Revolving Doors....

Well, I hope everybody had an enjoyable forth.. this miserable weather has kind of sapped the creative juices (and appetite), but there are still a few things worth passing along..

Comings and goings..

This has found its way into the column before, but we are soon to be blessed with a relocated Subway on our little corner up by the demon infested stoplight at 235/Millstone across from San Souci..

This will place it almost next to the new Jerry’s Bistro.  But they had a lot of competition across the street.  Looks like they will have more room in the newer location.

And while we’re opening things, I have been advised that Coco’s Cantina (old Lone Star) is now open, and a couple of readers have asked if I have been there..  answer is not yet.  The sort of unwritten rule of thumb is that new places need 120 days to work out the infant mortality items, find their rhythm, get the staff trained (which seemingly takes forever around here), so I will let some time pass. If I get curious I might stop in for lunch or something just to see the place. 

They do have a web site up (gotta have that, never mind the food), and although they talk about “Latin Inspired Cuisine” the menu looks more like typical Mexican fare to me.  Standard items like Nacho’s; Quesadillas; Tacos; Enchiladas; and although they call them “Skillets” I would bet they are very close to Fajitas. Also typical Mexican is that with your main course you get to choose sides which include (guess what?) refried beans and rice among other things.  They do offer fried plantains which is maybe unique. On their "home page" there is a nice little box talking about local sourcing when available, and buying local whenever possible, I hope they do. And while maybe the web developer is not associated with the food side, I was a little surprised to see the following sentence under the picture of the grinning host:  “With over 10 years experience, Chef Rivera knows premium dishes and knows the Southern Maryland palette”…. While one could make the argument that the choice of spelling of the last word was intentional, I kind of doubt it.  So, we’ll see.  I hope they make it, good to see another independent open, up to them to make it work.  Oh, and they do serve breakfast (with huevos rancheros… a must).  Maybe the Linda legacy showing through..

And on the other side of the coin, chains don’t always work out either:

And it must have been that they sold that last remaining sub, because the sign on the door said:

Notes of not much:

You might remember that I have a liking for fried rice for light suppers, especially when it’s late and we don’t want to cook.  With the plethora of Asian restaurants around here, I still have not found one that makes rice I enjoy.  So the other night we were casting about for something to carry out, and MFO allowed as how we have not tried the Golden Japanese Chicken Grill or whatever it’s called up next to Buffalo Wings and Beer.  What the hell, I’ll try their (chicken) fried rice.  I am happy to report that I was very pleased with it.  The chicken was plentiful and fresh, and the rice light, fluffy, and not overly (soy) sauced.  One dish, one night, but it will bring me back..

And I almost couldn’t believe my ears the other day..  Usually while watching TV I tend to tune out when commercials come on.  I happened to still have my attention span about me when one came on for Ruby Tuesday’s.  I will have to hear it again but I’m fairly sure I heard:  “What if there were a place where eating felt more like dining?”.  Yikes!

And in the “you can’t make this stuff up” department..

You may remember that an F-18 out of Oceana crashed last month..  we were watching the local news the other night, and before going to commercial break, they said (something like) “the Navy has finally determined the cause of that F-18 crash last month (cut to picture of flames and burning things) and when we come back we’ll find out”.  So having some familiarity with tactical jet aircraft and the F-18 in particular, I was eager to find out.  Hydraulic failure? fuel controller malfunction? Engine software?

After the many minutes of disgusting commercials, they finally go back to the news.  Starts out with a recap (more flaming buildings) about the plane that crashed into an apartment complex, yadda yadda, and then:  The Navy has blamed the crash on what is called a “Dual Engine Failure”.  Really!  No kidding!  Boy those guys are smart.  Only took them a month to figure it out..Geez louise..

A parting reminder that tonight is the River Concert at the College and it is the one with fireworks.  Starts at eight.   Don’t think you should look for us..

DFD