Food and Drink, The DC 100, The Features

DC Omnivore 100: #39, Gumbo

Photo courtesy of
‘mmm…gumbo’
courtesy of ‘jeffreyw’

It’s time for another item on the DC Omnivore 100 list of the top one hundred foods every good omnivore should try at least once in their lives.

Let’s see, everyone’s a bit chilly and in need of some rib-sticking stew to belly up before digging yourself out of all this snow, and hey didn’t someone tell me a certain football team from New Orleans won some big deal game last night? So yes, I think it’s time for some gumbo!

Gumbo’s one of those culinary dishes that gives literal meaning to the phrase “America’s melting pot.” A wide variety of influences – Cajun, Creole, Indian, African, French – all come together in a substantial and delicious stew. There are as many different versions of gumbo as there are cooks; even the name’s origins are varied. Is “gumbo” from the Angolan word for okra, or the Choctaw word for sassafras? Should the predominant color be red or green?

There are a few key ingredients that everyone seems to agree have to be present – beyond that, it’s a dish you can have fun experimenting with! And if you aren’t culinarily inclined, there are several restaurants in DC that you can snuggle up in with a pot of gumbo and pretend you’re in New Orleans… so let’s dive in. Continue reading

Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Features

Foodie Round-Up: Mother’s Day Brunch Edition

Photo courtesy of
‘Mother & Child’
courtesy of ‘nathangibbs’

I want to be my Mom. No, seriously. I do. You know when you read those things that are all like “Oh no! We are turning into our mothers!” – to that I say, YES! Can I please? This is because my Mother is phenomenal. She’s the wisest person I know, and she always knows just what to say to give me a new perspective on something, or make me feel better, and she and my Dad are the only people I can call about some problem in my life who will care as much as I do about it.  She is basically just is the best person to ever exist, period.

So I can’t put together a foodie round-up for Mother’s day and not get picky. I’ve been told about a lot of brunches, practically every restaurant in the city is doing something for Mother’s day brunch, I’m not joking. I’ve been inundated with menus, options and press releases. So instead of just listing them out for you like I did for Easter, I’m going to get more selective and only tell you about the brunches that I’d take my own rockin’ Mother to. So with that, a very subjective short list of brunches worthy of Katie’s Mother, in no particular order. Continue reading