Day 83: Mr. Landrum, Ray’s The Steaks

I don’t think this letter needs a lot of intro – go ahead and dig in. The only thing that might be helpful is to know that Mr. Landrum, whose first name is Michael not Ray, has a bunch of restaurants in the DC area that all have the name Ray in them.

Happy reading!

Dear Mr. Landrum,

My brother and sister-in-law had their second child on Wednesday, March 18^th – little baby Mackenzie. She weighed 6lbs 15ozs. And both Mom and Mackenzie are doing well – not that you asked but so many people ask those two questions I thought I’d go ahead and get them out of the way.

Anyway, my sister-in-law was really craving mashed potatoes as she recovered from her C-section and I went out with my brother Ryan to pick up some of your delicious streaks and mashed potatoes from Retro Rays only to find that it no longer existed. I love your food, but with all respect it seems like the locations are always changing in some respect I never know which Ray’s is open and what they are selling.

Just a little embossed return address…that’s all.

I suggested to Ryan that we could just get the order next door from Ray’s The Steaks but Ryan told me Ray’s The Steaks doesn’t offer take-out. Now, I’m a bit stubborn (and long-winded as I guess you have discovered) and insisted on going in anyway and asking. And so it is – I learned that Retro Rays doesn’t exist anymore and Ray’s The Steaks indeed doesn’t offer take-out.

The maître d’ suggested we try Ray’s: To The Third but almost immediately acknowledged that they don’t sell steaks and more importantly that specific evening – they also don’t sell mashed potatoes. We knew that because we actually went there first! Then without missing a beat he said, “Don’t worry. I’ll get you some mashed potatoes.” Two minutes later we had a large container of piping hot mashed potatoes in our hands. He wouldn’t accept our money – just smiled and said to Ryan, “Congratulations on your daughter…enjoy.”

Thanks for saving the night.

Reed Sandridge

P.S. In case you’re curious about the steaks, I ended up getting some filet mignons from Trader Joe’s and cooked them on the grill. They were very good – but not as good as yours!