The only thing that fell flat for me was a side of garlic spinach. I thought it was too bitter. I ended ceding the bulk of it to Bilrus, who found that the addition of salt cut the bitterness to acceptable levels. I just think they burnt the garlic, or the dried pepper. Next time, I'll go with the roasted potato side. And there will be a next time! Despite being clearly in the 'cheap seats', it was well worthwhile! Perhaps the solution to the problem of absent waitrons is sitting at the bar. I didn't get a look at that menu, but at least the bartender isn't going anywhere! Thanks again for the invite! Edited for anecdote: Evening began for me the way these things always start: Showing up at a restaurant to meet eGulleters for the first time and having to do a "Hi, I'm meeting people here but...I don't know...quite who they are....so much." Very mysterious! They never know what to do with that. Thankfully, Bilrus was sitting right there to come to my aid! -- C.S. Galileo, Figaro.

Sure, I'd be down for that.

You have this gift for finding the most bizzare places, but moreso in writing about them! You should put together something in the way of a 'star map' and call it "Freakin' Bizzare Dining In Our Nation's Capital". That's just a working title, of course. We can hammer out the specifics later. Have your people call my people.

Hmm...breakfast at Lindy's, then? They do really good breakfast for a burger joint. Really, good for anybody in Foggy Bottom!

In other news, 'Treasure Bath' would be a great name for a soup. I already have "Beef Bordello" (Think 'bordelaise') in the works, which incidentally calls for saffron!

Those looked good. The last one sold out while I was waiting for my Cuban. JennyUptown: So, where'd you end up??

Not ONLY are we going to have a boozer, we're going to do it better! Are we going to let a bunch of TEXANS* show us how to entertain a chef? By Jupiter I say no! * Transplanted Texans are still welcome as long as they've signed the Loyalty Oath.

I've been at The George Washington University in DC for a couple years now, and the food has always been at least decent. As far as I can tell, the food system was overhauled just before I got there, and has been in flux ever since. The setup consisted of varying configurations and arrays of small, largely self-contained food locations inside a large two story segment of the main building. Our food overseer is Aramark, so many of the venues are provided by them. Others include outlets of chains such as Taco Bell, Chick-Fil-A, Starbucks (Second busiest in the country, I'm told), Einstein Bagels, Jamba Juice, Wendy's (this years big addition) and Subway. The third category of eatery availible are outposts of local restaurants. In the past, we've had sushi from Kaz Sushi Bistro, made on site (But still sadly of variable quality), and Asian food from Mayasia Kompitam (sp). They just did a big renovation of the food area, and since I'm not really an active student anymore, and live off campus, I've only been in there once or twice since they remodeled. Now, they've got the Wendy's, two Starbucks (...on campus, and about six within a five minute walk), two Subways, a brick-oven pizza place, a burrito place, a stir-fry place, sushi, a grocery store in its third expansion, "The Home Zone" which has a varying menu of 'homemade', comfort food type stuff, which also plays host to "The Visiting Chef Series" which features chefs from area restaurants cooking a prix-fixe menu. Sadly, the Ben and Jerries, and the crepe place have gone... I'm sure you can envision how this all goes down. Students flock to the chains and ignore the others. If you want to wait 15 minutes for Wendys or 20 or more for Starbucks*, they'll be more than happy to help out. Lines for those two are insane. Meanwhile you could swoop in and grab a fresh personal pizza, burrito, or something else freshly made and be gone in a second! My favorite was always the Kopitam 'Mongolian BBQ' (which was and wasn't...), but that took a bit longer due to the cooking involved. It was also a bit more expensive, but who cares! It tasted good and wasn't blatantly bad for you. -- C.S. * Alright, it wasn't always that bad, but I definately had this running theory that wait time was tied in with the ebb and flow of classes, and that an optimum point minimizing time could be found. Besides, the counter people were not, as far as I could tell, Starbucks employed or trained, and it was horribly inconsistant. Better to go to Capitol Grounds, or Cart Coffee Guy!

Capitol Grounds is on the other side of Penn from there, at 21st and Penn (One block up from you!). Breadline is vaguely nearby, too. Galileo is right there, but no grill today . I'll be at Breadline in about half an hour! Edited to wonder for how long my daylight savings time thing was unchecked and modify accordingly!

The Rancilio Silvia looks nice, and Coffeegeek seems to adore it, but I can't justify the expense atm. Gaggia Carezza could be the winner! Thanks for the help!

Hey! It's not lame! It's....it's um... Yeah, ok...I'll go...

I second that. Had one of these with the neighborhood back home in CT way back in the day, used mostly for healthy and healthy-ish snacks for us kids, natural soda (Blue Sky Cola I think? Well, it was good anyway!), plus nuts and dried fruit and things. I think this could be worth pursuing! Isn't there a fish market out in Arlington? I drove by it with my boss, and can't remember the name (S-something's Fish Market), but it was billed to me as 'where all the restaurants get their fish'. Was very excited to see it, but I haven't been yet.

Crystal City perhaps? Have Jaleo, and Lebanese Taverna, and just about every hotel known to man, plus easy access to the city by highway or Metro.

What do you have to do (other than signing up) to get on this newsletter?! In other news:

I'm looking for something along the lines of what is being discussed in this thread, to replace my first machine, a red Krups(?) I got at a tag sale! Anything new in the good entry level machine arena? P.S. phaelon56: The topic index rules!

mdt: Sure, I'll go!

Well, they're not infallable! My first Reuben there wasn't so hot either, but it showed promise, and the second was great! Come to think of it, neither was my second fish sandwich. Well, they've made up for it! Officially registered Thing Of Beauty. Still hoping for one last score!