Mark Sommelier

HI Simon, Ben's Chili Bowl on U St. has just been awarded a James Beard honor for great American classic dining place. It fits right in your budget. Full Kee or New Big Wong in Chinatown are also worthy spots to try. To splurge, try Marcel's at 2401 Pennsylvania Ave.

As much as I love caviar, I have never been able to make myself eat shad roe. I think it is a leftover from those years ago when gin was the drink of choice at lunch.

Hidemasa Yamamoto is the executive chef of the new Mandarin Oriental in DC. Eric will be the chef of the signature fine dining restaurant when it opens later this year.

I got a tour of the kitchen the first time we went there and they showed us the churro machine. Very cool. As good as the churros are, its the CARAMEL POPCORN that really rocks.

Sette was the place last night. Margherita with pepperoni...... mmmmmmmmmmm

Perhaps no one said this before, but, it is illegal to bring pets into dining establishments in this city.

Just passed by the old Tahoga space today and noticed menus in the window. Yves from Au Pied de Cochon has taken the space over. Advertised hours are till 3AM during the week and 6AM Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Maybe a little Lobster Thermidor tonight after work........

Food as toys? Does no one think this is contrived? Am I alone in thinking that none of these dishes sounds remotely appetizing? Just curious.

The answer: POLITICS

On another discussion board, this topic came up. There were people actually talking about SPLITTING one seat at this event.

When I did tableside service, MANY years ago, we made Cafe Diablo. Done tableside with a guerridon and a rechaud. Have the busboy bring you 2 double espressos. In a pan on the rechaud, put the coffee and the whole orange and whole lemon peel. Heat for 30 seconds. With fork, take the end of the orange peel and lift it over the pan. Pour the Cognac down the peel, tipping the pan to ignite it. Do the same with the lemon peel, but pour Grand Marnier down it, also trying to ignite it. Provid lots of sugar. Once when I was doing this, the woman at the next table said : "Ooh look, honey, he's cooking rattlesnake!!".

In Vienna, ask for topfengulatschen. These are what we call cheese danish. They are addictive. Palatschincken is merely the greatest dessert on the planet.

Had an excellent and perfectly done squab there last Monday night.

I work in a restaurant that has a prix fixe menu. Dessert is included in both the 4 course $85 and the 8 course $125 tasting menu, so they don't present the dessert menu with the dinner menu. If you asked for the dessert menu, you could certainly see it, too. If you want to see the dessert menu at the same time as the dinner menu, why wouldn't you just ask for it?

danzig, do you need a chef to cook a burger????

Rocks, What the hell were you doing in that neighborhood?

Favorite description of the Harold from an old Guards bartender: "Darwin's waiting room". I love that place!

I wish I had time to go to Marcel's. His flemish redneck cook'n is far superior to his name calling. Yeah, but he doesn't have Baja Barbera.

Customer: Your wines are expensive Me: I could give them to you for half price if I could serve it to you on a bare table in a paper cup. Its all about context.

Here's the word on half bottles. Half bottles of Champagne are all filled from larger format bottles allowing a certain amount of oxydation. The only half bottle of Champagne to my knowledge that is fermented in the bottle is Krug Grand Cuvée. If you like half bottles to drink at home, don't limit yourself to what the wine shop/liquor store has on the shelf. Ask a salesperson to provide you with a list of all the half bottles they have access to. They can be ordered for you and are normally there within a day or two. As far as half bottles in restaurants are concernced, my experience has been that wines by the glass and half bottles compete with each other. I chose to have a great by the glass program and limit half bottles to sweet wines.

Is it Nectar's? Let's call it Hooligan's instead. I've heard good things about that place. Yes, its Nectar's. Or, you can call it The Nectar.

Mr. Pastrami, If you ask for it medium, it works that way, too. Pink all the way through. the real question i had, mark, was how much longer in a 205 degree oven does it take to get a steak medium, as opposed to medium-rare? I'm not sure, but I think it depends on the size and thickness of the steak.

This happens routinely at the lovely Watergate Safeway. To be fair to the employees, though, one time at checkout, the cashier pointed to the expiration date on a quiche I picked and turned it over and showed me the mold on the bottom. I learned really quickly to look for expiration dates there.

Parker gives the wine 98 points and Jancis Robinson calls the wine ridiculous. What is one to think? Does this mean the price goes up or down?