sara

Yes, the ice cream place was Max's. The yellowtail and toro were both exceptional. Every time. Honestly, I wish I could go to Sushi Ko right NOW! When you're not feeling good, Japanese food heals all things, or so I hear. Let's get them to start opening for lunch.

Hi We are planning to go to Hugo's, but a couple of days later, when we're staying in Boothbay and will do a day trip.

Hi We'll be spending one night in Portland ME on July 30. We're planning to have dinner at Fore St, but would appreciate a hotel recommendation (reasonably priced and clean) and a breakfast/brunch recommendation for that Saturday morning. Thanks!

I've been frequenting Sushi Ko lately...The first time, my friends and I brought a Red Burgundy and a White Burgundy with us to compare. I apologize for the lack of specifics here, I don't have my notes anymore, which really sucks. My memory of the meal, however, is that I felt the red went better with the hot plates--such as the eel, while the white burgundy was a spectacular complement with Koji's sashimi. Maybe my palate just hadn't adjusted to red wine with sushi, since I usually have a glass of riesling or sake. It's certainly an interesting way to go tho--and not at all widely known, even in the area around Sushi Ko--for example, we bought our wine at Calvert Woodley, and none of the men helping us there had heard of pair red burgundy with sushi, they were quite skeptical of us. Although, I've heard from Don Rocks that one of the women who works there knows of what Sushi Ko is doing. Anyways, I'm hooked on Sushi Ko and will report after my next sampling of their red burgundies (won't bring my own next time). ps. Just took a look at the dishes Fat Guy had again; I also had the same eel dish, and the flounder. The flounder, in particular, I found more comfortable with the white burgundy. But then again, maybe it really is a comfort thing. I'll bust out of that mold, for sure!

Liam and I went back for more on Friday night. This time we sat at the sushi bar, but not directly in front of Koji, since those seats weren't available when we arrived. We enjoyed the same wonderful food, but lacked the conversation with Koji, which was actually ok this time because we were both pretty tired. We had the wild mushroom soup to start (lots of different woodsy shrooms in there, nice), and the seaweed salad. We then had the chef's sashimi plate, which was slightly different this time, with some escolar, and young yellowtail (I think that's what it was), giant clam, toro, scallop, and a few other pieces. Fabulous assortment, all incredibly delicious. We then had the grilled baby octopus, which were perfectly cooked and lovely in their marinade, and the lobster with uni butter on a bed of spinach (we both still prefer our lobstahs on the dock, but this was a nice, very very rich, dish). And we finished off with the eel/tamago/ avocado roll and uni sashimi. Liam had a glass of red burgundy he wasn't fond of, and I had green tea. Total bill was $80. Our sushi chef, while not Koji, was very polite and also interesting to watch--he had some great knife skills too. Our waitress remembered us from before, and was very prompt with clearing dishes, taking orders, etc, and allowing us some quiet space, even tho we were at the sushi bar. The place was empty when we arrived at 6, and quite full when we left at 7:45. We followed up dinner with awesome ice cream at that place across the street (Matthew's?)--mexican vanilla and dulche de leche. Yum. I am now pretty convinced this the best sushi in the DC area; definitely for the price point, and possibly overall. Haven't done Makoto, but I'm not feeling inspired to, since Koji is meeting all my sushi needs!

I generally do agree. Not bringing something on a restaurant's wine list is a bit hard to do if the list isn't online, but yeah, I think it's ok to put the responsibility on the patron to call ahead and be sure. That said, I think it's ok to bring a varietal that the restaurant has plenty of on its wine list--e.g. bringing a Red Burgundy to Sushi Ko. ps. Just got schooled by Don on the fact that Red Burgundy isn't a varietal, it's pinot noir. I stand corrected!

Word. (ha!) Yeah, I kinda think it's somewhat reflective of a boy's relationship to his mother. If you're used to being treated like crap, then being treated that way won't surprise/upset you that much. BUT, if mommy dearest doted on you, and always made you your fave meals and served it exactly how you liked it, then you expect the same, ALWAYS. Oh, I know I'm gonna take some flack for saying that, but I think it's true. I am always so pleasantly surprised when I get good, or great, service (i.e. when Jared cut the crusts off my bread at Nectar) that it's like a huge bonus--but I never expect it or feel entitled to it. Maybe that says more about me, the customer, tho, huh? That said, I do feel entitled to respect--outright disrespect from a server is something different...Again, reference my sexist experience at Salt.

Hi We're going to the Cape for one night on July 3. We're looking for a restaurant that is open relatively late (we won't arrive before 8:30 pm), and is no more than 20-30 minutes from Centerville. Seafood, good food, is preferable. Any recommendations? Thanks!

It's nice to be excited again about a neighborhood restaurant. The review definitely got us going, and we'll be out there as soon as possible to try out that bistro menu--and possibly more importantly, those cocktails!

Some amendments and additions to my list: Melrose allows corkage Sunday nights only. Saveur allows it on Tuesdays. Caucus Room is Friday and Saturday nights only.

Didn't offend at all. Of course I wouldn't bring food in and ask the chef to cook it for me! But at a restaurant, the chef is creating the food. The sommelier, sorry Mark, isn't MAKING the wine, he's creating the list and serving it sure, but it's not the same thing. A chop is different, cooked at home or at a restaurant. The bottle of wine is the same. The price is the only difference. And the wine glasses.

Went to Sea Catch on Valentines Day 6 years ago and will never go back. VERY overpriced (even tho I wasn't paying), highly mediocre food, condescending service (towards me as a younger woman), and the weirdest part is that it seemed be THE place for much much older men to take their very young dates on V Day (I was the exception, with a date only 4 yrs older than me). That freaked me out, turned me off, etc. That said, I'm not currently recommending Kinkeads as an alternative. For good seafood at a lower price I'd say Johnny's Half Shell.

There is nothing wrong with Old Town. If you go there, definitely try the Blue Point Grill (next to the Sutton Place Gourmet) and knock yourself out on a truly fresh and varied raw bar, excellent seafood, and totally charming & efficient service. A true fine dining experience.

This is really stunning to me because I very often conjure smells and tastes from my Minibar meal last October. Especially the vanilla truffled whipped potatoes--the other night at Public in NYC I had a dish with a distinctive smell to it, my companions and I sat around smelling and smelling and AHA! All of a sudden I remembered where it was from, and we all (who'd also been at Minibar) sat around and smiled. Clearly that dish stayed with me, as did the cotton candy foie gras, the lobster, and much more. I'm so looking forward to my next experience, this coming Wednesday. We'll see if the minibar folk have been reading this thread lately...

I was trying to get a simple list going and it devolved into a big debate...ah, well... Look, BYO is very common in wine-friendly states, especially California, where they often don't even charge a corkage. I really don't see this is as a slight to restaurants, but rather a nice way to enjoy a better bottle of wine and/or save a little money. I'd much rather pay $20 corkage to bring a $30 bottle of wine than pay $70-80 or up for that same bottle. The huge markups at many restaurants is thus the main deterrent. In other cases, it's simply the choices--there's something I'd rather drink, and that's my prerogative. What's the big deal? In states where liquor licenses are especially expensive and/or hard to get, this is also common, like Philly, where I've been living and loving the BYO situation. Anyways, I'm sure there will be more debate on this, but please don't think that a desire to bring a bottle of my own wine to a restaurant equates with insulting sommeliers, waiters, or whole restaurants. sldelgato, I do frequent restaurants with more reasonably priced wine lists more often than not, but there's not a plethora of them in DC that also have good food. Mark S has gone into the reasons for the big markups in the past, but it still doesn't make it easier to stomach a $35 sticker price on an $8 bottle of wine! Sara

I believe there's a TX jurisdiction online--I saw something on the TX board.

Used one of my few nights in Philly this month to visit Chloe again. My friend and I arrived at the end of last night's storm, about 7:15 pm, found a parking space right out front, and were seated immediately for dinner. I brought a bottle of Coleman's Pinot Gris (OR) and Chaddsford Merlot (PA). The pinot gris was especially delicious. I had the asparagus bundles to start, these were great grilled asparagus with goat cheese and balsamic. The sauce easily qualified for mopping up with bread. I then had a special-- potato gnocchi with a pork, beef, and duck ragu. Wouldn't have normally ordered this in the summer, but after that storm, I was in the mood for some comfort food. This fit the bill. It was described as a large appetizer or small entree, but really, the pasta was so filling it was like a big entree. Not that I didn't manage to finish every last bite! My friend had the grilled caesar salad to start, which I got a taste of and liked (I love the idea of grilled romaine), and then she had the halibut, which she liked so much I didn't get a taste! We followed that up with the banana bread pudding and a flourless chocolate cake--both delicious and accompanied by fresh little strawberries and blueberries. Dinner for two, $63. Plus I had to buy some of those great Kerry 04 t shirts they're selling (and the servers are wearing) for $10 each! Good deal. The service was very prompt, knowledgeable and friendly. Our wine service was great, as usual. And they were very happy to let us hang on to our table til 10:30 at night (thus we had a 3 hr meal), as we drank through those bottles of wine. The place was largely full at 7:30, and still had about 4 tables going at 10:30. Again, high recommendations for everyone to check this place out.

Yes, I have this. But this is why I want to get a more specific list together, to avoid all that calling and to help with planning wine dinners out. Plus I have a sense that this list may be outdated.

1. Sushi-Ko. $15 per bottle. Any night. Recommendations: Red or white Burgundy. 2. Charlie Palmer. $25 per bottle. Any night. No charge for American wines. 3. Lavandou. Free corkage on Monday nights. 4. Melrose. Free corkage on Wednesday nights. 5. Equinox. $20 per bottle. Any night. 6. Bistro Francais. $15 per bottle. 7. La Chaumiere. $15 per bottle. 8. The Caucus Room. Tends to waive corkage. 9. Laboratorio. $15 per bottle. 10. 1789. $20 per bottle. 11. Palena. $20 per bottle. 12. Zatinya. $15 per bottle. 13. Cafe Atlantico. Corkage NO LONGER allowed. 14. Komi. $15 per bottle. 15. Gerard's Place. $40 per bottle.

Hi I'd like to get a thread going here that contains a very specific listing of DC restaurants that allow corkage--the nights it is allowed, how much the corkage fee is, and any specific qualifications (i.e. no wines from the existing list; American only, etc). I know we've discussed this on other threads to some degree, and we've noted that many places will allow it if requested, but having a list with specifics all in one place would be really helpful. So please feel free to 'repeat yourself' here. And if you know a place has no official policy but will do it if asked, list that too. Thanks

We're discussing VA's inspections over on the DC board now...

I'll give you my report on Buz and Ned's at the end of July after my visit to Richmond (no, I'm not going to Richmond just for the Q, my dad lives there!! Ugh...)

Didn't realize the place was still even there! What kind of food is it now--Italian??? I have a wonderful lithograph of it that I bought at the Torpedo Factory. My family used to take me there every week...didn't know about those racist policies tho!

Well terrific- I'l be in Madison!! Looking forward to some good cooking.

Wow, this discussion is so interesting to me, because it sounds like some people are 'service-ees' rather than foodies! To me, it's food first. How can bad service ruin an otherwise great food experience-- unless you let it? Service and food are two separate things, created usually by two or more separate people. I favor the latter in shaping my opinion of the restaurant. With a few exceptions--if the service was notably sexist, racist, or classist in its attitude--i.e. my experience at Salt in Philadelphia last year, where I felt they discriminated against me with regard to wine because I'm a younger woman (see the Philly thread on that). Loved the food at Salt, but can't go back. Mark--I'm with you on getting up and finding my own stuff, I do that b.c I know where to find it usually-- but if I get 'caught' I frame it as I'm just being helpful, not that I'm upset with the slow service. ps. I know LiamDC means spotless CLEAN silverware not just silverware.