hiatus

what a long hiatus ! Have such a long backlog of restaurants to write about. So, here I go - listing them before I forget:
Sette, Cafe Gutenberg, Sticky Rice, Pomegranate, Mekong, La Grotta, Zuppa, SumoSan, Niwanohana, Ginger Thai, Papa Ningo, Can Can Brasserie

Laziness !!

This is obviously a function of purchasing power, but indexed for inflation and my PP, I think a dinner for 2 (including tax&tip (16-20% of pretax amt) and not including alcohol) under $30 is cheap, $30-$60 moderate and $60-$90 somewhat expensive and >$90 expensive.

Also probably reflected in my (thus far) tepid rating of food here. Something we've felt about restaurants where the check has come to $60 or greater; what I refer to as the "above-average" or "somewhat expensive" set: we were nowhere near as satisfied as the majority of the dinners we had in (my benchmark city) DC. The menu was either unimaginative in at least one or more department, or the food was very dull (I need to find a bunch of synonyms for dull). A lack of imagination/talent in the menu department should be compensated for in taste but alas....
Another observation is how "empty" all these places are at primetime. Maybe we're going to the wrong places....