ozgirl

It'll be a great spot for when they're permanently and fully set up. There was also mention of a real soda fountain counter and machines coming from an old Woolworths for that space. Rockin' it old school. love it.

Went to check out Union Market this past weekend. Buffalo and Bergen were doing their first trial run on Sunday and offering up 2 kinds of knishes (potato/onion; and baco/cheddar) and fun drinks (root beer floats and egg creams). The potato/onion knish was the best knish I'd had in a really long time. Served warmed-up, the pastry casing was nice and thin, and the filling was strong in potato and carmelized onion. Most importantly, the filling was still moist and not completely dried out as I have found with other potato knishes. The staff was bubbly and friendly and did a great job of working the counter space.

Earlier this week, the hubs and i went to check out Smoke and Barrel BBQ for the first time. As vegetarians we are always excited about new places offering a bevy of veggie/vegan options. (This is particularly true after a trip to Portland, OR, where places like these abound. How great to have more options more locally.) So, it just took us longer to get to this place than expected. We ended up going on a night when all vegetarian/vegan options were half off. Bonus! We started with the vegan chicken wings, muddy style. These were great. Six good sized "drumettes" in a flavourful sauce. The "wings" were the hit of the night. For mains we ordered the tofu BBQ sandwich and the sweet potato/oat burger with a side of okra. I felt like the tofu BBQ sandwich was false advertising. I was anticipating a tofu based "fake meat" product resembling BBQ in a BBQ sauce on a bun, with coleslaw. What arrived however, was literally tofu, scrambled with oregano, BBQ squeezed onto the bun, and some slaw in the sandwich. Clearly, not what I thought was coming, but perhaps my expectations were off. Overall the sandwich, as it arrived was bland. Good thing there were extra sauce bottles on the table. That sauce is tasty! A really nice blend of spice and sweet. The sweet potato/oat burger had good enough flavour (could use more seasoning), but the texture was kind of like paste. On the upside, there was nothing wrong with the fried okra! yum. We also really appreciated the nice and extensive beer list. We were so happy that a place that does actual meat BBQ would also entertain the idea of having the same products for vegetarians/vegans. The fact that Smoke and Barrel does this is really great. It read so tasty on the menu, but the execution of our mains let us down. Will likely go back though for the good stuff... vegan wings and beer - and sometimes that's all one needs.

It feels like I spent the weekend circumnavigating the beltway just to get to Fishnet - not once but twice. Both times were completely worth the trip. first visit - Saturday night for dinner. we ordered the fish tacos, grilled salmon sandwich, shepherd's salad, and fries. sandwich = fish nicely cooked, some char on the outside, but moist inside, spicy aioli had a nice kick, and the ciabatta toasted just enough to give structure to the bread (which was softer and far less crusty than i had imagined - not a bad thing). fish taco = my favourite of the two - cruchy fish stick contrasted nicely with the slightly sweet sauce and the slaw fries and shepherd's salad (cukes, tomato, onion, pomegranite drizzle) made for nice sides. All this to say, that we enjoyed our experience so much we came back for brunch the next day. Brunch included: salmon benedict, veggie omelet, and a side of grits salmon benedict = untoasted english muffin, nicely cooked fish, egg poached mostly hard cooked, but still plenty runny (just the way my husband likes them), and a lovely hollandaise sauce that had a strong lemon flavour. the lemon in the sauce was so good! veggie omelet = fine - your standard omelet. grits = OMG the grits!! So, so, good .... creamy, a little gritty, and BUTTERY. I was fearful of the amount of butter that was added to these grits on a per portion basis. They are incredibly rich and I understood why the woman ordering in line ahead of us told us how she craved these grits all week long. I have been spreading the word about this place to friends. Hopefully they too will go. (I was surprised that the place wasn't busier on a saturday night for dinner, but seemed like a slow flow of folks on sunday morning.)

Sunday morning, the hubs and I decided to make a dedicated trip to Qualia for the morning cup. I loved it the moment I saw the people sitting out front on the veranda/stoop talking to each and reading the paper. (electronic devices were few yesterday morning.) The vibe of the place took me back to Portland, OR - relaxed, unpretentious, homey AND they serve great coffee. We had a cappucino and a latte. Both delicious. (I can't remember the taste well enough to describe in detail and those flavour "notes" are long forgotten - maybe next time.) We also tried a slice of the chocolate/banana bread pudding. We asked for it to be reheated - which they happily obliged. Not sure if it was in the reheat, but while the dark chocolate bits in the bread pudding turned nice and melty, it may have also turned the texture of the whole thing a bit rubbery. Still tasted good and may try some of the other baked goods (the salt & sugar scone sounded intriguing, but they had already run out.) with or without food - will absolutely be going back for coffee on a more regular basis. it's the kind of place i kinda feel bad that i don't live closer.

throwing this out there... there is a groupon today for $20 worth of food for $10 at the new MOM's Rockville location only. i'm excited about the new location! parking at the old one was more than challenging at times.

Sunday, I stopped into the Pie Sisters to see what the potential new trend in bakeries was all about. The blackboard menu listed many flavours of pie (sweet: pumpkin, classic apple, lemon cream, coconut cream; savory: chicken pot pie, a chili pie, and others I can't remember). Unfortunately, the only whole pies available were the pumpkin and chicken with lemon cream and coconut flavours available in the "cuppies". I had a hankerin' for the pumpkin, but the desire to have a greater crust/filling ratio won out and I went with the lemon "cuppie". It was tasty! A really amazing crust - such flaky goodness and the filling had a good strong lemon flavour and not overly sweet (just the way I like it). For the next time I find myself in Georgetown, if it's down to Georgetown Cupcake vs. Pie Sisters, as much as I like the G'town cupcakes, for a few cents more and a little more walking, I'd opt for pie.

Sadly, I just learned that TJ's is also discontinuing their Sweet Thai Chili dipping sauce. According to the manager in Bethesda, it wasn't selling as "people" in the DC area aren't into hot/spicy food. Not sure who those "people" are and this dipping sauce wasn't even that hot. (this coming from someone who tends to enjoy spicy food on the mild side.) Sad to see it go - that and the real Tofutti cuties. The Trader Joe version just doesn't compare.

This board is brilliant!! Thank you to all with your suggestions. Sure enough, Costco had them in large 5 lb. containers. Exactly what I needed, since I needed 8 pounds worth! (If Costco had failed, I was hoping the vendors at the Dupont Circle farmers' market would be willing to negotiate selling the plums by the pound, rather than the container.) I'd be happy to share the recipe in a future post. The original version is good and it has a special place in my heart - but I over the past few years I've considered it a work in progress as each year my mother and I work to perfect my great-aunt's recipe.

you can also try KosherMart on Boiling Brook or Shaloms butcher for the other variety and other brands.

Evey year, come late Summer/early Fall, my family has a tradition of baking swetchkenkuchen (plum tart). Need italian (prune) plums. Anyone seen any in stores lately? If so, where? (I can't find them.)

Teaism also offers a bubble tea (black tea only). Unfortunately, they lack consistency in cooking the tapioca pearls to their correct doneness. Sometimes the pearls are overcooked and mushy. Other times, the tapioca is far from cooked and it's like biting into hard balls of uncooked pasta. But, when the tapioca is cooked just right, the tea is really good! I like the taste of the tea so much that I continue to order it hoping I'll get a good batch. But you just never know what you're going to get on any given day or time.

Has anyone spotted Italian plums in any of the grocery stores lately? I saw the first of the season's crop at the Dupont Farmer's Market. But given that I need 8 lbs worth (for tarts), 6-8 little plums that fit in the pint sized container and sell for $4 a pint isn't going to cut it. I need to buy in bulk.

Two friends and I went to Lavandou last night for their Bastille Day (week) special. Frankly, I was a little disappointed. The night seemed like a mediocre experience during Restaurant Week. Service was fine, the food was cooked as ordered (steaks arrived as medium and medium rare), but there seemed to be something lacking. It seemed as if the kitchen was in a mass production mentality for the week (although the restaurant was far from full last night). Having dined there several times in the past and very much enjoyed the food and the experience, I felt more of an effort was put into the regular menu offerings than that to the Bastille Week specials. We dined on vichyssoise soup, steak frites, salmon paillard with grilled vegetables, and Feuillete of Blueberries and Strawberries with Cream. The entrees were cooked well - nothing overcooked or undercooked. The dishes just seemed to lack any "oomph" (for lack of a better word). Is anyone going tonight?

There were a couple of stands with really great peaches this past Sunday at Dupont. Good prices to boot!

sunflower/flax bread (from Atwater's) with goat cheese and tomato.

The rye bread did in fact have seeds. (love those seeds!) But sadly, there wasn't the bowl of pickled goodies on the table. For that, I guess I'll have to get ti NYC and the 2nd ave. deli.

The quality of the meat was good. Neither the pastrami nor the corned beef were overly fatty and there were nice amounts of each on the sandwich. Admitedly, there was much russian dressing so it was a bit difficult to tell the true quality. Having had many bad Rueben sandwiches in my life, this one was a pleasant change.

I don't know about a menu to go. Sounds like a great idea though if they don't have one. As for prices, they are really reasonable. Apps/Salads: $2.50-6.00 Burgers are in the $8-11 range. Sandwiches/Overstuffed - $7-13 There is a more extensive entree list including a Brisket Platter ($17) and the most expensive item on the menu - London Broil for $22. We ate really well for what can be considered to be not so much money in this town.

I went with mom this weekend to check out the newly established Eli's at 20th & N. (I can't recall what the space used to be). While the space has more of a European bistro stlye, the menu reflects much more of a New York Deli fare. We started with meat knishes, house salads, and moved onto the "New Yorker" sandwich (a variation on the Reuben - corned beef, pastrami, cole slaw, and russian dressing), and a burger topped with pastrami and salami. The sandwiches are far from "Carnegie Deli" sized, but certainly big enough such that 1/2 a sandwich was plenty. The "New Yorker" was good - toasted bread, hot meat, ample cole slaw. The burger came out overcooked. We ordered it medium, but the burger had zero pink colouring. Despite the doneness, it was still juicy and we ate it as is. It wasn't bad. As the just place just opened a few weeks ago, I imagine that they are still working out the service kinks. (At least, I hope that they are working them out.) Our starters took a long time to arrive (ie. other people who had arrived after us were already eating their food), and no sooner did our starters arrive, did our entrees also arrive. Fortunately, the server quickly realized the problem that we were still working on the starters and that there was not more room on the table to put the entrees and quickly took them back to the kitchen. (I suspect this is how the burger went from "medium" to "well done".) Overall, the food was pretty good. I'd certainly go back. Good to decent NY style deli is hard to come by in this city, and having a place in the city is great. Eli's happens to be certified kosher (so cheeseburgers will not be served. :-)). Hopefully, this won't scare people away and that the restaurant will pick up street traffic. It's going to need it to survive. For those with kids - it is very kid friendly.

i second the lamb sirloin with mac & cheese. I'll also put in a good word for the risotto with asparagus. and don't forget the truffled fries!

Dean & Deluca sells the brand Chocolate Moderne - interesting flavour combinations and overall amazing stuff.