Mark Sommelier

To really impress the wine snob, get a bottle of Charles Shaw Cabernet and a bottle of Charles Shaw Merlot and mix them. This renders them palatable, as we learned in this very forum several weeks ago.

A very reliable source tells me that Per Se opened 3 days ago.

Mr. Pastrami, If you ask for it medium, it works that way, too. Pink all the way through.

If you read Tom's chat on Wednesday and other postings here, it is a recurring theme about Obelisk. The fact that he's been nominated is meaningless.

Sorry, Joe, you are wrong if you talk about the chain stores here in the district. I shop regularly at the Watergate Safeway. In an upscale area, you would think that Safeway would have an "A" store there. Not the case. New products that are advertised on TV and in newspapers take 6 months to a year to show up on the shelves there. To say that the Wegmans in Sterling is better than any store in New York is nuts. I went to school in Rochester, New York where Wegmans originated. There are plenty of large Wegmans in New York and New Jersey.

Tiny ants in the business ,like me, find this fascinating.

Simple. Egri Bikaver (Bull's Blood). At least then they will get a bit of blood with their steak! That was the point!

only eat skinless, boneless chicken breast That's a sick chick.

Simple. Egri Bikaver (Bull's Blood).

From Steve Klc: "wouldn't you think that with so many chain, bistro and higher end steak places, and so many conservative diners ordering steak, that chefs would have figured out by now how to serve them reliably? Could it be that "most" diners are getting their steaks exactly as they want them--somewhat overdone? " At Citronelle, the steaks are cooked in the French manner. Seared in the pan, basted with whole butter, finished in a slow oven (205°). This produces a steak or lamb rack that is medium rare from side to side all the way through, not red in the middle and pink on the outer edges. Its a matter of technique.

Sara, Make sure to order the Moules Poulettes (either large or small).

"Letters from my mill"?? A cute story about goats and monsters? WTF is this about?

Oceanaire is "good??" They only have the best oysters and crab cakes in town. Their hash browns a la Oceanaire are deadly. Their fish is as fresh as anyone's. They have good deserts as well. I had lunch at Johnny's today. Excellent, as always. I like Oceanaire alot, too. You have to know what to order there. The grand shellfish platter is awesome. The crabcakes are great. Simple fish is done well. The sides are crazy, but very good. Dessert feeds 4. Curious why Pesce is nixed. I like it very much.

Steven, The beauty of the OT software is that, if you have been there before, it tells the restaurant. If you really are a friend of the chef, that item will most likely be in your permanent customer notes. The software keeps track of how many reservations you have had, what table you sat at, who your server was. When you reserve online, you can type in temporary notes like "wife's birthday, celebrating divorce, got a promotion". The permanent notes are where the restaurant keeps info on you like "likes '61 Petrus, likes table 41, allergic to garlic, PITA ". The software also keeps track of how many times you have cancelled and no-showed for reservations. When you call on the phone to make a reservation that is put into the OT computer the most common glitch is spelling. Always spell your name to the reservationist. If you are in the system your name and customer history will pop up automatically. It really is a great tool.

Those were the front line, quoted prices. I bought several cases of them to serve by the glass. Amazing, isn't it?

2002 was a very great vintage and produced more eiswein than I've ever seen on the market at all price levels. While the best producers are always expensive, this year I was able to purchase: Weingut Bretz Beerenauslese 2002 - $8US wholesale and Eiswein - $16US wholesale. Bollig-Lehnert Trittenheimer Riesling Eiswein was $US24 wholesale.

Hiroyuki, Hello. I have been in the wine business for 25 years. I have become used to seeing people who are in the business for 1 year call themselves sommeliers. Personally, I just laugh when I hear someone referred to as a "cheese sommelier, water sommelier, coffee sommelier, chocolate sommelier, bread sommelier". I could understand someone being called a sake sommelier. I think it is wonderful that this once archaic and esoteric word has entered the modern lexicon. Thank you for the fascinating look into the rice business.

HOOLIO, We have rules here about posting after imbibing in Baja Barbera.

Cheese abuse is a very serious matter. Rocks, I urge you to notify the cheese district attorney and have him convene a cheese grand jury to look into this grave matter and hopefully hand up some stern cheese indictments.

Darling, Always remember that there are always a lot of idiots out there.

I bought Bernkasteler Doctor Riesling Eiswein 2002, Dr. Thanisch, this year for $75 a bottle wholesale. That's $5 cheaper than Inniskillin. Guess which one I'd choose?

Alex, You must stop into Firefly for lunch to sample Chef Wabeck's already legendary crise cardiac grilled Ham and Cheese samwich.

That place from Seattle with the green lettering, round logo and pricey beverages -- what's it called? Starbrocks or something??? -- may fit many of your criteria. Kind of hard to find them, but I thinks there's one or two of them around DC. Jerry Seinfeld calls is "FourBucks".

You could see this one coming a mile away. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Stacks was owned by the same guy who owns Signatures.

Remember the Wine Clip?