Tea House

Tea House, originally uploaded by StarrGazr.

This is from my friend @starrgazr as a must see place in Portland Oregon Tea House.

"Nice spot for a pot of tea...and some lunch!
'Tea House"

"
Potland seems to have a good collection of tea house. if you don;t believe me see the New York Times
and a bunch of dedicated folks even have a collection of Tea Houses  .

Post credit and idea : Tracy Lee

@ja_castillo has some great pictures at http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=portland&w=25744012@N00

Help ! I am going Bananas !

A few months ago I wrote about what was missing at Gnomedex = Bananas. Then I also wrote about the Banana diet.  On my way from Atlanta to Portland Maine for Pop!tech 2008 I passed by the Dulles airport Terminal B. Now of all the places and of all the days this was the day I was craving for a banana at 8 a.m and guess what. No BANANAS. Well it must be me , when I don't need them they are always available in plenty. Anyway I satisfied myself with Banana yogurt and took the flight to Portland. I am happy to report Pop!Tech breakfacst had plenty of Bananas.

What's your food craving? Did something like this ever happen to you?

MGM Grand : Huge bottle of Chimay

Blog World Expo, originally uploaded by shashiBellamkonda.

That's my huge bottle of Chimay but it's nothing compared to the absolutely massive dessert Shashi devoured :) - said merlene

Pop!Tech Closing Gala - Anchovies in Maine

Pop!Tech Closing Gala - Anchovies in Maine, originally uploaded by shashiBellamkonda.

I had always eaten anchovies from a tin . At the Pop!Tech 2008 closing Gala i had a chance to taste fresh anchovy. Mmmmm ! it was nice

Delta passes the seat 24D coffee test

In my previous post, I had commented on my coffee experience on united that serves starbucks absolutely cold by the time you get to seat 20+. I just finished my coffee on this Delta flight and writing this post offline very happy that Delta figured it out. They even gave me extra peanuts :). The flight attendants all wore pink in support of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation , you can order pink lemonade for 2 dollars and that goes to the foundation. Delta even has a plane painted pink to support this cause. Delta you earned my respect

Starbucks your brand destroyed by United

On my flight in the cheerful crew member let me overlook one huge operational problem that exists if you sit at the rear of the aircraft. It takes the crew almost 55 minutes to get to rows 20. How does Starbucks or United expect the coffee to be hot in a steel jug covered with a plastic cup. On both united flights my starbucks coffee was tepid. Tip has never happened on other airlines like southwest.
If i could change it i would have the purser bring a fresh pot of starbucks coffee midway during the coach service. I would also get a different container that will keep the coffee hot. Those containers have been invented. What are your ideas that United and Starbucks can implement to fix this? Would love your comments.

Popcorn on a United flight

Ok the title of this post is a wish that came out of a conversation with a perky and good humored united crew member. I think United needs to change , lighten up get bright colored uniforms, soft lighting and fly on time -united 2.0. I have not flown them for a long time and the only change that i noticed was that their flights are full and the employees in a better mood.

The same cheerful cabin creew member on Flight 915 IAd to SFO also said it may be great idea to give some passengers a free massage coupon just for good will. I think she is a thinker and needs recognition.
I miss the peanuts and the unlimited snacks of southwest and the improv of the crew.
Flying out of dulles to san francisco united has the best options. My last flight on this route was jet blue. My tweet that there were suits than geeks on this flight got a great response from @mikeneumann. As i am writing this post offline from the flight i will update the post with his tweet. San francisco here i come

mikeneumann: @shashib Cnsdr your origin airport, and that SanFran is mostly banking/stuffy geeks. You need SJC for pure geekdom. AUS/SJC is "Nerd Bird":)

Go on a Banana Diet

The Telegraph has an article on the "Morning Banana Diet" and I am reading in this week's Time magazine that there is a Banana shortage. The rules for this diet from http://morningbanana.com/ are :

Eat a banana for breakfast

• You can eat more than one, and in fact the inventor of the diet often ate four bananas in the morning, but don’t stuff yourself to the point of fullness or discomfort
• Eat only raw, uncooked, unfrozen bananas
• Some variants of the diet allow other fruit to be substituted
• If other fruit is substituted, some variants require it be restricted to one type of fruit per meal
• If you are still hungry 15 or 20 minutes after your banana, you can eat other food (the inventor of the diet sometimes ate a rice ball two and a half hours later, about 200 calories worth)

 

Read more at the website. I tried to find the book that is supposed to have started this craze on Amazon.com but found none listed. I love bananas and don't mind being on this diet. :)

Tom Sietsema and the Washington's Best Bets

I always look forward to the Washington post Annual Dining Guide and this year its Tom Sietsema's " Wine Bars that beckon" , "Pizza to die for " and "Hamburgers done right". Tom Sietsema's job is tough. The guide is titled Washington's Best bets and it literally is. 27 DC restaurants vs. 8 in Maryland and 9 in Virginia. The guide concentrates on a lot of high priced restaurants in Washington Dc and i think I understand the reasoning - if you are spending >$100 on your dinner you really want to go to a place which has been vetted by a food critic where as if the dinner was $17 you have less to risk and can experiment with restaurants that are not in Tom Sietsema's guide. Given the economy in the stage it is I would definitely recommend the Washington Post have two versions of this guide, an additional one like the Washingtonian's 100 Best Bargains. I am glad that Tom Sietsema added a Baltimore restaurant to the list Wood berry Kitchen.

Here are the restaurants from the guide that I would like to try:

Volt

228 N. Market St., Frederick
301-696-8658

http://www.voltrestaurant.com/

Woodberry kitchen

2010 Clipper Park Road, No. 126
Baltimore, MD 21211

410-464-8000

http://www.woodberrykitchen.com/

 

Cava ( of course I love this , restaurant a mile from my house)

9713 Traville Gateway Drive, Rockville, 20850
301-309-9090

http://www.cavamezze.com/

 

Nava Thai

11315 Fern St., Wheaton, MD 20902

240-430-0495

 

Passion Fish in Reston

11960 Democracy Drive

Reston Town Center


Reston, VA 20190

703.230.FISH (3474)

http://www.passionfishreston.com/ 
opening on Oct 22 (This restaurant is in Tom Sietsema's plans to review later this year )

According to the Sietsema article quoting the ZAgat 2009 survey people in the Washington area are eating as much or more than they did 2 years ago. Again this may be a Washington city stat and not the burbs. is your work place refrigerator more full with lunch boxes from home than before? Let me know what you think .

Drink the Palin wine if you like it

The winery in Chile probably did not realize that their sales would be affected by the US presidentialo elections. See this story on Slashfood on Palin Syrah and I am not sure if the sales are going up or going down. Google results puts the price of the wine at around $11 to $13.

The wine is not yet in the inventory of Winelibrary.tv . Have you tasted this wine ? What do you think ? Any other wines that you think are connected with the elections?

Bertuccis User Generated Recipes

Bertuccis User Generated Recipes, originally uploaded by shashiBellamkonda.

I saw this tent card at the Bertuccis in Herndon asking customers for recipes. The recipes will be selected. The details are at the Bertuccis website http://bertuccis.com/ click on "italian Recipe contest. I reproduced it for you in case you are eager to enter the contest right away. :)

Enter the Bertucci’s Italian Recipe Contest!

Bertucci’s is inviting our guests to put on a chef’s hat and apron and share a recipe with us for our “Share Your Italian Recipe” contest.

Recipes should follow Bertucci’s culinary standards which include;
No Microwaves
The dish must be grilled, sautéed, or cooked in an oven 
Use of Fresh Ingredients
Must be a pasta, meat, fish, or salad dish
And of course, it should fit with Bertucci’s authentic, high quality menu

A team of judges led by our Executive Chef Stefano Cordova will judge all recipe submissions based on the contest criteria as well as the recipes’ originality.  Finalists will be chosen from the following five areas: MA/NH/RI, Hartford, Philadelphia, Baltimore/DC, NY Metro.

One dish from the five finalists will be chosen as the winning recipe and will be featured on our menu and the winner will receive a $250 Bertucci’s gift card and memorabilia.

Send your recipe to recipecontest@bertuccis.com

Yelpers in DC : Get Free Passes to an Advance Screening of Quarantine

Details at http://tinyurl.com/4qudd3

Grape Stomp 08 at Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard

Yesterday at the Montgomery County County Liquor store I picked up a brochure for the Sugar Loaf Mountain grape Stomp. The Sugar loaf Mountain vineyard is holding its 2nd Annual Grape Stomp event on Saturday and Sunday, October 18 and 19th from noon until 5pm. It costs $10 and according to the Sugar loaf Mountain vineyard website at http://www.smvwinery.com it includes a wine glass and five tastings of select wines. Young adults and children under 21 are admitted free. This is 92 acre vineyard is the only one located in Montgomery County Maryland and is adjacent to the Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Volunteers for Montgomery County's only vineyard at Sugar Loaf Mountain Vineyard :

lf you are interested in joining the SMV team, we need volunteers to work the event with us. Our volunteers enjoy free admission, a complimentary bottle of Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard wine and a great time. For the most part, volunteers pour wine samples. Training is provided. Contact Kathy O'Donoghue at ksodonoghue@aol.com or 301-365-5044 or call Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard at 301-605-0130. Jump in with both feet!

Address: 18215 Comus Road, Dickerson, Maryland

directions to Sugar Loaf Mountain Vineyard : http://www.smvwinery.com/visit.htm

If you are in the DC metro area you should go its not too far away and may be a great change for the family.