Woodberry Kitchen is not participating. They have just joined Open Table, however. But of course they are on the bad side of Owl Meat (that's Mister Jerky to you, Woodberry Kitchen!) and friends.

Michael, do consider the Oregon Grille for your wife's birthday dinner--it's one of our favorite places for a big occasion in the winter time.

I agree with Darlene - Oregon Grille is especially romantic in the winter.

Ixia is great, good martinis and the food is amazing...

You can't go wrong at Linwoods.

We love La Tavola in Little Italy. Its not a typical Little Italy restaurant. There are no heavy red sauces and gobs of cheese. Instead, there's homemade pasta, fresh sauces and fabulous fish and veal. Plus their cannoli is a pizzele cookie with a lemon ricotta filling which is great.

Michael,
You are a thoughtless husband. What the freaking heckfire is wrong with you? I think you need to talk to Dr. Phil about relationships.

I have to admit he sent this e-mail the end of last week. I just forgot about it until today.

Maybe it's time for a new wife. Just make sure she wasn't born on either the last week in January or the first week in August.

I walked past Rocco's Capriccio in Little Italy for years, figuring that it was just another LI joint. I was so wrong. They have some wonderful food there. I have had several specials in the past few months that were delightful. Great sauces, inventive flavor, just terrific. It's a good place for a romantic dinner. I talked to Rocco the chef and owner a few times and was really impressed by his passion for cooking and his attention to detail in the ingredients. I had a simple cod dish once and was blown away. Cod? Yeah. He had it flown in from Portugal the night before. Details matter.

I agree with Alan. If you want to go somewhere with good food, service, and decor, go to Linwoods. I've never had a bad meal there...and I doubt they mess up birthday surprises--as it is a place for special occasions!

I went to Milton Inn last Saturday night for the first time for my birthday, and it was delicious ... there were at least eight different entrees I wanted to order. My only complaint was the wait; we think they were having problems that night. Our reservations were for 7:00; we arrived about ten minutes prior to that, and were not seated until 8:00, at which point several tables were empty.

How about Salt or Nasu Blanca?

Our son got sick this week so we are postponing the birthday dinner until Saturday night but we decided to give Oregon Grille a try. Will let you know how it is afterward...Thank you Elizabeth for the excellent recommendations...we're planning to try all of them over the next couple months! PS - Chane - I tried to talk to Dr. Phil but he was too busy with Brittany :)

As Elizabeth mentioned, if you're willing to hike out to the burbs, there's Tersiguel's in downtown Ellicott City. Definitely upscale and both food and service have always been very enjoyable for me.

JLA, I understand the younger generation has taken the reins at Tersiguel's. Have you been there since the changeover?

Oregon Grille in Hunt Valley is well worth the drive. The food and service are both outstanding. Portions are large...the only "dessert" I can fit in is cognac and coffee. It's expensive, but well worth it!

I went to King's Contrivance for the first time a couple of weeks ago - everything was fantastic (and Friday nights are half-price bottle of wine nights!!)

Add me to the list for recommending The Oregon Grille. It has long been a "special occasion" restaurant for Mrs. Flipkid and me. (Of course, we only live ten minutes away...)

I'd very much second Tersiguel's; the service was impeccable and their wine list outstanding. The mussels (if they have them) are quite good!

Darlene, I visited Tersiguel's most recently in September and it was superb. The son runs the kitchen - very effectively, judging by our meals - but the parents still maintain an active presence in the front of the house. Dad was wandering around to different tables chatting people up, and being completely gracious to anyone who wanted to break out some rusty French.

Merci, JLA!

Tersiguel's was were we got engaged :) truly excellent and highly recommended, especially their Chautebriand pour deux being carved up tableside.

Michael, I'll look forward to hearing what you and your wife thought of Oregon Grille. We've only been once, but it holds second place on our list of top ten dinners we've ever eaten. Enjoy!!

Not knowing where else to put this, but Restaurant Week has been really good to us so far.

We had dinner at VIN last night and the food was really good. I started with their butternut squash puree soup with mascarpone and my hubby and our friend both had a lovely salad of Baby greens, endive, toasted walnuts, red grapes and apple vinaigrette. I had the salmon entrée, hubby had the steak, and our friend had the chicken. All were really delicious (we are really very shameless in passing around our used bread plates to each other to get samples). I love the tiny desserts. Just perfect for when you want something sweet but don't really have room for a big dessert. I got the Chocolate Ganache Cake with créam Chantilly and candied orange peel which was so rich that I would not have wanted it to be any larger.
Our server was very attentive. When he came to pick up the check, he gave each of us a $25 VIN gift card since it was our first visit there. Now that's the second best way to get a new customer to come back and in combination with the best way - excellent food & service – they guaranteed that we will.

I took off of work today for an early birthday treat (it's actually on Saturday - don't get me started on the horror of having a birthday on groundhog's day) and had lunch by myself, ala Sir Robert, the Single One. I took a book – This I Believe – from NPR’s series of the same name. This worked well because each essay is short and gave me a chance to read and then to stop and people watch.

I wasn’t sure where I wanted to eat and then settled on Brasserie Tatin since their lunch prix fixe menu looked every bit as good as their dinner menu. I started with Pate en Croute and then had Duck Confit which was served on a bed of parsnips puree and spinach. I had the Tart Tatin for dessert. Service there was spot on.

I came home and vegged our for a while. I may not eat again until the weekend!

It seems fairly obvious that we need to get Janet and Single Robert together. Even though it will mean the area book stores will see a decline in business.

Food can be a great thing to get people together. My first date with my wife was the first time I ever had sushi. We went to Minoto's, the old location. I fell in love....with sushi. I remember thinking to myself that no matter where this date goes at the very least I now know that I love sushi. Well, that was almost nine years ago. That date becaume my wife, and I still love sushi.

My wife and I go out to dinner 2-3 times a week and enjoy trying new restaurants. So for us, restaurant week is a real treat. We decided to go out to dinner on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and lunch Wednesday afternoon. We had trouble getting dinner reservations for our top choices for Tuesday. Finally, we were able to get a reservation at McCormick and Schmick's (red flag number one). My wife got the seafood platter and I got the ribeye steak. Her dinner looked bland and uninspiring. My ribeye was as tough as the soles of the 20 year old Weejuns sitting in my closet. Our waiter, Jorge, was attentive but over-worked. McCormick and Schmicks was a bad choice.

We went to lunch at Brighton's on Wednesday and had possibly the worst meal we've had in quite a while. My wife and I had the prime rib sandwich. Perhaps it should have been called the prime fat sandwich. Enough said. What a waste of time and money.

Thursday evening we're going to Spice Company. I'll let you know if restaurant week can be salvaged!

RfCC - not so fast! Janet isn't the only single gal who reads and eats seeking a single guy who reads and eats (and is hilarious).

I say put the man up for auction to benefit a charity fund to save tortured ducks.

FOMALng. I'm beginning to see the problem of drinking and reading this blog at the same time. The good news is I missed my laptop. There needs to be a warning: SPRAYING AHEAD.

Mary: trust me when I tell you, the buyer will want (demand) a full refund. But its a lovely idea.

I think we're starting to encroach on BaltAmour's territory here. Janet, forget the match-making--I think we need to start a book club (or can I borrow your book when you're done with it? I love "This I Believe" on NPR.)

By my count we have RfCC, Single Robert, just plain Robert and Rob on this blog. But only one Darlene.

OK, everyone, while I'd love to have a meal with Sir Robert, The Single One (or, for that matter, most of the people here on this blog) I am married. I just decided to have lunch by myself.

BTW, I met my hubby at a charity cheesecake bakeoff set up by a group of us on a local computer bulletin board (so you know how long ago that was). My cheesecake came in second, but I got the guy.

well, Mary, it looks like you've moved up to the number 1 slot.

.... And a single Misha (female), who posts occasionally. Loves Chiapparelli's and the crab cakes at Snyder's Willow Grove.

Just for the record, Darlene is very much married, but wouldn't it be great if this blog did some match-making on the side? Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

what is the status of OMJ?

I'll let him field this one.