Visible Storage at the Met, Return to Financier
April 3, 2010 § Leave a comment
I’m home for Easter Break this week and since my roommate Emily and her high school friend, Jayme, are staying with us, we went into the city on Thursday to make the most of the excellent weather.
Laura had yet another list of places to go for AP US History extra credit. This time, we started out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a quest to find the famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware, but unfortunately, the painting had been moved to be restored to its original frame. Luckily, a security guard recommended that we go up to visible storage where many other works were on display. Here, we came across the largest treasure trove of silver, porcelain, and ceramics that I have ever seen.
There were also many other paintings being housed in storage, such as Sargent’s famous Madame X and The Last Moments of John Brown, which I have seen in every US History textbook I’ve ever read. If that doesn’t count as a piece of US History, I don’t know what will.
Other places we visited that day were Belvedere Castle in Central Park, the Upper West Side’s Shake Shack, where I got an Upper West Slide concrete (vanilla custard, strawberry puree, banana slices, and shortbread) for the first time, and a bunch of places in the Financial District, including Trinity Church and Federal Hall.
One of our last stops was an all-time favorite bakery of mine, Financier Patisserie. Located right by the NY Federal Reserve, this place was my go-to for tartes, sacher torte, and all kinds of French pastries during my internship in New York. Laura and I split one of their signature berry tartes with almond frangipane before heading home.
Berry tart
Restaurant Weekend
January 21, 2010 § Leave a comment
This past weekend was filled with so much good food, and there was quite a variety of it too. We had dimsum at China Garden, hearty Italian at Filomena, where I only managed to finish half of my entree and dessert (two meals in one!), and a light breakfast at Leopold’s Kafe down in Cady Alley.
Sunday morning, Ameya imed me asking to go to dimsum at China Garden, but because it was already 1 PM, I was a little reluctant since it would take him a while to drive down from UMD and get us to the restaurant. What ensued was probably the fastest sit-down restaurant meal of my entire life.
When we got there at 2:15 (because parking took a while as well), the cart ladies swarmed us, trying to finish off all the steamers they still had before they had to pack stuff away. So, in about 20 minutes, Ameya, Varun, and I devoured about 12 dimsum dishes – dumplings, har gao, egg tarts and all – and paid our check at around 2:35. In a way, it was a meal of perfect efficiency.
Restaurant Week at Filomena is probably one of the best promotions during that entire week. We had four courses of soup, appetizer, main course, and dessert (as well as a complimentary sambuca or amaretto), and the portions were absolutely huge! I went last year as well so I was able to plan my eating strategy more accordingly, and saved enough food for an entire extra meal the next day.
The next day, we stopped at Leopold’s Kafe for breakfast/brunch and luckily, we got there before it became packed with patrons. I opted for the fresh grapefruit juice with the most amazing and flaky almond croissant I think I have ever had (my plate was completely covered in crumbs) and giant roasted baby red potatoes with caramelized onions seasoned with fresh thyme.
RW 1 – Sushi-Ko
January 18, 2010 § 1 Comment
So many people visited DC this weekend! Tiff came by Friday night, and we had an amazing meal at Sushi-Ko, Washington D.C.’s very first sushi restaurant.
It’s actually Restaurant Week here, so we were able to get the three course meals for a lot less than what the usual price would be. Jia and Tiff both chose the smoked mussels and eggplant miso soups while I had the sushi-ko crab cakes with avocado, which were meaty yet light. They also came with the usual Japanese-style and zingy horseradish sauce that I’m absolutely addicted to. They were gone in about 2 minutes. I have no restraint.
Second and third courses were great as well. Tiff had a beautifully presented dish of salmon ceviche with giant glistening beads of orange ikura, salmon roe. It came dressed in yuzu vinaigrette, the citrus giving a perfect balance to the whole dish. Her final course was a spread of yummy sushi and a spicy tuna roll. Jia had rock shrimp and asparagus tempura which I didn’t try, but she seemed to enjoy it. Jia’s final course was the beef tenderloin, and even though she opted not to get sushi, it looked absolutely delicious.
My second and third courses came together: the chef’s assortment of the day’s freshest fish as well as a crunchy spicy tuna roll with avocado and scallions. So fresh, so packed with flavor. You could really tell that everything, including the pickled ginger and wasabi, were homemade because they tasted so vibrant and powerful. I’ll definitely be returning a couple times this semester to try the chirashi and other entrees. YUM!
A new favorite in NYC
January 11, 2010 § Leave a comment
Yesterday I accompanied Laura on her extra credit excursion in New York City. Well, more like completely organized her trip because she’d be completely lost in the city without a guide. In the bitter cold, we walked all over Battery Park, to the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial near the Staten Island Ferry, around Christopher St-Sheridan Square and Stonewall Inn, and up to the Paley Center of Media located close to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and MoMA.
We did get some respite from the freezing winds however. In the West Village, on my new favorite street, Cornelia, we sat down to the most delicious brunch everrrr. There are at least three other great restaurants on this street, including Pearl Oyster Bar with their lobster rolls, French favorite Le Gigot, and Cornelia Street Cafe. But Home Restaurant is now my favorite for it’s tiny but cozy space, friendly and attentive service, and most importantly, local and DELICIOUS food.
The orange juice was freshly squeezed and tart. I ordered the duck confit and butternut squash hash with 2 sunnyside eggs. The rich and melt-in-your-mouth tender duck covered with oozing egg yolk was absolute heaven. And while the perfectly cooked butternut squash and canteloupe slice did absolutely nothing to cut the fat going into my stomach, I wasn’t complaining at all.
Laura looked equally blissed out on the other side of the table with her ginormous oyster po’ boy sandwich, paired with Old Bay shoestring potatoes. I had a bite and tasted crispiness sea flavors with the zing of the chipotle mayonnaise. The potatoes kept calling to me throughout our meal, and after many attempts of eating them with a fork, I eventually gave up and resorted to grabbing them with my fingers.
Another great thing about this restaurant? Right down the street, on Bleecker, are Amy’s Bread and Murray’s Cheese Shop. We picked up some Spanish anchovies and fontina cheese at Murray’s as well as a giant loaf of sourdough bread for everyone at home.
Shake Shack and Otto
January 8, 2010 § Leave a comment
Wednesday was a really good day. Anne, Maria,Tonia, and I went to the Tim Burton exhibit (photos on dessin numero 1) where we didn’t have to wait in any lines because we’d ordered timed tickets beforehand. His drawings were amazing, and there was even a letter to Johnny Depp asking him to insert the “everything’s edible except you because if i could eat you, that would be called cannibalism” line! The only gripe I had were the crowds, but I guess that could only be expected with such a popular exhibit.
Because it was way too cold to eat outside, we headed to the Upper West Side to grab some Shake Shack. On the way, we passed the Fordham Law School area, which was wonderful. Going to school there would definitely spoil me.
Shake Shack was awesome, as always. Delicious, well-seasoned burgers with a tart freshly squeezed lemonade. Even better? They had Food Network playing on their televisions, so we got to jeer at Sandra Lee combining canned ingredients while we chomped on our food. Whatever’s going on with Scripps and Cablevision better be solved soon, because I will not tolerate being parted from Food Network for very long.
Afterwards, we spent a good chunk of time in Soho, mostly on Spring Street. We checked out the crazy skeletons and bottled penis bones at Evolution (where I seriously contemplated buying a butterfly wing pendant and Tonia had an equally hard time deciding whether or not to get the beetle wing earrings), made the obligatory trip to Uniqlo, and had a good scrub down at Sabon, where I bought a lavendar apple scrub that may just be my new obsession.
Dinner was at Otto, because we wanted something light. The pizzas definitely surpassed our spaghetti alla carbonara, which I’m going to remember for next time. My favorite was definitely the prosciutto arugula, mainly because I can’t resist good prosciutto and the greens balanced out the meat’s delicious fattiness.
However, the best part of the meal was definitely the Olive Oil gelato. So creamy, so tasty. My first bite got all the sea salt sprinkled on top so that wasn’t too pleasant, but after that, sigh. The olive oil taste doesn’t really hit you until later. At first, you just taste the rich sweetness. Maria and I also ordered a tangerine sorbetto that was packed with citrusy flavor.
SO: culture, shopping, and delicious food all in one day. We traveled from midtown to the UWS to Soho, covering most of Manhattan. Can you think of a better way to spend your time?
Magic Berries at EFN Lounge
December 14, 2009 § Leave a comment
This past Friday was the first Flavor Trip party at EFN Lounge in DC. I’d heard about these magic berries ever since they were featured on notcot and in the NYTimes, and FINALLY got to see if they really worked.
For $12, you got a magic berry, scientific name: synsepalum dulcificum, instructions on how to eat it, and access to the Tripeteria, where there was only salty, sour, and bitter foods, including Sour Patch Kids, briny green olives, lime slices, and a bunch of condiments like Tabasco sauce and vinegar. Drinks were also on order.
According to the provided trip tips: “do not eat the berry. do not bite or eat the berry’s seed. remove the pulp completely from the seed with your tongue and teeth without biting the seed. swirl around your tongue for 2-3 minutes to allow the glycoprotein to bind to your taste buds.”
It was quite the experience. Some descriptions, like Guiness tasting like a chocolate milkshake, were lies, but limes really did taste like delicious, sweet candy and beer had a distinct flavor as well. Also, as someone who isn’t usually a big fan of olives, AMAZING. I don’t even really know how to describe them after eating them with the berry. Tabasco sauce and vinegar were the strangest because before you actually tasted the condiments, you could smell the spiciness or acidity. Yet, the taste was completely sweet. Even crazier was the huge kick once you gulped the Tabasco. Definitely very tricky.
So, if you’re ever in the DC area during the second Friday of each month, you can reserve your tickets here for $12 a seat beforehand. The party lasts from 7-9 PM, and it’s a pretty fun experience.
Eating on M and the Waterfront
December 11, 2009 § Leave a comment
A couple weeks ago, a friend from high school visited, and we head to Clyde’s for weekend brunch. I ate there earlier in the year and wasn’t really impressed with the food (my hanger steak that I ordered was a little dry). My impression didn’t really improve when we ordered to share a large fruit salad and got one of the ugliest piles of fruit I think I’d ever seen. None of it was fresh: the grapes had that over-ripe flavor and oozy texture and the melon was so hard and not sweet at all. Clyde’s fruit salad: FAIL.
But, they did redeem themselves with the pumpkin spice pancakes. The batter is made of whole wheat and oatmeal, which is probably why they’re still so fluffy even with the pumpkin weighing it down. They also included pecans, which added a good bit of crunch. Drowned in real Vermont maple syrup and accompanied with almost-entirely crisp bacon, and I was a happy camper. I only tried Jimmy’s potatoes (which I didn’t really think compared to my patatas bravas and rosemary roasted potatoes), but his Eggs Benedict looked delicious and he seemed pretty satisfied with his choice.
Afterwards, we hung out at the National Mall and went to the Museum of Natural History. I’ve been there at least 10 times through my Georgetown years, but this time they had the annual National Geographic Photo Exhibit up and some of those pictures just blow my mind. The patience and fearlessness some of these people have – there was a really close-up photo of a shark ripping some poor, inferior sea creature to pieces, no detailed spared. It didn’t even look real to me because it was so close. Oh yeah, we also saw an albino squirrel running around the trees getting picked on by the normal colored squirrels. Damn.
This past week, I also went with Amy to Agraria/Farmers and Fishers. I don’t really know what to call it anymore. Last year, when I considered going for Restaurant Week, it was called Agraria and it was actually one of those really fancy, tasting menu places where it was impossible to get a reservation. When I looked it up again this year, it was called Farmers and Fishers and the prices fit much more comfortably within my budget. I think it was bought by the same people who own Founding Farmers (a place located in the IMF building that emphasizes local and sustainable eating), and now you get to eat a hearty, American meal on the Georgetown waterfront.
One of the things they’re famous for is the fresh squeezed juices and homemade sodas. The lemonade I ordered was wonderfully tart and sweet, and I liked the little bit of pulp that they left. We then shared a Maryland Crab dip and ciabatta bread as an appetizer. Gooey, rich, fatty. It was so tasty, but I definitely regretted eating so much of it later. My entree was a HUGE pork shank, crispy on the outside and almost completely tender on the inside. Some parts were a bit tougher but the fact that the entire shank was seasoned perfectly made up for that oversight. Amy’s mahi-mahi was flaky and delicate and the pesto that topped it added the right amount of zing.
It was snowing/raining by the time we were walking back (the first snow of the season!) and it was really nice to just chill for the rest of the evening. Because the snow put us in such a holiday mood, we watched Love Actually, drank hot chocolate, and made paper snowflakes and green and red paper chains to decorate the apartment, like the elementary school kids that we are.
My final fall semester at Georgetown is almost over. Wow.
Thanksgiving Weekend Round Up
November 30, 2009 § Leave a comment
Still recovering from all the wining and dining this past weekend. Posting photos with some rambling now, recipes may come afterwards.
Timeline:
Wednesday – Family friends came to the house from Boston, bearing nine, gorgeous live lobsters. We found this out after we’d already steamed a dozen Chesapeake blue crabs and purchased an entire roasted duck. Opened a bottle of Marques de Riscal and had a happy time around the table. Surprisingly finished almost all the food we had to eat.
Thursday – Thanksgiving at Nan’s in Long Island. Met her fiance, James. They’re so cute together. Two whole turkeys, endless side dishes, four giant desserts. Nan’s zombie, hairless cat named Zoey who hissed at me when I tried to take her photo. Failed at working off calories by playing Wii Home Run Derby. Food coma all the way home.
Friday – Post-Turkey Day reunion with high school friends. Lots of wine and cheese. Giant eclair cake. Essentially, take vanilla pudding mixed with equal parts cool whip. Start with layer of original graham crackers. Top with pudding mixture. Alternate layers. End with graham crackers on top. Cover in melted chocolate frosting. Make pretty design with any leftover pudding mixture. Let chill in fridge for 2 hours so crackers get crumbly. Let everyone who eats it believe that it was insanely complicated to make. Puahaha, suckers.
Saturday – Visited Nan in NYC. Ate and ate and ate,including smores. Watched Zombieland, laughed at Tallahassee and cried at the blood and gore. Joe is a LIAR. More wine and Wii. Played House of Dead and shot fake zombies to make myself better about the movie. Could not sleep.
Sunday – Woke up to zombie cat Zoey staring me in the face. Huge farmer’s breakfast at Cornelia Street Cafe and Bakery. Murray’s Cheese on Bleecker. IBERICO HAM. Home. Birthday noodles, pre-20th bday celebration with fam. Thanks for the gifts! Pass out.
Eatin’ Good Stuff
November 14, 2009 § Leave a comment
It’s been such a good weekend! Last night was the Maroon 5 concert and this morning, Emily and I went to the Library of Congress today to do research in the reading room, and for lunch, we went to Good Stuff Eatery, the excellent burger and milkshake place helmed by Spike Mendelsohn, of Top Chef Chicago fame.
Even though it was Saturday near Capitol Hill, the place was busy with tourists and DCers. I ordered the Colletti’s Smokehouse burger with applewood bacon, sharp Vermont cheddar, and fried Vidalio onion rings with chipotle BBQ sauce, and Emily got the turkey burger with lettuce, tomato, cheese, caramelized onions, and mushrooms. We also got accompanying strawberry and chocolate milkshakes.
The patties were well seasoned (the last thing I want is something with no salt) and cooked a medium-rare, and the buns were squishy but toasted at the same time. Surprisingly, there was no burger juice soakage into the bun. I was surprised that the fried onion ring in mine managed to stay so crispy, and if Spike ever decides to bottle that chipotle BBQ sauce, I’ll always have one in my pantry.
I loved my strawberry milkshake. At first it was a bit too dense due to the custard, but after a couple swirls with the spoon, it thinned enough to be slurped by a draw. My favorite part was the HUGE dollop of whip cream that wouldn’t disappear no matter how times I smooshed it around in my cup.
I hope we can keep this little tradition. Since I most likely won’t have classes on Fridays next semester, we’re going to try to go to Capital South once a week and get to know the neighborhood better. Who knows, maybe I’ll even work there as an intern in the spring!
The Dancing Crab
November 3, 2009 § Leave a comment
Dad came down to Maryland this past week for a business retreat, and on Thursday, he decided to ditch his meeting to do work in the pretty new business building and hang out with me.
For the longest time, he’s been asking me to find a good restaurant in D.C. that serves Old Bay steamed crabs, and for some reason, I only discovered the Dancing Crab (located about a block away from the Tenleytown metro top, red line) this year.
We got the “all you can eat” blue crab deal for 29.95 each, and it came with hush puppies (now my new favorite carb source because they’re like savory, bacon-greased cornbread fritters) and less than mediocre fries.
It’d been so long since I’d eaten steamed crabs, and like the macho I usually am when it comes to food, I thought I’d be able to down 10 no problem. We ended up stopping at 20 total, and we only filled the giant bucket halfway. I was quite ashamed of myself. However, in my defense, these were pretty large specimens, filled with tons of meat and seasoned really well, so I guess less was more in this case?
Unfortunately, because I ate such an overwhelming amount during that single dinner, I think it might be a whole ‘nother year before I can experience the “all you can eat” crab deal again. Though, I think we might’ve started a Quan tradition. Dad now wants to embark on another “all you can eat” journey, and we’re trying to decide what the next food should be. Hank’s Oyster Bar in Alexandria has “all you can eat” oysters and select artisan beers on Saturdays for $65, but sadly I can’t take advantage of that yet and I don’t think I’d be able to handle too many oysters anyway. Something about their slimy texture (though delicious!) would probably prevent me from eating too many in one sitting.
Notes on Food 