Photo: “Is it possible that Maydan is becoming my back up to Seven Reasons?” (Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis).

A recap of the last week’s activity on our site.  The good news is no restaurants were removed from the list – though a local coffee shop, the Filter in Dupont, did announce its closure.

Added to the Recommended Restaurant List:

Nicoletta Italian Kitchen – The new Italian spot located just north of Chinatown was added.  It is serving classics done well.  While it is still settling in to its sunny new digs, the food is already very good.

Reviews:

We posted one review this week, for the low-key French bistro Le DeSales.  Located on a side-street a few blocks south of Dupont Circle and headed by a chef that earned two stars from Michelin in a previous job.  It is both overlooked and underrated, meaning you can get a table and enjoy.  The funniest moment came when a tire store re-tweeted my post about a #michelin chef.

Wine:

We added to our wine shop list this week with Calvert Woodley.  It is hardly overlooked or underrated, but is still a great spot for both wine and spirits.

Other:

In a small corner of the social media world, there was some picking on men wearing gingham shirts as the new bro-uniform.  I was able to tune this out by putting on a flannel shirt and listening to Pearl Jam.  It did, however, bring back fond memories of R.W. “Johnny” Apple, the legendary New York Times political correspondent and world-class gourmand.  There are a few things I always remember about him:

1) He came in on 9/11 and banged out several thousands words of analysis off the top of his head, and unlike his successors who try to do this kind of thing, it was good.

2) He nearly always wore gingham shirts when no one knew the word for them.  If you want to be an icon, it helps to be iconic in your style.

3) He had a legendary appetite and could get away with expense account claims no one else could at the times.

4) Apropos of the new Richard Holbrooke biography, there is a story where Holbrooke, his wife (or girlfriend?) and the Apples are driving through Bordeaux and Apple takes Holbrooke to task for confusing left and right bank.  It may be a figment of my imagination because I cannot find it online, but the idea of those two immense egos in one car is a great set-up.

5) I once planned a weekend trip to the Eastern Shore around a reservation at the Inn at Easton because of an article Apple wrote.

Strange that the non-stop coverage of cable news made D.C. less interesting and the people in it less colorful.