Category Archives: Food and Drink

Arlington, Downtown, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Life in the Capital, The District
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Why I Love DC: Katie

tidal basin during cherry blossoms

All the authors here at We Love DC have written essays on why they love DC. As one of the newbie authors, I was asked to follow in the same tradition. So here it is, why I love DC.

Post-college all my art school and college friends headed for New York. I, instead, decided on DC. People always asked, “Why DC, what is it about DC?” and I always would respond “Well, because it’s not New York.” Which, still, to this day, works as a great reason to love DC. I would argue that we have as many fabulous museums here, as many great free cultural things to do, yet DC is decidedly NOT New York.

New York makes me claustrophobic. The streets are so busy, the sky so crowded with buildings, the hustle and bustle more hustle than bustle. I get overwhelmed there, sensory overload, too much, too fast. I like New York in small doses, but never in long, extended stays. It hits you hard, and doesn’t stop. That is fine for my college friends, but not for me.

DC, on the other hand, is far more manageable. It has sky; you are never without seeing the sky. Blue, expansive, gorgeous sky. I never feel walled in here; you can always see up, out, and over. The streets are always crowded, but I can usually reach my arms out and spin in a circle without hitting someone. I can maintain my personal space bubble at almost all times, Metro excluded. I also love reminders that big things are happening here, every day, all day. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Food and Drink, Special Events, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: O’Shucks

Mead

O’Shucks is a quaint little tavern at the corner of Valley Meade and Meadow Lane, your go-to place for a fall respite, for drinking al fresco under the dappled sun, not too expensive, but certainly tending towards crowded when the weather is nice, attracting a diverse clientele ranging anywhere from families to minstrels, where all sorts of miscreants gather for libations before heading off to jousting and ogling blacksmiths and elephant rides and…

Wait a minute. Not only is that the longest run-on sentence I’ve yet to produce, it’s also not really about a DC neighborhood bar, is it? Yes indeed, it’s We Love Drinks Goes to the Maryland Renaissance Festival! Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Dinner? Try Stuffed Tomatoes!

Stuffed Tomatoes
Wayan recently wrote about the last of his tomato crop. Wondering what to do with the last of the tomatoes from the farmer’s market? Ready to make one last red, juicy hurrah? This recipe from All Recipes.com is fabulous. I added in some ricotta cheese like one of the commenters suggested, and it turned out deliciously! Read more for the recipe…

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, The District, WTF?!
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Penang Burns Again

Penang at 19th & M caught fire on Saturday afternoon, damaging the Chipotle downstairs, and Porters and Starbucks right next door. As I drove by this afternoon, Several of the upstairs windows had been knocked out and covered by plywood.

The fire started in the kitchen, and spread through the ventilation ducts, causing over 100 firefighters to rush to the scene.

Both Chipotle & Penang are closed, and will be for a bit, but Starbucks had people outside this afternoon, and the doors were open at Porters.

Food and Drink, The DC 100
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DC Omnivore 100: #77, Hostess Fruit Pies

Fruit Pies

Welcome to yet another review of the 100 foods an omnivore in DC should partake of. Read the full list.

Hostess fruit pies? Now, Hostess cupcakes, yes. Twinkies, certainly. But fruit pies, you say? I’d never heard of such a thing. Of course, this is not surprising, because I grew up in a household full of whole grains, fresh fruits, low-fat, and no sugar. I ate cheerios and grape nuts while the rest of you folks chowed down on coco puffs and fruit loops. In fact, my first birthday cake was not a cake at all, it was a rice cake with peanut butter, no lie. (My parents had cake, traitors.) (Hi, Mom and Dad!) So when I looked at the Omnivores 100 list, made my picks and saw Hostess Fruit Pies, I thought, “well, there’s a way to make up for lost time.”
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Alexandria, Arlington, Food and Drink
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We Love Food: Summer’s Last Stand

Ice Cream Desert, taken by Lotus Head (Creative Commons)

Ice Cream, taken by Lotus Head (Creative Commons)

I love this time of year.  The chilly evenings go really well with the beautiful warm days.  The leaves are about to turn colors.  And, just about any week now we are going to get another famous DC Indian Summer.

When Indian Summer hits all I can think about are all the summer things I want to do one last time.  And that means only one thing:  I’m going to be jonesing for some Ice Cream.

So, to help out everyone in DC, I’ve compiled a short list of three great places where you can get your fix.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Chocolate-Orange Port at MyLHBS

Oranges and Chocolate

My friend Derek at MyLHBS in Falls Church informed me that he still had some kits left to make the chocolate-orange port that has become so popular in recent years. I am told that the wine ends up tasting like those dark chocolate-orange candies that are so tasty. Except with alcohol. I just picked up two kits yesterday – enough to make approximately 30 bottles. These are going fast, so be sure to go soon.

What? You don’t know from making wine? Don’t fret because Derek can help you with that as well. He knows a lot, so go pick his brain and buy your first wine kit. It’s a great hobby and very cost effective if you end up drinking wine. Wine makes great gifts as well, especially for me. You know – in case you wanted to get me the perfect gift.

Oranges and Chocolate by VROG in Bristol

Adventures, Alexandria, Business and Money, Food and Drink, Fun & Games, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Ice Cream (Anti) Social

DSC_0444
courtesy of Ben

So Tom points me to an announcement on Cold Stone Creamery’s website, regarding their promotion of two new flavors and their partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation during the month of September. And apparently, tonight is also the 7th Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social at all CSC locations from 5-8 p.m, where they’re giving out free ice cream. (Icecreampocalypse, anyone?)

I totally don’t have anything against M-A-W; my sister was a recipient of theirs a year before she passed away. I do, however, continue my lingering grumpiness with the Alexandria CSC location. (They’ve still not sent coupons or called to apologize!) If I could have a wish resolved from M-A-W, it’d be “I wish this CSC would have a faster line!“

Food and Drink, Night Life, People, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: The Saloon

The Saloon, U Street

I freely admit that I know next to nothing about beer. Oh, except that 12 ounces of Guinness is actually less calories than 12 ounces of Budweiser or Heineken (a fun fact to casually toss out when someone says, “I can’t drink stout, it’s too fattening!” Watch their world shatter). So for me, if I’m going to a bar that primarily serves beer, I want to be able to put myself in someone else’s capable hands. In my ‘hood, those hands belong to The Saloon at 12th & U.

Long before the Belgian beer craze hit DC (noticing a trend about trends in this town?), before lines at Marvin, Granville Moore’s, or bibles of beer at Brasserie Beck, there was The Saloon. Billed as having the “most unique selection of beer on tap”, it’s a completely unpretentious spot that will never get ruined, because there’s nothing the least bit trendy about it – it’s a true neighborhood tavern, dependable, honest, with comfortable bare bones and even a social conscience.

For years I’ve only gone to The Saloon for dinner, sitting at one of the plain wooden tables, always getting the classic bacon cheeseburger and fries. I’m convinced that The Saloon has the best fries in town, but that’s another story. Continue reading →

Adventures, Essential DC, Food and Drink, The District
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DC Omnivore 100: 82 & 99

Photo courtesy of zephyrbunny
Best Eggs Benedict Ever, courtesy of zephyrbunny

Welcome to the first review of the 100 foods an omnivore in DC should partake of. We posted the full list already; here’s my take on two of them.

#82 Eggs Benedict. Ok, this isn’t a ‘new’ dish for me – I’m a connoisseur of this classic egg dish. It’s usually the one I order when we have a rare breakfast out and I’m not feeling fat. Because any dish that combines half an English muffin, poached eggs, ham and hollandaise sauce just gives you that feeling of hardening arteries. My particular dish for this review was consumed at the nearby Silver Diner over in Springfield, VA.

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Entertainment, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Cupcakes and brass bands


Cupcake fez
Originally uploaded by tiffany bridge

On Friday afternoon, a friend announced on Twitter that she’d had a bad day and wanted a margarita. Within 10 minutes, we had plans to meet up for post-work margaritas and fajitas, followed by a trip downtown to catch She-Ha at the Improv. So we finished our dinner and headed into town, in a TT with the top down, no less, on a perfect late-summer night. Upon arriving at the Improv, however, we discovered that there was only one ticket left for She-Ha, which did not suit the two of us.
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Food and Drink, Getaways, The Daily Feed
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Quattro Goombas Winery

Wine Bottles IMGP0221

My father was in town this past weekend so we took him on a short tour of the Virginia wine country in Aldie and Middleburg. Actually, we visited one winery and drove by two or three others along the way.

Quattro Goombas Winery is on Rt. 15 about a mile north of Rt. 50 in Aldie, VA. I have visited quite a number of wineries in my time and can tell you that I had an experience there that I have only had one other time. I liked every single wine I tasted. Often these things are hit and miss but this tasting hit like a Slant Six, each wine delicious, with its own characteristics and each one smooth.

If you have an afternoon free, go see these folks. It’s only an hour west of DC and you are sure to enjoy it. They will treat you right and at the end of the tasting you will feel like an honorary goomba yourself.

Food and Drink, Night Life, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Sticky Rice

"Sticky Balls" at Sticky Rice

Sticky Rice is a lot like its brazenly named signature dish, “Sticky Balls” – a chaotic gooey crunchy glorious mess.

This isn’t some temple of sushi where a plate of trembling tempura is placed in front of you with a reverential hush like it’s the freaking Holy Grail. You want that, go to Sushi Ko. You want pristine sashimi prepared by traditional chefs, go to Sushi Taro. You want beautiful experiments and the occasional fugu dinner, go to Kaz.

What you will get at Sticky Rice is irreverent cuisine, a florid interior reminiscent of a tattoo parlor’s secret bordello, and a crazy atmosphere like some art students’ late night party. And resign yourself to waiting on a busy weekend… this isn’t the place to hit with a hard time deadline.

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Food and Drink, Night Life, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Bar Pilar

at bar pilar, by gingher on Flickr
at bar pilar, by gingher on Flickr

Most everyone has a “go-to” bar, that reliable spot to meet up when you’re just at a loss for new suggestions. It’s convivial, relaxing, and if you’re really lucky, within tripping distance of your abode. Bar Pilar fits this description for me.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that it boasts a truly beautiful old-fashioned bar, retro murals and decor in a sort of New Orleans-on-the-Med vibe, with candles giving off a golden glow, making almost everyone look good. It’s slowly but steadily become one of my favorite bars to hang out in DC.

Usually a low-key spot, Pilar mostly avoids the excess popularity that can plague nearby hotspots like Saint Ex, Marvin or Cork. Perhaps that’s because of its intimate size, attracting people in twos and threes as opposed to packs. There’s a varied selection of wine, beer, and cocktails, not to mention a kicking food menu, encouraging a chill/graze mentality as opposed to a frontloading meat market. But as this is our drinks feature, I’ll just focus on two of their cocktails off the “classics” menu, and leave the food for a later date.

Though I’ve never been much of a gin drinker, I just had to order the Bee’s Knees – considering my goofy tendency to use archaic expressions like “the cat’s pajamas” and “johnny-on-the-spot”. Made with plymouth gin, lemon juice, and honey syrup served straight up with lemon zest, it was like drinking the last of summerlight in a glass. Or maybe I was just high off the gin fumes. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Eat at Yum’s, food from a Bum!

Photo courtesy of christaki

I’m a regular reader of BarfBlog, which is as unappetizing as you think but also quite excellent: it’s actually a blog run by food safety expert Doug Powell that talks about food safety, in theory and in practice. The kind of behind-the-scenes information they ran about the recent tomato/salmonella scare, for example, was great.

I opened the blog a minute ago to look at the most recent entries and at the top was a submitted report from one of our fellow citizens describing a disturbing event at a Yum’s location here in DC. Personally I think if you eat at Yum’s you deserve anything you get, but if you still eat at Yum’s after reading this…. well, draw your own conclusion.

The not-clean-man had placed three large, bloody styrofoam Safeway containers of some kind of raw meat on the counter. The old Chinese lady behind the counter was saying “Ten dolla! I give you ten dolla!” and the improperly-sanitized-guy said that was fine. The hipsters and I exchanged wide-eyed glances as it dawned on us that this dude was *selling* meat to the restaurant, meat that he had somehow obtained from Safeway…

Szechuan Beef Proper, courtesy of christaki

Food and Drink, Life in the Capital, The DC 100, WTF?!
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DC 100: The List

Photo courtesy of M.V. Jantzen
Green Market, courtesy of M.V. Jantzen

Ok, this project was inspired by a flurry of emails with some of the WeLoveDC staff and an idea.

Don spotted this list a few weeks ago and after some back-and-forth with several of our more foodie–focused people, I thought it would be an interesting series for our corner of the intrawebz.

Starting in two weeks, check out our DC 100 and the staff’s various experiences with food on this list. We’ll be tracking the list’s progress here and on my own website.

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Downtown, Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, We Love Drinks
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We Love Drinks: Teaism

Happiness is a Warm Chai, by alykat on Flickr

It may seem odd to launch our new recurring feature on DC’s watering holes with a nod to a mainly non-alcoholic spot, but make no mistake – Teaism can just as quickly become an addiction on par with your favorite bar. Though the food can be some of the most reliable in town (oh, that salmon ochazuke soup! comfort in a bowl), we’re here to talk about its liquid libation. Devotees of tea are never disappointed when
faced with the exhaustive menu of black, green, tisanes – served iced or hot – from a wall of colorful boxes.

There are three Teaisms in DC (Dupont Circle is the original, opened back in 1996). I’m lucky in that my office is equidistant from two, each with their own distinct vibe. The Lafayette Park location has a sunny classical interior, befitting its Decatur House view, and is usually full of suits. Whereas the Penn Quarter branch has mainly subterranean seating, bustling with tourists. Despite the setback of the fannypack crowd, the PQ boasts a koi pond and an adjacent tea shop where the true addict can load up on her own supply to brew at home.

If I head to Penn Quarter, I’m most likely desiring an iced Japanese sweet green tea to takeaway and sip while staring into the nearby fountains of the Navy Memorial. “What makes it so sweet?” I asked the tea shop lady once about the surreally green elixir, “is it a special kind of tea?” “Um,” she replied, “you do know there’s a lot of sugar in there, right?” It was a truly blonde moment.
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Food and Drink
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We Love Food: An Ode to Luna Grill


photo courtesy Flickr user jumbledpile

Okay, I know. Usually in this feature we talk about some fantastic new place we just tried, some culinary delights we had heretofore not considered, and here I am talking about Luna Grill and Diner. And really, is there anyone left in DC who hasn’t eaten at Luna?

(If you are in DC and haven’t yet gone to Luna, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. Go now. Don’t worry, you can finish reading We Love DC when you get back; we’ll still be here.)

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Food and Drink
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We Love Food: Hello, Cupcake

Hello, Cupcakes!

Hello, Cupcakes!

In my post heralding the arrival of Dupont Circle’s most adorable new buisness, I was a bit snarky about all the hype surrounding the place, even as I was intrigued. Hype and round-the-block opening day queues aside, today I actually stepped in to the pink-and-brown cupcake boutique and sampled a delicious treat. All of my reservations about the cupcake craze having crested were overridden by sugar and cuteness overload.

Going up Connecticut Ave, one notices people walking back to nearby offices, cupcake missions fulfilled. Some carry white boxes with big pink stickers, but most eat the cupcakes in the street as they walk, stopping to wipe frosting and crumbs from their faces before starting back to work.

My cupcake co-conspirator and I each picked a flavor from the extensive menu.
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Hello, Hello Cupcake

A city never content to open just one establishment serving nicer versions of a trendy food (see: burgers, frozen yogurt, wine bars, et al), the district is about to get a another adorable cupcakery – Dupont Circle’s long-awaited Hello, Cupcake – to directly compete with the formidable Georgetown Cupcake.

Thanks to a tip from The Washington Post, I was alerted that Hello, Cupcake will be opening on Monday, August 25.
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