Mark Sommelier

I wish they would open a Krusty Burger. I want my Twisty Lard®!

What kind of person takes a steak off someone's plate and then COMPLAINS about it? That's amazing!

Someone on Chowhound reported that the line for the opening day started at 4PM the previous day. They opened at 5:30AM.

There is a cellar facility in upper Georgetown, I believe. Contact Wide World of Wines at 202-333-7500. I think they have something to do with it. If not, they will recommend something for you.

Last Monday the entire bar was eG folks, all the table were full, inside and outside.

Sit at the bar. No problem. There will be four of us though. If you tell all the eGullet people to stay home for a change, there will be plenty of room.

Ditto. 2 nights in a row!

Just for the sake of pedantry, the style of "new cooking" that arose in France and then America in the early 80's was called Nouvelle Cuisine. I do not know of a single chef cooking today who refers to his/her food as Nouvelle Cuisine anymore.

True story: Tonight, two friends show up at my bar. Both of them are bartenders. I said "you're all dressed up, where ya been?" "At a wake" "So, you showed up here for a stiff one......" Sorry

Hmmmm....... the Office. That sounds like a good idea. I haven't been there in at least a week.

This is old news.

Great replies here so far. My views on this subject are well documented on the interet, this site included. The question I always want to ask people who obsess on what restaurants charge for things is this: What business are you in? Do you ask your doctor why he charges you $175 for a 20 minute office visit? Do you quiz your dentist about why a 10 minute cleaning costs $90? Ragu spaghetti sauce costs $3.49 at the Safeway, but I prefer the Putanesca sauce from Dean & Deluca that costs me $12.99. To be fair to the original poster, I agree. Wine in a cheap place should be cheap, too. A little bare bones bistro with $8 entrees should have wine in a similar price range. Fine dining places have different costs to assume. The rest should be obvious.

I helped open Citronelle 11 1/2 years ago. Palena and Nectar are young compared.

There has been discussion of this topic on the Wine Forum. I noted that the same bottle of Cristal that I sell $220, ADNY sells for $500. The same bottle of Corton-Charlemagne Domaine Coche-Dury that I sell for $400, Veritas sells for $1300. Go figure.

The original Old Ebbitt Grill was indeed around the corner in a creaky (literally) Revolutionary era building. In the early 80's there was a fierce battle between the real estate developers and the historic preservation folks. It is obvious who won. The new Old Ebbitt is in the site once occupied by Keith's theatre, a vaudeville house turned movie theatre from the 20's.

In a restaurant, wine and food are the two main profit centers. There are certain fixed costs associated with purchasing, storing and serving wine. Without an acceptable profit, the restaurant goes out of business.

Well, since I just ate lunch there, I can tell you that the Childe Harold (1967) is still alive and ticking. How could I forget Trio??? Also add AV Ristorante.

Chez François was originally in a building at the space now occupied by the Oval Room.

Some real oldies: Billy Martin's Tavern The Guards Mrs. K's Toll House Crisfield's Reese's Luigi's Famous ....to name a few

Classique

I've known Ben for 20 years and will state categorically that he is a good person and a nice guy.

Somehow I think he still doesn't get it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Aug17.html

Zaytinya serves all afternoon. If you come after the lunch rush around 2 o'clock you can linger and savor.

That's a cool place if you are the kind of guy who paints his face the colors of his soccer team.........