Joe H

http://www.chowhound.com/boards/intl4/messages/17143.html is the link to a post of mine from January of 2003. This is about two restaurants: Baldin (Gambero Rosso 50 for food) and La Fournace di Barbiblu mentioned above. The latter is the most interesting, fascinating/romantic/enchanting (pick an adjective) of any restaurant that I have been to in fifty + years of eating my way through Europe. You should go. It has a Michelin star and you will be dining, literally, in a 2000 year old Roman furnace. If you do go please post here or on Chowhound your thoughts.

The Wal Mart that was bulldozed was 60,000 square feet. This Wegmans is the largest in their chain at 130,000. It's ludicrous to compare this to Wal Mart. No, there is no romance associated with it and it will hurt a number of other grocers and small businesses. But Wegmans has raised the bar forcing Giant, Whole Foods, Sutton Place and others to look at their own stores to try and hold onto market share. And yes, the international is weak. Weak if you're comparing it to Super H or a market dedicated to a particular ethnic group, say Indian or Hispanic. And yes, they don't carry tasso. (But they do have two kinds of Italian proscutto sliced to order along with Serrano.) They also carry the best hot dogs of any market in D. C. along with kummelweck rolls; in fact their bread is second only to the Bread Line (has anyone noted their wood burning bread oven?). I suspect a lot of criticism for this store is coming from people that don't live anywhere near it and are forced to shop at a D. C. Safeway or Giant along with five other markets to suppliment them. Wegmans may not have the corn I can find in Upper Montgomery County in July or the tomatoes in Richmond but its produce is more complete and on par in quality to Whole Foods. There are reasons why the 1,500 car parking lot is filled on Saturdays and Sundays and half filled on weekdays. This store is ahead of their Pittsford store in sales volume and on track to be the #1 grossing grocery store in America. There are reasons for this.

The problem with Corduroy is that the food is very good, in fact much better than what one would expect for most hotel restaurants. Still, this is the problem: it is on the second floor of a rather nondescrpt middle of the road hotel and feels, for all the world, exactly like what I go out of my way to avoid in travelling over 100 days a year, i.e. a hotel restaurant designed for business travellers who want a quick, dependable meal. I went there about a year ago with several friends and was pleased with what we were served. Still, I haven't returned and haven't even considered returning. There' just nothing special about the ambience. It's a vanilla type of restaurant in what could be any city's Holiday Inn. My real feeling is that there is real talent in the kitchen and he is wasting himself in this location. Take this same food, the same presentations on the plate and put them into a room with a bit of personality and flair and this chef is worthy of being nominated for a James Beard award. Serious. He is THAT good. But at Corduroy he is biding time until another offer comes along in my opinion.

Bilrus, something very similar happened to me about a year ago at the Harris Teeter in Ballston. Someone literally removed a half dozen or so things from my cart and the many items they were carrying were dumped into it. My guess is that they picked up far more than they had expected and were really struggling to hold everything. This is how I noticed them. Anyway, I was furious. I noticed that they placed a bottle of red wine in the cart. I went back upstairs (two floor store) and picked up a bottle of first growth from the Eurocave they have. I think it was about $80.00. I went back downstairs and, when they left the cart alone for a minute, I switched the cheap bottle they had with the $80.00 bottle-label down so they wouldn't notice. I suppose when they checked out the mistake was caught but I'm still laughing about it!

Wonderful website. Thank you very much! I'm only now beginning to explore it.

They don't travel as much as there is a very heavy bias towards New York. As for Chinois I believe this is as much for its history as for its current excellence. Remarkably this is a restaurant that still is very popular even though it must be 20 or so years old. They still do some of their dishes better tha anywhere else that I've found. (i.e. Szechuan beef, lobster, tuna carpaccio) If there is any justice in the world Fabio will win at Maestro; he should have won last year when he was nominated in the same category.

Some of the Gucci outlets are real bargains: I bought two heavy Loro Piana cashmere sweaters for US $240 a year ago that sold for US $650 in Florence, perhaps double that in the States. I did not know about Carlo Fagiani-thank you! I will stop in this fall. I have also not been to Tre Vassalle but will also try it. Returning from Deruta to Florence we stopped at Il Postale (out of the way) but it was superb and a relative bargain for what they served. Thank you again for the recommendations-they are appreciated.

Both the Black Olive and Charleston are excellent by any standard. Charleston, especially, is a real credit to the city of Baltimore.

'98 Valpolicella is 39 Euros at Dal Forno, the '97 Amarone 125 Euros, Recioto 80 Euros and the Nettare severely limited. His Valpolicella in the states (baxsed on two bottles I have had in the past three months) is NOT as good as that which I brought back or drank there. Further, it starts at $70 and, if you can find it, most places charge north of $100. Quintarelli is also excellent although I favor Dal Forno. My apologies I really thought that Mimmo sold his steak; perhaps an assumption on my part since Mimmo's was perhaps better than Sostanza's! He's also a wonderful gentleman as is his wife. They have shipped to me directly in the U. S. and I cannot say enough about them. We wife and I stop there about every year on vacation and I've stopped off several other times as part of business trips. You mentioned shopping. I am more obsessed than any human being you have ever met. Well, probably more obsessed! Are you speaking only of wine, or are you including things like Deruta, the various outlets at different levels (i.e. Prada, Zegna, Biella, Brioni'soutlet), etc.?

You MUST have reservations for Four and Twenty Blackbirds-brunch or dinner. It's well worth the trip; in fact if it were on K Street it would be on par with Kinkead's or Vidalia.

I should have noted that Fabio flies in Tenuta Castello's artisinal Vialone Nano preferring it over Ferron's whose restaurant I have also been to south of Verona. This is the same arborio that Massimiliano uses at Rubano's Le Calandre. Coincidentally he and Fabio are 29, he, Michelin's youngest three star chef ever. Fabio, for a many of his dishes, IS Massimiliano's equal. If someone elects the Winter prix fixe and includes these and perhaps two others Maestro now offers an overall experience worthy of three Michelin stars. I believe Fabio is where Keller was in his second year at the French Laundry: one national magazine or newspaper article short of challenging for recognition as America's best restaurant. He will win the Beard award for rising star chef this year. He is that talented. Maestro, is a serious, world class restaurant that has matured from even its spectacular opening. Citronelle and Laboratorio are superb also. But I suspect that Maestro, for $125 is serving that which they should be charging $175 or more for. They have the Ritz to suppliment them. Roberto does not and I am guessing that Michel does not benefit from the small hotel either. I believe for our dinner the prix fixe should have been $200 + wine, tax and tip. Not the $125 we were charged.

I've eaten in a" helluva lot of restaurants" throughout the U. S. and Europe which includes, maybe, 75 to 100 starred restaurants in a number of countries over the past 25 years. I've also eaten ribs, fried chicken, pizza, chicken tikka masala, ice cream and bratwurst everywhere I can where they are suppose to be exceptional. And, Mark, yes, both of these dishes are on par with anything that Robuchon or Girardet put on the table for the first and the risotto was worthy of winning Gallo's Il Risotto Dell'Anno.

Yes, it's the $125 which is seven courses plus several amuse and a pre dessert fora total of ten. But it's their "winter" prix fixe which they introduced about the first of the year. The taleggio risotto and chestnut soup are new dishes included as choices for this.

BackwardsHat: have you had the Winter prix fixe at Maestro? In particular the chestnut soup with langoustine and the tallegio risotto? They are extraordinary and among the best dishes served in any restaurant on earth. Fabio also does a superb foie gras. You might have some interest in these photographs: http://dell.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b34becf045a2 The thread that accompanies them is: http://www.chowhound.com/midatlantic/board...ages/32482.html This was an extraordinary 14 course, five hour + dinner at Maestro in February that I organized.

The Inn at Little Washington is nowhere near as difficult to make a reservation at, even on Saturdays. Ten years ago this was perhaps in league with The French Laundry but not any more. I would suggest that you could get in on Saturday even at the last minute. As their prices have risen (prix fixe is now $150 for friday and Sautrday with a $300 suppliment for the chef's table-all for four courses plus two amuse) the quality of other restaurants in the Washington area have dramatically risen. I believe Maestro, Citronelle and Laboratorio all to be superior to The Inn today. While they lack the sumptuous luxury their cuisine is more imaginative and, for Maestro and Citronelle, innovatively presented. My main criticism about The Inn is that it has not grown over the past ten years. Excellence is unquestionably there but Patrick O'Connell has stood still. Hopefully Tom Sietsema's statement that it had three stars-NOT four-inspired him to return to the level he was once on. Laboratorio is probably D.C.'s toughest reservation along with Maestro on Friday and Saturday night. Obelisk and L'Auberge Chez Francois also compete for popularity. But the overall most difficult reservation, even among the most difficult in America, is Patowmack Farm in Lovettsville which books up in early July for weekends well into October. This is D. C.'s version of Eiginsinn Farm and it is extraordinary.

There's only one problem with the article about McDonald's fries: it's inaccurate. The taste of their french fries changed forever in 1966 when they stopped using fresh potatoes AND stopped using a mixture that included 70% animal fat. Additionally the russet potatoes he mentioned we not only sliced in house but the skin was left on, they were blanched and then hung in a basket overnight. Even before this happened the potatoes were stored in a dark room for up to two weeks. The 93% beef tallow mixture may have influenced taste in 1990 but the pre 1990 potatoes tasted NOTHING like the pre 1966 french fries which James Beard and the others raved about. Those potatoes were still available at McDonald's #1 in Des Plaines (that's Ray Kroc McDonald's #1 not the original in San Bernadino) until about 1981 along with their original shakes and fresh meat on their burgers. This was kpt as sort of a museum store with the original food until then. (Today, Downey, CA is their museum store including a building with numerous photographs and the actual recipe for the potatoes along with a series of photos for how they were made.) Anyway, there is ONE PLACE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH WHERE YOU CAN STILL GET MCDONALD'S ORIGINAL FRENCH FRIES: Dick's Drive In in Spokane, Washington. This is NOT connected to the Seattle Dick's. Simply, in the late 1950's, Dick's owner was turned down for a McD franchise, went to southern CA for a month where he worked in a McD, returned to Spokane and opened his own fast food restaurant which today is the second highest grossing independent fast food restaurant in America. USA Today did a big feature on it a number of years ago. I've been to it three times and the shakes and the fries are identical but not the hamburgers which he told me changed for some reason. But he freely admits that they are the same french fries and laughs that the McDonald's down the street from him does a fraction of his business.

Enoteca Baldi is a SUPERB wine shop in Panzano with only a smal fraction on their shelves. Ask to tour their cellar which is where most of their stock is. Their prices are better than anywhere in Florence. The owner, Mimmo, also owns a trattoria, Vescovino, which serves the same bisteca sold in Panzano's famous butcher shop. Arguably, this along with Sostanza in Florence, is the best bisteca fiorentina in Italy. In Florence the largest wine shop, not just in Florence, but also among the two or three largest in all of Italy, is Alessi. It IS expensive. But they have everything including Avignonesi Vin Santo, Dal Forno Amarone and Masseto. All of these are horribly expensive. They are also virtually impossible to find in America and one or two bottles brought back and put away for five or more year (ten or more with the amarone) would be a great way to celebrate the memory of your trip when you bought it. A note about the Euro: given the current rate of exchange, depending on the wine shop that you buy the wine in, the wine may actually cost 80 to 90% as much as here. In some cases, remarkably, Costco is CHEAPER here for some wines that actually buying them in Italy. This is because of the exchange rate they paid as well as their margin. In general less expensive wines, as you mentioned, in Italy are still a fair bargain. But I travel to Italy three or four times a year on business and ALWAYS brought back at least 12 bottles of wine on trips, taking advantage of both selection and price. Now I bring back three or four. Look for Sportoletto, a superb Umbrian similar to a Super Tuscan and fairly priced. Dal Forno Valpolicella is a fantastic wine, about 50 Euros in a store and worth every penny.

Maureen, I'm curious why you maintain that MacArthur's selection is so much more extensive than C/W? Perhaps on the shelves in the store but C/W has, I believe, far more in their basement than MacArthur has stored in back. Both also have stock elsewhere but I would not be surprised if C/W's overall sales volume is double or more that of MacArthur. Regardless, they are both superior stores and we are fortunate to have them as well as Schneider's and several others. State Line in Elkton, Maryland is also a superb store. Their stock is probably comparable to anyone in the D. C. area. Philadelphia Magazine has annually awarded them the title of "best wine shop in the greater Philly area." They are known there as "smugglers' wines." I have a half dozen trips a year to Germany on business each year, always bringing back at least six or more bottles of wine. When the Euro was weaker I would even bring back as much as a case or more on each trip! Still, it is frustrating that there is so little available here. I think most Americans have no idea just how good German wine-even German red wine-can be. For that matter most Americans have no idea what German food in the better restaurants is like.

How can Fabio be listed for best chef and Maestro NOT be listed for best fine dining restaurant?

Only nine courses are listed-was this a Smithsonian dinner which is different from the usual 12 course dinners and not on the same level? Having hosted a dinner for 30 in early November I am quite surprised since Laboratorio is literally one of the finest Italian restaurants in the world. This is the link to 74 comments about my Chowhound dinner: http://www.chowhound.com/midatlantic/board...ages/27249.html There are also many photographs of the dinner including this one: http://dell.shutterfly.com/my/slide2.jsp?a...d6fa65fe&idx=33 There are a total of 48 photos which you can view starting with this. The first post is actually critical since they had a "vegetarian" meal. The other 29 did not and every single one of them thought it a great meal as well as a fantastic experience. Additionally I've had six dinners at Laboratorio over the past 18 months and every one was exceptional. As for coming by the tables Roberto does not do this. At some dinners there were often diners standing, wine glass in hand, by the counter where he plates the food. I've also, for two years, promoted table #7 since you can talk to him just as if he is cooking for you personally. But, I've never seen him walk to any of the tables. It is not his style. I am sorry if you were disappointed. But on every one of my visits Laboratorio has been a superb, world class experience with exemplery service including exceptional wine service.

Why is anyone surprised that there are places outside of New York, Trenton, Philly and Boston that have exceptional pizza? Old Forge is no different than Providence, Racine, Wisconsin, Dayton, OH or even St. Louis. For someone from who grew up in these towns their local pizza is something they never forget. I started a thread on Chowhound with about forty places listed around the country that are world class including Arcaro and Genell's in Old Forge. Coincidentally they have a 2 X 3 foot clipping on the wall from USA Today proclaiming their white pizza one of America's best. It is. But Old Forge pizza has a unique taste just as twenty five miles down the road in Forty Fort you'll find Pizza Loven and the Victory Pig with their own unique taste. So does Imo's in St. Louis as well as several places in Dayton. Caserta's in Providence is great by any standard, certainly in league with De Lorenzo's which most New Yorkers have never heard of. Of course someone in Wilkes Barre has not heard of Grimaldi's, John's, Lombardy's and, when visiting Manhattan probably went to one of the many wrong Ray's. If anyone on here travels through northeastern PA I suggest stopping and looking through the local yellow pages. My guess is that Old Forge along with Racine, Wisc. have more pizza joints per 100 of population than anywhere else in America. White pizza at Arcaro and Genell's. Not the red. But understand that while the white is really delicious it is going to be different from what you probably expect. It has nothing in common with, say, Pepe's white clam pizza nor a white pizza n the baordwalk in Seaside Heights. Still, in it's own way, as USA Today noted, it is unique, locally famous and certainly "one of America's best pizzas."

U. S. Tobacco, huh? Having quit smoking 15 years ago and as a belligerant non smoker (I hate myself for having smoked so long) this Really is an excellent reason not to drink St. Michelle. Would you be interested in trading some "small production burgundy" for some, say, Leonetti?

Mark, there's a different perspective on this from, say, MacArthur. To me the value of the D. C. Wine Expo, other than public drunkeness and learning that it is no longer necessary to apologie for spitting out wine in public, is that I'll leave with a half dozen wines in the $10 to $20 range that I can buy. Many of these, if not most, I might not have tasted otherwise. Sicilian, South African, Chilean (carmeniere) and Australian come to mind. I don't expect to taste Dal Forno but my hope is to find another Shotfire Ridge, Morambro Creek, Marquis Phillips or Forefathers (just using Australian as an example). Plus it's a really enjoyable affair overall despite its cattle pen like ambience. There are some wineries selling huge volumes of wine that still, dollar for dollar, have a decent product: Chateau St. Michelle merlot, Chateau Souverain 2000 Cab (about $12 a bottle at Total), Sebastiani 2000 Cab (under $10 with discounts at Total), Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre (about $14 with discounts at Total), Franciscan 2000 Cab ($14 at Total) and so forth. I sort of view these as foundational wines in a cellar, if you will. They suppliment a whole host of wines that I'll find, hear about, look interesting, etc. But any of these mass produced wines with two or three years of bottle age improve somewhat. '97 Allegrini Palazzao is really delicious right now as is '99 Souverain Merlot. They don't take the place of the small producers-of course not-but they fill a need. (On reflection while I haven't considered it, I suspect that many smaller producers may be threatened by large conglomerates, whether leveraging them for price, competition for shelf space and so forth. As I type this I am seeing another perspective that I really hadn't considered-so many smaller, special producers may be squeezed out from an ever shrinking market.) Wasn't there something like 18,000 cases of Parker 100 points/WS 100 pts 2000 Lafite @$450 + per bottle? Having said all this there is a romance in wines such as the above mentioned Dal Forno that is truly special. My wife and I met him and tasted four of his wines from the barrel (2000 and 2001 Valpolicella and Amarone). This was a highlight of a lifetime of pursuing food and wine. Spending several hours with him and his family and spending 30 minutes fighting the busses at Mandovi are two entirely different experiences. One a treasured and special memory (and a taste that I still have in the back of my mouth!) and the other simply a "fun" time. But I do believe there is a place for both of them. Having said all this he inscribed a bottle of his '97 Amarone for my retirement. It is his wine that I will open on that day.

You will learn how many aspirin it will take to ease a serious hangover along with about 15,000 others-EACH day. It's by far the biggest deal of the year within 200 miles of here.

Beans and I are making the same point: correct wine service regardless of the cost of the bottle adds to the price. Restaurants make value judgments that having to add this can discourages someone from ordering wine or even give what may be the false impression that the restaurant overcharges. Frankly, there are two few restaurants here or anywhere that have consistently good wine service. For that matter how many sommeliers really do a proper decanting of a better bottle? I would suggest there's only a handful in the area. Personally, my wife and I went to Il Desco in Verona three years ago and I ordered a bottle of '97 Solaia which was one of the most expensive bottles i've ever ordered in a restaurant. At the time it was 200 Euros or around $175 then. But I really wanted to try it, it was a vacation, it was the Wine Spectator wine of the year and going for $300 here on wine commune, so I said to hell with it. It was served at room temperature (no storage) and the waiter uncorked the bottle and filled both of our glasses. Then he walked away. I sat there with my mouth open! Remembers, Rocks, this was a restaurant with two Michelin stars! I was so mad that I found the manager and complained. Still, a bottle like this and service like this for '97 Solaia. Anyway, the wine show this weekend at the new convention center will have the lowest price of the year for Eurocaves. I bought one there last year and, incredibly, there was a line 20 to 30 minutes long waiting to spend $2,000! Still this was about $500 or 600 lower than their best catalogue price of the year and it also included shipping. (Retails for over $4000) I love it, absolutely love it. I'm even thinking of a second one since I'm up to 600 bottles. But you should really consider something like this. I completely understand your point about taste nd temperature.