One by one, we’re running through the 50 restaurants that made the cut on this year’s Young & Hungry Dining Guide. If you have visited the day’s featured restaurant, let us know what you think. If you’re planning to visit for the first time, tell us about your meal when you return.

Gillian Clark and partner Robin Smith had to wage battles on several fronts to finally launch their folksy eatery, the General Store, in the former Forest Glen post office in Silver Spring. Montgomery County, historic preservationists, even the landlord—everyone, it seems, wanted to tell Clark and Smith how to build out the 19th-century structure, down to the exact number of parking spaces they needed. It was enough to make Clark and Smith want to walk away from their project, which they seriously considered doing. I’m glad they stuck with it. The joint exudes a sort of sterile country vibe, part old-timey kitsch and part burn-unit clean, but Clark’s food remains as down-home and comfy as ever. Well, when she still has some to sell. The General Store has already developed a reputation for running out of its famed fried chicken before closing time; fortunately, there are tasty backup options. I’m thinking specifically about Clark’s chunky tarragon chicken-salad sandwich, which employs the namesake herb without allowing its anise flavors to dominate, as they so often do. The fish tacos are an excellent handheld bite, too, stuffed to capacity with fried whitefish, avocado, and melted cheese. At this point, the only unresolved issue for Clark and Smith is the opening of the downstairs Post Office Tavern. But even that hurdle will be cleared by next week, when the pub officially opens to the public, serving up pizzas, brats, and other beery foods.

The General Store, 6 Post Office Road, Silver Spring (301) 562-8787

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

The week started with the unexpected announcement that a genuine 1947 diner would be making its way to Trinidad, and it ended with the equally unexpected disclosure that Spike Mendelsohn and his business partner were evicted from their Capitol Hill rental home. In between, readers had tons of reasons to visit the Y&H blog. Here are the most-read posts of the week.

1. Former Used-Car Lot in Trinidad to Get a New Ride — a Diner Car
2. D.C.’s Unofficial Beer Week (Thank You, Savor)
3. Welcome to the D.C. Restaurant Scene, Cap City Diner!
4. Spike’s New Pizzeria Is Coming to Cap Hill. But First: Souvlaki!
5. The General Store’s Soft-Shell Crab Sandwich, Which Wasn’t So Soft
   

I could have done without my first bite of Gillian Clark’s soft-shell crab sandwich at the General Store. As soon as I bit through the crustacean’s semi-soft outer body, I was splattered with a jet-stream of yellow-green matter, likely a combination of eggs and tomalley. My new shirt now looked like a painter’s smock.

My second bite wasn’t much better. I felt as if I was ripping into an old leather bag. I couldn’t understand what was happening. Everything else about the sandwich was delicious: the surprisingly sweet lemon aioli, the soft buttery Gold Crust bun, the salty, beautifully fried onion straws. But the star of the dish — a genuine Maryland blue crab, Clark told me — had gone rogue, betraying all of the other ingredients in the sammie.

In all the times I have eaten soft-shells, I have never had such a tough time biting into one. This sucker, though, was a damn hard softie. A few Google searches later, I think I learned why.

According to the award-winning book, Fish Forever by Paul Johnson, fishmonger to the star chefs, all softies are not created equal:

Read More “The General Store’s Soft-Shell Crab Sandwich, Which Wasn’t So Soft” »

Two older posts continue to fascinate the readership of Young & Hungry. One is tragic. The other practically comedic. After that, the Top 5 posts of the week shape up this way:

1. Gillian Clark’s General Store Now Available for Sit-Down Service
2. Saigon Bistro: A Best of D.C. Contender or Just a Pretender?
3. Scene 1 from the Eatonville Chef Contest: Fried Chicken
4. Alert Las Vegas: Washingtonian Debuts Burger Brackets in Time for March Madness
5. Urban to Offer Meats Fresh from the Smoker on Saturday

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Earlier this week, I noted that Gillian Clark and Robin Smith finally got their certificate of occupancy from Montgomery County, which cleared the way for them to (finally) open the General Store as a sit-down restaurant. Which is great. I was really tired of eating fried chicken in the car.

But what about the Store’s downstairs partner, the Post Office Tavern?

Read More “So When Will the Post Office Tavern Open?” »

For nearly a month, the General Store, chef Gillian Clark’s home-spun Silver Spring restaurant with the killer fried chicken, has been operating as a take-out joint only. Montgomery County apparently wanted Clark and her partner, Robin Smith, to have more dedicated parking spaces before issuing them a certificate of occupancy.

Read More “Gillian Clark’s General Store Now Available for Sit-Down Service” »

There’s a reason food stylists and photographers make real money to shoot cookbooks. They can make anything look appetizing. I, on the other hand, have made Gillian Clark’s fried chicken, now available at The General Store in Silver Spring after a loooong absence, look like something I just tripped over on the street. Forgive me. The bird tastes nothing like this picture suggests.

Read More “A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Lashings: The General Store’s Fried Chicken” »

Back in late 2007, I wrote about a column about all the fussy signs at Gillian Clark’s former restaurant, Colorado Kitchen, and how they sometimes caused diners to rebel, kid-like, against the rules. Well, yesterday when I stopped by Clark’s new joint, the General Store in Silver Spring, the chef and her partner, Robin Smith, told me a story about their antique Nickelodeon player.

On Saturday, the General Store’s first day of business, customers took to the expensive player piano as if it were their own. Some didn’t even know how to play the instrument, plucking the keys at a level somewhere below “Chopsticks.” The general disregard for the equipment forced the partners to put a sign on the piano that asked, quite politely, “Please Do Not Press the Nickelodeon Keys.”

Read More “Keep Your Paws Off the Antique Nickelodeon!” »

The wife and I stopped by the General Store late on Sunday night, around 9, hoping against hope that chef/owner Gillian Clark might still have some fried chicken and collards available for take out. She didn’t. She had sold the last of her birds about three hours earlier, so we had to satisfy our General Store itch with some face time with Clark’s partner, Robin Smith, who told us the story behind the bear diorama and the slogan, “Grab a Root ‘n’ Growl.” (See picture.)

As a child growing up in California, Smith knew it was dinner time whenever her mom used to holler, “Grab a root and growl!” Smith, somewhat sheepishly, admits she never gave the phrase much thought until one day, in her teens, she suddenly realized that it had ursine connections. Up until then she always considered the phrase merely a call to chow.

Read More “The General Store Opens With a Growl” »

Here are the top 10 items this week on the Young & Hungry blog, as decided by you, the loyal readers.

1. More on Gillian Clark’s New Restaurant Ventures

2. Ray’s the Steaks Set to Move Soon…Or Not

3. El Pollo Rico Reopens in Wheaton

4. What Ris Lacoste Learned While Working at Friendly’s

5. Are Ethiopian Eateries Really Hurting Because of the New Cab Meters?

6. Woman Returns Nearly 100K Found at Cracker Barrel

7. WSJ: Chuck E. Cheese’s May Be the Most Dangerous Restaurant in Town

8. What Does a $19 ‘Mixed Grill’ Get You at Lebanese Taverna’s New Bethesda Spot?

9. The ‘Subversive Element’ at Ray’s Hell Burger? Catsup!

10. Are Hot Dogs Really Made from Pigs’ Lips and Assholes?