Category Archives: Food and Drink

Food and Drink, The Features
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We Love Food: Bombay Club


Photo courtesy of Powers and Crewe Photography

It was 90 degrees and all I wanted was a freezing cold lemonade and an ice bath. Instead, I walked into The Bombay Club for Indian food, not the usual remedy to a hot and humid District day, I know. But spicy food and a well air-conditioned beautiful setting hit the spot. I thought, “Do as the Romans do,”–or in this case the Indians–and eat hot to cool down. Somehow, it worked magic.

I spent many years living in London, where Indian food is a staple. There are epic curry houses and great take-outs, and high-end Indian restaurants galore. When I moved to D.C. that was one of the foods I missed the most, and really had trouble finding those amazing naan’s, tikka’s and chutneys I craved so much. Well, until I heard about this guy… Ashok Bajaj.

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Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Chef Moves at RIS and The Hamilton

Photo courtesy of Jenn Larsen

Chefs don’t stay still in the kitchen, so why would you expect otherwise in the DC dining scene? Two of the recent chef moves around DC are happening at RIS and The Hamilton.

Last week, chef/owner Ris Lacoste named Sue Drabkin as the executive pastry chef. Drabkin was previously the executive pastry chef at the Inn at Perry Cabin about two hours outside of the city in St. Michaels, MD. In a press release, Drabkin mentioned that her love of art and antiques, as well as her hobby of jewelry design serve as inspiration for her desserts. Some of Drabkin’s first desserts at RIS will include a basque cake with strawberry-rhubarb compote with brown sugar ice cream and toasted walnuts, as well as a Valhrona milk chocolate semifreddo with chocolate sauce, chocolate crisps and a whipped crème fraîche.

A little further downtown, the colossal Hamilton named Salvatore Ferro as their new executive chef. No stranger to the Clyde’s Restaurant Group, Ferro had previously worked in Las Vegas at Guy Savoy’s restaurant at Caesar’s Palace, where he met former 1789 executive chef, Dan Giusti. Following his time in Vegas, Ferro became the executive sous chef at 1789 in 2009, and was later the executive chef at Clyde’s of Georgetown. Some of the highlights on Ferro’s menu will include dishes such as flat iron steak frites, duck carbonara and charcuterie options.

Downtown, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Cuba Libre Hosts Pop-Up Paladares Dinners

Photo courtesy of amarino17
cuba libre
courtesy of amarino17

So you can’t jet off to Cuba that easily for a bite to eat, but perhaps you’ll find the next best thing in DC next week. Cuba Libre is hosting their second series of Pop-Up Paladares dinners June 12 through 14.

Cuba Libre’s chef and partner Guillermo Pernot is teaming up with chef Alain Rivera Santana from Doctor Café in Havana to create a four-course prix fixe dinner. Some of the dishes will include a fresh cod escabéche with lamb tongue and a beet salad, chilled mango soup, grilled yellow fin tuna and a fresh corn pasta cannelloni with a crabmeat filling. And since Cuba Libre is partially a rum bar after all, you’ll get to enjoy some of their rum ice cream for dessert.

The Pop-Up Paladares dinner is available at 6 PM and 8:30 PM on June 12-14 and is $45 per person (excluding beverages, tax and gratuity). Reservations can be made by calling the restaurant at 202-408-1600.

Food and Drink, Homebrewing, The Features
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Homebrew DC: One of the Easiest Homebrew Recipes Ever

Photo courtesy of Kevin H.
Beer at Lyon Hall
courtesy of Kevin H.

A while back I wrote about the easiest homebrew recipe I had ever heard of. It turned out okay but not great. Drinkable but not exciting. I was at the homebrew shop a few weeks ago and saw a can of Mountmellick Brown Ale. Similar story here – pour the syrup in a sanitized fermenter, add a kilo of dry malt extract, and add boiling water. Bada bing, bada boom, you have wort to ferment. It was only $20. How could I go wrong, I wondered.

I just kegged and force-carbonated the brown ale not too long ago and it turned out surprisingly well. It is smooth, has a pleasant mouthfeel, and does not have a lot of hoppy bitterness. Very nice indeed. The hops could be a bit stronger, but overall it is fine as-is and very drinkable. I highly recommend doing this if you want a basic brown ale to sip while your more complex brews are bubbling away. This is also a great way to try your hand at brewing if you are interested in making something easy and good right from the start.

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Food and Drink, Homebrewing, The Features
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Homebrew DC: Imperial Stout

Photo courtesy of keith_and_kasia
Grandfather Raven Imperial Stout
courtesy of keith_and_kasia

The British are not the only ones to fall in love with the Stout. The Russians went crazy for the black British brew as well.  The problem, as the Czarists soon realized, was that the dark beer didn’t travel well.  Luckily for the Russians, the British had experienced this problem before, in shipping ale to quench the growing British population in India.  The British discovered that in order to allow ale to survive the long journey to India, the solution was to increase the preservative qualities of the alcohol and hop content of the ale, thus creating the Indian Pale Ale style.  The British applied this same technique to satisfy the growing Stout fan base in Russia.  The result was a thicker, hoppier, more potent style of Stout referred to as Imperial Stout, or Russian Stout.

In general, Stouts (particularly Dry Stouts) possess dark color and a light body with low alcohol content and hop presence.  To help the Stout endure the voyage from London to Moscow, British brewers capitalized on the bacteria-killing characteristics of alcohol and hops.  To achieve this, the quantities of malt and hops were increased from the standard Stout recipe to raise the amount of fermentable sugars and hop presence in the final product.  The Alcohol By Volume (ABV) of Imperial Stouts can range between 8% and 12% as compared to 4% to 5% ABV of the average Dry Stout.  The increased specific gravity from the additional malt gives the Imperial Stout a thicker mouthfeel.  Hop flavor and aroma, which is often barely detectable in Dry Stouts, has a relatively high presence in an Imperial Stout.

Imperial Stouts are essentially Dry Stouts with an increased specific gravity and more hops.  Similar to Dry Stout brewing, when creating your own batch of Imperial Stout from extract it is best to use light malt extract and focus on the specialty grains to give the brew its dark color and roasty flavor.  Use around nine pounds of malt extract as the base.  This increase in fermentable sugars will yield the higher ABV percentage.  The specialty grains are similar to those used other Stout varieties such as the dark varieties of crystal and caramel malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, and black malt.  These specialty grains will produce a nice opaque, dark color and add roasty flavor.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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19th Annual Taste of Georgetown on June 2


Courtesy of ThreeLockharts Public Relations

Thirty restaurants, 60 dishes and five hours to make your way down Wisconsin Avenue at the 19th annual Taste of Georgetown. Restaurants from the neighborhood, such as Baked & Wired, Filomena Ristorante and Thunder Burger, will offer up various savory and sweet dishes. In the end, a panel of judges, including new-kid-on-the-M-street-block, Mike Isabella, will pick winners for five categories: best overall dish, best use of seasonal ingredients, best vegetarian dish, best meat dish and best dessert.

Tickets can be purchased online and are $5 for one tasting or $20 for five tastings, $10 for three drinks or $4 for one drink. Proceeds will go to the Georgetown Ministry Center, an organization and shelter aiming to reduce homelessness in DC. Taste of Georgetown runs from 11 am – 4 pm on Saturday, June 2.

Food and Drink, Homebrewing, The Features
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Homebrew DC: Classic American Pilsner

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

My homebrewing club  at Kena Shriners was asked to make a batch of beer for another club, and was given little direction on what type of homebrew recipe I should use. We did a little reconnaissance work and learned that this other club loves light lagers such as Bud Light, so I decided to make something similar enough that they would be familiar with it, but also different enough that it would be a bit more interesting than their usual brews.

I got this recipe from Brew Your Own, which labeled it “Your Father’s Mustache.” I have adapted the recipe a bit to accommodate for my timeframe and equipment. Specifically, I am using an ale yeast because I need the beer to be done and in a keg in a little more than a month. Making a true pilsner takes a bit longer than an ale because it requires a lager yeast, which ferments slowly, and at a low temperature.

I will be serving this beer on Monday at a Memorial Day cookout. If you go to the Falls Church Memorial Day Parade and see those guys in the little cars, they are the ones who requested this special brew. They will have it after the parade, mind you, so go enjoy all your fine fezzed friends driving their precision patterns.

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Food and Drink, Music, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Food, Music, and Charity: Sound Bites 2012

An annual fundraiser for DC Central Kitchen, Sound Bites took over the 9:30 Club – and V Street outside in block party style – on Sunday evening. The event featured music from a variety of local performers, a cocktail-mixing competition among some of the city’s top bartenders, and samples of fare by many local restaurants.

The event, now in its third year, is a different take on the many fancy charity galas that have been all over town the last few weeks. DC Central Kitchen wanted to do something casual, accessible, and lighthearted to raise funds for their vital projects. All of the restaurants involved donated their food and staff time to the cause. Attendees were able to stroll around the outdoor area tasting samples or duck out of the sun into the club to listen to a band or DJ between bites.
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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Summer Cocktails Debut at the W

POV at the W always launches their seasonal cocktail menus with great flare. This time the cocktail party was summer boardwalk carnival themed with tickets sold to the public through Gilt City and gave attendees a chance to sample the drinks while indulging in some fancy takes on carnival-themed snacks – herbed popcorn, churros with strawberry-rhubarb compote – playing games and even getting bright summer-colored manicures from Bliss Spa.

Ultimately, the drinks are the stars, though – and remain available to purchase at POV throughout the season. These drinks may be the best batch of seasonal cocktails offered by the bar in some time. While they mostly share a pink color palette and general inclination towards the sweet, they are fun, great summer drinks that do not disappoint.

Pictured above is the Luchador Rosa, which seemed to be the favorite among people I asked at the event – and was my strong favorite as well. Silver tequila, fresh squeezed lime, and juicy raspberries make for a classic summertime flavor combo – but the drink is elevated by spicy hellfire bitters and a garden of green, aromatic cilantro. This concoction is awesome and I cannot wait to head back to the roof lounge on a hot summer day to tipple several.

Also great was the Bourbon Summer Sour. Bartender Meghan told me that, in the week or so before the launch event that they have been offering this drink menu, she has made the most of these – and warned me it might be because the cocktail is a bit too easy to drink. After that, I expected something weak and sugary – that watermelon is a major ingredient lead to this assumption – but in fact it was simply light and fun to drink. Mingled with the watermelon was Makers Mark bourbon, mint, lemon, and a touch of sugar. Though it was, in fact, dangerously quaffable (indeed, even as someone who rarely finishes a drink at a tasting, this one disappeared from my glass before I even noticed) it was not sticky or overly “fruit flavored.” Instead, it takes the essential summertime formula of bourbon-plus-mint and just adds a bit of bright, natural fruit juiciness.

The Raspberry Sour was the weakest entry in the bunch. While passable – and, by the looks of things at the event, popular – it was a bit candy-cloying with raspberry simple syrup that largely overpowered the gin base. The French Reception was better, with tons of muddled fresh blackberries floating in the glass with gin, St-Germain, lemon juice, and a fizzy pour of Champagne.

Expect to find me at POV’s roof lounge all summer long. Drinking cocktails under a permanent roof canopy is, after all, about as close as I get to “sunshine” or the “outdoors.”

Food and Drink, Homebrewing, The Features
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Homebrew DC: $12 (or so) Cream Ale

Photo courtesy of timomcd
Brewing Cream Ale
courtesy of timomcd

This is another in a series of articles about homebrewing in the DC area by Carl Weaver of RealHomebrew.com. Want to learn about making your own beer? Keep an eye out for Friday homebrew features.

I wrote about cream ale before. It is a good beer for the coming summer, light and refreshing, not too bitter, and easy-drinking – a perfect companion to while away the time with as you enjoy the evening whir of insects or traffic, whichever is more pervasive in your neighborhood.

The American Homebrewers Association recently had what they call $12 Cream Ale as a homebrew recipe of the week. I just about howled at the moon, I was so excited. $12 for a whole batch of beer? Sign me up! It sounded almost too good to be true. I looked at the recipe, and I am sure it would produce a fine brew, but the only way this is a $12 recipe is if you get half the stuff for free. The grain alone, 11 pounds of it, will cost nearly $2 per pound at Northern Brewer. Even if you buy a giant sack of it at 50 Pound Sack, it is slightly more than $1 per pound. That’s almost $12 right there.

Maybe if you are buying in bulk at wholesale prices, you can get down to almost $12. I priced it at my local-ish homebrew store (yes, they ship too, and have great prices, as does Derek at My Local Homebrew Shop) and it is a little more than $30 before tax. Northern Brewer could get me everything for more than $40. Even if I malted my own regular supermarket barley, that is $1 per pound at the cheapest. No way this whole brew is $12.

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Food and Drink, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Drink Yourself to the 2012 RAMMY Awards

The RAMMY Awards are an annual celebration of members of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (thus the clever name) – and the gala is one of the biggest food-industry parties of the year in DC. If that event, coming up on June 24, sounds like something you would want to peek inside, the RAMW is offering a fun way to get involved and maybe win some tickets: Drinking at the establishments nominated in the “beverage/mixology program” category.

At each of the five restaurants, a signature cocktail has been created. When diners order one of them, they will be entered to win a pair of tickets. Just ask for the RAMMY card to fill out when you place your order.

The five nominees are BourbonSteak, ChurchKey (on behalf of Neighborhood Restaurant Group), Estadio, Virtue Feed & Grain (on behalf of EatGoodFood Group), and Room 11.

Having sampled four of the five drinks at a press kick-off to the promotion, Room 11’s Chaos Theory and Estadio’s Día de Descanso were my strong favorites among the drinks (though, it is important to note, the RAMMY award is for complete bar programs and they are not being judged on these drinks alone).

Food and Drink, The Features
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We Love Food: Jaleo 2.0

You can in fact teach an old dog new tricks my friend. And very quickly at that. Jaleo, Jose Andres’ first ever restaurant in the District, has undergone a  makeover, and with its refreshed modern look comes a seriously delicious menu full of creative twists on Spanish classics. I went to Jaleo the day before it closed for renovations, and exactly a month following- the total time it took to revamp the place- I returned to a completely new experience. Hello Jaleo, Fully Loaded.

Jose Andres really had no idea that when he opened Jaleo in Chinatown as a mere 23 year old kid that he would be setting the foundation for an empire, one that would span across States and elevate tapas to the highest levels. With all of his success (such as making it to the shortlist of Time’s most influential people) Jose Andres continues to be an unofficial Ambassador of the District and of its culinary talent.  Right off the train from the James Beard Foundation Awards, Jose came straight to Jaleo and spoke with us extensively about the new restaurant, but furthermore, about our city, it’s food, and the people behind it. In his words, we need more “cheerleaders” – whether journalists, bloggers, or simply customers – that cheer on our chefs and those in the industry to build DC’s reputation as one of a food-town, and for its tasty offerings to no longer be an after-thought.

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Farm Fresh, Food and Drink, The Features
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We Love Doing Good: DC’s First Mobile Market

Courtesy of Megan Bailey

There is nothing more wonderful to see than when creativity and mission intersect. Case in point: the Mobile Market. The Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture, a nonprofit founded by the partners and chefs of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, is dedicated to growing an equitable and sustainable food system in DC. The group has come up with an innovative solution to overcome the challenges of food access: use the food truck model. The Mobile market will serve “food desert” neighborhoods around the area with fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy products and meat from Arcadia farms and other sustainable producers, at below market rates for those who need it most, bringing it to areas that do not have a bounty of fresh options.

A converted school bus, now bright green and adorned with art by local students,  serves as a visual representation of everything the Mobile Market aims to do, as Michael Babin, owner of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group explained, “Our hope is that the Mobile Market will not only serve as a physical link between farmers and the areas that lack food access, but as a visual representation of the better food and nutrition movement.”

Beyond that, the converted school bus is a moving educational market on wheels, providing information and cooking demonstrations, one-on-one engagement opportunities with the local community, nutritional information and recipes, and resources for how to get fresh, local produce elsewhere in the District. The moving Market is already up and running and will continue through October, with scheduled visits to a senior wellness center, low-income housing site, metro stop, health care provider, and city park and during the school year will also visit schools in DC.

The Mobile Market, the first of its kind in the city, is pioneering change, one stop at a time…

Downtown, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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District Taco: Now Actually In The District!

Photo courtesy of dmbosstone
District Taco (Washington, DC)
courtesy of dmbosstone

Last time I went off my beat and wrote about food truck District Taco, a lot of comments complained about the fact the taco totin’ food cart wasn’t actually located in The District. There was also a random accusation that I was a secret spokesperson for the local establishment. Sorry to say they don’t pay me, I’m just a fan.

Even though it would be wicked awesome if they did pay me to eat their tacos- that would be a great gig.

I’m happy to report that District Taco can now fully embrace their namesake. This week DT founders Osiris Hoil and Marc Wallace opened a new District Taco location near Metro Center near 13th & F St NW. The new store is the latest step of a remarkable story for Hoil, who was laid off from his construction job in 2008 and decided to start a Taco business with his best friend and neighbor Wallace.

I took some photos at a sneak peek of the restaurant last week check them out past the cut.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Checking Out Smucker Farms of Lancaster Co.

Photo courtesy of bonappetitfoodie
Smucker Farms of Lancaster Co.
courtesy of bonappetitfoodie

Just because you live in a major metropolitan city, doesn’t mean that you can’t bring a little countryside in every now and then. Bridging the two worlds is Smucker Farms of Lancaster Co. over on 14th street NW.

The store, founded by Lancaster-native/long-time DC resident Eric Smucker, brings in fresh produce from Southeast Pennsylvania, along with other goods from local farmers and purveyors in the DC area. You’ll find everything from fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy to herbs and spices and jars of pickled vegetables or jams. Hard-core locavores can rejoice–the store carries favorites such as Gordy’s Pickle Jar, Capital Kombucha, Souper Girl and more. Plus, Smucker Farms offers a pick-up CSA option (that’s “community supported agriculture,” if you didn’t already know) with organic produce from a co-op of Amish and Mennonite farmers in Lancaster County, Pa.

When We Love DC stopped by last week, almost all of the spaces in the CSA were full, so hurry up to get in on that. Check out the photos of the Smucker Farms of Lancaster Co. which is part many business doing Factory Farming In USA.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour: The Getaway at The Passenger

That photo is terrible. I know. Let me explain. It was taken around 1:30am last night, when I was not planning to taste anything critically and conditions were sub-optimal for drink photography. When this arrived, though, it was so amazingly good, I had to grab my phone and snap a photo because I knew I had to share this cocktail with you.

You may notice that the rest of the table is covered in cans of Schlitz. I have no complaint with cheap beer drinking and was not really trying to be the one person ordering a complicated cocktail when everybody else is drinking out of tall boys – but I had already been drinking beer since 5:00, mostly for my job, and I wanted to be tasting something else. It was relatively slow and I asked our lovely server Adriana if I could have something with Cynar. (Regular readers of this column will not be surprised by the request, Cynar being my fall-back comfort liquor of choice.)
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Food and Drink, Homebrewing, The Features
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Homebrew DC: Dry Stout Recipe

Photo courtesy of Bernt Rostad
Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel
courtesy of Bernt Rostad

This is another in a series of articles about homebrewing in the DC area by Carl Weaver of RealHomebrew.com. Want to learn about making your own beer? Keep an eye out for Friday homebrew features.

If you are like me and are a big Guinness fan, you may have toyed with the idea of trying to craft your own black brew. If you have, then good news: stouts are easy! This homebrew recipe is exactly what you are looking for.

Stouts are mostly associated with England and Ireland and are offshoots of Porters. As Porter styles evolved, the thicker and more robust Porters began to be referred to as “Stout Porters.” Eventually, the Stout developed into its own style and gained a devoted following.

In general, Stouts are very dark to black in color and have a roasty flavor. The hop flavor and aroma are minimal, though there are a few style exceptions with a pronounced hop presence such as the Imperial or Russian Stout. Stout styles can range from dry to sweet, relatively low to high alcohol content, vary from light to heavy bodied, and may have a hint of fruity esters.

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