Tuesday, June 23 at 11 AM

I think they're all pretty good places.

Sweetgreen and Tangysweet to me are both probably at the top.

What it comes down to, I think, is how much sourness — how much tang — you like in your yogurt. I like a good bit. Separates it, for me, from custard or ice cream. And works really well with something like fresh berries.

It's true; I've been there. And it's the worst when it's New Yorkers.

New Yorkers are so provincial, they can't possibly get their brains around the idea that someplace else might actually make something of worth. And the idea that that something of worth is, in fact, better than their something of worth — fuhgeddaboutit.

Bagels and deli — both are better in Montreal.

The smoked meat sandwiches (medium fat) at Schwartz's — sorry, Schwartz's Charcuterie Hebraique de Montreal; love that — are the best I've had anywhere. Just typing the words makes my mouth water. I can't wait to go back sometime soon and taste another. 

If you were to ask me to compile a Top 10 dishes, all time, there's little doubt in my mind that a smoked meat sandwich would be in there. And probably a bagel from Fairmont with saumon fume. 

…

In case anyone's interested, St.-Viateur Bagels is again shipping to the States. www.stviateurbagel.com

If I remember correctly, it's $60 for five dozen. And absolutely worth it. (Though still not as good as the real thing, made fresh).

Farrah Olivia is the one that I removed, because it closed. 

New on the list is Cantler's Riverside Inn, in Annapolis — to me, the granddaddy of all the crab houses in the area, a certifiable legend.

Terrific view, nicely secluded, and great, meaty, perfectly steamed crabs. Also, right now, they've got a wonderful softshell platter for $25 — three lightly pan-fried, locally-dredged softies, with coleslaw and fries.

If you've never been, you're missing out. 

But don't even try going on the weekends at dinner time, unless you're prepared to wait an hour-and-a-half. 

Kumar, what are you trying to do? Steal the thunder of our recently revived blog featurette, Recipe Sleuth? ; )

Thanks for writing in.

A good recipe for channa masala is always a good thing.

In general, I find, it's a dish that everybody seems to like, no matter their food restrictions or preferences. Vegetarians (and carniphobes) as well as omnivores.

(Carniphobes, you ask?

(Yes. Carniphobes.

(To me, a vegetarian is someone who embraces the idea of vegetables and fruits. But I know quite a few vegetarians who despise them, or who merely tolerate them — the thing, for them, is to avoid meat. They subsist, some of them, on diets rich in pop-tarts and chips. To me, that's a carniphobe.) 

Thanks for the report.

How slammed was the place, I wonder –? 

Burmese food is not always spicy/lively like you're thinking. A number of dishes are homey/comforting.

One of them is the chicken cream soup you mentioned, ohno kaukswe, which they do extremely well at Myanmar. The fritters, yes — also good. It's the salads, I think, where they really shine. Especially the tea-leaf salad, which, when it's on, is exceptional.

I know some people I've gone with, who've looked over the menu and heard me talk about the salads, and sort of turn up their noses — thinking, well, a salad isn't much of a dish; thinking, a salad is something light and diet-conscious and I want heartiness and something full of protein, etc.

Here, and at other Burmese restaurants — I'm thinking of the excellent Burma Road, in Gaithersburg, which, to me, is the best of the Burmese places around, now — the salads are the main event. They're very complex dishes, with lots going on — the kind of dishes that keep showing you something different as you work your way through them.

Salads, noodle dishes, soups (the mohingar is good too) — that's the way to go. 

Great question. (And very funny … )

And … I wish I had an equally great answer. 

It's funny, too, because it's something I've been thinking about for a couple of years …

If you bring together a group of foodies, they invariably will pooh-pooh the idea of a big dessert on the plate at a high-end, foodie-leaning restaurant. Actually, foodies are inclined to pooh-pooh the idea of big portions, in general. Unseemly. Declasse.

I don't agree.

I think a lot of fine-dining restaurants see dessert as the coda of a long, involved symphony, and so don't want to burden the diner with too many calories, etc.

The thing is, though, they are only too happy to throw foie gras, sweetbreads, pork belly and all sorts of heavy, rich things our way throughout the meal.

Why not lighten up a little there, and make dessert an equal player? Why not make dessert as show-stopping and eye-catching and dramatic?

I think for me, the aim of a great restaurant is to put out exquisite food without appearing precious. And many great restaurants are able to do that — at least, through every course but the final course. There, too often, you have preciousness thrust upon you.

You mention Cheesecake Factory (whose portions are beyond big — beyond massive; they're gargantuan; each slice could feed three). And I think this gets to something, too. Which is that most high-end restaurants disdain the idea of cake and pie.

They sure don't disdain ice cream. You see ice cream on so many menus — but rarely do you see cake or pie or pastry.

I don't mean a tart, either. Or a tartlet. 

Or a financier.

A cake. A pie. Something we can't make ourselves, at home. Something grand and dramatic and sumptuous — something that does not sacrifice quality/exquisiteness/precision for being so simple, so declasse …

Thanks for the report, NoLo. (Oh, how I wish I could follow that up with: Contendre.)

And one mushroom loaf, coming right up. Jessica, are you listening?

I haven't been, apres-Barack/Biden, but I wouldn't be surprised if what you're saying is true. And I've heard variations of this from a number of people via email the last couple of weeks.

RTC? Not a bad idea. How about giving it a go, and reporting back? 

In McLean? If you're looking to stay in McLean, then I'd definitely head on over to Evo Bistro for small plates and wines.

If you're looking for a grander experience (and looking to drop some big money for it) — Inox, in Tysons. 

Anybody?

I don't — didn't — know of it. 

I've got two:

Mozza, the Nancy Silverton (with an assist from Mario Batali) pizzeria/osteria. And Anisette for rusticky but refined French bistro cooking.

OK!

I've eaten at Almaz, but never tried the coffee. Thanks.

And if you've never tried the coffee at Shagga, in Hyattsville, you're missing something special. It's the same company, Caffe Pronto, that supplies Komi, the best restaurant in the city, and they do a particular roast for the owners, Kelem and Adamu Lemu.

The latte with skim milk — rich, creamy, intense, smooth — is my favorite cup of coffee in the city. 

Good question.

No. They come unsliced, and ask that you slice each and every one, and then return them to their freezer bags.

When you want one, you take it out of the freezer and pop it into the toaster. What you get, is something not as good as what you'd get in Montreal, but pretty darn wonderful nonetheless.

And very, very light. 

The bagels are made by hand and fired in a wood-burning oven — something you don't see anymore in New York, by the way. So, basically, what you're eating is just good artisanal bread.

The thing to get there is — well, two things. First, the lamb fateh. Tender hunks of lamb atop fried pita chips, the whole thing doused with yogurt and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. When it's good, it's wonderful.

The other is the baba ghanous. It's the smokiest, fluffiest baba ghanous you've ever eaten. The texture is awfully close to a taramosalata.

I'd also ask what the specials are. They often do roasted, spiced cornish hens, with sides of rice and pickled vegetables, and that's generally a good and delicious meal.

Probably pepper. I love pepper when I cook. Black pepper — fresh, often coarse-ground.

White pepper is a fascinating flavor, and you can do so much with it in Asian cooking. It's also something that helps a lot of soups — just a tiny pinch, often not even enough to register in your guests' minds.

Green peppercorns. Pink peppercorns (which aren't even pepper, but still … )

One of my favorite spices to play with the last couple of years is smoked paprika — again, just a little pinch in dishes.

I use it to make a very rustic romesco (roasted red peppers, sherry vinegar, fried almonds, fried bread, fried garlic, black pepper and salt, a pinch of smoked paprika, olive oil — emulsified in a food processor). I like to sauce my scallops with it.

Big, fat, sweet wild scallops. Cook them in a pan with the olive oil that's been flavored with the fried almonds you use to put into the romesco. Season the scallops on both sides with fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt. Turn the stove to medium-high heat, and then pour in a small amount of olive oil. Place the scallops in the pan, and do all the cookin on one side. Get a good sear, but don't cook them completely — they should still be fleshy and slightly pink. Add a pinch of smoked paprika to the top of the scallops.

'Then, reduce the heat to low, add a little more olive oil to the pan and begin spooning the almond-olive oil over the unseared top of the scallop to cook it.

Remove the scallops from the pan when they're medium-rare — they should feel like the fleshy part on the pad of your palm.

The blend of smoked paprika, toasted almonds and olive oil is fantastic. And then, paired with the romesco — out of this world.

Serve it with a good, rusticky red wine. 

I was thinking that's what it had to be, but I couldn't think of the name.

Place was around a good long while, no? 

I'd like to hear the other side of this story.

But I will say that if you want to see what Wiedmaier's restaurants can be, you go to Marcel's, in the West End.

Seriously, you ought to take my advice: I said more than a month ago that I think the casual Tasting Room at Brabo is worthwhile, but that the more formal restaurant is lackluster. 

Thanks for writing in, and also for taking the time to read all those chogs — whew.

I think for me it's the way the scene continues to evolve toward the kinds of places DC never used to have very much of — namely, restaurants where you can show up in jeans and shirttails and still eat things like sweetbreads, caviar, etc.

Often, these are places that are rooted in neighborhoods, and that's a very good thing.

We're going to see more and more of these places in the next few years, and what I hope is that all the people in NY and LA, etc. — the big money people, the people looking to expand, etc. — who are keeping such a close watch on the city will realize that what I think the city craves — what the moment demands — is these sorts of rooted, personal, expressive places.

I'm of the belief that a real culture begins from the ground up — not top down. The celebrity restaurants are top down. I want to see more ground up. And more places that express the area, the region. That means carrying and making use of the indigenous foods and cooking styles (and not just the produce and meats), serving the local (Virginia) wines, etc. And it also means contriving dining rooms that are willing and ready to blur lines and reach out across divides.

Re: falafel. The best, without question, is the falafel at Max's. It's a marvel: the lightest, crunchiest falafel you've ever eaten.

Too bad, though, that nothing else in the entire restaurant is worth eating.

Poste? Cork? Cava on Capitol Hill?

I think any of those could be a lot of fun and deliver on all counts.

Let us know what you do, whatever you decide …

Anyway, time to run, everyone … Be well, eat well and let's do it again next week at 11 … 

( thinking of you, TEK … ) 

Submit your questions in advance to Todd's chat next week, Tuesday, June 30.