turbogrrl
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Breakfast - The Early-Morning, Polyphonic Food Blog
turbogrrl replied to txaggie's topic in Shopping and Cooking
went to the farmers market this morning to get regular eggs because Nick doesn't like the way duck eggs scramble. Got home to discover that he could not find the Hebrew National he wanted at the harris teeter so had decided to not make breakfast. I had given up my sunday sausage at Teaism so was very sad. In a sulk, I started slicing the challah to make cinnamon-sugar toast; Nick decided he would make french toast instead. So, breakfast was french toast and lemon-honey-ginger-mint tea. I see a sunbeam; I think I need a nap. -
Sunday mornings: park wherever I can, swing through the market for my eggs and pork bellies and whatever else catches my eye, then Teasim for the chicken sausage with naan and raita, plus a chai in a to-go cup. This, until just after this Christmas. Chai has always been too difficult for me to make at home. All of my kettles are electric kettles, then I rarely had milk on hand, and I'm terrible at pouring stuff out of pots- my sink gets half of whatever it is I was trying to make. It is sad. Much easier to just buy at Teaism. But this christmas, Nick bought me the Chemex water kettle. I had no idea what I was going to do with it— I already have plenty of ways to boil water, and this is big and complicated and dangerous- I managed to burn myself with steam the first time I used it. But then I stumbled across my ancient mostly-full bag of chai from Teaism. I carefully dumped the tea in the kettle, let it boil for a few minutes, and then poured milk in. Et voila! Chai! It was very pretty, bubbling away in the glass kettle. I've now had chai nearly every day since then. One kettle fills my large thermos, which I then haul to work and so I can have steaming chai all day long. I made the mistake of getting chai to go at teasim, though, the next sunday I was at the market. OMG so sweet. I'd never noticed it before, but now it's inescapable; the chai is too sweet. (And Teaism's chai is the least-sweet chai I've ever bought at a tea or coffee shop.) So now I have my sausage with water, and go home to make chai. I think Teaism is more than breaking even on this deal; I'm probably spending $5 a week on the dried tea, where I used to spend $3 for the tea in a to-go cup.
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When you say Chesapeake blows, which one are you speaking of? it's a franchise operation, so location actually matters. The one in McLean used to be decent... of course, I haven't been in about 5 years, since I no longer commute that way.
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Made the trek up to Greg's bagels this weekend-- and while the attraction is usually the incredible variety of fish they have, the bagels were really good. (sample set: sesame and colossus.) The european and scandanavian salmon were smooth, and flavorful without being overtly salty.
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Walked by last night to what looked like a fully kitted-out restaurant in a cute space; was told it will be opening next week. http://tabledc.com/about/ http://www.popville.com/2012/10/new-restaurant-from-chef-frederik-de-pue-table-coming-to-shaw-looking-to-open-nov-3rd/
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So, my lunch today was this: Pork belly on soft bun, with deep-fried sous-vide-poached eggs. It was so tasty I forgot to put the Sriracha on. ..... also, once every few months Kramers Books will have a Banh Mi special; I am very fond of it.
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No, have not had anything quite like that. But I will say that I am very fond of the "Banh Mi" from the PhoWheels food truck downtown- slices of 5-spice pork belly + pickled vegetables + optional runny egg on an optional croissant bun (rectangular bun). Freaking delicious.
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I am going to guess that it is booked, but you might as well go ahead and send email to events just in case. You never know if they have a table at an awkward time, or if someone cancels. i guess it will depend on how they choose to handle waitlists...
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No email; they are calling the contact # provided, and will need a credit card to hold the table. They will ask about and make note of any food allergies. Reservations must be cancelled, if necessary, at least 48 hours in advance. (I didn't enquire about transferring the table to someone else either inside or outside of the 48-hour window, but that might useful to know if necessary.)
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Woo-hoo! We will be dining early, at 6:15. But we will be there! Any other DR folks in the early crowd?
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While out looking at open houses, I noticed what appeared to be an adorable, but closed, cafe on the corner of 12th and S. I discovered that's because they open for the first time Monday (17 December) morning at 7am. The Coffee Bar will be serving beans from Ceremony Coffee Roasters, LA's Handsome Roasters, and Batdorf & Bronson of Seattle. They'll be serving pour-overs from Hario V60 brewers, and pulling espresso from a La Marzocco GB5. The cafe looked really welcoming; pity the house I went to see already had a contract on it. http://www.thecoffeebardc.com/
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Thank-You Dinner for Business Colleagues Coming from Fairfax
turbogrrl replied to Soup's topic in Help Needed
Woo Lae Oak in the last two years hasn't seemed to have as much of the polish that it had 4-5 years ago. Otoh, it is the site of the long-departed steakhouse Sam and Harry's, so definitely has the space and ambiance to host a business dinner. My personal preference would be for 2941. -
My husband's parents had their first date at Schwartz's Drugstore, but I don't think they ever go to that Starbucks for anniversaries.
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Went back to Mark's tonight with the family. Because, clearly we hadn't eaten enough yesterday... The energy level in the restaurant is elevated; staff *and* patrons seem happier. Nearly every dish we ate tonight was the best we'd ever had it there. The snow pea shoots were tender, garlicy, and had no hint of bitter. The lobster on noodles was outstanding; even those of us that inevitably eschew the lobster for the noodles, picked the lobster clean tonight. A fiesty black bass (it took about 3 staff members to catch the wily fish) made a fantastically delicious sacrifice. The tofu was pillowy. The peking duck we inhaled, aided by the fact that it actually *came with enough tortillas.* Dessert was a really airy coconut dish, somewhere between a pudding and a marshmallow, cut into chilled cubes, and served with orange slices. The new owner was not hiding behind the front desk like the prior owners but walking the floor, chatting with patrons, checking in on how the meals were progressing. Mark's tonight was better than it's been in the 5 years I've been going with Nick's family; John says earnestly that he's working to make it even better in the future, and I think he's on track to do so.
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(note re: dill: I wasn't trying to say the soup was over-dilled— I just happen to be horribly allergic to dill. It's really kind of a tragedy, since dill is so *tasty*.)
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Went to DGS tonight, had a good time. There is a cosy bar in the back of the restaurant, where we had a chance to start in on drinks before a table came available. (They also take reservations, and will take your number and text you when a table is available if you choose to wander off while waiting to be seated.) We started off with matzo ball soup and the lamb + lentil knish. This was a personal failure for me on both counts because both of them came garnished with dill, which I completely forgot to ask about. I was able to brush it off of the knish, and enjoyed it very much. Too much of the dill had steeped in the soup, so I have to take nick's word that it was tasty. For the mains, nick had the pastrami sandwich, and I had a half order of the kreplach. Also, Latkes with apple preserves. Win! none of these had dill. I think my favorite part of my dish was the roasted tomato, but it was all very tasty. I think Nick has been convinced to wander over to dupont for more pastrami. The latkes were ok, but I ended up eating most of the apple preserves. And then, because I really didn't have lunch, we had to try *two* desserts. The winner here was clearly the bread "pudding" (nick described it as very soft chocolate chip cookie)... but while the doughnuts probably would have been happier with some coffee to dip them in, they were *perfect* for dredging the pudding dish. And yes, we ended up spending a little bit more than even we did at Taan last night. But we also had a cocktail, starter, main, 1/2 side, and dessert each. This is a very pleasant addition to south dupont.
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Taan had some definitely good bits- I found the duck breast + dashi risotto to be lovely. OTOH, the liver really overpowered the pork belly in the bao- I couldn't finish half an order. I am of the order of "no bao left behind," so... this was problematic. Fortunately Nick helped me out. The duck broth was rich, but the dish as a whole left me a bit flat. The pickled eggs are... enh, and the poached yolk add-on was just gelatinously floating there. Service was friendly and attentive. The real problem, for me, was that the bill for three people nearly came to $110. If I'm going to spend $75 on dinner for two... I've got a list of restaurants already. The fact that the cocktails cost nearly as much as a bowl of soup is also problematic; A/M requires that the alcohol receipts be less than half of the restaurant's intake. Even if Sakuramen weren't a block away, this would not be a once a week place for me, and probably not even once a month. It's just too expensive.
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So, as of the first, Marks is under new ownership; one of the current staff bought it, and the previous owners are retiring. Will be going soon with the parents to investigate.
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I actually steal as many of the onions from my husband as I can before he notices. To each their own, I guess. Should also note that as of a week ago they are now offering a tonkotsu ramen. Also new to the menu: spicy pork buns. I prefer the pork belly buns, but then, I really dig on the onions.
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I think the noodles from the food truck Pho Wheels are probably the best noodles I've ever had in a bowl of pho. But while I find their pho tasty, it's their pork belly bahn mi on croissant bun with a fried egg that makes my mouth water, and keep me hitting refresh on their twitter feed. http://www.phowheelsdc.com/
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I don't think that mild is not acceptable; I think we all thought the ma po tofu was oustanding. (of course, that's a Sichuan dish, not a Hong Kong one.) I do think my partner has imprinted more heavily on some dishes than others; and reacts poorly to deviations. And I'm sympathetic. The overwhelming note in the beef chow foon was ginger, which was jarring, and a lot of the beef was tough. The spicy seafood was very heavily battered and overcooked, the scallops were inedible, and the spicy was missing. The char siu was ... very lean. or perhaps just dry. I can't comment on wonton soup; I apparently am not programmed to appreciate it no matter where it is made. But that ma po! Oh, man. I'd go back just for that. His parents went for lunch earlier in the week, for some of the same dishes and loved it. I think the answer is the kitchen is mysteriously inconsistant. I'd be happy to go back without the complainer. Of course, I'd probably stick to the ma po.
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Puree is about a once-a-week thing for me. They initially said they couldn't take the glass bottles if you left with them and brought them back later, but that may have changed. I suspect the bottles are re-useable but the lids have to be trashed. Or, you could have a growing collection of them in your cabinets, like I do. The store is cute; a lot of the traffic does seem to be of the bethesda-housewife/lululemon-clad-yogi/latest-cleanse-devotee type, but even so it can be strangely relaxing to pull up a stool at the bar and watch the mysterious process of transforming wheatgrass into a brilliant green shot. Service can be a bit distracted, but I tend to cut some slack to teenagers. The "mean" lemonade can be a brilliant thing after a hard workout or a frustrating day. The smoothies are generally fantastic, but I confess I occasionally hear Travolta's incredulous voice in my head: “You don’t put bourbon in it or nothin’?!”
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The ramen pop-up was called People's Noodle Bar. Peter sells his buns (People's Bao) at local farmer's markets (I've seen mention of him being at Foggy Bottom and Mt. Pleasant, though I've not been to either.) and there is rumour of a food truck.
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According to their twitter feed ( https://twitter.com/PeoplesBao ), the noodle pop-up at senor chicken is closed as of Friday, so they can work on the menu.
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I don't think it is fair to make the comparison to Toki at the moment. Toki is fantastically on top of their game, and their offerings have matured into something truly noteworthy in the last six months. The last meal I had at Toki was better than recent ones at Momofuku *and* Ippudo in NYC. (Ippudo in Tokyo still takes the blue ribbon). Of course, I had to drive down to H street, park, and then wait two hours before I could begin to *have* that meal. That said, the bowl of ramen I had Sakuramen last night was more put together than the first bowl I had at Toki shortly after they opened-- too bad we can't actually do head to head comparisons with the ghosts of restaurants past. In an absolute sense, my opinion is that Rens and Toki are both offering significantly better bowls than Saku *right now*, but Saku is significantly better than Satsuma and (the closed as of Friday) People's Noodle, as well as the infrequent lunch offering at Sushi Taro. My hope is that Saku will find their stride and then kick the noodles into higher gear. Also, unlike Ren's or People's, Saku has the ambiance to make a decent date night, which I hope will help it succeed in fickle A-M. And now I will stop dominating this thread.
