ghostrider

The menu at Market Lunch was tempting... ...but the choices felt a bit too heavy for my system at that point in the day. So I walked down to the sandwich counter at the other end of the Market for a curried chicken salad sandwich, which proved to be one of the best versions ever. Fortunately, it was just warm enough for me to be able to sit outside and enjoy it. After my lunch, feeling very well fed, I strolled over to Capitol Hill Books and had a great time browsing the shelves. I came away with only one book, but it was one more than I'd had when I entered, and that's a good thing. Love your city, can't wait till I return.

Somehow I missed this post once I got to DC. A pity, but good info for next time. My excursion to Eastern Market proved to be a highlight of my trip. Yeah, I'm a little crazy that way, three trips to DC & still haven't set foot inside the Smithsonian. I figure I'll get there sooner or later, it's bound to rain one of these years. Anyway, in gratitude for the advice here, I thought I'd post a few pix. Emerging from the Metro and walking towards the Market, I immediately felt at home in the neighborhood. The Market was a bit smaller than I'd imagined it, but very inviting. The butcher's counter really made me want to move to DC and cook pork products.

On our annual trip to National Harbor for a convention that my wife attends, I discovered one significant improvement from last year - an outpost of Capital Teas had opened back in June. It's a pleasant little store, with lots of nice teapots & other accessories. I didn't try any of their teas since my cupboard at home is overlowing after a new order from Upton. I did grab a nifty little hand-painted miniature pot. The shop certainly made National Harbor seem less of a wasteland than before.

I'd like to add my own shout-out to Mitsitam. . Wonderfully prepared foods, excellent ingredients. The dishes are more contemporary riffs on foods that Native Americans in various areas ate than historically authentic cuisine, but they're darned good. No contest, the best meal we had in a recent 4-day trip to DC, though our scope was severely limited by the demands of my wife's convention, which had us stuck out at National Harbor most of the time. At Mitsitam, I had 2 chunks of braised pork belly with South American spices. Wonderfully browned & crisped fat on the exterior. So rich & huge, I had to stop halfway through the second piece, I could not go on. This is a dish to be shared unless you have a huge appetite. Excellent lentils & chorizo, and a refereshing cabbage salad with pineapple & Mexican spiced peanuts. A perfect combo. With dessert, I spent $26, the most I've spent for a lunch in years. Worth it. My wife had some sort of chicken burrito, the filling was tasty. We shared a fabulous blackberry tart afterwards. (See what I mean, I don't think that Native Americans made French pastries, but I'm sure they ate blackberries.) We got there quite late for a lunch - around 2:30 - no problem getting a table right by the window. I seriously want to go back there for another couple of meals, there was so much I couldn't try in one shot.

Conversely, NYC has a lot of satellite greenmarkets scattered around town that are put to shame by the diversity of vendors at Dupont Circle. I've also seen apple varieties at Dupont that I've never seen in NYC. There are great things everywhere. Union Square has grown to be unique in my experience. I've been going there since the beginning, living a 20-minute walk away back then. I've seen Union Square be transformed from a dangerous junkie hangout htat you couldn't walk through even in daylight to what it is today. Had the amazing good fortune to work right across the street 1981-1999. Lordy did I eat & cook well in those years! Probably why I got downsized at the end of it, ex-hippie freaks trucking into the office with backpacks full of corn & tomatoes didn't exaclty fit the corporate image by the end of that decade. Now, living in Jersey, I still take the train in once every couple of weeks just to hit the USGM. There's nothing like it.

I do get an odd kick out of browsing produce markets even if I'm not buying anything beyond a bit of fruit or something. But the book store seals the deal; that sounds like my kind of place. Thanks, that is a great tip.

Hi folks, Just wondering if anybody had a take on whether Eastern Market might be a worthwhile stop for a tourist like me, being a guy who gets a real kick out of markets in general. Sounds like I'd probably enjoy this one. It looks like a location I'd hit en route to someplace else on my itinerary, so it'd be more a detour than a special desination trip for me. Last fall I had a hard time getting a handle on how far along the recovery from the fire was. Obviously I'd overlooked this thread then, for reasons I can't explain. Anyway I think I'm going to see if I can get by there next Tues, which will be my only shot at the place since they're closed on Mondays per the org website.

Believe it or not, this is a superb diabetic breakfast. It'll scarcely move your blood sugar levels at all. Cholesterol is perhaps another matter. So tomorrow I'll have oatmeal again. All items on the plate are from Buon Italia in the Chelsea Market., NYC.

No time for full response now, but if you're in Maine & sick of seafood, try an Italian sandwich from the small Amato's chain. (The original Amato's in Portland claims to have invented the Italian sandwich in 1902.) We had Amato's fare 3 times in 10 days in Maine, which just ended. Can't eat lobster every day, however hard I try.. The wonderful thing about Amato's: flavorful, RIPE tomatoes. How many places have you been to that serve otherwise decent sandwiches with crunchy underripe tomatoes? I was impressed with Amato's, at least the one in Bath, Maine. I will have more Maine suggestions in due course, as I'm sure others will. Where are you staying in Portland? Lots of options, of course. The bay view rooms at the downtown Holiday Inn are worth the $$, IMHO, tho it's cheaper to stay outside of town & drive in, but not as much fun. Portland is a great little walking city. There's a nearby Starbucks 2 blocks away, which is a cheaper breakfast option than what the HI offers. There's also a funky little biker diner in the opposite direction that looks like a great spot if you want eggs & that sort of breakfast.

I wonder what % of the catch winds up as pet food. Another element of insanity in my book. It is hard to find a cat food w/o some fish in it, even when it's advertised as "Chicken & Giblets Pate!". Every mfr wants theirs to taste better to the cat so that the owner will buy that brand, of course. Some cats like the taste of fish, but they don't eat it in the wild, & it's potentially unhealthy & even lethal for them. Maybe this is a small part of the problem, statistically, but from any rational perspective, it's just plain nuts.

That's exactly how I developed my technique.

Yes! My dad used to make that in summer, with zucchini from our backyard garden. (He was Dutch-Scottish but a mad gardener & a sporadic cook.) Drop the pasta & you have one of my favorite summertime dishes. I slice up zucchini & one or two other kinds of squash from the greenmarket. Toss in olive oil in a big frying pan over med-high heat till the slices are well coated with oil & moisture begins to bead out. Cut the heat way down at that point & let them cook slowly, with a stir & a turn every once in a while, till they shrink & are nicely caramelized. Sprinkle with oregano or whatever strikes your fancy a few times along the way. I've never really timed this, I just get the pan going first before I attend to the prep & cooking for the rest of the meal, but it's probably about 45 minutes. I love the results.

I forgot about Liberal Cup since I'm not much of a bar guy. Always looks like folks are having a good time there. Forgot Boynton's too, & you are right about their Italians. I've had a couple, classic stuff. Really nice to take 'em down to those picnic tables by the Kennebec & watch the river flow. Hallowell is, literally, next door to Augusta, it's a 2-minute drive from the state capitol building. We've probably covered Augusta & environs in this short space. Sadly not a lot there foodishly. There's a good fried seafood joint in Augusta, you're getting mostly frozen stuff there but it's local (Maine shrimp, god I love them) & good. There's also a nice fishmonger but you need a kitchen. Now if you want to talk Midcoast around Bath-Brunswick, that's the other Maine turf I know, & there are a few more options. That's where we're headed for a week after our night in Portland. We've returned to that area annually for 35 years, it never pales, it's like our second home

Dang I wish I'd popped in here earlier! There's actually some good food in Hallowell, as well as some good shopping - artsy craftsy stuff, & a GREAT used bookstore. Not Portland-quality food, but pleasant & fun. My wife is from Augusta, & Hallowell is the next town "down river," as the natives say, from the Capitol. Been there often. Has some of the best food in the Augusta area. (Augusta itself is a wasteland, food-wise, so that's not really saying much.) For future ref - Slate's is the place to start. They were wrecked by a terrible fire a few years back & finally reopened last year. Delightful place, great decor, decent food; dining there always lifts my spirits. Hattie's Chowder House has more plain, basic American style food, & usually some good fresh fish. Both are right on Hallowell's little main street on the bank of the Kennebec, you can't miss the street or the restaurants. Cafe Bangkok above was a good rec. Odd but a nice change to find decent Thai food in that spot. A few miles further down river, in the town of Gardiner, is the A-1 Diner, which is reputed to have THE best food in the Greater Augsta region. Unfortunately we've never managed to be in the area when the place was open - we've tried at least 3 times - so I can't vouch. Someday, maybe. We're gonna be in Portland next week, one night, before heading up the coast. Probably won't get to any of the serious food places but who knows. We tried to get in to Cinque Terre a couple of times w/o reservations but the wait was too long. I don't plan ahead too well. We've had some good meals at Katahdin, which has moved since we were last there. I won't be surprised if we find ourselves checking out their new digs. I wonder where Lusty Palate wound up.

Oops. I can only plead that, if they hadn't waited 35 years to get back together, I might have had these details more firmly in hand.