Texas Roadhouse, Chantilly, Va.

Kevin and I were out in Virginia near Dulles Airport this morning. On our way back, we decided to stop at the Texas Roadhouse in Chantilly, Va., for lunch. It's a casual national chain, but from our choices in the area, it seemed the best option.

Kevin had a pulled pork sandwich with fries. The sandwich, I thought, was a little slim on the meat, and it was also a little short on the barbeque sauce; Kevin had to ask for a little cup of it.

While he was picking at his lunch, I got the chicken fried sirloin steak. It was good to have a proper chicken-fry for a change. The sirloin was sufficiently tender and juicy. My only criticism was that the breading made it look like the meat was two or three times bigger than it actually was in reality, but at least the breading was tasty. The steak and the accompanying mashed potatoes were covered in a nice cream gravy.

Both of us had side salads to begin.


Texas Roadhouse was actually a pretty good place to eat. Prices were reasonable and the food was as advertised (although I must confess that I did not order and try either the "rattlesnake bites" or the "road kill"). And, if your steaks aren't enough for you, they have big containers of roasted peanuts for you to shell and eat at the table.

Churreria Madrid, Washington, D.C.

After our dinner the other night, we still had business to discuss and wandered into the still-open Churreria Madrid in Adams-Morgan. The kitchen was closed (that was fine, since we'd just eaten), so there was no Spanish food for us that night. The bartender was a very attractive young lady with limited English, so we listened to Peter trying to communicate to her in his butchered Español, with me occasionally piping up to correct his more egregious errors or to get him to stop talking French and get back to Spanish. They had cheap pitchers of some of the most delicious sangria! Here's a pic of Peter enjoying the pitcher.....this was before he managed to knock over and break his glass on the bar!

Nellie's Sports Bar, Washington, D.C.

Joel and I popped in to Nellie's Sports Bar down on U Street to watch the Olympics. He was getting ready to go to a concert at another bar nearby, but it was a while before that concert was set to start. Joel was drinking lagers, and I asked for a seltzer water, but the bartender somehow decided that what I wanted was vodka and seltzer. It was an odd drink, but I forced it down. I'd have used lime instead of lemon, though. Meanwhile, Joel got hungry and we ordered some quesadillas. It was chicken. It was good. It was gone before I remembered to take its picture. In fact, it was gone before the waiter got back with plates, forks, and napkins! LOL

We were joined by some friends of Joel's, who posed for Kody Pose pics. First is Glen, an old friend from back in their undergraduate days decades ago, and the second is Alvin, a D.C. friend.

Steak 'N Egg, Washington, D.C.

Not everything we do or eat during Restaurant Week is grand, glorious, or gourmet. Sometimes we go to just regular, simple places.

Robert and I popped in to Steak 'N Egg in Tenleytown, which I think is going to become one of his favorite places. He had the steak and egg platter. I had blueberry pancakes.


One of the things about Steak 'N Egg is that one sits at a counter right by the grill where the cook prepares the food. We were there a night when they had an experienced, expert young man cooking, and it was fascinating watching his artistry as he managed and prepared all the food orders as they came in.

CommonWealth GastroPub, Washington, D.C.

We've another new restaurant that just opened earlier this month in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. It's an intriguing place with an upscale British-American fusion concept called CommonWealth GastroPub. Having eaten at many a British pub during my college student days at Oxford, I recognized many of the more "unusual" items on the menu, yet I had to shudder at the very un-pub-like high prices.

The food, though, turned out to be very good, and the service was fun, so, I'm sure we'll end up back at this place (after I get another bank loan) to try out some of the other items on the menu.

On this our first visit, my neighbor Joel and I decided to sit out on the patio. This turned out to be an iffy choice, as we would get rained on by the time we were eating our desserts, but, hey, it's a British place, and it rains a lot in England.

Mike, a GWU student, was our waiter, and Joel kept him running and pumped him for information, and Mike expertly was up to the challenge. He recommended foods on the menu and was a font of information about the very extensive beer and ale list.

During the midst of all Joel's questioning, I nibbled on some complimentary relishes the waiter brought, being pickled green beans, beets, cauliflower, and something we think was yellow squash.

Joel decided he was going to get the chocolate stout ice cream float for dessert (which he didn't end up doing....more on that later), so he got a bottle of the double chocolate stout to drink. He reported that it didn't really have a chocolate flavor, though it had an unusual complexity for beer. Joel also insisted that I have a cocktail, so I got "The Churchill," their own blend of Tanqueray Rangpur gin (Tanq's special blend with the additional tastes of lime, bay leaf, and ginger), limoncello (a lemon liqueur), and grapefruit juice garnished with orange (I forget what was in it that gave it the blush-red color). It wasn't really my favorite. It just sort of screamed CITRUS!!! and it wasn't good citrus, it was pithy citrus (think the bitter white part under the skin). Anyway, after downing my drink, I switched to my usual iced tea. Later, though, Joel would get another beer, a lager called St. Pete's that the waiter said was one of his favorites, and that came in a really interesting green, oval bottle.


But, enough about alcohol. Let's talk about the food.

Joel started with the crab-on-toast. It was delicious. It was a good quantity of crab meat with just a touch of white sauce to bind it together piled up on a piece of toasted bread, and had a nice, rich flavor. Staying in a similar vein, I got their Welsh rarebit—sometimes also called Welsh "rabbit." Now, rarebit is usually leftover cheese rinds melted in beer and served over toast, but they had to be more upscale about it. So, we got two types of distinct cheese melted in a stout brown beer that was ladled over toast and broiled. It was very good, though I'm not used to the dark brown color (from the stout) on my melted cheese.


SInce he'd been talking about the fish and chips since before the place even opened, that's what Joel ordered for his main course. The fish was beer-battered, though he reported there wasn't any beer flavor. In fact, he thought his fish reminded him of a funnel cake! Malt vinegar, though, helped provide needed richness to the fried fish. Along with the fish came "chips," or some really, really thick-cut French fries. I tried a couple and I think they were so big, they weren't able to be completely cooked through. As a supplemental side dish, he got a cauliflower gratin, very traditionally done in a bechamel sauce. This being Friday, I also got fish, selecting the "simply grilled fish with parsley sauce," and today's fish being a lovely bluefish served atop a bed of puréed cauliflower. A big wad of watercress topped the fish. It was a nice dish, the fish being grilled to the correct degree of doneness and having a nice, seasoned, grill flavor.


I really hadn't planned on doing dessert, but we decided to do it anyway just to try out more menu items. Joel got the lemon trifle, originally slated to be layered with raspberry sauce, but tonight being made with a lingonberry/blueberry mix. The trifle had been assembled in the serving container with alternating layers of lemon pudding, berries, and cake. I got the warm treacle tart, something best described as a little pecan pie made with molasses instead of corn syrup and without the pecans.


About this time, it started to rain. Most of us out on the patio moved into the main dining room and bar, but those places were packed, and there wasn't really any place to stand or sit. Meanwhile, we observed the unusual grey monochrome decor on the inside, and Joel noted that the entry was designed to be reminiscent of those old red British phone booths. Eventually, we finished our drinks, paid our check, and headed home.

I expect, though, that we'll be back.

TenPenh, Washington, D.C.

For the past six or seven years, one of the very popular and trendy places to eat along the power corridor of Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol has been an upscale southeastern Asian fusion restaurant called TenPenh. Somehow, although curious, I'd managed never to eat there, sometimes because I didn't want to spend the money (it's very pricey), sometimes because we didn't have reservations and couldn't get in, sometimes because I was with people who didn't want to eat Asian food. So, fortuitously one day this week, I found myself downtown and finished early with my business in time to be at the doors of the restaurant when they opened for lunch at 11:30, and managed to get squeezed into a table before the lunch rush hit.

I got stuck at the "bad" table in the back corner of the restaurant right by the kitchen door, but for someone like me, especially when dining alone, that's actually a prime table with great entertainment, since I was able to watch the kitchen operations and listen to everything that was happening in their open-format setup.

The dining room itself is pleasant and peaceful. Asian designs and themes predominate, and a collection of brightly colored, oversized Japanese paper lanterns hang from the ceilings. Etched glass walls divide the dining areas and bars and aid in noise control. The bar offers a very full wine list with some wines going well into the $200 range and the champagnes going up to $300 (Cristal). I also saw listed a $200-something bottle of sake.

I started with the wok-seared spicy calamari salad, and it was an excellent starting choice. The calamari was a mix of squid rings and baby squid served still hot from the wok with toasted cashews and a piquant lime juice sauce over a bed of baby spinach leaves (and one leaf of endive, standing up in the bowl like a feather in a hat). The very spicy squid was expertly cooked; it was just barely done and still very tender. This salad is a regular menu item, and something one should definitely check out on future visits.

For my main course, I got the pan-seared scallops, presented in a large, teardrop-shaped dish. Four scallops were skewered on sticks and lightly seared, though they had a distinct "grill" taste to them (as scallops are wont to get ). The scallops then rested on a bed of an Asian potato cake topped with a "salad" of shaved fennel and tangerine segments and a lightly spicy citrus dressing. Now, I generally don't like fennel, since I've long had a distaste for licorice, but this wasn't too bad.

The one great disappointment in the meal, though, was the potato cake. The cake was a hamburger-sized patty of seasoned mashed potatoes rolled in bread crumbs and then fried, but the inside of my potatoes was completely cold. I asked my waiter if it was supposed to be hot or cold; he said hot; I reported mine to be cold; he simply said, "Oh." At a restaurant with the high price points of TenPenh, a cold potato cake should never have been allowed to make it to a table, and if one had, immediate action should have been taken to fix or repair the dish or to provide it (or something else) on a complimentary basis. None of that happened here.


For dessert, I was intrigued by the idea of a Thai lemon basil cake, so I ordered that. What arrived was a striking presentation of a little cupcake-sized cake topped with a dollop of whipped cream and a few big, juicy blackberries, with a drizzle of basil oil on the plate and a scattering of "dried fruit debris." The cake was moist and very sweet with a slight lemon taste, but I couldn't taste the basil, and even trying to soak up some of the green basil oil on the plate, never really got a basil scent or flavor. I think what I should have done, though, was order a Thai coffee to go with dessert, as that hot coffee would have been the perfect foil to the sweetness of the cake.

Along with the check, the waiter brought a free sample of the excellent butterscotch "blondie" brownie they use in some of the other desserts.


Wait staff is attired in Asian-style tops, with one color for waiters and another color for waiter's assistants. The staff, though, is large, and everyone seems to help out with all the tables whenever they see something needing to be done. While my waiter checked in with me regularly, different people brought my various foods and removed used dishes and (unused, since I ate with chopsticks) flatware, and I don't think the same person did anything at my table twice. Service was always prompt, efficient, well-trained, and inconspicuous; the only thing I didn't like was a bit of attitude from the maitre d'.

So, at last, I've now had my TenPenh experience. It was okay, but I think it will probably fall into the category of places I'll willingly eat when a crowd of friends or co-workers is going there, rather than being a destination restaurant on my own rotation list.

La Fourchette, Washington, D.C.

My friend Peter called me up and said he was going to a meeting in Mount Pleasant and wanted to go to dinner as soon as it was over. That meant Adams-Morgan, and we walked over to find a fun a different place. There are a couple of the better places in the area participating in Restaurant Week, but, with the newly raised dinner prices, Peter decided we should go to one of our old standbys, since after his meeting, he was definitely in need of a cocktail. Or two.

So, we went to La Fourchette, the old reliable French place we often patronize, and promptly ordered a carafe of the house white wine.

Then we got down to dinner. Peter started with a Caesar salad, which turned out to be a huge bowl of salad! I got a simple piece of their pâté maison, a country-style pork pâté served with little French black olives and cornichon pickles and a bit of tomato and lettuce salad.


For his main course, Peter got the chicken breast stuffed with crab meat and pronounced it delicious. I got a cold artichoke vinaigrette, and nibbled on the leaves and handmade mayonnaise dipping sauce forever.


We weren't going to do dessert, but Peter had been busily chatting up the waitress (she's new to La Fourchette, and said she's from Paris), so he felt obligated to order, and I didn't want to make him eat alone, so I acquiesced to doing dessert, too. He got my favorite, the ille flotante, or "floating island," and I got a pêche Melba on vanilla ice cream.


So, we didn't really have an "official" R.W. dinner at La Fourchette, but with their more reasonable prices, we got a huge dinner with wine for right about the same price we would have spent at a participating restaurant for just the meal (no drinks or beverages). It was my one moment of economy this week.

The Monocle, Washington, D.C.

Washington has a handful of "power restaurants" where politicians and lobbyists go for their little get together and arm twisting sessions. One of those places is right near the Senate side of the Capitol, and opened in 1960, counting John Kennedy and Richard Nixon amongst their regular customers. It's called The Monocle, and it's still one of the places to go to see and be seen.

The food at The Monocle is simple and direct. Good quality meats and seafood come out without pretense and excess decoration or fussiness.

So, I journeyed over to Capitol Hill and met Laurent at his office and we walked over to The Monocle for a great lunch, and his first time to actually eat a meal there.

Generally I try to order as many different things as possible, but Laurent and I kept picking the same things! We both insisted on getting the same appetizer, and it was good enough neither of us would have wanted to miss it. We got the crab imperial on sliced avocados. The crab meat was very lightly dressed in a spicy-hot mayonnaise and stuffed into a round mold, where avocado slices were inserted. The mold then was turned upside down and served with a spray of baby watercress, while an herb oil and lemon slices decorated our plates. Then, at dessert time, we both picked the lemon curd pie, a soft, mild, creamy thing with lots of raspberry purée as decoration, color, and splash of fruit flavor.


We did, at least, decide upon different main courses. Laurent got the salmon filet, grilled, and served with a honey mustard glaze, accompanied by carved new potatoes and a mélange of julienned carrots and haricots verts French green beans. The salmon looked moist and nicely prepared. I chose the flatiron steak, remembering Robert's experience earlier in the week. There was no attempt at nouvelle cuisine here, though, as I got a whole eight ounce steak instead of three measly little slices like Robert did. My perfected grilled steak was topped with Spanish onions and red bell peppers and the meat was positively delicious. Perfectly pairing with the steak was a big serving of rich, delicious scalloped potatoes.

The Monocle is one of those places you just want to go to for consistent, good quality, basic food, and with impeccable, attentive, and prompt service.

Bobby Van's Steakhouse, Washington, D.C.

Our first formal Restaurant Week 2008 experience was at Bobby Van's Steakhouse, one of those venerable and very very expensive steakhouses that are so common in major expense account cities like Washington and New York. The D.C. restaurant has been here since 2000, and it's part of a small chain of about half a dozen restaurants here and in New York City. Their dry-aged steaks are excellent, but one probably should bring one's banker to arrange financing at the end of the meal.

Which, of course, makes Restaurant Week all that much more useful at a place like this.

Robert selected a simple R.W. combination, starting with a pretty red tomato gazpacho garnished with chopped avocados and minced parsley. His main course, while not large, was attractively arranged. They started with a mound of smoked mashed potatoes, around which they placed three slices of grilled flatiron steak. A little teepee of green beans "garnished" the plate, and a drizzle of brandied creamed demiglace surrounded the meat and potatoes. Twas a delicious little morsel. Then, for dessert, he got a slice of chocolate raspberry cake, a large piece of cake that, miraculously, was moist and not at all dry.

The R.W. choices (the steak, plus a shrimp pasta, grilled salmon, and a pulled pork sandwich) just didn't really strike my fancy that day, so I opted to order from the regular lunch menu. I picked the Bobby Van's Bleu Cheese Stuffed Burger, a nice, bunless Angus burger with good quality blue cheese melted inside it. The menu confused me a bit on the accompaniments, though. I was expecting it to come with a "broccoli salad," but their printer, as it turned out, had forgotten to put a comma between the "broccoli" and the "salad," so what I got along with my burger was a large serving of mixed greens and a large serving of buttery broccoli florets, plus some good kettle-fried potato chips. It turned out to be a bigger meal than I was anticipating, and at $14, was cheaper than Robert's fancy $20 meal. Robert, I think, thought I got the better deal.

Sometime I would like to go back and have one of their regular steaks, though with the luncheon menu steak prices beginning in the $30s, and everything being à la carte, I'll be waiting for one of you lobbyists to call upon me to help you use up your excess expense account.

Ulah Bistro, Washington, D.C.

It's Restaurant Week in Washington!

As we do every year when Congress is in recess and all the politicians and lobbyists have gone away for the summer, we locals get the opportunity to sample some of Washington's best restaurants at unusually affordable prices. For $20.08, one can enjoy a three-course lunch, and for $35.08, a three- (and at some places, four-) course dinner. Dinner, unfortunately, saw a $5 per person increase this go-round, but considering the restaurants involved and the general very high cost of living in Washington, this still represents a very good deal.

Between general busyness this week and a two-day DSL modem reset problem at home, I've been delayed in getting my posts up, but here and in the next several entries are some of our experiences this past week. About twenty of the participating restaurants are extending the "week" another week or even more, so undoubtedly I'll get to a few more places before the end of the month.

We shall start with Ulah Bistro, where Robert and I actually had a pre-R.W. late night supper. Ulah is on the popular U Street strip, and it's a fairly new place, open for maybe about a year. I've been walking by the place (it's right by one of the U Street Metro exits) for months thinking the name was Utah Bistro—with a T, instead of an L—and we were curious about what constitutes "Utah" cuisine. Then, once we got in, sat down, and saw the menu, we just couldn't imagine seeing Mormon missionaries in their white shirts and black trousers and dark ties eating this food (not to mention sitting in a place with such an enormous and prominent bar). But, then our waitress was kind enough to explain to us that the name derives from the location (U Street) and the first few letters of the owner's name (local restauranteur Med Lahlou), hence the U-LAH. Utah has nothing to do with it.

Anyway, it's a standard sort of upscale place for the neighborhood, occupying a narrow but deep space, and having an upstairs dining room as well. Decor is simple and contemporary. Our biggest problem was that they were playing pop music at nearly deafening levels, and it was difficult to carry on a conversation and to communicate with our waitress. On top of that, there was a table of four women who seemed bound and determined to chit-chat at volumes exceeding that of the sound system, with cackling laughs that could no doubt be heard in Utah.

Once our order was taken, we were brought a conical basket of some nice warm flatbread with a delicious black olive tapenade spread. We ended up getting a refill.

For dinner, Robert ordered the tuna burger. The burger was made out of chopped fresh tuna steak that was then seasoned and formed into a thick patty. In addition to standard lettuce and a tomato slice, the burger was topped with a wad of bright green seaweed, and the bun was dressed in a garlic aioli. Some nice French fries, also in a conical basket, accompanied the dish.

I ordered the "Black and Bleu Salad," a nice combination of hot, sliced, grilled steak and lots of blue cheese crumbles on a bed of Caesar-dressed romaine. It was a big salad and very filling, especially with the flatbread.


We had a friendly and accommodating waitress, although between the noise levels and her European accent, it was a wonder we communicated well at all. She almost sold us dessert, but we opted not to stay, feeling that the place seemed to be trying to close down for the night.

Ulah is an interesting place, though, and I found their Restaurant Week offerings to be intriguing, with fun things like duck and mussels, all with a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean twist.

Torrie's@Wilson's, Washington, D.C.

After teaching undergraduates for years, I've developed a lack of tolerance for the present younger generation's use of "amazing" as their only non-obscene adjective and modifier. Consequently, there are very, very few things that qualify as "amazing" in my worldview experience. And, I think I found such a place here in Washington.

A couple of weeks ago, I was exploring the Georgia Avenue strip near Howard University to see what there was to see on a Sunday evening. Down at V Street near the HU Hospital, there's a place that's been there maybe ten years, long enough to be established, but not old enough to be one of the overrated "institutions" we have so many of in this neighborhood. This place is called Torrie's@Wilson's, and it's a place anyone who likes "comfort foods" should put on their radar screen.

The food here is "Low Country Southern Cuisine." I asked the waitress for recommendations. She first offered up the whiting (a fried fish), and not seeing me jump with enthusiasm, added, "and the shortribs are sorta good." So, I got the shortribs. And what came was nothing short of amazing.

The beef was more than falling-off-the-bone tender. It was flavorful and succulent. There was a lot of it. And the whole mess had been simmering in some of the most delicious brown gravy I've ever had, so good that I wanted to pick up my empty plate and lick it clean.

Along with my shortribs I got some tasty potato salad and some excellent collard greens. The waitress said the collards are not flavored with meat; they were full flavored yet not heavy; they had a bit of pepperiness to them still; there was a bit of a butter flavor. I think they're the best collards I've had in town.


Desserts—mostly cakes—line the counter in covered footed cakestands, and I wanted a piece of something. I was way too full, though, from all that delicious dinner, and I just didn't have room.

A couple of days later, I had to go back to see if this restaurant was for real. It is. This time, I opted for the barbecued pork ribs. The ribs were freshly smoked, and had a bright pink color to them. They were very good, though not "amazing" as the shortribs had been. My one complaint about the pork ribs is that they were floating in a plateful of sauce. Good sauce, mind you, but I'd have preferred less on the plate and then a little bottle on the side to supplement as needed. I got the collard greens again, and they are still amazing. I can't quite figure out the je ne sais quoi that gives them their special flavor. For my second side, I got the macaroni and cheese. It had a nice cheddar taste and the pasta still had a little "tooth" to it. Then for dessert, I got the sweet potato pie. It was a big piece with a candied yam taste to it. The bottom pastry wasn't quite fully cooked, but the sweet potato part made up for it.


Is there a down side? Well, yes, there's one little thing. They have brewed sweet tea, but they don't have any unsweetened iced tea. I've had to drink Diet Pepsi both times I went there.

So, you must go to this place. The food is great. The hardest thing about it, though, is their hours. They close early, about 5:30, most days, then stay open "late" on Friday and Saturdays until 8 p.m. But, on Friday and Saturday nights, they reopen at 1 a.m. and stay open til breakfast to serve the after-club crowds. Soul food items start at 11 a.m. and they do breakfast until 2 p.m. Prices are very reasonable here, too!

I'm going back to this place several more times because there are a lot of things I still want to try on their dinner menu, not to mention trying out their breakfasts.

Levi's Port Cafe, Washington, D.C.

Robert discovered a new place down in the Barracks Row area near the Navy Yard called Levi's Port Cafe. They're definitely off the beaten track, since they're really in between the neighborhoods, south of Marine Barracks and south of the highway overpass. That's a shame, because it's a delightful restaurant, and we've put it on the list of restaurants for our regular rotation.

Levi's is a soul food place, and their barbecue is North Carolina style. Now, South Carolina, like I had recently at Ollie's, tends to use sweet, spicy sauce, but North Carolina sauces are unique and redolent with the tang of vinegar. The staff was very friendly, chatty, and accommodating. The restaurant dining room was clean and pleasant, with a lot of Navy and Marine decor on the walls. They have a big buffet with chicken of various sorts and a lot of side dishes so people can come in a serve themselves for carry out. We, however, wanted sit-down service in the restaurant.

In order to compare things, I got a North Carolina BBQ Beef and Pork Ribs platter, along with cole slaw, collard greens, and macaroni and cheese (on the recommendation of our waiter). The pork ribs were tender and tasty, and sauced with that vinegar-based sauce they use down there. The beef was quite different. It was "chopped beef," but it was minced very, very finely, and also had a distinct vinegar tang. The cole slaw was nice with a sweet mayonnaise taste, the collard greens were nicely done, and the macaroni and cheese had distinct cheese flavor and wasn't too terribly overcooked (often mac and cheese is mushy around here). The servings were all large. Then, for dessert, I had some really delicious apple cobbler with ice cream. The apples were actually fresh, and cut into smaller pieces than standard slices that were fully cooked and tasty. The pastry on the cobbler was flaky and good.

Meanwhile, Robert got an entire rack of pork ribs. Fortunately, he couldn't eat them all, and took nearly half of them home in a doggie bag.



Levi's is definitely worth a trip down, but for those of you from other barbecue traditions, just be careful not to use too much of that vinegar sauce. For me, at least, a little sour goes a long ways.

Ollie's Trolley, Washington, D.C.

We've been on a quest for good barbecue in D.C., and while we're at it, we've been trying out the soul food, too (soul food places are often great sources for barbecue!).

Not long ago, I found a little South Carolina barbecue in an unlikely place. Ollie's Trolley is a sort of old burger joint in a tourist hotel downtown near the FBI. One of their regular specials is a South Carolina barbecue pulled pork sandwich, topped with cole slaw, and served with a little order of seasoned French fries. I got mine with a styrofoam cup of iced tea. The pork had a good flavor, though the cole slaw was oddly bland. My main reaction, though, was that for nearly $8, they should at least use the large hamburger buns instead of standard sized. They could even get by with using the same quantity of pork and slaw, just flatten it out more, and the larger bun would make for a more satisfying customer experience. It didn't help my impression of the restaurant when I asked for a refill on my unsweetened iced tea, and, using the same cup and ice, they asked me to pay 50¢ for the refill.

Pete's New Haven Style Apizza, Washington, D.C.

Getting home early the other day, I popped into Pete's New Haven Style Apizza for lunner. Pete's is a new place right by the Columbia Heights Metro station, specializing in New Haven-style pizzas, with other pastas and panini. I'm not really sure what the "apizza" thing is all about. Now, what's New Haven-style pizza? I have to confess that in all the times I've been to New Haven, I never once had pizza there. Any Yalies around who can enlighten me?

I got the "Big Pete" panino, a surprisingly good, crunchy, pressed sandwich filled with soppressata and mortadella Italian deli meats, plus a huge quantity of melted buffalo mozzarella, and a layer of unexpectedly spicy roasted red peppers. A big mound of decent salad appeared on the plate, too, and that was a good thing.

The food is good here, and it's not terribly expensive. I plan to go back, at least for panini, and if I can find someone to share one of their big, expensive New Haven pizzas, maybe I'll try that, too.

Pizza Hut, Washington, D.C.

Someone (who shall remain nameless) dragged me all the way on foot to a Pizza Hut restaurant over a mile away because he was all excited about having a "P-Zone" for dinner. A "P-Zone" is the Pizza Hut version of a calzone. Apparently this was once a temporary item, but now it's back as a permanent menu item. I got the "Meaty P-Zone," allegedly with three kinds of meat. The place was full of children. We had to sit on stools at a bar in the window. The P-Zone made me bemoan the fact that I hadn't stayed home and taken advantage of two-for-one pizza night at Domino's. At least Domino's delivers.

Thai Roma Restaurant, Washington, D.C.

Also on Capitol Hill is Thai Roma Restaurant, a place and I went last Friday for lunch. I've never quite figured out the Thai-Italian fusion thing. The menu looks completely, normally Thai; they say they also offer Italian pastas with Thai seasonings, but apparently those only are offered at dinner.

Robert had one of the daily specials, the duck kaprow. It looked very good with slices of battered and fried duck and bits of fried fresh basil leaves. He also had the curry puffs, something vaguely resembling vegetable samosas in Indian restaurants, as his appetizer. The puffs, unfortunately, weren't up to standards, as Robert complained that they were cold on the inside.


I went for one of the lunch combination plates, getting chicken massaman with a little egg roll. The egg rolls was a greasy little inconsequential thing, but I enjoyed my massaman curry. It was very peanutty and had a nice, subtle spice bite to it.