Tweaked

My neighbor and I have continued our monthly 2 Amy's dinners.  Instead of saddling up to the back bar, we now bundle up and eat out on our building's patio.    

The 2 Amy's online ordering system is easy to use and most orders are ready within about 20 minutes.  2 Amy's has a table set up in their front door vestibule, a staff member takes your name and then hands you your order.  You don't enter the restaurant space.  All easy, low contact, and streamlined.

Unfortunately, their menu is also more streamlined these days and understandibly many of the wine bar daily specials are no longer offered.  However, there is still plenty of good eating to be had.

We almost always go with an order of the Suppli a Telefono (fried risotto balls).  These stay crisp and warm, even after a 20 minute walk home.  Last night they offered their excellent Piggy Croquettes.  Another good order is the Caponata.  Finally we always get the Sicilian Anchovies (one note here:  the butter they provide is always rock hard and doesn't have a chance to soften in the cold weather, so we now use our own butter).  We always order an extra container of the Green Sauce.

We have experimented with various pizzas and stuffed pizzas.  The Etna 2.0 has worked the best for take out.  We now order the NoAmys and add toppings.  Last night's combo was onion, rapini, olives, grana, smoked mozzerella, red pepper flakes.  Pretty darn tasty.  But, the pizzas suffer the most from not coming straight out of the oven, we might have to try re-heating.  

Finally, a shout out to the cannoli (2 per order).  The shell is crisp and airy and the ricotta zippy with candied grapefruit.  If I was going to whack someone, I'd defintely remember to take the cannoli (Sorry Paulie). 

The Phillips Collection will be hosting a free (with registration) live stream featuring Zlatomir Fung, Sunday January 31, 2021 from 4:00pm-5:30pm.  

GIUSEPPE TARTINI (1692-1770), arr. Paul Bazelaire
50 Variations on a Theme by Corelli

CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918) 
Syrinx (adapted by Orfeo Mandozzi)

COLERIDGE-TAYLOR PERKINSON (1932-2004)
Lamentations, "Black Folk Song Suite"

"Avery Fisher Career Grant-winning cellist Zlatomir Fung makes his debut at The Phillips Collection. Fung burst onto the world stage after he won the Gold Medal at the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition, a springboard that opens the door to a flourishing career as a concerto soloist. Despite this, Fung remains a committed chamber musician, as keen to explore the small scale and intimate as much as the large scale concerto repertoire. His adventurous approach to programming draws in influences from many styles and periods, locating common threads that unite music separated by time and style. 

This performance will be broadcast live on this event page and is free with registration. Once you have registered, return to this page on January 31, 2021, scroll down to the section “Watch the Stream” and enter the password provided to you at registration. The performance will be available to view On-Demand for the following 7 days."

I was randomly on Zahav's website and noticed they ship nationally via Goldbelly.

The Lamb Shoulder Meal Kit is $249 + free shipping.  Pricey, but they say it serves 6 and looking at the meal kit it looks like a ton of food. 

This package serves 6 people and includes everything you need to make a 3-course meal featuring the Zahav Lamb Shoulder:

Hummus (16 oz)

Beets with Tehina (8 oz)

Pickled Napa Cabbage (8 oz)

Moroccan Carrots (8 oz)

Matbucha (8 oz)

Spicy Fennel (8 oz)

Twice-cooked Eggplant (8 oz)

Schug (2 oz)

Harissa (2 oz)

12 Pitas (each pita is 3 oz and measures 6" in diameter)

Pomegranate Lamb Shoulder (64 oz)

Lamb Sauce (16 oz)

Yellow Rice (24 oz)

Rice Topping (Pistachios) (2 oz)

Rice Topping (Currants) (2 oz)

6 Malabi with Cranberry and Rose

Well, I'll give the 3321 Bistro folks props for forging ahead, gutting a restaurant, redesigning the space, and opening during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, it was a disappointing takeout meal.  Their menu is a mess.  Much of the food was underseasoned, some of it not seasoned.  Ingredients were missing.  The ingredient quality was supermarket level.  Maybe the meat dishes are better?  Sigh.   

The Vegetarian Quesadilla was bland and boring.  I've made better veggie quesadilas with leftover scraps from my fridge.  The salsa tasted and looked like it was from a jar.   

The Plantain and Black Bean Tostadas (3 to an order) were missing the plantains.  A scattering of salad greens looked like they were straight from a prepackaged carton of mixed greens, generic cherry tomatoes, a couple slices of radish.  Frankly, it was an insult to tostadas.

The Guacamole was likewise underseasoned, desperate for some salt and more lime.  Some of the tortilla chips appeared to be freshly fried, but suffered from steaming in the paper bag on the way home.

The Fish Ceviche was passable.  The citrus marinade was simple but nicely balanced.  However, the fish appeared to be farmed tilapia...I could have walked down the street to Yes Gourmet and bought a piece of fish of equal quality.  The large kernals of corn were inedible and the chunk of sweet potato didn't really add much but sweetness.  

The Patatas Bravas were the one saving grace.  A large container of nicely fried potato chunks with a generic but spice-ish sauce.  If they served these potatoes with some chorizo and fried eggs, they might be onto something.  I repurposed the potatoes as a pizza topping Sunday night and they worked well.  If I need a quantity of fried potatoes I'd actually consider placing a stand alone order.

I think we will give them another shot once the pandemic passes and they get a liquor license, but as of right now, 3321 Bistro won't be added to our pandemic takeout rotation.  

Washingtonian:  The Past, Present and Future of Panda Gourmet

The short version:  surviving and hoping to open a ghost kitchen setup downtown or near Georgetown to expand their delivery zone.

Barred in DC is reporting: the Hunt's lease expired and hasn't at this time been renewed; the owner of the building died back in February; the heirs are trying to sell or lease the building.  The real estate agent has been posting listings for the buildings on the Barred in DC twitter thread. All yours for $7.5 million. 

It appears the Big Hunt is closed/closing (although I don't think they have been open due to Covid).  The building is for sale/lease.  

Another sad loss.  I drank many beers at the Big Hunt. 

According to Barred in DC, the Hunt's lease expired on Oct. 31.  

Champions League Round of 16 Draw

16 February & 10 March
RB Leipzig (GER) vs Liverpool (ENG)
Barcelona (ESP) vs PSG (FRA)

17 February & 9 March
Porto (POR) vs Juventus (ITA)
Sevilla (ESP) vs Borussia Dortmund (GER)

23 February & 17 March
Lazio (ITA) vs Bayern (GER)
Atlético (ESP) vs Chelsea (ENG)

24 February & 16 March
Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) vs Manchester City (ENG)
Atalanta (ITA) vs Real Madrid (ESP)

Centrolina is doing a Feast of the Seven Fishes To Go on Dec. 23 and 24.  $150 dinner for 2.  Some additional home cooking required. 

How about bottarga: cured fish roe? Since it is cured it well keep and it's usually sold vacuum packed.  A common use is grated over pasta, much like parmesan.

You can buy it on Amazon or specialty food shops, like Eataly or Gustiamo.

It's a little out there, but not too out there (like pigs ears!) 

I've been using our corona time to sample various local roasters, buying bags of coffee from grocery stores.  I would say I'm a coffee enthusiast but no expert.

I've enjoyed several bags of Swing's coffee.  The current batch is 1013 Reserve, which is described on the bag as a Medium Roast Milk Chocolate, Orange, Sweet. Costa Rica Sumatra

Their website says:  "Our 1013 Reserve Blend pays homage to M.E. Swing’s original location at 1013 E Street in Washington, DC, a site recognized and protected by the National Register of Historic Places.

The blend is inspired by our classic Java Mocha and marries the sweet, creamy body of Sumatra with a pointed, citric acidity of Costa Rica. The result is a complex and nuanced coffee that is easy-drinking with a velvety mouthfeel."

The bottom of the bag has a label with the brew date and best used by date.  In this case:  10/29/2020 and 1/27/2021.  I bought the 12oz bag about 3 weeks ago, so that means when I bought it the beans would have been roasted approximately 10 days earlier.  

I bought it from Streets in Cleveland Park, which has a pretty decent selection of bags of coffee, for a smaller grocery store.  In this case, the 1013 Reserve cost $9.99.      

After six years, both store fronts have now been rented.  On the left, the original Palena restaurant space is now a School of Rock. And on the right, in the space the expanded Palena cafe took over....drum roll please...a Chase bank branch. 

Yay Cleveland Park. 

Indique was very good last night.  Good flavors, a nice tingle of heat, plenty of leftovers.

We went with: tandoori salmon, samosa chaat, paneer makhani, Punjabi chole, garlic naan and paratha.

I'm more of a fan of their paratha, buttery, nicely charred in spots.  It's become my go to bread order.  

Per Smithsonian website:

Due to rising regional and national cases related to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, all Smithsonian museums, including the National Zoo, will temporarily close to the public starting Monday, Nov. 23. Free timed-entry passes are required for entry at most of our open museums, galleries, and the zoo through Sunday, Nov. 22. Outdoor gardens will remain open, no passes required.

Per National Gallery website:

National Gallery of Art to Temporarily Close November 21

Washington, DC—Out of an abundance of caution and in response to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the region and across the nation, the National Gallery of Art will temporarily close its doors to the public beginning on Saturday, November 21. This affects both the West Building and the Sculpture Garden.

Per Glenstone website: 

Glenstone Museum will temporarily close beginning on Wednesday, November 25. Following the standard Thursday-Sunday operating schedule, the last visitor day will be Sunday, November 22.  Glenstone has canceled all scheduled visits through the end of December and will offer those individuals priority rebooking when a reopening date has been set. As of now, January visits are still scheduled but may be canceled at a later date.

My take:

Beyond looks and tastes like packaged frozen burgers that one might buy at Costco for a backyard party and didn't want to make burgers from scratch.  Beyond is the Bubba Burger of the alt-burger world.

Impossible is more legit burger-y.  If you went to a diner or local bar/grill type place and they slipped in an Impossible burger, I'm not sure you would be able to tell the difference.  However, as noamb said, you aren't going to mistake it for a trendy upscale burger.  The Impossible doesn't have that meaty juicy-ness of a really well made meat burger.  But honestly, the Impossible is an impressively engineered product. 

My SIL is vegan so my brother will have Impossible if he wants a burger fix at home.  The Impossible is too meat-like for her.  

I prefer the Amy's Sonoma Veggie Burger.     

For those into these sorts of things, a good showing for the DMV in this year's Esquire Best New Restaurants in America 2020

Piccolina #11 

Albi & Yellow #12 

Paola Velez (Compass Rose & Maydan) Pastry Chef of the Year

Armani Johnson (ABC Pony) Rising Star of the Year 

Also the Peter Chang family and Pichet Ong's Nihao (#4) in Baltimore and Adarra (#22) in Richmond with nods. 

Closed, per Tino's IG account. 

1 hour ago, Ericandblueboy said:

When you go pick up, do you just park the car in front (with blinkers on)?

You can do that, there is an outdoor table at the bottom of the stairs leading up to Komi for picking up food. Or, when you receive your confirmation, they include a phone number to text upon arrival and they will bring the food to your car. 

17th street has become pretty much a 1.5 lane road with lots of outdoor tents lining the streets. But pick up outside of Happy Gyro was easy. 

21 hours ago, Bart said:

Hey Tweaked - it looks like the Jaleo link actually takes you to the ChiKo story.

Last paragraph of the Chiko article talks about the Jaleo change up, but the Eater article is more indepth. 

Bethesda location will become Spanish Diner, a branch of Jose's all-day Spanish comfort food destination in New York’s Mercado Little Spain.  Spring 2021. 

Bethesda branch opening "this winter" along Bethesda Row in the former Prima space. 

On 9/19/2018 at 6:37 PM, Mark Dedrick said:

My go-tos before shows at Lincoln Theater or U Street Music Hall tend to be Seki or Archipelago. Ranging slightly further afield, other pre-show favorites for us at 930 Club, DC9 and Black Cat include Hazel, Haikan, Kyirisan, Bar Pilar, Lupo Verde and Doi Moi.  

---

Archipelago (funkyfood)

This thread is one of the few I could find with a reference to U Street Music Hall, so I will place it here:  Closed.

I saw some good shows at U Street, it will be missed.

Opening this weekend, a new outdoor museum celebrating DC's graffiti history past and present.  The museum features a celebration of noted DC graffiti artist Cool "Disco" Dan as well as changing graffiti and murals by contemporary street artists. 

"The vision behind the14th Street Graffiti Museum comes from minds of Eddie Harris and Cory L. Stowers, two local entrepreneurs and visual artists, and is funded by Uptown Main Street. Through the Museum, the duo seeks to present a collection of original works by noted graffiti artists with historic relevance to DC."

14th Street Graffiti Museum

Washington Post article

USMNT defender Sergino Dest moves to Barcelona. 

Dolcezza announced on IG this morning that they will be closing the following shops:  Logan Circle, City Center, the Wharf, Dupont Circle and Bethesda.

The coffee bar at the Hirshhorn Museum as well as the Fairfax and Mosaic District shops will remain open.  And of course you can buy pints at grocery stores and get pint delivery via Goldbelly.