bilrus

I thought I recieved something from Maestro that they are doing their Holiday buffet on Christmas.

Chef Adria, In a Q & A with your colleague Jose Andres earlier this year I mentioned that I felt the best dishes at his Minibar were ones where the new and interesting techniques were put to use in service of enhancing the flavor of an existing, familiar dish and the less successful ones (in my mind at least) were the ones where the technique itself was the centerpiece. Chef Andres' response was that it was all about the technique. What are your thoughts on whether there is a point where a technique itself distracts rather than enhances a dish or the overall experience?

brussels sprouts

But isn't the fact that these things are appearing in these lists of trends the evidence that they are trends? In other words is a trend actually a trend if its not popular on the verge of being overexposed.

No - we had to deal with dropping off my monster truck at the shop. Hopefully we will get there later this week. One of the things about the dishes that Malawry commented on that I wholeheartedly agreeed with was that the accompanying sauces were more integral to the taste of the dishes than most condiments, almost as if they were part of the dish, not just an add on. There were three different ones brought with different dishes. All were variations on a theme, varying degrees of heat, salt, sweet and sour. My favorites were the ginger salad and the catfish (this was the one dish where I kept asking if anyone was going to want more of it so I could keep adding more to my plate). I wasn't a big fan of the dish with the squash or the noodle dish - not much flavor to those. All in all, very good introduction to yet another style of cooking with which I was unfamiliar.

Here are some pics of the dishes from tonight. I'll throw in my two cents worth of commentary tomorrow. Baya Gyaw: Gram Fritters yellow split peas, ginger, garlic, and cilantro blended and deep-fried Ginn Thoke: Ginger Salad Shredded ginger, cabbage, onion tossed with Burmese dressing, garnished with fried garlic, crispy yellow peas and carrots WetThar KyetHinGarThee Gyaw: Pork Sliced pork sauteed with bitter melon KyarZan Gyaw: Noodles Thin noodles stir-fried with cabbage, carrot and green onion Tofu MoteNyinChin Gyaw: Tofu Tofu stir-fried with sour mustard, onion and cilantro Ngar MaGee Thee Hin: Catfish Lightly fried catfish simmered in onion-tomato based curry with tamarind and green pepper PaZun OhnNoh Hin: Shrimp Shrimp, green pepper, onion and tomato in coconut curry sauce KyetThar BooThee Hin: Chicken Chicken chunks and long squash simmered in onion curry sauce ShweJi: Cream of wheat, coconut cream, sugar, raisin and milk topped with poppy seeds and baked until golden brown

I just had lunch today at SBC and they have done some renovating, sprucing the place up a bit. They've removed (if I remeber correctly) the soda coolers in the dining room as well as the large wine rack near the counter, really opening up the space and they have added a new tile front to the counter, hardwood floors and a new lighter paint job. It's still no Citronelle or 2941 in terms of the space, but it is a noticable improvement. I also read on that other local food board (of course from an anonymous poster) that SBC was recently sold by the original owner. Don't know if that is true or not (menu was still the same today) and was curious if anyone had the inside scoop.

I'm another who would advocate against Red Robin. We've been a few times at three different locations. The last time we went our service (and cooking) was so bad that we were comped our meal and given a $50 gift certificate. The certificate sat in my wife's wallet so long we ended up giving it to our dog walker.

I think its location hurts Colvin Run. I've had nothing but good lunches there and I picked it for my company's Christmas dinner this Sunday (we have several employees who are averse/afraid of crossing the Potomac more than once or twice a year). I'll report back on how the cooking is on a Sunday night.

We are planning on bringing ours.

One thing to keep in mind is that Chinese food, which you mentioned in your original post, is not generally a low fat option, as most of the non-steamed dishes start out with a healthy does of oil both for the cooking and in the sauces. Thai is generally a little better on the low-fat end of things.

I'm in for 2. And I'd agree with EllenH on the heat issue. I like things hot, but I'm not out to prove how big the callouses on my tounge are.

I know have been seeing a lot of Brussels Sprouts on menus these days. I'd bet that not too long ago a restaurant couldn't give away even the freshest Brussels Sporuts. Now there everywhere - pureed, sauteed with pork stuffs, in creme brulees (see slkinsey's Thanksgiving blog), the leaves separated and tossed as a salad, etc. And I think it has more to do with trendiness than seasonality. What is the next hot vegetable / miniturized food item coming down the pike?

For most people that's not a good trend.

The particular mini's around here that I have seen (and eaten) are indeed the in-between model. More like a good restaurant burger than a fast-food burger. Thick enough that you could specify that you want it rare or medium-well if given the option.

Obviously I HAVE been going to the wrong (right?) places. Maybe my status as a hispter foodie is still secure? If I'm asking does that mean I'm not one after all? I need a hamburger.

I see from that list that Ceiba is offering a Prix-fixe menu, so disregard my previous blathering.

We were singing it all last week at home.

That's one that I might actually be able to pull off.

Maybe I'm one step behind but I still like the things. And I may not be going to the right places but they don't seem to be on menus everyplace I go. And to think I once aspired to be a hipster foodie.

I have gone out for dinner on New Year's Eve twice in the last few years. Caucus Room food was OK but really dead, Ten Penh was more festive and better. If I remember correctly Ten Penh had a fairly extensive menu, if not their regular menu. I would assume that the other restaurants in that family would do the same. I've given up on the whole concept though.

I agree about choosing Fatburger over In and Out, but if you have the Fatburger in NJ go there and try In and Out in Vegas. When I was at Lotus of Siam a few weeks ago, I was there for dinner, but I was surprised to see a buffet table not in use. My assumption was that they have a buffet for lunch, which intrigued me, since I don't normally think of buffets at Thai places. On that trip I hit several of the places you have on your list (see above if you haven't already). Bradley Ogden was excellent and Burger Bar was fun. Lotus of Siam was also very good, but I would have to question whether it really is "the best Thai restaurant in the US" whatever that means. That doesn't mean you should go, however. Get the sour sausage appetizer.

Bill: Glad I could help and such a happy coincidence that you already have a bottle on hand! It's tough to make recommendations not knowing if certain products are available in another city, so I try to stick to those things which I'm certain have national distribution before sending someone off on a wild goose chase for a product that is unavailable to them where they live. Cheers and report back with tasting notes!! ← The Mondavi Moscato d'Oro was very good for dessert. Not as sweet as I remembered or expected, but that was a good thing. I wish I could say the same thing about my Pumpkin Ice Cream. Lets just say that it was a good thing the wine was good because I only made it through two spoonfuls of the Ice Cream. Thanks Katie - at least the wine and turkey were good.

I sipped on this all day on Thursday and enjoyed it. The red color was a little off-putting, but I liked the flavor, which I thought tasted more like a COke product (a good thing in my opinion)

Welcome to egullet. This post wasn't even close to being too long. There was some discussion of the Bourdain DC events here: Bourdain DC thread I suspect that your post might end up as part of that thread once Mr. Rocks has a chance to move it.