Komi does not list an email on their website. This makes me truly saddened because my plans for the morning included reading Fark, messing with my hair, and writing Komi to thank them in unseemly detail for the best meal I have had in a long time.
Maw has already enunciated the allures of this perfect dinner place, so I won’t talk about the food, but allow me to add my 2p. Komi is good. Good in a way that makes you blather to your coworkers the next morning. Good, like your next meal feels vaguely profane and sacrilegious. Good, as in a week later, you turn to your dining partner and say, ‘that was a damn fine meal’ and he’ll know you aren’t referring to the pizza you just ate.
The room is small and pretty, and so are the expert staff. They guide you through the short but exquisite wine list, and then bring you dish after dish of the kind of mouthfuls you must close your eyes to fully enjoy. After an hour you start entering an olive-scented haze of alcohol and goodwill. 12 hours later I am still imagining the crunch of sea salt on a stuffed fig.
I can’t write a letter to you, Komi, so I can only hope you google your name now and then. Bravo.
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16Aug
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15Aug
Choosing which establishment to patronize during Restaurant Week is always a challenge – who will offer full (or nearly-full) menu selections? Who will have a reservation free? Who will feature servers that roll their eyes at you when you say you’re there for the RW menu?
Take all those challenges and add a pair of semi-picky parents (though really no different than any other set who don’t consider special tibs one of the four food groups), and you had my dilemma for RW lunch selection. Figuring seafood would be a safe bet (neither parent likes Indian or non-Chinese Asian; Dad doesn’t care for Italian), I settled on DC Coast.
The Tunks restaurants really do a nice job of making you feel special during restaurant week. Though they slightly limit your dessert and appetizer selections, for lunch, we had our pick of the DC Coast entree choices. The service was attentive, and prompt without feeling rushed.
Our selections:
Yellow Tomato Soup: My dad raved. I was expecting something along the lines of Ceiba’s yellow tomato gazpacho, but this was warm, and a much richer offering. It was garnished with a sundried tomato mousse; yum!
Scallops appetizer: Two scallops, perfectly cooked, and accented with a spinach/bacon mixture and a pineapple sauce. Sweeter than my usual tastes, but the flavors all blended well.
Cold cucumber soup: Flecks of crabmeat make this one a winner.
Trio of sliders: I’m not partial to BBQ (sue me) but my father ordered this – a selection of chicken, pulled pork and beef brisket mini-sandwiches, and was more than satisfied. We could have done without the accompanying cole slaw.
Roast chicken with pomegranate sauce: This was delectably juicy, and the sauce was a nice touch. Accompanying vegetables were a bit overcooked, but were a colorful selection and candied pecans added a special kind of sweet something to the plate.
Blackened Tilapia: This was the meal’s gem – the fish was spectacular, and the paprika hollandaise that topped the asparagus was some of the best I’ve had.
I’m not a dessert fan, but the selections were good, and not too large to overwhelm at the end of the meal. I’d particularly recommend the lemon/blueberry creme brulee for something unique and delicious.
DC Coast is a safe bet for Restaurant Week: All the elements are in place to make it a treat of an experience for those trying to sample somewhere new at an affordable price. -
14Aug
It’s a brave soul indeed who is willing to forge through the throngs of Midwesterners that make up Old Town Alexandria’s main population. They bounce ponderously up King street and down to gape at the balloon sellers of the waterfront, their army son-in-laws looming out of the humid haze. Yes, it’s a veritable corn- fed amoeba, polyester-clad and sweating, waving maps and strollers and frappuchinos and canvas tote bags at the embarrassed scenery.
Which is why it’s so bizarre to come across 100 King . In a sea of restaurants that offer menus in three languages and Ruby Tuesday food, 100 King is shockingly acceptable. And no surprise, they are owned by the same family that bestowed upon us the Lebanese Taverna restaurants. This is a family that knows their hummus.
Decor is Helix Lounge meets Creme: fashionable and industrial, with just enough empty space to remind of a hotel bar. But that’s alright, because the food, oh the food. I’d suggest just skipping the mains and ordering your way down the appetizers/ tapas menu. The zucchini cakes are delicious and crunchy, the crab meat perfectly fishy and fresh. I shall be salivating for the polenta soufflé with blue cheese and mushroom sauce for days.
I can’t, in good conscience, suggest this restaurant as a destination. But for those who find themselves in the area, flee to this sane, tasty, pretty restaurant like it was the last bastion of culture in a very touristy world.
100 King St
Alexandria, VA -
11Aug
When the news of wine’s health benefits first came out, alkies the world over grabbed their closest critic, pointed them at the research, and said, “See?”. But if you still aren’t enthused at the idea of shooting your daily dose, try taking your medicine the old fashioned way: In a martini glass.
Pomegranate! It’s seedy and fashionable! It comes in a crazy shaped bottle! I mean, even without the health claims, who wouldn’t want a liquid that stains everything it touches? Try this medical wonder:
Pomegranate Martini:
1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
2 oz. white tequila
1 oz. Cointreau liquor
Squeeze of lemon
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glasses. Pomegranate seeds as garnish, or use a bit of lemon.
Health benefits:Vitamin C, antioxidants, and a rich source of folic acid and vitamins A and E. Pomegranate helps with heart disease, cancer, skin cancer, osteoarthritis, and, technically, unborn babies tho I guess you should distill out that pesky ‘alcohol’ part first.
Green Tea Over the years, green tea’s been purported to do everything from curing cancer to slimming your ass. It will also do your laundry and make your kids move out of the house. Slurp this, for health reasons only of course.
Green tea martini:
1 ounce strong green tea, chilled
2 ounces citron vodka
1 teaspoon Cointreau
1 teaspoon simple syrup
Orange twist
Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
Health benefits: This prevention list includes heart disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, high cholesterol levels, cardiovascular disease , infection, and impaired immune function.
Carrots Your mom promised you it would help you see in the dark, and she was never wrong, ever, about anything. Drink to her health while propping up yours
Carrot Martini:
2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce vermouth
1 1/2 ounce carrot juice
1 1/2 ounce orange juice
Dash of Tabasco sauce
Shake with ice and strain into a cold martini glass. Garnish with a celery stick
Health Benefits: We got antioxidant compounds and vitamin A to guard against cancer, emphysema, blood sugar regulation, and, yes, to promote good vision. And Heart Disease. Incidentally, the tobacco sauce will spike your metabolism, help with arthritis, high blood pressure, depression, migraines, flu, ulcers, muscle pains and um, herpes. It’s practically your duty to drink this stuff. -
10Aug
I’ve been meaning to try Komi pretty much since it first opened in 2004. It seemed the obvious thing to do – it was close by, the menu looked interesting, and everybody was raving about it – but the excuses were endless: I don’t have time, I’m too poor, no one will go with me, et cetera.
This week, as I found myself following my birthday by gearing up to leave DC for grad school in Atlanta, I realized that I had the perfect opportunity. Why? Well, because that means I was able to convince my parents to take me to Komi for a combined birthday/departure dinner! And so it was that we found ourselves with 8:45 reservations at Komi this Tuesday night.
We arrived, and the host walked us back from the entrance to the end of the long, hallway-like dining room, to the one round table in the place, set apart from the other tables, at the back corner. Right next to the kitchen, with it open door and large picture window to the inside. My father hates sitting near the kitchen, but before he could complain (which he was beginning to do, despite there plainly being no other tables available), I cut him off, saying that I was happy to get to peek in to this famed kitchen. You can’t see much through that picture window, but you get a hint of what’s going on, and I for one enjoyed the view.
We decided to go all-out, and each ordered the complete dinner and wine pairing – which was clearly one of the best decisions I’ve made all month. We began with a glass of prosecco – lightly carbonated, dry, with some mineral flavors – and a small bowl of house-cured olives. These were bright green, but had a texture and mild taste such that my dad commented that if blindfolded, he might have thought them black olives. They were tasty, either way.
After the olives began our flight of small plates, most of which were simply one bit’s worth for each of us – just a taste, leaving room for all that was to come. First, we had a delicious seared Greek cheese topped with steak tartar. Next came the Buffala – creamy mozzarella topped with anchovies over a cucumber-and-something puree, also quite lovely. After that, the first of the evening’s real knock-outs arrived at our table: three dates, stuffed with mascarpone cheese and a few well-placed grains of salt, rosted to gooey heavenliness. Next was the one thing we disagreed on: little sandwiches of pork shoulder and beets that were reminiscent of Chinese pork buns but also different. My mom and I thought these were divine, my dad was blah on them. Then, two at once: a plate of two deliciously battered soft-shelled crabs, and a set of three crostini topped with a fish roe sauce, both quite tasty.
The last of our appetizers were a perfect summer dish, and a perfect cap to this extended first course: watermelon slices, topped with a bit of strong feta and arucola leaves. Delish! The pacing of these plates was slow – there was a good pause between each dish – and I found it perfect. We savored each small plate, and had time for its flavor to fade from our palettes before the next experience began. I should also note that, more than once, we didn’t even notice the servers clearing our empty plates – they were that quick, smooth, and unobtrusive.
Komi
1509 17th St, NW
202-332-9200 -
09Aug
Fellow DCFUD scribe Jason and I went to Dr. Dremo’s in Arlington last night for a pint (or three) of beer. Dremo’s has a few self-brewed beers, including their tasty James Brown, Redneck and Centennial Pale Ales, plus a decent selection of microbrews and imports. Usually, their taste is spot-on – Rogue Dead Guy Ale on draft, for instance, is one of the better beers to come from the Pacific Northwest, and Smuttynose Porter is always a good time.
But, just like every Chris Farley has his Rob Schneider, and every Empire Strikes Back has its Phantom Menace, Abita’s Purple Haze is like that dumb kid in college who brought down the bell curve. It’s full of raspberries – that fruit can kill a beer, as Oxford’s Rasperry Wheat comes to mind – and this New Orleans’ brewer uses way too much. It tastes like a torte without the cream cheese. Of Abita’s roster of fine brews, this is their weakest.
I worked for Harpoon Brewery of Boston during the `90s microbrew boom, and got to taste-test the competition. Sounds like a post-college dream job, but for every quality Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, New Belgium’s Fat Tire Amber or Boulder Brewing Company product I enjoyed, I had about 10 lousy, overwrought, overbrewed, overhopped beers from hell. It seemed every craft brewery in North America wanted to out-do each other with exotic flavors, especially with their seasonal brews. I still get the cold sweats thinking of Pumpkin Ale, Cinnamon & Nutmeg beers, Strawberry and Creme lambics. Sam Adams and Rogue both made Hazelnut beers, which sounded a lot better than they tasted. Frederick Brewing Company made an almost undrinkable hemp beer. My rule of thumb became – “If you can make a pie or hippie shoes from the ingredients, I won’t drink the beer.”
So, it was with a healthy bit of trepidation that I approached Dremo’s Chocolate Donut beer. Beer’s not exactly health food as it is, and adding an ungodly amount of sugar just seems unwise. But Dremo’s home brews are usually quite tasty, and while I don’t suggest dunking this Chocolate Donut into a cold glass of milk, it’s a good, sweet beverage. You can definitely taste the rich, almost fudge-like chocolate. It smells like chocolate donut, and is thicker than many porters and some stouts. This would be a fantastic dessert beer.
Consider Chocolate Donut the port of beer.
Dr. Dremo’s
2001 Clarendon Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201
703-528-4660
drdremo@msn.com -
08Aug
Our Supper Club themes are usually thoughtfully chosen, for reasons like, “Well, soon Mab is getting married, so let’s surprise her with a bridal shower, and while we’re at it, why don’t we make it a gourmet brunch? I’ll make the scrambled eggs, you bring the caviar,” or “It’s cold outside–let’s melt a whole bunch of cheese!” This time our theme was “Jocelyn just bought a new table, and it looks vaguely Asian–hey, have we done Thai yet?”
Here are some (but by no means all) of the highlights from Supper Club Thai:
Heather’s Green Papaya Salad
1 green papaya (tip: buy your papaya at a Chinese grocer, and make sure it is labed “green papaya” )
1/2 cup honey-roasted peanuts (or plain roasted)
approx. 1 cup bean sprouts
1 to 2 tomatoes, cut into long thin strips
1 red chilli, diced (seeds removed if you prefer a milder salad)
3 spring onions, sliced into long matchstick-like pieces
1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped if leaves are large
DRESSING:
1/2 tsp. shrimp paste (if vegetarian, substitute with 1 Tbsp. vegetarian fish sauce, or soy sauce)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (if vegetarian, use vegetarian fish sauce)
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. honey
PREPARATION:
Prepare the dressing by mixing together all ingredients in a cup. Make sure shrimp paste dissolves fully. Set aside.
Peel the green papaya, then slice it in half and remove all the white seeds.
Using the “fattest” grater you have, grate the papaya (or you can use a potato peeler to create ribbon-like strips). Place in a large bowl. Add the sliced tomato, spring onion, chilli, bean sprouts, and most of the basil. Add the dressing, tossing to combine.
Add the peanuts. Toss again, and do a taste test. If you’ve used honey-coated peanuts, the salad should be sweet enough (if not, add a little more honey or brown sugar, as desired). If not salty enough, add a little more fish sauce. Turn onto a platter, and sprinkle with remaining basil leaves. Serve immediately.
Kristen’s Coconut Sticky Rice with Mangoes
3 cups sticky rice
2 1/2 cups coconut milk
3/4 cup palm sugar
pinch salt
4 ripe mangoes
Soak the rice overnight (or as long as you’ve got time for) in half a cup coconut milk and enough water to cover the rice. When you’re ready to start cooking, steam the rice in a rice-cooker. Meanwhile, heat the coconut milk over medium heat, and stir in the sugar and salt. When the sugar is all dissolved, and the rice is cooked, stir one cup of the liquid into the rice. Let it sit for a while so all the flavors meld. Peel the mangoes and cut into big slices. Place the mango slices on top of the rice, add the rest of the coconut milk, and serve. The leftovers are fabulous – hot or cold – for breakfast the next morning.
Jocelyn’s “Tom Kha Gai” – Coconut Lemongrass soup w/ Chicken
1 lemongrass stem
4 lemon leaves (I couldn’t find these, so I didn’t use
them)
1 piece galanga (available frozen in most Asian
supermarkets)
8 oz mushrooms
2 tomatoes
1-2 ts chilli paste
1 lb chicken fillets
13 fl oz coconut milk
4 tb lemon juice
4 tb fish sauce
Cut lemongrass into 3 cm long pieces, fold lemon leaves, wash galanga and slice.
Cut mushrooms into half. Dice tomatoes.
Slice chicken fillets. Heat coconut milk and add lemongrass. Simmer coconut milk for two minutes.
Pour in 3/4 l (1 1/4 pts) water and heat. Add chicken, mushrooms and tomatoes and simmer for five minutes.
Season with chilli paste, fish sauce and lemon juice.
Remove lemongrass and lemon leaves before serving.
Oh, and one other thing–if you’re throwing a Thai dinner party at your house, and your a/c breaks, just remember, Thai food is supposed to be served in a tropical locale! Just turn up the music and pretend you planned it that way all along. -
08Aug
Truth be told, I’ve always kind of considered La Tasca the poor man’s Jaleo. The tapas aren’t as high a quality as the Jose Andres restaurant, plus La Tasca has the added “bonus” of sporting a decor that, as my friend Audrey put it, “invites the image of Antonio Banderas swinging in on a chandelier.” Plus, it hails from the dreaded “Arlington Chain Restaurant” family (though come on; there’s four La Tascas and three Jaleos. Is this really giving them a fair shake?)
I wonder if a poor man’s Jaleo with cheesy decor really is a bad thing. Sometimes you really are poor, and feel like taking advantage of La Tasca’s within-walking distance location. Plus, there’s the occasional roaming Flamenco dancer. I’ve found La Tasca’s tapas hit and miss, but they’re cheaper than Jaleo, have larger pitchers of sangria, and are a great place to hold a birthday gathering. On the negative side, our service was pretty inattentive (and I prefer the traditional tapas serving style of bringing dishes out when they’re ready, rather than overwhelming the table all at once).
So really, it’s your call. Don’t walk into La Tasca expecting a culinary epiphany. But don’t hang your head in shame as you enter its doors, either. But don’t worry. I won’t be coming by next week with a (wary) defense of The Cheesecake Factory. Some things are blasphemy.
The tapas we sampled this weekend:
Sangria a La Tasca: So fruity you forget it contains alcohol, their offering may be too sweet for some sangria purists, but it’s delicious and the pitchers are generous. And if it’s not your thing, they have about 8 other options for you (even, strangely, a Red Bull sangria).
Patatas Bravas: This was fried potatoes with a tomato sauce and a garlic aioli. A little on the soggy side, but satisfying (I must confess a prejudice; I don’t like mayonnaise, so I avoided the aioli)
Manchego and Jamon Serrano: Good ham and cheese, but definitely could have used a less generous dousing of olive oil
Monkfish: Subtle without being bland; I was a fan.
Baby Octopus: Just enough chewiness and crunch for my taste – a simple, paprika-based presentation.
Salmon y Queso Fresco: Almost seemed a little too NY-breakfast to be at home in a Spanish restaurant, these rounds of bread with cream cheese and salmon were nonetheless tasty.
Flank steak and potatoes: The sherry-based marinade for the meat was fantastic.
Tomato and goat cheese salad: A refreshing side dish, particularly in light of some of our heavier choices
Shrimp with avocado: The shrimp were good; they skimped a bit on the avocado, but it was a nice combination.
Lamb chops: Meaty offerings, nice and tender.
Marinated pork loin: I found the accompanying peppers overcooked and uninteresting, but the pork was thinly-cut and well-seasoned. -
07Aug
The restaurant next to the Petenchal Guest House in Flores was tiny and charmless and grubby, with sunbleached pictures of the World Cup teams taped to the walls. Even to backpackers, this was an inauspicious place, and we walked past it in our search for good local food one night. But “good” and “local” were almost mutually exclusive for me in Guatemala, as I remain unconvinced of the charms of beans and corn tortillas. Oh, how I craved fruit (forbidden by my Lonely Planet) and milk (impossible to find).
Flores is a pretty and colorful but tiny town on an island in the middle of Lago Peten Itza, so before long we were back where we started, in front of our guest house and the grubby restaurant. This time there was a older couple seated out front: Maya, by their dress. The woman had twinkly eyes, and when she saw us approach, she smiled at us. I thought, she knows something about this place that we don’t.
Even before our food arrived, I was thinking of Thailand. When the Boy had taken his students to Chiang Mai six weeks before, he had signed them up for a cooking class, and come back with tales of searching the markets for spices with the chef, and tossing unpronounceable ingredients into exotic dishes. I was enchanted, and wondered why I had never thought of that in my travels. So when the waiter came over to chat (something I loved about Guatemala), I asked him if he knew where I could learn to make Guatemalan food. Within minutes it was settled–we were to come back the next day, and the cooks would teach us. Did we speak Spanish? No. The cooks spoke no English, would this be a problem? No, in fact, it was even better. And the food, when it came, was good, heavy, but strange–there was a tang to it, something familiar but wrong.
The next afternoon, the tiny kitchen was a hundred degrees. The cooks, Olga (in the picture) and Rosa, were younger than us, cheerful, and found us terribly amusing. They showed us how to assemble burritos, and put mayonnaise on top, much to my dismay. That’s what the strange taste was the night before! They microwaved some pulled meat and had me slice up an avocado. That I could already do. They showed us how to mix corn flour and water and shape the paste into tortillas to cook on the griddle. They asked us (by showing us a menu) what else we want to learn, and I realized–this is why there are no cooking classes in Guatemala. There is hardly any cooking. So far in that country I had not eaten anything that was complex or well-spiced or sauced or slow-simmered. The meats were delicious and tender, but I suspected that any meat-preparation class would begin with the words, “First, catch a chicken.”
Still wanting fruit and milk, I turned to look at the shelves, and saw plantains. I pickd them up and put them into the cold frying pan, saying, “Fry?” Olga and Rosa were pleased that I chose that, and showed me how to slice up the plantain and put it into extremely hot oil. I get speckled with little oil burns. Rosa got a bowl of white goo out of the fridge and offered me some. It tasted like a combination of cream cheese and frosting. “Queso!” she said. “Name of cheese?” I asked in my best Spanish. She shrugged. “Queso.” I’ll never know. Freshly fried plantains with sweet cheese turned out to be exactly what I needed in Guatemala, shared with two girls who laughed at every English word we said. -
07Aug
It’s kind of amazing I’ve lived in Courthouse for a year and never made it to the Arlington Farmers’ Market (which during the summer is operating 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays). Now that I’ve been, I won’t continue to neglect the place.
The market is considered a “Producer’s Market”, which means all the participants have to have made or grown all their products. And what an array of products it is!
Saturday’s trip was profitable. Blackberries. Peach Lemonade. Horseradish Cheddar. Purple peppers. Short ribs. You name it, I threw it in my backpack for the bike-ride home (I’m going to need to get a basket one of these days).
Here are a couple recipes using my Farmer’s Market loot. But I highly recommend you check it out, whether you’re in the market for homemade soap, corn on the cob or that delicious sorbet that everyone lines up to try.
Blackberry polenta cake
I used 2 tbl sugar and found that I wanted a sweeter cake, so I’m upping the recipe. If it does not come out as sweet as you’d like, top with maple syrup, as I did
1 cup fresh blackberries from farmer’s market
1 cup flour
1 cup dry polenta
4 tbl sugar
2.5 tsp baking powder
about a tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
Blend dry and wet ingredients separately, and then together. Pour into pie pan. Add blackberries, spread out evenly throughout pie. Bake at 400 for approx 20-25 minutes.
Stacked Eggplant Parmesan
breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
2 large purple eggplants from farmer’s market
half a large ball of fresh mozzarella from farmer’s market
1 can diced tomatoes
handful basil from farmer’s market
Italian spices of your choice
olive oil
In saucepan, combine tomatoes, basil, spices and a touch of olive oil and simmer as you prepare eggplant. Preheat oven to 375.
While sauce is simmering, peel eggplant and slice into rounds. Dip in egg, than coat with breadcrumbs. Brown in oil.
Stack eggplant circles with little slices of mozzarella in between each round in square baking pan.
Pour sauce over eggplant stacks.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes. Serve with pasta or as sandwiches.
Basil/Arugula Pesto
Pine nuts will certainly work with this recipe; I just happened to have almonds on hand
1 cup basil from farmer’s market, packed
1 cup arugula from farmer’s market, packed
about 1/2 cup olive oil
about 1/4 cup almonds, ground
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup romano cheese
Chop argula and basil in food procesor. Add nuts and garlic, then cheese, then oil in a steady stream until desired consistency is reached. Serve room temperature over pasta, spread over bread, etc.
