bilrus

The Inn at Little Washington fills up pretty quickly - pretty much the same day reservations come open - 30 days in advance (if I remember correctly). That's pretty comparable to the hardest places around the country. After that, I don't know that there are any places that fill up most nights right away, although I would venture a guess that places like Citronelle, Laboratorio and Maestro fill up pretty quickly for weekends and big events.

Help me choose. My wife has decided at the last minute that she wants to go to the Flower Show on Saturday. I can choose between 5:00 reservations at Morimoto or Pasion. And I have a few questions. How formal are each (i.e. would nice flower viewing clothes be appropriate at either or would we need to change)? Are there actual tables at Morimoto or is it all booths? I looked at the website and the pictures look to be all booths. I am a pretty big guy and some booths are less than comfortable for me. I'm not a huge fan of sushi, but the non-sushi menu for at Morimoto looks very nice. Are the non-sushi items as good as the sushi? Feel free to answer all or none of these questions. Thanks for the help.

Took me a while too.

Isn't the point about the perception of it all? The Miracle Whip dish was good UNTIL he knew it was Miracle Whip. The dish with margarine might taste fine, the difference might even be imperceptible to the tounge, but once you know it is margarine and not butter, doesn't that change the perception of the dish and then its taste (which is all really perception anyway)?

From the article: I find that hard to believe.

I'm a little comcerned because when they called to cancel our reservation last week (from caller ID) they didn't leave a message on my wife's cell (the phone we would have had with us on the trip). And in calling the various numbers I have for them, I only get the recorded message.

Not trying to offend anyone here, I am new to this site, but - why is Bobby Flay in this again? He was awful the other times. In fact... well... least said soonest mended I guess. Not likely to offend - more likely to endear you to most around here. My guess is Flay is in it because he is the network's biggest star who hasn't had a sitcom on NBC.

This from my wife - the flower person in the family: "I think it was much nicer than most grocery stores floral department. The prices, at least at the opening, were extremely reasonable. The flowers seemed in better condition than at other stores and a couple of people were available to help." Hope that helps.

And on WTOP's website - with pics. wtop - wegmans

I read somewhere that they get reqests like that on a daily basis - some legitimate, many not.

Add me to the thousands who were there this morning. I would echo a lot of what has already been posted. The produce was what blew me away. five or six types of pears, 10 or 12 types of mushrooms. The one thing that stood out to me that no one has mentioned was that it seemed a little disorganized. In most strores there seems to be a set path that most people take through the store and most people go up one aisle and down the other. Granted this was the first time any of us have been there, and there were more shoppers than you will ever see there again, but in many spots you would see cats going in six different directions. If you are going today, one word of advice - go to the frozen foods last, even though it is in the middle of the store. Our gelato was liquified by the time we made it to the checkout. Its Giant without some of the nasty stuff, plus a whole foods and a Sutton Place without the expensive stuff. Pretty good combination. But I will be going at 11 on a Friday night for the time being.

The video menu was particularly distracting because about half of the dishes listed were slightly different than those served or were not served altogether.

Unfortunately, I am kinda "on-call" at work this weekend so I don't know when and if I will need to be in the office or when I am going to be able to go to the store.

One thing that struck me about Minibar is how different it is from Zaytinya and Jaleo (I have never eaten at Cafe Atlantico), aside from the fact that they all serve very good food. Jaleo and Zaytinya are both very accessible. I took my 67 year old, defintely non-foodie mother to Zaytinya and she loved it and wanted to know where she could get the same sort of experience in St. Louis (not an easy task). Minibar, as FG mentions in his post would be wasted on many people. As I said in my post after eating there, aside from the people I have met through eGullet, I'm not sure I could recommend Minibar to anyone else I know without them thinking I was insane. Jaleo and Zaytinya could succeed on almost any scale, but I'm not sure Minibar could be much more than the small intimate experince that it is. Andres knows who his target is - people who love food. Not just eating it, but thinking about it, debating about it and remembering it. And he hits those people square on the bullseye. And if, as Fat Guy says, he ends up opening "a beautiful, luxurious, boutique restaurant somewhere and create an upscale version Minibar" I hope it is right here in DC.

I think I must be unusual because I always assumed that if a wine label had crazy artwork on it that it must not be a serious wine. There goes another of my assumptions to make wine buying more difficult. It is much easier deciding between Coke and Pepsi.

I am planning on going, probably fairly early. I'm jumping in with both feet and will probably do my weekly shopping - provided the crowds aren't overwhelming.

A few things on the website struck me: 1. Why would Tyler Florence be listed as a "Chef" and not a "Personality"? 2. Why does Todd English's publicity photo make him look like a second rate David Copperfield? 3. Willie Nelson and Tony Bourdain are going to be taking part in the same event as Tyler Florence and Rachel Ray? That should be something interesting.

Unfortunately I remebered how much I liked the lamb after I ordered, so I didn't think to look for it on the menu.

My wife and I had another great meal at Indique last weekend. Their Shrimp and Scallop Masala is probably my favorite Indian dish I have ever had (although the lamb dish served at the eGullet dinner was pretty damn good too.) Chef Vinod remembered us from the eGullet dinner last year and spent several minutes chatting with us. Nice people, good food and atmosphere make for a winning meal in my book.

I have a reservation for Babbo at 8:30 next Friday night (March 5) for 2. Unfortunately, I also had a reservation for Per Se the night before so my trip to New York is going to be on hold for a few months. If anyone is interested in snagging this reservation before I call cancel it (I am assuming that it wouldn't be a problem for someone other than me to show up and claim it) feel free to PM me. (Admin: with a major new review in the New York Times on June 9, 2004, we have started a new thread for reviews, reports and general discussion of Babbo: here)

Reservations need to be made 60 days in advance to the numerical date starting at 10am Pacific time. On the day I made my reservations I got the last dinner table for 2 at about 10:30 am. The tip I wish I had heard before going was the idea of having one person order the regular tasting menu and the other to order the vegetarian tasting menu. Twice as many tastes - if your dining partner is a close friend who is willing to share. I would assume two honeymooners would be willing to do that, but you never know.

I know, I know. He did do a Q and A last summer and i know he has chimed in a few additional times in threads. Sietsema Q and A

I am ususally following live and have had four or five of my questions posted over the three years. My questions are normally more geared away from "Where should I go for..." unless it is another city I am askinga bout. (He recommended a place in San Juan that I really enjoyed in response to a question.) I try and draw more out about larger issues, similar to what we do around here. I think the chats would be more interesting for eGullet types if it focused more on the issues surrounding food and restaurants in DC as opposed to where to get the best... which tends to be repetitive.

Has anyone actually gotten a call cancelling the reservation? I have a res for the 4th of March and am travelling up from DC (primarily because of this reservation). My anticipation is that I am out of luck, but I'm curious about how they are handling rescheduling those who are being shut out. I'd like to have the option of rescheduling sometime outside the 60 day window and not just be assigned a date of their choosing.

My favorite version is regular coke from McDonalds through their extra large straws.