I saw this pinned to the corkboard while getting lunch at Five Guys in Georgetown. If you don’t get it, you don’t want or need to know. Really.
By brownpau
Category Archives: Food and Drink
By brownpau
By Jenn Larsen
We Love Food: Co Co. Sala
With the wine bar trend in full escalation (Proof, Veritas, Vinoteca, Cork, Enology, etc.), it appears we may now be heading into a dessert bar phase. While artisan chocolate cafes like ACKC and bakery empires like Cakelove provide the basics, Co Co. Sala pushes the sweet stuff into high art. If only it weren’t so high octave… it’s an intimate, sexy space but it isn’t exactly conducive to whispering sweet nothings. Upon entering, I spied a white feather boa draped behind a gaggle of celebrating women at the bar. As their decibel level threatened my mellow mood, I wondered, “does chocolate bar = screeching estrogen?”
But restaurants can’t completely control their clientele. If you worship at the altar of cacao, Co Co. Sala deserves a taste. Just be prepared for a bit of a scene. And after knocking back a “Disia” – their lychee rose cocktail that tastes like Aphrodite’s elixir – I was mellow again and ready to give an entire chocolate dinner a try.
By Tom Bridge
We Love Food: Dino
Restaurant Week, you are totally my favorite today, and you can certainly stick around. Last night, Tiffany, her brother Ben, and I took advantage of the prix fixe Restaurant Week special at Dino in Cleveland Park. Right across from the Uptown Theatre, and just a few doors down from Atomic Billiards is this wonderful cucina italiana. We had reservations at 8:15, but arrived early, planning to nurse a glass of wine at the bar until our time, but they had a table ready for us right then.
The dining room downstairs is a tightly packed alcove in the front of the restaurant, and we sat at the very edge of it. The only thing I didn’t like about dinner was being afraid I was encroaching on the personal space of the next table. But, with food like Dino’s, you forget about that in a hurry. Their Restaurant Week offering is pretty generous, with an appetizer or half-order of their pasta courses, plus any of their entrées (the bistecca alla fiorentina is the only up-charge, at $12 extra) followed by dessert and an apéritif, for $35.08.
By Tom Bridge
Free Gelato!
mounds of gelato
Originally uploaded by roboppy
Last night at Dino, Tiff had hazelnut gelato that she said “gave her life new meaning” (look forward to our review coming later today) and made her a gelato fan for life. Today, with thanks to James Liu of DCist for pointing it out, there will be free gelato for all. In fact, for each of the next three days, Ciao Bella will be giving out free gelato. Here’s the deets:
Today:
Alexandria Harris Teeter (4641 Duke St) from 11am to 2pm.
Arlington Whole Foods (2700 Wilson Blvd) from 4pm to 7pm.
Tomorrow:
Harris Teeter on Glebe (600 North Glebe) from 11am to 2pm
Harris Teeter on Harrison (2425 Harrison) from 4pm to 7pm
Friday:
Balducci’s in Bethesda (10323 Old G’town Rd) from 11am to 2pm
Harris Teeter in Pentagon Row (900 Army Navy Rd) from 4pm to 7pm
Dude. Free gelato. Go for it!
By Carl Weaver
No Touchy at Murky Coffee
For those of you who haven’t seen previous posts about Murky Coffee, it does get mentioned here from time to time, as it turns out. The latest thing I can say I love about Murky is this sign I had probably seen a hundred times and not given any thought to. It both tickled and admonished me, delivering efficient coinciding messages. The biscotti are a favorite of my Lovely Wife and she claims they are right good. Me, I am not such a big fan of the hard anise-flavored breads. But my real question is whether I can get it iced. I thought about asking but then thought better of it.
By Ben H. Rome
We Love Food: Proof Positive
A couple weeks back, myself and a few of the authors you see sneaking around this site had a casual dinner over at Proof in Penn Quarter. It’s a newer restaurant – actually, more like a very upscale “wine bar” – and it was suggested as an alternative to the usual pub meetings we normally have.
Their website proclaims the restaurant is “a Penn Quarter dining destination that exudes both contemporary chic and rustic warmth.” I’ll say this – they completely lived up to that billing.
While there’s some seriously good (and expensive) food on the menu, by far the most popular choices of patrons is their various charcuterie and cheese boards. Oh, and the bazillion bottles of wine scattered around. Just in case you weren’t sure what exactly they excelled in.
By Max
Starbucks Offering Discount
$2 after 2 p.m. by brownpau
You either love Starbucks or you hate it (or you’re somewhere in between like I am). Regardless, if you get your morning coffee there like I do, hold onto your receipt! According to an AP report, if you show the receipt from your morning caffeine fix, you can get any iced grande beverage for only $2 after 2 p.m. With savings like that, you may actually be able to fill up your car’s gas tank from time to time.
I haven’t given this a try yet but I see an iced grande vanilla latte with my name on it in the very near future.
By Millions of peaches…
Peaches for me!
Originally uploaded by tiffany bridge
Tom and I headed back out to Great Country Farm yesterday for this week’s farm share pickup and fruit-picking. (By the way, hello to We Love DC readers Jonathan and Katrina, who we met on the hayride back from the orchard.)
We knew we were getting some peaches in our produce box, but in previous weeks it has only been about 4 at a time and we had to ration them carefully so we could enjoy them all week. We expected to split the 4 pound bag of pick-your-own peaches with our friend we split the share with, and additional peaches were only $2/pound, so we picked some extra.
Hah. There must have been 2-3 pounds of peaches in the box. Then our friend wasn’t feeling well and didn’t participate in the picking, and didn’t take her half of the 4 pound bag. And we had picked probably another 4 pounds. (In addition to the couple of pints of blackberries.)
People, there are now at least TEN POUNDS OF PEACHES in my dining room. What the hell am I going to do with all this? I’d better start baking now… Post your peach recipes/ideas in the comments, please!
By MJ
Pastry Xpo: Nice!
Pastries at the Lincoln Memorial by cakespy
I don’t always go through the paper as thoroughly as I’d like — okay, I usually don’t — but I was glad I picked up the Food section a Wednesday or two ago. After reading the article on Pastry Xpo, I knew I had to try the place. The herb mixture described in the thyme herb croissants sounded a lot like za’atar, a delicious concoction I’d first discovered years ago in Israel. Hot, freshly baked breads covered with this dark spice mix, available from bakeries open to the streets like stalls, made for an unforgettable snack or breakfast experience not generally available around here.
This storefront coffee/pastry shop is located in a block long strip of recently-opened shops off of Gallows Road and Lee Highway, not far from the Dunn Loring Metro. The Post article refers to this as the Merrifield Town Center; I must be missing something.
The savory aroma as I came into the store, which I soon confirmed was the thyme-herb croissants in the oven, had me feeling right at home. Though I glanced at the cases of tantalizing house made chocolates, cakes and cookies, that smell was unmistakably what I was there for.
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Wine Rock Star… no, really
Friend-of-We Love DC Andy Myers is profiled in the Post Magazine this week as part of their “Washington Originals” series. Andy was chosen because he’s the sommelier at CityZen, and also a total metalhead who spends his free time playing in a metal band. The accompanying video, presenting each of Andy’s passions as alter egos of each other, was pretty entertaining, but I have to say that having met Andy… it’s not as incongruous as you think. Read the story, watch the video… and throw the goat the next time you have an especially tasty glass of wine.
By Carl Weaver
$7.50? You freakin’ kidding me?
I had never seen beer this expensive before going to a Nationals game. Sure I had a good time, but that $7.50 beer stuck in my craw a little. I just got invited to go to another game and will likely go but will likely not buy a beer or even a bottle of water, since the water costs what a beer should cost.
What do you do to enjoy a cool drink at the ball game? Do you bend over and pay the $7.50? Drain a 12-pack on Metro on the way over? Smuggle a flask into the ballpark? I’d love to hear your solutions to this.
By Carl Weaver
Peanuts in the Men’s Room
I wish the title of this post were a metaphor for something instead of a real description. When I was at the Marymount University library yesterday, I found peanuts in the sink, on the lip of the sink and on the floor. They led in a haphazard way to one of the stalls, where apparently someone had been a bit hungry. Dear Toilet Muncher – bathroom eating is bad enough, but if you are going to snack in the loo, can you at least be clean about it?
By Carl Weaver
Stacy’s Coffee Parlor – Good Coffee, Good Folks and Good Books
I love coffee shops that encourage things like reading, sharing and creating community. After the recent tempest in a coffee pot I started, I was not sure whether I would be welcome back at Murky, so I went for a place I had not been to before. Stacy’s Coffee Parlor in Falls Church fit the bill. The folks who were here when my lovely wife and I arrived all apparently knew each other, as well as the guy behind the counter and I felt immediately welcomed.
Stacy’s has ice cream and food and truffles and pastries and other good stuff to eat, in addition to all the requisite coffee drinks a person could want. Art on the walls, open mic night, regularly scheduled music – it all got my attention. What really clinched it for me was the library, whose sign encouraged reading, taking and sharing. It’s not a huge library but it’s something. You don’t see that in a lot of places, and I was glad to find it so close to home.
Definitely check it out. It doesn’t have the same vibe as Murky but it has its own unique feeling. The best part? It is head and shoulders above Starbuck’s and has free Wi-Fi. Stacy, I am glad you are my new friend.
By Carl Weaver
Durian Ice Cream Recipe to Beat the Heat
Durian by US Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center
Okay, so it’s not quite a scorcher today but you should make this recipe now in preparation for the big heat wave that is surely on the tail of this cold front. My friend Grace of Fearless Cooking TV asked me for the recipe after hearing that I was so brave as to make durian ice cream. What? You don’t like durian? Shame on you! You can use any other fruit instead, but not with the same unique flavor and scent.
You will need to follow your ice cream maker’s instructions on how to do it precisely, but here are the ingredients I used to make a quart of ice cream:
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups cream
- 2 cups durian pulp (substitute other fruits if you can’t hang with durian)
Beat together the eggs and sugar until it’s good and creamy. Then mix in everything else, put it in your ice cream maker and when it’s done, just freeze it for a day or so. It’s easy and delicious. Want to try durian ice cream? Just let me know. I have a quart of it and my lovely wife won’t go near it.
By Carl Weaver
Welcome to Murky. You Don’t Get it Your Way.
I am at Murky Coffee, where I just heard a conversation in which the barista told a guy that he was not allowed to pour his espresso over ice.
“But that’s how I want it,” the guy said.
“You can’t have it over ice. It ruins the quality of the coffee. It’s also against our store policy,” the barista said. After the customer left the counter, the barista was fuming and told his coworker, “I almost told that guy not to come back.”
Thanks, Nick, for hiring such helpful young people who uphold basic tenets of customer service. Where would the world be if customers could get what they wanted? This young fellow did a good job protecting the ignorant customer from cold espresso.
Barista guy – get over it. It’s just coffee, not a matter of safety or health, and the guy knows how he wants it.
By Tom Bridge
Well Dressed Burrito, Via Twitter
The Well Dressed Burrito just off Dupont Circle has joined the Twitter revolution and will be tweeting their daily specials. Today’s is Seasoned crispy pork, onions, peppers, tomatoes, rice & cheese, wrapped in a tortilla.
Sounds pretty tasty, and now each day they can send that direct to your Twitter stream. Pretty neat, no?
By Tom Bridge
Washingtonian “You Be The Critic” Contest
You may have guessed that we love food here at WLDC. Between Carl’s videoblog on Noodles yesterday and our own review of Hell Burger, that’s an impression we’re doing our best to support. However, we recognize that we don’t hold the monopoly on food thoughts. So, we encourage all of you armchair food critics to get in on the Washingtonian’s “You Be The Critic” contest. At stake? A gift certificate for dinner for two (value: $150) at Hooked, in Sterling, of which they thought pretty highly.
Entries should be 75 words, be uniquely descriptive, be irreverent and be amusing. Give it a go!
By Amélie
Why I Love DC: David
Capitol Columns #5
Originally uploaded by andertho
My first exposure to Washington D.C. was in 1982 as a side stop on our family’s trip down to see the World’s Fair in Knoxville, TN. On that trip we did the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the National Zoo in D.C.. I remember vaguely, the trees being more plentiful and taller, however I’m also a yard taller now, and they seem now, just a bit shorter. I’m still surprised I remember something from over 26 years ago, but D.C. had that kind of effect.
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By Carl Weaver
Restaurant Review: Noodles and Company
My lovely wife and I did this review video when we went to the new Noodles and Company at Ballston Mall recently.
By Tom Bridge
Granville Moore’s Chef on Food Network Tonight
In a battle that features local chef Teddy Folkman and chef/TV personality Bobby Flay and some tasty mussels, you can watch DC acquit itself quite well on the Food Network tonight at 9pm. Thanks very much to Amanda at Metrocurean for reminding me!
What’s better is that the judges were kickass foodbloggers Jason and Amy Storch! You can read all about Amy’s behind-the-scenes time in two parts, as she’s pretty much hilarious.
Dr. Granville Moore’s Brickyard originally uploaded by chrisafer.