🚀 go-pugleaf

It's outrageous that so many days have gone by with not a single posting
to this group. So, let me provoke you:

The Trio. Go on, tell me something I don't know about the Trio (a place
at 17th and Q that's been in business since, I think, the 30s.  A classic
greasy spoon, and a neighborhood institution in my neighborhood. You can
actually get a good meal there if you know how to negotiate the menu. And
you might only pay 5 to 7 dollars for it.)

Verdi. (On P St. a block west of Dupont Circle.) This is surely the
best deal among Italian restaurants in the Dupont Circle area. Not as
impressive in the kitchen as oh, I Ricchi or Vincenzo (the latter over-
rated), perhaps, but considering the cost is maybe 60% or less of those
places, I think Verdi is stunning. Plus, the service is utterly charming,
even if they've never seen you before. Order a half-portion of one of
their pastas for your 1st course, as one does in Italy. And ogle some
of the handsome waiters.

La Fourchette (18th St. in Adams Morgan, a block or so below Columbia
Road). A really good French bistro. I never ate there till a few weeks
ago. Ask for the no-smoking section upstairs, especially when they're
not busy....you might have the room to yourselves, or almost. The
smoky, clattery downstairs dining room might be a little too smoky and
clattery for your taste. I ordered the calf's liver...it was almost
sinful. Try it.

Of all the new 17th-street area cafes/espresso places (17th street
between P and S streets, northwest, the downtown of the gay ghetto):
Try Cafe Blanca. It's usually not crowded (so uncrowded that I'm afraid
they may not survive) but they have the best espresso in the neighborhood.
Be careful about the capuccino: the one time I had it, it had about twice
as much frothed milk as should have been added to that much espresso.
But the espresso itself is 1st-rate.

Cafe Luna, around the corner from the last place discussed. Is this place
popular or what? Why? The food is pretty cheap, but it's also pretty
lousy. The first couple of times I ate there, the coffee (espresso) was
good, but not the last couple of times I ate there--it was bizarrely
lousy. I don't know how they can screw up espresso like that, but they
manage to do it. And the "Pizza, Pasta, and Attitude" bit is really
tired. I don't go to a restaurant for attitude--do you? But if that's
what you want, they certainly have it. "Skewers" upstairs is pretty
good. And the Thai restaurant next door, Bua, is quite good.

Nova Europa, a Portuguese restaurant in the Maryland suburbs somewhere,
I forget where. Wheaton? It's in some little strip mall. Some of the
most delightful service I have ever gotten at any restaurant in the
area. The food is okay; some of it is quite good. But the people are
lovely. They don't have any Portuguese beer, though; the waiter told
me that no DC-area distributor handles Portuguese beer. This is a
pity. Portuguese beer is really very good; if you ever get a chance,
try Super-Bock. It's not really a bock beer, but it's excellent.
But of course Portuguese wine is also really good, and they've got
plenty of that.

Le Caprice, upper Wisconsin Ave., somewhere in the block or two below
Calvert St., as I recall. I may or may not have lunch there tomorrow.
Never had lunch there, only dinner. Some of the best dinners I have
ever eaten at a Washington restaurant. French regional cooking, esp.
Provencal food as I recall, but I could be wrong about that. A version
of _choucroute_ not to be missed, with a fermented turnip basis instead
of sauerkraut. If you go there and you like _choucroute_ and smoked
pork and sausages in general, try their version, the name of which I
forget, but I think it's a fairly regular feature of their menu.

Bombay Club, first block of Connecticut Ave, just above Lafayette
Square. Great food. Really remarkable service and environment for
a place this inexpensive. You feel like you're one of the British
masters and the people around you are servants. Except you know
that they're not, so you don't have to feel guilty about it. And
then you give them money. But it's very nice, and some of the best
Indian food I've had in the area.

Okay, start talking.

H.

Herschel Browne
"The" American University