Melani

I've never tried it, but Furin's in Georgetown is open for breakfast Monday-Saturday: http://www.furins.com/catering_contact.html

They sell bulk spices at the Whole Foods in Glover Park/Upper Georgetown and at the Yes! in Cleveland Park.

Went to Nirvana on Friday night. The food was great but the place was dead--obviously suffering from it's location in an area that gets absolutely no foot traffic on the weekends. But I encourage everyone to venture down there and check it out. We especially enjoyed the Undhio curry--an unusual mix of spicy vegetables and sweetness from bananas. The owner/cook came to our table to chat with us and answer our questions about the menu, then checked in with us again at the end of the meal. Kind of strange for a restaurant in this price range, but there was also a woman there who was sort of a sommelier. She stopped by to see how I liked my glass of pinot noir. Then she came to our table at the end of the meal to offer us a sample of a French dessert wine (semillion?). She asked for our advice on how to market it to the customers.

A few weeks ago I tried one of their German chocolate cupcakes at Love Cafe. It was dry and cold--quite a disappointment. The refrigerated display case at the counter may work for cheesecake, but it seemed to have ruined the cupcake.

I have been to Sorriso twice--for dinner on a Wednesday and for lunch on a Thursday. At dinner we shared the mussels, spinach & gorgonzola salad, and the wild mushroom & (carmelized?) onion pizza. Mussels were excellent. Pizza was tasty with good quality toppings. The crust was very, very thin so the pizza wasn't too filling. The salad was a little boring--just a bunch of baby spinach leaves (like the kind you get in the bag in the grocery store) with oil & vinegar, but the gorgonzola rescued it. Atomosphere was slightly off, but I think they can fix that. We sat in the downstairs area where the spotlights in the ceiling seemed way too bright for a cozy Italian restaurant. The 2-top tables were too small and uncomfortable, even for two rather small people. The tables appeared to be the metal folding type, partially disguised under the white tablecloth; I kept bumping my leg whenever I moved. Accoustics were bad--we had to shout at each other to be heard across the table. The service was spotty. All of the other tables were given bread but we had to flag down the waiter and request some bread to sop up the mussel broth. We weren't given a wine list nor were we offered any wine, so we didn't order any. The menu and prices are exactly the same at lunch as at dinner. I had the rigatoni bolognese. It had a good, clingy sauce. But I would have expected to pay less at lunch. They did not bring any bread and the room was very cold. There was a space heater right next to our table. I would go back for the food and sit at the bar, unless they make the dining room areas more inviting. Melani

I went to Minibar on Saturday night, and was surprised to see Jose working behind the bar, as well as Kats and two other guys. They all seemed frantic. I asked Jose if he's normally back there, and he said no, it was because they had accepted too many reservations for that night. He said that he only wants to have 12 guest per evening--2 seatings. But that night they had 3 seatings, plus an extra table of 4 which was being served the minibar food, for a total of 22 people. Not sure if the table of 4 were friends or VIPs of some sort, but I can't imagine it would have been nearly as much fun sitting at a table instead of the bar. After the 4-top left, Jose disappeared and Kats and his assistants seemed more relaxed. The entire meal exceeded our expectations in every respect. The only notably missing course was the spray mojito, though I didn't realize it until after the meal. I believe the one new course that has not been previously mentioned here is the "corn on the cobb." It was a little baby corn on the cobb, intensely flavorful. I asked lots of questions about the ingredients and preparation techniques and the guys were very willing to answer all of my questions. Maybe they get annoyed with the questions night after night--must feel like a cooking class at times. At the end of the meal (after the chocolate corn nuts and before the bill-in-the-egg), each guest was given the menu to take home. It's printed on transparent plastic, like for an overhead projector. As fantastic as it is, I wouldn't be surprised if they call it quits with Minibar after a year or less. I can imagine that Kats & crew could very easily get burnt out with the routine.

I had the big ol' pork chop. It was mammoth and very tasty, but the turnip greens were the real highlight of the plate, IMO. I didn't really care for the sweet potato souffle--it was too sweet and didn't have much sweet potato flavor. My boyfriend had the shrimp and grits. The shrimp where phenomenal--some of the biggest and tastiest we'd ever eaten. We had the mac 'n cheese on the side. It was of the creamy rather than the cheesey variety but addictive nonetheless; must be the truffle oil. Had the pecan pie for dessert, and I agree the chocolate sauce was unnecessary.

Went there for my birthday dinner on a Tuesday in September. The host was about to seat us at a "nice" table when he re-directed us to a "not-as-nice" table, commenting that the other table was reserved. A bit of an off-putting start to the meal. The food and service were good, but the atmosphere was a little cold. Seemed more suitable for a business dinner. Melani

I enjoy going out for brunch on the weekends because it's ususally more relaxed and less expensive than at dinner. Firefly has a small but tasty brunch menu and it is offered on both Saturdays and Sundays. Also, I enjoy the Sunday brunch at Tabard Inn (reservation required) and Ardeo. For something a bit different, Meze in Adams Morgan has a wonderful Turkish omlette as well as other brunch items, both traditional and untraditional. Melani