Category Archives: We Love Food

Restaurant Reviews & Food News

Food and Drink, The Features, The Hill, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Ted’s Bulletin

Photo courtesy of
‘Dine-In At Ted’s Bulletin’
courtesy of ‘[F]oxymoron’
Growing up on the mean streets of suburban Maryland, I ate at my fair share of diners. Silver Diner, Broadway Diner, Hoffberg’s Deli…the list goes on. There are obvious benefits to diner eating – major portions, the food you wish your mom made all the time (and made well), and breakfast all day. One thing that diners didn’t necessarily do for me was always taste good. They can be great, or they can be plastic cup of coleslaw on the side bad. I think we call that inconsistency. Now that I’m a big girl living in the big city, I’ve graduated from the diners of greater Rockville Pike to Ted’s Bulletin. Though it may not be a traditional diner, it’s the diner of my dreams.

Much like the diners of my youth, Ted’s is a fantastic fall back restaurant. Not to say that it’s not a destination unto itself, it just works as my go-to place when nothing else excites me. And in this dreary time of year, I’m uninspired and therefore eating at Ted’s a whole lot. And it’s really working out well for me. Continue reading →

The Features, We Love Food
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First Look: Merzi

PB300265

I think most twenty-somethings (or really, people with good taste in general) have a special love for Chipotle. The Mexican chain is brilliant when you’re super hungry and need food fast, and aren’t up for a greasefest of hamburgers and fries. But how many burrito bowls can one girl eat before she’s ready for something new? (More than you think, probably, but just go with it.)

Lucky for us, Merzi on 7th street is much like Chipotle, except with an Indian twist. Same fast-food concept, same create-your-own feel, but with fun new flavors like tikka masala and chutneys. Also, bonus, it’s locally run and owned, and you guys know how I feel about supporting small businesses. So read on, my lovelies, for a first look at the new Penn Quarter eat place. Continue reading →

Alexandria, Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Eamonn’s/A Dublin Chipper

Photo courtesy of
‘969 thanks be to cod’
courtesy of ‘apium’
There are plenty of benefits of studying abroad in England — lots of culture, lots of pints and you don’t have to worry about learning that pesky other language. It is not, however, known as a bastion of fine cuisine. There is an exception to every rule though, and for me the British food that I think of fondly is fish and chips. Real deal, fried to perfection, wrapped in a newspaper fish and chips. And I’ve found no better way to indulge my inner collegiate than to go to town on some authentic fried cod (albeit Irish) at Eamonn’s.

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Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, The Features, We Love Drinks, We Love Food
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A New Menu for Zola

Poire cocktail by the Wilder Brothers at Zola. Photo courtesy Stir Food Group.

It’s hard to imagine but it’s been eight years since Zola first opened back in the former culinary wasteland then being redeveloped around the Verizon Center. I remember being so excited about the wittily gorgeous space and enjoying a few cocktails and dinner before it fell off my radar. Last night I was invited to attend a press dinner to sample the new chef’s tasting table and beverage programs. With the other foodies at WLDC being laid low by colds, and intrigued by the release of the cocktail menu from Wilder Bros Craft, I headed over to see what has changed. I’m happy to report that the revamp is very tasty and I’ll definitely return on my own dime.

The interior space is still the same spy motif as before, a bit refreshed but left mostly untouched – and funnily enough that look seems modern again, probably because of the Mad Men influenced retro revival. Food-wise, chef Bryan Moscatello’s offerings are now split between a modern American bistro menu for the bar and front seating area, and a chef’s tasting room menu for the back. The latter features a choice between either three courses ($55) or five courses ($69), and it was this menu that I sampled last night, paired with wines chosen by the delightful wine and spirits director Malia Milstead. There’s even a new dessert menu created by pastry chef Reggie Abalos.

But of course, since it’s me, we’ll start off with drinks. Ari and Micah Wilder of Wilder Bros Craft have designed a very lovely craft cocktail menu featuring historical flair by using old fashioned techniques such as gomme syrup. You’ll often see gomme syrup mentioned in old cocktail books – Micah kindly explained the process.

It starts with sap. Continue reading →

Arlington, Food and Drink, We Love Food
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First Look: Bayou Bakery

PB300231

Sometimes I think that Courthouse is a dead zone for food. If I want actual chef-driven food I go to Ray’s, or I walk up to Clarendon. No longer! David Guas is here to save Courthouse and his new place Bayou Bakery is my new neighborhood gem for the area.

The New Orleans themed eat place serves up beingets, chicory coffee, and delicious sandwiches on fluffy hoagie rolls made from local ingredients. In the morning, people stop in for coffee and breakfast; Guas recommends the yogurt made from a Pennsylvania dairy topped with homemade granola. The lunch crowd rushes in for sandwiches and savory fare, sitting up front in booths and stand-alone tables. Settle down and sip some cider or hot chocolate in the back section with overstuffed chairs and couches and wireless internet. At night, Bayou turns into a date spot, with a good selection of beers and wines by the glass. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, We Love Food
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Cleveland Park’s Ardeo+Bardeo Gets A Facelift

ArdeoBardeo

Ashok Bajaj is one of my favorite restaurateurs in DC, and his more casual neighborhood spot of Ardeo/Bardeo has always been one of my choice picks within his delicious empire. So when I heard that the Cleveland Park eat place and wine bar were merging to get a new look, I was excited to see what it was all about.

Last night, Ashley and I attended a media unveiling of the new merged space “Ardeo+Bardeo”. The most noticeable change is the GIANT zinc bar floating in the middle of the space. For visuals, POP has a good peek into the space. What was once a wall is now a gorgeously-lit bar space with 24 seats, and the walls are decorated with blown-up black and white photographs from the early 1900s.

The concrete floors keep the feel modern, and an addition of a woodfire pizza grill makes flatbreads possible (I recommend the olive, onion and goat cheese flatbread, delicious). Small plates and savory snacks are priced between $3-$15 and entrées are offered between $12-$25. Check out the new Ardeo+Bardeo at 3311 Connecticut Ave, right down the block from the Cleveland Park metro station.

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Surfside

Photo courtesy of
‘Surfside for lunch’
courtesy of ‘vincentgallegos’

I’ve never been big on take-out. By the time I decide what I want, find the menu, call it in, wait forty-five minutes, go pick it up, almost drop it on the way home, and finally get home and realize they got my order wrong, I’m not really hungry any more. And the truth is that on most occasions, I can make food that tastes better than what a restaurant lets sit for 20 minutes in a Styrofoam container. And did I mention I’m cheap? All that makes for a pretty tough road for take-out purveyors everywhere.

But as we all know, there is an exception to every rule. In this case, it’s Surfside. It might have a little something to do with its proximity to my house, but what puts it above and beyond the rest of the many take-out options in Glover Park is the food. And don’t worry, people of not Glover Park, eating in at Surfside is even better than trying to eat it off my lap in front of a TiVo-ed episode (or two) of the new 90210.

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Dupont Circle, Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Agora

Photo Credit: Kim Maxwell Vu

A very good friend (and frequent dinner date) lived on 17th St. and P St. for a long time before moving to New York earlier this year. At least once a month we would meet at her house with no real dinner plan, walk out the front door and…stand. There were plenty of restaurants on 17th St., but none of them ever really struck us as compelling. It was all very poetic – restaurants, restaurants everywhere but not a bite to eat. There was Komi (too expensive), Sushi Taro (too long of a wait), and the slew of restaurant slash bar establishments that I could never really tell apart. Enter Agora to solve all my problems.

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Food and Drink, The Features, We Green DC, We Love Food
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We Love Vegan: Part 1

Photo courtesy of
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courtesy of ‘erin m’

Over an especially gluttonous meal one night, filled with lamb chops and veal, we had a thought: What would life be like without all this meaty goodness? But not only without meat, what about life without this cheesy, eggy goodness? That crazy night (after maybe a few too many glasses of wine) the idea of Vegan Week was born. We, your loyal food writers here at We Love DC, decided to tried are very best to eat completely, 100% vegan for one week.

Well…one work week. Ashley ate most of her meals out of the house, for no other reason than everything she knew how to cook had bacon in it, while Katie had to make her decidedly unveg work location work for her. What follows is the sometimes humorous, sometimes surprising, sometimes depressing account of Vegan Week 2010. (For more on our decision to go vegan, check back here Thursday at 11 a.m. for the wrap-up post in this series, We Love Vegan: The Question and Answer Session.)

Dun-duh-duuuuuuuh.

A disclaimer: Through plenty of Plant Alternative research and polling our friends who know a little bit about living a meat-free lifestyle, we came to our conclusions about how to attack Vegan Week. We tried, to the best of our abilities to eat vegan, and to our knowledge we did. If we screwed something up along the way, it was on account of our own stupidity more than anything else. We are not vegans, not even vegetarians, but we tried our best. Also, just a reminder, we here at We Love DC respect all lifestyles, from the meatful to the plantful, and expect that you do too. Take your haterade elsewhere, thanks. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Black Market Bistro

Photo courtesy of
‘Black Market Bistro’
courtesy of ‘ImaginaryGirl’
OK, I know what you’re thinking and I can already see the look on your face. But trust me, Rockville isn’t that far away. And I know you’re saying, “hey, isn’t this called We Love DC?” Yes, it’s true, but it’s also called We Love Food, and if you do, you’ll love Black Market Bistro.

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Food and Drink, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Comet Ping Pong

Photo courtesy of
‘Outdoor Ping Pong’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
Over the last couple of years, I’ve eaten in a lot of nice restaurants. And after the foie gras, the caviar, the course-upon-course of decadent food, what have I learned? I’ve learned I love pizza. I really love pizza. I love it in all its forms – artisan Neopolitan right down to the new crust at Dominos. But if I have to pick one incarnation, it’s always going to be the personal pizza with the funky toppings. That leaves me with 2 Amys, 7th Hill, and my personal favorite, Comet Ping Pong.

The first time I tried Comet, I had high hopes for the pizza. The food didn’t disappoint, but I was most impressed with the feeling of the place. It left me a little bummed that I wasn’t, ahem…a few years younger and that I couldn’t turn this restaurant into my high school hang out. My Peach Pit, if you will.

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We Love Food
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First Look: Carmine’s

Wine

When I first started with We Love DC, we had 11 authors. (I also hiked to school uphill both ways.) Now, we have a food and drink team of seven writers, and more fabulous authors than I can name in a sitting. We’ve grown into a big family, and so we were invited to Carmine’s for a dinner for eight, it was only fitting that we go together as a team, and make it a faux-thanksgiving feast.

Carmine’s is, as you’ve heard I’m sure, the largest restaurant in DC right now. So inviting a raucous gaggle of WLDC writers meant only one thing: we’d be loud. Luckily, Carmine’s is built for loud, large groups, and so we feasted on pasta, pasta, wine, pasta and a cannoli or two or five. Continue reading →

Dupont Circle, Food and Drink, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Tabard Inn

Photo courtesy of
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courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

There are two types of people in D.C.: those who go to Tabard Inn every chance they get, and those that have never been. I have a friend that even uses it as his go-to first date location. And though I like to knock his dating style at any possible point, he really is on to something with this one. It’s casual yet classy, and has that hidden gem feel. Boys, take note. It’s like giving a girl a puppy – she literally won’t be able to resist you.

And calling it a hidden gem is really the best way to describe this particular restaurant. It’s technically located just off Dupont Circle, but isn’t exactly on a high traffic street. And to get to the restaurant you have to wander through the lobby of the hotel, which has a distinct bed and breakfast in rural Maine feel to it. It doesn’t exactly scream high class restaurant. And the restaurant isn’t exactly clearly marked – once through the lobby you hang a left at the stairs, walk through the lounge and head to the hostess podium just outside the bar. She will lead you through the bar and then all the sudden the dining room opens up and it’s like being in some classy lady’s very large kitchen full of some very fun friends.

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Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Palena Cafe

Photo courtesy of
‘palena’
courtesy of ‘AlissaS24’
There are plenty of restaurants here that serve smart American food, and there are plenty of places that serve burgers. But there are few that combine the two in a way that satisfies me when I’m feeling fancy and when I’m feeling like…well…a burger.

Selling Palena Cafe as a burger restaurant isn’t really fair. It resembles Five Guys just as much as the Hay-Adams resembles a youth hostel. Palena Cafe is actually the front part of Palena–a high end price fixe restaurant in Cleveland Park. Unfortunately located next to a pretty spectacular gas station, Palena has done a great job of still feeling cozy and warm and like the little bistro you discovered by mistake while studying abroad.

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Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: 2 Amys

Photo courtesy of
‘2 Amy’s’
courtesy of ‘aus_chick’
There are certain unalienable truths for me when it comes to dining out: I don’t like to eat at restaurants with tons of kids, and I hate waiting for a table. 2 Amys is one of the few restaurants that I actually overlook these issues and settle in for a sometimes loud, usually not immediate dinner.

2 Amys is a neighborhood restaurant at its core, though a neighborhood restaurant with a much broader fan base than greater Cleveland Park. The restaurant is small, even with the secret second floor and tiny back patio, and not really made for the tables of four or six that are forced to meander around outside, hoping that a few two-tops will finish at the same time. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Poste Roast

Photo Credit: Michael Harlan Turkell

I love throwing dinner parties. In my head, they always turn out like the cover of Bon Appetit and there’s always enough delicious food and the wine is perfect and everyone is happy. But in actuality, the food is pretty okay, it never is all ready at the same time, and I usually forget to put forks on the table. I always just assumed that the perfect dinner party was in the same category as unicorns and leprechauns, but Poste Roast proves that is not the case.

Poste Roast is a genius special event put on by the fine folks at Poste Moderne Brasserie in the Hotel Monaco. It’s part pig roast and part elegant dinner party. I admittedly didn’t really know what to expect when I forced seven of my closest friends to give over full control of their dinner and wallets to me that night, but I thought it was bound to be something memorable.

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Food and Drink, The Hill, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Market Lunch

Photo courtesy of
‘Market Lunch’
courtesy of ‘katmere’

Whenever I mention Market Lunch to people, and I do often, I always get the same response: “Oh, I’ve heard that place is so great–but I’ve never been.” I don’t know if it’s the lines that scare folks away, or the Soup Nazi-esque ordering system, but don’t be afraid! It’s a quintessential Washington experience that no one should miss, and a great meal to boot. My trips to Eastern Market are almost always wrapped around meal time to make sure I can take advantage of all that Market Lunch has to offer. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, We Love Food
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First Look: Morso

Morso Interior courtesy of Pepe Gomez

Since opening in May, Morso has already seen more drama than an entire season of Top Chef. Less than a month after this contemporary Turkish restaurant launched, Executive Chef Ed Witt abruptly left due to a “difference in creative philosophies.” The restaurant closed for almost two weeks to regroup, leaving its more casual sister, Morso Express, to satisfy Georgetown’s culinary cravings. Morso finally reopened last Friday with new chef Michael Steinberg at the helm. By his own admission, the self-taught Steinberg’s previous experience has largely been limited to the front of the house, making him an unusual choice to serve as top banana. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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First Look: Kushi Izakaya & Sushi

KushiExteriorPhoto1

There’s something wrong with me (maybe). I can’t get enough sushi! I just crave it – spicy tuna, firecracker, flying fish roe, fatty tuna, I WANT IT ALL. So when I was invited to check out the new Japanese gastropub in Mount Vernon Square, I jumped at the chance.

Sleek, modern and minimalist, the best Kushi experience you can have is at one of their three (!) bars – the sake bar, the sushi bar or what I call the grill bar – what is technically supposed to be called the robata counter. I sat at the robata counter – the bar surrounding Kushi’s kitchen. There is literally no back kitchen at Kushi, everything is prepared out front under the watchful eye of diners. With charcoal and wood burning grills, a sous-vide machine and a few tiny stoves, eating at Kushi is cooking theater. Chefs slice, dice, grill, plate and prep right in front of you. It gives the diner a perfect vantage point for the evening, and also keeps you craving more. Continue reading →

The Features, We Love Drinks, We Love Food, We Love Music
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St. Patrick’s Day: What’s the craic?

Irish banneSign of the times at Bottom Line by Corinne Whiting

St. Patrick’s Day seems to fall at a good time of year—just after we’ve groggily “sprung forward” and just as we’ve been teased out of our winter hermit holes by the sweet promise of spring. Winter vacation seems a lifetime ago; Memorial Day beach treks couldn’t feel farther out of reach. Truth be told, we’re ready for some good craic.

This holiday always seems an ideal time to check in with Irish mates I haven’t properly caught up with since my last trip to Éire. I write friends based in happenin’ Dublin and off “busy” getting sunburned in fabulous places around the globe to wish them a happy Paddy’s Day. (Note: if you accidentally let slip “St. Patty’s Day,” prepare to be scolded for incorrectly feminizing the legendary saint!) This year I surveyed my friends’ March 17 plans, knowing that the night before would be the big night out thanks to a national holiday on St. Patrick’s Day. Over there March 17 seems a day, at least for my friends, to take it easy—catching up over pints and coffees, cycling into the country and, most importantly, avoiding the chaos of city centre. The downtown Dublin parade, it seems, can be saved for the kids and tourists.

So what then does March 17 (unfortunately not a holiday here) mean for Washingtonians? Perhaps the Obamas will dye the White House fountain green again (touch wood). And while the holiday will no doubt give venues an excuse to charge covers to droves of bar goers on a random Wednesday night, it will also give bar goers an excuse to spend a Wednesday night clinking glasses of green beer, downing Irish car bombs and flaunting real or feigned ancestry (“Kiss Me, I’m Irish” buttons, anyone?). It’s also a day when cultural traditions get a wee bit muddled here in the “melting pot” of America—Scottish and English customs become Irish; anything Celtic goes….

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