Happy Birthday to Us!

Last Saturday, BJ and I celebrated our birthday by spending the whole day together being DC tourists.  Yes, we have the same birthday.

The first stop was Art and Soul for lunch, which is owned by the fabulous Art Smith.  We are big fans of Art, especially after watching him on Top Chef Masters.  Art tweeted that he was going to be in town that day, so we quickly made a reservation.  We arrived at noon, hungry for chicken and waffles!  As it turned out, Art wasn't there yet, so I didn't get to be a fangirl, but we know he was there in spirit.  We shared the pimento cheese and crackers to start, which was a little spicy and a lot delicious. 

We also shared the homemade biscuits and seasonal preserves, which tasted to be blackberry and lemon.  Very flavorful, though I would have appreciated some butter on the side as well.  Each table was also given cinnamon raisin biscuits with icing and they were excellent.  Not too sweet and the right balance of icing and raisins.  I ordered the chicken and waffles and it came dressed with a chicken maple gravy and a lot of roasted peppers of all colors.  The waffle was just a vehicle for the amazing chicken.  I have never tasted breading that good or that crispy.  It was perfect and just what I wanted.  I'm not necessarily a sauce girl, so I would have preferred the gravy on the side, but it had nice flavor and was a good compliment.  BJ had shrimp and grits, which he ate so fast I didn't have a chance to even see what it looked like.  I guess it was good!

Our next stop was the E Street Cinema to see The Master.  I hadn't been to E Street in a long long time and forgot how great it was.  They show indie/artsy films and sell alcohol!  That's a good evening right there.  The movie was good, but definitely something you'd study in film class.  Joaquin Phoenix needs to win some kind of award for his performance.

We moved on to Taste of DC, which I am sad to admit I don't have much to say about.  It was super crowded and the lines were incredibly long, even at 4:30 pm.  I suppose if I was inclined to stay all day and walk around with a beer, it would have been more fun, but I wasn't and it wasn't.

Since we didn't get much to eat there, we decided to hit up 2 Amy's for dinner.  I LOVE this place.  They have the best margarita pizza ever and the atmosphere is always fun.  Even though we didn't not have our little one with us, I am happy to say they are extremely kid friendly.  Our pizzas and suppli telefono were perfect as always.

Last stop was Washington DC Ghost Tours.  We are big fans of these kinds of things, having been on similar tours in Ireland and Scotland (and BJ claims he saw a ghost, but I'm still skeptical).  We ended up joining our tour at the last minute, which was very easy, and off we went.  I was so disappointed.  The tour guide makes or breaks the experience and our guide was pitiful.  Pitiful!  Every other word out of her mouth was "ummm" and she just did a poor job of actually telling each study.  We overheard another tour going on at the same time and seriously considered joining up with them, as they guy seemed to be an excellent storyteller.  Alas, we stayed with our guide and ended up leaving about 30 minutes early because we just could not take it anymore.  We still had fun though!

Despite the hiccup there at the end, we had a really great day and were reminded of all the awesome things we have to do in our own backyard!

The Pretzel Bakery

I spent a recent Saturday morning with my friend and her son, as well as The Luce.  We strolled around Eastern Market for a while, which is always fun, and then took a longer walk down to the newly opened Pretzel Bakery.  I'd seen a couple articles about it joining the neighborhood the previous week and knew I had to try it.  It's roughly 9 blocks or so from Eastern Market, so its that's your starting place, be prepared.  It was a very nice walk though and we easily found the shop, which is really just a cute walk-up window across from an elementary school. 

We waited in line for a bit, as we arrived just as the window opened at 11 am.  The prices were reasonable, though they only take cash.  Maybe that will change in the future.  We ordered and then waited a bit longer for the pretzels to come out of the oven.  It was totally worth the wait!  These were the best pretzels I have ever had!  Warm, well salted, great flavor - I could have eaten the whole bag of 3.  I think this will be a stop for me every time I'm in that part of town.  Highly recommended!!

Cakes by Happy Eatery

At the DC Metro Cooking and Entertaining Show, my dad and I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of Cakes by Happy Eatery, which has locations in Manassas, Va and Centreville, Va.  It started from the dessert menu at a traditional Chinese restaurant and has grown into a highly successful business on its own.  We were treated to a sample and explanation of all the varieties she had with her at the show, as well as lively conversation. 

We sampled traditional vanilla vanilla, gluten free vanilla, red velvet, chocolate vanilla, vegan chocolate and vanilla, and sugar free vanilla.  All were solid, though the best by far was the gluten free vanilla, which was made with a combination of rice and potato flour.  It had a great flavor and the whipped cream frosting was a nice pairing.  I really enjoyed hearing how the shop tries very hard to perfect their recipes, in particular the specialty ones.  For example, they have experimented with both splenda and stevia for the sugar free recipes.  Lots of bakeries are now offering a gluten free or a vegan cupcake, but this is the first one I've seen that has gluten free, sugar free, and vegan.  And, it seems they're willing to try to make a recipe with any kind of special exception you might have.  I felt the personalization was really great here and worth checking out if you or any of your loved ones have special dietary needs. 

The reviews on Yelp also rave about the items in their cafe, so next time we're put that direction, I think a stop in for a bbq pork bun is in order!

DC Metro Cooking and Entertaining Show 2011

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the DC Metro Cooking and Entertaining show with my dad.  As we're both bloggers, we had registered ahead of time as "media" and we were given snazzy media badges and best of all, we got to attend at no charge.  Thank you Metro Cooking!  I was very excited to attend, as many of our favorite celebrity and local chefs were giving lectures and demonstrations.  The show was at the very large DC convention center and thousands of people were milling about, checking out the hundreds of vendors, tasting delicious food, and learning new recipes from the presentations.  Here's what we did:

Saw Giada De Laurentis make lamb bruscetta on the big stage.  She was a tiny little thing, but very warm and gracious and invited audience members on stage to cook with her.  While they did most of the cooking, she answered audience questions.  The best part was when a 4 year old girl asked her what she liked to cook with her daughter and then asked for a hug, which she got.

We saw DC legend Michel Richard prepare an orange juice soaked sponge cake.  He was HILARIOUS.  Watching him cook made me want to go to Citronelle even more.  Someone needs to give this man a show on tv.  The cake was great and definitely something a home cook could prepare easily.  I also really liked that they had high school and college kids from local culinary programs passing out the samples - good experience for them!

 

After that we went to the National Beef Cook-off stage where  we saw Mary Beth Albright, a food writer and finalist (and my personal favorite) for the last season of the Next Food Network Star.  She was preparing a recipe from the cook-off's winners' cookbook, which everyone in the audience received.  Mary Beth was exactly as she is on tv, funny and friendly, and I was happy to see her in person.  

We then went right over to the cook-off's booth, where they had prepared samples, big ones!, of all the winning beef recipes.  

I actually went through the line twice so I could taste different recipes.  I tried the big winner, which was Asian flavored skirt steak, a fiesta beef and rice, modern strogonoff and a grilled enchilada.  The Asian steak was the best by far, so it was easy to see why it won the cook-off.  

We then went to the wine tasting area, where my dad discovered a new favorite that apparently retails for just $5.50.  I wasn't really impressed with the rest though.

We then spent the rest of the time wandering the vendors and sampling their wares.  There were literally hundred of booths with oils, vinegars, cookies, cheeses, soup, bbq sauces, hot sauces, you name it, it was there.  I keep trying to find someone that has balsamic vinegar that is on par with the one we got in Connecticut over the summer, but nothing measured up.  The best thing I tried all day were a series of sauces/dip from Maison Le Grand.  The four nut pesto was amazing.  Can't wait to try it on pasta.  We also got an excellent cupcake tasting from Cakes by Happy Eatery.

On our way out, we stuck our head in the Paula Deen presentation.  I got to hear the accent in person!  I love Paula, but I didn't need to watch her from the back of a crowded audience and we were tired from walking around all day.  

It was a really fun day and the company does a really great job of organizing the event and making sure everyone is happy.  I'd definitely recommend going next year!

Bobby's Burger Palace

August 27 was a momentous day around here.  First, we got hit with a hurricane, which almost never happens in the DC area.  Second, BJ and I attended not one, but 2 weddings while said hurricane was occurring.  And third, we checked out the newest celebrity chef restaurant, Bobby Flay's Bobby's Burger Palace.  We love Bobby Flay.  I didn't used to be a fan, but he's grown on me and now he's one of our favorites.  We appreciate that he doesn't take himself too seriously AND that her recently appeared on the final season of Entourage.

We had some time to kill between weddings, so we used it wisely and went to check our Mr. Flay's newest franchise.  It is located on K Street, which we shuffled along in the pouring rain and gusting winds to get to the front door.  Here is what greets you when you go in:

We knew from looking at the website ahead of time that the specialty is the Crunch Burger, which just means adding potato chips on top.  You can "crunchify" any of the other burgers.  We ordered one regular cheese burger crunchified and one Dallas burger also with the crunch.  We also got fries and a coconut shake.  The restaurant itself is pretty neat looking, with a curvy bar area and then normal table, everything a loud yellow and orange.  Being that it was the middle of a natural disaster, the place was fairly empty and we didn't wait long for our food. 

My burger was pretty good.  I think I'd give it about a 7/10.  It was cooked more well-done that I like (even though you can choose how it is cooked when you order) but the flavor was good.  The potato chips on top didn't add anything in my opinion.  BJ felt the same about his burger.  We did enjoy the fries a lot and the milkshake was fantastic - lots of real coconut flavor and pieces of coconut.  All in all, a solid experience, but there are a couple of other places in the area we'd go to first if making a choice.  We're not often in the K St. area, so I'm not sure when we'll be back, but I'd recommend it to anyone who works near there and needs a quick lunch.

Date Night in DC

BJ and I had an opportunity to have a mid-week date night this past Wednesday, thanks to Goldstar for cheap tickets, an unused giftcard, and willing grandparents for babysitting.  We purchased heavily discounted theatre tickets to see Oklahoma! and made a reservation at a place we'd been dying to try - America Eats Tavern.  This is the José Andrés pop-up restaurant in the old Cafe Atlantico space.  We've been a José fan for a long time and thought the combination of food and history was intriguing. 

We tried:

- fried chicken with blueberry ketchup:  great crust, but under-seasoned chicken.  The ketchup was good though.

- vermicelli prepared like pudding:  an old-fashioned mac and cheese.  Very delicate cheese flavor.  I could've eaten a whole plate of this.  The sauteed mushrooms on the side were amazing.

- crab cakes w/ pickled watermelon salad:  BJ said they were the best crab cakes he's ever had.  The salad was nice as well, a good combination of flavors.

- bbq shortrib with succotash:  this normally comes with cole slaw but I asked for a substitution.  The succotash was delish, very creamy and fresh tasting.  I really wanted to like the short rib, it had such good reviews, but it was incredibly salty and spicy.  Maybe the chef was having an off day.  It was cooked beautifully though.

- Kentucky burgoo: a stew of lamb, rabbit and squab  BJ liked it, was glad he ordered it, but wouldn't get it again.  He did say he'd eat rabbit again though. 

- strawberry shortcake:  a light shortcake and fresh berries, some even filled with strawberry gel.  Good, but not outstanding.

- pineapple upside-down cake:  this was awesome.  A light cake willed with warm pineapple sauce and fresh whipped cream.  Smooth and sweet.

So, maybe 3.5 stars out of 5.  We liked it and the overall experience was good.

Oklahoma! at Arena Stage was fanastic.  The cast was amazingly talented and they really brought out the humor in the script.  Definitely worth staying out too late on a school night!

Buzz Bakery - Arlington, Va

A couple weeks ago we went to a friend's house for a bbq and since we couldn't go empty-handed, we picked up some cupcakes.  I remembered that Buzz Bakery had just opened a new location in Arlington, their first being in Alexandria, so we stopped by.  The choices were very overwhelming.  Everything was decorated so beautifully and I knew from previous experience that they would all taste good, so I got a half dozen based on the prettiness. 

Because we have a baby and she turns into a pumpkin as the appointed hour, we did not get to stay and taste all the flavors, or hear what others thought of them.  I did however, sample the one shown on the bottom right which was called "The Katy Perry."  Any cupcake with a glittery cherry on top is for me.  It was vanilla cake with a cherry filling and cherry icing.  It was fantastic.  Truly one of my favorite fruit-flavored cupcakes.  Most places do not get fruit right, but Buzz does.  Really awesome!  We'll certainly be back to try more.

DC Food Truck Extravaganza

We recently had an opportunity to spend a day together sans baby, which all of you parents out there know is a rare and special thing.  We love The Luce but sometimes we need a break too!  So when BJ said "What do you want to do today?"  I replied "Go hunt down food trucks of course!"  For months, I've been wanting to check out the food truck scene in the city.  It has blown up over the last year and since we had fun chasing the Wafels & Dinges truck in NYC last year, I thought it would be fun to see what the local guys have to offer.  We checked out their various Twitter feeds and found a great, condensed list of locations that pointed us towards L'Enfant Plaza and Farragut Square. 

At Farragut, we found 3 trucks for our sampling pleasure.

1.  Eat Wonky - known for being one of two locations to get poutine in the city.  What is poutine, you ask? Here is a website that explains:  http://www.montrealpoutine.com/

^{The fries are hand-cut every morning before they get on the truck and the gravy base is imported from Canada.  The cheese curds were delish and the whole thing was just very well done, in our humble opinions.  Eat Wonky also had the nicest service - friendly owner, lollipops for the kids, he got off the truck to hand us our food.  All in all, 10/10.}

 

2.  Sol Mexican - mostly tacos and burritos.  We had 3 carnitas tacos with the works and felt they really were not worth the calories.  Chipotle is better.  Mine was way too salty and the taste was just "meh."  I didn't even finish my taco.  The servers were also confused and not very friendly.  2/10.

3.  Dangerously Delicious Pies - just like it says, they serve pies, both sweet and savory.  Some prior research told us the SMOG pie was a specialty - steak, mushrooms, onions and gruyere.  We gave it a try and it was wonderful.  Lots of filling, buttery crust, could have used a pinch more salt though.  The green hot sauce served on the side was also excellent.  I would definitely try this one again.  The owner was not talkative, but explained the sauces and was quick.  9/10.

We then moved locations to L'Enfant Plaza and found a couple more trucks to sample.

4.  Curbside Cupcakes - this one had the longest line.  The cupcakes are on the small side for the price.  We got a vanilla vanilla, duh, and a "black Irish Cream" which was dark chocolate with an Irish cream frosting.  I loved that one, it was very decadent, but BJ said the vanilla was like from a grocery store.  8/10 and 3/10 respectively.

5.  El Floridano - this truck serves regional sandwiches.  BJ bought a Cuban and it was decent.  The pork slices were flavorful and the sandwch was a nice size for the price.  It was good, but I personally wouldn't buy it again.  6/10.

6.  DC Empanadas - I really enjoyed this one.  I knew they had a long, rotating menu and I was pleased to see that the 3 flavors they were offering were ones I knew I'd enjoy.  We sampled one of each:  a ropa viejo, a buffalo chicken (named the Badass!) and a spinach & feta.  They were all really great, well seasoned, nice size.  The service was also excellent.  The owner came out and told a couple people behind us that they were about to sell-out, as a courtesy in case they wanted to go elsewhere.  She also offered free drinks since we waited so long, so we enjoyed our free ginger ale as well.  9/10.

In the end, we spent about 3 hours on our adventure and had a thoroughly excellent time.  I think that part of the fun of food trucks is the atmosphere and whimsy.  We are blessed to live near a city that has a thriving and eclectic food scene and the trucks are just a small part of that.  I am looking forward to doing this again, with all new trucks to sample from!  The day as a whole - 10/10.

Sprinkles Cupcakes

When a new cupcake place opens in town, you can bet we're going to be one of the first in line.  Sprinkles opened in Georgetown recently and we decided to check it out today.  It is right on M Street, not too far from another famous DC cupcake joint.  The Luce joined us and we got in line, which was surprisingly short for a brand new store.  We ordered very quickly, paid and were on our way.

The Store:  Very small, has 2 tables in the windows.  The cupcakes for the day are all on display and well-labeled.  The line to order and the line to pay are separate and it was a little confusing, but it all worked out okay.  Lots of t-shirts and other memorabelia in a case by the cash register.  The menu is on the wall behind the counter.


Selection:  They had 15 or so flavors today and we were able to choose several we thought we'd like.  They are not super-creative but have all the ones you'd expect and a few that are unique.  Nothing was sold out at 1 pm.

Service:  Everyone was very friendly and the girl who took our order even gave the Luce a sticker to wear.

We ordered 6 flavors (and this is where BJ takes over.....you've been warned) -

Vanilla Vanilla: The standards are high, very high. This is the truest test for all bakeries and cupcakeries. It is the standard by which all cupcakes are measured. BJ's love for this cupcake is comparable to that of the father's love for the "leg lamp" in the movie A Christmas Story.  The icing was creamy and perfect. The cake was really good, not dry by any means, but not as moist as we like. But, overall a winner in our book (Best Buns Vanilla Vanilla, you retained your crown yet again). 8 out of 10.

Cinnamon Sugar:  A good moist spiced cake, but no icing! That's right, no icing! It was a solid treat, but how is a cupcake a cupcake without icing? Instead, it was topped with cinnamon sugar. Had there been some of their amazing vanilla icing on it, with the cinnamon sugar on top of that...it would have been ridiculous. Unfortunately, it was closer to a coffee cake, not a cupcake. 5 out of 10.


Chocolate Marshmallow:  Very nice, moist dark chocolate cake, filled with cream, and chocolate ganache on top.  I think the filling was meant to be marshmallow flavored but it just tasted like the inside of a Twinkie. It was good, but in the end, the chocolate cupcake and I were a little bit let down. 6 out of 10.

Red Velvet:  Classic red velvet with cream cheese icing.  The icing was exceptional - not too overpoweringly cheesy like some can be. If you want a really good red velvet cupcake, this is the place to go. 7 out of 10.


Peanut Butter Chocolate: The first bite was good... the second bite was better...the third bite...well, it felt like Mike Tyson punched me in the mouth. It was a knockout. By the time I finished the cupcake I was nearly in a food coma, seeing stars of peanut butter and chocolate. I feel in love with this cupcake. It may have not have been love at first sight, but I was wooed by it's peanut buttery chocolaty goodness by the end. 8.5 out of 10.

Irish Chocolate: Wasn't exactly sure what to expect with this one. With a name like that I knew chocolate was involved, but what else? Cupcakeries tend to get a bit carried away at times...could this have been one of those moments? A combination of chocolate and dare I say, corned beef? Chocolate and Guinness? Chocolate and potatoes? Chocolate and Bailey's? Oh, the possibilities are endless!!! It turned out to be Bailey's...it is a dangerous combination of a Bailey's cream cheese frosting on a Belgian dark chocolate cupcake.  This was a masterpiece, the United Nations of Cupcakes, minus the politics.  9 out of 10.

So, all in all, we were pretty pleased with our trip.  Sprinkles is a really great shop, definitely one of the better ones in the DC area and tons better than their competitor with a reality show down the street who shall remain nameless.  Two thumbs up!