All right, we’re not sure if many Fud-dies have the same pleasure of working in a Springfield, Va. industrial park as we do. But if your work atmosphere is more train tracks and shopping centers than DC power lunches and metro rides, you’re in luck.
A Chipotle just opened in the Springfield Plaza on Old Keene Mill Rd. Ok, not such a big deal. BUT they’re giving out FREE FOOD AND DRINK to celebrate their opening. Technically you need a coupon, but the nice guys at the door let us in, and gave us a stack of invites for tomorrow as well. Free food event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
So those of you stuck slaving away in scenic Springfield, console yourself with a burrito bol this week.
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26Jul
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26Jul
Restaurant Week in Baltimore has hit the midway point, and it’s three weeks until the summertime version of Washington’s Restaurant Week begins.
This will be my third RW in DC since I moved back to the area, and, so far I’ve made reservations for Bobby Van’s Steakhouse. I had been hoding off dining there until after I hit the lottery or found Tom Hanks’ wallet, but Restaurant Week will do. I’m also being dragged to a mystery in the District by some friends who want to keep it a surprise. Could it be Ceiba? Olives? Zola? There’s not too many restaurants on the list this year I wouldn’t try, though some more than others.
I’m curious what a chain (though, admittedly, a pretty good one) like McCormick & Schmick’s would offer that’s dramatically different than what they already make at lower price points. There are a couple of notable omissions from the list, such as Palena in Cleveland Park and Jose Andres’ Oyamel in Crystal City. Odd, since other restaurants of his, including all of three Jaleos and Cafe’ Atlantico, are listed.
A few notes to those who are new to Restaurant Week:
1) Make sure you note in your reservations or to your server that you’re looking for the specific Restaurant Week menu. It seems every year some diners make the mistake of thinking everything on the menu is suddenly $30, and that’s not the case. It is entirely up to the restaurant what they would like to provide for the RW price. Some places offer a few of their regular dishes at the discounted price. At others, they could develop a specific menu.
2) Substitutions are a tricky subject at some restaurants at any time, and particularly so during RW. Some chefs do not like to change what they feel is a masterpiece dish, where each ingredient combines to make a symphony of taste. Due to the demands of RW, other kitchens have already spent a lot of time preparing the RW menu in advance, and a substitution of a specific ingredient would be impossible to accomplish. Conversely, some diners do not like certain flavors, or have food allergies that must be addressed. Again, to avoid an unpleasant scene at the restaurant, call ahead. Most places will work with diners to help identify any food allergies in advance, and suggest other options.
3) Have no reservations about setting reservations – some of the more popular places are already booked during prime dining times, and only prepare a certain amount of the RW menu items. If you expect to walk into packed restaurant and order the RW menu at 10:30pm, you should expect to go hungry.
4) This is a great time to go to a restaurant that does not participate in RW. Have you been trying to score reservations to The Palm but keep getting shut out by the junior senator from Wisconsin? Or been desperately trying to go to Obelisk? Now might be your chance, as participating places are filled up.
What are your plans for Restaurant Week? What places do you want to attend, and which places will you avoid? -
25Jul
Any reader worth her Kosher salt knows our obsessive coverage of all things Splenda. Yet, it seems there are those out there who still do not embrace the joy of hydroxyl-chlorine substitution. How could this be?
Perhaps it’s Splenda’s dubious history: Two scientists in England were trying to create an insecticide. One asked the other to test the new white powder they’d concocted. In accordance with official Crappy English Humor laws, it was misheard as a request to taste it. Thus, sucralose was born.
As a humorous footnote to that story, Splenda has since been tested on numerous cute squeaky things…to delicious results!
But if we still haven’t convinced you, here are some other low-cal powders to dust on your latte.
Xylitol – Also called Birch sugar, this stuff comes from raspberries, plums, corn, and, yes, birch. But to wrap your tongue around this sweet substitute, you’ll have to go to Finland, its ‘home country’. Also Japan and South Korea, if you’re willing to stick with gum. I think Trident uses it too.
Pro: Repairs cavities, osteoporosis, and ear infections, no I’m totally serious.
Con: Wait for it…it’s a laxative. Oh, and can cause loss of coordination, depression and seizures.
Maltitol – It doesn’t decay teeth and has less calories. And it can be synthesized from regular everyday starch.
Pro: ‘Baked goods’
Cons: ‘Gastric Distress’
Isomalt – Like sucrolose, it’s also produced from sugar. Unlike sucrolose, it has about the same volume too- Find this stuff in Candy, coffee, and chocolate.
Pros: Also repairs cavities, feeds good bacteria in the system, and of course, it’s sweet.
Cons: Still has a decent chunk of calories, and has to be mixed with another sweetener to get it to sugar levels. And diarrhea
Stevia – Actually a type of herb, the ‘steviosides’ in it are 300 times sweeter than sugar. Folks go crazy for it in Japan, but you can also smuggle it in from China, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Israel, and parts of South America.
Pros: Well, the US has labeled it unsafe at the request of an ‘anonymous food complainant’. As the various lawsuits against Splenda have proven, these always turn out to be actually filed by the competition. If Sweet n’ Low is worried, you can probably be pretty sure it’s good.
Cons: A faaaaint possibility of depressed male vitality. If you get paranoid about Mountain Dew, this ain’t the sweetener for you. -
24Jul
Various events are hosted through “MeetinDC” , the local chapter of the larger social group “Meetin.org”. I recently hosted a “Mine & Yours” event through the group. The concept behind the Mine & Yours events is that one or two people demonstrate a favorite recipe, and the other participants do the same at a later date. I demonstrated a version of my family’s Argentine-style beef empanadas.
I use pre-made dough, and prefer to bake the empanadas. I use the La Salteña brand of empanada dough because there is plastic between the layers of dough, making the individual pieces of dough easier to separate. The La Salteña empanada dough is imported from Argentina, and is available at local Latin Markets, including Euro-Latino Grocery in Arlington, where the product is $3.49, and includes 20 pieces of dough.I use a Pocket Gourmet Dough Press to seal the dough, but you can use a fork to seal the edges. I purchased the Pocket Gourmet at an As Seen on TV store in New York, but the one in the Ballston-Common Mall does not carry them. A google search for the product will come up with various places you can order your Pocket Gourmet, which generally includes three different sizes of dough press.
Jason’s version of Argentine-style (baked) beef empanadas:
- 1 lb. chopped sirloin
- A small amount of oil to sauté the ingredients
- One small yellow onion
- ¼ cup dark raisins
- ¼ cup green olives stuffed with pimentos, cut in half.
- One coarsely chopped hardboiled egg
- Salt, pepper, and ground cumin to taste. I probably use about 1/8 of a teaspoon of both cumin and ground black pepper
- One package of La Salteña brand empanada dough. Get the version intended for baking. You can buy the version intended for frying, if you prefer to fry your empanadas.
Sauté the chopped onions until they are translucent. Add the chopped meat, salt, pepper, and cumin, and sauté until it is browned evenly. Add the raisins, olives, and hardboiled egg. Refrigerate the mixture until is it cool or the dough will not retain it’s shape while you are trying to stuff it. I sometimes make the filling the day before. Use 2 or 3 tablespoons of mixture per piece of dough. Keep a cup of water handy, and dip your finger in the water, and then touch the inside edge of the dough prior to sealing. Moistening the inside edge of the dough will help the dough stay sealed. Then close the empanada (into a half moon shape) and use a fork to press down all around the outside edge in order to seal it. This will form a pattern of lines going away from the empanada.
Place the empanadas on an oiled cookie sheet, and bake at 350 degrees until done, which should take approximately 20-25 minutes. You should turn the empanadas over when one side is brown, maybe halfway through the cooking time.
The empanadas are either served with a salad, or as appetizers.Euro-Latino Grocery
2700 Pershing Dr. (at Washington Blvd.)
Arlington, Va.
703-524-6800.
Hours: Monday-Saturday: 9 am. to 8 pm. Sunday: 9 am. to 1 p.m.-JAY
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24Jul
“Just what dc needs, another Sushi Restaurant.”
You may recognize this as the mating call of the DC Pretentious Urbanite as he tries to be suave at a prospective mate. This species can be spotted blocks away by their distinctively boring plumage, arrogant squawk, and, above all, unwillingness to admit that there’s no such thing as too many sushi restaurants.
Evolve, Pretentious Urbanite! The ability to experiment with new types of raw fish is a hallmark of civilization. Also, if you don’t cut it out, I swear I’m willing to substitute in for natural selection. If you had your way, we would not have DC’s newest, and most awesomest sushi place, Wasabi.
When it opened about 2 weeks ago, a decent number of DC-ers had never heard of conveyer belt sushi. You know, you sit at a counter, the sushi comes around, you choose what you want, the plates get counted at the end, dim-sum style. It’s a mainstay of most civilized cities, but bizarrely not here.
But this is not the usual conveyor belt sushi with large rubbery chunks of fish protein and rolls that look like the chef is being paid by the pound. When I was finally able to get a seat at lunch last Thursday, what met my waiting chopsticks were absolutely lovely, fresh tuna and salmon sashimi, freakishly perfect and unusual rolls, and then a whole bunch of stuff I’d never seen before at a sushi restaurant. Like melting yellowtail and flounder sashimi that had been marinated in soy sauce and herbs, cerviche-style. And spinach in a sesame seed sauce, tightly packed like a sushi roll. And what looked for all the world like kobe beef tartar, but probably wasn’t.
Don’t like it in the raw? Some of the sushi was cooked, like a duck and herb roll that looked delectable, but for those who despise anything with rice, there were a number of ‘Peruvian inspired’ fish and chicken dishes…and was that calamari tempura I just saw go by? The end result is, take your sushi-hating friend and invite her out for “Japanese Tapas” instead. This place is happy to cater to it. Also of note, The edamame- I know that sounds silly, but it was fresh, perfectly cooked, and had the biggest, tastiest salt crystals I’ve ever had the pleasure to crunch down on. Order it from the additional menu.
There are a couple teething troubles to work out- the waiters seemed ill at ease, and getting the check took a serious bite out of my afternoon nap. Conveyer belt sushi was created so that Japanese salarymen could cram and go, a paradigm that Wasabi will never duplicate unless their Hostess stops taking names by working forward from the last person in line . But that notwithstanding, this is my new favorite sushi place for three reasons:- They have take away. And I don’t mean that aweful, dry supermarket fluff either. If you ate it in the restaurant, there’s a decent chance it will be in the takeaway case, along with surprising complete bento boxes, seaweed salads, and traditional deserts. There’s also the same hot fish and chicken dishes, but they remain untried.
- They are open for both Lunch and Dinner. A rarity in the Farragut North area
- It’s right next to my office. That’s right, one block’s swagger and I can be in fishy heaven every day.
So here’s a standing offer for the next month: If this sounds like the place for you, drop a note to dcfud.writers@gmail.com to munch some ocean byproduct with me and feel happy with the world. Totally serious, I take my lunch at around 1:00, except Wednesdays. No Pretentious Urbanites allowed.
Wasabi
908, 17th St - They have take away. And I don’t mean that aweful, dry supermarket fluff either. If you ate it in the restaurant, there’s a decent chance it will be in the takeaway case, along with surprising complete bento boxes, seaweed salads, and traditional deserts. There’s also the same hot fish and chicken dishes, but they remain untried.
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21Jul
The best thing I ate in Belize (last week–miss me, guys?) was fresh-off-the-boat lobster meat, rolled in coconut, and flash-fried, and served with coconut rice, stew beans, and fried plantains, with very strong rum punch, served under a palapa on the beach during a thunderstorm. These foods, along with “fry chicken,” are practically the national cuisine of Belize, and thunder is practically the national anthem.
I cannot tell you how to make any of that. But I discovered another, secret Belizean food, though, when I was in a grocery store trying to buy breakfast very early one morning. I had a bus to catch in fifteen minutes and needed provisions for the four-hour trip. All they had fresh and local at this grocery was key lime pie, and though I will never complain about having only pie for breakfast, I wanted something a little more substantial as well. As I stood at the counter waiting for the very sleepy, laid-back woman to get me a slice of pie, a small crowd started to form. No one was ordering anything, they were just milling about.
Then, just as the clocked over to 8 a.m., a baker appeared with a tray of…waffles? She hadn’t even gotten them to the counter when the small crowd rushed her and started grabbing as many as they could. Let me tell you–the Belizeans eat quite well, and if they all want a particular food item, you want it too, trust me. I grabbed two before they could all disappear and oh, wow. It was simple, it was processed, it was hardly culinary creative genius, and it was delicious. It was…a ham and cheese sandwich on waffles.
Thaw two plain toaster waffles. On one waffle, put a slice of cheese–I used white American cheese singles because that seemed to be what they did, but you can use whatever you want. On the other waffle, put a slice of ham. Stick them in the oven at 350 until the cheese melts, then make a sandwich and eat it on the walk to the metro. Revel in the jealous stares of the waffle-less commuters around you.
But if you can find coconut-fried lobster, for the love of God, tell me where. -
20Jul
Baltimore’s latest slogan is “Baltimore- Get in on it.” Precisely what one is supposed to ‘get in on’ is left up to the beholder. The slogan has not met with universal approval. One city councilwomen asked in confusion, “Get in on what?” Well, one thing you can get in on Baltimore’s very own Restaurant Week. From July 24th -28th you can eat a set dinner for $30, including a choice of appetizer, entree and desert. Some restaurants have a lunch option, while others offer the deal through the 30th.
In Washington, DC restaurant week is met with considerable fanfare, as gastronomes flock to enjoy expensive food at a comparatively cheap price. The whole idea is to present the opportunity to eat beyond one’s means without the financial repercussions, to get a true taste of the wonder and variety of food available in the city.
Baltimore’s exclusion and inclusion of certain restaurants is therefore of considerable confusion. Restaurants like Unos Chicago Grill, Café Hon (where one could theoretically eat $30 worth of food, if one’s arteries lasted that long), Mother’s Federal Hill Grill (according to their menu, a normal meal would be considerable below $30) and Red Maple (primarily known as a local bar and club) are surprises.
At the same time, some of Baltimore’s favorites are missing- I am looking at you, Brewer’s Art, the Bicycle, Sashas, and Charleston. However, I definitely advise on getting in on a number of the offering, including Sotto Sopra, Saffron, Petite Louis Bistro, Tio Pepe and Obrycki’s. More information is available at http://www.baltimorerestaurantweek.com/. -
19Jul
There are many Arlington restaurants that feature happy hour or daily specials, so it is time for the next article in this series. The prices I mention are after discounts (but before tax and tip).
Mexicali Blues in Clarendon offers half price original burros ($3.50 plus add-ons) all day and night on Tuesdays.
Mister Days in Clarendon features a $9.95 t-bone steak special on Mondays (while supplies last). Wednesdays – while supplies last- the restaurant features a $2 food menu, including a choice of grilled cheese and fries, cheeseburger and fries, cup of chili, hot dog and fries, Buffalo wings, nachos, cheese sticks, cup of soup, or house salad. On Thursdays from 5 to 7 pm, the restaurant offers a free buffet dinner. On Fridays form 4 to 7 pm, the restaurant offers half price wings (10 wings for $3.48), with a choice of BBQ, buffalo, boneless, or regular options. All of Mister Days’ specials require the purchase of a drink, even if it is a soda. The restaurant also has happy hour drink specials.
Eleventh Street Lounge in Clarendon offers the following dinner specials: Monday half price salmon (at $8.25); Tuesday $11.00 for a 10 ounce ribeye steak; Wednesday and Saturday half price burgers ($4.75); and Thursday half price small plates ($3.50-$5). There are also happy hour drink specials. The food specials are from 5 to 9 pm, the drink specials are from 5 to 8 pm, and a DJ spins Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings from 9pm until 2am.
The Front Page in Ballston has half price burgers ($4.00) on Wednesdays between 4 pm and 11 pm, and features dollar drafts that evening.
Mexicali Blues
2933 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, Virginia 22201
(703) 812-9352
Mister Days
3100 Clarendon Blvd.
Arlington, VA
(703) 527-1600
Eleventh Street Lounge
1041 N. Highland St.
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 351-1311
The Front Page
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia
(703) 248-9990
Where To Eat In Arlington When You Are Nearly Broke I
Where To Eat In Arlington When You Are Nearly Broke II
Where To Eat In Arlington When You Are Nearly Broke III -
19Jul
As part of my weeklong desire to drink away the heat, I stopped by my friendly neighborhood Virginia ABC store. I’ve never been in a government-run liquor store before, and was interested to compare this place to private-run stores in my hometown in Maryland. The VABC store had all the staples of liver-crushing goodness – fine aged tequilas, dark spicy rums, flavored vodkas – and the low-end ten gallon plastic drum-sized gins and whiskeys. It was a good mix of high-end taste and low-end value. A couple of their prices seemed a bit high – Sauza and Jose Cuervo tequilas seemed about 10 to 25% more expensive than Maryland and DC – but they had some good specials and discounts to bring it back to par.
What really caught my eye was Voyant Chai Creme Liqueur, a relatively new entry in the market. The website describes it as:Aged Virgin Island Rum, Fresh Dutch Cream, Black Tea from India, Premium Spirits from Holland and a Distinctive Blend of Spices from Asia give Voyant Chai Cream Liqueur the Rich, Creamy Smoothness that you should expect from a Premium Liqueur.
Other than an Annoying Habit of Randomly Capitalizing Letters incorrectly in a Sentence for No Reason, the stuff sounds prettty good. In three hours, give or take, I will be partaking of this new beverage. The Voyant website offers some recipes, a few of which sound pretty interesting, but definitely a little heavy on thicker liqueuers and milk. The stuff sounds perfect for a cold winter day; in fact, I can already picture using this in a rum & coffee mixture to keep warm at football games and ski lodges. Has anybody tried this stuff, and have some tips to share?
I’ll do some experimenting tonight…all in the name of research and service to you, dear readers. Behold the effort…nay…the sacrifices I make for you.
***UPDATE*** July 20, 2006 – So, Voyant is pretty good. It tastes just like chai, but with a bit more fun. Think of a spicy Bailey’s Irish Cream. It’s sweet, and has the look and feel of those hazelnut coffee creamers. The aftertaste of ginger and black tea is awfully pleasing. I initially drank a small snifter of the liqueur, and then began mixing it with other alcohols. I made a simple vodka martini using 1 oz of the Voyant, 3 oz of Skyy vodka, and that was good. Using vanilla vodka made it a bit too sweet for my taste, but I could imagine that replacing the Appletini as a sweet introduction to the world of vodka martinis. Perhaps a 1/2 vanilla vodka, 1/2 Voyant shot could be called “The Ginger Snap.” It mixes well with coffee and milk, as I guessed it would.
As for desserts, I could see it punching up anything from an apple pie to a bowl of oatmeal. I’ve got an ice cream maker that’s begging to be used, and a chai ice cream might not stink. However, that will take a backseat as my first dessert with this stuff will be a tiramisu-like concoction, substituting the typical espresso-soaked lady fingers for a dip in alcoholic chai. If it’s good, I’ll post the recipe. If it’s not, well…you’re best off not knowing! -
17Jul
The next couple of days are going to bring to mind several burning questions, not the least of which is “why in the hell did the Founding Fathers build the Nation’s Capital on a swamp?,” and, for the purposes of this post, is “how can I beat the heat and drink myself into denying either my existence or the 98% humidity?” As a former bartender, I get asked these questions, kind of like an alcohol-fueled Barry and Ira, the two ice cream guys in City Slickers. While the booze is important, the mixer may be more so.
1) When it’s scorching, nothing does the trick quite like a good sour mix or fresh-squeezed limes. Most sour mixes are made up of limes, some lemon and an ungodly amount of sugar. However, that dose of vitamin C can really recharge your batteries on a crazy hot day. The margaritas at Lauriol Plaza, Oyamel and the Banana Cafe’ are all winners, though Oyamel is closed on Mondays. Now I know how The Boomtown Rats felt, if not Brenda Ann Spencer.
2) Fizzy drinks cut through dry mouth like emo kids listening to Death Cab for Cutie. Drinks made with tonic or soda waters, or ginger ale can keep you sane. Tonic water contains quinine, a potion that helps treat malaria and leg cramps – who knew gin and tonic could classify as medicine? Excuse me while I go self-medicate…
Some bartenders freely swap ginger ale and Sprite, and that’s one of my pet peeves, along with people who wear sports gear unrelated to the teams or the sport they’re watching. You know what I’m talking about – the dude who wears a Portland Trailblazers NBA jersey at a Washington Nationals/New York Mets basketball game. Gawd I hate that. Along that line, ginger ale is slightly spicy, and should be used to contrast overly sweet alcohols or mixers. Sprite can smooth over strong, sharp drinks with its citrus base. A well-stocked bar will contain both beverages, and the wise mixologist knows the difference. A Jack-and Ginger would taste like refried hell with Sprite, though a splash of Sprite in a margarita made with a sharp tequila like Sauza Hornitos can make it more tolerable for those who like lighter drinks.
3) Ice cream is good; fruit is better. Some people swear by ice cream drinks when the heat’s on, and a good frozen mudslide can be a fine idea, but who wants to walk the streets with too much dairy in their gullets? I learned the lesson of Ron Burgundy well when he said on that fateful sweaty San Diego day, “Milk was a bad choice.”
I prefer lighter, fruit-based frozen drinks on days like today. A Banana Nutbread is an awesome drink but is heavier than Beltway traffic. I’d suggest an old standby – the pina colada – and a tolerance of the Rupert Holmes’ song.
(For the record – I had no idea that guy had a greatest hits collection, and if I had to guess, it would have come out on cassette single. I figured he did that one song, realized he’d have to play it EVERY SINGLE DAY OF HIS LIFE and just ended it all Budd Dwyer style. Nah, he’s a famous writer, playwright and seems to have weird taste in eyewear. Learn something every day…)
There’s nothing wrong with adding crushed ice to an old favorite. A frozen Cuba Libre – a.k.a. rum and coke – is awesome, as is a frozen Cape Cod, Fuzzy Navel and Long Island Ice Tea. A frozen Mai Tai is like drinking an adult Slurpee but without that weird spoon-straw thing.
4) Malternative – the term used by the industry to identify drinks like Cider Jack or Bacardi Silver, these beverages, besides having more sugar in them than the Nintendo 64 kid, can really cool you down on a hot day. A Mike’s Hard Lemonade usually doesn’t suck, and to make them a little more palatable and colorful, pour a shot of a colored liquor like Chambord, Midori or Key Largo Schnapps. Watch the whole beverage change color and provide a bit more kick!
5) Combine them all and make the ultimate summer drink – The Frozen Tom Collins. Sour mix, a good gin like Beefeaters or Gordons, a splash of tonic and fresh lime juice – prevent malaria AND scurvy, get refreshed. I make mine served over crushed ice, and then float a layer of Grenadine, blue curacao or Midori for fun. Using a little umbrella is up to you.
What do you folks like to drink on a hot day? I’ll be glad to do some research.
