Wind howling? Check. Temperatures below freezing? Check, Check. Our first snow delay? Check, Check, and Check.  The need for a hot libation, perhaps coffee augmented with whiskey, another flavored liqueur, and whipped cream? Absolutely. This week's Throwdown is    Irish Coffee.  The two contenders: Clyde's of Reston versus Uno Chicago Grille. Irish Coffee is a tasty concoction of hot coffee, some type of whiskey (usually Irish whiskey), another type of liqueur thrown in for good measure, and whipped cream. While you can get fancy with your Irish Coffee by selecting your own favorites or other…

This week's Throwdown involves my go-to salad, the Caesar, a delightfully crunchy and creamy salad, topped with Parmesan cheese and croutons. The two contenders: Paolo's and Il Fornaio. The Caesar salad makes a perfect lunch, and is often the salad I order on the side. It is fabulous with grilled chicken, salmon, shrimp, or steak. I have even loved it with grilled scallops. To test the two restaurants' versions, however, I stuck to the basic version, without protein additions. At Paolo's, this means: "hearts of romaine, arugula, peasant bread, Parmesan, and garlic dressing," according to …

Have you eaten pizza in New York City? You know those hot-out-of-the-oven, huge slices that you have to fold in half to eat in your hand as you walk down Sixth Avenue. Can that aroma, crust and taste be replicated here in Reston? So many pizza places grace our corner of Northern Virginia, and while this is good news for all of us, it made it a challenge to select two for this week's Reston Throwdown.I picked Paisano's and Flippin' Pizza as these two pizza shops both claim to serve "New York Style" pizza. For the flavor, I selected Margherita Pizza, the classic combination of red tomatoes (or …

Thanksgiving Dinner is Thursday, and you have to bring a side dish. When, you wonder, will you be making that side? Scrambling to finish that project for work, staying at the office late, with e-mails, phone calls, and text messages piling in, there hardly seems time to peel a 10-lb. bag of potatoes, boil, mash, season them, and then truck them over to Aunt Mabel's house. Takeout would seem to be the answer. This week Reston Patch's throwdown is Thanksgiving favorite, mashed potatoes. The contenders:  Boston Market vs.  Chicken Out Rotisserie.Both restaurants have ample sides to choose from, …

When I first worked in a Japanese Restaurant in the 1990s,  sushi was a novelty that could only be ordered in such a restaurant.  Nowadays, buying sushi in a grocery store is as ubiquitous as buying milk. So how does sushi, specifically a California Roll – a combination of sushi rice, cucumber, imitation crab, and avocado – from two Reston grocery stores stack up?This week's Reston Throwdown:  California Rolls,   Harris Teeter vs. Whole Foods.At Harris Teeter,  the refrigerated sushi case had a nice selection with lots of choices, well beyond the California Roll.  In addition, the store had …

This week's throwdown is all about  my New York mother-in-law's favorite dessert: Italian Cannoli We picked up two: one from Mamma Lucia and another from Santini's New York Style Deli. Cannoli originated in Sicily, Italy, and is traditionally served for Carnival (the beginning of Lent) and at weddings.  In the US, they are a popular Italian-American dessert, anytime -  a tube of fried pastry dough filled with a delicious ricotta cream and small chocolate chips.Here in Reston, it was hard to pick a true winner.  In this case it was like choosing between your favorite jeans and dress pants - …

With cooler temperatures making us reach for our long sleeves, I was definitely in the mood for a warm beverage, so I happily agreed to take on this week's Reston Throwdown: Pumpkin Spice Lattes; Greenberry's Coffee & Tea Company versus Panera Bread. Full of pumpkin pie-inspired spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, this latte is no shy beverage.  It is flavorful, aromatic, and spicy, the way Chai Tea is.  It starts as an espresso coffee, with added steamed milk and pumpkin pie spice-flavored syrup, and on top, whipped cream.  The drink commonly makes it appearance each autumn as a …

Much like Bobby Flay, Dianne and Kurt Rose enjoy good food.  Unlike Bobby Flay, they are not celebrity chefs, they do not employ sous-chefs, they do not have their own show on the Food Network, and they do not live in New York.  But, they believe there is plenty of good food in Reston. They are going to find the best of the best, even if they have to eat and drink at every restaurant in town! Today's throwdown: Margaritas. The Roses were on a lunchtime mission: find the best margarita on-the-rocks, with salt, in town (at a restaurant within walking distance of Reston Town Center – no budget …