We’ve been looking forward to Robert Wiedmaier’s latest effort – Mussel Bar By RW – but there’s much more, including Spike Mendelsohn’s pizza joint.  Zagat covers the high points here.

Bon Appetit posted a pretty good article about citizen criticism which focuses solely on what the paid critics think about the medium.  Overall, I’d say more critics are displeased or off-putting than embracing, and many fail to cite any solid reasons for their distaste.

Our opinion (since we heard you ask): it’s just one more avenue from which to make dining decisions.  We’re guessing if 20 out of 21 solid reviews all have nothing positive to say about a restaurant’s food it might be worth listening.  On the other hand, if the citizen critic seems to be preoccupied with the beautiful crowd or the time waiting to use the WC we’re not so sure this someone we’d listen to.

Heck, half the battle is making sure you’re getting food that didn’t fall of a SysCo truck the previous week.

Robert Wiedmaier

Robert Wiedmaier has announced he’ll open what we think will be a surefire bet: a new mussel bar in Bethesda.

The Kitchen Troll still contends Wiedmaier’s Brasserie Beck sells the best mussels available.

The Mussel Bar by RW opens early June.

Ahh. Wine.

Sommeliers of the Year | Food & Wine.

…that is, provided you have no intention of renting Blu-Ray discs.  We don’t here at Meandering HQ (and frankly we’re not content with the selection of online titles) so we’re what you’d call “high usage customers”.

On the surface, Blockbuster looks like the better deal: they match Netflix price for price (for example, the 3-at-a-time plan gives you unlimited access to three movies at once for $16.99) plus Blockbuster throws in Blu Ray rentals at no additional cost.

If you like prompt service and an easy-to-use web movie queue, that’s where the similarities end.

Site Usability

Let’s start with searching: predicting titles based on the first few letters you’ve typed in the search box makes Netflix incredibly intuitive and fast.  Blockbuster’s search box?  No such luck, since it only delivers the old ‘type and hope’ method of searching.

Netflix spends an admirable amount in R&D and it shows in both the functionality of their site and its ability to recommend and predict favorites based on your past rentals and reviews.  And once you’ve add the movie to your queue you can still easily access a synopsis, a rating, and even the reason this movie was recommended for you by Netflix.

Simply mousing over a movie in your Netflix queue reveals detailed information

Its elegant interface also makes it easy to add, move, and delete (and even Undo Delete) movies in your queue.

It's elegantly easy to delete (and undo) movies from the Netflix queue

The Widescreen Dilemma

Now that our TVs are widescreen I find myself almost repulsed at having to watch anything in the old 4:3 aspect ratio.  Of course early movie titles will often leave us stuck with no choice, but for those DVDs from an era when distributors would release theatrical and television aspect ratios simultaneously I insist on something as close to widescreen as possible. Oddly, this information is impossible to find when selecting a movie from Blockbuster and simple with Netflix.

Why is adding the aspect ratio so stinkin' hard, Blockbuster?

Same Price, Totally Different Value

Even if these or other issues are nits you’re willing to overlook, there’s still price to consider.  Before we grabbed a Blockbuster subscription our thoughts were pretty simple: if both are the same price and Blockbuster includes Blu-Ray it must be the way to go.

Wrong.  We overlooked an important part of the process: the movie processing facility.  How promptly do these guys accept movies you’ve sent back to them, and how quickly do they convert that newly opened slot in your movie queue and get your next movie in the mail and on its way?

Here there’s literally no contest.  Both get your movie the next day in most parts of the country, but the magic is in Netflix’s handling.  When Netflix receives your movie it gets checked in well before you get up in the morning (you’ll see the email when you check your inbox first thing after that cup of coffee).  With Blockbuster – well let’s just say it could be another day, or maybe even two.  So it could be awhile before you see that next title.

Spread these delays over a month and you find $16.99 doesn’t always equal $16.99.  With Netflix you can potentially turn that $16.99 into 27 DVD rentals sent to your door.  Based on Blockbuster’s lethargic turnaround system we estimate you can’t get any more than 12.  Oh, and did we mention Netflix even staffs crews on Saturday’s and holidays, even receiving their mail from the USPS when the rest of us don’t?

A Queue That Isn’t

And queues are almost meaningless at Blockbuster.  Netflix has complex algorithms that decide who gets what first and movies with a wait get reported correctly.  Blockbuster?  My top queue item says it’s currently available and has for the last two weeks.  Seven items have been sent out since then, and none of them have been that top item in my queue.  Ugh.

Conclusion

In conclusion, choices are easier when they’re cut and dried.  Based on promos and pricing alone it would be easy to choose Blockbuster for your rental needs.

This is, however, a choice between a company that’s doing everything it can to get your business versus one that’s consistently followed other companies innovations rather than leading themselves.  From purely a pocketbook standpoint Netflix is far easier to recommend.

And from a conscience standpoint it’s almost impossible to want to give Blockbuster another dime for making what appears to be the least possible effort while driving itself ever closer to the dustbin of once great American brands.

Photo Credit: Chris Buck / Source: The New York Times

Here’s Tyler Cowen’s Ethnic Dining Guide.  Now go.

Seriously, though, Tyler’s recognized as being an authority on great ethnic eats around DC.  And the best part for suburbanites: you don’t always have to go into town to get it.  Cheaper strip mall leases mean great ethnic food all around the ‘burbs.

Enjoy!

We’re all about fun, food, wine, travel, and seeing cool places in Virginia, the DC Metro, around the country and throughout the world.  We don’t want to be the place you come for everything.  We just want to be your favorite place to get ideas for your next great excursion.  Get out there and have fun!

Food and beverage. No one’s serving anything for free and what you can get tastes just as bad as it always has on a place, regardless of how much more attractive the packaging is now relative to the past.  Exceptions to the “no free food” rule are generally routes to or from European destinations since non-Americans traditionally have higher expectations of service – even on our domestic carriers.  Check with your airline if you’re unsure of the accomodations, or (much better still) bring along healthy non-liquid items that will be a much better caloric investment.  Remember, you’re going to be more or less dormant for several hours so light occasional healthy snacking is easily your best bet.  As for drinks, water’s still free on every flight – or at least it is at the moment.

Easy, organized access to items you plan to use on the flight. Walk through your expectations of what you’ll be doing on the flight, especially if you’ll be cramped in the metal tube for over a couple hours.  You’ll be surprised at how inaccessible simple things like headsets are when you want them.  While your at it, reconsider the security process.  Where do you intend to put your jewelry, wallet, or other important items you’d prefer not testing with the metal detector?  When I went through this process the first time I realized I didn’t own a bag that worked for my purposes and hopped online to purchase a new one.  Stranger yet, the next time I traveled my old bag was more well suited to the trip I was taking.  This is a really important step to making your trip easy and predictable.

Two pens. If you’re traveling internationally, this is a must.  You will fill out customs paperwork.  If not, it’s always a good habit to have pens on hand to document things like dings in your rental car or contact information when you meet someone new.  You’re going to thank me on this one, because someday when you take an international flight you’ll be begging one from a neighbor after the one you have stops working (or you’ll just want your flying partner to help expedite all the forms writing).

Anything that keeps children in your custody extraordinarily quiet. You’re likely used to the cacophony of family life but your nearby seatmates are often nervous at the prospect of even getting on a plane.  That tension is amplified when the simplest of actions – a bumped chair, a continual banging or clicking noise, or a crying child – interrupts an otherwise focused attempt to stay calm.  Some might be offended by what we’re saying here.  After the number of flights we’ve been on where we’ve seen ourselves and others fray at the seams, we side with them over parents who take anything less than full responsibility for their childrens’ actions.  We’re parents as well, and sadly there is such an overwhelming prevailing lack of responsibility people have often felt compelled to thank us for our child’s behavior despite it being our responsibility and not some bonus we threw in for the heck of it.

Your itinerary. If you aren’t going nonstop, and your next transportation or action plans if you are (nothing sucks more than landing and wanting to move things along with no interruptions or confusion, and a bonus would include previous trips to websites which help you know what to expect – things like sitting at Heathrow for 4 hours waiting to get through security instead of enjoying London)

Barboursville Vineyards - Barboursville, Virginia

Kirstin is over for a visit on her way home to London, so we took her winery hopping today.  We have some favorites, and I had come up with an ambitious list for the day.  Unfortunately, I’m such a lightweight I knew I would be asleep by the second winery and that we would never make it to everything on the list.  We got a late start…SQ has having some human technical difficulties coming up with the addresses.  Our first attempt was Linden Vineyards, but I stupidly didn’t call ahead of time and just assumed they would be open.  Bad assumption – we drove all the way there and they were closed.  We’ve been before, they have outstanding wine so I was a bit disappointed.

The next stop on our list was Pearmund Cellars, another outstanding winery in our opinion, which sits just a bit north of Warrenton.  They offer 3 options for tastings – Classic for $5, Reserve for $7, or both for $10.  We chose the Reserve, which included 5 wines.  I won’t cover all of them in detail, but my favorites were the 2007 Viognier (something Virginia wineries do particularly well) and the 2006 Petite Verdot, with the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon coming in a close third.  The Viognier is well-rounded and very tropical, while the Petite Verdot is full of blackberry flavor and very earthy.

Barboursville Vineyards was our next target, after a brief run through McDonald’s for some french fries (a major weakness!!).  The setup here is a bit different – you pay at the front register for the tasting and pick up your glass, then move over to the tasting area.  They have everything set up so that you move from Whites to Reds to Dessert wine, and when they are busy it becomes a bit cumbersome.  Barboursville has a huge list of wines they produce, and while it’s not in my overll top 5 wineries in Virginia, they do have a couple of outstanding selections, and the grounds are incredibly beautiful.  The ruins of the old governor’s mansion are also on site, which makes for nice picnic setting in sunny weather.  Again, I won’t go through every wine they offer, but my favorites here were the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (crisp, dry, a lot of pear flavor, and great for outdoor weather), the 2006 Barbera Reserve (hard to find in VA, medium body, earthy, and plum-y), the 2006 Cabernet Franc Reserve (my favorite wine here, with the exception of the 2004 Octagon; very classic VA wine, a lot of structure but not highly tannic), and the 2005 Nebbiolo Reserve (another Italian varietal that’s hard to find in VA; very smoky, complex, smooth, full-bodied, and will improve even more with some aging).

And last on our tour today, since it was getting later in the afternoon at this point, was Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard.  The drive here is incredibly beautiful, some of the nicest land in Virginia, and it’s also just down the road a bit from Monticello.  I was expecting a packed house here, but it was so desserted I thought they were closed when we first pulled in.  SQ and I have been to Kluge a few times before, and it’s firmly in our Top 5 in the state, but the selection in the past has been small.  I don’t find that off-putting…usually the wineries offering a huge assortment sacrifice quality.  We were surprised to find that Kluge is now offering 12 wines and sparkling wines, which they serve as a tasting flight.  There are 2 options here – Albemarle Flight for $10 or Kluge Flight for $12, and we were told it might be a good idea to share as they pour quite a bit into the glasses.  We opted to do both flights for the three of us, and overall the Albemarle Flight had better options.  The standouts from that group included a 2006 Viognier (again, very Virginia, complex and tropical), 2006 Albemarle Rose (even you non-Rose drinkers will like this; dry, with vanilla and almond finish), and the 2004 Albemarle Simply Red (Bordeaux-style, aged in French oak).  I have to also mention the Cru Aperitif, which is a very distinctive, fortified Chardonnay that is aged in Jack Daniels barrels – sounds bizarre, but it’s one of the most interesting wines I’ve ever had.  The Cru Royale was also fun to drink – they blend the Cru with the Kluge SP Blanc de Blanc, and serve with a piece of orange peel…kind of tastes like a Mimosa…really refreshing!  From the Kluge Flight, the just-mentioned 2004 SP Blanc de Blanc was an outstanding sparkling wine made in the Methode Champenoise style.  I’m not particularly fond of sparkling wine, but this was very enjoyable, and I think I could really just sit and drink this even with no food.  The 2004 Kluge SP Blanc de Noir was also a favorite, made from 100% Pinot Noir, aged in French Oak, and definitive notes of cassis.  We have a bottle of 2001 Kluge Estate New World Red (still unopened…and waiting for K and James to make it back over the pond for a visit!), but the later vintages kind of fall flat.  The 2002 and 2004 are both included in the Kluge Flight, and I would almost put them at the bottom of everything we tasted today.

We were all starving at this point, and Syd has been such a trooper today putting up with our wandering around from winery to winery, so it was time for dinner.  I had a couple of options in mind, but we ended up at one of our favorite pizza places – Mellow Mushroom, right on the campus for University of VA.  It’s a southern pizza chain, I think based in Georgia, and Charlottesville is about as far north as they go.  Very hippy atmosphere, and it was filled with college students, but we were early so no problem finding a place to sit.  Any pizza you get here will be good, but I can’t comment on anything else on the menu as pizza is all I’ve ever eaten at Mellow Mushroom.  We split a BBQ Chicken pizza (yum!) and a sausage and pineapple pizza (weird, I know…but I’m addicted to this particular combination).

There are about 140 wineries in Virginia at last count – I think everyone can find something they like in this state.  What is being produced here is very, very Virginia, and there are wine varietals that the state does incredibly well.  I didn’t drink Chardonnay before I started trying it here.  You will find some very good wine and some very bad wine here, and a lot of in-between, so go drive around and give it a try.  A  good site to start with is virginiawine.org.  And don’t tell me you don’t drink anything but California wine….