John W.

How can a restaurant named after a timid, glowing insect possibly be a destination for hardcore drinking?

If your birthday is on May 15th (a Saturday), it's probably best to stay away from the office. That's when all the criminals, pirates and hooligans come out to play. And play hard they do. I've been witness to this only a few times, the drinking was quite vulgar.

Whatever you do, be sure to end up at the office (BdC) for a big glass of Ricard. Works every time. Don't let the smooth taste fool you. (I wish I could remember more Malt Liquor ads).

One can only hope the pictures came out.

Or Rockwell.

Aaah. Back on track. The worst part of ammoniated Reblochon is forgetting you put it in your trash can the night previous. As the sun rises on the apartment (and a mild hangover), well you get the picture. Even the cat stayed away. If you buy smart and without a grocery list, you can do ok at Fresh Fields. You have to ask questions and prod and sniff. Any time I've asked them to cut anything to order they are generally happy to oblige. If you go needing something specific, you just might walk away disappointed, as in my "I want to eat Reblochon" mandate last night. I was not present during said ammonia transaction, so I could not take my own advice.

That was strange. I can't say I've ever seen that before. If you drink enough they go away.

It would seem as such.

How hard is it to bring a taste of soup or salad to you while you wait so that the table can continue to eat and also to replace any sides that might have gotten cold? Not very. The fun part of the temperature game is the difference between a Tuesday medium rare and a Saturday medium rare. So many permutations go into what a server inputs as the "guest's requested temperature." An art form.

Rocks is an enigma wrapped in an enchilada and then wrapped in nori. He's that kind of guy.

Renovation pays off...

Went to bistro D'Oc once; Was pretty good. Had brains with lemon and capers and then Wagyu onglet with frites. All high quality, good value. The thing is, I might get infected with VIPclubitis, so I rarely go to that corner of the city. Bistro Francais is exactly as Babka described. It is a little too "fancy" for me for what I look for in a bistro. The food is very good, prices are fair, there are some good picks on the wine list (but make sure you finish your bottle before last call, or they will very unceremoniously relieve you of it). But it's too much like a restaurant for me, if that makes any sense. That's the last thing I want after spending the last 12-14 hours in one. It's no secret that I am a member of the BdC club. Yes the food can be uneven, but I've been there enough to know what to order, Michel is more than gracious to me (it's understood not everyone shares that view). Perhaps if I lived in Georgetown things would be different, but it's the bistrot in my neighborhood, so I frequent it. As an added bonus, what's not to love about accordians and Swiss people on microphones at 2 AM?

A wise man once told me, when you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.

Enjoy your water To be really "Frank," I hope to start out this evening at that place where everything is only nine dollars. Yet to escape under fifty, Rocks. 4 9's plus a lot of 70's is how I spent last Monday. Rocks, you've yet to escape under 3 fifty.

Interesting, Babka, I think we were there on the same night, I had no such problems. It was busy though, I think we were there for 2 hours as well, but I was busy playing with all the other restaurant types.

I like both restaurants, I prefer Palena. Obelisk is minimalistic, almost Japanese in it's purity of ingredients. They really don't screw with anything there. If you don't get what they're doing, it's possible one could think it's boring. It's not, but hopefully one gets the point. Take this with a grain of salt, I haven't been in 4+ years (no reason, just haven't been). Palena is very similar but very different. Some of the items might be close to same (who wouldn't expect to see gnocchi with favas this time of year). I would expect the quality of the two dishes to be the same. As a diner, I can say they are. As a chef (alleged of course), I see more technique at Palena, be it the wonderful housemade bacon, the boudin blanc, or many other items that are easily bought but instead are produced in house. I feel that service is a little more formal at Palena, as is the ambiance. Haven't seen the price of a meal at Obelisk for a while, I think the three course at Palena was $52 last week. Unfortunately, you can't do the $9 bar menu style at Obelisk, but having not been to Palena, why not go on Monday night and check it out? We yammer on about the great hot dogs and hamburgers, but there are also dishes that are reflective of what happens on Tuesday through Saturday in the back dining room as well.

Just curious, does that cause problems in preparing muxhrooms in addition to eating them? I try to taste everything every day, sometimes I have to get my sous chef to taste or it'll be curtains. Just started happening a few years ago, experimenting just isn't worth the penalty.

Had a wonderful dinner at Palena last night (twice this week). Although I felt guilty about a restaurant person dining on a Friday night, I quickly got over it when the food started arriving. Potato gnocchi with pancetta and fava beans is a perfect example of how good of a cook chef Ruta is...simple flavors and simple presentations hide the fact that a whole lot of effort and technique goes into each dish. The flavors were clean, pure and balanced. Dish after dish was spot on. We were looked after so well it made me forget (in addition to some wonderful juice) we were feet away from a busy Connecticut Ave, and also exact menu items; suffice it to say everything that hit our table was perfect. Service was right on, but not obtrusive. The coup de grace though was this - I ordered a dish that had mushrooms in it (pretty bad allergy) but they weren't listed on the menu. Someone knew (I've never brought it up there that I'm aware of), the dish was altered. That simple act is what makes good places great. Thanks again to the staff of Palena for a wonderful (the second this week) evening.

Q) How many restaurants were represented at the bar at Palena on Monday? A) A lot. Finally had the burger and a 1/2 of barbaresco (in addition to other grape juice), which was brilliant. Man, all the talk about that burger is true. What does one pair with the hot dog?

I walked by there the other day. The goal of the menu seems to be to see how much fruit you can possibly have on each menu item. It's appears that Escoffier got together with Chiquita and Dole and opened this place.

Lay off the pipe Rocks. It's Pipe Dreams Farms. I recall eating in your presence at Two Amy's a nasty fennel salad with sec unilateral mozzarella, an interesting experience considering the two levels of blandness playing off each other. Cheese at the office (BDC) isn't bad - Good French Muenster, Morbier, and Camenbert usually, served by a quaint gentleman wearing an assortment of shiny velvet shirts and possesing a cigar with at least 2" of ash at all times.

Charlie Palmer does a nice plate with all artisan US items. Nectar has served me Epoisses with a straw before. Which is a good thing.

My palate is a publicly traded company. Shareholders are 51% in favor of red, 49% in favor of white.

It generally is a little better at 1 AM. But trying to serve a table that large at roughly the same is very difficult in any situation. Especially at 8 PM.

Quality-price-ratio as they say in the rap game. Best roasted chicken possibly known to man for $9.