A Mighty Fine Tribute to an Old Friend, Bill Jackson
Bill Jackson was an 18 year veteran chef of Great American Restaurants (GAR) chain. You probably know and frequent most of their restaurants including Coastal Flats, Sweetwater. Sadly, Bill passed suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease and passed away in March of 2008. Ever grateful, GAR named their new location after his last name, Jackson’s.

When you enter the restaurant, you notice Bill’s likeness blended into most of the mural paintings. Menu includes old familiar dishes like crab cakes and chocolate waffles. New items like steak frites and sushi rolls show the owners appetite for risk taking with this new establishment. If you are inclined to order a sushi roll, the menu warns you “We are new at this, be patient with us. You'll get it when you get it." Casualness of the menu is reflected in the diner like (fancier than a regular one) environment and the 2 bars that can hold up to 250 patrons.

The times when you had to trek down to DC for a stylish restaurant with great food are finally over. Top of the line restaurants are doing the smart thing and coming to suburbs to find their customers. After years of serving discriminating DC clients, Panache Restaurant brought its great menu and beautiful décor to McLean.

I don’t know who did it first, but slowly and surely casual dining restaurants are adopting Web 2.0 simplicity in designing a food ordering system. What is a Web 2.0 simplicity you ask? Have you been to web sites where all that you see are 3 extra large buttons say “Buy Now”, “Contact Us” and “Sign Up For Newsletter?” That simplicity is the end result of Web 2.0. Give the customer an easy, no brainer access to what he/she wants. Don’t hide your information. Casual dining restaurants are fast incorporating this simplicity into their menus. Chipotle is a good example, so is Aditi Bistro of Vienna, Café Metro in NY and now Pei Wei.

According to Wikipedia “Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia.” The country is bordered by countries with major cuisines including India, China, and Thailand. I like Thai, Chinese and Indian foods so how could I have missed Burmese food? How come the only time I hear about Burma in the media, it is about Burmese military junta and not about their beautiful culture and food? I hope to change this as I just found out about this great Burmese restaurant called “A Taste of Burma” in Sterling.