saycheese

Among many others in Eden Center, Song Que (owned by the same family that owns Four Sisters) has good bubble drinks in all kinds of flavors, including avocado, durian, jackfruit, coconut, mango, melon, strawberry, coffee, etc. , plus really good grilled pork sandwiches (for about $3.50) and pork bao (about $1.00), but I guess this is a little off the main topic of this thread. But it's lunchtime, and the food there is yummy.

See the other discussion about Taillevent v. Grand Vefour for BackwardsHat's technique -- he got into 6 3-stars in Paris during a recent two-week visit. I usually have to try a number of different restaurants in order to get just 1 that has a table available during my trips there, which tend to be rather short. My current technique is to send a fax to the restaurant, in French, asking if they have a table available on one of a number of dates and not being picky about the time. I provide my e-mail address, phone and fax numbers for the restaurant to contact me about their availability. And I also say in my fax that if there is a waiting list, I'd like to be put on it. This has generally worked very well, and saves a lot of time on the phone. I haven't tried Astrance, but I have a reservation at Guy Savoy in 2 weeks, which I am looking forward to. Once, I got lucky when I was walking by L'Ambroisie around 11:30 am with a couple of friends, and we decided to ask if they had any tables available for lunch that day. They were very friendly and after checking the book, they said yes, and told us to come back at noon. That was a really memorable meal. Good luck.

BackwardsHat, What the heck did you do to get a table in all of those great restaurants? Bribes? Favors? Secret passwords? Usually I contact a number of restaurants asking for varous dates, and am lucky to get even 1 that is not "complet" when I would like to go. What's your secret? Enquiring minds want to know. . .

I haven't tried the pizza at the Italian Store, but Gourmet Pizza Deli/Lost Dog Cafe on Washington Boulevard in Arlington has really, really good pizza and delivers within a small radius. Even if you're outside their delivery range, it's worth a visit nevertheless. Plus, they have a very wide selection of beer available by the bottle or on tap in the cafe, and good milkshakes.

Although this may be a little fancier than what you are seeking, my husband and I had a wonderful evening dining at Le Carre des Feuillants with my stepdaughter when she was 11. While we were looking at the menu, she was interested in getting an appetizer of langoustines, but it came with foie gras, which she doesn't like. My husband and I reassured her that we would get rid of every bit of foie gras on her plate, and it wouldn't go to waste, and so she decided to get the dish. When it arrived, we realized that one of the waiters had overheard our conversation, and had accommodated her by giving her an extra langoustine and no foie gras. The entire meal was fabulous. As Maurice Chevalier said, "thank heaven for little girls." It was a very nice, subtle gesture that made a big impression.

Backwardshat, There is an excellent sushi restaurant right in your own backyard (practically)! Kanpai is located on North Oak Street, just off Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn. They have a sister restaurant in Shirlington, called Bonsai. Both have pristinely fresh sushi, and they have freshly grated wasabi -- truly a rarity around here. If you don't like Kanpai or Bonsai better than Matuba or the other places you listed, I would be astounded. I haven't been to Matuba in years, but when I went, I wasn't very impressed -- it seemed very inexpensive, and that was its only attraction. Same for Atami. And isn't Matsutake a chain? In DC, as John W. suggested, go to Kaz for really interesting and innovative japanese cuisine.

Kanpai is located on North Oak Street, just off Wilson Boulevard (north of Wilson Boulevard, if I have my compass points correct). It's a short walk from the Rosslyn metro station. The website is pretty rudimentary -- www.kanpaijapaneserestaurant.com -- but it has a map and lunch and dinner menus.

I have seen numerous favorable and unfavorable comments by DonRocks about a number of restaurants, so it's clear that DonRocks eats out a lot, and has fairly discerning taste. Moreover, it's clear that DonRocks isn't wishy-washy in expressing his opinions. That's fine -- egullet is a great forum for sharing opinions. However, I am a fan of Gerard Pangaud's creativity and talent, so I think the vehemence of the attack based on one meal is a bit extreme. Was Gerard actually there when you had lunch? If you were such a devoted customer from the Ritz Carlton days, I'm sure Gerard would still remember you and would have spoken to you personally during your meal and would have corrected any of the flaws you mentioned about the food. The fact that you didn't mention seeing Gerard suggests perhaps he wasn't there to oversee the kitchen. I have noticed that when I have been to places like Laboratorio, and even the French Laundry, on nights when the chef/owner was away, the meal and the service haven't been as perfectly executed as when the chef is in the kitchen. Just by looking at recent postings on egullet about places like Le Bernardin demonstrates that individual experiences at the same restaurant can vary dramatically. Even really fine restaurants have bad days. And by the way, Gerard's Place doesn't have a microwave oven. So I don't know what happened to your duck confit. I admit that I agree with the criticism about the prices at Gerard's being high, but like DonRocks pointed out, Gerard doesn't have the financial backing of a large hotel chain. If you look at a lot of the top restaurants in DC, they are in hotels -- Citronelle, Maestro -- for example. And 2941 (quite overrated in my opinion) has a lot of investors pumping in money. Moreover, I thought Gerard's Place had a $30 3-course lunch menu that one could choose for a less expensive alternative. The fake Gerard's Place website you mentioned isn't funny at all, and I don't think egullet should be condoning that kind of malicious use of a business's trade name.

We go to the opera at Lincoln Center periodically, and ate at Picholine once last year before an evening performance. We thought the food was good, fairly priced, and the service was attentive to our need to get out in time for the performance, without being overly rushed. Unfortunately, we had to skip the cheese course, but the selection on the cart looked extremely tempting. We'd go there again. We've also been to Cafe des Artistes pretty recently, but only for dessert after the opera. The price for 4 people was pretty astronomical in my opinion. And there was a really unpleasant smell in the restaurant, like spoiled food or garbage -- really nasty! I don't know of any other good restaurants in that area, although Rosa Mexicano is around there, and some people seem to like it (I haven't been there yet, but the new one in DC has gotten pretty mediocre reviews).

I'm glad you liked Kanpai. Peter (the owner) is very talented and a really nice person. I don't think he gets enough public recognition in the Washington Post or Washingtonian. We went to Bonsai this weekend after the movies, and had a really nice sushi assortment. Peter's younger brother is behind the sushi bar there.

Compared to the other restaurants in Washington Harbour, Bangkok Joe's is not bad. The food is overpriced, but at least it's edible.

In my opinion, the best sushi is at Kanpai in Rosslyn, which is affiliated with Bonsai in Shirlington. Very fresh fish, and freshly grated wasabi, which is vastly superior to the reconstituted green paste that most places use. Also I like Kaz Sushi Bistro, but I don't like the uni at Kaz because it doesn't taste fresh enough. The uni at Bonsai and Kanpai, by contrast, is delicious. Murasaki on Wisconsin near Tenley metro is okay in a pinch, but not very authentic. The nigiri sushi is super-sized, which I guess appeals to American appetites, but is really unwieldy.

Regarding your concern about getting a good rangehood -- I have been lurking with interest, because we are now in month 9 of a home renovation focusing on expanding a former 10 by 10 foot kitchen into roughly double the size, and bumping out the front of the house to make a new dining room. It has been a really fun experience -- one that was planned for about 4 years -- but as with a pregnancy, I'm ready for it to be over! When we looked for a rangehood, we wanted something big enough for the 6-burner Dacor gas cooktop we chose, and powerful enough to deal with all 6 burners going full blast at the same time. We also needed it to be ceiling mounted. We couldn't find anything we liked that was affordable, so we started looking into custom hoods. Surprisingly, the cost of a 54" custom hood was less than the cost of something like a Viking hood in the size we needed. We are using an external blower and motor by Thermador -- I think 1200 cfm's. See the website for Rangecraft for more info. We designed our own stainless steel hood, but you can also pick one of their existing designs. They offer two kinds of baffles, both of which go in the dishwasher for easy cleaning. We are expecting our hood to be delivered in a couple of weeks, and so far have been very pleased with the people we have dealt with at Rangecraft.

To add a few more Virginia shopping locations: Super H Mart on Route 50 in Fairfax is a good source for asian foods, and also for fresh vegetables and fruit. Very nice baby bok choy, chinese broccoli, leeks, fava beans much cheaper than at Fresh Fields, ginger, asian pears (again cheaper than Fresh Fields), persimmons, cold sake. This store is owned by the same company that owns Han ah reum in Maryland. Slavins in Arlington (near intersection of Glebe and 395) for fish and seafood. I'm glad someone mentioned the Italian Store -- the sandwiches are terrific, good prosciutto, among other things. Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe in Arlington for all kinds of baked goods.

According to Rasmus, the auction company, Le Relais' assets were sold already, and will not be up for auction.

Last night my husband and I went to Nectar, and now I'd like to join the ranks of those singing Nectar's praises. Jared was in charge of the front of the house and was very hospitable. He even spent about an hour with us after dinner discussing the previous service issue that I had posted here about a week or two ago. Our server (Bryce) was knowledgeable and engaging, without overdoing it. The food was really delicious and attractively presented -- the crystal and china are what you would expect in higher end restaurants -- wine glasses that are the right shape and size for what you're drinking, and that feel good in the hand, gleaming white plates of different shapes and sizes that really suit the presentation of the food. Here's what we ate: Him: cold cucumber gazpacho with beets, ginger and basil Her: Soft shell crab in a light tempura batter Him: Pheasant with pureed potatoes, morels, and black truffle Her: Scallops with chorizo, subtly coated with a curry-flavored sauce Shared: Baked alaska with prune/armagnac ice cream and an armagnac/citrus sauce The wine list is definitely interesting, and we thought it had some good values. With the first course we had a glass of non-vintage sparkling wine (him) and a glass of the Josmeyer Auxerrois (her), and then we had a bottle of Salice with the main course -- all were delicious. Ditto the comments by others about the excellent bread -- 3 kinds were being served (Asiago, Semolina and Raisin/Walnut). I only wish there had been one or two more scallops on my plate -- they were so tasty. Nectar seems to be in very good hands. We hope they continue to maintain this level of quality. The Foggy Bottom/Kennedy Center area really needs more good restaurants like this.

I think Gerard's Place is currently offering a reasonably priced 3-course lunch -- perhaps in the ballpark of $35? You could call and ask first. If so, that could be a very good value. Gerard's Place is downtown -- on 15th Street between I and K. Also, I second the votes for Kaz -- I think the sushi there is terrific. They also offer 2 different flights of cold sake (3 different kinds in each flight).

I'm impressed by all the glowing reviews. My husband and I thought about going to Nectar one night recently after the movies. It was around 9:55 on a weeknight when we walked in the door, and asked for a table. The maitre d' said "we're closed." Not even, "I'm sorry, we're closed." We looked around and saw about half of the tables were occupied. The maitre d', seeing our puzzled expressions, said that they stop seating people at 9:45, and that next time we should make a reservation -- 2 weeks in advance. Although the menu looked great, the demeanor of the maitre d' was pretty unfriendly. We went to Dish instead, and had a really good meal -- a different kind of cooking than Nectar, but really well executed, and the service was excellent, and friendly! Plus, they stay open until 11:00. I'm sure we'll try Nectar, but certainly will prefer Dish for a spontaneous post-cinema meal.

Can any one recommend any place to get a decent meal near the new AFI theater in Silver Spring? Ethnic, pizza, whatever, as long as it's tasty. No chain restaurants, please. Thanks.

As a woman dining alone from time to time, I have had very nice, comfortable meals at the bars of Kinkead's, and upstairs at Bistrot Lepic, also at the new Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown, and at the sushi bar at Kaz Sushi Bistro. Some of the bartenders at Kinkead's are particularly friendly and you can become a "regular" very quickly.

Springfield Butcher has pheasant, duck, foie gras, quail, and maybe some other things. I am a newcomer to their store, so I haven't tried the game, but they have been good for things like veal bones and fresh oxtails, at much better prices than places like Fresh Fields, Sutton Place, or Wagshals.

We tried Al Tiramisu in Dupont Circle on Saturday night. The food was quite good -- risotto with porcini was fabulous, and grilled sardine appetizer was delicious. Osso buco with risotto milanese also very good, although more tomato-y than I have seen before. Not exactly cheap, but not outrageously expensive. I think the main dishes were in the $25 range. I hear 2 Amy's is very good, but haven't tried it yet. I think it's hard to find reasonably priced, good Italian cooking in DC.

www.chocolatesource.com also has Valrhona chocolate and cocoa in bulk. As an aside, visiting the Valrhona shop/factory in Tain l'Hermitage is a lot of fun -- lots of free samples, and truffles, which I have never seen for sale in the US.

When my old rice cooker expired recently, I bought a 10-cup National fuzzy logic rice cooker. (It's in the Williams-Sonoma catalogue for $199, but I got it a lot cheaper at my local Korean market). However, now that I've been using it for a while, I think I would opt for a more basic model. The new one has a "keep warm" feature that keeps the rice warm for up to 12 hours after it is cooked. That works well if you plan to eat the rice fairly soon, but we tend to turn the rice cooker on at night when we go to bed, or in the morning when we leave for work, and then reheat rice as needed in the microwave. The retained steam tends to make the rice soggy around the edges. I think you're supposed to fluff the rice and shape it into a mound in the center of the pot, if you're going to leave it in the keep warm function, but we're not around to do that. This model also has different settings for brown rice, sushi rice, etc., which we don't use because we like plain old white Japanese-style rice. So, if I need to buy another rice cooker, I would just get a plain non-stick one that turns off automatically when the rice is done.

Thanks for the suggestions. I managed to have 2 meals in Richmond -- Millie's Diner on Friday night and Acacia on Saturday night. Both were good but quite different. Millie's had a pretty diverse menu, and was very ambitious for such a small kitchen. The preparation of the food was a little disappointing. One of us had veal cheeks with broccolini and mushrooms. While the veal cheeks were nice and tender, there was a bitterness from the broccolini which was unpleasant. Vinegar had been added to the broccolini, and it was too strong -- it didn't go with the veal cheeks at all. The broccolini itself also tasted bitter. The mushrooms were just button mushrooms, not wild mushrooms, which would have been more enjoyable. The atmosphere was very casual and boisterous. We had to wait about 45 minutes for a table. Acacia was more elegant, but still very comfortable, and the food was much better. Overall, I preferred Acacia -- among the three of us, we had an appetizer of lobster and sausage macaroni & cheese, a duck confit salad, rockfish with gnocchi and ravioli of salsify, roast chicken with sweet wahini rice and green beans, and strawberry clafouti with strawberry sorbet. The strawberry sorbet was really full of flavor and richness - almost like ice cream. We sat at the bar since we weren't able to get a reservation for a table, but the service was excellent. We called about 90 minutes ahead, and they saved us 3 places at the bar. The bartender, Jenna, was very knowledgeable, professional, efficient and friendly, without being intrusive. I would definitely go back there, and probably will, since I have to make the same trip to Chesapeake in April. Someone else recommended a restaurant called the Coastal Grill in or near Virginia Beach. Does anyone have any feedback about it?