bilrus

Although possibly Citronelle does not take itself quite as seriously as Trotter's (and Per Se for that matter). This is meant as a compliment, not an indication of lack of aspiration or quality.

See the front page of today's food section. Lesson #1 - all black is definitely more slimming that Chef's Whites.

I think they're all good choices and would provide a good mix of haute and neighborhood places. Maestro is generally considered to be in the same league as Citronelle in the top three or four in the DC area. It is located in a very elegant room with an open kitchen at the Ritz Carlton at Tyson's Corner Virginia (basically Northern Virginia's downtown). The Chef, Fabio Trabocchi was nominated for a Beard best new chef award two years ago. Citronelle and Maestro are both as good as any place I have eaten, with the possible exception of Per Se. Yanyu is a not quite in that league, but is a good little pan-Asian/Chinese place. They have several tasting menus that run year-round, not just Restaurant week. In fact I had a good New Year's eve meal there this year (although not quite the equal of the RW meal). Rumors have been circulating that they may be shifting to less upscale aspirations.

2003 was a big cookware christmas so this year was a little less intense. Nonetheless, my big gift of this year was a Weber Smoky Mountain smoker with some other gear to go with it (BBQ mitts, a charcoal chimney). I also recieved a cool christmas ornament that looks like a stack of Le Creuset. I thought for sure I was going to get the Bouchon cookbook, but noone picked up on those hints.

My top ten is mostly DC oriented, with a little New York and Las Vegas thrown in: 1 - Per Se - nearly perfect anniversary gift to ourselves - food and service both better than French Laundry (NY) 2 - Maestro - birthday dinner that way surpassed expectations (DC) 3 - Bradley Ogden - Just very good food (LV) 4 - Babbo - Pasta Tasting Menu - I wish this was in DC(NY) 5 - Yanyu - tasting menu - amazingly during Restaurant Week (DC) 6 - Ray's the Steaks - steak that was even better than #7 (DC) 7 - Peter Luger's - Just for the Steak itself (NY) 8 - Colvin Run Tavern - Our best office Christmas party yet (DC) 9 - Firefly - Just last week and every dish was better than the last (DC) 10 - Inn at Little Washington - I'll give this one the benefit of the doubt. My wife and I got sick the next day from the bed and breakfast so I have put the meal from Inn out of my mind too. I'm sure it was all very good though.

Not that it matters to you Bill, but his dreaminess is holding court this eve. ← That is VERY exciting.

I'm headed to Firefly in a few hours with my wife and visiting mother. It's been a while - any particularly good seasonal / new things not to miss this time around?

I have seen them in early summer at the Arlington farmers market and at Wegmans. Never bought them at Wegmans, but if I remember they were $16 or $17 for a small paper sack. That was a lot in terms of quantity - maybe 15 or 20. They're pretty lightweight mushrooms. Those were the only shrooms I bought from the mushroom lady that I thought weren't all that great, but it may have been because it was her last bag that day.

What the hell - I've got that recipe sitting in my stack as we speak.

This is probably of slightly limited interest, but is actually a pretty good deal as I see it. A local golf magazine - Pros and Hackers - has a deal for $99 that includes two free rounds of golf at two courses, 5 $20 gift certificates for 5 other courses, a $50 gift certificate to a spa in Georgetown and (back to food) a $50 gift certificate to Charlie Palmer Steak good through the end of 2005. I don't see any limitations listed on the offer for the restaurant. If you play golf (I already know everyone here eats) it should be pretty easy to get your money's worth. We could even have an eGullet golf and steak event in the spring.

What Busboy said - Sugar works in some contexts but not in others. It can provide balance or enhance certain other flavors. Plus, I'm happy to know that I wasn't the only person whatching the Godfather last night on SpikeTV for the 250th time.

I've only been once - but I would second two places menitoned above. My wife and I had a delightful time at Joseph Phelps on an afternoon in November when we wer the only two visitors and we recieved excellent attention. We also had a very nice meal at Market. Excellent fish and chips and the truffle mac and cheese were particularly memorable.

I hate rubes too (oh God, you have no idea how much I hate rubes), but this year I will be one of them. My mother is going to be in town and she and jenrus decided they wanted to go out. I was planning on making a nice meal at home but they opted out. Maybe that says something about my cooking? So we are going to Yanyu for their six-course tasting menu. I guess that's better than a kick to the groin. Originally Yanyu was going to be for the 30th, but that's been replaced with reservations at Firefly. I KNOW that's better than a kick to the groin.

FYI - Lebanese Taverna (at least at the new Tyson's Corner branch) is offering unlimited ordering from their Mezze menu with belly dancing and a champange toast for $55 per person. I've recently been critical of Lebanese Taverna on here, but my several visits to the Tyson's location for lunch have been pretty good, better than what I had had recently at other locations. I like the menu's larger focus on the Mezzes (I think I just like eating that way). One aside to this - As I was leaving lunch yesterday the entire bar area (where I was sitting along with a separate big group of about 20 there for an office party) was getting showered from above from what appeared to be a broken pipe leading to a sprinkler head. People were still pouring out of the restaurant as I was leaving. I don't know how extensive the damage was, but you might want to check on that.

Sounds good to me! ← I'd be down with that.

I actually just had this for lunch today at a local DC Lebanese restaurant, but in this case, the lentils were defintely not smashed, but they were a little "broken open" from the cooking. I've made this at home many times, but I have the problem that the lentils break open too much (or at least more than I thought they should and more than the picture that accompanied my recipe appeared). Maybe this is the way they should be, or at least I can tell myself that now? FWIW - the recipe I have calls the dish Megadarra and says it is an Egyptian dish.

From another thread... Is anyone interested in trying this out "on a whim" on Wednesday evening if they are open?

Is anyone interested in trying this out "on a whim" on Wednesday evening if they are open? Further discussion of that can go on here.

Why are you disappointed? Tell us more.

I think this is where the DC area's reputation as an "ethnic food" city comes into play. Small ethnic places with a variety (if not a quality) that you wouldn't see in most cities is our "local" cheap-eats niche. Its just that the working class tradition isn't native to the area, but more likely from Southesat Asia or Africa or Central America. And this is an arena where the 'burbs are probably surpassing the city as more immigrants move farther and farther away from the district limits and create their own neighborhoods in Virginia and Maryland.

Another option might be El Manantial in Reston. Mostly Spanish food with some tapas, entrees and surprisingly good wood fired pizzas left over fromt eh previous incarnation.

That is part of the reason I am surprised that there aren't more higher-end and nicer neighborhood type places in the suburbs. I am constantly amazed at the new developments in "the upper brackets" being built even further out than where I am (decidedly not in "the upper brackets". Don't these people eat out? Are they house poor (if you have a million dollars to spend on a house don't you probably have some other money stashed away somewhere?)? Are they all stuck at home with children less adventurous and mobile than Peanut? Or do they all eat at TGI Friday's and Macaroni grill too because money can't necessarily buy you good taste?

I promised to report back after my company christmas part on Sunday night. But I also recently read Don's post about so many restaurants without their own threads. So I am going to start a separate thread on Colvin Run. Colvin Run Tavern

But that attitude that the center of the universe is located somewhere along Connecticut Avenue might be part of what is holding back the development of more good restaurants in the suburbs and makes DC feel like the small town that you are being critical of.

Market Street Grill at the Hyatt in the Reston Twon Center does pretty good food and as a Hotel restaurant would likely be acceptable to many people with varying needs.