Al_Dente

Good point. There are a few things at a few restaurants that I have learned to gravitate toward in order to avoid major disappointment. I have had a few good dishes at Aatish, Meyhane, and Tortilla Grill, and I've always been delighted with Montmartre. So I shouldn't have made such a "sweeping slam" of the offerings in my area. But so many places aren't even trying-- Starfish, Taverna the Greek Islands, Barolo, Park Cafe, Cafe Berlin, Two Quail, White Tiger, and La Brasserie. Are they interested in repeat business from local customers? Do they strive to be an integral part of the neighborhood that Mr Bourgault (from eunny's post) rightly takes pride in being a part of? I'm not expecting each of these restaurants to be a Nectar, Palena, or Firefly, but have some freakin pride man! It just seems to me that, as DC neighborhoods go, Capitol Hill has the least going for it food-wise and that's a real pity. Montmartre is a diamond in the rough. With your on-target advice, Tweaked, a few other restaurants have diamonds in a gopher turd in the rough. The others are just turds without a sliver of cubic zirconium between them.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Mozzarella and meatball or sausage. Or both!

Saturday night, after the rain stopped, we went over to 8th St to find someplace casual to eat. Since moving to Capitol Hill, I’ve been desperately looking for a nearby place that could be my regular hangout. Looks like that Belgian place (Belga?) is pretty close to opening. Took a look at Marty's but decided against it. The Chinese joint didn't look promising. So we went to the Starfish Cafe and got a table outside. The service was disorganized to say the least, but we eventually were served a bottle of wine and got a chance to get our orders in. The Oysters Bienville was forgettable but the "Caesar's" salad was remarkable. Well, remarkable in the sense that I'd like to make some remarks. It did have Romaine lettuce. And it was served on a plate. But that's where any similarity ended. Something off-white and waxy was grated over it. It may have been some kind of cheese, but it could just as well have been grated candle. The dressing seemed to be made of plain vegetable oil and water. My girlfriend’s chicken encroute was the highlight of the evening, but that ain’t saying much. It was edible. I ordered pistachio encrusted sea bass with crawfish. I don’t know what it was I was served—it had the texture of fish, and there were nuts involved, but I can’t be sure. There was one whole steamed crawfish on the plate, and what seemed to be a few hard heavily fried crawfish tails. Or pencil erasers. I dunno. I wasn’t expecting much, but there was such carelessness in the way everything was prepared that I wondered what the point was in this place existing at all. It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say that I could have had a better meal at Ruby Tuesday’s or some similar dreck factory. Why can’t there be a reliably decent restaurant in Capitol Hill? The search continues…

Ask them to give it a toss. They slop everything on the tortilla as usual, but before rolling it they'll mix it up if you ask.

I forgot all about that Frisco sandwich-- that was pretty good! I think Five Guys makes a mean burger. I like a big sloppy burger. Does this make me a bad person?

Any idea if this place has a bar? And if so, would I be able to get a little space for 3 or 4 folks at around 6:30?

That's freakin funny I'm fine with "pepper service".

What debate? You mean the joint news conference? [sorry for the politics, but I'm at least being bi-partisan]

Can I get a haircut and a bottle of wine there?

I have a grandfather who was Jewish but converted to Catholicism, so I guess, loosely speaking, I'm partly Jewish. I was never exposed to any of the culture or foods as a kid though. But in the last few years, my "waspy" best friend married into a Jewish family. I was the best man at their wedding, and I'm the Godfather (I'm trying to recall the Jewish term-- Kvatter? Sandak?) to their twin boys. Even the first funeral I ever went to was in a Synagogue a couple of years ago. So of course with those religious events came the FOOD. Gefilte fish aside, I've loved everything I've tried and with the help of many of you at eGullet, I made the brisket for my best friend's family during Passover (Goys Gone Wild), and also bought the Claudia Roden book (Cookbook Advice) on your recommendations as a gift for his wife. I've perused this book a number of times and one of these days I'm going to host a big blowout with those recipes at their house. Now I'm livin in sin with my Jewish girlfriend. My best friend recently called me to say "welcome to the tribe" . I've been over to her parent's house for Rosh Hashanah and Passover and helped prepare meals with her serious cook mother. Being around these Jewish families for many meals has been a wonderful experience. The food is such an integral part of these celebrations and it's always prepared with such care and love. And, to me, that's what a love of food is all about.

Fo shizzle!

Sorry all, but it looks like I can't do this on Sunday, another commitment has come up.

You're so right. Why should I ask for less? The wine flowed like wine last night. I guess my brain is still a bit addled.

The Burger, Rocks. The bun should be about 14.7% smaller though.

Go check out a part of DC that many tourists don't know about-- Eastern Market. Have brunch at Montmarte.

I'm a couple of blocks west of Lincoln Park. I'll have to snoop out the Sunday situation in case "someone" is caught beerless again on a football afternoon.

Hmm. Perhaps I should go tonight. It's been a while, and I haven't had a good stout in ages.

On a related note, where is the closest store to Capitol Hill where one can buy beer and wine on a Sunday-- theoretically, of course, this didn't happen to me.

Mmmm. Last night. Stewed chickpeas with Indian spices, fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, lemon zest, and lots of parsley. Roasted two chickens that were rubbed inside and out with ground roasted cumin, paprika, ground coriander, cayenne, salt, and lots of pepper. Also stuffed them with two lemon halves and a few garlic cloves. Also roasted a split acorn squash that had a puddle of grapeseed oil in "the cup" which held a couple of cloves of garlic-- they became a sort of confit, I suppose. Plenty of chickpeas and chicken for leftovers!

There wouldn't be any room for us at the bar!

I'll raise my Firefly bid to 75%. What time will ya'll be there? If I can do it, I'll be there at about 5:45. I'm dressed in what could be described as stylishly sloppy. Will I be allowed in?

Can I get some contact info on the 36EEE All Natural Italian Beauty?

Firefly 50%.

Otherwise known as a hump manipulation scheme. Lotta humping going on.

Well put. Nail those 3 Thesis to the pub door!