Mark Sommelier

PB, banana and bacon are heavenly. I think this was discussed on another thread. The magic ingredient, of course, is mayonnaise.

Al Dente is an expert on them. Ask him about Delirium Nocturnum.

I seem to remember that there is a distinction between English wine and British wine. One involves grapes grown on the island and one involves grapes grown on the continent and vinified in England.

And don't forget that calamari is "gahlaMAHD" I think this is more Italian-American though, and not just regional. People would break your chops if you pronounced calamari correctly in my area. Which exit?

Yeah, my dad is from Brooklyn and he pronounces pizza "peetz-er". Cracks me up. I can't get over calling mozzarella 'MOOT zurel' How do you feel about calling capicola "gabagool"?

The British pronounce sommelier as "Smelly-A". Female sommeliers, called sommelieres, fare worse: "Smelly-Air".

Just received 4 cases of this heavenly wine. The Vernay Condrieu is all about grace, elegance and subtlety. Vernay no longer has a national importer as they prefer to deal with small regional guys. I sent one of my friends who imports this summer to knock on their door and ask for the wine. They obliged. The nose of beautiful floral scents. The body of the wine is relatively light. Flavors are subtle and completely delicious. This is an excellent food oriented wine, not overpowering or covering. The finish lingers just long enough. This is one of the best white wines I have tasted this year.

Never eaten at Trotter's. Doubt I want to. The tiny portion things drives me crazy. I was at a "happening" restaurant not too long ago. The menu said "baby beet salad". What came: 16" Bernardaud bowl with exactly 3 tiny beets, sliced, and some frisée in the center. 2 bites. I waited how long for this? I work in a cuisine/chef driven restaurant. I encounter young diners all the time. Luckily, I DO have a sense of humor and know how to buy wines that don't cost a fortune and actually taste good. It is all about making people feel comfortable.

You probably don't want to hear how ortolans are "prepared" either, then. We are not doing ortolans again. or a third time. Yikes, Jason. I would never have mentioned it if I had seen all that. I would like to add my favorite ortolan story, though. In the 80's, I worked for Jean-Louis Palladin. He used to smuggle the birds into the US in his raincoat. One evening, the entire restaurant was bought out by Les Dames D'Escoffier, a professional food related women's group. Jean-Louis gamely announced that he had 30 ortolans to send out if they were interested (there were 50 people at the dinner). All the hands went up. After giving the eating instructions, the birds went out. Virtually none of the ladies followed the instructions to put the bird in the mouth whole. Rather, they tried to take the little breast filets off the bone with fork and knife. 3 people ate the whole bird, the rest went back to the kitchen looking like cats had been scratching on them. J-L learned a big lesson that night.

Leave it to Randall Graham to jump into the fray in a big way. I received a box in the mail this week. Opening it, it looked like a large cigar box. Inside I found a bottle of wine, some strange things and a press kit. The box contained one bottle of Cigare Volante with a SCREWCAP, a "standard issue Martian ray gun", a cootie catcher, a vial of patchouli oil and a vial of TCA 2,4,6 in liquid form. The press kit included essays and tasting notes from a variety of people. CV will henceforth be bottled "en screwcap". Clever, that guy.

Thunderbird would lose its cachet if it were drunk from a box. Can't stick a box in your back pocket, either.

You go to BdC entirely too much, young man. I am fascinated by the Polo Club next door, though. Let's check it out.

You probably don't want to hear how ortolans are "prepared" either, then.

That's like the folks in Philadelphia who refer to their city as "Fluffya", and those in Baltimore with "Balmer". Here in DC it is pronounced "Warshington". Here's another free tip: Chateau Trotanoy, one of my favorite Pomerols, is pronounced "Trote-tan-nwah". Similarly, Savoy = Sah-vwah. Carry on.

Well, for openers, the country in question is pronounced "Fronce", not "Fraaaanse" Please, no "cheese eating surrender monkey" jokes. - Credit Homer Simpson

Um... isn't the first T pronounced? I've always heard: [mõ-tRa-Se], and [mõ-Ra-Se] just doesn't seem right to me. (NB. I'm using a big "S" in place of the usual IPA symbol for "sh" which doesn't seem to work in Explorer; the big "R" means it is uvular). One of my favorite mispronunciations, which I think is mentioned in one of Mario Batali's books, is when people say they want their pasta "al dante." As in, "please prepare my pasta in the style of the guy who wrote The Divine Comedy." Neither T is pronounced. It comes out : moan-rah-shay. Never "Mahn-Trashay" with a hard T.

Nope, but it does have an appropriately folksy look to it, doesn't it? For some reason, the edit function does not extend to the header titles.

Nice list, therese. There was a restaurant here once called La Niçoise - which everyone in Washington called Lonny Swah's. I agree with others that correcting patrons at the table is a bad idea. That doesn't stop if from being a source of giggles at work. I didn't even get into the slaughter that French wine names get routinely. Here's a free tip: none of the T's in Montrachet are pronounced.

"I'll have the": fwah gwah frog wah fwah grass foy grass foy grah foy gwah Neverending laughter at work over this one. Why is this one so hard to pronounce? Do people say they are going to Mardi Gwah? DISCUSS

Hungarian goulash soup. Find it all over Germany.

Several of us had dinner at Ceiba last night. This is a very attractive space in the evening. Service at the bar and overall was excellent. We pigged out on lots of appetizers and a few main courses. My new favorite dish is Queso Fundido. Damn, that's good!It was interesting to see the fine tuning on some of the dishes we had last time. Oysters on the half shell with tequila granité were a knockout as were the crab fritters and pork shoulder. I had a really tangy spiny lobster for the main course. It was quite delicious. As stuffed as I was, I still couldn't cram enough of the outstanding caramel popcorn into my mouth at the end. Kitchen stays open till 11, so this may be the new after work munchie spot. Bravo Jeff, Gus and David!!

I nominate duck testicles. When I worked for Jean-Louis, people would tell us how delicious it was, then ask what it is. The answer was always "We'll tell you on the way out".

Haven't been myself, but I hear Black Olive is really good. Straightforward Mediterranean preparations of fresh fish.

I have been using the Jurançon Moelleux "Ballet d'Octobre" for several years now as a by the glass selection. Even jaded wine snobs perk up for these wines. The 2001 Jurançon Sec is also a stunner. Very focused with sweet citrus tones in the bouquet and on the tongue. These should retail at $25 or under.

Hmmmm........ I wonder how much advertising Banfi, Pio Cesare, Prunotto, Cerreto, Gaja and Michele Chiarlo bought in that issue.