No mo SoCo

Luckily since I am such an infrequent blogger, no one will shed any tears over SoCo Eats coming to an end. As folks who read the blog know, I spent half of 2011 in Maine. And while this was not originally planned, my wife and I will, at least for the next 2-3 years, be living full-time in Maine.

We have only rented out our place in SS, so the plan is to come back -- just not sure when. But there are other great SS blogs to keep you posted on all things happening in the region and in SoCo.

My food options have changed dramatically. I can no longer walk to chow down on Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Ethiopian, or good old American food. But at least in the warmer months I can stroll down to the dock in our little village and eat just caught lobster, clams, oysters, etc. So while a lot different than what SS has to offer, my new locale definitely has its advantages.

I'll be keeping my eyes on the neighborhood renovations - library, metro, etc. and will certainly get back into hood maybe a couple times a year to visit friends and try any new dining spots. See you on the flip side.

Best to all,
SoCo BlogBoy

Thai review and more

Well, we checked out the 'new' Thai place at 8655 Colesville the other day. It is called Kao Thai; it replaced another Thai eating establishment. But Kao Thai has stepped up the decor and it's more of a sit-down and be waited on restaurant than when it was Thai Flavor.

However, when all is said and done, I think the food at Thai Flavor might have been superior. Kao Thai certainly draws a large lunch crowd, but the missus and I were only ambivalent about the food. There were several lunch specials from which to choose, but every dish except one contained chicken. There were no veggie options on the daily lunch specials; there was one fish dish.

This missus did order this one. It was some kind of a fried salmon dish with rice and a spring roll, that left my better half pretty disappointed. She said the spring roll was the best thing on the plate. I will say the however, the dish photographs well.

I opted to order something other than one of the daily specials - meaning I lost out on a spring roll. I ordered the Dragon Noodles Jae. It was tasty, but nothing to get excited about. It was supposed to be spicy, but it wasn't. I also could have done with a bit more fried tofu and broccoli. They were pretty stingy on both counts. It was a filling lunch, but I'd give it a 6 out of 10. I think the next time we do Thai in the 'hood for lunch we'll head over to Charm Thai. When we walk to Thai for dinner, my legs know to take me straight to our old favorite Thai Derm. And I know, there are better Thai places around, but it is a sentimental favorite for us.

A few other items to note. What's up with Highland Coffee? The windows have been papered over for at least two weeks. There are no signs on the place to indicate what is happening and I saw nothing on line. Anyone have a clue?

No changes yet across the street from Highland at Fresh Start. The chairs are still stacked on the tables and it appears they are no closer to reopening. I spotted some of the old retirees who used to hit FS for coffee in the morning at Kefa. Cafe I felt kinda bad. I like Kefa and all, but it most certainly has a different vibe than FS. These guys didn't look all too comfortable there.

And across Silver Spring Ave from FS, the Krazy Claws truck still sits in the County lot. That thing has not moved since my return. So much for me walking to get a lobster roll. I guess I'll have to wait till I am back in Maine. Not sure about their business plan!

Just west and north of this intersection, Society Lounge is still struggling to open. The last post on their Facebook page is from Jan. 25. Every time I walk by an opening seems imminent, but it has not yet happened. This worries me about the long-term staying power of this place -- assuming one day it will open its doors. We shall see.

Breakfast, Coffee and Italian

"Good food coming soon." OK, there is your update on Fresh Start. I walked by this morning and they had an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper in the window telling the neighborhood what's to come. We'll see what kind of time line they are on. Not much has changed in the place in the 2 1/2 weeks since we've returned. But I will keep my eyes on them.

Coffee. Before I left at the end of June, I predicted Zed's Cafe would be no more on my return. Well, they are still around. Passed by them on my morning dog walk too, but no customers were in the place. I assume at some point in the day they do have customers, but I have yet to see that for myself. I typically walk by early or late, and so they are just opening or are closed. The place is fully of comfy chairs and looks inviting, so who knows. Long live Zed's.

Finally - Italian. I have lived in this neighborhood almost nine years now, and I can't tell you the last time I ventured over to the Blair shopping center. When we previously lived a bit north of here (near the YMCA off Colesville), we were at Blair fairly often. I remember many annoyed experiences at what I called the Geriatric Giant - not sure if that still applies however.

Anyway, the missus and I walked over and literally crossed the tracks to Blair the other day for a meal at Mama Lucia. I was a bit hesitant, but the friends we met wanted some place 'kid friendly.' As a non-procreator and food lover, this made me a shudder a bit. But, we didn't want to be complete food snobs. I do love almost all Italian food.

As we entered, it was clear Mama Lucia was kid-friendly (and very well lit too). Now I won't say the food my food was lousy, but I can't say it was any more than mediocre, that is for sure. I could have given my simple dish of penne in arrabbiata sauce a little more than mediocre if perhaps it had some heat to it (I mean the dish is supposed to be spicy, that is why I ordered it), but at $13.50, I just cannot do it.

They advertise they use De Cecco pasta - which by the way they also sell in dry form at Mama Lucia and promote it as 'Imported Italian Pasta'! That seemed kinda odd to me, since it's sold in pretty much every grocery store. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against De Cecco pasta, I buy it too. However my problem lies in the fact that the dish contains a pretty inexpensive dry pasta and a very simple tomato sauce - no meat, no seafood, no cheese - and the price of the dish doesn't seem to fit. Yes, I was disappointed.

The missus did find her eggplant parmigiana pleasant enough. And I admit, I had some of her leftovers the next day and reheated, it was OK. But our starter of fried calamari was some of the worst I have ever eaten. I don't know if the squid had been sitting in the freezer too long or fried too long or what, but it had so little taste. Even when dunked in the marinara sauce, the taste was still MIA. And again, $12.50 for not such a big plate of not-fresh squid, breaded and fried. In my mind, this was a $9.95 dish at most!

We did appreciate a salad that accompanies each entree, but beyond that, the best apart about the meal was certainly the company. In my opinion, I would choose Olazzo over Mama Lucia any day of the week. The prices are competitive, salad comes with each entree, and they both serve traditional Italian-American dishes. But for me, the atmosphere, quality and service at Olazzo trumps Mama Lucia by a decent margin.

One final update - the covering is off the windows at Society Lounge. It looks like it's almost ready to open. And maybe it is open already? Looking at their web site, it has their hours, menu and a link to reserve. Anyone have any news on this??

Back in the 'hood

Hey, hey, hey. Happy new year. SoCo blogboy is back in town and ready to eat. The missus and I got back late on Friday and for lunch on Saturday we hit the SS restaurant where we first at back in the mid-1990s. It was called Kim Than then and it is now known as Lotus Cafe. And they did not disappoint.

But before I talk about the lunch, I did want to mention a couple changes I noticed after being in Maine for the last 6 months. First off, Fresh Starts is no more. What happened? I don't see anything about it closing on-line. But when I walked the dogs by there about 8am on Saturday morning, the doors were closed and all the old timers were nowhere to be seen. Kinda sad. While I was not a customer of Fresh Starts, I was glad they were still around. But I'll keep my fingers crossed that a new restaurant will take over and not another braiding establishment!

Another item also caught my eye right across the street from Fresh Starts in the County parking lot. It was a food truck called Krazy Klaws. It claims to sell lobster, crab and shrimp. Their Facebook page says they have the "best" seafood on the east coast! Their web site says they are, "proudly to serve executive lunches starting at $6.00." Hmmm? I think a web site editor may be in need. Also, as a non-executive might they still serve me an executive lunch? I will have to inquire. Has anyone tried them out? They are selling Maine lobster rolls and shrimp rolls too. They better bring their 'A' game if they want to impress this lobster aficionado. I certainly ate my fair share of lobsters over the last few months, so let's see what they got.

Now back to Lotus. We didn't recognize any of the staff from our last visit in June. I assume since it was early on Saturday, maybe the regular servers were not working till the evening. However, the food was very familiar. We started with some veggie spring rolls. Crispy, not too greasy and quite tasty. What a deal for $3.00.

And as you can see I had a Fischer to accompany the meal. Yummy. For our lunches, the missus order the vermicelli salad with fried tofu and I had the soft egg noodles with bean curd and peanut. The preparation was a bit different than I remember. I never recalled in the past that string beans were an ingredient. But that's OK, it was still quite good. The vermicelli salad was also a winner, with the missus saying it was the best one she'd had in a long time.

It's a little odd, even though we did not eat meat or poultry for almost 20 years, now that since we're fully back on the carnivorous diet (as long as the animal was humanely raised) we rarely eat a vegetarian meal out. The meal may not always include meat or poultry, but if it doesn't then there's probably some kind of fish in the mix. But we have no problem at all skipping meat at Lotus or many other Asian establishments. Tofu fills the void quite well, especially if it's been deep fried.

I think this was our first Vietnamese meal in over six months and it definitely hit the spot! Now, what's next??

On hiatus for the rest of the year

Sad news to report, SoCo Eats will be off the air (do people still say that?) until 2012.

My wife and I are taking advantage of an opportunity to move to mid-coast Maine for 6 months and we are taking off as of this Thursday. We are very excited. We will try to merge our real jobs with hosting friends and family who will no doubt be crashing at our place over the summer (and probably fall too) and also our new underground supper club gig (Dining on the Rocks Georgetown).

DOTR is now live with its own web site (I know, how passé) at Dining on the Rocks Georgetown.com, and we are also venturing into Twitter, our 'handle' is @DOTRGtown and Facebook (you can search for 'Dining on the Rocks Georgetown').

I'm sure for all your local restaurant/food news Sligo and Thayer will keep you well informed.

I wish you all a good rest of the year and if you happen to be near Bath, Maine over the next few months and are interested in a home-cooked meal (that would likely include lobster in some form or another), give me a shout.

Thai Charm(ed) me, plus other news

The missus and I finally got over to our new Thai establishment last week, Thai Charm, and we were both very happy with our experience. And I will tell you, if you don't know already, I am a Dedicated fan of Thai Derm. So I am not saying I am changing my allegiance, but I will say, I plan to be back to Thai Charm.

Now at least as it compares to Thai Derm, Thai Charm obviously has a newer look, certainly more modern, and I'm guessing in the evening (we went at lunch), probably more atmosphere than TD. I know some of my friends complain TD is a bit of a dive, and while I won't argue too much, TC definitely cannot be lumped into that camp. I see it as a frequent lunch spot for folks doing a business lunch in downtown. Anyway, onto the food.

While it was only lunch, we did want to start with a couple apps so we could sample more -- and we were starving! We ordered the garden rolls served with plum sauce and the curry puffs. Both winners in my book. The garden rolls were like you might find at many places, but they were fresh and tasty and the plum sauce was not overly sweet. The curry puffs we had not tried before. I would compare them to a veggie samosa on the inside, but the outside was flaky and buttery puff pastry. They were accompanied by a relish sauce. I recommend them.

And for those who like it spicy, make sure you ask for the spice tray. I certainly did and it added a good kick to both of the apps. I will also say TC has lunch specials too, $7.95. But if you want a spring roll or soup and a drink with it, they charge $3 extra. It's really not much cheaper than just ordering a standard lunch and a roll/soup. Maybe my only complaint of the meal.

For our lunches we did green curry and the mai pha. The curry was tasty and filled with peppers, eggplant, bamboo shoots, etc. They give you a nice amount. As expected this is a mild dish, but the curry sauce does have a rich flavor. The mai pha was a noodle dish, cellophane noodles with egg, celery, carrots and spring onions. And for my meat I added fried tofu. That's kind of like meat, isn't it?

I was very pleased with this dish. Again, a nice serving size (especially for lunch) and the noodles were well cooked; the dish was a hit. And since I still had the spice tray I definitely increased the heat.

I heartily recommend TC. I very much expect it to have a longer lifespan than old Mr. Chicken.

After lunch we walked over to our latest cafe, Zed's. Now I can't say I really expect Zed's to be a longtime fixture in the hood. The owner, Zed, has said he wants folks to see his place as one big living room and to hang out. That's all well and good, but don't they need to spend money too. I assume he has rent and other bills to pay. I am just not sure he's going to sell enough coffee drinks to keep things going. And by the looks of the food in the fridge, I'm thinking folks will grab a sandwich elsewhere.

But hey, I'd like to be proven wrong and see Zed succeed. He did seem like a very nice fellow -- just one who may not have the best business plan around.

My final thoughts take me north of Colesville, yes, NoCo. I heard from a commenter on the blog here that Ren's Ramen, formerly of Bethesda had recently re-opened in Wheaton. Once I heard that I made my plans to head over for a lunch. And I am glad I did.

The place is pretty small, 8 tables and about 6 seats a the window. They don't serve alcohol at this point and the menu is limited. But if you want ramen and don't want to head over to NE, check out Ren's. The broth in my ramen was great. I got the Sapporo style with the miso and pork broth ($10), but opted not to get any ground pork or pork roast with the ramen, only veggies. They have about three other options available and a veggie option too if you want to avoid the pork broth.

And man, it was tasty. The noodles were perfectly cooked. I would call them toothsome. And again the broth was fab. It wasn't too salty as some Yelpers have complained, but it could have been much spicier. However, they did have some Japanese pepper on the table so that helped.

There were plenty of veg in the dish and a little bit of seaweed too. I would have liked more of that. And I guess if I had forked over an additional $0.75 I could have had more seaweed. But in the end I really didn't need it.

One thing to note, Ren's is a cash only place. That could change, but if you head over anytime soon, hit the ATM if you need to. You won't regret your trip. It is oishi!

Fire at Big Greek Cafe

Just a quick note here. I walked by the original and famous Big Greek Cafe this morning and noticed a sign on the door stating they would be temporarily closed. It appears a small fire broke out the other day and so no gyros for you.

I don't have anything else to report except that they hope to re-open on Thursday (6/16). If you're planning to head over for some grub I would definitely give a call beforehand. But I guess you could always head over to the Greek Place for your fix. Just don't tell the guys at the BGC you betrayed them.

Review: Taste of Fenton Village

I hope you had the opportunity on Sunday to participate in our first local "Taste" event. I want to congratulate the organizers for pulling off a fun event and coordinating with Mother Nature to keep the rain away for the afternoon.

Almost all the restaurants in the hood were part of the event. The map stretched south to Lotus Cafe, north to Ghar-e-Kabab, east to Fenton Cafe and west to Piratz. In all, about 2 dozen establishments were part of the mix - so folks had a good variety of food from which to choose.

We picked up our "passport" at the County parking lot between Thayer and SS Avenues about 2:30 leaving us plenty of time to roam the hood. We were told that each participating restaurant would be offering a special for the afternoon ranging in price from $2 to $5. We then headed over to Jackie's to start our taste.

Well, I guess the one good thing I can say about starting at Jackie's was the afternoon had nowhere to go but up. I will say Jackie's should be ashamed of itself for what they offered.

I mean look at what they offered for $5! And let me tell you, this was the better deal than simply getting the crostini plate (all 2 of them)!! Don't get me wrong, the crostini were tasty -- pictured above the hummus and cucumber, not pictured the smoked piquillo pepper, cheddar and chive. But the choices were either 2 crostini or one plus a mango-basil limeade. Two slices of a baguette topped with a small amount of spread and veggies for $5. I mean give me a break. At most, this should have been $3 and given that I assume Jackie's was trying to build goodwill by participating in the Taste, how about $2?

I'm sure many folks did like my buddy and me and ordered full-price beers to accompany the crostini. So it's not like Jackie's was going to take a big hit on this. I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready to step foot back into that restaurant after this episode. I'm just glad I wasn't that big of fan to start. Again, shameful!

OK, another good thing I can say about starting at Jackie's was we still had a big appetite afterward in order to try other participating restaurants. Next up -- Pacci's. I don't have to say too much about what was being offered here, pizza! Pacci's gave folks the choice of either a personal (8") margherita pizza or spicy salami. We ordered two margherita and one salami for the three of us - and two beers.

Check these pies out - very tasty. We were all pleased. I mean this is what I am talking about. Thanks Spiro! The one bad thing was, we lost a fair amount of our appetites after we chowed down. But I am OK with that. One last thing, by the time we left there was a decent line of eaters taking advantage of this deal - as well they should have.

We bypassed Fire Station 1 after Pacci's - no time for their food today (or really any day in my book) and then checked out the Big Greek Cafe. They were offering $5 gyros and $3 Greek Salads (all day too, not just 2-5:00). But alas we needed a short break. I also did pop into Olazzo too -- you could get 3 arincini (deep-fried risotto balls, yummy) or 2 meatball sliders. Sound like good options to me. But again, we needed to keep walking to build back some appetite.

As we approached Bonifant our friend voiced an interest into heading down to Roger Miller. OK, why not. We hadn't been there since they had re-opened and thought this was as good as time as any to try them again. And we all were glad we did. There were a few folks in line in front of us. RM was offering a sampler plate for $5. It included broiled chicken, plantains, rice and some kind of fab spinach dish. It was all really good (we shared one plate between the three of us) and we all agreed the spinach was the best. I asked about it and they were kinda secretive. One lady opened the menu and pointed to the Egussi stew. She told me the spinach comes with it. The description said spinach, ground melon seeds in an African sauce. I think I'll be back for that one. We all sat on their patio and thoroughly enjoyed the food.

And since we were right next to may fave, Thai Derm, we had to pop in there too. As soon as I stepped in, the owner graciously shook my hand and said, "you know what we have." Yes I do. I would guess I have eaten at TD about 100 times over the last few years. But we opted not to eat and just ordered a couple Singha (and magically some spring rolls appeared before us too). For the Taste, TD was offering spring rolls and your choice of chicken panang, veggie pad Thai, and chicken with basil. Nice.

We were about to call it an afternoon but mustered up enough energy to walk over to Ghar-e-Kabab. They also had a sampler plate going for the event (for $4). They were offering veggie pakoras, basmati rice, butter chicken and something called rajan (spicy red kidney beans in sauce). Good deal for $4! And each dish was well done.

After that we were through. Well we did try to get a sweet crepe to finish things off. But Fenton Cafe was very low on batter and told us it would be about 30 minutes. So we passed. Maybe we'll hit them up for breakfast tomorrow?

What an afternoon. It kinda felt like we tasted the world all in Fenton Village. What a concept. Can't wait till next year.

Reminder and updates

I'll make the reminder quick -- this Sunday (2:00-5:00) in downtown, Taste of Fenton Village. I know it's all over the local blogs but wanted to make sure you didn't forget. Let's hope the weather cooperates. But rain is in the forecast, so make sure to bring your brolly.

On the updates, if you missed the news on Thayer Ave, Highland Market has now opened up their 'restaurant.'

As you can see, they have fancied up the place some with tablecloths and everything, but other than that, it does look pretty much the same. I know they do now have an expanded menu, but aesthectically it doesn't appear too much has changed. I will say they have a roped off section on the sidewalk now for al fresco dining.

We also have another Ethiopian food option coming in the form of a market. The new place is to be called Arat Kilo Market and it is taking over for the old Siembra First/Forever Frugal location behind Alliance Comics on Easley.

I can't say that I ever saw the doors open for either one of these establishments. But even though I am not thrilled with the entry of another Ethiopian food establishment, I do wish them better luck than the previous tenants.

And at least to me, we may be reaching the threshold soon to be called Little Ethiopia. I mean, how much more will it take? We have several restaurants and now multiple markets in about a one-square mile area from around Colesville to the DC line. I guess we'll know we've made it when the neighborhood produces a world-class middle/long-distance runner.

On to a couple other items. In the old Sage Collection clothing shop (8225 Georgia), right next to the Big Greek Cafe, a new and kinda odd cafe is on the way. The photocopied sign in the window says, "One big living room." What in the hell does that mean? The place could be close to opening. It doesn't appear much more than a coffee shop with a few tables. I would have rather seen the Greeks take it over personally.

And finally, I hope you're not holding your breath for the new establishment taking over for Nicaro/Newcaro. Because that place has been pretty much gutted. I always thought the interior of the place was fine. But I guess the new owner wants to start from scratch. He must be sinking some decent money into the place. Let's see how it turns out.

OK, see you Sunday. I'll be the one with a gyro in one hand, a papadam in the other and some curried vegetables in my mouth. And let's not forget, some Alka-Seltzer in my back pocket.

Taste the World in Fenton Village

OK folks, save the date -- Sunday May 15, 2011. During the afternoon of the 15th (2-5pm), I hope you can make time to join the event.

As you probably know, SS has been well behind the curve on the "Taste of..." events in the area. Well the times are changing. Thanks to some of our hard-charging neighbors next month we will have our own event. It won't be for all of SS, our geographic area is way too big, so the focus will be on our own little Fenton Village. Sweet!

If you don't know, FV is generally considered to be the area between Wayne Ave, Fenton, Burlington Ave (to the south) and Georgia Ave (to the north). All restaurants in this area were invited to participate in the event. And from the list of those that have accepted, there will be quite a variety of food to sample. Here are some you can expect to see:

Bombay Gaylord
Fenton Cafe (new kid on the block -- crepes!)
Jackies
Original Big Greek Cafe (and the copycat too)
Thai Derm (one of my faves)
Pacci's Pizzeria
Piratz Tavern
Vicino
Lotus Cafe (AKA Kim Than for you old timers)
Odalis Cafe (who are they??)
Society (not open yet in the old Nicaro spot, so we'll see what to expect from them)

Here's the deal, each restaurant is encouraged to offer several apps or small plates. Event attendees will be encouraged to move from restaurant to restaurant (a movable feast!). As encouragement, each participant will obtain a 'passport' to be stamped at each restaurant.

From what I can tell (but need to find out for sure), these small plates may run from free to $5 a pop. There will also be street vendors, a concert at the end and other non food-related businesses in the 'hood participating.

The event is sponsored by the SS Citizens Advisory Board and Downtown SS.

So let's hope for good weather and a good crowd to sample and support our local restaurateurs. I for one am looking forward to the event.

Fenton Cafe, aka crepe central

OK, Fenton Cafe (8311 Fenton St) is now open. And fair warning, if you are not a fan of crepes, stay away. Because all they do are crepes!

But if you do like crepes, please head over -- because they are good. If you are not familiar with crepes, they are very popular across the pond in France. It's essentially a very thin pancake made from wheat flour and it can be filled with either something savory or sweet. They have both of these types at Fenton Cafe.

Now another fair warning, they have just opened and are going through some growing pains. The service was quite slow this morning. Even though they opened at 8:00am, when we went a bit past 9:00am the crepe makers were still not warmed up. So we had to sit a bit until the crepe makers were ready to do.

And I'm not sure why, but even though they have 2 crepe makers, only one was used for our crepes. So my wife was served hers first and then they did mine. So she was already finished by the time mine arrived.

But I am happy to say both crepes were tasty. She had the ricotta and jam crepe for $4.95 and I tried a savory one -- cheese, avocado and tomato -- for $5.95. We were very happy with both of them and I will say mine was very filling. This could definitely do for a lunch. It was really too much for a weekday breakfast, but I did wolf it all down.

The crepes run in prices from just under $4 to $8.50, with most in the $5-$6 range. The savory crepes include chicken, turkey, cheese, ham, feta/spinach, eggplant/veggies, spinach, tuna and several combinations in between. There are 31 varieties of the sweet with several nutella choices, jam, lemon, maple syrup, and a few fruit types.

The cafe serves coffee, espresso, bottled water, soft drinks and Red Bull. If you want real milk/cream for your coffee you'll probably need to request it since the only stuff out is of the non-dairy variety.

There are 3 tables and 5 bar stools for eating in and it is a decent and cozy setting. We will definitely be back and since they're the only place that I know of in the 'hood doing crepes, I'm guessing as long as the service improves, they'll do OK.

I'll see you there!

An opening and closing

Although not in SoCo, you probably already heard that the General Store and Post Office closed its doors this week.

Management said, "the landlord has not paid his back taxes and the county is taking back the building." However, a commenter on SS Singular alerted us to the landlord's version of the story.

The Washington Post spoke to the landlord, Spiro Gioldasis, who is also the GM at Mrs. K's Tollhouse and runs Pacci's Pizzeria in our neighborhood. Spiro admits he is behind on his taxes, but only because Gillian Clark and Robin Smith, the proprietors of the General Store were woefully behind on their rent.

Clark claims Spiro is a bully and uses the courts to get his way. It looks like here he is getting his way. A judge this week found Clark and Smith are on the hook for $160k. They'll have to sell a lot of meals to pull that money together.

Clark and Smith are not immune to disputes and bad press that's for sure. And while never dealing with Spiro in a formal manner, he does seem a decent guy who's simply trying to collect the rent he is owed.

For the opening, we're getting a new addition to Fenton Village. A place called the Fenton Cafe is on the way. It will be located at 8311 Fenton on the east side of the street between Thayer and Easley (right next to Alliance Comics).

Looks like it will be quite a modest place (maybe competition for Fresh Start). Peering through the window, it appears as though they'll have just a few small tables and a counter to order coffee, espresso, sandwiches and maybe other small items. I wouldn't be surprised to see them opening very soon.

I wish them the best and am glad to see a new cafe in the 'hood as opposed to another braiding shop.

Societal Fezzing

Doesn't make sense, I know. I was just trying to capture the essence of the 2 restaurants coming to the 'hood.

But don't get too excited; it doesn't appear either will be opening tonight or tomorrow. By the looks of it, I'm guessing Fez Bistro should get their act in gear sooner than Society.

I walked by both today to get a look-see of what was going on. First, the doors were propped open at Society (taking over the old Nicaro and Newcaro spot) and several work men were inside, as you might expect, working! My excellent investigative effort shows a restaurant going through some serious renovations. There were workers both on the bar and restaurant side.

But from the looks of the menu at Island Flavors, the existing restaurant of the entrepreneur opening Society, I have to say I am not terribly excited about it. To someone like me who is not that familiar with Caribbean food, it looks quite similar to the Negril menu. I assume this place will be a couple steps up from Negril, I mean it is a nice space. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if they serve more than curries, roti, plantains, etc.

Across Thayer at Fez (taking over most of what was Langano - although Langano Express is housed right next door - side note, there will be some interesting aromas here), I saw no work going on; but from glancing inside it looked quite closer to being ready for prime time. The place needs much less work than Society and some furniture is already in place. I could see it potentially being open in the next couple weeks.

I guess in the end, I'm a little more excited for Fez. Perusing the menu from their NoVa outpost, they do offer some interesting sounding Moroccan dishes -- various types of cous cous, shawarma, kabobs, seafood, and veggie dishes.

And I still need to get over to Skew Works too (the new Asian fusion fast casual restaurant at the bottom of the Crescent building). And do me a favor, check out their web site - not really sure what to make of it. Anyway, they opened I believe the 1st week of March, but I haven't tried it yet. I want to do a comparison/contrast between Skewers and Thai Market. I'm betting TM is more down-market than Skewers, but at the end of the day, it's essentially pan-Asian fare.

So far on Yelp, SW has a 3, 4 and 5-star rating. Pretty mixed bag so far. But as always, I will be the ultimate judge!

Dining Under the Table

I know many of you have heard about our local underground dining scene via Thayer Ave.com. And I was going to stay out of the fray since I have a hand in the venture (actually two hands), but now I'll come clean.

Our supper club, called Dining Under the Table, is run by a small group of cooking (and eating) enthusiasts. The meals are held about once a month or so in downtown Silver Spring, with a focus on local fare and a heavy Mediterranean influence. And all the meat, whether beef, fish, fowl, pork, etc., that is served during the meal are sustainable and have been raised in a humane fashion.

I figured I'd come forward with this right now since we just launched the web site and have actually started taking reservations. We had our first hit last week.

While we can seat six comfortably, and I guess up to eight, our first reservation was only for two people. So we're looking to see if others are interested. The meal will be Sunday evening March 27. The menu has yet to be set so I can't mention anything about that at the moment.

But you can peruse the web site to check out some of the previous items we have served and the suggested donation for dining with us. But you can expect at least a four-course meal with definitely some home-made items included on the menu.

We'd be happy to answer any questions folks might have. OK, I guess that's it for now. Thanks.

Fat Tuesday

For those interested, just wanted to pass along news that Jackie's is featuring a special Fat Tuesday menu tomorrow with special drinks and dishes. So if you want to take advantage and celebrate before the Lenten season begins, here's your chance.

And wear a Mardi Gras mask and get a free drink. That's not an official Jackie's offer, but if you do it, just go in and demand it. Tell them SoCo says you deserve it.


Starters

Wedge salad with bleu cheese dressing
Louisiana oysters with classic mignonette
Chickpea crusted crab fritters and thousand island remoulade
Frog's legs Rockefeller with bacon & spinach


FAT Entrees

Vegetarian jambalaya with saffron
Fried catfish, lemon aioli and old bay chips
Shrimp and grits with green onions
Chicken ‘n’ crawfish gumbo with okra over rice
Pork and red beans
Creole sausage, marinated peppers and dirty rice
Steak and béarnaise with roasted potatoes and vegetables


Sweets

King cake

Cocktails

Sazerac-rittenhouse rye bottled in bond, mata hari absinthe, peychaud's & angostura bitters, sugar
de la Louisiane-rittenhouse rye bottled in bond, mata hari absinthe, dolin rouge, benedictine, peychaud's & angostura bitters
Vieux Carre-rittenhouse rye bottled in bond, st. remy vsop, dolin rouge, benedictine, peychaud's & angostura bitters
Absinthe Suissesse-mata hari absinthe, orgeat, orange flower water, heavy cream, egg white
Crusta-st. remy vsop, luxardo maraschino, cointreau, fresh squeezed lemon juice, angostura bitters
Hurricane-flor de cana 7 year old, house passion fruit syrup, fresh squeezed lemon juice

Silver Spring - shut out again

Well, the James Beard Foundation award semi-finalists were announced, and lo and behold, SS was shut down. Maryland really didn't even get much love except for Charleston in Baltimore. DC did get some love as did a few places in NoVa - but not us.

I'm not surprised, but was hopeful that maybe Pedro at 8407 would have been a semi-finalist for rising star chef of the year or maybe in the mid-Atlantic category, but it was not meant to be. I did not think the burly Greek guys serving up falafel and gyros up on the Avenue would make the cut or even the little old Thai ladies at Thai Derm. But maybe next year.

In other local news, I'm sure everyone has already heard that Langano is on its way out and Fez Bistro, otherwise known as Taste of Morocco, is moving over from City Place to takes its place. Never did try ToM, but I do have to say I'm interested to see what Fez Bistro will have of offer. Their menu from their Arlington location looks intriguing, but certainly doesn't bowl me over. A lot of offerings for groups. But I do plan to eat there more than I did at Langano - which was never. I only went in once when I mistakenly went there to pick up my take out from Bombay Gaylord. Didn't take me long to figure out I was one block off.

And with Cake Love moving from its current location to 8512 Fenton, taking over for the Fractured Prune, we'll have another sweet from which to choose via FroZen Yo. Not sure exactly when we'll be getting the self-serve yogurt, but Cake Love is planning to throw open its Fenton St doors in early March.

Finally, in the bottom of the Crescent condo bldg on Wayne, we have a new Asian restaurant for the hood. It is called Skew Works. According to the web site TBD.com, the owner of the restaurant says they'll serve, "rice, noodles, and of course there's a big skewer out there, so there's going to be lots of skewers. Different types of meat, chicken, fruits, vegetables. It's going to be fun." OK, I'm kinda interested in skewers; let's see what they have to offer. Could be opening soon.

No power, well then it's time to eat out--Jackie's

I was already starting make dinner last Wednesday when the heavy snow falling altered my plans. I actually kept at it with candlelight since we have a gas oven and stove top, but it got to be too much. I covered the prep work I had completed, threw it in the fridge for another night and we headed out into the 'hood to see what we could find.

I first called Olazzo, no answer and also tried 8407 before we left the house. Again, no answer. While disappointed, I appreciated the break the restaurant gave to their staff. I'm sure driving home after a very slow night would have been a mess (not even mentioning getting to work).

We headed up Bonifant and saw our old stand-by Thai Derm had its lights out and the same for Mandalay. While we were about to turn around and settle for Baja Fresh, we passed some of our neighbors who just finished a meal at Jackie's. They said the restaurant was planning to serve for another hour and than they were doing a deal, $25 for an entree and either salad or starter. OK, that made up our minds (thanks Lane and Steph).

We trudged over in the snow and the restaurant had a small, but lively crowd. We were informed of the special and also saw that several bottles of wine on their list were going for half price. OK, this is nice. While we would end up spending a lot more than say Baja Fresh, this would be all right since we'd get a very nice meal, wine and fodder for a new blog post. We had visited Jackie's right after their new chef took over and I wanted another visit before I did my 'review.'

We scanned the wine list and the waiter recommended a nice pinot noir that was going for 50% off. It was a 2008 pinot from Oregon called A to Z. The waiter claimed it had good structure. Can't really say exactly what that means, but it did have a nice bouquet and we liked it a lot. We wouldn't have ordered it at full price, but certainly glad we did at half price.

We then made our choices for the $25 special. My wife started with some lightly fried cauliflower with a romesco sauce and I tried the charred octopus.

Before the apps arrived a basked of bread was brought to the table. While the butter was tasty and easily spreadable (hate it when the butter is essentially a frozen block), the bread was completely lackluster. No real body, no real flavor, easily forgotten. But our starters came soon thereafter. They were both good, but not great. The cauliflower itself was nicely done; it was a very light breading and fry on each of the florets, but the romesco lacked any real punch. I expect romesco sauce to be much bolder than what was served here.

And my charred octopus was actually undercooked. I have cooked squid and octopus enough that I know it takes some skill to do it properly. But I assumed Jackie's would get it right. But not in my book. It was too chewy. I love seared/charred octopus, but this one didn't make the cut. The fingerling potatoes that came with it were nice and the foamy sauce was really good, but as Ming Tsai would say, the 'hero' of the dish was disappointing.

Next up came our entrees. And at least I am happy to say, the meal started slowly, but ended on a high note. My wife ordered the mustard-crusted lamb shank (rather Flintstonian in size) and I tried the Meyer's strip loin.

While at least in my opinion the lamb was quite good, it was not as tasty as the strip loin. This was a pretty thick cut, prepared nicely at medium rare and was really tasty. We ended up sharing our dishes and both were pleased with each. The lamb was served with bok-choi, red potatoes in a rosemary sauce and my loin was accompanied with broccoli and a potato prepared 2 ways, twice baked and then old-school style with bacon bits, sour cream and chives. Reminded me of a prime rib joint where I worked in college. I liked both preparations.

So I am not sure I would go as far as Tom Sietsema has and award Jackie's 2 stars. I think our meal this trip and our previous one was too uneven for that. While the previous one was several months back and frankly I can't remember much about it, what I do remember is our apps and entrees not being served hot. They were all brought out not lukewarm, but not as hot as they should have been. Again, we expect more from a place like Jackie's.

But hey, I am not a real restaurant critic; I'm just a guy with a blog. So maybe you should be the judge. Either way, if you haven't been, or haven't been in a while, you should probably check out them out for yourself.

Time to Garden?

Yes, I know, we have snow on the ground. So why am I blogging about gardening? Well, I want to spread the word that SoCo will soon have a community garden at Fenton Street Urban Park. The park is obviously located on Fenton, just east of downtown at the intersection of Fenton and EW Highway.

According to an article in the Gazette, the County Dept of Parks is accepting applications through Feb. 10 for those who would like to rent a plot of land. On Feb. 11, a third-party will choose the lucky winners who will be notified in March.

I guess the County believes we have a lot of gardeners in the 'hood looking for land to cultivate. If you live within .5 miles of the community garden you will have first dibs on a plot. And those outside that radius will have to wait till the second round of the drawing.

This does not seem particularly fair to me. I guess the assumption is, if you live more than .5 miles away you're not as likely to tend to your plot. But why? Isn't it about interest in growing great plants not just about proximity? I could see after the first year and an analysis is done and if there was evidence that those who lived farther away didn't tend to their plots sufficiently. But this seems premature to this gardener.

Anyway, two plot sizes will be available to the lucky winners -- a 200 sq foot plot will cost $30 per year and a 400 sq foot plot will go for $50. The Fenton Street location will have 27 of the smaller plots and 15 of the bigger ones.

If you're interested in throwing your name in the hat, you can go to
http://www.montgomeryparks.org/permits/find/community_gardens_program.shtm and scroll down the page till you see the lottery application for Fenton Street.

I hope to see something terrific garden plots this year. And since you asked, my recommendations on what to grow -- tomatoes of course, but also look for some exotic pepper varieties (mine have done quite well over the last few years), like Japanese, Spanish or Italian peppers. Also, spring peas are to die for, my okra has been doing great, and you need greens, so throw in some chard, arugula, bibb lettuce, you know what you like. And, try to save room for some herbs such as parsley and basil. It seems criminal to me what the grocery stores charges for this when you can grow them easily yourself.

OK, get growing!

Happy New Year

Just wanted to send out some happy new year greetings to all the local yokels who read this blog. Glad you're still with me even though I've been pretty inconsistent on my postings. I hope to do better in 2011. Maybe that will be my new year's resolution.

Anyway, if you want to stay in the neighborhood to celebrate the new year, I see that both Jackie's and 8407 are doing fancy dinners. Actually with Jackie, you can go fancy with the main restaurant menu for $65 per person not including beverages, tax or tip -- but including an eclectic mix of dishes from which you can choose, such as pierogies, bouillabaisse, chicken n' beer with waffles and even stuffed trotter, plus many more. And then she's also got the Sidebar going, also $65 a head and that includes an open bar and snacks, and finally in the Back Room she has King Soul playing for $30 per person and that gets you the music and a champagne toast. Wow, something for everyone here.

If you want something a little more quiet (like I do), well then you can head over to 8407. They'll have 2 seatings that night, the first between 6:00 and 7:00 pm. That gets you 4 courses for $58 per person. If you want to eat later, the second seating comes between 8:30 and 10:00 pm. Here you'll have a 5 course dinner for $75 per person and $100 if you wish to add wine pairings. I know it may make me sound like a lush (which I really am), but often when I do pairings I run short on the wine. I drink what they give me much faster than I get my next wine. So I'll order my own booze, thank you very much.

Either way, it's great we have these options plus I'm sure there are others in the hood I have just missed.

A couple other things of note, I'm sure you all have already seen that Nicaro has closed its doors. What, they were open just about a year, right? Let's hope whoever takes over can bring us back something closer to Nicaro version 1. And if you're interested in the building, you can get it for a cool $1.6 million. But if your bank account is not that flush, it looks like you can lease it too. Not sure what they are asking here though.

I also wanted to make mention of the Feast of Seven Fishes. My wife and I held our fourth annual Feast this year. It was a little more scaled back than at previous times, but there still was a good time had by all and no one left hungry.

Here's someone named Tom, I think, we pulled off the streets for the Feast. Although it's not a close-up, he's holding up the main course, linguine with Virginia crab in a cream sauce with a little salmon roe on top. It was yummy.

OK, here's to a great 2011. Hope you have a lot of wonderful meals -- both at home and out. Also, keep your eyes out for more news on Silver Spring's own underground dining. It should be in full gear for the new year.

Righteous Tacos

I know I typically like to extol the wonders of our local independent restaurants, but today I wanted to give some props to a pretty big chain -- one with more than 900 restaurants. Can you guess which one? Chipotle Mexican Grill.

I'm giving the restaurant its due because it is making a real effort to serve meat that has not been industrially-raised. And for me, when a chain this size makes this commitment, it is noteworthy.

And Chipotle has actually been doing this for the better part of the last decade. Now you won't find that all its meats are coming from natural farms, but you can be sure that more and more chicken, pork and beef are coming from good farms. The company's CEO, Steve Ells, publicly supports stronger USDA standards for naturally-raised meats. In addition, Chipotle has worked with both Bill Niman, formerly of Niman Ranch (and now running BN Ranch) and one of our own local (and national) good farming heroes, Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm.

For us locally, if you dig into one of their burritos or tacos (like these I had for lunch today) and ask for chicken, you can be sure the chicken were humanely-raised by Bell & Evans, based just over 100 miles away from us in central, PA.

Now unfortunately I have yet to confirm the pork or beef they serve locally are coming from top-flight outfits. (However, in some other parts of the country you can find this.)

Chatting with the managers at the Bethesda and SS shops, neither could tell me exactly what farms or farms raise their cows and pigs. So at least for me, till I find out, I'll stick with the chicken and veggie options.

And beyond the meat, Chipotle has made sure its sour cream and all of its dairy products come free of artificial bovine growth hormones. And the company's local food initiative is making strides to source other products from local farms too.

Also, if you still think Chipotle is still owned by McDonald's, you are mistaken. Mickey D's fully divested their interest in 2006. Chipotle is now a publicly-traded company. They also appear to be doing quite well for their shareholders. A quick look sees their stock price has risen 167% since the start of the year. Wow! They're trading at over $235 per share. I would not have guessed this, that's for sure.

But I am glad to see it. While I do like my independent restaurants, when I see chains doing the right thing, I want to reward them with my business. But obviously for Chipotle, their support comes from people who really like their food and not just because of their sourcing policies. And I'm glad to see it.

On another completely unrelated topic, check out this black pasta (homemade with sepia ink) with a creamy cherry tomato sauce and shrimp I made the other night. I had a pic so I thought I'd share it. Yummy!

OK, go get yourself a burrito and feel good about it!