Al_Dente

If you wait until after June 18th I will join you. We'd be egg-cited to have a chick come ova here for lunch. yolk yolk yolk yolk...

I was equally baffled by this place. Went to Austin Grill for lunch and checked the menu as I passed by. Shall we take one for the team and do lunch? I want some hollandaise and plenty of it!

Not Entirely Certain That All Remember

As a recent ex-smoker, I say bring the ban on!

If you get a chance, have a crabcake for lunch at Lexington Market at Faidley's. Best I've ever had. They close at 5pm, I believe.

A great suggestion. Make sure you get your reservations with the Helmand soon.

Cool. I'm thinking of moving to Capitol Hill.

I've had mixed results at RT's in Delray Alexandria. When it's good, it's really good. They seem to fry everything here, and the seafood is usually high quality.

Dried.

I took Jrage up on his kind offer on a table for 2 for my birthday meal. It’s great having your birthday on a Saturday—slept in, took a hike on the C&O, lounged by a pool and napped despite the car-alarm volume of the cicadas. This restaurant fit in perfectly with the wonderful day I had. Jrage included a few thoughtful birthday touches too. My personalized “Happy Birthday Mike!!!” menus arrived while I sipped on some pinot juice from Carneros (note to Rocks: served at the right temp, btw). As I perused and finished my glass our waiter brought us a couple of glasses of sparklers courtesy of Jrage. To start, I had an excellent house-made charcuterie plate. The rabbit terrine and chicken liver pate were great with the grilled bread. For once there was enough (even more than enough) bread to go with the spreads. By the way, why do so many restaurants give you only one or two slices of bread? You’d have to pile huge mounds of stuff onto such a paltry amount. Anyway, this dish also came with duck prosciutto wrapped figs. This was a little disappointing because the prosciutto was postage stamp-sized and affixed to the side of each fig. The duck was barely noticeable, but I do enjoy figs. My girlfriend had the baked pornici ricotta raviolo. By itself this would have been good with its toasty flavor, but it was the fava bean pesto that really made it delicious. Then Drew the chef came out, introduced himself, and served us an amuse of vichyssoise with house-made smoked salmon. This had a nice creamy texture while still remaining light and delicate and the spoonful of salmon was excellent. Next up, grilled Jamison Farm lamb medallions. The flavor of the lamb was perfect, but whatever cut it was seemed fairly tough. It came with an artichoke barigoule and chickpea fries that I thought were novel and tasty. The star of the night was my girlfriend’s gnocchi with morels, fiddleheads, and ramps in a shallow puddle of wild mushroom broth. I’ve been trying to come up with the right adjective for this dish. Jurassic? It was deep, dark, damp, and incredibly earthy. Seemed kind of primeval—a beautiful dish. If I had room for it, I would have ordered one of the cheese courses to finish, but I had enough and chose to drink my last course—a glass of 20-year-old Dow’s port. We also made a stop at the wine bar at Bistrot Lepic for champagne (have we had reviews of that place yet? I dig the wine bar, but have never had dinner there). Anyway, overall Mendocino made for a wonderful birthday night out. I must go back to the bar and try some cheese sometime soon. They do a cheese tasting with wine pairings for $40. Unfortunately Jrage left for the day by the time we arrived, so I’ll have to time my cheese night with a time he works.

Welcome to eGullet, clayrae!

ewwwwww... though the giant meatball ain't bad.

I wonder if they mean baseballs or softballs. I've never seen an onion as big as a basketball. That would be one mother #$%^ big onion. Scroll down for 4 pound onion

Thanks for the inspiration!! I made this salad last night...and I concur: "it's a knockout". Great harmony of flavors and texture. I did a slight variation using Ponzu in the dressing. Cool! Thanks.

From the DC Board: Rosa Mexicano Sucks Ventworm Nut, Martian Pig Slop from Hell Who would have thought a fried chicken would cause such trouble? Dinner at Cafe Atlantico's Minibar w/pics!

I'd have to look at a map to see if they're convenient to you, but if you can, check out Christensen Ridge and Veritas-- two of the best in terms of both quality of wine and beauty of the property in VA. Edited to add: Map of Central VA Wineries Looks like you could go out 29, West on 64 and hit them both. Then just turn around on 64 to go to Richmond.

When you look at the huge area that drains into the bay, it's no wonder people are pessimistic. The crabs, oysters, and sport-fish like rockfish, are just a tiny fraction of what they once were. Chesapeake Bay Watershed Map

Insider info - When I was living in Salisbury, MD, there was a place in Whitehaven called the Red Roost. A renovated chicken house with picnic tables running the whole length. Proper steamed crabs (dumped with style in front of you, fried chicken, crab cakes, cold draft beer in plastic mugs, steamed shrimp, and a parking lot full of pick-um-up trucks. Very likely could not be open, but worth the visit if it is. I was just about to start a post with the words, "when I was living in Salisbury, MD..." and suggest the same thing. It's been a few years since I've been to the Red Roost, but it used to be great-- especially in late summer when the silver queen corn was at it's best. Their fried chicken was pretty good too. I think it was about $25 for all you could eat. I knew some people who would work there in the summer and they were trained to serve up as much fried clams and shrimp as possible so you'd be too stuffed to eat many crabs. The average customer only ate about 4 of them. I think I did 18 once. Important tip: wash your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom. The Old Bay on your fingers will... well, you get the picture. The thing is, crabs ain't what they used to be anywhere around here as far as I've seen. I hate to sound like an old geezer, but back in my day you had to wear heavy shoes in the shower just to avoid the crabs nippin at your toes, there were so many of em. Nowadays, you could dredge the whole dang bay and only come up with a few bushels. A bushel of #1 Jimmies (jumbo males) was about $40 back in the early 80s. I think I saw them last summer for $175?!?!? Like mnebergall said, it's likely they're from the gulf, not the bay. I actually hope they're from the gulf. The bay needs time to replenish. If it ever recovers at all.

So who went? How was it? Anything scandalous happen?

Made my best salad ever the other night. Seared scallops over frisee and bacon. Made a vinagrette with some of the warm bacon drippings added to EVOO and Banyuls vinegar. Gave the scallops a squirt of lemon juice right before putting them on the salad. It was a knockout if I do say so myself.

Jinx

Yeah, breakfast!

Congratulations to all involved!

Cigars wouldn't be a problem. In fact, maybe I should get a good one for my birthday since it's a much different experience than smoking a cigarette. Also, I could inhale until I turn green and then I'd be sure to never smoke again.

Don't change anything on my account-- I just didn't want to go to somewhere like Fox&Hounds where there would be 50 cigs going at once. Not sure I can make it anyway. I'm going apt hunting up near Cleveland Park around 4, but maybe I can make it down afterwards.