hjshorter

My most desperate? The syrup from a can of peaches.

You're very welcome. That sounds like a great use for it.Last night's dinner for us was spaghetti, tossed with six kinds of heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, good French olive oil, a little wine vinegar, sea salt and pepper. We had lots of rich food on Sunday, and wanted simple and delicious last night.

I sit at the bar - in my experience the service is better for a solo diner. I used to think that way, and even instructed the bartender at my regular place to not let anyone talk to me. He made an exception one night for my husband (another regular) and it's worked out rather nicely.

I too questioned Tim's inclusion of Johnny as a "celebrity chef," but other than that, think he made many excellent points.

IMO their injera was very very good with a nice tang. The menu isn't particularly lengthy but they have a list of daily specials that all looked intriguing (the aforementioned tripe with liver was a special). I am going to deviate from Busboy and the Mrs. and say that I have had better kitfo, but Queen Makeda's version was respectable if not transcendant. The service was completely overwhelmed by the size of our party. It would be nice to go with a smaller group next time (not that there was anything wrong with the company ) and see if it improves. (ETA: punc-tu-a-tion)

Agreed, dinner was great fun, Rob is delightful, and I was especially glad to introduce some n00bs to Ethiopian food. Except it was Tuesday.

Dean, you're the best. Your humor, hard work, and generosity are unmatched here at eG. And the serious hilarity at your first pig pickin' will be with me to the end of my days. Damn, that was a good time. I look forward to having a drink with you as a civilian next time you're in DC.

That would be Jaleo, and it's only two blocks away from La Tasca. You would have had a much better meal for about the same price. In that neighborhood it's a good idea to simply avoid anything within a block of the MCI center. Right around the corner from La Tasca at 9th & G Sts. is Zaytinya, another outpost in the Jose Andres empire. Mezze, and a great selection of Greek wines.

I nabbed one of these while Charles was taking the others out to the dining room. My God.

Lightweights? I thought the rose and the cremant de Bourgogne were good choices for my spicy cakes.

Thanks, Charles for hosting a swell event. My favorite cakes were Bruce's, so you missed out. And the homemade tartar sauce was delish. Small correction: my hors d'oeuvre sized cakes were sauteed in peanut oil, not baked. "Thai" Crab Cakes (these taste like gussied-up Tod Mun): 1/2 a 3.5 ounce package of rice crackers, ground into crumbs 1 lb. jumbo lump crab 3 egg whites, beaten 2-3 hot red chilis, minced 2 shallots, minced 1/4 c. cilantro, minced 4 kaffir lime leaves, minced 2 T. fish sauce 2 T. lime juice a little mayo to bind Gently combine. Cook a small piece, then adjust seasoning if necessary. Sautee in peanut oil until golden on both sides. Makes about 2 dozen two-bite crabcakes. Cilantro-Peanut Sauce: 1/4 c. rice wine vinegar 2 T. granulated sugar 3 T palm sugar 2-3 T. fish sauce 1/2 t. crushed red pepper 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 c. finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts (unsalted) 1/2 c. cilantro, finely chopped 1/4 c. mint, finely chopped Taste for seasoning, and add up to 1/4 t. salt if necessary.

I brought six of the little guys home for Scott. They're small, but very sweet and such a bargain.

Toigo had corn this morning. I also picked up a big bag of slightly bruised peaches for chutney, and a dozen eggs and a pound of bacon from Cibola. We probably needed more, but I can restock at Penn Qtr on Thursday.

I am a eternally grateful to you for the "toast dope" formula. It's one of my favorite eGullet recipes. Looking forward to your blog this week.

Can you feel the love here, people? The Toluca Lake Bob's was also visited by the Beatles. Apparently they used to keep a plaque commemorating the visit at the table, but it was stolen so many times that they gave up. My dad tells me that the Burbank location was popular for carhop service before heading up to Mulholland Drive and "parking."

LAst weekend we drove from San Diego up to Burbank to see my cousins for the weekend. One of the highlights was Sunday lunch of a Big Boy combo and chocolate shake at the original Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Toluca Lake (est. 1949, the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in America and a designated California Point of Historical Interest. David Lynch is also a fan. ). This is the original coffee shop with naugahyde booths, giant Big Boy statue out front, carhop service, and the original Big Boy hamburger: two patties, pickles, lettuce, special sauce, cheese, and hamburger relish. (Sound familiar? The Big Mac is a complete rip-off of the Big Boy). I swear, this place has not changed since my grandmother used to take us here back in the mid-70's. Bob's merged with Marriott, and was franchised in most states, but the original is still independently owned. The clientele ranges from movie folks from the nearby studios to tattooed & bearded Hells Angel's types. I could not resist a trip to the gift shop afterwards, and we now have a Boy of our own, a smaller version of this one. Any other Big Boy fans out there?

You're in luck then, as Palena is within spitting distance of the Cleveland Park metro station on the red line. You could probably get a couple of us together to join you for a meal sometime next week, but I am unsure of the current procedures for doing so.

Sounds great! I'd be willing to host that one.

Almost to beautiful to be real, monavano. Is that Toigo corn? I've been jonesing for some the whole time we've been in San Diego. We get back tomorrow night and Thursday I'll be heading straight for the Penn Qtr market. (And I have that same platter. )

I think the "who cares?" approach works, and it's the approach we've taken with our two children. They get the occasional Happy Meal (with the apple slices and a milk) and despite the toys and the marketing almost always choose steak frites at the local bistro or homemade pizza over chicken McNuggets when they get to choose dinner.ETA: luckily, neither of my kids likes soda, and they like many different fruits and vegetables, so i know they're getting plenty of what's good for them.

Bebo has been slammed for service issues on other boards, so when a friend and I lunched there last week, I was ready to bare the claws. Bebo pleasantly surprised me. We started with two specials: the trio of vegetables (chickpeas, eggplant, and cauliflower) and the meatballs with pine nuts and raisins in a spicy tomato sauce. The chickpeas were a touch bland, and the eggplant needed a lighter hand with the balsamic. The cauliflower was the best of the lot, cooked just through and topped with bread crumbs and hot red pepper flakes. I'd order it as a side all by its lonesome. The meatballs were delicious, light and with a sweet/spicy thing going on. The pizzas were well cooked with the right amount of toppings and just enough char on the crust. They were good, but not stellar enough to tear me away from my passionate affair with Comet Ping-Pong. The Capri (tomato, mozz, oregano, basil, whole egg) sounded more exciting that it was, mostly because I was expecting the egg to be runny instead of hard cooked. Napoletana Verace (tomato, garlic, oregano, anchovies) pushed a few more of my buttons. Service in general was prompt and reasonably attentive, with a few minor bumps (got the wrong cheese, server dragged his sleeve through my friend's pizza), and one event that had us staring at each other in astonishment. Our second glasses of wine were brought over, and the wine left in the first glass was unceremoniously dumped in the with first. We looked at each other, mouths open, with a "Did I just see that?" look on both of our faces. If I want backwash in my fresh glass, I'd prefer to do the dumping myself. Chef Donna was gracious enough to chat afterwards and answer a few of our questions. He is a big, charming, charismatic guy and passionate about his food. It gave me a little insight into why he's cut so much slack in the biz. So...I'd go back. It helped that the lunch was friendly and full of good conversation, had it been a business lunch, or a date, the little service glitches might have annoyed me. Comet Ping-Pong still has my heart, but nothing about my Bebo experience would make me cross it off my list. I'd love to try some of the pastas, and a few more of the pizzas.

Damned fine looking crustaceans, Johnny. Glad you made it in safe from the storm.

Also worth the trip down - the ripe-to-bursting plums bought at Toigo this morning. I was going to make a tart, but won't have enough left after the kids are done with them.

I picked up some of Toigo's corn at Penn Qtr yesterday. Wow, it is crazy good...very sweet but still tastes like corn. I see a batch of corn relish in our future.

It's going to get harder to walk in and get a table. We got there at 5:45 last night and the place was already hopping. Fortunately the staff seems to be taking it in stride, and our service was prompt and very friendly. My sons tomato pie came out just so, and he put away the whole thing*, but the eggplant/basil/smoked mozz was missing its basil and was boring and oily rather than inspired. Carole was not there, and it seems the kitchen still needs her to turn out consistently good food. Great espresso and tin roof sundae. *He's five, so that tells you something about the size of the pizza. It seems to vary from visit to visit - last night they were on the small side.