Tallulah

What was once no more than a tacky neighborhood place to go for food because you were hungry turned into a destination dining experience a couple years ago.  Located at the inconvenient address on Washington Blvd and Pershing in Arlington -- it's worth the extra effort to get there.  Having gone here a number of times, the most memorable things about this restaurant were the largest scallops I've ever seen -- perfectly cooked, succulent.  You can't pass up their sliders with the caramelized onions.  I mean really -- it's 2 bites.  you have room for one.  The wine selection is one of the best I've ever seen -- and at the bar, they'll let you taste any of them.  For a fun change of pace, go to the bar side on movie night.  I've not done that yet, but it's on my to-do list simply because I like this restaurant's vibe and I want to spend more time there.

2007... a bad year for blogging

My apologies for taking a break (for um, a year or 2)... I moved to Tampa.  I've returned and am ready to eat again!

Ashby Inn

I cannot think of another restaurant where I've lingered so long because the entire experience has calmed me into one of those wonderful Sunday afternoon stupors, where I don't have a care in the world.  This happened to me Sunday at the Ashby Inn, an hour west on 66 in Paris Virginia.  I think this lovely little farmhouse turned Inn may be the only business in this hamlet.  I sat on the edge of their covered portico at a table for two with my good friend Andrew, overlooking the hillside at the base of the Shenandoah Valley.  The only thing missing were sheep grazing.  Perhaps I was simply there on the wrong day.  A path edged with unique herbs led to a wall of shrubs -- the only thing between me and this wilderness.  Butterflies swarmed.  Sparkling wine uncorked by New York transplant Lissa (with 2 s's), who was more our friend than our server.  With a price fixe menu -- my appetizer was by far one of the best dishes that has ever touched my lips.  Understatedly described on the menu as a peach and mozzarella napoleon, this creation came to me on a long, thin white plate -- a perfectly plump and juicy peach sliced in 1/4" sections.  Grilled and still warm.  In between, slightly melted pieces of buffalo mozzarella.  The entire thing was drizzled with an orange cilantro reduction that made the flavor of the dish pop into another genre.  This course was followed by a dual eggs benedict.  One was served with a steak fillet, perfectly grilled.  The other with canadian bacon.  I have never seen two such perfectly poached eggs.  The desert choice was an apple cake that was a cross between pie, cake and candy.  Brunch began at 1pm.  I left around 4.  I will never forget this brunch and will return to this place often.

Jaleo -- Crystal City

It has been a long while since I dined at Jaleo in Crystal City.  I used to live right across the street, yet avoided this place as a bastion of mediocre food and tourist service.  But in a cry for convenience and armed with the new knowledge that the commonwealth rid itself of the 1700s law where you could not mix wine and spirits effectively killing a good sangria recipe -- I decided to give this place another shot.  Clearly the new management there had a come to Jesus meeting with their people or started from scratch.  The service was impeccable.  The food, I can still taste a week later.  The most unique dish was thinly sliced watermelon topped with I believe goat cheese.  Truly unique. My favorite though were the golden friend bacon-wrapped dates.  My mouth is watering.

TenPehn

What I would have once said was a fantastic Asian Fusion place in downtown... located at 10th and Penn (hence the name)... left me severely disappointed during restaurant week this year.  While the food was ok -- not memorable, but certainly not bad -- it was the service I found deplorable.  Granted, this was compounded by my overbearing company which created a patronizing situation I found gross.  Regardless -- that's not the part with which I found fault.  A week after dining, I realized the entire bill -- which had been split between 4 credit cards -- somehow ended up completely on mine.  Upon querying the manager of the restaurant, he admitted fault -- but instead of doing the right thing and refunding my money, I'm now torn between disputing it with my credit card or tracking down strangers with whom I dined to pay me back.  Disappointing all around.