Glad to hear you're doing well. Srsly, what was wrong with the Strad? Did it need refurbishing?
On a completely different note -- hey, Al -- I never posted a "that was nice" regarding the time we spent together, but it was really nice. And memorable. Well, alright, the names of the places aren't memorable, but that's because I suck at names of places -- so what were the two places we went? Was Magnolia one of them? Which one had the bartender who was featured in the cocktail book (and which book)?
So, on a similar note, before I forget -- 901 (DC)! Just opened on Wednesday or Thursday, went there on Saturday, and it was outstanding. (I think I overused that word that day, but I'll start over here.) It's run by the same people who do Capitol City Brewing Company, but they really took things to the next level. Everything was just perfect -- these Thai summer rolls came with three completely different sauces, but none of them outshone the others, they were all that good (one was a wasabi pesto? another was a chili cream...). The service was excellent, Dusty thoroughly approves the decor choices (lots of black and dark green) -- very nicely upscale. I was within line of sight of the front door, and there was a discussion over there -- I couldn't hear a word of it. Don't know what it will be like crowded, but it bodes well.
Even the beer was outstanding -- they brewed a batch of about 5 or 6 brews exclusively for 901. I made the mistake of ordering something else for the first round (didn't realize column B was from other breweries), but I didn't make that mistake for the second beer I had. And the two tastes I had of two of their other beers tells me that they have an excellent line-up.
So: 5 stars all around for 901.