Chef Shogun

Sesto Senso is going until the 7th, too. I dined there last night, and really enjoyed it. I got there a few minutes late for my reservation, which I hate doing. "If I leave now, I'll have time for a Campari at the bar before the family gets there" turned into "Wow, I would have never imagined that it would have taken almost 50 minutes to get to Dupont from Crystal City". Thanks, Metro. Anyway, I was led to the table by the hostess, and presented with a basket of Italian bread, and a tasty herb foccacia, with olive oil in a bottle that may well have been ex-Galliano. Menus were brought over, and we had to ask to see the RW list. It didn't occur to me until later that mom and sister had been there, and presumably seated, for almost 10 minutes without menus or water. Their RW week menu was small but well thought out, consisting of three apps and entrees, and two desserts. Appetizers: * Apple salad with baby greens, walnuts, and gorgonzola. * Lightly breaded, grilled calamari. Breaded AND grilled. Sister Kelli had this, and I sampled. Gives fried calamari a run for its money. Good with a squeeze of lime. *Gaspacho with lime. They were out of this for the night, and substituted potato and cauliflower puree-type soup. I went for the soup, and while incredibly hot (to the soups credit this minor irritation decreased over time), was tasty. Plenty of good croutons! Entrees: * Veal with mushrooms. Might have been Marsala. I honestly don't remember. (I was going to bring a little pad, too!). I tried some of this, and it was good. * Grilled tilapia with sauteed green and yellow beans. The fish without which no Restaurant Week menu would be complete! I had this, being on a bit of a seafood kick following Kinkead's. Good portion of fish here, well seasoned and grilled. What else can you ask for? Lots of beans, too, sauteed in a large quantity of oil or butter. Garlicky (The adjective without which no critique would be complete), but not oppressively so. * Squash ravioli in light cream sauce. Kelli had this, and I sampled. Good, but could have used three or four more. The sweetness and richness of the squash was trying very hard to shine through, but didn't quite make it all the way. Desserts: * Tiarmisu. We've all had a good tiarmisu, more than likely. This example should compete well with others you may have had. * Gelato trio. Pick three from a list. Very flavorful, especially the peach and hazelnut. Service, I thought, was good, though Kelli disagreed but didn't have any specific complaints other than the earlier menu and waterlessness. There was no rush to turn over the table, and we were treated well despite not being huge spenders (Dinner for three, my Campari, and house pino gris all around). Our waiter appeard to give the table a wipe down almost as soon as I noticed that there was water glass condensation absolutely everywhere, which was a nice attentive touch. I am happily running a solid two out of two wins for RW week trips, with at least one more in the works. Thread seems to have quieted down...hope everybody else is doing well! -- C.S.

Indeed, a fine lunch was had yesterday at Kinkead's with HillValley and roommate Mehdi (who should be joining soon!). I started with the crispy cod cake, with potatoes and peas, in a butter/cream sauce. I must admit that when I go out I usually skip the appetizer to hold out for the main event, but this was very good in its role. The cake was light and fluffy, lightly seasoned, with a nice crust. The sauce was not too heavy, and had a pleasent slightly cheesy taste to it (Think Gruyere. Might have been a European-style butter.). This was followed by an entree of grilled swordfish medallions, fried plantain, and roasted corn, served with a mild peppery sauce. I love swordfish, which I haven't had in some time, so this was wonderful for me. The fish was skillfully grilled which to me means not overdone, but with the right ammount of tasty char! The sauce was very good, too, peppery but with a hint of sweetness. Dessert was at least as good as Hillvalley described it. I couldn't bring myself to open the wine list, since I had to return to work after lunch, and saw no need to be tempted with what I couldn't have, so no comments there. Our waiter was nice, and gracefully dodged our inquiries into his feelings on restaurant week (He said 'not so bad', but seemed conflicted). Tonight is dinner with visiting family at Sesto Senso.

How'd that cherry bourbon turn out? I've been trying to think of things to do with bourbon, but have come up pretty empty other than the vanilla suggested in the infusions thread Beans linked to. I have to admit I kind of discounted most fruit for bourbon, and my Eagle Rare already has pretty good vanilla on its own! That said, what IS a good infusin' bourbon? -- C.S.

Um...I'll have one of each, please. No? Ok....anybody who has been in years past, what are your top n restaurants to hit, most likely for dinner, since I'll be at work (Unless there's a great potential lunch to be had in under an hour, in the foggy bottom, 'golden triangle' area). Bonus points for being able to eat at the bar.

Or steak in a pan. Yeah.... Re: "A mad cook is a bad cook". I don't know, the last three time I've tried to cook anything non-trivial in the new place, I've been pretty annoyed, and it's all turned out pretty well. Like when I couldn't find the measuring spoons, because one of the other roommates keeps re-arranging the kitchen. Long story short, I'm so mad by this point that one of the other roommates calls this guy to inquire after the spoons, and after a flat out-denial of having touched them, he knew exactly where they were: top shelf of the spice/sauce cabinet, behind some stuff. This is what you get when you don't have your meez together. And sure, I totally immolated the first batch of curry paste in the oil, but the second was golden and the curry was tasty! "When life gives you lemons, you clone those lemons to make...superlemons" -- Cinnamon Scudworth. Those lemons can then be used, as others have suggested, to make super-whisky sours, super-lemonade, or super-squeezed in the face of those super-people who have super-wronged you. -- C.S. "The Furious Gourmet"

Definately want that cookbook. Anybody know of any good $1.23 items on Amazon?

Oooh, actually good places. That said, those chicken fingers are great! Good pizza, too. Lets see...the Thai place (Thai Place) on the block with Froggy could probably deal, and they're pretty good. No worthwhile happy hour-style specials, though. Thai doesn't seem like an after-sports food, though. I say 'probably' deal...though the students are gone, so they're probably dying for business more than usual, and a dozen people showing up for dinner would be fine, no matter how they looked or smelled.

Lindy's or The Froggy Bottom pub. There's always one team or other in Froggy about a third of the time I'm there, plus you can always hide out in the basement bar area if you prefer. What days we talking here? They have good beer specials Thursday ($2 Sam Adam's Seasonals and regulars) and...tuesday ($2 Widmer and Red Hook IIRC) I think, and half price pizza (ALL pizza, as far as I've ever been able to go with it!) monday. Don't know anything about pitcher specials. They have a different special every day. Get the chicken fingers. Good luck getting malt vinegar, though. Froggy is on Penn and 22nd. Ah, here we go, from our friends at On Tap. Yep, couple pitches specials in there, and free pizza for an hour on Friday! Probably a few places in the "Golden Triangle", lower Dupont area. Recessions, Black Rooster, Mackeys, Madhatter. Can't speak much to the food or drink, though. Just hit them on this stupid 'bar crawl' some friends dragged along on. They seemed pretty dismal, so I'm sure a sports team would be alright. -- C.S. "No, the malt vinegar...that's oil and vinegar. Look, it's over by the taps." Every. Time.

Cactus Cantina at Wisconsin and Newark could be good. I ate there last week, and while I didn't have tacos, it seems like they'd do a good job at them. Popular lore has it that this is the only place Pres. Bush has eaten in the city. Despite that, I recommend them!

Remember, you just can't wait for this to begin! Is it just me, or is MSNBC a tad too optimistic and enthusiastic over this? Goodie, more advertising! If there's anything my food-shopping experiance is missing it's targeted avertising and data mining. The punchline is you still have to wait in line to pay, weigh fruits and veggies, get carded for alcohol, use your paper cupons, argue over $0.10 difference in advertised price for a five pack of sponges, and dig a checkbook out of the bottom of your bag, and presumably have your stuff bagged. And, of course, wait in agony while other people do the same, which I'm sure comes up more often, right?

Well.....IS there a changing face of restaurants in DC? Edited for Point of Order: The website says nothing about DC-specific face-changery as the topic of discussion.

Fruit flavor Mentos and/or Starburst 'fruit cremes' (Maybe not what they're called. Pink bag). Twizzlers perhaps, Pringles perhaps. To drink, Snapple lemon tea, litre of water, or a venti iced latte if the rest stop Starbuck's isn't outrageous. Ok, MORE outrageous. Caffeinated if I'm driving and it's early/late, decaf if I'm a passenger or I don't otherwise need the caffiene. Normally caffeinated is the only way to go, but not for long car rides if you don't need it. Unless you really like rest stops... Snapple or coffee seem to stay better over the long run as opposed to Coke which doesn't taste as good once it's warmed up. Why is warmed up iced coffee relatively better than tepid once-hot coffee? If I need something more substantial, there's my standard "Amtrak-ride home" sandwhich: an Au Bon Pain Union Station smoked turkey, cheddar, red onion, dijon mustard wrap. Kind of spartan, but there's no lettuce to wilt, no tomato to melt and soggify, and it's a nice compact, anti-falling-apart, non-mess-producing package (unless they go nuts with the mustard). Never had it in a car, but I'm sure the benifits would carry over. -- C.S. "Shotgun!"

It's not horribly bad...little sweet, but it's not going to hurt you. I had a 'martini' of it at our local Thai Place, Thai Place, because like you I was curious about the stuff. It was largely forgettable. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what else was in this drink. No vermouth, certainly. It sometimes makes appearances at parties if somebody is feeling ritzy or it's a special occasion ("Oooh, Hpnotiq! Classy!" --Everybody's e-Ball date) of some kind. I know, it's kind of sad...we used to do really well, too! In summation, it's not the worst thing ever, but there are many better things to spend your money on. If you really have to try it, go to a bar you never expect to return to, order some (In a dirty glass!!) -- C.S. "Things Were Better When HE Was Social Chair, Damn It!"

Panang curry with chicken, broccoli, potatoes, and peppers. Turned out pretty well. Used Harris Teeter curry paste, which I think tasted pretty good. Took the instructions in the recipe I was using too literally and ended up burning the first batch of paste in the oil. Not good. Second batch was fine...just had to lower the heat, which was somewhat contrary to what the instructions insinuated. The curry paste and the resultant sauce were good, but I felt it was missing something. Maybe I just needed to use more paste. Did a double batch and used half or more of the small jar. I forgot to add the chopped green chiles, and I didnt' have any lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves, so maybe that's part of it. As far as I can tell, I have a chemical dependancy on panang curry (and this is the first I've had since I moved, and my first shot at making it myself), so I"m more than open to a little experimentation! -- C.S.

Melonpan: Ack, you stole mine! I was launching into this whole thing about Monaka, when I scrolled down a bit and saw the picture! Those things rule! I don't think the ones we had at school were vanilla; pretty sure they were strawberry, and the chocolate lined the casing instead of being inside. Could be wrong...it was a while ago. Might have been a Lotte product. Nothing said 'welcome to school' at 8:15 or so A.M. on a hot May morning like one of those and a Coke or C.C. Lemon! Breakfast of champions. We were so horrible...

Ok, but what are your feelings on 'appeteazers'? He sure does! All those -ie's. I like 'A bit of the old foo', though. I use that one occasionally.

Your waitron isn't going to be so helpful: usually there's somebody with me who IS cheap enough to ask, but half the time, the waitron doesn't know, or they cop out and give you a range. Granted, these are mainly the big corperate-owned places around the area, so they're renoun for their service, but come on. I want to know how much MY fruity tequila/rum/triple sec/puree/silly name thing is going to be, not the range of possible values.

Ramune lemon soda from Japan. Sold in these awsome little glass bottles that you had to take apart to get at the plunger, whichyou used to dislodge the glass marble that sealed it. Also from Japan: Lemon soda C.C. Lemon. Pokari Sweat and Calpis Water. Coke always tasted great in Japan; maybe because it was always hot in the springs and summers when I was there. Nothing beat the mugicha, though.

This thread made my flesh crawl. Just...consider yourselves all quoted with the reply "Yeah, seriously. I hate that." Hate Atkins-Friendly. It's very friendly to Atkins, though. How much did you have to pay his estate to label your grilled chicken-beef-pork wrap that? Also carb friendly. To me, something that is 'carb friendly' means 'contains lots of delicious carbs'. Rarely is that indeed the case. 'Fun'. I hate when foods are described as 'fun'. What exactly makes them fun? Am I a bad or dull person if I'm not totally rockin' out to my shrimp poppers with x-treme mango sauce? Sub-pet-peeve: 'fun size' generally isn't. 'Fun Dip' was, though. 'Offal'. This word definately meant nasty things before I was really 'into' food. Might as well have labled it all 'entrails' and been done. I don't know, I'm still working on this one.

I'd be careful, if it's still lime green Apple Computer will be all over you. I must say, for some reason the fresh lime + syrup gimlet never occured to me until this thread (or at least some thread here). Sounds like it would be pretty good.

It's not the 'idea' of the $15 Martini that bugs me, it's the sticker shock! Furthermore, since most bars don't have driver's side windows on which to display this sticker, you don't get to see the sticker until you've got the drink in front of you. Sub Pet Peeve: drink menus without prices. You're just supposed to order one and be suprised? Bet more people would bite if they knew what they were getting into, from a financial standpoint. Anyway, on the issue of the $15 martini and sticker shock, there's a point at which you should be able to guess at least the range of what your drink is going to cost based on what you order and call, but it's that random element (Ok, it's not random, with all the above-thread discussions of costs and margins, but it SEEMS random to J. Random Drinker) that gets you in the end. Re: Lowering of margins and percentages to lower the price of a drink. Would any place actually DO this? It seems nice, but once an establishment has gotten used to a certain standard of money comming in, lowering that while the rest remains constant seems silly. "We're going to provide the same level of service, hospitality, ambiance, regular hood cleanings, and the finest bar crystal in Springfield, but take in less money for it per unit than we used to, all other things being equal. It'll be great!" --Accountant. You would almost have to advertise this fact to the public, in the manner of real estate firms (The Six Percent Food Cost People!). I suppose word would get around, but it would take a while before previous levels of overhead-meeting and profitability would be reached, let alone additional profits from such a scheme. -- C.S. "The Six Percent Post-Making-Sense Guy"

Re: Gimlet and fresh lime juice. Think I mentioned this one in the "Crimes Against Alcohol" thread, but a friend of mine makes the worst drinks known to man, and his 'signature' drink is the vodka gimlet. For a while, all our parties were at his place, and the words "Want a drink? I'll make some gimlets!" became the most dangerous in the English language (Perhaps even in other languages). After a few events of these Zelko-and-Rose's abominations, I decided that he probably didn't know what he was doing, and researched this gimlet business a bit. Webtender suggested fresh lime and powdered sugar, of all things, and this didn't go so well. It occurs to me at this late junction that it might have been the industrial solvent grade well vodka that remained a constant had a role. Gimlet Factoid: lots of vodka plus lots of Rose's does not nessesarily equal big Gimlet. It equals nastyness. In conclusion, I am still bitter about being asked to buy about $16 worth of Rose's for our reasonably successful housewarming party, in which none of it was even used. What was the question again? *scrolls to the top of the thread* -- C.S.

Left-handed smoke shifter?

Pretty generic burn story, but funny because of the sheer idiocy involved. I had a perfect Calphalon-handle-shaped burn on my palm from grabbing the pan from the oven without a towel or mitt, so you'd think I'd have learned my lesson. So I'm cooking a nice steak and put it in the oven to finish. I'm still getting my steak-timing down, so I have to do a lot of checking to satisfy myself tha tthe steak is indeed making progress. I'm being VERY consious of my need to not mutilate my hand any further, so I do a few cycles of "Get towel, pull pan out, poke steak, think for a minute, put steak back". Fine, no problem. Open oven, get towel, pull pan out, test. Open oven, get towle, pull pan out, test. Getting there. Open oven, pull pan out AAHH, DAMN it!! Jeeze....alright, steak is done, at least. If I remember correctly, I probably caved and sliced it open. Put on stove. Throw in garlic, shallots. Take towel, jiggle pan a little. Open wine, deglaze. Take towel, jiggle pan. Wait a bit, jiggle pa- GRAAHHh!! SON OF A!! .....came out well, though. Edited for glaring grammatical error. Edited for content, and to run in the time alotted.

To: Everybody Re: Burn stories Ow ow ow ow.....cringe. Eww.... Sincerely, C.S.