maryland crab

Opps, my wife says that it seems like 335 years to her, but it is only 35 years.

Another heart-felt thanks to Mark. We dined on Saturday night, Valentine's Day, and Mark was incredible. It was my 60th birthday and it will never be forgotten. Get the fois gras appetizer when available!!! I talked our waiter into several of the special Irish Coffees, even though they were not on the menu and they were wonderful. I second the thought on the Breakfast at Citronelle. The presentation was totally innovative and yet was extremely tasty too. After that the birthday dessert platter arrived and we waddled home. Mark, don't know if you were responsible for table 31, but if you were, it was great. Thanks for sharing your time with us and I am already planning out next visit. This was probably the top meal of our top three in our 335 years of marriage, the other two being the Inn well before it was discovered (we first went in the late 70's) and the Captiva Arts Cafe down in Florida. Citronelle is absolutely an experience of a lifetime.

I was in Whole Foods Sunday and noticed a new wine and deli bar just north of the grocery. Has anyone stopped in to see what is happening there? The sign on the window mentioned soups and deli stuff, but the wine bar part caught my attention.

A question for Mark Sommelier; On February 15th, I will be celebrating my 60th (OUCH). I have already made reservations for four for the 14th. Do you have any clue if there will be a special Valentine's Day tasting and what we might expect? Would I be better off making a change to the reservations for another Saturday in February, or do we go with the flow and just see what comes? Looking forward to the evening already.

Thanks for the info. My niece and her brand new husband were just there on their honeymoon and recommended the Applewood Farmhouse. We were slightly skeptical as they love the fried food in Mississippi, but we will definately give it a try. Will let you know what's happening.

I realize that I am probably asking for the impossible (after looking at the maps of Gatlinberg/Pidgeon Forge), but here goes nothing. We are spending six nights at the Buckhorn Inn right outside of Gatlinberg. We are eating at the inn two of those nights, but are looking for good places to eat the other nights. The map shows 15 each of every fast food restaurant known to man. We will be hiking almost every day, come back to the inn to clean up, and then will be after some decent food to replenish the muscles for the next day's hike. Does anyone have any experience with the restaurants in that area?

My wife and I are off to dinner Saturday night at TenPenh. Has anyone been there recently and have any dishes to avoid or must have? Afterwards I thought we would wander over to the Hotel Washington for after dinner drinks overlooking the city. Any other ideas for after dinner entertainment that is close to Penn Ave (a jazz club would be best). Thanks and will report how our dinner was.

Am not in Baltimore enough to say "best", but here are several suggestions that I think worthy of your exploration. For a fun lunch or night, we hit Bertha's. Throw some darts, drink some decent draft and then sit down to a big plate of mussels with the mustard dip. Several good pubs - we really like the Wharf Rat beer. There is a location in Fell's Point and one somewhere near the Harbor, I believe. If price is no object and service not a huge deal, try the Black Olive in Fell's Point. Greek seafood and very well prepared. Little Italy obviously has a number of touristy restaurants, but we have always had a good meal a Caio Bella. Some really good Greek restaurants on the east side. Several great Greek markets too. Lexington Market is always fun to go in and poke around for fresh seafood - stay away from Phillips in general. Overpriced and spotty quality. All for now - will try again when my addled brain isn't as fried as it is now.

Had some friends over for dinner last weekend and he brought several Pinkus Pilsners and several Pinkus Hefe's. Absolutely no interest in the Hefe Weisen, but the Pilsner was totally outstanding. My beer store does not carry it, but even my wife is begging me to find a place to get a case. A really enjoyable summer brew. Sierra Nevada always has a home in the frig here too.

Kim; Geez, I'm sure you were not trying to start a symposium on wooden mallets. I have lived in MD for 35 years and have enjoyed eating crabs for 34 of them. I use a mallet occasionally, as do the great majority of my crab picking friends, four of them born and raised in Maryland. So there you go. Harris Crab House, as mentioned, is just to the east of the Bay Bridge. It is visable from Route 50 looking to the North. It is near Annies and is quite easy to find. It is definitely a brown paper and mallet place. It is always much fun and I would hardily recommend it to you. Here's to happy pickin.

We still totally enjoy going to Harris on Kent Narrows. My son used to work there and swears that they get the best crabs available at all times of the year. We love to sit outside on a cooler day, get a pitcher or two, an order or two of onion rings (a palate cleanser) and start picking. It is right on the water and very easy to find off route 50. Man, I just finished dinner and my mouth is starting to water. We will stay away this weekend because of the crowds, but will probably go back next weekend for our first crabs of the year. Can't wait.

Rail Paul; I'm glad that Fyfas could give you a location for Banana Cafe. I got so screwed up with directions that I have no idea where we were. My son-in-law started work in the area in January, so he knows his was around. I had no clue. In regard to the restaurant, there were four of us. Not too much exciting in the way of beer or wine. All pretty standard stuff so we just got a bottle of Sauv. Blanc (probably Columbia Crest as my wife and I were being treated). We started with appetizers of some sort of spring roll, but were vegetarian as my kids are non meat eaters. Sigh! They were large stuffed rolls and we got two servings for the four of us. They were quite good and had several different dipping sauces. My wife had her old reliable Pad Thai. We hava had this in three or four restaurants in Wash DC and this was probably the best we have tasted. I ordered a chicken dish (can't remember the Thai name), but it was marked as mildly spicy. My wife and I like to share meals and she doesn't do spicy. This was even too much for her so I got to enjoy it myself. The hit of the night was the shrimp in red curry, ordered by my son-in-law. It was quite hot, but was really delicious. It was far and away the best entree we got and that is not to say that the others weren't good. I totally forget what my daughter ordered, but I am sure it was a tofu dish in some sort of curry as she loves that type of thing. Hope that you get a chance to try Banana Cafe out. I really don't think that you will be disappointed. It has a very comfortable decor, was busy but not packed on a Saturday night at 7:30 (we did get reservations). All in all, most enjoyable. Here is their website. Enjoy! http://www.guestlife.com/newmexico/dine/ba...bananacafe.html

Not only did I survive them, I brought back whole red chiles to grind myself and several packages of ground green chiles we got at an incredible flea market just outside Santa Fe. As luck would have it, my wife does not enjoy spicy food. All the more for me. Hope the fires south of Santa Fe don't screw up the atmosphere for you Santa Fe dwellers.

Don't think that you can pick the individual fish, but we have had excellent grilled whole fish at Mykonos in Rockville. The prices were reasonable and the lamb was first rate also.

Thanks for the head's up on this area. I have lived in the DC area for 35 years and had no idea. I am off to the Best Kitchen Supply store in the next several weeks as I am totally our of stemware for red wine. My wife keeps putting them in the dishwasher and I keep thinking that I am Henry VIII, hence no more glasses. In regard to Litteri, do you know or remember if they carry Masi wines? I had a Masi Campofiorin at Obelisk last month that was outstanding and have been having a hard time finding it in Maryland. It would easily be worth the trip for a case of it for me. And that sub and side really look great. I usually end up at Marcone's in Silver Spring for a really good Italian sub, but that really looks great.