Calorie Restriction, where the most ardent followers plan their meals such that dinner is precisely 639 calories. "Dietary sudoku" sounds right. The WSJ ($) also -heh- weighs in. Update: also today's The New York Times.

Ten years ago, every Monday, I'd be at the Old Ebbitt Express for lunch or dinner because of their weekly pasta roma special. Do they still have it? Heck if I know—I don't work in the building any more, they only do lunches now, and I haven't had occasion to be back. This recipe, though it's from the decidedly middlebrow Rachel Ray, seems like a good approximation to what I'd order if one adds sun-dried tomatoes and then one adds parmesan and cracked black pepper after serving.

It's distressing how many of my favorite flavors—Southern Pecan Pie, Vanilla Chocolate Chunk, Bovinity Divinity, Cool Britannia, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, even Rainforest Crunch—are in the Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard. On the other hand, I won't miss Lemon Peppermint Carob Chip, which I can't admit ever seeing.

Separately, Jon Entine on the plight of the newest Ben & Jerry's franchisees.

When I have more free time, the Smithsonian has some cool culinary-arts events.

Ghin Na Ree (North Arlington) - Most Thai places in the DC area pump their dishes full of sugar; this isn't a problem at Ghin Na Ree, where the emphasis is where it should be, on the spice. Lunch is a great bargain here: tea, a spring roll, a spicy chicken soup, and an entree for $6. I like this place quite a bit, more than any other Thai place in a 3-mile radius, especially for the price-point, but Slim found her pork with pepper and cilantro too peppery for her tastes, and thought my drunken noodles too spicy as well, so I probably won't be back.

Pines of Florence (Virginia Square) - Meh Italian.

El Ranchero (Ballston) - Meh Mexican, with indifferent service to boot.

Tortilla Coast (Capitol Hill) - Slim and I have had trouble finding good Tex-Mex in the DC area. This place, founded by people associated with Ninfa's, should hypothetically fit the bill, but it's hit-and-miss. The salsa is perhaps the best in town, but the chips are greasy; the queso is good, but the guacamole is mediocre; the flautas are excellent, but the enchiladas are bland and uninteresting. The fajitas aren't special. Parking's difficult, too, though it is close to an Orange-line metro stop. It's sad that South Austin Grill is still my Tex-Mex of choice in town (though El Paso in Ballston has better fajitas), since if it were in Houston, it would go out of business quickly.

Slim and I returned to Abiti (U Street area), and found it as tasty as ever. I think I'm too old to ever order kitfo again (though it was quite good), and Slim's doro watt was excellent. The shiro, which we loved first time around, was even better when we took it home and let it sit for another day for leftovers.

Ray's the Steaks (Roslyn/Courthouse) - The place has gotten more eccentric than ever: it doesn't take reservations now, and doesn't open when it says it opens, making people wait unnecessarily; any of the three are normally deal-breakers for me, but the food is so good and relatively reasonably priced. Slim concurred this time, ending up with the majority of my scallops appetizer though I warned her in advance that the scallops were spectacular at Ray's. My only beef, as it were, is that the punnish "black and blue" sauce for steaks tends to overwhelm the meat with its strong cheese. I'm looking forward to trying the Silver Spring branch of Ray's some time in 2007.

Adam Bonin has a good round-up of R.W. Apple links, but misses his 2005 sojourn through my neck of the woods, which, unfortunately, sticks to the relatively obvious places, misses some hidden gems, and spends a paragraph talking about banh mi without ever using those two words. Haandi used to be a favorite of mine nine years ago when I didn't have a car and its Bethesda branch was one of the few Indian restaurants that was Metro-accessible, but I doubt I'd put it in my top five area Indian restaurants today. Apple does sound like someone I would've enjoyed breaking bread with.