Mark Sommelier

The absolutely easisest and cheapest recipe is this: Package of chicken drumsticks 26 oz. Bottle of spaghetti sauce Put in a saucepan, pour the sauce over the chicken, cover Bake 1 hour. Voilá! Rice on the side.

Mark? Ohmygosh! Is that you? ← Yes, I think so.

25 years ago, I worked with a guy who was the most pompous, unethical creep sommelier. I learned all the things you should never do to a customer from him. For that I thank him. I go out of my way to be approachable and personable. Its a good tactic, and it works.

Probably because Vegas has reached critical mass with expensive restaurants. 20 years ago you had to work hard to spend more than 20 bucks on dinner for two.

More and more common these days is the little deal called the "close-out list". Larger wine/liquor/beer distributors these days are run by accountants. Products are not allowed to sit in the warehouse for longer than 6 months. This leads to dumping wine at crazy prices just to move it. I saw a close-out list last year that started with various Chilean and Argentine wines at 25¢ a bottle! Last week I purchased several cases of Latricieres-Chambertin 2000 Vincent Girardin for $27 a bottle - a 66% discount from the price the previous month. Grand Cru red Burgundy, fer chissake! I also bought 5 cases of Domaine Bouchard Corton-Charlemagne for an amazing $28.75. I'm considering pouring it by the glass.

Working. But at least we'll be working where the booze is. ← Yah. The booze and THE MONEY. Ha Ha.

Some of us will be stuck working :-(

I am a big fan of Hugh Johnson/Jancis Robinson's World Wine Atlas. For specific vintages and top producers: Robert Parker's Wine Buyers Guide Michael Broadbent's Great Vintage Wine Book.

Some of us are stuck working

You'd have to pay me a hell of a lot more than $25 to eat there.

Please, all of you, go to Restaurant Eve in Alexandria and try the FRESH bacon. Pork belly. Yum!!

i was happy to experience this very gumbo along with some excellent fried oysters, remoulade and pickled veggies at johnny's one day for lunch not too long ago. it was my first time there, and i have thought about it quite a bit since then...especially the oysters. ← To this day, when I walk in there, they fire a double order of fried oysters for me, before I even sit down! Those oysters rock.

The single greatest pasta dish I ever had in my life was recently served to me at the bar at Galileo. Rocks was a witness. It was a spaghetti Putanesca. It could not have been more perfectly cooked.

The hotel is called "George Washington University Inn". They own the building. There is a management company that they employ to run the business.

Plese check this out: Fortessa has just taken over the distribution of Schott-Zwiesel glasses in the US. Please ask your local guy to show you the Diva and the Top Ten lines. The glasses are stunning and they are extra sturdy. These are the Tritan glasses. The 28 oz. Bordeaux glass is under $5 wholesale.

What wines are paired with these various dishes?

In the business it is known as "Agent Orange" because it is ubiquitous. Cliquot is owned by LVMH. If you don't know what that is, please Google it. The Yellow Label being sold today is very different from that of 10-15 years ago. At the same price point, look for these: Pierre Peters, Pierre Moncuit, H. Billiot, Bollinger, Henriot. Bollinger Grande Annee 1996 would be my choice for a splurge. Edited to add: Cliquot produces several million cases of Champagne yearly. The brands that I named produce under 10,000 cases except Bollinger.

It is my job to spend time with the patrons of my restaurant, slow or busy. The answer to your question: very likely.

Its not Dutch, its Flemish. Bart is a Fleming.

Big budget or small budget?

An Italian Osteria here squirts it inside their fresh bombolini. Its outrageous!

Steve, Perhaps I should amend my quote to say this: This is why most chefs I know don't pay attention to what is said on eGullet or other food/restaurant websites with anonymous posters.

But, Rocks. It wouldn't be the internet if people couldn't post anonymously. On the internet, everyone can be a critic. This is why most chefs I know don't care about eGullet and the other food websites like it. The cartoon that started it all Mark Slater

This year has been the worst I can remember for fruit flies in Washington. At virtually every restaurant I've eaten this summer they were a constant presence, some places worse than others. We do everything we can to control this problem including bleaching all the drains, installing bait traps and fogging.

Following Rocks' post is difficult. I went to Eve tonight, for the first time, with him. It was superlative. 2 dishes are must haves: OOO (oysters, onions, Osetra) . This was lightly poached oysters in classic Soubise (creamed onions) with caviar. The pork belly was sensational. Richly flavored and savory. Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Thrasher took very good care of us. Hats off to them.