BCD News Flash and The Day the Mussel Won

by EP

Big news on the BCD home front: I moved!  Not too far away, but away from Baltimore, nonetheless.  I now live in sunny Silver Spring, Maryland, right on the border with DC.  So, this blog will continue in full-force (meaning we'll continue our haphazard, slacker-esque format of blogging when we feel like it), but I'll be writing about my adventures dining in DC restaurants.  Have no fear, the cooking will continue in both of our kitchens (in fact, I am making a no-knead bread right now!), and we'll be gearing up for some parties soon now that it's fall, our favorite season to entertain.  I really hope we can make some apple cider donuts this year...it's my dream!

New kitchen!

I broke my French press while I was packing so the morning after the move, I needed coffee, badly.  Thanks to Yelp I found Zed's Cafe, which was close and it opened at 8am, so I took a 5 min stroll down Georgia Avenue and there it was!  I enjoyed an the amazing cappuccino and a decent cinnamon muffin, and read Bon Appetit magazine.  A great way to kick off a day of unpacking!

In addition to moving my home, I also moved to a different office (same job though).  The new office is a few blocks from Union Station.  There are so many food trucks right outside the building every day, I can't even process it.

To welcome me to the office, a colleague and friend brought me to  Bistro Bis (in the Hotel George, a Kimpton Hotel) for lunch.  I had been there before but it was years ago, and I was excited to try it again.  For our first course, Jim had the beet salad with boursin, orange surpremes, and walnuts, and I had the mussels.  The beets were perfectly cooked and a light starter.  The mussels had a tomato-y sauce and fennel, but the anise flavor was very subtle so I did not object.

So there we were, having a fancy lunch in our business attire, when suddenly the mussel I was eating rebelled against me and comically sprung tomato sauce all over my face.  I suppose it's only fair - I've probably eaten hundreds of his brethren over the years.  Eye for an eye [if mussels had eyes].


For our second course, Jim got the special, a lamb ravioli, and I got the "chicken salad."  The ravioli were al dente and the filling was a flavorful shredded lamb.

As for my main, this was no regular chicken salad.  Jim recommended it and now I am even more confident in his palate.  It was a chicken breast stuffed with a light, almost eggy filling, and a truffle sauce, accompanied by a large yet elegant salad featuring artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and bits of lobster.

The chicken was perfectly cooked, and I struggled not to lick the plate at the end.  But, I had already embarrassed myself (well, technically the mussel embarrassed me) once, and that was enough for one day.

More DC eats coming right up!

Cheers,
EP