bilrus

I think that by the end of the 6 part series - creative editing will show how Rocco and the staff overcame, banded together, and made Rocco's the best italian restaurant possible. Predictions The GM (villian) is told off by Gideon. The kitchen becomes a disorganized mess Rocco gets behind the burners to reunite the kitchen staff Rocco sheds a tear during a heartfelt "thanks to everyone" moment The final televised meal in the place is nothing but "Oooohs and Aaaaahs" Now doesn't THAT sound like good tv to you ? From the NBC website: EPISODE 103 "The dream becomes a nightmare. " The morning after the official opening, one of the waiters shows up with his wounded arm in a sling and Rocco treats him badly. Reflecting the staff's unhappy mood, another waitress talks about quitting. After an apathetic pep talk - while his kitchen is going through hell, his hostesses are at war, his bartenders are understaffed, and his waiters are forced to give bad service - Rocco ignores the problems and focuses on schmoozing. Customers continue to complain, but now even Rocco and his Mama can't make them happy. The situation goes from bad to worse when a key newspaper critic is unhappy with her food, and Rocco unfairly vents his frustrations on the staff and leaves. At the end of the night, the entire front of house staff meets for a gripe-fest about Rocco. Completely oblivious, Rocco dances 'til dawn at a chic nightclub across town. The next morning, he reads the critic's negative review and realizes his restaurant is in trouble. Your predictions appear to be coming true.

I ate at the Italian restaurant in the Caribe Hilton last year. It was OK, but I like Caribbean cooking so much that I regretted eating Italian while in Puerto Rico. I don't remember what the other restaurants at the hotel were like.

C'mon people. I'd like to do this and the food is very good.

Greek salad with feta, roasted red peppers, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. Mixed Greens with candied walnuts, pears and blue cheese and a pear vinaigrette. One similar to Torakris' but with a peanut sauce based dressing. Salad with vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, beans, whatever looks good) omitting the lettuce tossed in a vinaigrette.

Other than "Cooking School Stories" on Food Network? That seemed like that show needed a touch of the Burnett approach. It was a little too rah rah and tame for my reality TV tastes. Of course this is coming from someone who was a big fan of Joe Millionaire and Temptation Island.

Monica, have you gotten any other responses?

Steve, that is a good point, my wife is fairly picky, but more in terms of the higher end ingredients that probably wouldn't be on the RW menu. ANd for desserts - we will be at Zaytinya next weekend and get to have the Turkish Delight so that will help make up for it - right?

I went last week as part of my whirlwind tour of New York restaurants. The best I can say is that it was OK. If that sounds like damning it with faint praise it is. There wasn't anything BAD, but there was too little good. Despite the so-so things I have heard about it int he past, I was actually quite excited to go there after reading the menu which sounds very good. Unfortunatley, it was a case of things reading better on the menu that they taste on the plate. For a style of cooking that has the potential to be so flavorful, I was disppointed that the cooking was a little dull. There were some high points - the goat cheese queso fundido was good and the spice rubbed Pork Tenderloin was cooked perfectly. But the crab cake was alittle heavy on filler and light on good crab (I am a little spoiled on this being from the DC area) and the desserts seemed like an afterthought. Overall, it wouldn't have been a disappointment for a regular night out, but given the cost (about 175 for two with margaritas and beer) and the other places we went - among them Grammercy Tavern, Craft, Tabla Bread Bar, Blue Smoke and most of all Babbo, it was the least memorable of the bunch.

Steve and john, thanks for the perspectives. I think I am going to try it, but not at a place that I have been really itching to go to. TJ, since you had a good experience at Tosca, I have made a res there for next Tuesday (through Open Table, Vengroff - this will put me over the top for my first certificate). I'd be interested in hearing anyone else's experiences next week.

That was a very god post TJ. I have been impressed with your thorough posts on other restaurants as well. I won't go into the same detail on my visit there last week except to echo your sentiments. The Pasta Tasting Menu may have been my favorite meal as well, with my visit in May to the Inn at Little Washington, coming in a close second. The two are such a different experience, but my love of Pasta and the energy level of the restaurant made it special. Of all the places we went on our New York trip last week including Grammercy Tavern, Craft, Tabla and others - this is the one I already want to make reservations for again. I do have one question though. TJ, I don't know when you were there (although you did say that it was cold), but I wanted to know how often the menu changes. Your menu was mostly different from what we had (aside from the pyramids and bolgnese). We are thinking about going back in November and would like to try a different vartiety of dishes.

They are participating. Here is a link to the list of participants: http://www.washington.org/restaurantwk/

My wife and I have never ventured into the Restaurant Week promotions for one reason or another, but I was thinking about trying one or two places we haven't been before. I was reading the thread on the New York board and they all seemed fairly enthusiastic about the idea, but I have heard mixed messages about the both the concept and the execution. Is the food any good - is it watered down or reduced portions of the regular menu? How limited are the options? Is it just too damned crowded with once a year diners? Any particularly good (or bad) experiences? Can you get the full feel of the restaurant or is it just better to suck it up, wait two weeks and pay a little more for the regular menu?

I hate to admit that I have been to 20 of the 27. But they are all so different - to compare White Castle to Red Robin is like comparing apples to potatoes - although neither is exactly fine dining. My favorite of the ones listed is Fatburger, and not just for the name alone, but that helps. I am also a big fan of the unlisted Steak and Shake - although it was much better and more consistent when it was a more regional operation about ten years ago.

That is my favorite - YUM.

I am going to be there tomorrow for the first time. I'll be sure to post when I get back from my trip.

It doesn't seem like he really hammers too many places. My sense of the reviewing business is that they seek out the better places to review, unless there is a really high profile place that "demands" reviewing - then they get it whether they want it or not. Why review a bad place that no one has heard of? Recently, I didn't really get the felling he liked Olazzo's all that much, either.

Sweet chili sauce is my favorite. But I also like peanut sauce diluted with a little rice wine vinegar.

It is in a different category than a place like the Market Street Grill (and certainly Kinkeads or DC COast), as it is clearly more casual - although I have never really had a meal I liked all that much at market Street aside from their Sunday brunch. Some of the prices for the entrees (at lunch) did surprise me for a place of that style. That said, my cuban sandwich with black beans was around $8 or 9 and my whole bill was about $13 for a lot of good food. But I do think that the area is better served by having it there. It fills a similar need to what St. Basil had in Reston (although, again, with not nearly as nice surroundings) - decent food that isn't dumbed down for the neighborhood. Where / what type of place is Zefferelli?

I hadn't seen any mention of it on any other threads, but I just had lunch at the SBC Cafe in Herndon, which Tom Sietsema reviewed a few weeks ago in the Post. I had a very good cuban sandwich - my only disappointment was that it was a little light on the pickles (which I love). It turns out that they ran out while making my sandwich and had to make little slices and spread them thin on the sandwich. But two differnet people came out to apoligize for the nearly misisng pickles. Other than that - good pork and a nice crisp roll. The blacks beans served with it were OK, but the Roasted Red and Yellow Pepper soup that was mentioned in the review was as good as the review would lead you to believe. The two sides (the bowl is split between the red and yellow halves) had distinct tastes, just as the two peppers have distinct tastes and it was light yet creamy at the same time. Don't expect much in the way of atmosphere - its a small room with maybe 30 seats, you order at a counter and there are soda coolers in the dining room. They bring the food to you and bus the tables, etc. Given the atmosphere, I'm not sure it someplace to drive to "the burbs" for for, but it is a nice addition to this area that is so lacking in non-chain places with real, thoughful cooking. I plan to go back and try some entrees soon.

Everything? Even wood chips?

I would guess that an outfit like Cheescake factory would have people on payroll that are trained to handle that sort of thing.

If and when I make it back to San Juan, I will need to try some of those because I did like Parrot Club and would be interested in some other (even better?) Puerto Rican cooking. Ajilli Mojilli is one that I have heard good things about we were going to try to get to but got stuck somewhere else longer than we wanted on out last night in town and couldn't get to dinner. What part of town are the others in? Something to look forward to - we do love the food in PR.

I installed a door length rack inside my pantry with shelves ranging in size from spice bottle size on up to ones big enough to hold bottles of olive oil, vinegar, etc. Very handy, but I am getting close to running out of space again and needing to add one somewhere else - maybe on the front door?

Wife and I went last night. Everything was very good, from the bread (which I thought was even better than 2941 especially the pain de campagne and the asiago) to the desserts. There were a few changes to the menu - unfortunately both things I wanted to order, but the replacements weere both very good. In place of the pea soup (they said it was too hot) they have added a cucumber gazpacho with beets, dill, basil oil and buffalo yogurt. If that sounds like a lot happening in the bowl - it was, but in a "flavors exploding in your mouth" sort of way. The bread and butter pudding with chocolate milkshake has been replaced with a small muffin like cake in a crock with six of the best white cherries I have ever eaten served alongside a White Russian milkshake. They seem to put a lot of thought into their desserts which is a nice change from many other restaurants as Steve Klc and others have mentioned on other threads. The only mishit of the night was the bourbon ice cream which was a little harsh, a bit like a shot of Jim Beam in a bowl. As for the wines - my wife and I can barely be classified as beginners in drinking wine. But the sommelier pared wines with our dishes and all were good. We didn't think to ask about the prices before ordering the service, so we were pleasantly surprised to find that his choices were in the affordable end of the range. All in all a good evening in a nice, cozy spot.

It's a good sauce, but I think it is tough to make oven cooked taste like they wre smoked outside. It's worth a shot though.