Busboy

I'm actually pretty good with knowing how to work with a sommelier. And, if I belived that the sommelier is a good and honest person -- which I'm sure he is -- and that there exists, for every dish, a single, objective, "best " pairing, then putting myself entirely in his hands would not be a problem. But, having no faith in objective truth, and enjoying the process of negotiating, if you will, the wines, I like to come into the process with a little knowledge of my own. Why? It allows me to express what I want more precisely, and allows me to understand what he is saying more accurately. And, if you say two even reasonably smart things to a sommelier about his wines (cf point three above), or ask a couple reasonably smart questions you will get a more interesting, or perhaps even better, wine for your money. You might even get a splash or two of something special, on the house. Why? Because you communicate interest and enthusiasm and respect to the sommelier, and he or she will be see you less as a customer and more as a fellow enthusiast (not as a blood brother -- I'm not getting carried away here). So, I take what I know, flip through Bobby P. for a crash course and come away with some reasoned and nuanced impressions and opinions. But quick and dirty stuff is fun, too. I was actually trying the bring out instinct, long-held prejudices, deep-seated grudges and blind enthusiasms, too, because, what the hell, you only (me, anyway) only get to eat out on the boss so often, and you only get a few minutes a year with someone who knows Italian wines as well as this guy will. Might as well be able to pick his brains at every level. For me, that's when I learn the most and drink the best. To tell you the truth, with this crowd, the fact of a private dining room at a nationally-known restaurant, and what I assume will be spectacular service, will count far more than the food and wine as far as impressions go. We're playing for ourselves, my wife's boss (a very good guy), and the five people out of the rest who will hopefully, look up from a conversation about investment banking and say "holy shit this is good. " So, anyway, everyone should feel free to jump in if they have any advice -- even of the most shallow kind -- to offer.

Except that it's been getting a lot of play in his weekly on line discussion. It's only a block from my office; now I'll never get in. Damn!

Nah, he was from Schneider's. Isn't C-W downtown from C-C?

As long as you're out there, you might as well just swing by Eden Center for Vietnamese -- assuming you're not in the mood to settle in for a long feed at Colvin Run or 2941. And, if you are in the mood to settle in, why not just go to Tosca? 4 out of 5 Circuit City shoppers find it a "great place to blow your savings" after "buying a home entertainment system on time," and backing your purchase with "and extended parts and labor warranty."

Yes.

Cramped quarters + aggressive crowds = a good thing I don't own a hand gun. Edit to add -- and parking sucks ventworm nuts ← Not to mention that they can be incredibly snotty if you're not loading up on Grand Cru Bordeax. Even a formerly reliebale wine guy from another shop seems to have gotten a little full of himself since he's moved uptown. And I'm a little skeptical of the "bargain" wines that they display by the case. Some is and some ain't, but they always get a big push. Though, in all fairness, I have to say that the last few times I've dropped by, I've run into some new faces and they've been helpful and enthusiastic, so they may be changing. I don't mind the cramped quarters at all. Gives it a callar-like feel.

This Sunday the Missus and I will have to negotiate a wine list the size of a phone book with the sommelier -- or his designee -- of Washington's (arguably) finest Italian restaurant. We'll be doing a little woodshedding through other sources, but any quick rules of thumb that you can leave us with ("Pinot Grigio tastes like cat piss"; "Tuscans are overpriced; ________ offer similar tastes and better value;" "Prosecco is for breakfast, only") that will help us speak intelligently with the wine guy will be appreciated. There will be 30 people, most relatively unsophisticated, many will drink very little, so rather than paying per person for the sommelier to match, we'll probably be buying by the bottle. The budget is not parsimonious, but it would look good to the person who signs the bonus checks if we are not extravagent, either. It will be a multi-course tasting menu, but we will probably not match a wine to every course -- far too fussy for this crowd. Rather, we'll probably get a general-purpose white, something a little more sophisticated for the fish course, and a burly red for the meat. I know this is vague, but thanks for any general words of wisdom.

Where are you staying?

If the Creator is so interested in us being properly dressed, then why aren't we born with a coat and tie on? Next time I see your kids, I'll be sure to pass this retort on. I'd prefer, whenever possible, to not wear a coat and tie. But I will when the situation calls for it, just because you're "supposed to". ← My children need no coaching from you in the area of smartass replies; they have an innate talent for them. I have no idea where it comes from. They can wear jeans to Mass when the Pope does.

I find dressing slovenly in church even more distressing than doing so in a restaurant. As I told my children, "you should dress at least as well to speak with the Creator of the Universe as you would for a job interview." Not that they bought it, but it keeps them out of sneakers and jeans.

So, does Colorado Kitchen really have a list of rules on the table? "We were excited to go back, but were really stressed the whole time because, despite the excellent behavior of our child, the chef's rules (printed and put on the table) made clear that only perfect children are welcome. Moreover, the rules state that the restaurant does not provide crayons or paper, leading us to conclude that if we pulled out our own (which we always carry in case our son needs to be entertained) we might be ejected from the establishment for improper dining behavior. Then the statement about people who want their meat well done (might as well act like a woodchuck or something like that) on the list of rules really had as uncomfortable (although we do not like our meat well done). " That sounds spectacularly unappetizing.

Athens: the Plaka and adjoining neighborhood of Monastiraki. OK, maybe the food isn't the greatest, but if you look close, you can eat well. And if a tacqueria neighborhood is a viable destination -- and I belive it is -- so is a gyro neighborhood. Lights, some of history's most beautiful and important sites; tourists, locals, musicians, gypsies, shills; beautiful weather nine months a year; the way the locals push tables into every beautiful nook and comfortable cranny so that no seat seems like less than a movie set; an incredible energy that runs almost until dawn. And, believe me, you have no choice but to walk. Oh, yeah. It's a non-stop party every night, all year.

I only ate at Bookbinder's once, but it was one of the great meals of my life, not so much for its quality, but for it's timing. I'd been working on a broke presidential campaign in Iowa, Vermont and Pennsylvania since before Christmas. People weren't even getting paid their ten dollars a day, most money we could get hold of went for gas and beer, and besides, decent food is hard to find in rural Iowa and Vermont under any circumstances. A friend of mine was in charge of getting the palm cards for the entire state printed up; something like 4 million rectangular bits of light cardboard listing our candidate and the delegates who were supporting them, so that voters would know which downballot levers to pull (at this point, candidates for convention delegate in Pennsylvania were not grouped or identified by the Presidential candidate they were supporting. The cards came back with a pretty glaring typo, too late for a reprint. My buddy looked at the printer and said: "where I come from, this would be worth at least a dinner or two." Rather than risk losing a substantial payment, the printer took my buddy, his campaign flame, myself and a couple of other "road warriers" to dinner at Bookbinders. After months of Big Macs, microwave burritoes, Sarah Lee pastries (another story entirely) and other dreck, I found myself facing a bucket of steamers and a lobster the size of a satellite dish, both of which I polished off with an unseemly alacrity. God, they were good. Never got a chance to get back, but Bookbinders will always have a warm place in my culinary memory.

Just finished chowing down on some brandade made using a combination of Keller and the Zuni Cafe cookbook and whatever I felt like doing. I used some potato -- probably at least 2-1 cod to potato, I just added it until it looked right -- cream, garlic and olive oil. Panko strikes me as inauthentic, but the idea of frying up the cod balls remains in the back of my mind for another day. Because I couldn't find the metal blade to my food processor (and don't have a mortar) I used the plastic blade and the consistency came out pretty much perfect. Tasted pretty damn good, too, the first success in four tries. I don't know why, but I get a craving for the stuff every now and again. Given its relative rarity here in DC, it's nice to know I can whip up a batch next time I get the urge.

Excuse me, but where can you get salt cod for $4 a pound? I need to shop there. ← Inspired by this thread, I hit the bodega around the corner from my house here in DC. They had three (!) grades of salt cod; $2.99/lb; $4.99/lb (the roadkill version) and $5.99/lb -- good Nova Scotia stuff. ← I asked WHERE? Where is your corner that I could go around to get the salt cod you're getting? I'm in DC too. Don't you want to share? And you say 4.99 is the roadkill version....what's the 2.99 then? The roadkill scraped off your tires? And the 5.99 stuff...is that with skin and bones included? I deeply love salt cod, but I can usually find only fillet for about $9.00 a pound, which I still think is worth it. ← I go to the Super Saver market on Mt. Pleasant Street, just above Kenyon. The $2.99 version is thin, shingle-shaped pieces with skin on and, I believe, bones intact. It comes in a little plastic bag. The $5.99 is the same brand, but the fish has been skinned and boned, and filets seem thicker. The "roadkill" version, $4.99, is the whole fish, split, flatened and salted, as you may have seen in Italian markets. They also sell pretty good-looking salt cod at Vace Pizza, on Connecticut Ave in Cleveland Park, but I am unsure of the price.

Excuse me, but where can you get salt cod for $4 a pound? I need to shop there. ← Inspired by this thread, I hit the bodega around the corner from my house here in DC. They had three (!) grades of salt cod; $2.99/lb; $4.99/lb (the roadkill version) and $5.99/lb -- good Nova Scotia stuff. I'm sure I'll wreck the recipe again but, as the snowstorm allegedly approaches, I'm soaking the stuff in hopes of a brandade and bean soup (big -ass hambone ready to go) feast.

The Keller thing of buying $12/lb fresh cod to salt it into $4/lb salt cod and then reconstituting it as brandade strikes me as the height of artifice -- assuming you don't have the luxury, as he and I have, of picking up salt cod from a couple of different sources. Very faux peasant: "I want the authenticity of their recipes, but I find their ingredients lacking." It's like picking up an old blues number and putting strings behind it. Now that I have that out of the way, I recently had some excellent brandade here in DC, at Pesce, and it definitely had potatoes and a little bit of cream. Not a lot, mind you; you still knew you were eating salt cod. Just enough to stretch fish and cut the taste a bit, as you might imagine a someone poor enough to be living on salt cod but innovative enough to make it taste good might do. When I had Balthazar's, I thought it was way too sweet, creamy and refined. Quite edible, but lacking soul. I guess, like every other damn French (and Italian and Southern) recipe, that there are a dozen different versions of Brandade, all equally "authentic." "Skateboard prodct." I always think of it as "roadkill cod."

murkycoffee I think that qualifies.

I'm curious about who grants permission to serve Fugu. And how quickly does it poison you? How many deaths/poisonings are attributed to poorly served Fugu? Or is Fugu's deadliness just an urban legend? ← according to a program on foodnetwork , that fish can kill someone just under 5 minutes , so you wont be able to catch the ambulance , and in Japan there are still 10 -12 people passing away every year because of incorrect prepaired fugu. Also the poisoned parts must be locked in a special container and send back to the demolition zone . ← Anybody ever read T.C. Boyle's "Sorry, Fugu?" Concerns a chef with a deep dislike for a certain restaurant critic.

Keller braises beneath parchment paper lids. He says it keeps the top from getting burned/gunky and yet allows the braising liquid to reduce and concentrate. I braise beneath parchment paper lids because, before I so much as peel a carrot, I ask myself "what would Thomas do?"

I like Sam and Harry's, though it's no Ray's. Despite the name, I've never thought of Annie's as a great steak place. Last time I went to Ruth's Chris it sucked. You might try Les Halles, for the French fried take on a steakhouse, or even Bistro du Coin, though I think on an "on" night Les Halles is better and offers a larger beef selection.

Please. Manic-depression is never attractive. If you can't take a few shots from the folks on this board, you should likely stay away. Hell, I'd hesitate to get in a dustup with Landrum -- either out back by the dumpsters, or down here in the threads -- and I outweigh him by 60 pounds and a decade in the communications biz. He's a great chef and a good guy. But, if he got in my face, I'd get back in his, or apologize (as we all should, sometimes), and move on, bloodied but unbowed. On the flip side, if you've got guys like Rocks and fero taking you seriously, you should respond to the respect they've showed with a little backbone I thought you were little over the top. Hell, I suspect we all did. But, it was a pretty interesting thread for a while -- when you seemed to think you knew your shit -- and I was trying to figure out where there might be a Murky Coffee in my life. You were bragging not only about your coffee but your chops on boards much tougher than this one. Now, you're wimping out on us, on both levels. Have a cup o' joe and get back in the game. Or admit that the whole thing was a bluff.

Hey -- that was my wife! All of the people around us seemed very New York -- gay couples with supportive parents, middle aged men with tasteful piercings (odd as that may sound), older types who still wear ties to eat out. As you said, an excellent vibe throughout. (We were just to the right of the strairs, and so probably could have winged you with a bread slice, if the stuff didn't taste fo good).

Amy -- Mrs. Busboy and I must have been in the room with you. How pleased I was to hear not just the Dead, but, raw, uncut live Dead from what sounded to me like a 70's era show. They switched over to The Who just about the time our appertizers arrived. Unfortunately, we didn't enjoy the food as much as you did. Of first courses, we loved the lamb-brain raviolies, (this trip turned into something of an offal fest for us, including the brains, tongue at the Modern, trip and chicken feet at dim sum), and my wife very much enjoyed the testa, which I was a little understated to my jaded palate. The octopus seeemed a little rubbery, though. And main courses of braised shortribs and roasted pork loin felt unimpressive; the rib seemed lonely and austere, rather than rich and warm, while the thin slices of pork were just a bit rubbery. I should point out, though, that the service was as wonderful as the room is delightful, and they were able to wedge us into a table just ten minutes after we walked in, without a reservation, asking only that we return it by 9 -- giving us more than two hours for a relaxed dinner. We'll likely try it again.

So, which is the "official" Patsy's? I hesitate to get into too detailed of a pizza discussion on this board, since the level of analysis is so elevated. But, since you asked, though both crusts came out crisp and lovingly burnt, I thought the Patsy's crust was a little thin, and didn't hold its own against the cheese. Lombardi's seemed to have the better cheese, too. The Lombardi's pepperoni was excellent and there was a great deal of it, Patsy's was a little lacking in this department. Both were fine products, however.