Busboy

So, I never imagined a pork jowel could be so big, but the one I bought at the farmer's market yesterday is rather immense, two pounds of fatty pork goodness. Seems like it should be marinated, browned and braised and served atop lentils -- ie, treat it like belly -- but I am eager to hear other suggestions. Coincidentally, a friend had a slice of jowel at a dinner at the brilliant CityZen Saturday night, but beyond tatsting a small sliver and gushing over it, I made no serious notes regarding its prep. It's the best snow in four years here in DC, jowel seems like the perfect dinner on a day like this, so I'm putting myself in your hands.

On the contrary, I think Sietsema's profile is actually growing, with on-line duties and a new weekly column in addition to his reviews, "Ask Tom," a weekly chat and so on. I think his editors and readers have moved past -- for better or for worse -- his lapse in judgment.

I figured that this wasn't a bottle of $50 Cabernet if it was left corked in the fridge for three days. Go for it. I once read an article which suggested that wealthy Asians -- not a wine culture but one with plenty of new rich folks showing off (as rich people everywhere will) --were ordering $300 Bordeaux and mixing with adulterants like coca-cola. They didn't really like the wine, but it impressed their guests when they ordered it (I've heard that the same thing used to happen at New York Steakhouses, but at least the show-offs didn't mix their Screaming Eagle with coke). I was outraged! Not so much at the gaucherie of the diners, though, so much as the fact that their cumulative demand was pushing once occasionally-affordable wines into the "never again" category. And they didn't even like the stuff! On the other hand, with red Bicyclette, do what you will. They'll make more. An aside: RB is made in the Languedoc, where the decrease of French wine consumption and the increased production of cheap wines in the New World is driving growers out of business in vast numbers. It's not a wine to brag about drinking -- though I've bought it from the bodega around the corner more than once, as being a decent quaff for $7.99 -- but it's considered a huge breakthrough by the French locals who are earning a decent living from their grapes and you're contributing a bit towards saving a genuinely cool way of life. A vos sante.

It's easy to make any number of hypotheticals that allegedly prove your point and walk smugly away. (In mine, the two tables drink water and coffee, split appetizers, send things back to the kitchen relentlessly and linger for hours on end. The combined tips come to $15 over three hours and the server tips out the busboys and bartender and goes home with less than minimum wage.)Let us all take a vow to no longer do this and, instead, to make take-home top speculations based only on real numbers and week-long averages (and not hourly calculations, either, as the server who loses a shift due to low reservations may have a correspondingly higher hourly wage while being correspondingly less able to make the rent. And I still think a server who averages $120 a night over 5 six- or eight- hour shifts is the norm or slightly above average. Others in the biz (I base mine on trying to collect money owed from my son) are welcome to welcome to provide closer estimates. ← Fair enough I guess I got carried away. My intended point was to show that two similar tables ordering an equal number of dishes are paying quite different amounts for their service for no reason that I can understand. ← True enough. But, my experience as a waiter and a diner suggest that, despite some statistical outliers, most people spend about the same money at the same time in the same restaurant, and demand the same effort. I think people figure roughly what they want to spend and then go to a place where they can get a decent meal for that amount. In my mind, for example I kind of have "as cheap as possible" (ethnic, bar) "bistro," "decent place" ($22 entree, $35 wine) "nice place" (God help you). While each level boasts their cheapskates and their big spenders, most folks seem to end up close to the mean.

I'm sure a cultured gentleman like yourself appreciates the sad shape of today's youth when Mt. Pleasant Group House, rather than boasting harDCore bands in the basement and blasting DisChord on the porch, feature bands of bloggers watching bad TV. No wonder Ian McKaye never comes 'round the Raven no more. Sadly, I'm to old to move to Petworth where the next generation is selling their couch to buy their next guitar. But I'm passing the torch to Busboy junior, who already wears his first tattoo. Someone on another board suggested that they were surprised at the quality of Sietsema's prose stylings on the Ubuntu piece -- I know you don't care for him but I have to agree, it was a good piece and nicely put together. And, made for a nice balance (for me, anyway) with the naval-gazing piece about the naval-gazers down the street from my house. Years ago we used to live in places like Mt. Pleasant to get away from those people. But, again, an interesting piece, or at least a very Washington one. To your larger question, though -- I wonder, with everyone reading and writing 12 or 15 blogs or websites or on-line New York Times a day, has the big thrill that the slap of the newspaper on the morning steps and fresh feel of section F over coffee and toast used to bring grown a little less special?

It's easy to make any number of hypotheticals that allegedly prove your point and walk smugly away. (In mine, the two tables drink water and coffee, split appetizers, send things back to the kitchen relentlessly and linger for hours on end. The combined tips come to $15 over three hours and the server tips out the busboys and bartender and goes home with less than minimum wage.)Let us all take a vow to no longer do this and, instead, to make take-home top speculations based only on real numbers and week-long averages (and not hourly calculations, either, as the server who loses a shift due to low reservations may have a correspondingly higher hourly wage while being correspondingly less able to make the rent. And I still think a server who averages $120 a night over 5 six- or eight- hour shifts is the norm or slightly above average. Others in the biz (I base mine on trying to collect money owed from my son) are welcome to welcome to provide closer estimates.

The easy go-to is Ray's the Steaks, just opened in its new location. If you like steak (and red wine). As for casual -- the (im)proprietor has been known oversee his operation in flip-flops, a Hawaiian shirt and several days worth of stubble. Any further guidance? Where are you located, how much do you want to travel, what do you have a taste for? Georgetown, Alexandria, Falls Church (Vietnamese ground zero) are all "around Arlington."

Hah. We (DC) have a single block with seven Ethiopian restaurants. Denver actually has some decent Ethiopian out along Colfax, if you ever find yourself out there.

You're clearly just rationalizing your own cheapness, and it's a little sad. More to the point, what's the difference between you leaving a tip and having menu prices be 20% higher? Why is one more honest, moral and legal than the other? At the French Laundry, they build an 18% service charge into the menu. It certainly didn't make my meal and less expensive or more enjoyable. Save a small handful of tourists and rubes, everyone in America knows that a tip is expected. Your refusal to leave one is intellectually dishonest and your attempt to wrap yourself in a higher cause ludicrous.

Boy, I never worked at a place -- from saloon to formal French -- where the wait staff didn't work clearing tables, serving coffee, fetching drinks until long after the cooks had gone home, one by one, as the last orders passed from salad to dessert (or, in the saloons, the last bacon cheeseburger went out). There also those slow shifts designed entirely to have the waiters come in and make $20 in tips while cleaning the glass and mirrors, scrubbing the bar coolers, spritzing the chairs etc. Better to have the waiters clean up at $2.85 than have to pay a dishwasher actual minimum wage. Also, I think (with Katie) part of this argument is based on an inflated sense of what servers make. Certainly the relative handful of servers working in the relative handful of high-end, expensive places around the country do very well. But I'd wager that the majority of servers in America (and leaving out diner waitresses and bartenders and beer-and-a-shot roadhouses who'd skew the sample) average less than $125 a shift take-home (and god help you if you pull a lunch shift) and have no paid vacation, sick leave, benefits or health care. Finally, more to the point, not get all Wobbly or anything but it pains me to hear the FOH and BOH get into these arguments because, in truth, you're all in the same boat and a little bit of solidarity is not what is needed, rather than allow management to arouse class resentment, divide and conquer. Even the twinkie whose only talent is her tits is not the enemy, it's a system which fails to recognize, promote and back others with more appropriate skills who is to blame. Lte's see some red armbands out there! I suggest a grand conclave this May Day will all factions coming to the table to hammer out a reasonable platform including a service charge-based system, seniority rights, apprenticeships designed to weed out the twinkies (or at least) bring them up to a level of competence) before they deviate their septums and/or sleep with a manager, and having Jackal10's visa revoked. Remember: hip restaurant patrons are disproportionately leftists: we can do for restaurant workers what we did for the Patagonian Toothfish!

Can't guarantee it but I'll wager that they sell woks at Great Wall. You might also consider wandering around Eden Center and seeing what you can find -- even if you don't come up with a wok you can get a great meal and a year's supply of Asian staples while you're there. (Hint: Song Que for their Bahn Mi).

Spider Steak. Scroll down to the post # ending 841.

Sadly, Les Halles is no more. Rent dispute, we are told. A lot depends on how you define a $40 dinner. For two courses and a glass of wine, you're on shaky but doable ground if you want above-average food. If that has to cover tax and tip, you're we'll into the realm of ethnic (not plentiful in that neighborhood -- Full Kee in Chinatown, maybe) and mediocre. Most of these places have on-line menus, so you can see for yourself what feels right. I like Cafe du Parc which, I notice, has a $35 3-course Bretonne menu that looks well worth the expenditure (they also do very well with inexpensive wines). If you just want to kick back with a quality burger on white linen tableclothes, the Old Ebbit Inn is a Washington classic and matches saloon attitude with a certain gaslit panache. They have more than burgers, but the food and wine list are more competent than exceptional. Fun room, excellent bar, known for their oysters. The Occidental Grill has a similar vibe, slightly more expensive and slightly better food. If you can go a little higher -- and walk a little further (Rasika and Proof are about 7 blocks from the hotel) -- you might consider Rasika, arguably the best Indian in the city and in a very hip space. Checking the menu, it looks like you could come in close to budget with very little scrimping. And I had an excellent meal the other night at Proof. Three people, two courses, two cocktails and a bottle of $36 ( steal) Savennieres came to $177 after tax but before tip. If you're not a big eater you could easily make a meal of two apps and still have budget room for that Savennieres. Also, if you move quickly, (and vote Dem) you can see the original of the Obama "Hope" poster immediatly across the street -- as well as a lot of other excellent art -- at the Museum of American Art (closes at 7), just inside the entrance, to the left. And there's always Jaleo for tapas. Oh -- a lot of people like Matchbox for pizza, mini-burgers and the like. Have fun! PS: There is a basketball game at the Verizon Center which is likely to affect seating at at lot of these places until just after 7:00 PM tip-off. PPS: I just got the Washingtonian "100 Best" restaurants in DC issue and all of the above, save Matchbox and Old Ebbit, make the cut.

Geez - given their dad's uber-healthy aproach to eating, I'm sure Sasha and Malia will be dining on steamed vegetables and fresh fruit soon enough. Let them have a day just to eat for fun -- and a fine round-up of patriotic, non-elitist American foods it was. Nothing could be more appropriate than burgers and pizza on Inauguration Day! And, twenty years around kids leads me to suggest that it's a rare child indeed who will abandon pizza for a fruit plate. I think the main problem with this menu was a lack of Tater Tots.

At my son's elitist private Washington high school, parents catered lunch twice a year, apparently a holdover tradition from when the school was much smaller. We tended to bring in Ethiopian as a low-expense change of pace, though once we did try for pizza (a sleet storm closed the school so we had to cancel 50 pizzas at the last minute). My daughter's more proletarian Catholic school has some horrid caterer, so we try to get her to brown bag as often as possible, an option she doesn't much care for unless there are quality leftovers in the fridge.

We're hosting a pot-luck, the centerpiece of which will be an elitist cassoulet and maybe arugula. In fact, you can probably tell that my peer group is a bunch of leftists just by looking at the vegetarian-heavy menu that appears to appearing organically as the e-mails pass around. I could walk down to the parade if I was feeling masochistic (my wife would finish the beans) but I think I'd rather just sleep in and stay warm. A century or two ago I did the whole thing -- swearing in, "best Restaurant in town" (Jean-Louis), inaugural ball, drinking at a dive bar until 4AM in my tuxedo -- so I feel pretty good about sitting this one out. Maybe I'll go down for Bruce, though.

We'll miss you. I don't know where you're staying or how long, but taking the Green Line north to Columbia Heights/Petworth is both the road less traveled and one likely to drop you near a decent (and decently-priced) meal and/or beer.

In contrast to the esteemed Mr. Talbott, I've always found the place a bit overrated. Not bad, mind you, but not up to the accolades it generally receives. On the other hand, if you're there with friend you can go through about half the menu, so you are bound to find something extra tasty -- and I've never actually had an unlikeable dish there. If you get tired of the crowds, drop my digs for some cassoulet on the Day Of. And there's a couple of spots off the beaten track that should more comfortable than the downtown scene if you don't mind traveling a bit: Red Derby (dive); La Molienda (Salvadoran); Moroni Brothers (Salvadoran and wood fired pizza); Hitchin' Post (soul food). And, of course, don't forget the Ethiopians. And you can borrow my cummerbund if you lose yours.

Speaking of French, we're having cassoulet at my house. Just the thing after a cold 12 hours waiting for the motorcade to roll by.

Sometimes you just don't like stuff. I can't for the life of me figure out why people pay for caviar or high-end grappa. I do like cassoulet, though. Maybe you should try mine and see if you come 'round to it.

Cool. You do realize that it will be 2-ish before you can get there from the swearing in (by my best guess).

I'm guessing that you're slightly insane for even looking for a restaurant lunch on Inauguration Day. If you can come up with a couple of bottles of sick Chateauneuf-du-Pape you can come to my house for cassoulet. Otherwise I'd see if there are any tables at Johnny's Half Shell or Bistro Bis. If you're going to be towards the House side, think Montmartre over by Eastern Market. The best idea might be top flee the Hill and hunt up La Chaumiere in Georgetown. Or just go to the Tune Inn for flat Budweiser cheap burgers. Best of luck.

So, I've got a recipe for boudin blanc (not in front of me, sadly) but I'm thinking of adding either duck liver or foie gras and maybe some truffles and I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts. Sauce suggestions welcomed, as well.

I believe it was about 12 pounds -- seven ribs. We started at 525 and then turned it down to 350.

We did a humungous roast for Thanksgiving and, as I recall, it came out of the oven at about 125 and may have crept up to almost 130. We were worried that we'd left it in a bot too long, but it was pretty much perfectly cooked. We also left the roast our for about 4 hours beforehand, to get the internal temperature up, which lead to an incredibly evenly cooked roast.