This isn
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23Mar
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22Mar
It’s 1936 outside of the Skeesie National Bank. You’re honking on the horn of your Studebaker yelling, ‘You dumb mugs, grab the dough!’ A tall thin man and a short fat man wearing tiny masks bounce down the steps and into the car. As you swerve from side to side down Main Street, Freddy the Finger opens a burlap sack with a “$” printed on it, displaying piles of crisp green centuries.
‘Wooo-ee, It’s the corn for us tonight’ whoops Joe the Other Finger. But you know better- if you don -
21Mar
As depressing as it sounds, urban living is now a “niche” lifestyle, like living on a farm or a houseboat. Immigrants no longer move to big cities as soon as they land, and no longer form the ethnic enclaves that make city life so interesting for adventurous eaters.
A new ethnic restaurant opening within city limits is less likely to be an unassuming but excellent hole in the wall catering to transplants and more likely to use the words “fusion” or “refined with hints of authenticity” to describe the food or the decor. Especially in DC, if you want ethnic food eaten by the people who cook it at home, you’re gonna have to brave the ‘burbs.
If you want a fake Jamaican patty, go to Julia’s Empenadas in D.C. If you want a real patty, spicy, orange, flaky and perfect in every way, go to York Castle Ice Cream in an unassuming strip mall just south of the Beltway on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring.
Yes, beef (spicy and mild, chicken and vegetarian too) at an ice cream shop. Believe it.
And believe that the ice cream there is also a cut above. Passion Fruit, Soursop (just try it), and Guiness are not something you’re going to find at Cold Stone Creamery, no many how much money you spend for some flunkie to pound candy into your ice cream. It’s all delicious, so feel free to choose anything, even if you’re not sure what it looks like in fruit form. I had the Guiness (tart but sweet) and Soursop (like a mango, but less, umm, mango-y) and it was great.
Another great thing: two patties and two two-scoop cups of ice cream ran about $11. That’s a whole meal for less than the cost of a dirty look at TenPenh.
York Castle Ice Cream
9324 Georgia Ave
Silver Spring, MD
301-589-1616
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21Mar
Thyme Square Caf -
18Mar
This and other questions- like is it really possible for eyeballs to grow hair and why is my brain leaking out of my ears- are what I’m contemplating this Friday morning. Bloody hell.
The lovely lafb, having recently returned from Barcelona, was kind enough to get a respectable amount of Absinthe through customs in an empty plastic water bottle. There was only one thing to be done, so last night maw, rj3, zaf, snh, wrc, amg, and ejg got together to do our bright green duty.
The water technique- dripping water over sugar cubes placed on a fork or slotted spoon until they have melted into a single shot of Absinthe- was overturned in favor of the fire technique- a process that uses no water, a healthy dose of pyromania, and incidentally three shots of Absinthe. And cheap white wine as a chaser.
Instructions: Soak sugar cubes in Absinthe placed on spoon. Set on fire. Burn till sugar caramelizes. Stir. Add a healthy splash of water to give it a pretty milky color and change the taste from completely intolerable to moderately intolerable. Your lips will then go numb.
Results? Well, folks ended up rocking out to Thriller played on an old fashioned record player. amg and rj3 decided that it was a great idea to enthusiastically deep fat fry some Sylvia’s hush puppies. Break dancing was perpetrated. Other stuff probably happened.
Anyway, some of us made it to work this morning, others did not. Green Fairy, you are a cruel little girl. -
17Mar
This past Sunday, I was privileged to attend the Sixth Annual Washington DC International Wine & Food Festival. Well, let me append that. I was privileged to have someone get me in on a dealer’s badge, so I didn’t have to pay and got to go in hours before the general public.
Not having been to anything like it before, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I mean, you hear ‘over 1,700 wines from over 240 wineries from around the world.’ But it is something of a sight to behold. Filling up the main hall of the Convention Center with row after row and table after table of fine wines and spirits, the physics of it are somewhat baffling.
As the designated driver*, I didn’t try out quite as many wines as my companions. And really, I don’t think it’d be possible to even try the majority of them without alcohol poisoning. However, there were still some finds of the 21 or so I sampled.
So, some highlights. The Australian vintner Meinklang always suggested something else first, but it was their ice wine** that was drawing a crowd. PJ Valkenburg had one of the best Rieslings I’ve had in a long time. On the red side of the fence, the Ventisquero Grey (from, uh, Chile?) was smooth and friendly. And the Terramater altum shiraz, that I could drink all night. I will be tracking down something by Weingut Josef Bauer later (and the wine was poured by Mr. Bauer himself!) Banrock also had a white shiraz and a sparkling shiraz, if you’re not overly fancy and like getting creative. (continued)
pmmj, Guest Blogger -
17Mar
The Ambassador Dining Room in Baltimore, famous for its sumptuous champagne brunches and beautiful garden seating, is my favorite English-style Indian place in the world. That list includes the English-style Indian in England; Brick Lane may be good but Ambassador is better.
But Baltimore is far away and scary, so for the rest of us there’s Heritage India in Dupont. As the creeping tentacles of tapas invades every cuisine, we finally find a place that does tiny, pretty, traditional dishes right.
I highly suggest the Vegetable Fritters and any of the curried specialties. There’s an extensive vegetarian menu and enough breads to tempt the most hard core Atkinser. I’ve read a few complaints about service online but I found it just fine. Prices are shockingly acceptable. -
16Mar
I’ve never understood those lyrics from the Police song, ‘ I resolved to call her up/a thousand times a day/and ask her if she’d marry me/ in some old-fashioned way’. What, you mean old fashioned like over the phone? That just never made any sense. Why not go really old fashioned and do it by text message, loser.
Of course, to ask her to marry you in a truly old fashioned way, you’d need a club and a dry cave somewhere.
Fortunately the Italians are one up on us as the originators of Italian Wedding Soup. I’m not sure how old fashioned it is, but its gotta be better than asking her by fax or IM. Alright, actually the phrase ‘wedding soup’ is a popular mistranslation, the ‘wedding’ in it refers to the ingredients going well together. Whatever.
Simplified Italian Wedding Soup:- Chunk and lightly brown a parsnip, two carrots, a large onion and a huge handful of basil. Add plenty of fresh pepper and four chicken thighs, some herbs de provence, and oregano.
- Cover with chicken broth, and simmer until the chicken is tender. You may have to fish out the bones.
- Add directly to the soup a cup of either Israeli couscous or small macaroni, cook until tender
- Tear the leaves off a whole head of escarole. Mix into soup and let sit until wilted and tender. Tender is a big part of this recipe.
- Mix together three eggs and half a cup of fresh grated parmesan cheese. Bring the soup to a boil and whisk in the mixture. Final color should be a fluffy white.
- Serve with even more fresh pepper. Adding meatballs is a popular variation- can’t say I’m a fan tho.
- Chunk and lightly brown a parsnip, two carrots, a large onion and a huge handful of basil. Add plenty of fresh pepper and four chicken thighs, some herbs de provence, and oregano.
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16Mar
At the hippest DJ night in town, of course.
Bluestate is back for time #3.
If anyone wants to get there early and eat dinner at Cafe Saint Ex, we’d love a report.
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15Mar
I have no interest in sports whatsoever, but nevertheless, I still have pride in my alma mater, Fordham University. Unfortunately, my coworker’s pride in GW was better-placed, as it caused her to win our wager on who would triumph in last week
