As I've been getting caught up with my emails in the last couple of months, I came across a bunch of good questions that many of you probably want to  ask as well. Just as an FYI for all of you, I won't be doing a Christmas or New Years Eve post this year, so if you're waiting for me to recommend places, to go, you'd best go elsewhere.

Jason, When is Restaurant Week?? January is fast approaching and there's no word of then the dates are? HELP!!!

Okay, this is probably the 10th time someone has emailed me asking me about this and for the last time...it's Jan 9th through the 15th. The list of restaurants participating is not published yet, but I can guarantee you it wont be much different from the last list. I've been trying to get the list before it officially get's published, but my emails to the DC Convention and Tourism Corporation have gone unanswered. Keep checking back here for more updates.

Congrats on Noah. He's adorable! The help w/Thanksgiving dinner was fantastic. I
finally convinced my family to go out to eat. Only downer: we wound up at
America instead of Citronelle. Oh well. At least we went out. Anyway...

Here's my silly question. Or silly thought really. I think you should have a
"foodie connections" or something. Wouldn't that be great for the single
foodies of DC? Yes it would.

Totally self centered reasons: I have been dating around DC for a couple of
years now. And I like dining around town. The bulk of the fellows SAY they
like to dine. But I've learned that they will SAY anything to get out on a
date. Now, in my truly humble opinion, dining is different from going out to
eat. You go out to "eat" at P.F. Changs or Cheesecake Factory or Outback
etc. You dine at Ceiba, B9, Oceanaire. Why am I explaining this to you? You
already know. My situation is (I'm sure) not unique among the female
population in the DC Metro Area.

So. If you are tending to Young Noah one snowy afternoon this winter, and he
falls asleep and you have any neurons left to think about this veritable
"foodie hookup" or (I hate to think about it this way but:) "foodie
personals" (single TenPenh female seeks single Acadiana male for drinks,
appetizers, entrees and dessert"), or it could even be as simple as the
"foodie classifieds" please please please consider my silly thought.

Happy Holidays to you, Amy, Noah (so cute, so so cute), and the pets.

Thanks in advance.

p.s. - I knew I was forgetting something. What in the world happened to
Signatures? Is it closed permanently? I walked past and the stools were
upended on the bar at prime time. What's the deal?

Well, I'm actually not in the business of doing personals, but I think this is a great idea! Foodie Personals -- You should start your own web site. I'd gladly link to it. If I can give you some advice about trying to find a foodie hunk? Try becoming a member at DonRockwell.com. They have regular get togethers, and you'd probably meet someone with similar tastes to yours there.

Oh, and Signitures is closed. Kaput. If it wasn't nailed to the post, it would be pushing up the daisies.

Hi Jason,

I was thinking that my boyfriend would love to take a cooking class and that it'd be a fabulous idea for a Christmas present.  You sounded like you loved the one at Galileo.  I was considering signing him up for a class at Galileo, but he works full time and attends law school part time, so finding free time is a chore in itself.  Do you know of any other (good) one-day sessions that would allow me to purchase a session yet not schedule it?  Like somewhere that would allow me to more or less purchase a gift certificate that could be used any time?

Thanks a bunch.

I'm sure if you call Gallileo they will let you work something out. The class that I went to was very cool and I enjoyed it very much. It was well worth the money. If you want, you can read about my experience there in this post.

Other restaurants that I know have cooking classes are Tosca and Citronelle ($$$). Circle Bistro will have them once in a while as well.

Another place to check would be tastedc.com. They have cooking classes all the time and I'm sure that Charlie Adler can work something out with you. I'm sure this kind of request really isn't that out of the ordinary.

The Washingtonian also has quite a complete listing of cooking classes available in the area if you want to use them as a reference.

Hello. I hope it's ok to email you for a restaurant recommendation. I am a fan of Amy's site and found your site thru her's.

 

We are fairly new to the DC area (live in Montgomery County MD) and have tickets to see Wicked at the Kennedy Center on 12/22. Matinee show.  We were thinking it might be nice to eat out on our way out of town after the show - let some of the traffic clear etc.

 

Can you recommend a good place in DC or nearby that might be special and fun for our family, nice atmoshphere.  We are a family of 5 - our 3 daughters are 21, 19, and 15.  Overall we like Italian, Mexican, Chinese and American cuisine best.  My 15 year old is a somewhat picky eater & my 19 yr will not eat seafood! 

 

Any suggestions you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

It's definitely ok to email me for a restaurant recommendation! You're best choice in the area of the Kennedy Center is Circle Bistro, a personal favorite of mine. Chef Brendan Cox is doing some incredible French-American cuisine at the restaurant on the bottom floor of the Washington Circle Hotel. Make sure you have the Madelines for dessert.

Hi there. I'm a big fan of your site. So far, all of your recommendations have been spot-on.

I have a quick question about Corduroy. I am planning to take my boyfriend there for his birthday next Friday. We will be coming from a cocktail party, so will be dressed accordingly. I keep seeing that Corduroy's dress is casual.  Will we stick out like sore thumbs?

Thanks for your wisdom. ;-)

You won't stick out too much, at least not as much as the occasional person that shows up from the hotel in sneakers and shorts. Most people that go to Corduroy actually do get somewhat dressed up and I see people there in sport coats most of the time.

Jason,

I was waiting for you to post your Christmas Eve and New Years Eve recommendations, but they never came. Do you have any plans to give us some guidance this holiday season?

The funny thing is, when you eat out on holidays like that, your likely to get a much less memorable experience than if you went there on say, a normal Tuesday night. If you think about it, most of the staff don't actually want to work on holidays just like the rest of us, and the seasoned, experienced people (chefs, waitstaff, and management included) are the first to get nights like that off. You end up spending just as much (and maybe more depending on the type of menu they're serving), but the quality just wont be the same. So save you're money, make a nice pot roast or lamb shank in your oven and spend the money on a nice bottle of expensive champagne.

Or you can go to Corduroy, which I know is open on New Years and I'm pretty sure (although I could be wrong) that Tom Power will be in the kitchen that night. I mean, it's not like he has anything else to do...

Okay, that's all for this week. I'm going to try to do a Question and Answer post every Monday assuming that I get enough questions emailed to me each week, so send your questions to [email protected].