Chantilly Bob

Here's a few more RI favorites no one has mentioned yet: Snail salad -- definitely an acquired taste. I just realized that like conch fritters resemble clamcakes, conch salad is very close to snail salad -- both require lots of chewing. Grapenut custard pudding -- one of my all-time favorite desserts. Just what the name implies: custard with a layer of grape-nuts baked on the bottom. Frozen lemonade -- the best thirst quencher on the planet. Del's is the best known purveyor, but there are plenty of others. Beaten out by coffee milk for title of RI's offical state drink. Pizza strips -- these can be found at Italian bakeries and convenience store all over the state. The name is sort of a reach. Pizza strips usually consist of dough with a thin coating of reddish-orange grease on top. The better versions will have some actual tomato sauce. Almost always eaten cold. When I was a kid you could get a pizza strip for around 7 cents. Stanleyburgers -- One of Central Falls' two culinary claims to fame, the other being that it's chef Wiley Dufresne's hometown. Saugys -- beloved local hot dog variety, made by A. Saugy & Co.

They're called clam cakes in Lil Rhody, to be served with chowder. (New England clam, of course, not that appalling red slop known as Manhattan clam. Yeesh.) Chewy bits of quahog in a deep fried flour batter. Like hushpuppies, they serve primarily to transport fried crust into your mouth; the clam bits are an excuse. ← Conch fritters down in Florida are very similar. Same rubbery texture, same bits of protein to provide that oh-so-thin veneer of respectability. YUM!

The first place I saw fried squid both prepared this way AND called Rhode Island Calamari was at the first outpost of the Capitol Grille, which just happened to be in Providence. This was back in the early 90s. A couple months ago I had lunch at the Capital Grille in Tysons Corner VA -- payment for a Super Bowl bet; GO PATS! -- and there it was on the menu so of course I ordered it and it was delicious and pretty zesty but not quite as hot as I remembered from Providence. It was also a bit soggy, now that you mention it. So, AFAIK, this preparation did indeed originate in RI. Sadly, other RI classics like snail salad, grapenut custard pudding, and pizza strips (RI natives will know what I'm talking about) don't seem to have gained footholds beyond the bounds of Little Rhody.

You must be thinking of Davis's. We drove by there late on Saturday -- it was closed, but the placed looked exactly the same as it did 35-40 years ago. So where do you go for good Portuguese sweet bread these days? I remember discovering Faria's on Wickenden St. That stuff was so good that my younger brother could sell hunks of it to his bunkmates up at camp in Maine.

I am pleased to report that we had a family gathering at Al Forno on Saturday night (not the kind of family gathering that you'd probably find at Capriccio), and the food showed no sign of decline whatsoever, despite George and Joanne being in Provence much of the time now. Capriccio is old Providence. Al Forno, despite being 20 years old or so, is new Providence. Old Providence can be fun: Angelo's Civita Farnese is old Providence, for example. But there was virtually no good high-end food in old Providence.

The problem with the food at both Borders and Starbucks is not that it tastes like crap, but that it just seems overpriced. The sandwiches and salads appear about a buck too expensive, and the baked goods too pricy by some smaller amount. But they obviously get enough starving customers to justify the prices.

GrandMart is one word

Horseplay: are you associated with Aster? The Washingtonian's current issue just gave Aster a nice preview sort of writeup. I can vouch for the attractiveness of the room, having eaten there when it was the Black Coffee Bistro. The food sounds very interesting, but the prices, um, sound like they are aimed at the horsey set (owners, not groomers). ← Yes Bob, I am associated with Aster. I'm the Maitre 'D/Bartender/Host/Janitor/. . . But yes you are right we are not an inexepensive restaurant. We are a fine dining establishment and and our prices reflect what comes out on the plate, as well as what is on the walls and the staff of professionals that service our guests. We are not targeting the horsey set, although right now they make up the majority of our clientele. Rather, we are targeting the foodie, such as those who post on and read egullet. The Washingtonian "Best Bite" article was great in that the magazine reaches Chantilly, Reston, Herndon, Ashburne, Great Falls, etc. Aster will succeed when the foodies in these areas find out about us. Bob, thank you for your interest and I look foward to having you as my guest. Cordially, Craig Erion Maitre 'D Aster ← Craig: thanks for responding. I look forward to trying Aster but it may be a while -- we have seven-month-old twins. Right now the budget is more in the Teddy's Pizza range, so you guys have to stick around for a couple years at least!

Middleburg is a unique animal. How many other burgs do you know of that have so few residents and so many eateries, real estate agencies, and cutsey-poo shops? Market Salamander is very nice, with some really good barbecue sandwiches and other stuff. But let's not forget that it's bankrolled by Sheila Johnson and could exist indefinitely no matter how much money it makes or loses. Let's see how the new Aster Restaurant does. High prices plus cutting-edge food is an interesting combination for the capital of horse country. The former will be no problem; the latter could be a big problem.

Horseplay: are you associated with Aster? The Washingtonian's current issue just gave Aster a nice preview sort of writeup. I can vouch for the attractiveness of the room, having eaten there when it was the Black Coffee Bistro. The food sounds very interesting, but the prices, um, sound like they are aimed at the horsey set (owners, not groomers).

Actually there is a Sweetwater in Sterling, which is in Loudoun County. Waits of well over an hour every weekend. ← Note to self: must open restaurant in boonies. ← Thanks to Bilrus for the note about Sweetwater in Sterling; I forget about that whole area up there. As for opening a restaurant in the boonies, this area is like the Comstock Lode. Washington might have the most affluent boonies in the country (at least on the Virginia side).

Heather: we in Southern Loudoun County hear you loud and clear. A local developer is working on developing three parcels east of South Riding. One of the parcels would contain a supermarket and other stuff. When he told several of us at a neighborhood meeting that the plans included two sit-down restaurants, people went nuts -- he didn't have to mention possible names or anything. Just having sit-down restaurants around here is good enough for now. The developers of South Riding (Toll Brothers) really did a poor job of bringing in restaurants. Fortunately, The Washingtonian magazine including 20152 in its list of "Golden Zip Codes" for home prices should entice some decent spots. I'd love to see Great American Restaurants (Coastal Flats, Artie's, etc.) put its first Loudoun restaurant in this area. Around two years ago Fair Oaks Mall took a chance on an independent restaurant -- an attractive place called Miano Bistro that even offered some Finnish(!) dishes. Washingtonian mag even gave it a blurb. We tried it once and it was quite good, but close to empty. Didn't last six months. There's an unfortunate lesson there.

We liked St. Basil and took out-of-town guests there but the prices kept going up and up to the point where you just paid too much for what you got and where you got it.

Jimmy's, one of the better Lexington cue joints, is open on Sundays. It's right off I-85 at the Southmont exit. Their cue just melts in your mouth.

IIRC, the "number 9 pokket" (Steak, provolone, peppers, mushrooms) was the way to go.

A very knowledgeable poster over on Chowhound named mezzrow has posted several "local flavor" recommendations from time to time. The only one I've tried is the Blue Boy Sandwich Shop. They have a couple of locations, I believe. If you're going to be in town for a few days, you've gotta check out the Blue Boy. The sandwiches are humongous, fantastic, and cheap. The rolls are baked in house and the guy who makes the sandwiches is a true artist. You will not be disappointed.

Wow, a thread that's in large part about Shirlington and no mention of the Weenie Beenie? For shame!

The Italian Store is in the Cherrydale section of Arlington, in the plaza at Lee Highway and Spout Run Parkway. In addition to excellent subs -- choose the hard roll -- they have Berger Cookies from Baltimore. Dolce Vita restaurant in Fairfax just opened up a cafe next door in space formerly occupied by the Viet Thai restaurant. From what I read about this place it looks very promising.

[Also very true about the bucket dump... A true wine geek, no matter how emotionally or personally destitute, would never stoop to consuming from a dump bucket.

Robyn: I will second your accolades for Publix. I spent a year in Gainesville for school and the two closest supermarkets to my apartment were a Publix and a Winn Dixie. The choice was not a tough one. The Whole Foods on Glades is certainly a spectacular store but for a regular market the Publix on Hidden Valley at N. Federal is more than sufficient. Publix looks even better to me as I watch the gradual destruction of the once-beloved Giant chain here in the DC-Baltimore area at the hands of Royal Ahole, I mean Ahold.

[Actually, I have eaten at the Fair Lakes location a few times, mostly out of convenience. The burgers are ok - not bad, but not spectacular. ←

Well, I can report that something is amiss at the Rascal House in Boca too. I stopped in the morning after Thanksgiving for some whitefish salad. The place was almost deserted at 8 AM. The takeout section was unmanned but finally a woman came up to "help" me. I could barely understand her, and she had to go back to the main kitchen to get what I wanted. She came back and said "no whitefish." Uh, if you have no whitefish in the morning, don't bother opening your doors. I drove over to Flakowitz, where they had no trouble fulfilling our cravings.

Thanks to Gifted Gourmet's post I just found this amazing trip report. Truly superb. All I can add is: You forgot to get a fried pie at the Varsity.

Just got back from a round-trip visit to Florida, and the eating highlight was definitely our last meal on the road, supper at Mitchell's Bar-B-Q Ribs & Chicken in Wilson, NC. Not only was the food very good -- we "splurged" for the three-meat/four-side combos, which are a whopping $6.99 each -- but Stevie Mitchell gave us a personal tour of the entire operation. I wouldn't expect that kind of treatment at lunch, when the place must be a zoo, but we were the last customers in the evening. Stevie even comped me to a slab of bread pudding. Back to the food for a second. The ribs were really good, and the cue is more peppery than most eastern NC cue. As for the side dishes, you could certainly make a meal out of five or six, or eight or ten, and be very happy. For anyone who has to spend a night in Wilson (and thereby get to eat more barbecue) the Holiday Inn Express on Montgomery Drive is centrally located and you can walk across the street to Cherry's Barbecue, which we didn't get to try but has been around since 1965.

I have no doubt there are places in DC that would fill the bill but to find the best, I suspect, you are going to have to do some reconnoitering of neighborhoods in the eastern half of the city. Unfortunately, the gems in those areas do not get much press. OK, who am I kidding? They get no press. Actually, I just thought of one place I do know of: Flavors Soul Food, in Falls Church. Fried chicken, pork chops, fried whiting, sweet potato pie, sweet tea, etc. Website: http://www.flavorssoulfood.com/index.html