Back to Pete's but this time in Clarendon. Edge of the Woods was a little different - instead of the big eggplant slices seen below back at Ten-Frien, there were smaller slivers. I prefer the larger slices because you feel like it's more eggplant, less fried batter. Take note! Below is an old EOTW photo. It doesn't look like "pizza with fried whatever on top," it looks like eggplant.
Next, Palena. They've changed with the expansion. The fry plate is no longer; now there's a "fritto misto" that has fried lots of things (including things I don't want, like shrimp and cauliflower). I wish it was still basically dauphine potato, french fries, and fried lemons were the bomb. The roasted chicken is still a delight, but the first time I had it was the best time ever. The server said they'd just give us a plate of fried lemons, which they did, and that was nice. Only $3.
At Bistro Bis I enjoyed French onion soup and mustard seed crusted bacon fat salmon with lentils. Because it's healthy to order the fish, you know. This was my favorite weekday meal at a restaurant.
Friday night potluck with the ladies included butternut squash vegetarian chili, lots of cheese, and CCs' rendition of the red wine chocolate cake (spoiler alert: it's delicious. More toward brownie than cake, which is why I requested it).
Saturday morning I had a kale and goat cheese frittatta made by my Sisterfriend (not to be confused with my Seester or Sister), with a side of mini apple cider doughnuts from the Fenton Street Market.
SF also made delicious pumpkin waffles, but I didn't know how yummy they were until Sunday morning.
Saturday afternoon J and I shared some post-Fotoweek steak banh mi from ShopHouse. The steak was really good, the slaw was a little spicy, and man is that a lot of bread. If you're very hungry, this one is a good choice. I'm not obsessed though. Then I had a decadent concrete from Shake Shack with vanilla custard, peanut butter, marshmallow, chocolate, caramel, and pure joy.
Next we visited the new MLK Memorial - I really enjoyed it, particularly the awesome (great and literally large) quotes on the low surrounding walls. There was a big crowd, which was really heartwarming and inspiring. Thanks for finally shaking up all the crusty old white guy memorials.
Dinner gets a separate post of its own - Graffiato! I had a terrific time and a delicious meal.
Sunday I had that pumpkin waffle (and a half?) that we talked about earlier, then we headed out to wine country. In Baltimore County. Both Boordy and DeJon are in just north of the city of Baltimore, and we stopped by both. Boordy was CRAZY hopping, and the tasting was pretty informal. We didn't learn much about the wines, but they were mostly ok. My favorite was the Shiraz, followed by the Petit Cabernet. DeJon is fairly new, and the wines were better. The owner (Jon, not to be confused with Denise) poured us each one, chatted a little about his former life as a software company owner (the winery = "retirement"), but it was just us and one large group of rowdy, drunk 50 somethings, so we tasted and ran. It was just cool enough where you didn't really want to just sit and play Bananagrams.
That night we had a gathering of 13 people we love--some were experienced in the task at hand, while others were novices. Some asked for direction, instructions, and were timid. It does seem like everyone enjoyed themselves, though.
Ethiopic! One or two too many platters, but no one complained. We could have all been full with less, and our wallets slightly fuller.
We still love DC. We want to try all the new restaurants that we (still) read about on local blogs. We marvel that certain corners and blocks have completely changed in one year. We're interested in the new monuments and updated exhibits at the galleries. But mostly, we love our friends and family that make the District home. And that's why we'll be back.
