Category Archives: Food and Drink

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Who’s Extending Restaurant Week

Photo courtesy of
‘back to business’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Did you wait too long to snag a reservation at a coveted restaurant last week? Fear not! There are still plenty of restaurants in the District that have decided to extend the good deals that only comes twice a year. Below you can find an exhaustive list, but if you’re craving some more guidance on where you should go, here are my top five picks.

My first pick: 701, because I had a fantastic meal there during last year’s restaurant week, the ambience was great and there was live jazz. Second pick: Kellari, because their seafood is fresh and what they’re offering on their RW menu is a good deal. Third pick: Zaytinya, because I love Jose Andres and they’re offering four courses which would normally cost you more than $35.11. Fourth pick: Smith Commons, because I’m curious to try their food after Ashley’s First Look. And my fifth pick: Coco Sala, because so often RW desserts can be rather lacking, so I would sincerely hope a restaurant built on chocolate would dispel that notion!

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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First Look: DC Empanadas Food Truck

DC Empanadas Truck
DC Empanadas Truck
Courtesy of Bonappetitfoodie

Here’s what I really love about the food truck scene: one day I can get Indian curry, the next day an all-American, New England lobster roll and the next a delicious selection of Latin American empanadas. And even within the menu at DC Empanadas there’s diversity in the fillings–fruit and cheese, beans and rice, and some good ole meatballs, marinara and mozzarella.

DC Empanadas officially started rolling in the beginning of January and is further proof that frying something will only make it more delicious. I’ve made two trips to the truck so far and have subsequently devoured every little pocket of fried dough with hot fillings that I’ve gotten my hands on. The types of empanadas they offer change daily, so I’ve happily done some of the legwork for you and tried seven of them. Yes, seven–that’s about one-third of the menu. You’re welcome. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour: West Islayer

West Islayer (photo by author)

It’s time for Friday Happy Hour, highlighting a drink we’ve recently enjoyed, every Friday at 4pm! Please share your favorites as well.

One of my besties, Heidi, wanted celebrate her birthday with a low-key, grown-up sort of celebration in which a group of us went out for a nice dinner and cocktails at a nicer sort of restaurant. Our group, though, is all vegetarians or vegans, so the choices for fancy spots can feel limited. She picked Rasika for the ample offerings of both veg fare and original cocktails.

Jason Stritch was behind the bar that night and we enjoyed a number of his creations. He told me he spends about thirty hours a week just prepping ingredients – creating his own syrups, growing herbs, and brewing his own cider (which was the best cider I have ever tasted – though I am not much of a cider fan). The first thing he whipped up for me was a Scotch-based cocktail called the “West Islayer.”

Scotch can be a challenging base for a cocktail – most Scotch-tails I have tasted leave me wishing I just ordered a tumbler of the stuff without mixers – but the campfire smokiness of a Laphroaig Scotch is so appealing this time of year that I gave the drink a chance. It won me over immediately.

To the smoky Laphroaig, the drink adds spiced honey and allspice dram. The sweetness and hint of spice add a wonderful walking-on-damp-leaves-in-autumn quality. Everyone who sampled my drink – and, with an aroma like the West Islayer has, everyone around wants to sample it – enjoyed it, be they regular Scotch drinkers or the person who claims they do not like to drink “anything brown.”

Food and Drink
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All Your 2011 Restaurant Openings To Look Forward To (Part 2)

Photo courtesy of
‘Funny fro-zen-yo Signage’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Yesterday we previewed half of the upcoming restaurants of 2011. Here’s the second half.

District Commons and Burger, Tap & Shake

Don’t you just love the whole restaurant within a restaurant idea? Well, whether you do or not, Passion Food Hospitality (Acadiana and DC Coast) will soon open their sixth and I guess also 7th location. Chef Jeff Tunks along with David Wizenberg and Gus DiMillo will serve up American cuisine at District Commons, plus burgers, double fried fries and adult milkshakes at the counter-service BT & S. Both Foggy Bottom restaurants will share a beer menu featuring 20 American small batch beers.

2200 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Expected Arrival: Spring 2011 Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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First Look: Big Cheese Truck

Photo courtesy of
‘347/365’
courtesy of ‘BrianMKA’

Food on wheels has been (and I’m thinking it will be continue to be) all the rage in DC. And with each new truck’s appearance, I get giddy about the prospects of expanding my lunch horizons. Big Cheese Truck launched in mid-December and I finally caught up with them to give them a try. It was a cold, blustery day and I thought a hot grilled cheese and warm tomato soup would be just the thing to get me through the workday. Unfortunately, I’ll be honest and say that I was disappointed.

The tomato soup was chunky and had a strong basil flavor. While I could have handled the basil, the salsa-esque consistency threw me off. Something about warm, chunky salsa under the pseudonym of tomato soup just didn’t do it for me. The grilled cheese with cheddar on sourdough should have had more cheese and definitely could have been melted more to reach the point of gooey-deliciousness. The cheese from the local Cowgirl Creamery was a good pairing with the tangy sourdough bread. However, for a sandwich coming from a truck named “big cheese,” I was expecting huge, gooey gobs of cheese, not a thin, apparently shredded, layer of the stuff.

I know the initial launch for a food truck (or any restaurant, for that matter) can be rough, and there’s some level of trial and error on the menu. So I’m hoping that the Big Cheese Truck will improve with time and deliver a bigger and better lunchtime favorite to the hungry cheese-eatin’ people of DC.

Food and Drink
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All Your 2011 Restaurant Openings to Look Forward To (Part 1)

courtesy of Tricia BarbaIf you love food as much as I do, then you eagerly track what DC restaurants are opening plus where and when. With this list, we hope to do that work for you, so that all you have to do is head to the new place and try it out!

I included every restaurant I knew of, but I’m obviously not perfect. So please email me at Tricia@welovedc.com or send me a tweet at @SoooDC if I’m missing something. I’m always up for gossip too! This list is your list.

Bullfeathers

If there’s such a thing as a Capitol Hill watering-hole, Bullfeathers is it.  House staffers and lawmakers who have missed this mainstay, can stop worrying because the hangout is reopening on January 24. The new Bullfeathers is now owned by the team behind Stoney’s, Tunnicliff’s Tavern, and Ulah Bistro. It will be fun seeing what trademarks from those restaurants make it over to Bullfeathers.

410 First St. SE

Arrival: January 24, 2011

Mandu

The popular Korean restaurant did so well in Dupont Circle that is is opening up in City Vista too.  Mandu was started by the Lee family — mother Yesoon and children Jean & Danny.  They saw many traditional Korean restaurants in the suburbs (hello, Annandale) but none in the District.  Mandu means dumpling in Korean, and here you can find beef & pork, shrimp, and vegetable dumplings.

475 K St. NW

Twitter: @ManduDC

Arrival: January 24

Jack Rose

This new upscale restaurant/lounge is expected to open in late January 2011, and we can’t wait for parking in Adams Morgan to get even harder to find. At the site of an old gym, I bet this 2-story and almost six thousand square feet building will be a new hot spot on the “strip.” One of the minds behing this venture is Bill Thomas, also the owner of Bourbon and Breadsoda.  The other is Michael Hartzer, who’s worked at Citronelle and IndeBleu. I wonder if the classic cocktail will always be on special.

2007 18th St NW.

Twitter: @JackRoseinDC

Expected Arrival: Late January 2011 Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Bullfeathers Bounces Back on Monday

DSCN0564

Photo Courtesy Tricia Barba

As a former Capitol Hill resident and now a proud Navy Yard dweller, let me just say that Monday’s re-opening of Bullfeathers is one that I’ve been eagerly awaiting.  And that’s an understatement.

To recap: Bullfeathers “closed” in July of last year in order to undergo a complete renovation.  The Capitol Hill mainstay is now owned and operated by the team behind the popular Tunnicliff’s Tavern, Ulah Bistro & Stoney’s. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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David Varley of Bourbon Steak Bids Farewell to DC

Photo courtesy of
‘mmm…broiled meat…’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Next week DC will say goodbye and good luck to David Varley, the executive chef at Bourbon Steak. Varley has led the restaurant for the past two years and will leave for San Francisco where he will be the Corporate Chef in the Mina Group. Before he jets off to the west coast, I sat down and talked with Varley about his new job and his thoughts on leaving the District. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features, The Hill
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First Look: Smith Commons

Photo Credit: Greg Powers

I have to believe that one of the worst locations to open a restaurant right now is on the south side of H St. NE. If it wasn’t hard enough to establish yourself, try doing it from behind chain link fencing and the giant crater that will hopefully be a street car track one day. I have a hard enough time figuring out where to cross the street that most of the time I just give up and end up at Sticky Rice. I was determined the other night though, so I made it through the war zone that is the construction barricades and finally found myself at Smith Commons, the newest restaurant/lounge to open on H St.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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The Queen Vic on H St. Is Almost Here

Courtesy Ryan Gordon
photo courtesy Ryan Gordon

Cornish pasties will soon make an appearance on the ever-changing H St.

If you’ve been anxiously awaiting the beef and potato pie since you heard first of the British gastropub, The Queen Vic, you only have about one month left to go.

The Queen Vic owner Ryan Gordon tells me that the pub, which is named after a “Public House” in the soap EastEnders, will open its doors sometime between February 15th and 25th.  The British menu will not be static, but change constantly.  So expect a regular menu with the traditional fish & chips and curries, but many extras on an additional blackboard menu.

The name Ryan Gordon might be a familiar one to DC foodies or H Street residents. That’s because he’s also associated with The Pug, the low-key, neighborhood spot. Gordon says he chose H Street for The Queen Vic’s location because as an H Street resident he has witnessed the neighborhood’s transformation first-hand.

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Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Tackle Box

Photo courtesy of
‘Tackle Box Sign’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Though I live in the general area, I don’t spend much time on M St. in Georgetown. It’s not that I have anything against it, except that I run the risk of driving myself in to serious debt every time I walk down the street. Intermix, your siren song calls to me. There is one place that I’m willing to risk credit card debt for, and thy name is Tackle Box.

Tackle Box is the cooler little brother to its snooty boarding school sister, Hook, next door. While Sis spends her days rolling her eyes at all those outlanders who come to Newport in droves every Memorial Day weekend, Little Bro spent his summers working at a dockside restaurant and drinking on the beach with his friends at night. In other words, while Hook is a great meal for a special occasion, Tackle Box is at your service for a tasty lunch, brunch, dinner or snack just about any time.

Continue reading →

Dupont Circle, Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Tabard Warms You Up

Photo courtesy of
‘Magnified’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

There are warm winter drinks, and then there are hot drinks. As in flaming hot! Next Tuesday’s tasting at Tabard Inn will feature one I recently tried in New Orleans, Cafe Brulot, a combination of coffee, brandy and spices. Chantal Tseng will demonstrate how to prepare it in the classic style, as the brandy is set on fire while cascading down a long spiraling orange peel (“Wish me luck!” she says). Though the pyrotechnics are a lot of fun, they aren’t just for show – the flaming preparation gives the drink a spicy hot citrus taste. There’s a distinct thick richness that comes from the alchemy as the flaming liquid is poured down the orange peel repeatedly. I loved it in New Orleans and can’t wait to warm up with it again.

There’s lots more to the evening, with Adam Bernbach of Proof and Estadio joining Chantal to focus on other hot drinks branching out from the classics. Talented Tabard chef Paul Pelt will provide pairings for the winter warmers with three tasting-size courses, ending with dessert by Huw Griffiths. All for $50 inclusive, from 7pm-9pm on January 25. To RSVP, email wheron@gmail.com.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Dinner with Wine Pairings at Ripple

Photo courtesy of
‘ready for wine’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

I confess that as a foodie my knowledge of pairing wines with food is…shall we say, a little lacking. I’ve always deferred to the “experts” and wino friends for advice on what wines to buy and what to serve them with. So the Peter Franus dinner and wine pairing at Ripple seems like it would be perfect for someone whose knowledge of wine is limited to “white with chicken and fish, red with beef.”

The dinner on January 25th will consist of five courses served with Napa Valley wines from Peter Franus Wines. Ripple is a gem in the city and when I had dinner there in the early fall, every dish was great from start to finish. For this particular tasting, some of the courses will include slow poached eggs, crispy duck leg confit, a braised veal cheek and a spin on the Fig Newton. Wine selections will include zinfandels, sauvignon blanc and a cabernet.

Tickets are $90 per person. To make a reservation for the dinner, call 202-244-7995 or email danny@rippledc.com or theo@rippledc.com.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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He/She Loves DC: Where to Go for Restaurant Week

Photo courtesy of
‘Restaurant’
courtesy of ‘kingkool68’

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.  Okay, maybe not, but it is DC Restaurant Week, so we asked some of DC’s well known residents to tell us what restaurants they are hitting up this month.

The ubiquitous DJ Tommy McFly , who recently “flipped to Fresh,” tells us he always goes out for Restaurant Week because he “loves a good deal,” and who doesn’t? The new 94.7 Fresh FM DJ will make his first stop at Birch and Barley (1337 14th St NW) because of its beer pairings.  Birch and Barley prides itself on offering a unique food and beer experience, and if you want to know what Tommy thinks after checking it out, follow him at @TommyMcFly.

Staying on the DC Media track – WUSA9’s Angie Goff is known for hitting the town even if she is working the morning shift the next day, and the new proud- mom needs no reason to eat out. She will be trying out BlackSalt (4883 MacArthur Blvd NW) for the first time, as well as old favorites like Chef Geoff’s, Georgia Browns, and Bistro Bis.  BlackSalt looks like a great choice with the mussels and seafood stew on the menu. Continue reading →

Arlington, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Iota Club & Cafe Offers More than Music

Photo courtesy of
‘Coffee and Kerouac’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’

Finding a place to lounge and sip coffee in this city is easier said than done. But for those of you in Clarendon, that quest just got a little easier. Iota Club & Cafe has now launched iotaday, a sandwich and coffee lounge with a new walk-up counter.

The music venue has expanded their food selection to include light breakfast, lunch and dinner options. You can grab brunch there up until 3:00 PM on weekends. Locavores, you’ll be happy to see that Iota’s coffee options come from the Annapolis-based roasting company, Caffe Pronto and the pastries are from Chef Jessica Knudson of Hawthorne’s Fine Breakfast Pastry. While I can’t speak from experience (yet), the descriptions of their “smasher” panini sandwiches are enough to make me want to metro out to Arlington for some mid-day noshing.

The newly renovated bars and seating areas will have free Wi-Fi, so you can sip and lounge and maybe even get a little work done. Iota is open from 6:30 AM on weekdays and from 8:00 AM on weekends and holidays.

Food and Drink, Night Life, The Daily Feed, The District
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Town & Country Goes to the Farm


‘Town and Country’
courtesy of ‘Don Feduardo’

You might have seen this already. Tonight’s last call will truly be the last for (insert-cliché-here) bar Town & Country at the Mayflower, closing to make room for a relocated Thomas Pink store in what appears to be a complete renovation of the hotel’s ground floor.

The Social Chair and I stopped by last night to have a round and toast the bar’s history, but this was actually my first visit there. I’ll miss it in theory (I love the room) but the cocktails she and I had were underwhelming at best. Have you been? Are you going tonight? Any favorite memories?

And if you need a replacement old-school, wood-paneled room for your drinks, don’t fret! There’s still Blue Bar, the Occidental, Round Robin, Off The Record …

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Bloody Mary

Photo courtesy of
‘Bloody Mary’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

It’s time for Friday Happy Hour, highlighting a drink we’ve recently enjoyed, every Friday at 4pm! Please share your favorites as well.

Wait, a Bloody Mary on a Friday? They’re just for brunch, right? Ok, perhaps you won’t be having one this evening, but I happen to harbor a soft spot for the most ubiquitous of hangover helpers. I especially love its history, around since the 1920’s in Paris or 1930’s in New York, depending on the tale – its exact origins are somewhat disputed. Vaudevillian George Jessel claimed to be the first to mix vodka and tomato juice as a morning cure-all, while famous bartender Fernand Petiot added the spice element now considered essential. Petiot worked at Harry’s Bar, frequented by another master of the cocktail, Hemingway. This gives what we usually consider a humble drink a very sexy past.

I’m partial to my Bloody Mary with a Bull Shot, that is, adding beef broth which gives it a lot more depth. This is probably due to my hating tomato juice with a passion as a child. It was only as an adult that I grew to tolerate it, spurred by a friend who swore by tomato juices’s healthy and healing qualities. Slowly I saw the light. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Daily Feed
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Making the Most of Restaurant Week

Photo courtesy of
‘leave the gun…………’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

I used to go blindly into Restaurant Week. All willy-nilly about where I wanted to eat, randomly picking places that had open reservations and were on my list of restaurants to try. And while this strategy served me well, I feel compelled to advise you all to form a calculated and informed plan for this upcoming winter 2011 DC Restaurant Week. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Chinatown Coffee Company

Photo courtesy of
‘Mocha, Chinatown Coffee Company’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

I have a confession. I can’t make a cup of coffee to save my life. In fact, I make really horrible coffee, sludge coffee, gritty coffee. I make worse espresso. Crema? Ha! You’d be lucky.

That must be why I love baristas so much. I watch them like some people watch priests turning water into wine. Hushed, respectful, full of wonder. And I love a hot tattoo. Plus an extra shot of sass with my caffeine always helps.

Which brings us to Chinatown Coffee Company…

“I’ll have a mocha, I think,” I blearily requested one Monday morning.

“I would never have guessed,” the barista coldly replied. I looked up, blinking in surprise. He held his deadpan for what seemed like an eternity and then cracked a wide smile.

“It’s Mocha Mondays, girl!” he laughed, pointing at the blackboard where the notice danced in happy pastel chalk.

Just like that, I fell in love.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Essential DC, Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, News, Night Life, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Matchbox Rockville

IMAG0185

If you enjoy the dining experience at Matchbox’s Capitol Hill and Chinatown locales, then the newly opened Rockville location will be to your liking as well. Situated a 5 minute walk from the Twinbrook Metro Station on the Red Line, along Rockville Pike, this latest addition to the Matchbox franchise is vast.

Despite a seating capacity of about 300 seats inside and an additional 130 outside, the restaurant stays close to its architectural roots with open fire pits on the patios, straw textured walls, brushed metal, brick facades and wooden beams from two old barn doors. Matchbox also features two hand-built pizza ovens from master artisan, Pat Manly, that greet diners at the reception area and two full bars with counter tops carved from an old tree to previously stood on the property.  The layout, design components and varied lighting provide both group/family friendly settings and intimate spots for couples. Continue reading →