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saf

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Everything posted by saf

  1. Went to Via Ghibellina in Ivy City last weekend. 4 of us. First, a stop at Don Ciccio to try the new chocolate amaro, which was soooo good. Then dinner. So, first, the tables. We were seated at a table with truly horrid chairs. One of our friends has a bad back, and I cannot sit on low chairs - I get stuck! So we asked to be moved, and they were lovely, and put us at a different table with better chairs. Second, the oddity. Easily half the women in the place were wearing tiaras. They didn't look like promgoers or debutants. Mystery solved later in the evening when the table next to us asked some of them what was up. Turned out that they were all on their way to a Bridgerton meetup. In costume. Third, the food. We had a meat platter and olives for apps. The meat was good. The olive eaters liked the olives. The boy had Tagliatelle Al Ragu. I had pizza with mushrooms and goat cheese and truffle oil. After this stupid week we have had, I have forgotten what the other 2 had. The desserts were good too. "Chocolate Hazelnut Crunchy Bar" was very very tasty. Again, my brain is a little fried, so I forget what the others had. Overall, recommend!
  2. saf

    Ivy City?

    Thanks folks. Panda is a lovely idea, but as we didn't want to move cars, we ended up at Via Ghibellina. It was tasty. I'll write about it in the correct thread.
  3. I was going to post, and going to post, and things keep happening! So, we did some cooking early in the week, and we had a bunch of leftovers, and that turned out to be a good thing when the boy tested positive for COVID on Wednesday, having started having symptoms on Tuesday. Been eating a lot of leftovers. (Also missed 2 ball games and a symphony performance. Grrr.) We made this tomato-ham pasta with leftover Easter ham out of the freezer. It made a LOT! I don't love ham, but this was pretty good. We made this chicken and rice dish. Also made a lot and it was really good. Also made egg and lemon soup with ramps. Quite tasty, but not something that reheats well. Luckily, we guessed that, and only made a half batch. I am tired of leftovers. Thankfully, he is feeling much better (Also thankful that I am still testing negative. One more day of negative test results before the doc is willing to say that I should be in the clear!)(Also thankful for vaccines and anti-viral meds.) A friend made a farm market run with porch delivery for us. So... Tonight was grill night! We were supposed to be at the ball game, but based on the final score, probably not so bad to be here instead. So, chicken thighs marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger. Asparagus. Carrots. And salad. It was so good. I made this poke cake, but with cherries instead of blueberries. We will see how that is.
  4. Tonight we pulled some meatballs from the freezer. Toasted some buns, put meatballs on them, mozzarella over them, and broiled. Also, salad. Easy and tasty. Strawberry shortcake for dessert! I love strawberry season! (Made shortcake dough yesterday, baked some up for last night's dinner, froze the rest for the future, so baked 2 up fresh tonight. Worked very well.) Last night was pasta. Alfredo sauce and asparagus. And little mozzarella pearls. Also salad. And, as noted above, strawberry shortcake. And Tuesday was frozen dumplings. And salad. The freezer is my favorite appliance at the moment!
  5. Sadly, they closed 4/1/22. I don't know if it is a pandemic thing or a landlord thing.
  6. Had lunch here for the first time in a while last week. We had takeout a few times over the worst of the pandemic, and while it did not travel perfectly, it was good. But it was lovely to be back in there. My friend had a cubano, I had pan con lechon. And the sandwiches were, as ever, huge and delicious.
  7. saf

    Ivy City?

    Anyone got good ideas for food in Ivy City these days? So many places seem to have closed, and the smokehouse has no reservations available. Probably going to be 6 or 7 of us on Saturday evening. Not horribly expensive but doesn't need to be cheap either. A few non-seafood folks in the group.
  8. A trip to Midlands on Saturday to watch the Nats lose, drink good beer, and eat. Giant pretzel split between the 4 of us. Brats, chili cheese dogs. It was nice. I like a nice simple beer garden sometimes!
  9. Dinner at the bar here Friday. It was good. The drinks were amazing. And still, too much cilantro!
  10. Reused the maple brine recipe above - for pork chops. See, it was Sunday, and the weather was tolerable (he grilled between showers), and we were not at a ballgame. So.... salad and biscuits. And grilled pork chops and grilled asparagus. It was good. Tonight was baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese sauce. Also salad. I tried to make some macarons today, but they came out weird. Still tasty though. So we will have chocolate not-quite macarons with marshmallow fluff filling for dessert.
  11. Cones after dinner at Purple Patch last Friday. Butter Brickle with a little hat of Brigadero. Don't remember what the others had, but we were all happy. They are back to only serving out the window.
  12. Dinner at the bar on Friday, with lumpia apps, delicious cocktails, decent wine. I ate wings for dinner, the other had actual entrees. And then, down the street for ice cream! YAY weather!
  13. Drove by on the way to Gettysburg last Sunday. The site is now empty - everything torn down.
  14. So we made an expedition to the Gettysburg area on Sunday. Needed a change of scenery. Up Georgia Ave to Westminster, then over to Hanover, for our first stop at the Utz factory store. Always amusing, always tasty, always has a few weird things. So, mustard pretzel twists, white cheddar cheeze balls, chocolate covered pretzels. The boy found the new dill pickle chips. (Ugh.) We discovered that they now own Zap's, and there were KING CAKE flavored corn puff snacks. The bag sits unopened on the kitchen counter. We need to taste it. Also, they threw in 2 little bags of sweet potato chips. Fun stop. I wish Snyder's were open on Sunday. Then on to New Oxford for some fun, but unproductive, antique shopping. I need furniture! Why does nobody have furniture any more? Then on to Gettysburg for a visit to the Ploughman Cider taproom, which was lovely. Good chance to sample a variety of their stuff. Mostly tasty. A bit of walking around and shopping. Then we had dinner at Appalachian Brewing. Eh. The food was fine, although it seems odd to have a platter with brats, pierogi, and mashed potatoes. But we ate and enjoyed it so that's that. And a birch beer float for dessert. Now THAT was fabulous! The beer was OK. And it was nice to get a change of scenery. (Although politically, we were CLEARLY in a different world.)
  15. Hm... OK. The gelato cart is behind 308 (our section), when it is open, which is not always. Will have to check what that flavor is! Our first game, 2 weeks ago now, we got sandwiches at Roaming Rooster. Fine, but had been sitting a little tooooooo long. May be eating papusas a lot again this year. I miss the dumplings.
  16. Made a nice asparagus and ramp pizza on Tuesday. White, with basil olive oil, mozzarella, and blops of ricotta. Tried another new recipe last night - Maple brined roasted chicken thighs. Brined overnight. They were a huge hit! And of course, salads both nights.
  17. New recipe tonight - red rice. And it was easy, and tasty, and used some of the leftover kielbasa from Easter. Will do this again. Also, salad.
  18. Dinner at Kinship on Saturday. One of our regular dinner crew just got promoted, and has wanted to get here for a very long time. Finally managed to get her Kinship celebratory dinner. (These 2 used to periodically join us at the bar at Cityzen for the bar menu. And one of them still says that the lobster corn chowder at Cityzen is the best thing he has even eaten, and will always for him be the essence of a New England summer.) First, I have to say, on the service - how the hell do they remember us? We get there a few times a year. (WANT IT TO BE MORE OFTEN!) Yet they always remember us. And they knew the other 2 were new to Kinship. And the service was stellar. As always. The staff there is so good. (I suppose that I should note that at the moment, my hair is a coppery hot pink with a few purple highlights, although last time I was there, it was a blue/purple/red swirl. So not the same! Perhaps I am a bit recognizable. But they knew the other 2 were new! And they recognize the boy. He has normal hair.) So we opened with cocktails: a "spritz awakening" for me, a martini for the boy, wolfhound for one, and a wilderness trail manhattan for the other. Then for apps, the boy and I split the foie gras, there was a grilled florentino cauliflower (was lovely, seemed like baby cauliflower), and a "Ramp Bararois." She loved it. I had to try the ramp stuff it came with - a kind of a foam. (I didn't try any other part of it, because it had shrimp.) She is now very interested in recreating that ramp foam. (I hope she takes the bartender's advice, and emails the chef about it. She's a good cook.) (Also, let me say again how tasty the bread here is.) Then for dinner she had shoat, which was especially interesting because of the tiny bratwurst meatballs it came with, the boy had "curry poached atlantic halibut," which all the fish eaters wish they had ordered, because it was apparently very delicious, and the fourth and I split the chicken. And we were nice enough to share the parker house rolls with the other 2. We drank a bottle of a South African Chenin Blanc called Cartology. Let me say again how much we love a good sommelier. Dessert - I loved my honey cardamom nougat glace, the boy enjoyed the caramel peanut bar, there was also a royal milk tea pavlova, and a pistachio custard cake with rhubarb. Dessert drinks were all over the place, and I can't detail them because that portion of the menu is not on line, and I did not take pics. Desserts were all fabulous. Oh, and I just remembered - there was tea ordered. And it came with the toffee! I thought that only came with coffee, but the one who got the tea pavlova wanted to double up on his bergamot, so he got earl grey tea, so we got to try the toffee! And it was good.
  19. So a little over a week ago, on a Saturday evening, 3 of us headed down to Midlands. It was full with a line to get in as folks left! No. So we went half a block down and sat down at the bar at Tabla. We had all been meaning to try it, but hadn't made it yet. We got delicious cocktails, then a red wine flight to try the Georgian wines. Had actual wine and Georgian beer with dinner. I was a little nervous about the prevalence of cilantro in Georgian food, but was able to avoid it without too many issues. For apps, the boy wanted to try Georgian-Spiced Fries(guda cheese dressing, fresh basil, ajika ketchup) which was a sort of a Georgian loaded fries thing and was absolutely delicious. Then we got the 3 Khachapuri special, choosing one classic Ajaruli (oval, cheese and egg), one Pork & Pomegranate BBQ Imeruli (round) filling of pulled pork and Imeruli cheese with pomegranate bbq sauce and topped with purple cabbage slaw, and one Spinach & Artichoke Dip Ajaruli (oval) filled with cheesy spinach and artichoke dip. The first 2 were really outstanding. The 3rd was good, but the others were better. For dessert, I had to try Churchkhela - traditional Georgian sweet of walnuts strung on a string and dipped like a candle in thickened grape juice. I have wanted to try it ever since I read "Anything Can Happen" and was enthralled by the description. I do not like it, and that made me sad. But my friend shared her chocolate truffles, and they were very good. They need more dessert. Still have to try the yogurt based dessert. It sounds good. We will go back! (They also do takeout, and Midlands allows you to bring takeout in. I think the fries and the khachapuri will travel that half block well.)
  20. 4 of us for dinner at the Red Hen a week and a half ago (Yeah, I am behind). Ate at the bar, arriving right at opening. And it was delicious. Various cocktails, beers, and wine, all delicious, over the course of the dinner. (It's been too long for me to remember exactly what we all had.) The boy and I split the liver mousse for an app. We also had the risotto balls, split 4 ways. (one of us is nominally Catholic, and was observing lent, or he would have had liver too.) Then there was a squid ink pasta for one of us. a whole fish for another, and pastas for the other 2 of us that are no longer on the menu and I cannot recall details, only that they were soooooo good. Dessert was also good - one panna cotta, one chocolate cake, one sticky toffee pudding, and amaro all around. Service was stellar, and they seemed busy. The bar was full by the time we left. It's been so long since we were there. It's going into the rotation.
  21. We had people for Easter. Lots of people for Easter brunch in mid/late afternoon. Knowing we would be coming from church, which WOULD run long (and indeed it did), we tried to keep it simple. What can we make ahead?! Let's serve buffet style with disposable tableware! (Well, except for the serving pieces) So it was: Slovak style paska bread with several types of kielbasa and Easter eggs. Oh, and a lamb shaped butter with an "Alleluia" flag stuck in its butt. Smoked ham, with some emmentaler next to it, with mustards and biscuits. Smoked salmon, with whipped cream cheese and that super-thin pepperidge farm wheat bread. Asparagus, ramp, and goat cheese frittata. Cherry almond scones with clotted cream. Lamb cake, chocolate torte with raspberries, and various Easter candies. Various wines, beers, seltzer, and orange juice. Oh, and there was a pot of tea too. It was tasty, and well received.
  22. Every time they try to make it better, they just make it worse. And they still won't take cash. I wonder if the Devil's Backbone stand is e-cash enabled yet? Wasn't last year. We were supposed to be there last night, but decided that since we are going Sunday, we would skip dealing with the nasty weather. I think it was the right choice. I am unhappy with the new bag policies. I am unhappy with the new food/cash policies. I am unhappy with the the universal DH. I think MLB is trying to drive away the fans to develop a new, younger fan base. On the up side, I understand they will have South Mountain ice cream! But I don't know where the stand will be. Probably not in the 300s, where we sit.
  23. City-State Brewing Company is in Edgewood. We have had some of their beers before, and keep meaning to check out the brewery. So, last Saturday we made an expedition to the wilds of NE. (So, so far from Petworth!) (OK, maybe not.) First impression - very warehousy, and many children. It was early evening. But most of the children were outside, and the inside ones were quiet. So all good. Too bad there's no bar to sit at, but there were lots of tables. Second impression - a LOT of beers that we all want to drink, a few beers only the hopheads want. Beers were ordered. Beers were QUITE tasty. This place will go into the regular rotation. Third impression - there are more food options here than we realized. We could plan to come here to eat AND drink. We will. (And based on what happened with food later that night (See Red Bear and Biergarten Haus threads), we should have stayed at City-State for dinner. And MORE BEER! Final judgement - yep, this is a very good place with very good beer and we will be back. I think it would be loud when crowded, so will try to avoid that.
  24. Red Bear Brewing Company opened in 2019, next to REI at the Uline Arena. We've been meaning to get there to try it out. So last Saturday we finally did. 3 of us. First impression - interesting beers, but mostly of the hop bomb variety. The beers we did drink ranged from ugh to good, so it is possible to get good beers here. Choose wisely. The hopheads I was with were happier than I was. Second impression - it's crowded, but we did get bar seats, and the staff were lovely and helpful. The bar stools were not the most comfortable, so perhaps better to sit at a table for comfort. But we do love sitting at bars. Third impression - these are the best fried cheese curds ever. Seriously, the best. Bodes well for other fried things on the menu! Fourth impression - it is not even 8 PM, and you are sold out of 3/4 of the food on the menu? OK, since we are hungry and what remains on the menu is not really meal-type food, we will go elsewhere to eat. Final judgement - we will probably go back, but earlier, and will check out the beer menu before deciding to go.
  25. Huh. Came here to post about last Saturday's dinner at Biergarten Haus. I had totally forgotten about our last experience here, almost 9 years ago, until I opened the thread! Anyhow, we went out to check out some new breweries last weekend. Had a good time. (Will be posting about those in other threads.) We planned to have dinner at Red Bear, but when we went to order dinner, about 7:45, we were informed they had run out of food. Well, they had a few things, but not enough for dinner! So we went on down to H Street, since we were close, knowing we would have options there. But Cane was packed. And Maketto had a 45 minute wait. And, and, and... So we ended up at Beirgarten Haus. Sat at the front bar. The bartender was very nice. The garden was FULL of people watching basketball, but the bar was pretty empty. Got some beers. The number of options is definitely less than before. And the beer, while fine, tasted like the lines could use a good cleaning. I had pork schnitzel. It was OK. The other 2 had sausages. Also only OK. And then a bunch of folks came in from the garden, and had the bartender turn on the sound for the last 10 minutes of the basketball game. It was instantly packed and ungodly loud. So, it was fine, but nothing more than that, and I expect it will be another 9 years before we go back.
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