• 15Apr

    We recently attended the April DC Food Blogger Happy Hour at Alba Osteria in DC. The food was excellent, and it is nice that all pizzas are half off on happy hour. Above are some pictures of the evening’s food highlights.

    -JAY

    Alba Osteria on Urbanspoon

  • 14Apr

    May 2014 DCFBHHMay’s DC Food Blogger Happy Hour will be at Mio Restaurant. This month’s Hosts are Chito of RUNINout and Bindesh of DesiGrub.

    Please only RSVP ‘Yes’ if you will definitely attend, and keep your RSVPs updated. We need a good count for the restaurant.

    -JAY

    Mio on Urbanspoon

  • 12Apr

    Filmfest DC is returning for its 28th and final year! The festival runs April 17th -through April 27th. Unfortunately, the festival is $250,000 short of the funding needed to return next year, so if you have any pull with local investors or county governments, the festival can use your help.

    This year, one of the main themes is right along our lines, Feast Your Eyes: Films on Food. Below are the pictures, descriptions, and schedule for films selected for this year’s Feast Your Eyes series.

    -JAY

    ———————————————

    Filmfest DC - Le ChefLe Chef:   Daniel Cohen – France, Spain – 84 mins
    In this delicious comedy about the behind-the-scenes antics in the food industry, Jean Reno plays veteran chef Alexandre Lagarde, who runs a three-star restaurant that carries his name. A new CEO wants to modernize and bring in a new menu, or chef. As Lagarde frets over his future, brash young cook Jacky (Michaël Youn) stumbles into his kitchen. Jacky … more
    Sun, April 20    7:00 PM    Landmark E Street Cinema
    Tue, April 22    6:30 PM    Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema

    Filmfest DC - EdenEden:   Michael Hofmann – Germany, Switzerland – 93 mins
    Eden was presented by Filmfest DC eight years ago and though raved about by our audience, never received commercial distribution in the United States. This year’s Feast Your Eyes series provides reason to give it a reprise. Writer-director Michael Hofmann mixes disparate emotions into a filling meal of a film. Eden is the beguiling  … more
    Sun, April 20    4:45 PM    Landmark E Street Cinema
    Wed, April 23    6:30 PM    Landmark E Street Cinema

    Filmfest DC - love & lemonsLove and Lemons:   Teresa Fabik – Sweden – 99 mins
    At first, Agnes (Rakel Wärmländer) seems to have everything going for her: a job at an upscale restaurant, a rock-star boyfriend, and good friends and family. When she gets wrongly fired by her cruel boss and dumped by her cheating boyfriend on the same day, it’s time for some soul searching. Agnes decides to join a former colleague in starting their own … more
    Wed, April 23    6:30 PM    AMC Mazza Gallerie
    Thu, April 24    8:30 PM    AMC Mazza Gallerie

    Filmfest DC - PaulettePaulette:   Jérôme Enrico – France – 87 mins
    This crowd-pleasing comedy focuses on Paulette (Bernadette Lafont), who used to run a lovely restaurant filled with friends, music, and fabulous food. Now that she’s a widow living in a housing project outside of Paris, she’s unable to make ends meet on her meager pension. While making her rounds between the church—where she complains instead of confesses—and … more
    Wed, April 23    8:45 PM    Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema
    Fri, April 25    6:30 PM    Embassy of France

    Filmfest DC - Romantic BrasserieRomantic Brasserie:   Joël Vanhoebrouck – Belgium – 97 mins
    Forty-something Pascaline runs a brasserie and her exquisite dining room is fully booked for Valentine’s Day. She thinks she is fully prepared and ready for the heart-shaped holiday, but how could she predict that an old flame from 20 years ago would walk in and ask her to go with him to Rio? Her diners must also cope with the unexpected. There’s Rose, a … more
    Sat, April 19    2:15 PM    Landmark E Street Cinema
    Mon, April 21    6:30 PM    Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema
    Thu, April 24    8:30 PM    Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema

    Filmfest DC - Zone Pro SiteZone Pro Site: A Moveable Feast:   Yu-Hsun Chen – Taiwan – 145 mins
    Taiwan’s traditional ban-doh, an outdoor market where rival caterers vie for the public’s taste buds, is given a magical, musical, and colorful treatment in this stylishly fun film. On the run from her deadbeat boyfriend’s creditors and escaping a failed modeling career, perky Wan (Kimi Hsia), the daughter of a ban-doh chef, returns home to find … more
    Sat, April 19    6:15 PM    Landmark E Street Cinema
    Sat, April 26    3:00 PM    Landmark E Street Cinema

    Permalink Filed under: Events Tags: 1 Comment
  • 01Apr

    April DCFBHH Alba OsteriaReminder:

    Next DC Food Blogger Happy Hour is at Alba Osteria tomorrow (Wednesday April 2nd), 6-8pm.

    We will be tasting the delicious Piemontese-inspired cuisine of Executive Chef Roberto Donna and Chef de Cuisine Amy Brandwein.

    Please RSVP here and keep your RSVPs updated, since we need a good count for the restaurant!

    Your Hosts this month are Lili Kocsis of My Amused Bouche and Laetitia-Laure Brock from French Twist D.C.

     

  • 26Mar

    Cy and I were in attendance a couple of weeks ago at RFD‘s Oskar Blues Brewing Dinner. We did get lost finding the back room, but we didn’t know RFD has a back room.

    Oskar Blues has one brewery each in Colorado and North Carolina, and was one of the pioneers in beer canning. Apparently, beer bottles and Colorado mountain travel aren’t a great combination.

    This my first time drinking Oskar Blues’ beers, and I have to say that there was not a single brew I did not enjoy. I did try to pace myself since five beers can hit pretty hard when two of them are over 10% alcohol). RFD did a great job pairing great dishes and beer.

    The evening’s pairings:

    • Cheese (Grafton 2 year Cheddar and Maytag Blue) & Chopped Liver with Dale’s Pale Ale (6.5% ABV). I loved the cheddar, but avoided the blue cheese. This was billed as Cheese & Charcuterie, but there was none of the latter to be found. The chopped liver was tasty, and had apples in it, which lightened and sweetened it.
    • Melon & Prosciutto with G’Knight Imperial Red Ale (8.7% ABV). This was plated with a Parmesan tuile on top.
    • Crawfish & Andouille Gumbo with Gubna Imperial IPA (10% ABV). Crab stock Risotto!
    • Classic Brew Burger “Oskar Blues Style” with Ten Fiddy Russian Imperial Stout (10.5% ABV). These great Bourbon Barrel Bacon Burgers (holy alliteration, Batman) were stuffed with blue cheese, except for mine, which thankfully was stuffed with Gruyere.
    • Flourless Chocolate Torte & Smoked Chocolate Mousse with One Nut English Brown Ale (6.1% ABV). This was a great chocolate dessert, especially the mousse.

    Cy’s Beer notes:

    • Dale’s Pale Ale: Light amber color, clean hoppy aroma, nice mellow hop flavor.
    • G’Night Imperial Red Ale: Deep red color, grapefruit/citrus aroma, citrus/cereal flavors.
    • Gubna Imperial IPA: Dark amber color, caramelized orange aroma, spicy/hoppy/citrus flavors.
    • Ten FIDY Russian Imperial Stout: Black color, light malt aroma, roasted  malt flavor.

    -JAY

    Editor’s Note (April 6, 2014): Oskar Blues has 2 beers on Thrillist’s list of top 15 underrated canned beers.

    Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or entry to events.

    R.F.D. Washington on Urbanspoon

  • 26Mar

    calling-all-talented-junior-chefsI know many of my readers have kids, so am passing this along.

    -JAY

    “Teach kids to cook and eat healthy and you might be rewarded with a VIP trip to DC to attend a Kids’ “State Dinner.” The 3rd Healthy Lunchtime Challenge hosted by the First Lady Michelle Obama and Epicurious will select one winner from each state and the territories to be flown by Delta Airlines to Washington, D.C. for a once in a lifetime trip. Create a healthy recipe, submit it by April 5 and you could win.

    Read Epicurious’ latest bog post about it here. Find the guidelines and enter by April 5th here.”

  • 19Mar
    Turkish Baklava

    Baklava!

    A few weeks ago marked an international holiday perhaps few Americans appreciate, and even fewer are familiar with. The Embassy of Turkey gave the holiday the full recognition it deserves on March 7th, when members of the Turkish Embassy and distinguished guests both from abroad and from the D.C. area gathered in the Turkish Embassy Chancery to celebrate International Woman’s Day.

    Under the auspices of the Embassy of Turkey, The American Turkish Association of Washington, D.C., and Turkish Airlines, the Bridge to Turkiye Fund presented the night’s program. Guest speakers included: Schroeder Stribling, Executive Director of N Street Village, a prominent community that provides empowerment and recovery for homeless and low-income women in the Washington, D.C. area, and Diana Mayhew, President of the National Cherry Blossom Festival and recipient of the ATA-DC International Women’s Day award.

    We were treated to a showing of “Kardelen, The New Hope of Turkey,” Tino Soriano’s National Geographic documentary about the struggles and triumphs of young women growing up in Turkey. Mr. Soriano has made the film available online.

    It was a genuinely inspiring night full of heartfelt stories and hard working people whose work is admirable (to say the least). Also, there was a long delicious buffet that topped off the inspiring night of thoughtful conversation about global feminism and equality with a serving (or two) of baklava.

    Noteworthy items from the menu included the baked pasta stuffed with cheese and parsley. As a fan of anything stuffed with cheese, this dish was addicting. There were newsworthy (call the presses!) baked potatoes that my date and I assaulted (we waited till nobody was looking), and delicious green peppers stuffed with orzo.

    Of the protein courses, the tuna fish salad and diced fried lamb were my favorites. At the head of the table was a ginormous whole smoked salmon that stared at me with knowing eyes, judging me for my dining choices as I dished out my second helping of cheese-enhanced pasta. I’m a tuna melt kind of a girl, so the tuna salad was more my style. Some of you are perhaps thinking, “Can you mess up tuna salad?” You can. I’ve eaten some. It was a haunting experience.

    There was also a small refreshment station that offered wine, soda and juice. To the very nice man in the grey suit and brown tie that served me several glasses of wine that night: thank you.

    Also, did I mention the baklava? There was baklava that night and I might have consumed half of it. No shame. Salmon, stop looking at me.

    -MAS (Mary)

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  • 18Mar

    We had a great DC Food Blogger Happy Hour at City Tap House a couple of weeks ago. Above are a few pics of the great food we tried there.

    City Tap House also has a good fried shishito pepper dish and a mezze plate (including curried hummus). They have a great beer selection, good happy hour specials and serve La Colombe coffee, which I wrote about recently. Oh, and I’ll admit to ordering their happy hour cocktail of the day, the Crabby Mule (a take on a Moscow Mule), which was awesome.

    Info on the next DC Food Blogger Happy hour is here.

    -Jay

    City Tap House on Urbanspoon

  • 15Mar

    In DC, it seems, St. Patrick’s Day is never a one day affair. From Saturday’s ShamrockFest to Sunday’s annual parade and all the Irish themed hoopla in between, this weekend is sure to turn the district green. For those who won’t be done celebrating after the weekend extravaganzas, here are my top picks for some good craic on the Day itself – Monday, March 17th:

    1-GuinessJack Rose Dining Saloon:

    2007 18th St N.W., Washington D.C.

    Jack’s is kicking off their rooftop terrace party at 11am and have Irish food/drink specials until close.  The Fish and Chips and $5.00 pints add an Irish flare to U Street.

    The Dubliner:

    4 F St N.W., Washington, D.C.

    For the best pint of Guinness in the city, head to Capitol Hill, where live Irish music will be raging on 2 stages from 10am to close.  Their Irish fare, notably the shepherd’s pie, brings me back to my time living in Dublin.

    Rí Rá Irish Pub:

    3125 M St N.W., Washington D.C.

    The friendly Irish bartenders and authentic Dublin pub atmosphere makes this Georgetown restaurant a new favorite.  In honor of St. Patty’s, their corned beef and cabbage special runs the entire month of March and is among the best in the city.

    Shake Shack:  

    1216 18th St, N.W., Washington D.C.

    800 F St, N.W., Washington D.C.

    Everyone’s favorite burger joint is getting in the spirit with their Irish Fries Are Smiling special: toppings include horseradish cream, scallions, and crispy applewood smoked bacon.  Not the most genuine experience, but certainly a delicious choice.

    Sláinte!

    -Guest Writer, MLC (Marissa)

    Jack Rose Dining Saloon on Urbanspoon

    The Dubliner on Urbanspoon

    Rí Rá Irish Pub on Urbanspoon

    Shake Shack on Urbanspoon

  • 13Mar

    April DCFBHH Alba OsteriaNext DC Food Blogger Happy Hour is at Alba Osteria Wednesday April 2nd, 6-8pm.

    We will be tasting the delicious Piemontese-inspired cuisine of Executive Chef Roberto Donna and Chef de Cuisine Amy Brandwein.

    Please RSVP here and keep your RSVPs updated, since we need a good count for the restaurant!

    Your Hosts this month are Lili Kocsis of My Amused Bouche and Laetitia-Laure Brock from French Twist D.C.

     

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