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Free Lunch at Roti!

JDS — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:49:20 +0000

Tuesday, November 08, Roti will be offering free lunch from 11-1pm at their 13th and F St. NW location. Get there early for delicious Mediterranean-inspired salads, wraps, and platters!

-JDS

Oktoberfest!

maw — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 15:24:54 +0000

Really, one of my favorite times of year. I have been digging the hell out of DCBrau’s Atlas Festbier, and last night a growler of Avery’s Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest was just what the doctor ordered. Great Lakes’ offering was less impressive, to me, but that’s just a matter of taste I suppose.

If you’re in the mood for some beer-inspired food, BlackFinn Saloon (warning: Flash-based site) sent us an email to let us know that they’re featuring a special Oktoberfest menu of six items, including: beer cheese soup, potato pancakes, a beer-braised bratwurst platter, a sautéed pork chop with potato pancakes and sweet and sour cabbage, and pan-friend chicken schnitzel with brown butter and Brussels sprouts, plus apple strudel for dessert.

Sounds interesting! They don’t list their beers on their web site that I can find, but one hopes they have a few festbiers to go around!

What are your favorites for the season?

– MAW

BlackFinn American Saloon
1620 I Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
202.429.4350

Capital Grille Pours Generously

admin — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:44:13 +0000

Calamari, not rubber bands. I promise.

Matthew T. and I had the pleasure of being present at The Capital Grille‘s media preview for their new event, The Generous Pour. The wine list for the event is available here and was put together by Master Sommelier George Miliotes (who I have written about previously). George really is a genius with wines and pairings. Through September 4th, for just $25 (plus the purchase of a meal), you are invited to enjoy as many of the featured wines as you like.

We enjoyed the wonderful selection of wines, but we also enjoyed the dishes they were paired with (as part of the media preview). The calamari, prosciutto wrapped mozzarella with tomatoes, and smoked salmon on onion pita crisps were very good, but the lobster mac ‘n’ cheese, sauteed spinach, and bone-in Kona crusted dry aged sirloin with shallot butter were exceptional. I am often disappointed when I order steaks at restaurants but the sirloin was cooked perfectly and was delicious. The sirloin was paired (well) with Conte Brandolini Vistorta Merlot and Chalk Hill Monastrell (which is flavored by volcanic chalk).

Dry-aged sirloin isn't dry at all.

I do need to pick up a bottle of their dessert wine, RL Buller’s The Portly Gentleman to have at home. The Portly Gentleman is an Australian blend of Grenache, Shiraz, Cabernet, and Mataro.

-JAY

Disclaimer: I know something to this effect is stated in our “About” section, but (as sometimes happens), we received freebies. That said, my words are my own.

Today is the Ballston Farmer’s Market

admin — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:05:50 +0000

Today is a good day to check the Ballston Farmer’s Market out. The market is open Thursday’s from 3-7pm. Some highlights:

Tommy V’s Salsa, especially the Fugosa.

Doug The Food Dude’s lobster or shrimp wraps.

Pleasant Pops’ Mexican cream or pineapple basil pops.

Fertile Plains Meats has a good variety of pork, beer, and chicken. I grilled their (2 lb.) porterhouse and smoked pork chops last year and was very impressed. The beef was super tender.

-JAY

DCFüd Wants You!

admin — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:13:03 +0000

First, I’d like to welcome our newish writer, Janet (JDS)! She is awesome!

-JAY
————————–
DCFüd Wants You!

The good news is, some of us are over-employed (that’s good, right?). Some of us have even moved away from the DC area *gasp* (you know who you are).

But the bad news is a dry spell for the FUD at the moment. So, to
counteract this terrible state of affairs, we are looking for…..

A FEW NEW WRITERS!!
Were you annoyed by a restaurant?
Do you have some random recipes to share?
Have you discovered the best wine, restaurant, food truck, or….restaurant restroom in DC?
Do you want to write a comparison article for a particular item or dish?
Need some hipster cred? Writing experience for your resume? Articles for your Portfolio?
Passionate about food?
Then we want you for DCFüd. Send writing sample to
jay@dcfud.com, along with a couple ideas you’d like to write
about. It’ll be crazy!

Call to Action: Don’t Let GE Alfalfa Destroy Organic Dairy!

admin — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 17:18:16 +0000

Wholefoods Market ran a version of this yesterday. Below is the Food & Water Watch’s version. Click on the below link for more details.

-JAY
—————————-

Ask President Obama to Protect Organic and Stop Monsanto’s GE Alfalfa!

The USDA is about to approve Monsanto’s genetically engineered alfalfa. One of the biggest impacts of allowing the use of GE alfalfa is contamination of other crops, including organic alfalfa, which is used by most organic dairies. The USDA actually acknowledges the problem of contamination, but is moving forward anyway.

We need to let the USDA and President Obama know that consumers don’t want genetically engineered foods, and don’t want organic foods to be contaminated.

Take action to stop the approval for Monsanto’s GE alfalfa.

Some of the Best dishes We’ve Eaten Recently

admin — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 05:03:34 +0000

Cuba Libre: salmon ceviche, tuna ceviche, several of their desserts (I shared, really), beef empanada, pork empanada.

Curbside Cupcake (truck): lemon cupcake.

Red Hook Lobster Pound (truck): New England lobster roll.

District Taco (truck): chicken taco with their secret habanero sauce.

Green Bandit basil hotsauce (not the dill or cilantro) at Rocklands…which is one of the 50 or so they carry. I think they are out of it at the tables but you can buy a bottle to go for $4. Lately they have no longer been overcooking their salmon…yum.

Northside Social’s baked goods. Seriously, they have good scones and cookies. Btw, they have expanded the lunch menu.

Burma: pork with mustard greens.

Thai Square: crispy honey duck. Yeah, I’ve had it before, and I don’t want to eat a whole order of it myself, but it is really good.

-JAY

Let’s Save The Food Trucks!

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:10:53 +0000

In my Twitter (ok, not my inbox this time). RAY, I know you are with me.

-JAY

———-

Yes On Title 24 Chapter 5
www.yesontitle24.com

Dear Food Truck Enthusiast, we need your help urgently!

Some very powerful businesses are lobbying the City Council to prevent us from serving you where you work.

The DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), on the other hand, has proposed vending regulations that would allow us to continue to serve you AND allow for a more vibrant vending culture in the District.

DCRA needs comments on record for these new regulations, Title 24 of Chapter 5 (http://tiny.cc/bnn4q). It is paramount that you voice your opinion on street vending and food trucks by emailing DCRA at helder.gil@dc.gov
live links at bottom of page. look down, scroll down. look closer, you got it.

Time is of the essence. Comments need to be in by next Wednesday, August 25th.

Please act now and email Helder today! Thank you.

Learn more about these proposed regulations.

Here’s a draft of what it could say, but certainly feel free to use your own thoughts and language. If you’re a DC resident, please say so in your email.

Subject: I Support Title 24 Chapter 5

Dear City Council,

I am writing to support the current proposed DCRA regulation Title 24 Chapter 5 that will allow mobile vendors to stay in DC and continue offering more choices and value to consumers.

Please do not allow the introduction of any discriminatory language into these regulations that would limit mobile vendors or food trucks.

Please pass the regulations as written and protect the diverse, growing and small business vending options in the city.

Thank you,

You

Email us at: yesontitle24@gmail.com , Helder.Gil@dc.gov
Visit us at: http://tiny.cc/bnn4q

The Five Paragraph Bitter Food Critic is Neither Superbad nor Knocked Up

amg — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:28:05 +0000

Washington Post food scribe Tom Sietsema recently shared an anecdote with readers of his “Sietsema’s Table” discussion group about a relatively inappropriate comment from a server. Readers shared their comments, embarrassing stories, and the occasional faux pas. During my decade-plus of food service work, I am fairly certain sure that I probably said infinitely worse things, and most likely to a table full of goodly old nuns. There’s nothing wrong with being engaging and friendly to your customers, and a well-placed bon mot can win over a table of even the surliest of eaters. Still, it’s vital for servers to keep most comments inside their head, where the words can’t hurt the diner…or the tip! You never know what might be absolutely hilarious to some could be completely insulting to others.
After reading the stories, I figure that I must be the luckiest diner in the D.C. area. Other than some occasional minor service mistakes, I’ve never had any servers who’ve completely embarrassed themselves with an inappropriate comment. I’ve never had that evening where everything has become a complete disaster. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m pretty much impossible to offend – I did stand-up comedy and morning show radio for years, and I’m not sure if there’s a video of me somewhere on the InterTubes involving former Bay Area performance artist “Extreme Elvis,” comedian Tanyalee Davis, Las Vegas and full-frontal nudity. (WRITER NOTE – I would advise you to not Google that at work. It happened back in 2002, before every cell phone came armed with a camera, so I might have escaped unharmed, but it also took place at a VERY unconventional wedding, and I’m a-feared footage of the event might rear its ugly head should I ever run for public office. I haven’t found evidence of my specific event yet, but Googling “Extreme Elvis” could lead to some very NSFW tales. Save them for home and share them only with people who thought “2 Girls, 1 Cup” was high comedy)
Sure, I’ve had servers bring me the wrong order, or put in my order incorrectly, or fail to warn me that my arch nemesis, the mushroom, was indeed in a certain dish – fellow FUD writer Jason and I had that experience at a Malaysian restaurant last year. Fortunately, most of these slip-ups are easy to fix. Put in my order, re-cook the food, knock a buck or two off my check – whatever. I’m easy to please and hard to offend…BUT…don’t compare me to Seth Rogan. At least not while my mom’s boss is in town, and I had to play local tour guide of our fine city.
This happened to me the other day at one of the establishments in José Andrés stable. I won’t name the specific one to keep from embarrassing the young lady who made the comment, who (I’m hoping) meant it as a compliment. On humid days, my locks do get awfully unruly, and a quick hop on Jezebel.com shows that he and I wear similar glasses, or at least did for the “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” premiere. He’s not as sloppy-looking as he was in “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and seems to be cleaning and toning up a bit for the upcoming “Green Hornet.” I’ve heard that I resemble Sean Astin, or Jim Breuer, or even Pavel Bure, but this was a first for Mr. Rogen.
However, to my mom’s boss, it sounded like an insult. She did not think that I looked one bit like the lovable-but-hardly-classically-handsome stoner character he so often portrays. Had she been the one paying the bill, the tip would have been dramatically smaller than what I left – a generous amount to cover the otherwise fine service and exceptional food. I have to admit, I don’t really see the resemblance, either, but it does remind me to break out some more sit-ups and to possibly get a haircut.

Good Stuff Eatery is a place to eat good stuff.

snh — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:30:14 +0000

So we went to the new Good Stuff Eatery on the Hill this weekend. For you Top Chef fans out there, Spike is the mover and shaker behind this new offering on the DC food scene. I didn’t recognize the guy, but my sometime-in-the-future-to-be-mother-in-law was a little flustered at seeing him behind the counter. In a cute fedora.
There was a line out the door when we went on a Thursday night, but it moved pretty smartly. We didn’t wait more than half an hour to get to the counter inside. After giving your order at the grill, you move to the register where any drinks are ordered. Of note: There are drafts (Yeungling and Blue Moon) as well as bottles (Sam Adams Seasonal, Sam Adams Dark, and Red Stripe), and shakes for any DDs or sweet tooths out there.
I felt bad, but the comparison that kept creeping into my head was “it’s like an upscale Five Guys.” Now, I don’t think this quite does credit to the place. For one thing, the options are a little more interesting than your average burger joint: “Vegetarians are people too ‘shroom burgers” involve organic portobellos and panko breading, “Blazin’ Barn” has pickled daikon and carrots along with mint and cilantro, and “Colletti’s Smokehouse” is topped with applewood bacon and sharp Vermont cheddar. The one thing they hit out of the park in my opinion was the shakes. They were out of the Milky Way Malt, so I settled for a Black and White which is a vanilla shake drizzled with fudge sauce. It was hands down the best shake I’ve had in a long time. Very creamy, and sweet, but not overpowering.
Running out of a signature flavor was just one symptom of a newly-opened joint. I watched as a guy behind the counter smooshed three burgers with the back of his hand, determined they were all too cold, tossed them, and had the orders re-flamed. They monumentally screwed up our drinks order–but rectified the situation by sending up a second round (of the correct order) on the house. They even have signs up: “We’re in traning, please be gentle.”
The burgers themselves were good. I should mention that it was a million degrees out, so I had a turkey burger with avacado and sprouts: somehow a lot of beef just didn’t seem surmountable. The fries and vidalia onion rings were also delicious.
With a price range of $4.29 to $7.69, and a couple more weeks to iron out the kinks, this will be a respectable (and much needed) casual dining experience in Eastern Market.
As an aside, I have an obsession with sinks in particular, and bathroom decor in general, and I was duly impressed by the Good Stuff offerings. Although the batroom locks were a little confusing to patrons, as the key had to be taken from the outside of the door into the room in order to lock the door.
303 Penn Ave SE
Washington DC 20003
www.goodstuffeatery.com
This is a guest blog by FUD alumn Liz G. Thanks! Yay!