• 10Jul

    Pacari Chocolate Presentation at Cocova in DuPont Circle.

    As I turned the corner to the street where my GPS indicated Cocova should be, I saw a few restaurants, all doing good business…especially for a Sunday evening. But, Cocova was more subdued. All I saw was an A-frame board advertising a chocolate tasting.

    Like a speakeasy of decades ago, Cocova is in the basement. Since chocolate is a guilty pleasure for many, it kind of fits. Unlike the speakeasy, Cocova is well lit. Also unlike the speakeasy’s sinful nature, chocolate has been given a bad rep unfairly.

    When I was given this assignment, my experience with chocolate was limited to the sugary bars available atevery convenience store in the USA. That is the equivalence of writing an article about Formula 1 racing after having driven a 1972 Datsun B210.

    So, I studied as much as I could find about the subject. I found many articles online touting the benefits of chocolate consumption, including one article claiming indications that chocolate was involved in the treatment of some forms of cancer…but all of the articles that spoke positively of made a point to say it was DARK chocolate that the healthy stuff.

    After speaking with the people of Cocova, I found out that the truth is, the more raw the chocolate you consume, the healthier it is. I can only surmise, with my limited knowledge, that these articles copied the idea of dark only from each other; and that the originator of this idea was from a time when EVERYONE thought of chocolate as the same sugary bars and instant chocolate milk I bought at the grocery store…the idea of “dark” chocolate meant you could not buy it in a wrapper. I am now convinced that my “chocolate cravings” up until now have just been a combination of sugar cravings along with the comfort food the cheap stuff became.

    Now, when I get a REAL chocolate craving, Cocova is on the short list of places I will visit to satisfy it. Cocova offers tastings, classes, and private parties, and supplies chocolate from around the world.

    But, tonight, the focus is on Pacari Ecuadorian Organic Chocolate. Pecari was in town to exhibit at the Fancy Food Show.

    Pacari Chocolate was started in 2002 by Santiago Peralta with the help of his then girlfriend and now wife, with the hope to build a life for his family. Santiago reminded me of Antonio Banderas in the role of Zorro, with a genuine humility, but an underpinning of pride that you knew would attack like a jungle cat on anyone who insult him. He started Pacari with the idea that making the final product, premium chocolate that can compare to its European counterpart, would improve the value of the crop for the local farmers, increasing the farmers standard of living.

    Read the rest of this entry »

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  • 07Jul

    Who’s The Best Date? I’m The Best Date.

    In blatant ritualization of my amazing narcissism, I frequently have ‘date nights’ at home with myself: I cook an elaborate meal, drink good wine, and watch terrible reality TV. My most recent such evening, I was also feeling a bit lazy, so I went for something simple and unplanned, but which turned out to be awesome, and I want to remember it for the next time I cook for an actual date.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifrog/5138834425/

    The recipes below are more or less in the order I made them, but that has more to do with making it all up as I went than any intention. What I ate, in order: salad, soup, fish and veggies, cheese, chocolate. I drank a Malbec from Catena, but cooked with one from a box.

    Stock/soup

    1 carrot, sliced thin
    1 red onion, diced
    About 1/2 cup of diced celery hearts
    3 sun dried tomato halves
    3 cloves garlic (peeled, whole)
    Handful tellicherry peppercorns
    1 whole star anise pod (about 6 seeds)
    1 bay leaf
    3 cloves
    Vegeta
    Sherry vinegar
    3/4 cup red wine
    5 cups water
    Olive Oil
    Sesame Oil

    I tossed the celery, onions, carrots and garlic into a large pot over medium-high heat, and let them start to caramelize. Once they start sticking to the bottom (but not quite charring yet), I added a small splash of sesame oil and a good dose of olive oil, let that get hot, and then deglaze with 1/2 cup of the wine.

    I then added the water and the rest of the wine, plus sun dried tomatoes, dry spices and Vegeta (I used about 1/5 tbs…adjust to your taste). I brought to a boil and then back down to simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes. I added a splash or two of the vinegar about 3/4 of the way through.

    While the stock was bubbling away, I made my salad by putting some raddicchio, baby spinach, frssé, and fresh dill into a bowl and topping it with finely diced yellow squash and some grape tomatoes.

    I also prepped the fish, using:

    1 mahi mahi fillet, either fresh or flash-frozen but fully thawed, rinsed and patted dry.
    1/4 yellow squash (sliced into half-moons about 1/4 inch think)
    1/4 zucchini (sliced into half-moons about 1/4 inch think)
    1/3 red onion (diced)
    Herbs de Provence
    Olive Oil
    Vegetable stock

    I sauteed the onion in the oil until they start to get translucent, about 2 minutes, then added the squash and zucchini, sprinkled with the herbs, and sauteed another couple minutes. I turned the heat down to medium-low and put the fish on top of the bed of sauteed veggies in the pan. Sprinkled with some more herbs. Next, I poured about 1/2-2/3 of a cup of stock into the pan, making sure to baste the top of the fish with it, and brought it all to a boil (it helps if you’ve just made the stock and it’s already hot).

    Again, back the heat to low-medium-low, covered and cooked about 6-8 minutes, until the fish was done. I plated the fish and strained the veggies out of the remaining broth (which you can return to your stock pot for extra flavor, if you don’t mind a little fish in your veggie stock). I served them immediately.

    Now, I actually ate my salad (dressed with olive oil and seasoned rice vinegar) while the fish was cooking, because I was hungry and dammit it was my date.

    I plated the fish, veggies, and soup at the same time. The soup was really just all the veggies that cooked in the stock removed to a bowl with a slotted spoon and then the bowl filled with the stock and finished with some fresh garlic croutons. Bloody delicious I tell you!

    So, after salad and soup, I ate my fish, which was really, REALLY good. I have to say I feel pretty smug about that – tender, moist, and so rich with steamed/poached-in flavor. The veggies were fantastic too.

    It being a date, I wanted to make the best impression, so I had also pulled from my fridge a couple of awesome cheeses (a stinky blue one and a hard, nutty tomme of some kind, both from the Eastern Market cheese lady), so I had those on baguette next. And then, for dessert, I went with simple-is-best (because at this point I was getting lazy), and had Mexican table chocolate shaved over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

    At the end of the day, I would totally give me a second date…and all told, there is now a ton of awesome veggie-with-a-hint-of-fish stock in my freezer, ready for such an occasion.

    -MAW

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  • 05Jul

    Andrew Zimmern: A Chef Leader

    One of my earliest childhood memories is sitting at my grandmother’s breakfast table in a small town in southern India when my mother served me a plate of what looked like eggs mixed with lots of onions and chilies – she said they were “Indian style.”  Only after I had finished the whole plate did she confess that there were goat brains mixed with eggs!   So, when I first saw Andrew Zimmern’s show Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel, I was hooked.  After a lifetime of a mother who pushed my culinary edge, I had finally found a kindred spirit.

    I had the opportunity to sit down on set with Zimmern last week to talk about the upcoming season of his show at the Common Good City Farm here in Washington, DC where he was filming for a future episode of ‘Bizarre Foods America,’ which will air later this year.

    Despite its title, Zimmern asserts that his show “is not let’s go to a foreign country where they speak different languages and eat something weird, [it] is, let’s look at other cultures and explore them through food using it as a divining rod.”  At its heart, Zimmern is asking- what does what we eat say about who we are?

    In this sixth season of the show, Zimmern explores the diversity, excess, and quirks of America’s food culture.  “There are so many great stories here,” Zimmern muses, “think about a large state like New York, California, Texas, Michigan and the number of stories, ethnic groups, possibilities…that’s what makes up American culture.”

    The first show of this season, and the 100th episode of Bizarre Foods will premiere on Monday, July 9th at 8pm ET/PT featuring the food of Las Vegas.   Sin City, unsurprisingly, embodies the extremes of how Americans experience food – from the Bellagio buffet that feeds 16,000 pastries and 2,500 lbs of fish to over 4,000 people daily to extravagant indulgences including a hamburger priced at $5,000.

    What struck me most as I spoke to Andrew Zimmern (aside from his unflinching ability to describe eating a cow placenta in Seattle with the same normalcy as ordering a side salad) is his deep sense of purpose.  His mission is to open the hearts and minds of his audience to new ways of thinking around how we live and eat.

    He often chooses locations that represent positive movements in communities.  For example, the Common Good City Farm teaches LeDroit Park residents, over a third of which are low-income, to grow healthy foods in an urban environment.  While in DC, he will also spend time with the Ethiopian and El Salvadorian communities, as well as explore how the federal government eats.

    “Chef’s aren’t politicians, but they are leaders.  And, chefs with TV shows, especially popular ones, are given a gift of a platform.  And, those who do not use it for good are creating a disservice for society…if I’m not talking about [important] issues and not showing things like this community garden [in DC], it’s all meaningless.”

    “We’ve made more strides to change the foundation of our food system in the last five years than in the last 50 years, however…three things we need to change are 1) to decentralize the food system…to produce more food locally, 2) “truth in labeling” on food products, menus and educate people about what they are eating, and 3) unfortunately, eating well in America is a class issue and we need to re-orient where we spend money on the state and federal level.”

    Like his adventurous palate that takes us around the world to experience food in a way most of us wouldn’t dare, Zimmern’s statements above highlight a chef with a purpose that helps us reflect on the impact our appetites have on the society we are creating in this country.   All the best, Andrew – don’t ever stop challenging us to look at ourselves, and the world, differently.

    – Guest Writer Yasmine (YSS)

    Editors Note: Yasmine’s DCFüd articles are avilable here.

    ———————–

    Check out my friend Ami’s Costa Rica Tours and don’t forget to use the code “TOUCAN” to save money. He has some group tours that you can join, including an upcoming August tour.

    -JAY

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  • 03Jul

    The Fancy Food Show Recently Hit DC!

    There were an incredible number of great products at this year’s Summer DC Fancy Food Show, and there is no way to cover every product I enjoyed, so I will show some of the highlights in the above photo gallery as well as list some of our favorite products below.

    Some of the great products we tried included Chimes mango flavored ginger chews,  Chewy’s chocolate rugaleh (their website is down), Happy Goat‘s chocolate and sea salt caramels, Belfine‘s (Belgian) espresso chocolate, Dancing Deer‘s brownies, Fairytale Brownies‘ Belgian chocolate cheesecake brownie, Walker’s Shortbread (we tried the lemon and the oat), Emmi‘s cheeses (Switzerland), Nueva Cocina’s coconut raisin rice (I haven’t tried the brown rice version yet), Tortuga‘s chocolate rum cakes, chocolate rum turtles, and Jamaica blue mountain coffee, and Rigoni De Asiago‘s Fiordfrutta wild blueberry fruit spread fig spread, nocciolata (hazelnut and chocolate spread) and Italian forest honey. organic, all.  Numi Organic Tea‘s Pu-Erh (what they actually call black teas in china–what we call black tea they call red tea) is my new breakfast drink.  They taste great and are supposed to have healing/weight loss properties–I prefer the chocolate, emperor, and cardamom over the jasmine, basil-mint, or coconut varieties. (Yes, Pu-Ehr has more caffeine than green or what we call black tea.)

    Events related to the show which I attended included a introduction to Korean food class, Cheeses of France event, a Taza Chocolate event at Oyamel, and Rare Tea Republic‘s rare tea tasting.  The Korean class was interesting because it was more of a tasting of flavors than food and they told you the exact order in which to try things (put this on your tongue and then drink that) .  Oyamel made a nice dessert with Taza’s chocolate. The French cheese event included some great French cheeses. The rare tea tasting was awesome because the tea buyer could explain in detail about the teas and the estates.

    -JAY

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  • 27Jun

    Ballston Farmer’s Market will Open Thursday, June 28 (Tomorrow)

    Announcement from the Ballston BID:

    “The Farmer’s Market will take place Thursday, June 28 from 3pm to 7pm at Welburn Square in Ballston (the Ballston Circle) between North Stuart & North Taylor Streets, across from the Ballston Metro.

    In addition to the participating merchants, the Grand Opening will feature a celebrity chef from the Ballston restaurant Willow, who will conduct an outdoor cooking demonstration, as well as live music from the noted-Rockabilly band, Jumpin’ Jupiter.”

    The vendors are listed in the announcement.

    -JAY

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  • 25Jun

    Coed NAKED Pizza: Au Naturel Is Done Pretty Darn Well

     

    NAKED Pizza Boxes.

    A few weeks back, the folks from NAKED Pizza set up a taste test at my office near Tysons Corner.  I heard about the lunch from my colleagues that day – word spreads fast at my office when there’s free food around – and I stopped by to try out some of their product.  I was pretty impressed with it, as were most of my coworkers, and when I saw a new location open up near my home in Reston, I decided to order a couple pizzas and write about them.  But I was in for a bit of a surprise before I even picked up the phone.

    Before calling up the Reston location, I emailed the NAKED press office to inquire about their expansion plans in the DC area.  Then, while watching the NBA Finals a couple of nights ago, I got a response.  From Mark Cuban himself.  No big deal…

    SUPERbiotic Pizza.

    I was convinced at first that it was a joke, but then I started Googling.  If you’re not a Mavericks fan or otherwise haven’t kept up with Cuban, he invested in NAKED Pizza in 2009  (http://techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/mark-cuban-finalizes-investment-in-nakedpizza-orders-a-slice-of-expansion/).  Their story is that Cuban tried out the pizza at their store in New Orleans and loved it – and seriously, if the man can understand a business that quickly, I’m really not surprised that he owns an NBA franchise.

    Mr. Cuban offered to put me in touch with his DC franchising team.  I may have pressed my luck with my response – I thanked him and said I’d love to chat with him about the NAKED investment if he’s in DC any time soon.  But he was cool about it – he mentioned that he’s getting more involved with the company again after a few years away, and in his words, “So far, so good!”  I spoke to Mike Egan, the President and COO of the local franchising group, the next day.

    Thin Crust Pepperoni.

    Mr. Egan readily acknowledged Mr. Cuban’s hands-on involvement in the company, noting that he’s “very down-to-earth” personally, but is aggressive in the business world, as “he wants to work harder than the guy down the street.”  The DC area’s franchise group opened their first store in Pentagon City almost exactly a year ago, followed later that year by the Bethesda location.  In early 2012, they opened their stores in McLean and Reston, and have plans to expand to Ballston and Alexandria by the end of 2012.

    With the expansion coming so quickly, I speculated that business must be good, and Mr. Egan agreed that their group is “cautiously optimistic,” as they’ve seen steady growth and lots of great responses to their grassroots-style marketing.  (Incidentally, at least one of the local group’s advertising tactics included an It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia-style Greenman dancing on street corners in Reston with signs advertising the store – a particularly nice touch to this fan of the show).

    Crust Comparison.

    He noted “remarkable” excitement among the customers about their product, which he repeatedly touted as healthier than the competition’s.  Mr. Egan explained that the company doesn’t view themselves as in the same business category as the big national brands – rather, he said, they differentiate themselves with a higher-quality, “drastically different” pizza.  NAKED’s press materials tout its 10-grain pizza crust made with prebiotic agave fiber – yes, the same agave that brings us tequila – and probiotics, as well as its sauce, cheese, veggies, and meat toppings made with “no preservatives” and “no added sugar, antibiotics or hormones.”

    Mr. Egan also explained that their marketing team has been working to raise the company’s profile with businesses, schools, and other large purchasers, which seems to be an effective strategy:  as I mentioned above, that’s how I first became aware of the locations in the area.  He noted that their prices are “competitive” with other pizza joints, if a little higher, but he argued, “You get what you pay for,” describing their strategic aim as being “…the Whole Foods of pizza.”

    I was thoroughly intrigued, and since the Reston location was on my way home, I called them just before I left the office one recent evening and ordered a couple of small pizzas.  On Mr. Egan’s advice, I tried the “Superbiotic” pizza, one of NAKED’s specialties, topped with artichoke, spinach, bell pepper, mushroom, garlic, red onion, and cilantro.  And just to see how they’d do with a standard pizza, I also asked for a thin crust pepperoni pie.

    The pepperoni pizza’s crust was almost cracker-thin, with a nice crunch balanced with just enough chew to prevent it shattering on the first bite.  But what made this pizza great was the pepperoni – while I’m fairly sure they’re not grinding and slicing artisanal pepperoni on site, the meat slices adorning my pizza were extraordinarily flavorful.  I like making pizza at home, and the pepperoni slices I get from the grocery store absolutely pale in comparison to what the NAKED team uses.

    Their Superbiotic specialty pizza was also surprisingly good.  The sheer number of vegetables they pack onto the crust was impressive, particularly because they didn’t all slide off the top of the pizza when I picked up a slice.  I’m not at all a fan of mushrooms, but the other vegetables together made me forget that any were on the pie.  And the crust on this one, despite being their “original Ancestral Blend,” was also rolled fairly thin, but not so far as to be floppy.  The slices held their shape while not being thick and bready.

    Yet the best part was definitely the aftermath.  Look, we’ve all been there – having eaten way too much greasy pizza, feeling like we’re going to explode, the pizza sitting in the stomach like a crusty, bready ball – but I got absolutely none of that from NAKED’s products.  I finished one of these small pizzas easily, and yet I never felt completely stuffed, greasy, or gross.  NAKED touts its pizzas as healthier than the competition (though their press kit acknowledges that it’s not “diet” pizza), but the intangible feeling of not feeling sick after finishing the meal makes their product absolutely unique in my experience.

    And while I doubt I’ll be getting too many more personal emails from NBA owners, I have to admit – it’s a rarity that a businessman at that level takes such a hands-on interest in his side investments.  Kudos, sir.

    Naked Pizza has four locations in the DC area, with more expected to open later this year.

    -HML

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    Check out my friend Ami’s Costa Rica Toursand don’t forget to use the code “TOUCAN” to save money. He has some group tours that you can join, including an upcoming August tour.

    -JAY

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  • 15Jun

    Some of the Best Things We’ve Eaten Recently #8!

    We’ve been sampling some great food lately lately, so let’s talk about some of the highlights.

    At the Saturday morning Courthouse Farmer’s Market, I purchased Cavanna Pasta’s Artichoke-Pesto Cannelloni ($15, think manicotti). The package has 3  frozen cannelloni per pack, and comes with heating instructions. My oven needed more time to heat up the frozen pasta than recommended in the instructions, but the end product was delicious. Some of the ingredients included basil, shallots, garlic, and pine nuts. Cavanna is based in Richmond. Arrowine carries Cavanna‘s products (and charges an extra $1 for the cannelloni).

    At the Clarendon Farmer’s Market I purchased a small Chocolate Salted Caramel Chess Pie for $10 from Livin’ The Pie Life, and although it was a bit pricey, that pie was well worth the money. It was truly delicious. They sell other varieties and give samples so that you can taste the pies.

    We tried a couple of nice desserts at the Tysons Corner Sheraton. Their Salted Caramel Vanilla Crunch Cake is a pudding cake containing rich caramel and creamy custard, topped with caramel popcorn bites. They also served Ice Cream from Moorenko’s (about whom we’ve written about previously a couple of times). The ice creams are all made with local produce. Flavors change weekly. We tasted the White Chocolate Mint & the Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip.

    9:30 Club‘s Sound Bites featured some great dishes including the Boriquen Lunch Box‘s (Puerto Rican food truck) Pastelon, a sweet plantain and meat casserole with green beans, red and green peppers, onions, garlic, and tomato sauce. It is topped with cheese and I like to describe it  as “plantain lasagna.”

    Also at Sound Bites, Jose Andres‘ Pepe food truck made great Spanish food, including the Botifarra Burger and a ham & cheese sandwich (yes, there is a version in Spain). I did not try their mac and cheese.

    The Lamb Jam featured some great lamb dishes including Poste Moderne Brasserie‘s Lamb Carpaccio, and Bibiana‘s Stuffed Lamb Shoulder. I still vividly remember Bibiana’s Lamb Raviolis from the Lamb Jam’s media preview the previous year. I also very much enjoyed Heavy Seas Imperial stout, which tasted a bit like chocolate.

    Editor’s note (9/2/13): La Forchetta is now knows as Al Dente.

    La Forchetta is a new upscale Italian restaurant of Roberto Donna‘s in DC (nowhere near a metro). They have a cheese list and a cured meat list, and I enjoyed the Castelmagno cheese (cow, sheep, and goat milk). The Grilled Whole Branzino served with Broccoli Rabe and Salsa Verde was excellent. I would go back there for it, although it was a daily special. In general, the restaurant is supposed to excel at fish dishes. The children at the table next to us (the restaurant has a neighborhood crowd) were attacking their pizzas, so we decided to try a pizza with salami, and the pizza was good. The staff seems to lean towards the Tiramisu (it’s huge!) and Cartoccio Siciliano (fried sweet dough filled with sweet ricotta cheese) but we decided on the Bambolino (fried dough balls rolled in lemon sugar with a hot chocolate sauce) and the Zuppa Inglese (chocolate cream, rum sponge cake, hot vanilla sauce). Both desserts were excellent.

    Savor 2012 was last weekend, and it is an amazing beer show. I attended the CraftBeer.com Taste-Off Challenge, and got to see and taste 4 beer experts’ (3 are brewers) beer pairing skills. They had to choose a beer to pair with a rhubarb crisp, but they were not told lavender honey would be added. The 4 contestants were Jeff Hancock of DC Brau, Mike McManus of Brewery Ommegang, Chuck Silva of Green Flash Brewing Company, and Matt Bean of Men’s Health Magazine and Spike TV. While I was torn between Chuck’s choice (Belgian Trippel) and Matt’s choice (Allagash Coolship CERTES), and ultimately voted for Allagash Coolship CERTES, the winner turned out to be Mike’s choice (with Ommegang Aphrodite), my third choice. The DC Brau beer was El Hefe, and I beleive that the stealth addition of lavender destroyed the pairing, which was not Jeff’s fault.

    I sampled a lot of beer at Savor! Some of my favorite beers from Savor include Flying Dog‘s Chocolate IPA, Ithica Beer Company‘s Apricot Wheat, American Beer Company‘s Caboose Oatmeal Stout (I loved this) and Breakaway IPA, Fat Head Brewery‘s Sorcerer (paired with Pork Belly Mole), Bell’s Brewery’s Wild One Sour Brown and Smoked Vienna Lager, Hardywood‘s Singel and Mocha Belgique, Founders Brewery Company‘s Curmudgeon Old Ale, Maui Brewing Company‘s Coconut Porter, Willimantic Brewing Company‘s Flowers Infusion and Pony Espresso Stout, and Ninkasi Brewing Company‘s Believer (which was served with an awesome dish, Red Chile Braised Goat).

    -JAY

    Al Dente Ristorante on Urbanspoon

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  • 15Jun

    Events: Eat Local First & Two Chocolate Events

    In my inbox:

    -JAY

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    EAT LOCAL FIRST WEEK 2012, JULY 14-21

    Eat Local First is a local food campaign that begins with a week-long celebration of local food in the Washington DC area. The focus will be on local farms, local restaurants and the organizations and people that are making locally-grown food more accessible in the DC community.

    From July 14 to 21, 2012, you can dine at restaurants participating in Farm-to-Table Restaurant Week, participate in an array of local food events and celebrate local food with your neighbors at our Farm-to-Street Party. Through this campaign Think Local First DC aims to educate and inspire you to eat local food whenever possible.

    EVENTS CALENDAR

    ———————————————–

    Here are upcoming events at Cocova (chocolate store in Dupont)

    Cocova’s next Sample Day is Saturday June 30th!

    We had to move our schedule around a little to accommodate some extra events this month.  Please mark you calendar for Saturday June 30th, 3pm – 6pm and stop by and experience over 15 fine chocolate bars.  This is a free event open to all.

    July’s samply event is the 21st and August’s is the 18th.

    Exclusive Tasting Events:

    This Sunday and Monday

    June 17 & 18

    6:30pm to 8:00pm

    We are honored to present and host two of the worlds finest chocolate makers this weekend. Both are here for the Fine Chocolate Industry Associations’ annual meeting and for the Fancy Food Show at the DC Convention Center. Even with their busy traveling schedule, they somehow have found time to allow us to share their world renowned chocolate with you at these free Owner events.

    Sunday June 17th  Pacari Chocolate

    Pacari is the first single-origin organic chocolate made entirely in Ecuador. Pacari uses only 100% organic and fair-trade cacao and ingredients.  Come meet the owner, Santiago Peralta, and discover some of his exclusive creations. Pacari has become renowned for their Raw Chocolate products which provide the most healthful benefits of Cocoa.  This is a free sampling event.

     Monday June 18th  Amano Chocolate

    Art Pollard, owner of Amano Chocolate, is dedicated to creating some of the world’s most exquisite chocolate through traditional techniques. Art takes care to visit plantations, buy directly from the growers, and when necessary, work with them to improve their skill in properly growing, fermenting and drying the cacao beans to meet his exacting standards.  Please come and sample Amano’s exquisite creations.  This is a free sampling event.

    —————

    Check out my friend Ami’s Costa Rica Tours and don’t forget to use the code “TOUCAN” to save money. He has some group tours that you can join, including an upcoming August tour, and I hear that airfare to Costa Rica is inexpensive right now for August.

    -JAY

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  • 14Jun

    A Little Artisanal Chocolate Goes a Long Way

    Veteran dcfüd readers will have heard the name “Fleurir Chocolates” before.  Our own JAY has mentioned some (http://www.dcfud.com/2011/10/12/fleurir-chocolate-tasting-friday-eve-at-biagio/) tastings (http://www.dcfud.com/2010/05/14/free-chocolate-tasting-may-20th/) held by the Fleurir team in the past.  But I have a personal connection to the chocolates there, one I discovered only recently when I came across the proprietor of the Georgetown shop, a friend from college, on Facebook.  Amazing how the kids are using this social networking thing these days, isn’t it?

    Ashley Hubbard is the “Jill of all trades” at Fleurir Chocolates.  She mans the store in Georgetown, while her husband, Robert Ludlow, runs the kitchen.  Ludlow, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney, spent some time as a restaurant chef, but found the hours and the lifestyle not to his liking.  After working at Gearheart’s Fine Chocolates in Charlottesville, Ludlow took his new mastery of the chocolate art to the DC area.  While they currently operate out of a small, one-room shop off of Wisconsin Avenue, with production done offsite, Ashley had some exciting news for me:  they had just signed a lease on a location in Alexandria, where they will both produce and sell their chocolates.  Anticipating a build-out of a few months, she told me that they hope to be settled in the new location in plenty of time for the holiday season.

    Fleurir dubs their chocolates “hand-grown,” a slogan that Ashley told me is meant to emphasize the high quality of their ingredients and their near-manic dedication to their craft.  I love chocolate, don’t get me wrong, but I have no idea what goes into making handmade chocolates special.  The team uses Valrhona chocolate, a brand that I’ve heard touted by other gourmet dessert stores (Georgetown Cupcake, for one, prominently mentions Valrhona chocolate as an ingredient in many of its signature cupcakes).

    What makes Fleurir’s products different, though, is the amazing artistry that goes into every single piece.  It’s something I’ve never seen before in chocolate, and I’m a longtime buyer of truffles for my wife.  I even know of a little store in Lexington, Virginia, that produces some of the finest truffles I’ve ever tasted – and in a Wall Street Journal taste test a few years back, they beat such illustrious competitors as Harry & David’s and Godiva.  But Fleurir’s chocolates are the closest I’ve ever seen to works of art rendered in chocolate.  (Admittedly, I do occasionally watch Top Chef: Just Desserts, but I’ve never seen a showpiece live).

    While some of their chocolates are elegantly simple – their peanut butter-banana is enrobed in dark chocolate with a simple golden flourish on one corner, and their Irish coffee flavor is similarly covered in milk chocolate with some dark chocolate on the corner – their pieces come with floral art.  Their Grand Marnier orange blossom comes with a tiny tree, painted delicately with cocoa butter on the surface of the chocolate.  Their “85%” flavor, an incredibly dark chocolate, is dotted with flowers, while their Brandy Alexander shows blue and orange flowers mirrored, reminding me a bit of the characters in Pixar’s “Day & Night” short.

    Yet the chocolates taste even better than they look.  I bought a box of assorted flavors, which Ashley bagged up complete with cold pack to fight the heat on that warm Saturday.  Their take on carrot cake, a white chocolate piece, was absolutely stunning, with a strong aroma of cake spice.  Their lemon honey variety hits the palate with intense citrus flavor – I honestly wonder how they packed that much lemon flavor into a small piece of chocolate.  But I think our favorite was their salted caramel.  Finished with “Australian Murray River Sea Salt” according to the flavor booklet included in the box, the piece melts in your mouth with just a hint of saltiness to contrast with the rich caramel.

    Fleurir has managed to elevate chocolate making beyond what I’ve ever envisioned.  High-quality chocolate is something we can all appreciate, but making it into an art form dramatically exceeded my expectations.  With the expansion to the Alexandria location (something on which I’ll definitely follow up in a few months), the business appears to be doing quite well.  And while it might be a slow season for chocolates right now, this store is definitely on my radar for the holiday season.  My wife helped me taste this assortment, so I won’t be able to surprise her, but I’ve got plenty of in-laws to think about!

    Fleurir Chocolates is located at 3235 P St. NW.  More information on the store (and online ordering) may be found at http://www.fleurirchocolates.com/.

    -HML

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  • 08Jun

    RSVP for this Freebie at Nando’s in Pentagon City ASAP!

    RSVP for your free meal for up to 4 People ASAP, before too many people find out about it!

    It is FREE to dine on Monday, June 11th or Tuesday, June 12th but a reservation (maximum four guests per reservation) must be made in advance.

    The meal includes the following: Appetizer of your choice Combo meal (any sandwich or chicken entrée with any 2 sides) Dessert (yogurt, pastries, or cupcakes) Unlimited refills on soda or 1 beer/1 glass of wine.

    Email katie@mackenzie-pr.com to reserve your time slot for up to four people on Monday, June 11th or Tuesday, June 12th at the times listed above.

    —————————-

    Check out my friend Ami’s Costa Rica Tours and don’t forget to use the code “TOUCAN” to save money. He has some group tours that you can join, including an upcoming August tour, and I hear that airfare to Costa Rica is inexpensive right now for August.

    -JAY

    Edit: I’d assume they are out of space for RSVPs by now.

    Permalink Filed under: Events, Restaurants Tags: , 1 Comment
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