A Rose By Any Other Name

by EP

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Rose's Luxury in the Eastern Market/Barracks Row neighborhood. This place is on every top restaurant list and is the talk of the town (at least, according to my twitter feed). I had been wanting to go but in the back of my mind was skeptical - is this place really that amazing? I'm pretty snobby - maybe this place isn't all it's cracked up to be? Spoiler alert: IT IS.

During the polar vortex that brought temperatures in the area down to single digits (not to mention the wind chills), best buddies Mark and Craig and I headed down to Southeast DC. Normally the wait time is about 2 hours at Rose's, even if you get there right when they open at 5:30. Yeesh. Mark got there at 5:40 and by some polar vortex miracle, we were seated at 6:10. I was excited, to say the least. There may have been applause when we were seated. Maybe.

Pizza Hunter: DC Edition

by EP

Pizza: possibly the world's most perfect food. Good for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner. Be honest - you know cold pizza cures what ails you.

Pizza Pizza!

I've lived in DC for nine months now and I've spent that time on the hunt for good pizza. It's kind of a cliche amongst DC food-lovers that there's "no good pizza in this town," but I'm happy to report that I've found a few solid spots in my local travels. Below I've outlined both the hits and the misses, and like Xani did years ago with her burger rating scale, I've given the places below a rating from 1 to 10 slices, 10 being the best.

Citrus Celebrations

by EP

It's winter. Dreariness abounds. We are caught between the sparkly, gluttonous holiday season and the sun-shiny frolick-inducing springtime. The glimmer of hope in this time is the fruit of the "season": citrus. People always give me funny looks when I say grapefruits are in season right now, but it's true! In the US, citrus from Florida or California is as "local" as it's gonna get in February. And lucky for us, we LOVE citrus. Grapefruit is so hot right now, and its French name (pamplemousse) is possibly the most fun word to say - ever.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

by EP

Hanukkah is over and Christmas is upon us, but before I head up to Plympton, Mass. to celebrate Christmas with Xani and Dave and Dave's family (and eat, and drink, and eat), I wanted to share two Hanukkah meals that I'll be sure to remember for years to come:

DGS Delicatessen: During Hanukkah, I was able to visit a new restaurant in Dupont Circle called DGS Delicatessen.  I heard about its recent opening via Twitter (of course) and after one look at the menu, I knew I had to go.  The menu featured old-school Jewish goodies like kasha varniskas, chopped liver, flanken, kreplach, and knishes, but taken to a unique and/or classed-up level.  For example, the knishes are made with lamb merguez and lentils; the kreplach are filled with bacalao (salt cod); and the chopped liver is topped with gribenes (fried chicken skin leftover from rendering chicken fat - schmaltz!*)).

A Warm Welcome to DC at Graffiato

by EP

Last week, to welcome me to DC, my wonderful friends Mark and Craig (you might remember them from the amazing trip to Chicago last winter to celebrate Craig's birthday) took me out to dinner.  We went to a restaurant I'd be hearing about through the DC bloggers for years it seems: Graffiato.  Graffiato is owned by Mike Isabella, of Top Chef fame, and I had heard absolutely wonderful things about it and was pumped to finally go for myself.

I met Mark, Craig, and Craig's aunt Jeannie in the bar area while we waited for a table.  Of course, we enjoyed some bubbly while we waited - what kind of fool waits without a cocktail in hand?!  After a brief wait, the hostess lead us to our table (and even took our drinks for us so we wouldn't spill as we walked up the kinda-steep staircase). 

Our waiter was adorable and wonderful, and he had been Mark and Craig's waiter before in the past -- he even remembered that Mark had a nut allergy!  He was friendly enough to the ladies at the table, but truth be told his energy and enthusiasm were geared towards the gentlemen.  This is when we realized he was very likely gay and was totally flirting with Mark.  No matter, we used it to our advantage and had a great time and great service.

Mark and Jeannie, ready to eat!

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!

Moules Frites Worth the Wait

by EP

Some sad news to share: my bestie, Rachel, who readers might remember was my companion (and translator) in Paris last spring, is moving back to her hometown of San Francisco :(  I know what you're thinking: "EP, this is the perfect excuse to visit and eat lots of SF treats!"  I hear your cry.  I realize that this is the case, and don't you worry, I will be heading out to CA in a few months for a visit!  But until then, my best friend will be across the country instead of an hour's drive away in DC, and I am sad potatoes over it.

Due to her impending departure, we have been making an extra effort to hang out more and do things we've always said we were going to do but never actually did.  For instance, a few weekends ago, we visited the DC Brau brewery. This is the only brewery in the District and we had a great time touring and trying free samples of their hoppy brews.  I highly recommend it as a daytime activity with some fun hipster-watching, and a chance to support a local business.

Celebrations at Brasserie Beck

by Erin



At the beginning of the summer I got together with my college friends in DC to celebrate my graduation and BFF Rachel's birthday. I got to pick the restaurant (I have such cooperative friends!) and I had one goal in mind: mussels. I was on the hunt for the best mussels in DC. After researching on Chowhound and getting the scoop from my DC peeps, we decided on Brasserie Beck, a Belgian brasserie on K Street with supposedly some of the best moules frites (mussels and fries) in the district.




Rachel and I arrived at the restaurant before the others so we had a chance to scope out the space, which was bright and airy - very tall ceilings and a cool bar, if I recall correctly (remember: I was there 3 months ago!). They have a ridiculously large selection of Belgian beers and the bartenders and waitstaff are all very knowledgeable about the beers and which beers go with which foods. I was very impressed!

The rest of our party arrived and we were seated in an area that was semi-closed off and was much quieter than the rest of the dining area - which I LOVED because everyone could hear each other! The rest of the dining area had the high ceilings I mentioned and therefore it was pretty loud and echo-y, so I was glad we were in the semi-separate room so we could all catch up more easily.

We started the evening off with - of course - champagne! What celebration is complete without a little bubbly?



Then we ordered a few starters, including a Napoleon of Vine Ripe Tomato with goat cheese and scallion balsamic dressing and a delicious crisp piece of bacon, and a dozen assorted oysters of all different shapes and sizes, with traditional accoutrements (lemon, cocktail sauce, mignonette sauce).



Napoleon of Tomato (mysteriously missing the bacon...someone must have snatched it!)





The Napoleon of Tomato was really good and I liked that they used goat cheese instead of the traditional fresh mozzarella - an interesting and yummy twist on a classic. The oysters were, of course, delicious and fresh. There were 3-4 different kinds so you could really compare and contrast the sizes and saltiness of each - awesome.

The most interesting starter was one of the specials of the day: a house-made duck sausage with dried fruit, served atop sauteed fennel (I think) with a delicious sauce - we ordered two of these for the table since almost everyone wanted to try it!



We also ordered some of their excellent frites as a starter, but our waiter forgot about them until after the first course, so to make up for it, he brought us two orders! He was so good to us :) The frites were served with a trio of mayonnaises: plain, curry, and chipotle. The fries were hot and crispy, freshly made, and so delicious. The mayonnaises were excellent as well and we could not stop eating them!



Then onto the mains: I, of course, wanted mussels. They had several preparations that day, and I chose the mussels cooked with chorizo and fennel. Others got mussels as well (a different preparation with roasted whole cherry tomatoes, basil, and rocket), and some of the others got fish dishes.



My mussels with chorizo and fennel

Everyone reported that their dishes were awesome, and I concurred! The mussels were so flavorful and very hearty with the braised fennel and spicy and fatty chorizo. The portion was HUGE and I could only eat about 1/3 of my little mussel friends - note to self: share next time! (My one criticism of the mussels was that they do a table-side, simultaneous "reveal" of the mussels where waiters remove the lid on the pan in which they are served. During this "show," some of the hot water from the lid burned my arm! Granted, I'm used to slight burns from all my cooking experiences, but it was still unpleasant and I would prefer that they just take the lid off in the kitchen...) Those of us who got the mussels got more frites with our meal, which we shared with the table - they were awesome, as discussed above.

After dinner, our waiter (who was sweet on Rachel) insisted that we get dessert and brought us his two favorite desserts, in addition to a taste of a delicious sweet Belgian beer.





Cheers to Rachel's birthday and my graduation!

The desserts were a Gateau of Chocolate and a Pear Tarte Tatin with creme fraiche ice cream - YUM. These were excellent and Rachel got a nice surprise candle to blow out! My favorite was definitely the tarte tatin - reminded me of when we made it ourselves (with apples) for Thanksgiving last year.





We had lots of Belgian beers along with our meal, and our waiter was very helpful in helping us pick appropriate ones. While I can't remember what I had (helpful, I know), I do recall them being really good and also that each beer came with a special glass - we were highly entertained by this.

I would most definitely go back to Brasserie Beck for more mussels, more beer, and more fries. I had an amazing time with my friends - we were so rowdy! - and I thank them so much for taking me out to celebrate! I can't wait to do it again soon.





Happy mussels and fries -

EP

Reunion with My DC A-List

by Erin

Last weekend, I managed to extract myself from my local pub and the amazing basketball that's been on so I could head down to DC to see some of my closest friends from college. Amazingly, we hadn't seen each other since Christmas so a visit was long overdue.

Picture #4591 of us...what's another one in the album?

I met up with my BFF Rachel in Dupont Circle and after making a brief appearance at one happy hour, we met up with Mark and Craig at a nearby Korean place for more drinks. We hung out with a few of their friends and continued the drinking (mmm, Sapporo), and suddenly it was 9:00! We were all hungry and decided to get some Thai food at Regent Thai on 18th Street.


Regent Thai had a cool vibe, dark and hip, but not obnoxious. The restaurant was pretty hoppin' but thankfully we didn't have to wait and we were seated right away.

We ordered more cocktails (though I abstained since I was going to make the drive back to Charm City later in the evening), and Craig got some Thai Iced Tea which was so delicoius! I had never had it before but it was sweet and refreshing - it's on the must-have list for next time.

Craig LOVES the iced tea

As for the food, I will fully admit to being a bit bossy in the choice of appetizers since there are a handful of things I LOVE to get when I have Thai, and I wanted everyone to enjoy them with me! We ordered the green papaya salad, a bowl of tom kha gai, and curry puffs.

Xani introduced me to green papaya salad (I believe the first time I had it was when we risked life and limb for Thai in Baltimore), and now it is one of my most favorite Thai dishes to get. It's made with green papaya (duh) cut into long strands, peanuts, spicy chili sauce, other veggies, and sometimes is served with cold shrimp (but not this time). It was a spicy and refreshing start to the meal.

Shocking, a dimly lit picture on this blog?

The curry puffs were deliciously deep-fried but served with a surprisingly sweet sauce with fresh veggies floating in it - very different and very good.

Then there was the tom kha gai, a classic Thai soup that is spicy, creamy, and surprisingly sour. It is a beautiful and totally unique flavor combo that gets me every time! It's made with coconut milk, veggies, sometimes chicken or tofu, and then I think lime juice and/or fish sauce are the sour components? Delish.

For my entree, I went for the standard Pad Thai with tofu since it is one of my faves. I know, I know, sooo trite, but what can I say? I love it! Craig also got Pad Thai, but with chicken; Mark got the Pad See Ew (wide noodles in a sweet Thai soy sauce); and Rachel got Larb Kai (salad of ground chicken, lime juice, herbs and veggies).

Larb Kai

Pad See Ew

Everyone's dishes were excellent. My dish was sweet and salty, with a great myriad of textures from the noodles, peanuts, veggies, and crispy/soft tofu. Pad Thai is definitely a comfort food to me and it was great to enjoy it with such great friends.

Pad Thai

Rachel and I parted ways with Craig and Mark and ended up in an Irish pub -- where we watched basketball! B-ball is hard to escape this time of year, and I'm not complaining! Gotta give a shout-out to my Terps for (a) making it into the tournament in the first place, and (b) making it to the second round!

It was great to see my A-list crew in DC, and I hope to see them again soon! Love you guys!

Cheers,
EP

ps. Stay tuned for many more posts in the pipeline about recent home cooking, Xani's most recent trip to Chicago (including a very special repeat appearance of the best cupcake of her life), and a wee announcement about donuts.

Oyster Riot 2008

by Erin




Last month, the BCD family attended the infamous Oyster Riot at the Old Ebbitt Grill in DC. Xani and BCD Dad had been a handful of times before, but since I just sort of started to like oysters, I hadn't had an interest until this year. We decided it would be fun for the whole family to go! You know what they say: the family that slurps oysters together...


Before we could go to the Riot, we had to of course get tickets. Tickets go on sale the Tuesday after Labor Day for this November event, and they sell out within minutes! Mom and I were separately calling and trying to get tickets online, and thankfully Mom got through and snagged us four tickets. By the time I got through on the phone, 8 minutes after the tickets went on sale, they were sold out!

We arrived in DC a few hours before the Riot and checked into a hotel - we figured it would not be wise to drive back to Baltimore (or Blackacre!) after hours of wine and oysters.

We got all gussied up and headed over to the restaurant. Actually, the event was not in the restaurant itself; instead it was held in an atrium next to the restaurant, which could hold the approximately 1,000 guests (per night). The Riot had 21 kinds of oysters, 10 kinds of wine (winners of the Old Ebbitt Grill International Wines for Oysters Competition), cheese and cracker tables, beer, and 4-5 passed hors d'oeuvres. Yum!

There were also the tables of accoutrements for the oysters: cocktail sauce, lemon, hot sauce, mignonette sauce, oyster crackers, etc., with the added bonus of ice sculptures!




It was so interesting to taste all the different oysters and be able to compare them to each other. Some were super salty, while others were milder. They varied in size and shape, but all were delicious. The wines were also wonderful - Xani and I obviously frequented the sparkling wine station the most.






It was pretty amazing watching the approximately 50 gentlemen shucking oysters ALL NIGHT. They were great sports; they even let me take a picture with them!











The passed hors d'oeuvres were very delicious and included devils on horseback (oysters wrapped in bacon), fried oysters, mini oyster po' boys, Oysters Rockefeller, and perhaps more but I've forgotten by now. I do recall that they had mini chocolate-covered ice cream bars for dessert. Aw yeah.

We mixed and mingled and hung out with the BCD parents and it was a great time. We'll be back next year for sure - if we can get tickets!





Happy oyster slurping,

EP

ps. You can see in the picture below that the logo of the Riot includes a beautiful, pinup-y mermaid, and a walrus.




This got us thinking about that weird scene in Alice in Wonderland where the walrus makes friends with all oysters, but then eats them? We looked it up (thanks Internet!) and found it is from a Lewis Carroll poem called "The Walrus and the Carpenter." A brief exerpt:

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"
The Walrus did beseech.
"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each."

The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head--
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat--
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.

DC Restaurant Week: Dining at Dino

by Erin

A few weeks ago, I went down to DC to participate in DC Restaurant Week with my dear friend Rachel. Now, I did not participate in Baltimore's RW this summer because I have not had the best experiences when I go out for RW. Yes, it's a great deal, and yes, it's an excuse to try restaurants you might not otherwise try. But for me, the limitations on the menu always make me feel like I've got my hands tied and I can't try what I want to try. In turn, I feel like I am not really experiencing what the restaurant has to offer on any other week of the year.

Knowing this philosophy of mine, Rachel picked out a restaurant in Cleveland Park called Dino, which boasts itself as having its full menu available for RW! Huzzah! Not only do we get the great deal ($35.08 for three courses), but we get the run of the place! Er, I mean, the menu.

I was very excited to see Rachel and try Dino's Italian fare, which Rachel highly recommended. We arrived and were seated in the sunny dining room overlooking the hustle and bustle of Connecticut Avenue. (I happened to be facing out to the street, and I managed to spot THREE different people I knew walking by! I don't even LIVE there and I'm people who know people.)

Salt and pepper grinders, PLUS fleur de sel on the table - they love their salt at Dino

We immediately ordered some Prosecco, noshed on the nice bread they brought, and began to peruse the menu.

Typically, the RW deal is that you get an appetizer, main course, and dessert for a particular price. At Dino, however, they allowed you to order two starters and a main as your three courses, in case you weren't into dessert. Rachel and I, geniuses that we are, decided to have one person get the traditional RW plan, while the other got two starters. This resulted in three yummy appetizers to share, two mains to share, and one dessert to share. And as you loyal readers know, I love sharing!

For our first course, the three antipasti we ordered were the Burrata, the Fiori di Zucca, and the Polenta ai tre Formaggi con Funghi. The burrata looked like a ball of fresh mozzarella, but it was actually fresh mozz on the outside, and then fresh curd and cream on the inside - very nice, indeed. It was rich and creamy but very tender, and it went great with the olive oil and three tapenades that came with it: red pepper, traditional olive, and oven-roasted tomato. A very nice start to the meal!

The menu says the burrate are air-freighted in from Campania twice a week! Not good for their carbon footprint, but delicious

Cross-section of the burrata

The fiori di zucca were fried squash blossoms, one of my new favorite things to order! The blossoms were filled with fresh mozzarella and a sliver of anchovy, and served with a spicy tomato sauce. Yum! These were obviously freshly made and had a lot of great flavor from the fried goodness, the cheese, and the slight hint of the anchovy. The tomato sauce was excellent as well.

My favorite of this course, however, was the polenta ai tre formaggi con funghi (translates to polenta with three cheeses and mushrooms). The chef used a white cornmeal to make the polenta, and added asiago, gorgonzola, and fontal (same as fontino, I wonder?) cheeses, then topped the whole thing with assorted roasted mushrooms. Absolutely fantastic! The polenta was very creamy and the mushrooms had a really intense flavor and added a nice contrast in texture. I wanted to eat this as my whole meal!

But, I couldn't! We had to move on to our main courses, which were technically primi (pasta), but we made them our secondi (main dish). Rachel ordered the Fusilli con Ragu d'Anatra "Bolonese", and I ordered the Pappardelle ai Cinghiale. Luckily, we were on the sharing plan, since the fusilli won hands down! The spiral-shaped pasta was covered in a ragu made of ground duck, pork, and veal that had been cooked with veggies, herbs, garlic, cream, white wine, nutmeg, and grana cheese. Holy crap this was amazing! We could not stop eating this dish, and we sort of gave the pappardelle the cold shoulder. Not that that it wasn't good, but the duck ragu was completely addictive.

Duck ragu - secret ingredient: crack

But let me quickly describe the pappardelle: I was interested in this dish because I had heard such great things about dishes involving cinghiale (wild boar) at restaurants like Babbo in NYC and Cinghiale (go figure) in Baltimore. Unfortunately, the pasta was sort of stuck together, like someone had forgotten to stir the pot, and the boar was in really large chunks, not really comfortable to eat in one easy bite. It had some rich flavors from the meat, tomato, onions, and garlic, but it was completely outshined by the duck ragu pasta.

Then it was time for dessert! We were very full from all of our many courses, so thankfully we were only on the hook to order one dessert. We ended up choosing the Gelato Affogato, which was their housemade vanilla gelato "drowned" in espresso. Who knew a dessert named after a form of homicide (or suicide, I suppose) would be so delicious? The gelato was sweet and went beautifully with the bitter and intense espresso. So good! Then again, these are my two favorite things: coffee and ice cream. What could be bad??

Drowning action shot

Another great thing about Dino was that our RW meal included a half-glass of either grappa, limoncello, or moscato with our dessert. Very classy of them. Rachel got limoncello and I got the moscato. Mine was sweet and delicious; hers was sweet and really strong.

Moscato with the limoncello in the background

What a great meal at Dino! The food was great, the service was wonderful (attentive but not overbearing), the atmosphere lively, and best of all, the full menu availability made me feel like it wasn't Restaurant Week at all! I highly recommend this place for a great, well-executed, delicious meal should you find yourself in the DC area.

And thanks to Rachel for picking it out and for being such lovely company! Love you, lady!

EP