monavano

OOOOOOOOOoh sounds sooooooo good. 50 cents per ear is too high, I think. But I paid that for a couple ears last week at a local farmer's market. But, it wasn't good. No amish here in D.C. dammit!!!

Made a caldo verde inspired soup. However my greens were spinach and mustard greens and my sausage was pepperwurst. Added some parm reg and elbow macaroni instead of potatoes to thicken. Bastardized as it sounds, it tastes amazing!! The sausage permeated the broth and I didn't add a spec of salt or pepper. I'll try to post a pic!!

Cantler's in Annapolis Maryland: Locally caught crabs by the bushel? full!! Straight from the Chesapeake Bay. http://cantlers.com/ We went there a couple weeks ago and had a helluva good time. We got a dozen large crabs, tried some cream of crab soup and took home two crab cakes which were just about the size of baseballs. If you haven't done the paper table cloth, wooden mallet whack a crab thing, you've got to try it. It's less than an hour drive from DC and while a bit off the beaten track, is very, very popular. Go early on the weekends. edited to add...also recommend Old Ebbit Grill. I believe the half price HUGE raw bar deals, the Orca and Walrus platters are available mon. thru thurs from around 2-5 then after 11, I think. Check out the website to be sure. It's not only good for seafood, but is very "DC" with hints of political whisperings in the dark corners. Start your evening 2 buildings away at the Hotel Washington roof top terrace for a drink (only) and spectacular views of the White House and Monuments. Old Ebbitt Grill: http://ebbitt.com/main/index-flash.cfm Hotel Washington: http://hotelwashington.com/view.html

I'd garnish the crab cakes with plenty of lemon and parsely. As a side, I'd recommend a beautiful slaw of your choice, with lots of color and crispness.

All of you who diss the WaWa hoagies have TOO MANY WAWA's to pick from............and I'm jealous What I wouldn't give to have one near me in NoVa!! I miss being able to just run into one and get a junior whenever the mood strikes. As to Philly tourist food, I'd also throw in there City Tavern. www.citytavern.com It's no Stephen Starr restaurant, but is IS oh so Philadelphia. Charming.

Roast pork italians are incredibly popular in Philly now. I remember having one about 10 or 12 years ago at Frusco's in the Northeast. I think it was just called a pork sandwich at the time, but it was served with spinach. Broccoli Rabe is of course more fashionable now! Over the past couple of years the pork sandwich rivals cheesesteaks and fuels your typical "who makes the best" debate. I had one last month (while visiting back home in Philly) at RTM, Di Nics. Holy pig was it good!! As for chicken cheesesteaks, I think they go back about 15 years. I actually prefer chicken to steak, but will eat either, of course.

Fucking A Michael !!! Ah, jeez I gotta wipe the tears from my eyes and change my Depends now.

It's good to call the restaurant to find out if they are serving all or most of the menu. Some restaurants have very few options for RW. Coudoroy for one, is serving the full menu. I've already reserved it on www.opentable.com.

My favorites are from Anthony Bourdain, and Williams Sonoma "The Best of Taste". Both should fit well into your time frame, and so worthy of the wait!

I'd second the White Dog Cafe! It's located amongst the U. of Penn campus, so it's full of doc's, prof's and scientists. Great for small groups. See the website. http://whitedogcafe.com/ PS. fyi take it for grantite that you will have to cab into Center City to get good food. The airport is a desolate wasteland of oil refineries.

Here's a link to a Spanish tapas bar within walking distance of the CC. I think it would be fun, budget friendly, and offer a ton of choices for different pallettes. I'd call to see if they take reservations for your size party though. Jaleo: http://jaleo.com/ Another great value at one of DC's better dining places is Cafe Atlantico's pre theater tasting. $25 I believe! for three courses. Same area Penn Quarter/MCI center. http://cafeatlantico.com/ Enjoy your visit here!

I would add that Kuba Kuba does an AMAZING breakfast too. Of course the Cuban sammiches are super . Thai Diner has THE best Thai food in Richmond. I've found it tough to rival here in N. Va. They are located in Cartown as well.

The roast pork italian is deserving of a campaign. Although, I can't imagine it will ever reach the level of the cheesesteak as far as it's association with Philadelphia. Maybe that's OK though. Who needs a rpi equivalent of Geno's and Pat's? Perhaps it'll be a true Philly insider thing, and that's ok. It's certainly taken on mega wonderful and desirous status amongst the locals. Keeps those tourists outa my way when I visit! In fact, our lovely waitress at DiNic's told us that Saturday is their light day because all the tourists line up for hoagies and cheesesteaks (mostly at Ricks). Weekdays, of course, bring locals for lunch.

This is a time old suggestions, but a very "Pittsburgh" thing. I used to LOVE going to the strip on Sat. morning. Grab a Primanti Bros. sammich just to say you did! They're good too! It's the equivalent of going to Geno's/Pat's during a visit to Philly. http://www.primantibros.com/

What are the dates/times?. There is no schedule on the link. Thanks.

Black Salt in D.C. Here's a recent review from the Post: http://www.washingtonian.com/dining/Profiles/blacksalt.html

I had the pork with spinach. freshly wilted, not soggy and with a great fresh garlic essence. My husband had it with peppers, which I don't get

This was my first trip to DiBruno's, as I was in town for the weekend and stayed a block away. It lived up to everything I've heard and more. Husband and I went in about 10:30 and being a Sunday, I was amazed! Everything seemed as fresh and bountiful as a weekday or Saturday. The free sample offerings were plentiful and everyone was so incredibly nice and helpful. It made me miss Philly even more(wipes away a tear and sniffles). We got some cheeses, a pepper wurst (from the butcher at Rhawn and Oxford) pantry goods(including thier pasta sauce...hope its good) and a hoagie to split before we hit the road back to Va. We are grilling some burgers and placing some blue cheese/dolce to melt on them when they're done, as recommended. Another amazing pairing shown to us was a goat goulda and candied pecan. Amazing. Of course we got that too!! Now, if they'd only branch out to N. Va......oh, one can wish!

Went to RTM(visiting back home from VA) this Sat. and visited my favorite places. Got some spices from the spice terminal, some stuff from Foster's and finally tried out Di Nic's roast pork with cheese and spinach. Let me just say....WOW!! I've been telling my husband about the every increasingly popular roast pork italian sammies in Philly. Basically, he's had no interest. Maybe it didn't sound that special, and he always loves to treat us to some cheesesteaks when we visit home. So, in RTM Ricks has about 30 people/tourists in line and I say "hey, walk back this way with me, and take a look at the pork at DiNic's". So, being that there were two seats open, we sat down, and had a juicy, amazing roast pork in 4 minutes. My husband is a convert! Although he got his with peppers (is that going against the grain?) he loved his as much as i loved mine. Had to wrap up half of it myself. It was huge. And the drippings were ajus from the pork, not just grease. Hey, not that there's anything wrong with that. We sat next to out of town tourists and I gave them two thumbs up for finding a true insider real deal. Especially since they'd gone to Pat's the night before at about 3 am.. .....didn't beat him up over that! Next...Tony Lukes.

Good Q here. Multiple locations. http://rocklands.com/default.asp

I'd add Le Bar Lyonnais at Le Bec Fin; http://www.lebecfin.com/laBar.cfm

As for vegetarian, I'd recommend just walking Carytown and picking a restaurant. There's Mexican, Chinese, Mediteranean (Limane), pizza etc. There's also Ellwood Thompson, a natural foods store with an excellent prepared food section which offers tons of vegetarian selections. You can get a seat in or outdoors. Very cheap and fresh!! http://ellwoodthompson.com/

Here's a "hot" new restaurant in Carytown.... www.cancanbrasserie.com

This looks great. I don't know how you did it all. Glad you found what looks to be good cherry soda. Go Philly party!

In reading yet another eye rolling chat it's apparent that this isn't really an "Ask Tom" exercise. It's a "let me vent my speen" column with very little input from Tom. I would say he has an ecomony for words when it comes to his chats. I skim through it getting what little gems I can. Repeated gems at that.