Chivalric Dining

When the parents come to town, my dining options improve greatly. The usual omelets and toast get replaced by Vermillion!

Mom loves Old Town Alexandria, so after much parking ado, we headed into Vermillion, a place which had been recommended to me. The downstairs is specifically a lounge, with dark crimson couches and a lovely bar. I mentally noted to come back when Alexandria institutes its smoking ban.

We were led to the upstairs restaurant and seated at a lovely table at the window. Decor note: perfectly romantic place. The ceiling was black with red drapes hanging from it, walls covered with wine, but the "art" was the coolest part. The walls were rustic brick with gold frames on it - and each of frames was lit with a spotlight so that the light itself was framed. Brilliant!

Anyway, food. Vermillion, as the swanky lounge downstairs suggested, has a stellar bar menu. Mom had a Pomolitan (cosmo with pomegranate juice) and I had an Old Town lemonade (citrus vodka, mint, lemons, soda & sugar). Both drinks were very refreshing without being too sweet. We then shared some latkes & cured salmon, which came with a spoonful of sweet homemade apple butter and some creamy horseradish sauce.

Next came a light spinach salad with some tangy goat cheese & a blood-orange vinaigrette. The goat cheese wasn't crumbled as is normally the case with salads, but instead smeared on the side of the plate. I really enjoyed this difference in presentation - but mainly because it was high quality Pipe Dreams goat cheese, and not some boring chevre that doesn't add much to a salad.

For my entree, I went with the rib rack of pork, which came with cider-braised kale and pear & currant strudel. I don't think I have ever knowingly consumed kale, but there was bacon involved in its cooking, so I had to go for it, and was not disappointed. The strudel came in thin little tubes - think Pirouette cookies - that accompanied the pork. They were very good, but I would have preferred my strudel bigger and softer that the flavors could mingle with the pork a bit more.

As we decided to split a poached pear for dessert, two glasses of port appeared on the table, courtesy of the gentlemen & his wife dining adjacent to us. They had been doing a tasting menu, it seemed, and the chef came out multiple times to talk to them, and even brought them a signed menu at the end. Apparently Mom & I seemed posh enough in our culinary enjoyment and witty repartee to deserve some port at the end of the meal. We talked to the couple for awhile about the DC dining scene and port in general (Mom used to have it frequently when she lived in Chile).

After the generous couple had left, my mom turned to me and said, "That's the first time that's ever happened to me!" and I agreed (excepting skeezy dudes at bars, which don't count). Anyone else ever had a fellow diner treat you to a drink or something else for pure culinary enjoyment?


Technorati Tags: DC, Food, Dining

Dessertgasm: Buzz Bakery

Buzz Bakery has been receiving a lot of press lately, so Roommate and I set out for the new dessert place on a Thursday evening.

After perusing the online menu, I knew I would have a mild panic attack when I got there. SO MANY CHOICES. Buzz is open from 8 am to midnight, so you can pick up croissant and a coffee on your way to work, snuggle up with a good book and some drinking chocolate, or mosey in for a late-night dessert-fest. The late night dessert meal is possibly my favorite of all meals, and there need to be more places satisfying my need for this. Well done, Buzz.

Anyway, I did have a mild, joy-induced spaz when I got there, but I finally just resigned myself that I would have to come back 15 more times to try everything. I settled for the cinnamon-sugar donuts with dipping sauces and Roommate got the chocolate pate with espresso whipped cream. (We shared a lovely pot of tropical green tea to wash it all down.) The donuts were loaded with cinnamon sugar goodness, had a nice crunch on the outside and were not at all greasy. The dipping sauces were creme anglaise (my favorite), bittersweet chocolate, and raspberry coulis. Roommate's chocolate pate was rich, but melted in your mouth and wasn't too heavy. It paired perfectly with the fluffy espresso whipped cream.

And because I couldn't satisfy myself with just ONE dessert, I sprung for a coconut cupcake to go. It came in an adorable chinese food container. It was good, but not as delicious as I was hoping for.

Not food-related, but the design of the place was spectacular. Big windows, bright colors, and the art on the wall was comprised of "found object" cooking utensils - like a kite made out of old cookie cutters. Lots of low tables, couches, and chairs that lent themselves well to either an intimate evening experience or for curling up with a book and a latte during the day.


Technorati Tags: Dessert, Food, Bakery

The Shins will not change your life

(Or so Bob Boilen says)

Farrah Olivia, however, will.

We managed to sneak an 8:15 Restaurant Week dinner reservation at this brand new Alexandria restaurant. Farrah is a tiny place with simple decor - one wall is eggplant-colored with sage green trees painted on it, the other two walls are full-length windows which you can gaze at the loveliness of the fast food joint across the street.

I'll start off with my few complaints- the dining tables were very small and close together. The menu for restaurant week was confusing, as a few of the items said "additional $8", as opposed to a normal RW menu that clearly list the choices for the three courses. There was no dessert course listed on the main menu, but there was a cheese course. We had a moment of worry that cheese would be replacing dessert for RW, but thankfully dessert was included, they just brought out the menu later. Phew.

Our first surprise was the bread - one slice of raisin walnut and of sourdough for each of us. None of this "and one extra for the table" crap that you so often get, and then it comes to fisticuffs over that last piece of bread. With said bread came a palette of spread choices: pumpkin butter, refried tomato spread, black pepper honey butter, and bok choy spread. The pumpkin was like pumpkin pie filling, only fresher and not as sickeningly sweet, the refried tomato was delicious, but nothing different than a sun-dried tomato spread would be. The bok choy spread was a little chalky, but not too bad. My favorite was the honey butter though - in tasting it, you first tasted the rich creamy butter with a hint of sweetness, and then the KICK of pepper and honey hit you at the end.

The second surprise was an amuse bouche! We each got a smidgen of angel hair pasta with lobster, white truffle oil and a perfect schmear of beet juice. The truffle oil gave it that amazing umami thing that truffles do, and it was the perfect appetite-whetter for what was to come.

My starter was described as a Parmesan cream with cinnamon scent. Usually, cheese soup grosses me out a bit, but I was too intrigued to pass it up. It was absolutely life-changing. First - it was served in an elegant bowl shaped like the hurricane symbol (I do love me some swanky presentation). The soup was rich and flavorful, yet light, almost as if egg whites had been folded into it, and the cinnamon swirl did a perfect job of cutting the richness of the cheese.

For my entree, I had anise-rubbed salmon served with yucca "couscous." As much as licorice isn't my favorite flavor, the amount of anise on the salmon was perfect - just enough spice to liven things up, but not sickening. The fish itself was tender, not overdone, and CREAMY. According to Washingtonian, this creaminess is courtesy of the salmon being cooked in caul fat, a technique renowned for increasing the juiciness of meat. And the faux couscous was an excellent complement to the luscious salmon - crunchy because of the yucca and nicely paired with some minced tomatoes.

For dessert, I opted for the "Spice": a wild fig & cassis cake with maple caviar. It looked a lot like tiramisu in presentation, which only increased my love for the dish. The cake was very thin, covered with at least an inch of mascarpone, and served with a teeny dish of mustard ice cream on the side. All of the flavors complemented each other wonderfully - even the mustard, which I normally dislike!

To be fair, I really love the North African/Mediterranean cooking style that Chef Morou Outtara favors. But this meal was....absolutely incredible. F'amazing, even. Sadly, Farrah Olivia is classified as a FIVE dollar sign restaurant...so I may not be back for awhile. But if any of you find a bajillion dollar bill on the street, you should go there IMMEDIATELY. If it doesn't change your life, I'll make you cupcakes.

Technorati Tags: Restaurant Week, Life-Changing Meals

Custard does a (hot) body good

If you've been living on the East coast, you've probably been sweating profusely or haven't left your apartment in the past week. The only remedy for such heat, besides more cowbell, is ice cream.

I'm kind of an ice cream snob, as I used to work at Graeter's, which has been named by USA Today and Oprah as the nation's best ice cream. (Yeah, that's right. And I was employee of the month - twice. Booyah.) For those non-purists that like to mix fourteen different kinds of candy into their vanilla bean...I scoff at you. Cold Stone just doesn't cut it when compared to hand-churned ice cream with chocolate chips the size of your face. So let's just say I have high standards when it comes to sweet things of the frozen variety, mmkay?

Tuesday, my roommate and I headed to the Dairy Godmother, a frozen custard shop in Del Ray. I had heard good things about the place from friends and food critics alike. Custard is a little bit different than ice cream - basically, it has more egg and less air. Somehow it's healthier for you than regular ice cream too! Custard as health food - whodathunk? Flavorwise, they always have vanilla & chocolate, plus a daily flavor which changes....daily. Tuesday it was "Summer Pudding." Also known as "We Wanted to be as Vague as Possible." It ended up being a mildly berry-flavored custard, pink with bits of (fresh!) berries scattered throughout. I went for a Summer Pudding hot fudge sundae, with slivered almonds, whipped cream and a cherry on top. I had forgotten how good hot fudge and ice cream are. *drools thinking about it* Phew, anyway...slivered almonds are not my favorite sundae nut - I'm more of a toasted walnut girl - but they got the job done.

Katie opted for a root beer float - perhaps because I went apoplectic when I saw the cases of Sprecher root beer (and cream soda, and orange soda, and ginger ale) lined up around the store. Once upon a time, my family and I went to Madison, Wisconsin and had some Sprecher root beer. Let's just say...my life has never been the same since ingesting that flavorful, zingy root beer. We brought two cases of it home (to Ohio) with us because it was so good. I have since hoped to find Sprecher in some of the gourmet shops I frequent, but to no avail. Until now!! YAY!!! The Dairy Godmother herself is from Wisconsin, and I'm guessing she realized that she had to spread the Sprecher glory to DC in order to produce a truly awesome root beer float. And awesome it was.

In addition, you all should check out Cookthink - thanks to metrocurean for the link - very cool foodie blog focusing on "unrefined" cooking and eating. Their manifesto makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Thanks to Flickr user mzn37 for the picture of deliciousness. Looking for food pictures is extremely hard work, as it makes you very hungry. (Look, Skip - I can use Flickr too!!)



Technorati Tags: Food, Ice Cream

I gain five pounds every weekend.

Why? BECAUSE I KEEP EATING AT NEW RESTAURANTS. Seriously, can TheGourmetro pay my gym dues? :P

ANYWAY! This weekend's been a bit of a randomness party, in terms of fooding. Yesterday, Aaron and Debbie (my usual partners in food crime) hit Minerva Indian Cuisine in Fairfax for a pretty delicious dinner. I hear mixed reviews from actual Indians, but I will say that I myself generally enjoy it. It might have a little bit to do with the gimmick, which I'll explain in just one second.

Minerva has a giant purple sign in a dingy strip mall on 29 in Fairfax, next to a snowboarding shop (snowboarding shop? WTH?). Inside, it's pretty cavernous, with what looks like an extensive buffet setup in the back. I assume it's for lunch, as I've never seen it in action during dinner hours. The menu's pretty enormous, and I could be entirely misquoting, but it appears to specialize in "Hyderabadi" cuisine, in addition to favorites like (Meat Name) Vindaloo.

Debbie and I both ordered mango lassi (mmm, smoothieeeee). Normally, I'd head straight for chai, but given the ridiculously intemperate weather, adding liquid heat seems a bit stoopid. Aaron's generally content with water at Indian restaurants...largely due to an incident at Nawab in Williamsburg in which he ordered something "AS HOT AS POSSIBLE" and uh, got it. (God, I LOOOOOVE Nawab by the way. LOVE.)

Entree-wise, I ordered Chicken Vindaloo (wasn't feeling too lamby, but I loooove Vindaloo anything) and Debs ordered Chicken something-something. It had almonds in it, and that's all I remember. Aaron ordered Guthi Vankaya, which was eggplant in an interesting, kind of peanut-y savory sauce. He gets points for adventure, but none of us liked his dish, so we ended up splitting ours. Here's where the gimmick comes in: When you order the Dinner version (as opposed to the a la carte) of any particular dish, it comes with six little side dishes, including corn chowder, mulligatawny soup, dal, and something else. Dessert, two pieces of naan, and raita are also included. Dinner orders average 12.95, and so for 13 bucks, you end up with a significant amount of food. Plenty ends up going home with you. So, Aaron ate all his side dishes and naan with my sauce. Still worked out.

Afterwards, we headed to U St, where I was hoping to get some Crunchy Feet at the previously mentioned CakeLove before hitting the Black Cat for the Depeche Mode Dance Party, but alas, no go. However, at 1:15 on the Metro, we realized we were hungry again and hit the Fairfax IHOP, which I'm sure we don't need to discuss ::foodie guilt::. My only comment is goddammit, COOK YOUR EGGS IN BUTTER. Thank you.

And then today, lunch led us (at Debbie's urging) to the inestimable Turcuisine in Herndon. So. GOOD. Very friendly and attentive service, for starters. We ordered the dolmas as a starter (rice pilaf wrapped in grape leaves, served with tzatziki and lemon)and they were SO. GOOD. Well, assuming you like them to start with...Aaron doesn't. Some people object.

Then, Adana kebabs in pita for Aaron and I, and a Kofta for Debs. I have to say, they were some of the best kebabs I've had. I've had some issues with kebabs being heavy and food-coma inducing, but these were light, and well-spiced, with some of the fluffiest pitas I've had. with two Turkish coffees sweetened to taste, lunch ran approximately $35 for three people. I highly recommend you try this restaurant if you're in the area.

Cue another break, and it was time for dinner with friends at Harry's Essential Grille in Tyson's Corner. I have to admit, I was biased towards loving this restaurant for starters, as it supports some causes near and dear to my heart: organic, local, and inexpensive. I was just waiting for it to live up to being delicious...and it did. I ordered the Basil Gazpacho and the Pointe Calamari (I'm a major sucker for fried squid bits, in all its variants). The gazpacho had excellent texture and was super-refreshing. The calamari's frying was excellent, but the cilantro aioli could have used more punch...maybe more tartness? and the marinara could have been more generously portioned and spicier. But, I have very distinct feelings on how fried food should be balanced, condiment-wise. Aaron ordered an organic beef burger, which came out slightly over-cooked, but still delicious, and served with RIDICULOUSLY good Yukon Gold steak fries. Mark ordered the rib-eye, which was also somewhat overcooked, but judging from the eye-rolling and moaning, I assume he enjoyed it. I can confirm that his garnishes were delicious - one was an ENTIRE CLOVE of roasted garlic. As a complete garlic devotee, I was very happy. Other members of our little party ordered the trout, Moroccan chicken, and two chocolate souffles.

And, as a bonus, bread to the table is a delicious sourdough laden with walnuts and other nutty bits, served PIPING hot from the oven with organic butter from a farm in Pennsylvania. It totally brought little bready bits of joy to my little treehugging-proto-ecoist heart. :P

All in all, from what I can tell, Essential has a few tiny kinks to work out, but it's VERY GOOD right now, and I think it's worth trying for all concerned. Also, their claim to "popular" prices is pretty true - dinner for Aaron and I was still only around 35-40 dollars, and we were both quite sated. Mark's rib-eye was probably the most expensive thing on the menu, and that was $26. It's a perfectly viable venue for dinner for a couple of postgrads.

Anyway, those are my food adventures for the week. Stay tuned - I'll be making excursions to Boston and Toronto for interviews in the upcoming weeks, and I'll be happily posting from both locales.





Technorati Tags: Food, Indian, Washington, DC, Organic
Turkish

Service with a...shot

I came into Creme Cafe with high expectations. Creme had been recommended to my roommate and she had been wanting to try it out for awhile, so our little group headed on over there last week. Creme is a Southern, soul food-y place in the U Street area, which as Anharchy previously explained, is quite vibrant and hipster-licious.

The five of us - the sixth was running late and joined us a bit later - arrived around 7ish and decided to eat in the "lounge," the area that seemed sort of like a waiting area with tables. The restaurant is very small - probably ten non-lounge tables against one of the walls, parallel to the bar. I really enjoyed our table (three small high-tops pulled together), as we had an excellent people-watching view and were removed from much of the kitchen and bar bustle.

So we get there, and having heard excellent things about their cocktails, we all order some fruity girly drinks. Katie Rod ordered something with Tanqueray, which they were out of. I know it's only Wednesday, but gin seems like something pretty basic to be out of. The waiter recommended another beverage, so she went with that. I had a Yellow Cab - vanilla vodka & pineapple juice. Quite delicious, and not too sweet. We did the requisite drink pass, and were all satisfied with all the different cocktails that were ordered.

Chris was a bit late, so we lingered over our drinks until he arrived - it was probably about 20 minutes until we actually ordered food. Again, they didn't have the ribs that poor Katie Rod wanted. Now Creme is the sort of small, classy place that has a very small menu. The ribs was one of maybe seven potential entrees - and what I'm guessing are a very popular one at that. So she went for the shrimp & grits, another highly recommended dish there.

So we're chatting, ordering another round of drinks....and waiting. We get the usual "your food is coming out soon!" from the waiter...but we keep waiting. After awhile, we're starting to get a little miffed. Plus, it seems like our waiter is avoiding even talking to us. FINALLY, he comes over saying there was some sort of mix-up and that our food was coming out soon. For our trouble, he brought Chris a "shot" of sambuca.

Um, what?

At the time, we were slightly amused by the gesture, but the more I've thought about this I've realized how absolutely odd it was. First of all, does anyone like sambuca? NO. Second, how does giving something to one person at our table make the rest of us any happier? Third, who does that??? Does our being a group of twenty-somethings mean that shots make everything better? And lastly, it was a GIANT shot. Props to Chris for taking it to the face.

About five minutes later, the waiter brings out some bread and (what we think was) hummus. Approximately 1.8 minutes later, our food comes out. A little late with the satiation there, server-man.

...unfortunately, they got Kelly's order wrong and had to send it back. She waited about ten more minutes before her crabcake came out, only with a "last but not least" to show for it. Not even an apology. Excuse me???

Service aside, the food was excellent. I had Mama Laura's chicken, which was tender, juicy, and served with rice and a smattering of vegetables. Some bones to deal with, but nothing too annoying. Everyone else seemed to love their food - Allison got a burger, which she asked for with cheese...which of course it didn't have when it arrived. And condiments did not come around until fifteen minutes after we were served and she was 2/3 of the way through the burger and fries.

Would I go back and give them a second chance? Surprisingly...yes. The food was delicious and different, and something that I would like the try again. Maybe on the weekends they're more prepared, and I've also heard excellent things about their brunch. But Wednesday is officially a Creme-free night from now on.



Technorati Tags: Soul Food, Service, Dining Out

Like a hot new crush.

Sooooooooooooo, last Saturday, Aaron, Debbie, and I hit up the National Building Museum to check out the Green Homes Exhibit (because I am ridiculously pro-eco-design = pretty), and in the GlideHouse they'd built in the beginning of the exhibit, there were some beautiful, beautiful things. I mean, seriously, can you have food porn without cookware/kitchenporn? I think not. After all, that's why places like Williams Sonoma exist. But I digress! For those eco-conscious foodies out there, take a look at these babies: Bambu Veneerware Plates. They have sturdier, dishwasher-safe versions for everyday use as well.

Or perhaps knives are your thing? The Schaschlik might just be what the doctor ordered (although on a funnier note, I found this while I was googling the aforementioned).

After we were done at the museum, a brisk walk past the International Spy Museum brought us to the newly-opened Cowgirl Creamery. Between the three of us, we purchased a pound of medium-aged gouda, a 1/4-lb of SUPER-aged gouda (for me! for me!), a round of Cowgirl's own Mt. Tam, (so. so. good. triple-creamy deliciousness..., and some kind of lamby-gouda-thingie that I can't remember the name of. Add some Apple Scrapple and Gouda & Guinness bread from Great Harvest, and some organic strawberries, and you have us gorging ourselves on cheese! All I needed was some beer.

The weekend previous, on a different expedition to DC, Debbie and I met up with Kimberly at CakeLove/LoveCafe for cake. What I learned from the experience: Crunchy Feet are delectable (and by that token, all tarts are to be eaten immediately as they are built on top of Crunchy Feet), Neil's Hat Trick is amazing, and yes, if you are a single girl buying $30 dollars worth of pastry, you will get a funny look from the cashier. While the hype for CakeLove is to a certain extent accurate (owner Warren Brown now has his own show on Food Network - Sugar Rush), watch out for floods of hipsters patronizing either portion of the establishment. They're there, and you can tell by how they're dressed. I mean, it is on U Street after all...

So, with many linkages and scattered foodfare, I bid you adieu until the next time I gorge myself and feel like you should know about it!

P.S. Joanie, so, this Cheesetique gig...:P

Food, Cheese, Carbohydrates, Gorging