Category Archives: Food and Drink

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Ann Cashion of Johnny’s Half Shell (Part 2)

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Scallops with beets at Johnny’s Half Shell
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

We’ve done a a couple of scallops recipes on here by now, all ranging in difficulty. I’ve come to find that chefs in this town are really into scallops recipes for whatever reason. Maybe it’s because scallops are versatile, maybe it’s because the home cook can make them with minimal effort but still look fancy.

This recipe for scallops with bacon, roasted beets and a rice wine vinaigrette from Ann Cashion is completely accessible. The bacon adds a nice smokey flavor, and the beets in season right now are pleasantly sweet. That should count for something extra coming from someone that doesn’t think of herself as a big beets fan. Plus, the fried ginger slices and fried red onions for garnish make the dish stand out more. I had never had fried ginger before trying this dish and now I could see myself going hog wild with it as a garnish. It’s got that really nice bite to it.

After the jump you’ll find the full recipe. Enjoy.

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Ann Cashion making vinaigrette
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

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Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features
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Capital Chefs: Ann Cashion of Johnny’s Half Shell (Part 1)

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Chef Ann Cashion
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

If I were to ever ditch the desk for a kitchen, I think I’d want to work for Ann Cashion. There’s a certain warmth about her–several of her staff call her “Ann” rather than “chef,” and the way she interacts with all of them you can see that she cares about everyone in her kitchen. In return, she doesn’t even have to breathe a word and the right prep bowls and ingredients wind up at her station when she needs them. “I’m very hands-on and I’m willing to do the same things others are doing,” says Cashion about her style in the kitchen and referring to some of the more “drudge” tasks.

For the chef and part owner of Johnny’s Half Shell,  leading and developing her staff is one of the most rewarding parts of her job. In fact, if you take a look around the city you’ll see more than a handful of chefs, such as Teddy Folkman, who have trained under Ann and have gone on to open their own restaurants or run their own kitchens. From our conversation, Ann’s approach to leading in the kitchen seems so nurturing and down to earth that if she were your boss, she’d be the last person you’d want to disappoint. “You can’t over-demand from your staff. I had to learn that,” she says. “I’m a perfectionist and perfection is something to aspire to. But if you don’t achieve it every time, that’s okay too.”

With her attention to mentoring other chefs and developing culinary talent, it comes as no surprise that the people behind the food are part of why Ann became a chef in the first place. “Food is a very wide open field. It’s a very human field,” she explains. “Everybody connects to food.”

In addition to the human factor, Ann liked that food “wasn’t so specialized,” unlike her doctoral program in English Literature at Stanford which she left early to pursue cooking. There are still instances when her background in literature peeks through in conversation though. “I think of food as a language–if you don’t have the vocabulary and syntax down, it’s hard to write poetry,” she says, explaining why traditional Western training is important for aspiring chefs. “Italian food was my first love. It formed the basis for my aesthetic,” she adds. “I liked the non-fussiness of it, the emphasis on the quality of ingredients and the idea of the slow food movement.”
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Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Features
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We Love Food: Farmers Market Tips

Photo courtesy of ekelly80
fruit & vegetables
courtesy of ekelly80

Spring and summer: every locavore’s dream. The fresh produce is abundant, the options in the kitchen are endless, and all the colors and smells are so great that you almost forget about the scorching hot sun.

So I started to think about all the different farmers markets and what I had heard about each one–the tips and tricks for stocking your fridge and pantry with local eats. After the jump, you can find out what DC eaters and chefs have to say about some of our local farmers markets. You can follow my Twitter list of DC-area farmers markets and some of the vendors and give me a holler if there are any I missed adding to the list. And feel free to share any of your farmers market tips in the comments section.

A big hat tip to Cathy of Mrs. Wheelbarrow who sparked the idea.

Photo courtesy of
‘170/365’
courtesy of ‘ekelly80’
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Churchkey Debuts Fried Chicken and Donuts


Courtesy of Samer Farha

There’s a new dish you might see parading around Churchkey these days. Don’t worry if you don’t see it on the menu–we don’t need those where we’re going. Besides, you’ll see it coming down the bar from a mile away: a big platter of fried chicken and donuts.

The beer-focused bar’s fried chicken dinner splits a whole chicken in three different styles: thighs and drumsticks in a classic buttermilk fried fashion, chicken tenders fried with a jerk seasoning and “General Satan’s” crispy wings (that’s executive chef Kyle Bailey’s version of General Tso’s). The family-style platter also comes with homemade biscuits with honey butter, corn on the cob topped with a spicy mayo, sesame seeds, cilantro and panko bread crumbs, as well as panzanella with heirloom tomatoes and house-made burrata.

Rounding off your meal are four donuts from executive pastry chef, Tiffany MacIsaac. They’re fried brioche donuts filled with passion fruit curd and topped with a strawberry glaze and a homemade Nilla wafer crumbling or a filled with a goat’s milk cheesecake and topped with a Cajeta glaze and pistachio dusting.

That’s all for only $42, so go ahead and don’t feel bad about ordering that second beer.

The fried chicken special is available on Wednesday nights only in limited quantities.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Mayfair & Pine Opens in Glover Park

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Mayfair & Pine Opening
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

DC has Top Chef alums Mike Isabella, Carla Hall and Spike Mendelsohn. And now Emily Sprissler is joining the ranks.

The Top Chef season 2 alum opened her own restaurant, Mayfair & Pine last Friday. You’ll find a British influence at the self-described “family-friendly gastropub” in Glover Park in dishes like fish & chips, shepherd’s pie and beef wellington nibbles. A long, dark wood bar makes the space feel even more intimate.

Mayfair & Pine is located at 2218 Wisconsin Avenue, NW and is open Tuesday through Sunday.

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Chef Emily Sprissler of Mayfair & Pine
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Food and Drink, The Features
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Boloco Opens Today in Bethesda with Free Burritos

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Boloco Bethesda
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

On a recent trip to Boston, an old high school friend and I were walking through town when we came across the burrito joint. “It’s Boloco! You’ve never heard of Boloco? They’re all over Boston!” he said. I felt like I was missing out on something with our burrito chains in DC. So the only reply I could muster was, “Dude, I don’t live in Boston.” A few months later the name (which stands for BOston LOcal COmpany) rang a bell when I saw they were opening in Bethesda, and I remembered the fervor with which my Bostonian friend talked about their burritos.

Before you read any further, here’s your free food alert: Boloco in Bethesda is giving out free burritos today from 11 AM to 8 PM. The small, mini burritos and bowls are free, and the original-sized burritos are just $1. Boloco is located at 4930 Elm Street, Bethesda, DC.
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Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Drinks, Interrupted

Photo courtesy of Jenn Larsen
Drinks, Interrupted
courtesy of Jenn Larsen

Imagine your heart breaks. No, I’m not talking about love. Imagine it actually stops working properly. In a matter of days what started out as an innocent fluke turns deadly serious as it just slows down, and then stops. Everything in your life suffers too, all thanks to a tiny electrical glitch. Luckily there are cyborg solutions, and you aren’t completely broken. But gosh, a stiff drink would help during exhausting weeks of treatment, right?

Not so. YOU CAN’T DRINK. During Rickey Month. Now it’s really mayday!

In the scheme of everything else I’ve been through in the past three months, not drinking alcohol while being medically grounded is really not the end of the world. But it certainly does feel like injurious insult. Over the next few weeks, I’m exploring methods of crafting beautiful non-alcoholic cocktails with some of our finest local bartenders. It’s for all you fellow medically grounded folks out there for whom YOU CAN’T DRINK was yet another slap in the face. And frankly, it’s a nice distraction from feeling like I’ve reached the bottom of the glass.

Let’s start at one of my favorite bars, with an old colonial method of preservation that helps add complexity in place of the missing (and much missed) alcohol. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features
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H &pizza Arrives on H Street NE

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H &pizza Boxes
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Pizza and politics–two controversial things in this town. Like asking what someone thought of the latest congressional vote, if you inquire about their pizza preferences when it comes to crust thickness, toppings or cheese to sauce ratio, you’ll get an earful. Not to mention there’s that group of people who cop out completely by throwing their hands in the air and exclaiming, “THERE IS NO GOOD PIZZA IN DC!” Well, my fussy friends, there’s a new place on H street that might do the trick for you: H &pizza.

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
H &pizza Jenny Pizza
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Chipotle Fundraiser for Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture

Photo courtesy of BrianMKA
138/365
courtesy of BrianMKA

Looking for a reason to ingest a giant burrito today? Here’s a good one: 59 Chipotles in the metro area are hosting a fundraiser for Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture today from 5 to 8 PM.

If you mention the fundraiser with your order, Chipotle will donate 50 percent of each sale (up to $15,000) to Arcadia. The program will use a portion of the proceeds to create eight scholarships for kids to attend their first Farm Camp.

Arcadia is a non-profit farming and food initiative dedicated to creating a sustainable food system and culture in the DC area. They run an educational farm, a mobile market, a farm to school network and other programs.

Food and Drink, The Features, Ward 6
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Atlas Arcade: 8-bit Fun on H Street

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It’s a Thursday night and the line at Toki Underground spills out onto H Street. It’s two hours until you can have delicious ramen, so what are you going to do? You can sit down at the Pug or Church and State and pound beers or cocktails, or you can walk up to H Street Country Club at hope to get in for mini golf, or, you can cool your heels and wait. While waiting, you can also play online casino at 666 Casino and use your spare time winning big real money through online casinos.

Starting this week, Atlas Arcade gives you another option. You can now play rainbow riches online with your phone and get your big starting bonus now. This game is surely to give you the best entertainment you are looking for in an online casino.

The space, formerly Eric Holzherr’s Fruit Bat, is now Atlas Arcade, with eight classic 8-bit video games, a claw machine, and a couple video game consoles built into TVs at the bar.

When I was about 12, my friend Paul and I tagged along as his parents went to gamble at the casino just over the state line in Nevada from Lake Tahoe. It was the best day ever, despite the car trouble getting up into the mountains, and the hot weather, because when we got there, Paul’s Dad handed us each a roll of quarters fresh from the bank, and told us we could play as long as we wanted.

Now, granted, I grew up with an NES, and later a Genesis, but arcades had games that none of those systems could touch. Spy Hunter. Galaga. Rampage. Defender. Ms Pacman on those little bar tables like you found at Pizza Hut.

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Food and Drink, The Features
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First Look: The Bistro at Pound The Hill

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Back Patio at Pound The Hill
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Walking out into the back patio at Pound The Hill, it hits you: this is the slice of the outdoors that every Washingtonian wishes they had in their backyard. Even better than having it in your own backyard, is the fact that The Bistro at Pound has plenty of good food and wine to serve you, so you don’t have to be in charge of cooking for yourself. They launched the concept (coffee shop becomes bistro for dinner service) earlier this year and now that’s it’s off the ground running, I headed to Eastern Market to check out it out for the first time and see what they have to offer on their new summer menu, launching today.

The Bistro was born out of the owners’ desire to feature a menu that pulled from the group’s international inspirations. You’ll see dishes with a French influence, due to executive chef Jon Taub’s background, but also some Latin and Asian influences highlighted in the menu as well. Taub was previously the sous-chef at Station 4 and Art & Soul. While you’ll only find The Bistro in Eastern Market for now, owner Karl Johnson hints at future expansion, saying that they branded themselves with the father concept of “Pound [insert neighborhood]” on purpose.

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Duck confit at Pound The Hill
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

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Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Features
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We Love Food: July 2012 Events Roundup

Photo courtesy of yostinator
Pie eatin’ contest
courtesy of yostinator

The summer: a time when life in general is meant to slow down, so that you have that warm, fuzzy feeling of relaxation that you enjoyed so much as a kid when school let out. But rather than slowing down, the food scene in DC is picking up in the month of July. Here’s our roundup on what’s happening for the remainder of this month. Get your forks ready.

PAUL’s Bastille Day Baguette Race
Saturday, July 14
Break out that French maid costume. PAUL Bakery in Penn Quarter is hosting their 2nd annual Baguette Relay Race where the baton is replaced by the baguette. Racers will be split into four teams of six people, each led by a PAUL employee. The kid’s race starts at 10:30 AM, and adults get to race starting at 11 AM. Be the first team to finish the race around the U.S. Navy Memorial and each member of your team will receive a $25 PAUL gift card. You can sign up for the race on PAUL’s Facebook page.

All-You-Can-Eat Oyster Festival at Pearl Dive
Saturday, July 14, 2 PM to 4 PM
Natalia says: It’s Bastille Day Saturday, and what better way to celebrate the French than slurping oysters and some bubbly? Lucky for you, Pearl Dive Oyster Palace and Black Jack are having an all-you-can-eat oyster festival.  Priced at $65 per person (tax and gratuity not included), you can down unlimited oysters along with two varieties of beer and Argyle Sparkling Wine. Rappahannock Oysters and Stingray Oysters from Rappahannock River Oysters, LLC as well as Broadwater Oysters from Broadwater Oyster Company will be featured. If you need some visual motivation and want to become savvy on oyster farming, check out Marissa’s story on the Rappahannock River Oysters here.

Tickets to the oyster fest, starting at 2pm, are available at the door only. Shuck away.

Urbana’s Sixth Birthday
Friday, July 13 to Saturday, July 21
Happy sixth birthday to Urbana! You celebrate your birthday for a whole week, so why shouldn’t they? Starting with an oyster and beer happy hour on Friday, July 13th from 4 to 7 PM, you’ll get to hang out with chef John Critchley and slurp oysters for 50 cents each and drink Port City Revival Oyster stout for $4 per pint. After the happy hour, from July 14th through 21st you can get half a dozen War Shore oysters and a pint of the Port City oyster stout for $6 during happy hour from 4 to 7 PM, $10 glasses of Veuve Clicquot during dinner and at the bar during happy hour. And of course, a birthday wouldn’t be complete without something sweet: during the week all guests get a complimentary ice cream cone with dinner.

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Alexandria, Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Food
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We Love Food: The Grille at Morrison House

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Halibut at Kimpton’s The Grille
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Walking down King Street on a warm, early summer’s evening after a good meal, I thought to myself, “Why don’t I come to Old Town more often?” You can wander in and out of shops, there’s no shortage of places to eat and it’s a nice little escape from downtown. It’s the picture-perfect Main Street and it’s only a short (well, when Metro’s working) ride away. My reason for being in Old Town Alexandria this particular time was to check out the new menu at The Grille with their new chef, Brian McPherson.

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Eat Like Me, Food and Drink, Interviews, People, The Features, We Love Food
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Scott Little, Local MasterChef

Photo courtesy of bhrome
DSC_0995a
courtesy of bhrome

The latest chef to be eliminated from FOX-TV’s MasterChef series was Scott Little, a resident of Annandale, Virginia. Little found himself on the short end of a dessert challenge, failing to impress judges Gorden Ramsay, Graham Elliot, and Joe Bastianich with his strawberry shortcake. His tenure on the show was marked not with drama or emotion, but with a dedication and passion to learning more about his chosen craft from his fellow contestants and the three acclaimed culinary experts.

My wife and I had the enjoyable pleasure of talking with Scott and his wife Johanna about the experience and sampling some of his cooking. Over the course of the afternoon (which you can click here to learn all about), Little shared about the show, his passion for cooking, and his future culinary vision.

Our gathering occurred over the weekend after the massive storm that swept through the region on Friday evening. Power in several northern Virginia neighborhoods was still out; the Littles only got theirs back on that morning. Scott had to scramble through three area grocery stores to find enough ingredients for our meal. “It felt like one of those Mystery Box challenges,” he says after greeting us at his home. “I ended up pulling together an hors d’oeuvres from ingredients in my garden.” Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Features
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No Cooking Necessary Options for 4th of July

Photo courtesy of laura padgett
glover park farmers’ market 7.10.10 – 28
courtesy of laura padgett

Stop playing nose goes with your friends when trying to decide who’s going to host the cookout this Fourth of July. Instead, here are a couple of places that can supply the food platters so you can enjoy the party. So pick up some good eats, kick back, crack open a cold beer and toast to the birthday of the United States of America.

Red Apron Butchery – Fourth of July Packs
Feed the whole family with Red Apron’s swine-tastic pack. For $50 ($52 if you opt for the bacon bangers sausages), you get a rack of spice-rubbed baby back ribs, a pound of sandwich-ready smoked brisket, 1 package of five all pork hot dogs, four fresh sausages (choice of bratwurst, Italian or bacon bangers) and a pint of house-made Coca-Cola BBQ sauce. And it’s all nicely tucked into an insulated Red Apron bag, so you can just show up on a friend’s door step ready to commandeer their grill. Place your order online and pick it up at the DuPont Farmer’s Market on Sunday, July 1 from 10 AM to 1 PM.

Cork Market & Tasting Room – Patriotic Picnic Baskets
Pick a pic-a-nic basket, boo boo. The first option, the sandwich basket, has options such as sopressata with roasted peppers and tapenade on house-made focaccia or smoked ham with Nancy’s camembert and pickled onions. Or go with the second option, the chicken basket which has either a Peruvian grilled chicken or the garlic-herb marinated fried chicken. Both baskets come with side salads; either a farro salad with wild mushrooms, spring onions, preserved lemons or a Mediterranean cous cous salad and Italian sweet wines. The sandwich basket is $25 ($35 if you add in wine) and the chicken basket is $40 ($55 if you add in wine). To get your picnic basket, call 202-265-2674 or email info@CorkDC.com.
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Food and Drink, The Features
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2012 RAMMY Awards Recap

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Jeff and Barbara Black at the RAMMYs
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Sunday night some of the city’s big names and key players in the restaurant industry got glammed up and gathered for the 2012 RAMMY awards. After the jump, you’ll find the full list of winners, as well as a little recap and commentary from yours truly.
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Food and Drink, Homebrewing, The Features
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Homebrew DC: Pants-Optional Pilsner

Photo courtesy of Tony DeFilippo
T-I-N-Y BUBBLES….
courtesy of Tony DeFilippo

I made this homebrew recipe for Don’s birthday party last Saturday. Don is a big fan of lagers, so I thought I would make something in that vein, or at least close to it. This was also my first try at real lagering, which requires some serious temperature control. It turned out wonderfully. Crisp and tasty with mild bitterness and a light malty flavor. It was perfect for the warm Virginia afternoon party.

The name of the beer comes from my constant half-joking desire to institute pants-optional Fridays at almost every job I have had in the last ten years. Don’s darling wife was sure to remind me, though, that I should be sure to say “yes” to pants anytime I visit their home. I consider it an affront, but it’s the price to pay for friendship, I suppose.

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Food and Drink, The Features
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Food Films at the 10th Annual Silverdocs

Photo courtesy of Kevin H.
Silver Strollers
courtesy of Kevin H.

Want to eat with your eyes? The 10th Annual Silverdocs Festival has seven films about food that might make you think a little more about what you’re eating and the food industry.

While Silverdocs has already been in full swing since June 18th, below are the food-focused films and you’ll find the rest of the list after the jump. You can purchase tickets online or at the AFI Silver Theatre Box Office. General tickets are $13. Films are playing at the AFI Silver Theatre (8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD) and Discovery HD Theater (One Discovery Place, Silver Spring, MD), so make sure you end up in the right place.

Betting The Farm by Cecily Pingree and Jason Mann
Showing: Friday, June 22, 6:45 PM and Sunday, June 24, 8:30 PM
Country: USA
What they say: “When a group of Maine dairy farmers are dropped by the national milk company that has been their bread and butter for years, their livelihood is in danger. Refusing to go down without a fight, the farmers take matters into their own hands, banding together to form their own organic milk company, MOO.”

Canned Dreams by Katja Gauriloff
Showing:  Friday, June 22, 12:15 PM and Saturday, June 23, 2:30 PM
Country: Finland
What they say: “What all goes into a can of ravioli on the supermarket shelf? The answer is more complicated than one might think. This fascinating film explores the inner workings of food production, as well as the blood, sweat and tears of the human laborers whose personal hardships have often stood in the way of a better future.”

I Kill by David White and Paul Wedel
Showing: Saturday, June 23, 10 AM and Sunday, June 24, 3:45 PM (As part of the Short Programs: Odd Jobs films)
Country: New Zealand
What they say: “Small farms need small solutions, and in rural New Zealand that is a “mobile slaughterman,” traveling from farm to farm, shooting, skinning and gutting cattle. The rich colors of the lush landscape reinforce the slaughterman’s belief that cattle meeting their end in familiar surroundings is more humane than in a factory slaughterhouse.”
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Downtown, Food and Drink, Penn Quarter, The Daily Feed
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Del Frisco’s Grille Opens July 14

Photo courtesy of wfyurasko
This used to be Les Halles
courtesy of wfyurasko

Who said DC was moving away from steakhouses these days? Del Frisco’s Grille, an American bar and steakhouse, announced yesterday that it will be opening its downtown location on Saturday, July 14. Del Frisco’s will occupy the old Les Halles space on 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.

The Penn Quarter restaurant will feature 100 seats on their outdoor patio and a “wall of wine” with more than 5,000 bottles from more than 400 types of wine to choose from.

Leading the kitchen is a familiar face: executive chef Rob Klink, who was previously at the nearby Oceanaire. “The Grille definitely comes from steakhouse roots, but our menu is about variety, with a twist around every corner. From our prime burgers to our fresh seafood dishes, the focus is on quality and flavor,” said Klink in a press release. “I’m especially excited to introduce DC to its new favorite crab cake. After 20 years in the area, I have to say, there’s a new sheriff in town.”

Del Frisco’s Grille menu will feature flatbreads, hearty salads, fresh seafood, sandwiches, prime steaks and “shareable sides,” according to a press release. At the bar, you’ll fine your usual beer, wine and cocktails along with signature shots on tap, such as the Honey Badger, a mix of Tuaca and pineapple.

Del Frisco’s Grille will be open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM and for dinner from Monday through Thursday from 5 to 11 PM, Friday and Saturday from 5 PM to midnight and on Sunday from 4 to 9:30 PM. The bar will stay open a little longer–until 11 PM on Sundays, midnight Monday through Friday, and 1 AM on Saturdays.