Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features

Capital Chefs: Rebecca Albright of Ted’s Bulletin (Part 2)


Montgomery Pie
Courtesy of Rebecca Albright/Linda Roth Associates

As that chill in the air grows, there’s one thing I’m always up for baking: pie. It’s comforting, rarely complicated and the smell of spiced fillings permeates my apartment with a delightfully sweet scent.

And what better recipe to have as we near the holidays than a recipe for a gingerbread pie. Pastry chef Rebecca Albright of Ted’s Bulletin shares her recipe for Montgomery Pie. Check out the recipe after the jump.
Continue reading

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features

Capital Chefs: Rebecca Albright of Ted’s Bulletin (Part 1)

Pastry chef Rebecca Albright is swiftly, and perfectly, crimping a pie crust while people pack into Ted’s Bulletin for a post-brunch wave of service on a busy Saturday. While waiting for a table, the pastry station serves as a source of entertainment for patrons who get to peer over the short glass wall at the assembly line of pop tarts, pie crusts being rolled out, and more desserts taking form. For Albright, the bakery window is one of her favorite parts of the job. “You get to interact with guests and get feedback, see their reactions,” she says.

Before she became a pastry whiz, Albright had studied broadcast journalism, though she found herself jumping at the chance to do different catering events and baking wedding cakes for friends during and after college. Towards the end of undergrad, she picked up a minor in food science, knowing that’s where her real passion was. Combine all of that with a natural affinity for baking and memories of growing up baking with her grandmother, it’s no surprise that a career in pastry was on the horizon. For a while, Albright entertained the idea of being a wedding cake designer before ultimately deciding to enroll at L’Academie de Cuisine.
Continue reading

Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Features

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.
Continue reading

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features

Capital Chefs: Eric Brannon of Ted’s Bulletin (Part 2)

Photo courtesy of
‘Walk of shame burrito from Ted’s Bulletin’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

We’ve all had a Saturday morning where we’ve woken up parched, head throbbing and stomach gurgling for something heavy and delicious to cure a bad hangover. Granted I tried Eric Brannon’s breakfast burrito for dinner (who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?), but I’d imagine on a weekend morning hungover or not, this burrito would really hit the spot. It’s easy enough to make, and certainly don’t feel obligated to eat it before noon. You’ll find the full recipe after the jump.
Continue reading

Capital Chefs, Food and Drink, The Features

Capital Chefs: Eric Brannon of Ted’s Bulletin (Part 1)

Photo courtesy of
‘Eric Brannon of Ted’s Bulletin’
courtesy of ‘bonappetitfoodie’

Eric Brannon serves up more than your average meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Since Ted’s opened a little more than a year ago, the chef has been serving up comfort food reminiscent of mom’s cooking but with more flair at Ted’s Bulletin in Eastern Market.

“I’m cooking food that gives you memories,” he says. “It’s so rewarding to have people come up to you and say, ‘This is like how my mom made it.’ It pays homage to folks at home.” For Brannon, his cooking is about revamping the simple and attainable classics, which is still a challenge.

The restaurant’s homemade pop tarts and adult (read: liquor-laced) milkshakes have generated worthy buzz around the city. This year the restaurant was nominated for a RAMMY as one of 2011’s Best Neighborhood Gathering Places, one of the few public vote categories. And he says new milkshakes, pop tarts and some fun entrées such as a Texas style brisket will be making their debut on the menu this spring.
Continue reading

The Daily Feed

Ted’s Bulletin Eyes Bethesda

Photo Courtesy Ted's Bulletin

A while ago, I heard that the owners of Ted’s Bulletin were scouting for locations in Virginia — Tysons Corner to be exact. WRONG…unless you count that they recently signed a lease for a fourth DC-area Matchbox at Lee Highway and Gallows Road in Virginia.

But I’ve come to realize that there’s always a bit of truth to everything you hear. Curious, I called Ty Neal, one of the four friends behind the whole Matchbox, Ted’s Bulletin, and now DC-3 operation.  He told me that there are plans for expanding Ted’s Bulletin already, hopefully with one location in Bethesda and another one in the District.  If all goes as planned, leases could be signed this year.

I asked him what neighborhoods he was looking at in DC, but Neal said he was going to keep that to himself for now, though he does have a few places in mind. (Looks like I still have a while to convince him to come to Navy Yard.)

Neal adds that the Hill’s Ted’s only has 80 seats, and that future locations will have 120 to 150 seats depending on the available square footage.

Continue reading

Food and Drink, The Features, The Hill, We Love Food

We Love Food: Ted’s Bulletin

Photo courtesy of
‘Dine-In At Ted’s Bulletin’
courtesy of ‘[F]oxymoron’
Growing up on the mean streets of suburban Maryland, I ate at my fair share of diners. Silver Diner, Broadway Diner, Hoffberg’s Deli…the list goes on. There are obvious benefits to diner eating – major portions, the food you wish your mom made all the time (and made well), and breakfast all day. One thing that diners didn’t necessarily do for me was always taste good. They can be great, or they can be plastic cup of coleslaw on the side bad. I think we call that inconsistency. Now that I’m a big girl living in the big city, I’ve graduated from the diners of greater Rockville Pike to Ted’s Bulletin. Though it may not be a traditional diner, it’s the diner of my dreams.

Much like the diners of my youth, Ted’s is a fantastic fall back restaurant. Not to say that it’s not a destination unto itself, it just works as my go-to place when nothing else excites me. And in this dreary time of year, I’m uninspired and therefore eating at Ted’s a whole lot. And it’s really working out well for me. Continue reading

Eat Like Me, Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, The Features

Eat Like Me: December’s Best Dishes

Photo courtesy of
‘Waffle House’
courtesy of ‘Steve Snodgrass’
I learned a lot about myself this month. I learned that white anchovies are the way to my heart if maybe not the best way to a second date. I finally, officially learned that there is a reason I’m not stick thin — because fatty food tastes good. I learned I like whiskey more than I thought (sorry parents!). And I learned that eating at a Waffle House and a Hooters in the same day does not spring me in to spontaneous white trashedness. I also ate a whole lot this month, so it was pretty tough to narrow down everything I loved. As a result, you’ll notice the honorable mention category down at the bottom for those few dishes that came in a close second in the race to the top.

Continue reading

Interviews, The Features

They Love DC: The Guys of Matchbox & Ted’s Bulletin

PerryDrewMarkTy

You love Matchbox’s pizza, you go there religiously for brunch (hello sticky buns!) and you’re a big fan of the mini burgers. But what if I told you Matchbox isn’t the only place around town these days? The four owners behind Matchbox have teamed up to open Barrack Row’s newest hot spot, Ted’s BULLETIN. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, BULLETIN is a classic joint with a bit of style—complete with savory homemade food and a friendly, neighborhood atmosphere to provide relief from today’s time-congested lifestyle. BULLETIN offers homecookin’ with clever names, like Walk of Shame Breakfast Burrito, Nana’s Beer Biscuits and Gravy, the Green Green Salad of Home with Green Goddess Dressing, or home-style Meatloaf with Mingo County Ketchup Glaze with a “Big As Ya Head” Twice Baked Potato or Mac and Four Cheese with Andouille on the side.

I was able to chat with partners Perry Smith, Drew Kim, and Mark and Ty Neal, who took on the challenge of answering the They Love DC interview jointly.

Katie: How long have you lived in the DC area?
Them: All four partners moved to DC in the summer of 2002. Partner Perry Smith grew up in the area and attended B-CC High School.

What is the best thing about DC, in your opinion?
First, we all agree–the people–so many different people come to DC year in and year out and it’s great to see so many new faces. The energy is awesome, and you don’t see a lot of folks sitting still, they are always doing things!

What would you change about DC if you could?
Find some money to improve snow removal! We always get hit hard every few years but then get lulled by a couple of mild winters and forget how bad it can be! Continue reading