Maybe we’ll luck out today with slightly better weather? If not, you should still head out there for some food truck lunch.

At long last, it’s Friday! Maybe you deserve a treat. To my fellow colonials (lookin’ at you, GWU), you’re all graduating so you deeefinitely deserve a treat. Go get yourself one from a food truck and throw that cap in the air!

So you conveniently forgot your lunch today, eh? Lucky for you there are some food trucks that can help with that.

The world is your oyster! And by world, I mean the five block radius around your office. And by oyster, I actually mean a slab of lasagna, slice of pizza, an empanada or maybe a lobster roll from a truck. Go get it.

Just because you live in a major metropolitan city, doesn’t mean that you can’t bring a little countryside in every now and then. Bridging the two worlds is Smucker Farms of Lancaster Co. over on 14th street NW.

The store, founded by Lancaster-native/long-time DC resident Eric Smucker, brings in fresh produce from Southeast Pennsylvania, along with other goods from local farmers and purveyors in the DC area. You’ll find everything from fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy to herbs and spices and jars of pickled vegetables or jams. Hard-core locavores can rejoice–the store carries favorites such as Gordy’s Pickle Jar, Capital Kombucha, Souper Girl and more. Plus, Smucker Farms offers a pick-up CSA option (that’s “community supported agriculture,” if you didn’t already know) with organic produce from a co-op of Amish and Mennonite farmers in Lancaster County, Pa. When We Love DC stopped by last week, almost all of the spaces in the CSA were full, so hurry up to get in on that.

Check out the photos of the Smucker Farms of Lancaster Co. after the jump.

Smucker Farms of Lancaster Co.
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Sign at Smucker Farms
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Pickled vegetables at Smucker Farms
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Gordy’s Pickles at Smucker Farms
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Strawberries at Smucker Farms
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Herbs at Smucker Farms
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Got the hangers? Easy there, chief. Back away from your desk, take a walk and get some food truckerrific lunch. Maybe bring a cupcake back for that coworker you just barked at.

What’s that in the distance? Right over yonder. Is it a food truck? Why yes, yes it is! Run thither as fast as your legs will carry you.

Happy Friday! Take a little longer lunch today at one of the food trucks and have a great weekend!

Forgot your lunch? I bet a slice of pizza from a food truck would more than suffice.

Hump day got you in a slump? Mayhaps a food truck could help you feel better about being smack dab in the middle of the week.

So you need a good date spot. Something that’s more than just a drink but less than an eight course tasting menu while violins play in the background. That’s where Cork Market & Tasting Room comes in. The restaurant on 14th street introduced Sunday fried chicken and champagne dinners this past weekend.

Chef Kristin Hutter serves up her fried chicken (which was named in Bon Appétit magazine’s “Top 10 Places for Fried Chicken”) along with champagne on Sundays* from 6 to 8 PM in the market’s upstairs dining room. You and your date (friend, dining companion, whomever) can feast on half of a crispy fried chicken along with side dishes such as biscuits and asparagus salad and two glasses of the bubbly stuff.

Reservations for the Sunday fried chicken and champagne dinners must be made 24 hours in advance by calling 202-265-2674 or by emailing tastings[at]corkDC.com. The dinner for two is $75, not including tax and gratuity. Cork Market is located at 1805 14th Street, NW.

*Update as of May 21: Cork Market is offering the Sunday fried chicken dinners one Sunday per month (running indefinitely, as of now). The next fried chicken dinner is on June 10th.

Fancy lunch from a truck? Our strEATs-powered map can help with that.

Wouldn’t a nice lobster roll make this Monday a little easier? I think it might. If you agree, go out there and grab one of the truck variety.

Sometimes you need to glam things up in the kitchen. Go for something a little elegant. Now, the recipe that follows from Blue Duck Tavern’s executive chef, Sebastien Archambault might look a little overwhelming at first–there’s smoked roe and you might be thinking of emailing me, “Sorrel cream? Child please, how can I make that?” But as I said, this is your chance to glam things up in the kitchen. And if you don’t want to go fancy, you can tweak the recipe here and there (ie: leave out the salmon roe). Knowing how to sear a piece of fish so that the skin is crispy? That’s something useful to keep in your back pocket after you try this recipe.

Or you can head straight to the second part and try your hand at the roasted baby vegetables and farro dish. I’m seeing farro on more and more menus and this is a good recipe that will let you use some of the produce that’s abundant at farmer’s markets around the city this time of year.

Happy cooking this weekend, readers.


Chef Sebastien Archambault of Blue Duck Tavern
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Salmon and roasted vegetables at Blue Duck Tavern
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Sebastien Archambault’s Crispy Skin Salmon with Cucumber, Green Almonds, Smoked Roe and Sorrel Cream, along with Wood-Oven Roasted Baby Vegetables, Farro, Olivia Olive Oil & Basil
Serves 4

Ingredients and Instructions for the Salmon:
4 6 oz pieces of salmon, skin on
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch sorrel (10 leaves), fresh cleaned & chopped
1 shallot, thinly diced
2 tbsp dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
1 oz butter
1 oz salmon roe
12 ea Parisian spooned cucumber
4 ea fresh green almonds, sliced
1/4 frisee, cleaned

Instructions for Sorrel Cream:
1. Melt butter in a sauce pan until brown. Add the shallot and cook for 2 minutes.
2. Add the sorrel, stir well, then add the wine.
3. Reduce until dry, then add the heavy cream and reduce it to 1/3 slowly.
4. Season it salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Instructions for Salmon:
1. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan. Place the seasoned salmon skin in the pan and rest a plate on top of the salmon, to ensure a well uniform crispiness of the skin.
2. Cook until medium rare.
3. Warm your plate or dish and add some sorrel cream. Place the salmon skin up on top with three, half slices of cucumber, the almonds, the roe and the frisee, all seasoned with salt and olive oil.
4. Enjoy!

Salmon and roasted vegetables at Blue Duck Tavern
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Wood-Oven Roasted Baby Vegetables, Farro, Olivia Olive Oil & Basil
Serves 4

Ingredients:
8 halves baby rainbow carrots
4 halves baby turnips
4 green spring onions
4 baby leeks
8 green beans
8 baby yellow squash
8 baby zucchini
8 radishes
1 cup farro (grain)
4 cups vegetable stock
1 shallot, diced
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp chive, chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions for Farro:
1. Boil the vegetable stock in a sauce pan.
2. In another pan, add one teaspoon olive oil, the farro, and half of the vegetable stock. Cook gently on low heat. When almost dry, add more stock until fully cooked (but not over cooked, should be al dente). A la minute, heat the farro in a sautéed pan, add lemon juice, olive oil, and herbs.

Instructions for Baby Vegetables:
1. Clean all vegetables.
2. In a sautéed pan, heat the olive oil. Add the vegetables and salt.
3. Sautée until they have a nice color. They should stay al dente.
4. Add vegetable stock to steam, and then glaze. Add herbs.
5. In your dish, add a bed of farro. Place vegetables on top and play with the color.

There’s a school of thought that says specific talents or desires are in our genes or are passed down automatically from generation to generation. Looking at executive chef Sebastien Archambault’s path towards cooking, you might be persuaded to believe just that. Growing up, Sebastien’s father started out as an engineer for Texas Instruments and later became a chef and restauranteur. And while Sebastien initially went the science route himself, majoring in biology in New York, the kitchen came calling when he realized he didn’t want to be a researcher or teacher. “I grew up in the restaurant environment and world,” says the chef, explaining that as he grew older and spent more time helping out at his dad’s restaurant on vacations and holidays, he realized cooking was for him. He adds that both of his grandmothers cooked a lot. “It’s in my blood,” he says.

Fast forward through his ten or so years in Paris in cooking school and working in restaurants ranging from bistros to three star Michelin restaurants, to a stint in Mexico and another in Corsica, Sebastien returned to the United States in 2008. After four years working in Los Angeles at RH and L’Epicerie Market, he landed in DC at the end of 2011 to take the helm in the kitchen at the Blue Duck Tavern from previous chef, Brian McBride.The two had worked together in LA when McBride assisted with the opening of RH.


Chef Sebastien Archambault of Blue Duck Tavern
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

“I like the approachability of chefs in DC,” says Sebastien. Comparing his experiences elsewhere, he adds that LA had many “star chefs” who were removed from the local chef scene. “In France, chefs have a big web,” Sebastien says, noting similarities in DC. “There are suppliers we can share. The chefs are team players. They send their staff to other places and then they come back. It’s a very interesting and important process.”

Throughout our chat, Sebastien emphasizes the importance of having a good team in his kitchen. “There are two things that make me happy: guests and my team,” he says. Sebastien explains how rewarding it is to train cooks and sous chefs and watch them go onto other projects, such as opening their own restaurants. A big smile overtakes the chef’s face as he describes the feeling he gets when a former cook sends him a card years later inviting him to their restaurant. “I spend a lot of time with my staff. You have to train and coach them,” he says.

At the same time, the team in the kitchen presents various challenges. “Team is number one for your mentality,” he says, adding that it’s crushing to have a cook in the kitchen who isn’t passionate. “You’re not just a technician. You have to put your love and respect into it. You need to feel it on the dish. I want to see the fire in the eyes on my team.”

While collaborating on dishes with his staff, Sebastien emphasizes that his role as executive chef is to push his team and try new things, to give directions and a plan, but not kill anyone’s creativity–something that is a delicate balance for most chefs. Not only does Sebastien use his team as a source of inspiration for new dishes, but he says he turns to his memory or the products themselves. “I really want to stay with the concept of American, local cuisine,” he says.

Chef Sebastien Archambault of Blue Duck Tavern
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

As for the front of the house portion, the self-described “calm, concentrated and proactive” chef says that when he sees guests having a good night it’s like “fuel for a motor.” For those who haven’t been, the first thing you’ll notice at Blue Duck Tavern is the open kitchen (no, don’t worry if you think you’re walking through a food station you’re not supposed it be in. The layout is that way on purpose). From the chef’s vantage point, Sebastien can survey each table in the dining room, further connecting him with diners.

In addition to feeding off of the dining room’s energy, Sebastien is providing a little twist for a few guests at Blue Duck Tavern. Since he’s taken over as executive chef at Blue Duck Tavern, he’s been offering limited specials. For example, he’ll prepare between five to ten orders of a special dish throughout the night, which for a restaurant that turns lord knows how many covers in a night is a very small number of dishes. Once it runs out though, it’s out for the night. “I want people to feel it’s special and unique,” he says. “We respect the product we’re using,” adding that often times these dishes are made with ingredients from farmers or purveyors that have a limited supply of a seasonal ingredient.

Check back at 3 PM for Sebastien’s elegant recipe for salmon with crispy skin and sorrel cream along with roasted baby vegetables and farro.

See that big, honkin’ sandwich? That could be yours. If you venture outside and see where the food trucks are.

Ah, the start of warmer weather. Flip flops on casual Fridays, the breeze coursing through your hair (read: the smothering smack from the DC humidity) and al fresco dining options galore. What better way to dine outdoors than amongst the food trucks? Curbside Cookoff returns this Saturday, May 5, and Truckeroo gears up for its 2012 season with its first event on next Friday, May 11. Read more details about each food truck festival below.

Curbside Cookoff: Trucko de Mayo

Don your finest sombrero and elastic waistband pantalones–Curbside Cookoff returns after a year off with the theme of “Trucko de Mayo.” More than 40 trucks will come together for an all day feast at RFK Stadium. Besides all of the food options, you can take in some live music, including a performance by School of Rock, sip a cold beer and play a round or two of cornhole.

If you’re lucky, you could win a free lunch from each of the 45 DC Food Truck Association (DCFTA) trucks, a Kindle Fire, a cookbook autographed by José Andrés and more.

Admission and parking (in RFK lots 4 and 5) are free. Curbside Cookoff runs in RFK Stadium lot 3 from 11:30 AM until 9 PM.

Truckeroo

Kicking off on Friday, May 11, Truckeroo is back to fulfill your food truck needs until the end of September. One Friday per month more than 25 trucks set up at the corner of Half and M streets, SE for a day of live music, games (what is it with food trucks and games of cornhole?) and yes, food.

Admission is free and Truckeroo runs from 11 AM until 11 PM. This year’s dates for Truckeroo also include June 8, July 13, August 10 and September 28.

As the food truck photo above asks, “Feelin’ crabby?” Maybe lunch from a food truck could turn your frown upside down.

Cue up our strEATs-powered map. Close your eyes. Spin around in your office desk chair three times. Point to your computer screen and pick whatever food truck is closest to your index finger. You’ve got yourself lunch plans.

Welcome to the first day of May! Start the month out on the right foot with a little food truck lunch action.