Category Archives: Food and Drink

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: Bourbon Steak’s Cheese Program

Photo courtesy of
‘Cheese wheels at Bourbon Steak’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

I can think of few simple combinations that go together as well as meat and cheese–philly cheesesteaks, charcuterie and cheese boards, chicken parmigiano, heck, even the simple breakfast sandwich combines the super powers of a sausage patty and melted cheese. So it made sense when Brenton Balika, the executive pastry chef at Bourbon Steak, started a cheese program at the meat-centric restaurant in Georgetown.

The cheese program, which was officially launched in May of this year, has opened up a whole menu featuring eight to 10 cheeses at any given time. While the cheeses can take anywhere from a few hours to a few months to complete, depending on the type, the restaurant typically goes through an average of 200 wheels of cheese per week and 169 gallons of milk, according to Balika.

I met with Brent to learn more about Bourbon Steak’s cheese program and to find out what goes into making cheese.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Chef News: 1789 Gets New Executive Chef, Anthony Lombardo

Photo courtesy of
’embossed menu’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

As I previously wrote, 1789 lost its long-time executive chef, Dan Giusti. The restaurant announced that Anthony Lombardo is taking the helm as the new executive chef. According to a news release, Lombardo was most recently the executive sous chef at Casa Nonna and like his predecessor, was also a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. In addition to having worked at the Italian eatery in Dupont Circle, Lombardo was the chef de cuisine at Bacco Ristorante in Southfield, Michigan for four years.

Lombardo has already started in the kitchen, so it should be interesting to see how the menu will change in the coming months.

Dupont Circle, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Hank’s Oyster Bar in Dupont Circle Expands

Photo courtesy of
‘A Summer Night Delight’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

Hank’s Oyster Bar just got a whole lot bigger and better. The restaurant in Dupont Circle recently renovated and doubled its capacity to 68 seats inside, 40 seats on the outdoor patio and a private dining room upstairs. Plus, the new lounge space next door is offering longer late night service until 2 AM on Sundays through Thursdays and until 3 AM on Fridays and Saturdays.

If you go to check out the new space, I recommend trying some of the new bar snacks such as their seafood ceviche and the housemade pretzels with beer cheese sauce. Since oysters are the name of the game, try Hank’s own variety, the Hayden’s Reef Oyster, named after the son of chef/owner, Jamie Leeds. The meaty oysters were developed with the help of Bruce Wood of Dragon Creek in Montross, Virginia and have a good, slightly sweet flavor. And before the restaurant’s menu changes with the new season approaching, try their getaway cocktail with a homemade cinnamon clove syrup. Park yourself on the patio or the bar for a few hours and take in the beautiful new space.

Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: DC Eats for September

Photo courtesy of
‘Autumn of my Life’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

Summer may be over, but good food goes on. You can eat your sad feelings about colder weather and fewer hours of daylight coming at some of these events happening this month in the city.
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Back to (Drinking) School at EatBar

Photo courtesy of
‘Eat Bar’
courtesy of ‘voteprime’

Arlington, VA’s EatBar wants to help you go “back to school” this month to learn more about just the kind of thing that might end a character up on an after-school special: Alcohol. They are presenting a series of three “lessons” this week on beer, wine, and spirits.

On Tuesday, the team from Left Hand Brewing will be on hand to discuss their brewing process and give out free Left Hand glassware with every purchase. They will be pouring their Milk Stout, Polestar Pilsner, and 400 Pound Monkey IPA. Wine is the focus on Wednesday, when Pacific Northwest winery Owen Roe stop buy for a tasting and brief lesson in oenology.

Thursday evening, stop by to hear about a local distillery that has been making spirits in Virginia since Prohibition. The master distiller of A. Smith Bowman in Fredericksburg will discuss his small-batch and single-barrel bourbons and Virginia gin while students enjoy tastes and special cocktails made from the ingredients.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Long Drinks for a Long Weekend

Photo courtesy of
‘01497-07Crop’
courtesy of ‘furcafe’
A long drink, a term with which you might not be familiar, is a bartender’s term for a cocktail which is longer on non-alcoholic mixer than it is on base spirit. You may already know some long drinks as highballs, a slightly younger name which refers to a long drink made with just a single base spirit and a single mixer, often with a fruit garnish. A gin and tonic is a highball, but a Tom Collins (containing not only gin and soda but sugar and lemon juice) is a long drink. The Tom Collins, by the way, gave its name to the archetypical tall glass in which these drinks are served. A highball glass is usually synonymous with a Collins glass (and vice versa).

Cocktails follow formulas, and the combination of a single base spirit and a particular mixer often lends its name to some other concoction made with the same mixer and a different base spirit. The Tom Collins, for instance, begat the Vodka Collins. You could ask a bartender for a Whiskey Collins, and while he or she might look at you funny they’d know exactly what you mean without having to stop to think. Some names have lost popularity over time (Mamie Taylor, anyone?), but others are still current and show up in all sorts of interesting combinations. The Mojito, by the way, is also a long drink; replace the rum with gin and it becomes a Southside; add lemon to that and it turns into a Major Bailey. Formulas! They’re magic!
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Downtown, Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Drinks Special: Bibiana’s Aged Cocktails

Photo courtesy of


‘Ready to Mix’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

You’re probably familiar with the fact that wine and whiskey are aged in barrels. But cocktails? It may seem like a trend, popping up in bars in London, Portland and New York for the past year or so, but it’s actually a much older revival – aging cocktail ingredients in oak barrels was a popular technique back at the turn of the last century. But for Bibiana‘s general manager Francesco Amodeo, it’s not a matter of trend. It’s practical.

“I was talking to my mother about their cellar at home,” he tells me, referring to the family home on the Amalfi Coast, “what to do with all the barrels?” His grandfather makes wine, and his mother was looking to get rid of the excess refuse. Francesco jumped at the chance to put them to another use. Starting with two sizes, 1 and 5 liter barrels, he’s crafted two cocktails for Bibiana that were just uncorked for the first time Tuesday evening after three months of aging.

Try out the best cocktails as if you were a professional, visit https://www.gattertopdrinks.com/ to find tips and recommendations for the preparation of the cocktails.

As they’re produced in small quantities (at least until Francesco’s grandfather finishes crafting a 250 liter barrel for him) they’ll go fast, so get over to taste them. Aging cocktails gives the liquor a beautiful toasty quality, rounding out the flavor. Let’s take a closer look at Francesco’s two drinks and the process.

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Food and Drink
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Opening Soon: 5 Restaurants I’m Anxiously Awaiting

eliser

Courtesy Eliser: Dinner Menu

Ok, so if you’re the least bit familiar with restaurants and the supposed opening dates in DC, you know that they are almost never met due to permitting delays, construction delays, staffing delays…you get it. Still, the eternal optimist, these are the five restaurants I can’t wait to try when they open later this year. (Note: I better not have to wait until 2012 to see you!)

1) Elisir:

The fine dining, Italian restaurant brought to us by Enzo Fargione will join the culinary heaven that is Penn Quarter. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Chef Fargione was previously the chef at K Street’s Teatro Goldoni. Publicist Janet Donovan tells me that the restaurant will open sometime in the Fall — so I’m crossing my fingers for late September/early October. Elisir’s Facebook page is getting more and more active, which is always a good sign. You can check it out for construction and menu updates.

427 11th St NW

ETA: Fall 2011

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Food and Drink
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First Look: Graffiato

graffiato

Earlier this year it was Toki Underground and Shake Shack that were pretty much the buzz everywhere before they opened their doors. When that died down, Graffiato became the restaurant everyone was talking about. The 130-seat dining spot in Chinatown comes to us courtesy Top Chef Mike Isabella, and it has been consistently crowded since it opened in June.

As most foodies can tell you, Isabella is no stranger to DC. He spent three years in a kitchen a few blocks northwest of Graffiato, as the executive chef of Jose Andres’ Zaytinya. If that doesn’t ring a bell, he also appeared on Season Six of Top Chef and he was the runner up on Top Chef All-Stars.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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FREE FOOD ALERT: Make Your Own Pizza Kit

Photo courtesy of
‘rakhi and her pizza’
courtesy of ‘staceyviera’

Cheese is fatty, meat toppings tend to be rich, and the sauce is sweet. Pizza toppings are also packed with a compound called glutamate, which can be found in the tomatoes, cheese, pepperoni and sausage. … But according to culinary scientists, they contain flavor compounds that taste even better when eaten together.

Getchyer pizza! Potomac Pizza’s four locations (listed below) will be giving out a free slice of pizza and soft drink to all customers from 12 PM – 4 PM today. The restaurant is calling it their “final slice of summer.” And to quell your sadness about summer ending, you can go eat your feelings in the form of delicious pizza.

Homemade pizza, even with the cost of electricity factored in, is ridiculously affordable. However, it does take some time to make. Most of it is hands off time, though (oven heating, dough rising), so as long as you’re at home already, it won’t feel like it takes that long. 

It’s probably because you’re making it at home in a home oven. Those top out at 450 or 500 degrees F, which is a refrigerator compared to a pizza oven. You can compensate for that somewhat by getting a pizza stone and letting it preheat in your oven. If you are a fan pizza chef, check this link https://www.dough-re-me.co.uk/ for tips on your pizza dough.

The four locations are at:

  • Chevy Chase Center: 19 Wisconsin Circle, Chevy Chase, MD
  • Potomac Promenade: 9812 Falls Road, Potomac, MD
  • Traville Village Center: 9709 Traville Gateway Dr. Rockville, MD
  • Kentlands Market Square: 625 Center Point Way, Gaithersburg, MD

Note that there’s a limit of one free slice per customer.