December 12, 2006@11AM

Get yourself to Breadline, then, on Pennsylvania Ave.

Good ingredients — they used Niman Ranch Pork, for instance — on good, crusty, housebaked bread. I like the egg salad a lot, with its olive bread and homemade sundried tomatoes. It's hard to find a good egg salad sandwich these days. The chicken salad is good, too. In fact, there's not much that's not good. It's not cheap, though. You'll be hard put to get out of there at lunch for less than 12 bucks.

A cheaper alternative, and further out, is Roy's Place, in Gaithersburg. The menu is voluminous (it takes at least ten minutes to page through the binder) and hilarious (including an ice cube sandwich! and a chicken "bosom" sandwich). Tasty stuff. I especially like a sandwich with, if memory serves, brisket, golden sauce and lobster salad.

Soon, Fairfax, soon.

We'll have something up on the website in a jif. Promise.

Henry,

She was an amazing woman. It's a terrible loss. She meant an awful lot to an awful lot of people in this city.

Farrah Olivia would be worth it, pain and all.

21 P is overpriced for what it is (although there are some reasonably priced and tasty dishes in the mix), and PS 7's has its moments but still appears to be settling in.

In Bethesda, I'd give a long look to David Craig. Call ahead, though. I was in not long ago on an off-night for the chef, and everything seemed off: Dishes were salty, calibrations were off.

(Note to chatters: If I sound vaguer than usual, it's nothing to do with the restaurants themselves. I'm suffering this morning from tummy troubles — lucky for me, only an occasional occupational hazard — and trying to limit my food-talk specifics so as not to make things worse. My apologies. I'm sure you can understand … )

Ah. Good tip.

I didn't see one, and was told there wasn't one.

Dan Mesches, who runs the Star Restaurant Group, which owns Red Sage, is telling me it's probably going to turn into a bank.

Banks, he said, "don't have to deal with smoke or water problems." Banks also make money, and there's nothing more stable than a bank.

It's too bad. I love the colors of the downstairs dining room, the warmth and intimacy and excitement of it. 

Then again, it's too bad that Red Sage was allowed to languish for so long. Since Morou Ouattara left, the place has never been the same.

I got two picks for you —

Blue Duck Tavern, on M St. And Farrah Olivia, in Alexandria. 

Both are must-hits.

(On a usual chat day, I would rip off a few vivid sentences on each. I wish I couid do that today — wish I could make you hungry. I just can't …)

Just the kind of thorough, vividly painted post I needed to read on a day like today, Mt. Pleasant. ; )

L'Auberge is about gestalt. The food is part of the gestalt. It's not the reason to go.

Chez Yon Yon is the only Haitian restaurant in the area, which alone makes it worthy. The owners do a good job. When you call, though, and ask how late they're open, they'll say, "When do you want to come in?" It has the feel of a house that serves food, rather than a conventional restaurant with set hours and a strict menu where you can always count on a dish being in. 

You know it. 

Citronelle.

Corduroy, though, would be a lot less expensive than either of the other two. 

True, true.

Nowadays, though, Jews have a lot more to choose from than they did a generation ago.

Indian restaurants, Lebanese restaurants, Vietnamese restaurants.

Not that many will be persuaded by this argument — a friend all but accused me of heresy when I made the point a few years ago.

Chinese food on the 25th is about as entrenched and traditional as eggnog and mistletoe.

Hey — to each his, or her, own.

One thing I can say definitely is that I've never had a great wrap anywhere. I wish somebody would put an end to that abomination. 

Let's not make this out to be the work of the gestapo.

And let's not equate trans fats with providing something essential to food — something that makes it luscious and memorable.

Trans fats are an evil, plain and simple. It's a chemical, and a bad one, and I'm in favor of anything that would rid our foods of chemicals.

"If people aren't smart enough" isn't the point. Most people, until recently, had no idea this substance was in their food and causing so much damage. It wasn't years ago.

I can't vouch for them.

Can anyone else? 

What goes?

My recent three-star review of the place goes.

The Post's recent two-star review of the place goes.

It's good.

But give it time, wait til the crowds die down a little, and don't expect a four-star or three-and-a-half star experience.

You're right.

I can't think of anything that comes close.

It's a strange area, if you think about it. There's wealth and power, obviously, but a lot of that wealth and power flees the neighborhood quite often to return home to woo voters. And there's an awful lot of young people who come to work for all the wealthy and powerful. But without much money. So you get a lot of bars and taverns.

A few places for you …

Oceanaire, near Penn Quarter.

Blue Duck, on M St. 

Les Folies, in Annapolis.

I'm going to counter with Corduroy, at 12th and K.

It's decked out for X-mas, the food's delicious (French-influenced but not French), and the space, while not cozy-romantic, isn't a capacious, clean-lined modern thing, either. 

For a fire place, you might want to look into the Tabard Inn, near Dupont Circle. 

I haven't yet been to this Prune. I've been to the location in Rehoboth Beach, which I wrote about in our Beach Eats issue in July.

But how different could they be?

The donuts? Good, not great. But let's not be too persnickety: Made-to-order donuts, even if they're cake, even if you get an occasional soft spot, is going to be a tasty good time. And it's fun to choose the toppings.

That's all, people.

I need to hustle back to bed. Actually, NOT hustle. Too much movement.

Eat well, be well, and let's do it again next week …