Tuesday, August 11 at 11 AM

I'd take them to Gom Ba Woo, first, because the food is so good, and second, because it's not the karaoke+smoke+ swarming-hordes sort of place that a lot of spots in Koreatown are.

Get the seafood pancake, for sure. When they're on with it, it's terrific, the lightest I've had in the area. And I really like the spicy pork belly, which they cook for you, in the kitchen. Great kimchi, too, freshly made and with a lot of crunch — none of the limpness you see so often, elsewhere.

Hope that helps … and let me know how things turn out … 

Villa Mozart's the one you want, the better restaurant by far.

Nothing too exciting from the kitchen, just good, solid cooking most of the time. And a lot of charm in the dining room.

What's not to like, right?

Any recommendations on places to go — good, cheap places — for the chatter from last week?

Not this b.s. again …

And our president is an alien, and we're going the way of the fascists and the Soviets …

I was at a restaurant a few weeks ago, a hole-in-the-wall, in Virginia, and a woman saw a T-shirt I was wearing and thought she saw something she didn't. She thought she saw an anti-socialist put down in the words on my chest.

I grew up in Greenbelt, and the image on the shirt, and the lettering, were in an art-deco style, since the town was founded in the '30s — founded, I guess you could say, by those unrepentant socialists, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. 

And then she realized her mistake, realized that I could very well be a socialist myself — you never know! they're everywhere! they lurk, they're lurkers! — and just went to town on Obama and the administration and the coming doom.

Boy oh boy, the mood on the right these days is foul and paranoid …

Not the best way to appreciate a sandwich, I'll tell you.

I'm glad you enjoy the chats. And thanks for writing in.

The reason we did what we did with Minibar, is because we felt that Minibar is a stand-alone restaurant (albeit a really small one, and with a completely alternate agenda — food as theater, as opposed to bourgeois satisfaction) and different from a chef's table. 

As for service … It's important. Food comes first, though.

Great, exquisite food with subpar service can still add up to a terrific experience. Pretty good food with pretty good service? Eh. Pretty good food with very good service? Not a place to get excited about, but a solid place that a lot of people will feel comfortable in and want to return to.

This makes me want to say a few words about decor and design.

They matter, just not as much as you might think. No beautiful, masterfully-appointed space is going to move me if the food doesn't. If the food isn't good, or memorable, and the costs are high, I'm actually going to resent the space, for being obviously so much more important to the owners than what comes out of the kitchen.

Give me a stripped-down restaurant if you have to, but give me the best, most passionately-cooked and well-conceived food you possibly can.

Sure. I agree.

I don't mind getting into politics now and again on here, and there's certainly a lot of politics to be found in the way we eat and where, and some of the large and ongoing debates that drive the food world right now — but not that kind of name-calling.

Because, really, where does it end? With a Marylander coming on to write about not wanting to venture into Virginia because the illogical roads remind him of the pernicious influence of the military-industrial complex on the culture of northern Virginia? 

Not worth the price, no.

The best thing you can do, is to eat beforehand and then nibble during the performance. Or get a bite early and then go out for a late, light dinner.

Curious — who're you going to see? I'm a huge jazz fan, myself.

And actually, since we were talking a few moments ago about service and atmosphere, it seems to me restaurateurs could do themselves a big favor by playing more jazz in their restaurants — good jazz, classic jazz.

What sets a better mood than great jazz? What else shows the right kind of reverence of durable things?

Vocals, no. They can be good. But words get in the way. It also nudges things into a different area, in some cases. It seems to be trying to create a sort of conventional notion of sophistication, and to do it in one shot. A few places can pull this off, but not many.

When you do hear jazz, invariably it's Miles and Coltrane, and that's great.

But what I'd like to see much more of is the vast range of bebop, of hard bop … Bill Evans, Django, Mingus, Horace Silver, '60s soul jazz …

I really like Luzmilla's Cuisine. And I miss the big restaurant they had on Lee Hwy., which I reviewed not long after it opened.

Get the steak, the Bolivian steak, which is really good, and the enrollado, a kind of pork roll-up. Good soups, too — make sure to ask what they've made that day.

The portions are generous and there's a lot of love in everything they do. 

Oh, all the time. I wonder about every single recommendation that I get. Remember, you don't read everything that comes in. Some are just not even close to sounding kosher.

And some are well-disguised; that's the value of having smart people around you. And/or publicists. (That's not to say publicists can't be smart. So let's not open that can of worms.)

But I think a good many are from the heart and legit.

I enjoy that antipasti platter, too, and the shrimp n grits is one of the best in the area.

Black Market is one of those restaurants that doesn't aim terribly high, but also doesn't miss its mark very often, either. To me, that adds up to a good, smart restaurant.

Of all the Black's restaurants, this is the one I have the best time in, the one I think is most rewarding.  

I'm all for ambition, but not if you're not going to be able to pull off all you're trying to reach. If you miss here and there, it starts to look like pretension, not ambition.

That reminds me, by the way, to mention that Addie's is showing better than it has in a very long time, with new chef Nate Waugaman in the kitchen.

(Note to chef, though, and in light of my previous comment re: ambition and pretension: Don't put a suckling pig on the menu if it's going to come out looking, eating and tasting like pulled pork — only not nearly as luscious, and not nearly as cheap.)

PS 7's I know plays jazz, and good jazz. So does Proof. Kudos to both establishments for that.

Who else? Who else? Nothing springs to mind at the moment …

Johnny's Half Shell is actually featuring live jazz on Fridays this summer, along with those terrific barbecued crabs. 

We really ought to draw up a list … 

Huh? I don't live in Mo. Co.

And as for a rec … How about China Star? A lot of Szechuan dishes on the menu, but not all — there's a good number of Cantonese staples, too. And it's one of the better Chinese restaurants in Fairfax.

I like this game!

And great reports, too.

Who else has got 'em? 

Of course it does. I never said it doesn't.

Good tip!

Thanks for the recommendation. What else do you like that he does?

Fried codfish sounds terrific. 

Acadiana can be good. I particularly like the rendition of barbecue shrimp, with a loaf of crusty bread for soaking up the spicy, rosemary-scented butter sauce.

For beignets, I like Bardia's New Orleans Cafe, in Adams Morgan. 

We have a piece coming out about a new place, in Leesburg, called The Cajun Experience, which serves up a terrific po'boy — with Gulf Coast-sourced shrimp and rolls from Leidenheimer's, the famed bakery. 

Thanks for passing on the tip about Kasha's Kitchen. Those ginger molasses cookies sound great.

I'm still thinking, by the way, about the ginger-chocolate cookies from Lola's Cookies & Treats, in Leesburg. If you haven't been, you should. Or take a look at the web page …

Who else wants to play? … 

Sorry, but I haven't gotten there yet …

It does look interesting, I agree with you. 

Okra?

Uh, no. Sorry. 

Au Pied de Cochon is a lot of fun, but it's not the place you want. It's a rollicking night, and you're going to stagger out — drunk on pig fat and foie gras.

If I were you, the two places I would consider are Montee de Lait and La Chronique. The former is simpler in decor, a little like the old Komi, before the redo. And the cooking is full of imagination and soul, and tightly executed. I love the place.

La Chronique is terrific, too, more classical — think of the old Gerard's Place, serious but not stuffy. And the cooking is superb. I can still taste a dish of morels and sweetbreads I ate there, all the flavors perfectly balanced, and with a kind of painterly blending of color, too.

I love eating in Montreal and envy you your trip. I hope you'll take a moment to write back and let me know how your big dinner turns out –?

Enjoy yourself.

And now I'll be thinking of Montreal smoked meat and Montreal bagels for the next couple of hours, ah, well …

Eat well, everyone, and let's do it again next week at 11 … 

( missing you, TEK … ) 

Submit your questions in advance for Todd's next chat, Tuesday, August 18 at 11 AM.