bilrus

And it should be noted that St. Louis Style pizza is a round pizza cut into squares. Which leaves these 4 awkward little corner pieces with little or no toppings that no one ever wants to eat (until there isnt' anything left).

I agree that the anonymous sniping that does go on sometimes is annoying and serves no purpose. I seldom pay attention to the random negativity here and Chowhound or the Post chats. Only when the same comments and criticisms come up on a consistent basis do I start to believe that there might be something to them. That said, I'm not sure the responsibility of eGullet members is to be mindful of the psyches of the chefs or staff of restaurants, but to the other members or people who might be reading these posts and looking for advice on what is good and bad. I think about my comments recently about Eve, a place that has gotten an enormous amount of love on this board. I had a less than successful meal there and I posted about it. I had specific criticisms that I discussed and I praised where I thought it was appropriate. I can't think of many reports (all made with my name at the bottom) I've made on eGullet that didn't include at least some aspect of a meal that I thought was a little off. This includes places like Maestro and The French Laundry. The bottom line though is that if you've got a citicism, back it up with details. And don't be afraid to let people know who you are. And if you are a chef or restaurateur, don't focus on the negative, but also don't ignore or dismiss criticism. No restaurant is above reproach.

Nothing I've made out of the Babbo cookbook has been bad. In fact, even with my middling skill set, the dishes manage to taste fairly similar to the food at the Restaurant.

Reading this thread yesterday prompted me to have my first pho of the fall last night for dinner. A (fairly) new Vietnamese place in Ashburn(what a strange thought) provided an OK version. But I was so primed for it that it tasted as good as any version I have had. Thanks to JPW for starting this thread and Eunny for posting pictures.

I could get on 95 South pretty easily to do this. Be careful though - the Gullet is a bigger place that it was a year ago. A tennis court may not be enough.

Much of the cooking education in the US is of the classical French variety in terms of techniques, mother sauces, etc. I assume that this is not the case in Italy, but how do Italian chefs both in Italy and here in the US develop? Is the style all that much different? Are there schools that teach a more Italian style of cooking or is it more learned through doing?

Put quotes around it on the menu and it becomes a playful take on the traditional bacon wrapped scallops. Or a cliche, depends on your point of view. But I bet it tastes good either way.

That's interesting because the Shawarma was the one dish in particular that I found much more appealing at Laylinya vs. Lebanese Taverna. I would agree that when they do it right, LT's version is good, but is been two or three years since I've had it at LT when it wasn't cottonball dry. Laylinya, may have some missteps (what is with the pitas?), but LT just strikes me as going through motions.

So, for those of us who weren't there, what's with all the comments about "gushing"?

Not to veer to far from Eunny's topic, but I've had some pretty good things from Market Salamander - Very good crab cakes, mac and cheese and pulled pork that I can remember off the top of my head.

I wouldn't say GOOD news...

Three or four hundred dollars won't really buy you much in the way of crack or quality hookers, but you can eat some pretty good meals on that. No one's mentioned it and it kinda gets a bad (or no) rap around here, but the Inn at Little Washington is someplace you have to go once if you're serious about trying the best places. It's a long drive and expensive, but it is very very good. The biggest complaint I have heard about it is that the menu doesn't change over time. But if you're only going once, that doesn't matter, does it. It just means that you'd need to eat Pho one or two meals or go to a $25 'ho to make up for the expense.

Interesting to see that Inn at Little Washginton picked up the fourth star. THat was a glaring, though maybe not unexpected omission last year.

How'd you like to be a Cardinal fan and not be able to have the choice of watching the game involving the best team in baseball? How about an afternoon game?

No question - Chef Vinod is a nice fellow. Several months after the eGullet dinner there he recognized my wife and me and came over to chat (along with an order of the best Galub Jamun I've ever had).

I just saw an ad on TV that TGI Friday's is selling a Flat Iron steak slathered with their Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce. Do you think this comes from the same animal as the ones served at Ray's?

Went last night and was joined by Chef Shogun and edemuth for dinner and the Busboys for drinks before dinner. I can only echo what others have said. If this was a stand alone retaurant in another neighborhood, and if the service was at all attentive and it didn't have the atmosphere of a forgotten corner of a masoleum then I wouldn't have been disappointed. The food (I had a tuna salad and two pastas - the Carbonara and a Farfalle with a cream sauce and salmon) was fine (if a little heavy and a little under salted) and I certainly felt like I got value for my money. But where at Palena it is obvious that the front room food is coming out of the same kitchen as the glorious back room food, here it seemed like it was an entirely different operation. I've eaten at Galileo and for all the criticism it gets, it is still a good restaurant with mostly thoughtfully prepared food. I got the sense that the cooking for the Osteria, while acceptable, is probably wildly inconsistent. But the company was excellent.

I'll be seeing the people I know are going and anyone else who wants to join us tonight at Galileo Osteria tonight at 7:30. Don't know if that can compete with talk of Iraq, stem-cell research, wine and oysters but it should be fun. Cheap wine and pasta are almost always fun.

Colvin Run is nice, but not the fun, celebratory kind of place you are looking for - more clubby atmosphere.

If those Parker House rolls were the same as the ones we were served at Per Se, they might be the best bread product I've ever had.

I would instruct my attorney to keep appealing until late summer so my last sandwich would be a BLT with really good tomatoes. Of course it wouldn't be from a restaurant either.

FYI - we are looking at meeting at Galileo at 7:30 on Saturday evening. FMI (for my information) - What is the dress code like? (See, I went to private school my whole life so dress codes are very important to me)

Unfortunately I am going to be working pre-dinner. Hopefully I can avoid working post-dinner, too.

We are getting dangerously close to having a group. Two people (me and Chef Shogun) is a date, three is a group.

I agree on both points, and I like do Indique more - in fact, Indique (along with Zaytinya) are the two restaurants I have trekked in from the burbs to more than any others. The service when I have been to Heritage is not pleasant, but hasn't been particularly unpleasant either. I suspect that it might not be quite as good for women, as when I have been there with my wife, the questions and attention have been directed to me with her being almost ignored. This seems a typical attitude in many Indian restaurants, but certianly not Indique. But I do like the more "traditional" cooking and style at Heritage, too, and it's closer to Georgetown.