Fredzo

There's a great organic meat market in McLean, VA, just across the Potomac from DC. It's the Organic Butcher. They carry both organic meats and sustainable seafood. I've had a number of meats from them and have been very satisfied. Good luck!

Your choices are plentiful! CityZen is arguably one of the best restaurants in DC and Central is Michel Richards (of Citronelle fame) second restaurant. Both will offer superb food - the major difference being CityZen is prix fix while Central is a "bistro" type restaurant. I've eaten at both a number of times and find the choice difficult. It might be an issue of reservation availability. The CityZen prix fix is $75 for the three-course and $110 for the six course menus, well worth it. Throw in wine and you're looking at $150 - $200 per person. Central will be less expensive and nearly as good with more selection. The Lobster Burger is out of this world, as is the Faux Gras (made with chicken livers), and be sure to have an order of the cheese puffs. Two excellent sources of information about dining in DC are the Washingtonian Magazine Best 100 list and the Chowhound message board. You'll never have a bad meal choosing from the Washingtonian Best 100 or Cheap Eats lists. Good luck and enjoy DC!

What I mean is you use two baking pans. Pipe the macaroons onto one pan and then place that pan inside the second so they're stacked, or nested. Apparently this moderates the heat on the bottom of the pan with the macaroons on it. This method has helped me get more consistent feet on my macaroons.

I feel your pain! I've tried French meringue and Italian meringue with difficulty reproducing the results. My issue is getting voids in the macaroons. Something I didn't see mentioned in your post was nesting the baking pans. I've found nesting the pan with the macaroons inside another helps to get consistent results. Good luck.