We recently attended an event to showcase the new enclosed heated patio at Bacchus of Lebanon in Bethesda. The patio is nice and toasty! Here is a video of Zaid (the owner) talking about the new patio.
Below are some photos from the event. We definitely need to go back soon for more of the yummy fresh hummus and baba ganouj.
-Jason
Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or entry to events. Our words are still our own.
We need a few writers!
Do you have some new recipes to share?
Have you discovered the best restaurants in the DC area?
Do you want to write a comparison article for a particular item or dish (such as best BLTs)?
Need some foodie cred? (Good, since that is how we are compensated. )
Then we want you for DCFUD! Send a writing sample to
jay (at) dcfud (dot) com, along with a couple ideas you’d like to write
about.
-JAY
Thai is one of our favorite cuisines, so we jumped at the chance to review Verve Culture’s Thai for Two Organic Curry Kits. The curry kits are imported from Thailand, gluten-free, and vegan, and come in Penang, green, and red varieties.
Included in each are the following organic packets: curry paste, curry seasonings, coconut milk, and dried herbs. You follow step-by-step directions, which include adding 7-10 ounces of uncooked protein and 7-10 ounces of uncooked vegetables. The recipes were well described and not difficult. You are told to use 50 to 100% of the curry paste packet depending on desired spice level, and that the dried herbs (kaffir lime leaves, chili peppers, etc.) are not meant to be consumed directly (since they just flavor the sauce).
We made the green curry with wild salmon, a small zucchini, and a small orange bell pepper. The curry went extremely well with the wild salmon. We used 100% of the curry paste packet for this dish, which turned out to be around medium spice level (high for my dining partner).
For the Penang, we went with organic chicken breast from the Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op, an orange bell pepper, and fresh carrots. Visually, it contained orange vegetables with an orange sauce, so a different color bell pepper may have been a better idea. Scallions were added for a bit of color. 75% of the curry paste packet was used for this dish, which turned out to be around medium spice level (ok for me, but still a little high for my dining partner).
We used a small red bell pepper, and Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op broccoli and chicken breast with the red curry kit. 50% of the curry paste packet was used for this dish, which turned out to be around medium spice level (about right for my dining partner).
We definitely enjoyed all three curry varieties, since the direct from Thailand ingredients give them an authentic flavor, but our favorite was the green curry (with wild salmon), even at the 100% spice level. The kits are good for two people, but we had some leftovers of the Pinang and red varieties since we used an extra 1/4 cup of water and a pound of chicken each.
Verve Culture makes two other Thai kits: Tom Kha Soup and Pad Thai. For a limited time, there is a coupon code for your holiday gift-giving needs. Order 5 flavors of Thai for Two Cooking Kits with the code THAI4TWO.
Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op‘s CSA boxes can be picked up at various sites in the DC area, including the Mosaic District’s MOM’s Organic Market.
-JAY
What better time than during the DMV’s most famous season – cherry blossoms! – than to celebrate the Best of the District of Columbia? Washington City Paper took over the cavernous DC Armory in Southeast to fete the 2016 winners, announced to the public during the event. WCP is decidedly nonpartisan, making sure everyone gets a voice in the system. Plus, proceeds from the event went to two great charities: Brainfood and World Beats & Life.
Spraypainting DC pride
Voting winners were divided between Staff Picks and the Reader Poll. Readers were able to choose faves in standard categories like Best Brewery (Right Proper), Sports Bar (Nellie’s), Movie Theater (E Street), and Lifestyle Blog (Popville), as well as some unique options: Tea Shop (Calabash Tea & Tonic), Local Instagram (Taylor Gourmet), and Place to Take a Tinder Date (McClellan’s Retreat). The Staff Picks are more eclectic: Best Bar and Restaurant for Punk-Rock Parents (Slash Run); Best Old Reliable Gay Bar (Number Nine), Best New (Old) Museum (National Museum of Women in the Arts), and Best Place to Catch a Glimpse of FLOTUS (SoulCycle).
At a cocktail-attire party, it’s tough to get on a bike, but there was certainly plenty of food and drink to be had to help celebrate. In homage to what has been the opposite of a media darling of late, the DC Metro, each grouping of restaurants was set up around Metro station signs (“let’s go to Ballston!” was probably something said for the very first time by many partygoers).
Tons of tasteful tunes were enjoyed all evening long.
Mixologists played with lots of whiskeys, coming off winter, but also plenty of gin, hopeful for spring soon. And as would be appropriate, restaurants made efforts to source specifically from DC breweries and distilleries. Highlights included a tropical rum negroni from Don Ciccio & Figli, The Royal’s fruity sling using Catoctin Creek liquor, and a wistful whiskey cocktail by The Gibson called Memories. Waking up the palate was the thoughtful Gina Chersevani of Buffalo & Bergen, serving Bloody Marys overstuffed with pickled veggies as well as to mini-bagels topped with caviar and crème fraiche.
On the main stage, The Dupont Brass Band gave the crowd some serious funk. Later in the evening, Batala Washington broke it down on drums, celebrating Afro-Brazilian culture, playing sensual samba and reggae music on a chilly early-April evening. Other entertainment came in the form of cornhole and life-sized Jenga courtesy of United Social Sports, making sure that the crowd stayed lively and athletic while throwing back craft cocktails and finely plated small bites.
Dessert came in the form of heavenly doughnuts, cookies, and Harper Macaw’s sea-salt-and-coconut chocolate bark – but also another kind of bark: Wagtime enthralled the crowd with an absolutely adorable doggie playspace. Never has celebrated all the greatest in DC ever been so “ruff.”
-ESC
On a recent weekend trip to DC, I wanted an early brunch before my flight out. Forgetting that basically nothing opens before 11, my compatriot and I found ourselves wandering Columbia Heights, desperate for coffee. It was before 11 AM, after all. So we did the nearly unthinkable, and entered the nearest instance of Starbucks.
After purchasing our small (yes, that’s “small,” not whatever test-marketed non-word they print on the menus) coffees, we stopped by the table where a very nice lady was administering the taste-test challenge to promote the new Starbucks instant coffee product, VIA. We both correctly identified the instant brew – to me it had a powdery taste, and was blunter than the drip variety. So we won free samples and coupons.
In my office the next day, I dutifully replaced my after-lunch pod coffee with a cup of VIA, and considered its (de)merits. For instant coffee, it’s not bad – certainly better than Folgers or Taster’s Choice. The flavor is smooth, slightly bitter but not too much so, and has the burnt overtones one expects from Colombian coffee (and especially from Starbucks). This isn’t going to replace the jar of Bru (or Elite, when I can get it) on my desk, but the convenient single-dose packets may find a home in my bag/briefcase for on-the-go emergencies.
Back in DC, my fellow-caffeine fiend and I wandered back to Commonwealth, and figured that if we stood outside long enough, they’d eventually open and let us eat. They did, and we sat at a table on their lovely patio. Well, lovely except that the tall buildings of the New CoHi blocked the sun and created a wind-tunnel effect, partially negating the gorgeousness of the morning. But not fully. It was still gorgeous and a nice place to sit.
Along with the menus, the host graciously brought us actual coffee mugs in which to pour our (definitely not supposed to have been brought in from outside in general, and certainly not from That Place) coffees. My friend ordered a tasty beer, and I wanted a Bloody Mary. The beer was indeed tasty, but the Mary was a bit bland. Hoping to improve it, I asked for some Worcestershire – they didn’t seem to have any bottles, but to my delight made some up fresh and brought it in a little dressing bowl. The addition was 50% of what the drink needed (as for the remaining half – I am, sadly, way too classy to ask for an extra shot of vodka at 11 AM. Obviously.).
We ordered food – shirred eggs and an eggs Benedict (with ham). The shirred eggs looked really good, and my friend liked them – basically, it was a bed of ham with eggs on top and cheese on top of that. I am always wary of ordering the Benedict, as it’s so often disappointing. This, however, was not disappointing at all. Three medium-poached eggs topped in a thick Hollandaise atop a big piece of crusty toast (not muffins) and ham that was really more like Prosciutto. Yum.
The bread served at the table was also really good, with a very nice raspberry jam, and who doesn’t love the fresh pickles to the side? So, all in all, I can halfheartedly not not recommend the new Starbucks instant coffee stuff, and wholly recommend Commonwealth for brunch on a sunny late Sunday morning.
-MAW
By Guest Blogger Trish King
About four years ago, I found out that I am gluten intolerant: I have a severe sensitivity to the protein gluten, which is found in wheat, rye and barley. Discovering yourself to be gluten intolerant, you become very aware of what is in the food you eat: there is wheat, barley and rye in everything! It is in cereals, breads, and your favourite meat loaf at the local diner. It’s in your microwavable meal; it is also disguised as “modified food starch.”
Four years ago there was not much around when it comes buying gluten free foods; when you were hungry and on the run, there was no gluten-free McDonald’s to run to, only your own cries of “Great – what I am I going to eat now, there is wheat in everything!!!”
Well, a lot has changed over the last 4 years, as many people have become aware of Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance. We’re in luck these days, with plenty of companies who have made the change to make eating more pleasant for those with gluten intolerance. So you don’t need to let having Celiac or a gluten intolerance stop you from enjoying chewy breads, crunchy snacks or a great breakfast. All these products are made mostly from rice, corn, tapioca or potato flours, eggs, and milk. Here are some of my favorites…
I generally go to Whole Foods Market or Trader Joe’s for my all my Gluten-free pre-made and baking supplies. Whole Foods also has their own line of gluten-free breads – Sourdough, Prairie Bread, Prairie Raisin Bread and sandwich loaf.
Against the Grain, out of Vermont, claims to make the “Best Gluten free baguette in the world!” You can find these, among other things, at Lilit Café in Bethesda, Whole Foods, and Wegmans. Check with your local stores, as not all locations seem to have them.
Glutino’s Gluten-Free Pantry has a plethora of gluten free products to choose from, including cookies, crackers, bread sticks, cereal, and pretzels, and, when you’re craving something sweet, try Pamela’s has a great line for cakes, pancake mixes and pre-made cookies that really hit the spot.
Sweet Sin, a Baltimore-based bakery which has a line of wonderful gluten-free sandwich breads and pizza rounds. If you don’t live near there, you can get their stuff at the Whole Foods locations in Bethesda and Rockville, and at Lilit Café.
– TK
