Friday Favorites: No-blizzard-but-also-no-right-lane Edition

Heyo!  It's been a great week!  I spent half of it in Austin (and you'll read more about that soon, ::drool::), and half in our fair city.  Some good reads this week:

From NYTimes: Ooh, chefs bringin' the heat on Twitter.  I think this article may have given Mr. Top Chef himself, Michael Voltaggio, some hints on making a scene--he recently publicly ranted about issues with his produce people.   Apparently they made up, though.

Also from NYT, apparently NY's best pizza, served up in Brooklyn and the East Village.  Now, I already declared that NY's best pizza was at DiFara, in that post where I discussed the futility of this "best pizza" argument, which, by the way, is neverending.  This can only mean one thing:  PIZZA CAGE MATCH!!!!  I think the best time for this head-to-head is after the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May.  It'll take careful planning because of the likely wait times at each eatery.  C'mon guys, let's make it happen!

From Washingtonian, the making of a Valentine's Day dinner at home for under $20.

I've been meaning to go to Ris, and I hope I will soon--the namesake was on the Kojo Nnamdi show this week!  KN was talking about the dream of owning a restaurant.  [I just browsed the brunch menu and said the words "chicken fried skirt steak, poached egg" and sent J into a frenzy of "I want that I want that I so want that, what are we doing Sunday????"]

Apparently yesterday was National Drink Wine Day...I'm also skeptical about the legitimacy of this holiday, and I think it's much better celebrated on non-workdays.  Just sayin. 

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Sushiko

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILY!!!!!

::ahem:: back to your regularly schedule food-blogging.

On a recent blizzard-y evening, a few of us went out to try Sushiko.  It was quite nice!  Not as dive-y as our former neighborhood sushi places, but not totally out of reach (price-wise), either.

The menu is pretty huge, and one "problem" I encountered was that I wanted to try all the soups and salads.  Warm baby spinach salad with mushrooms and bamboo shoot?  Yes, please!

Here's what we enjoyed:

Edamame:  Keep in mind that when your server asks offhand, "would you like some edamame?" before you've cracked your menus (in a way that other restaurants mention bread) that it's not free.  Just FYI.  It won't break the bank though, $4.50.

Smoked mussel and eggplant miso:  T liked this dish a lot; at first she was hesitant because she tends to shy away from smoked fish/seafood, but our server told her it didn't have that saltiness that you find in lox or anything, it's basically like normal mussels with a little smokey flavor, in a good way.  She believed him, and it turns out he was pretty trustworthy.

Aged tofu with chili daikon and ginger broth:  Mm, yum.  I love me some cubed, lightly fried 'fu. And look at those teeny tiny mushrooms!  Freakin' adorable!!!!!

 

Pan-fried chicken shiso gyoza:  AKA potstickers!!!   These were tasty and light, you could pop 'em all night long.

Next dish was a special, something about tuna + Napoleon, and they were basically little tuna sandwiches on these thin crisps.  Bite size treats!  They came highly recommended by our server, and I'd definitely get them again.

Next up: ROLLS! California, spicy salmon, spicy tuna, and eel, avocado, & egg.  I liked them all, but could definitely order a few of the eel rolls just for myself.  That sauce is yum yum yum.

Now, we needed dessert the way the DC area needs more snow--seriously, we were full.  But J sees "fried" and his eyes light up like a pinball machine.  Enter the fried banana and coconut ice cream.  It was pretty good--I probably wouldn't do it again.  I'm not sure I can get behind the concept of fried fruit, despite the fabulous alliteration.

We'll definitely go back to Sushiko soon, either to dine in or takeout.  Friendly service and good food, even in a blizzard.

Sushiko
5455 Wisconsin Ave
Chevy Chase, MD
Metro: Red Line to Friendship Heights

Friday Favorites: Blizzard Edition

Morning, ya'll! Welcome to the first weekly roundup sort of thing, a little list of my favorite links of the past week.  You know, just in case you aren't "following" me on Google Reader.

Of course, I had other things to do this week besides play on the internet---Scrabble, cleaning, cupcake-eating (that's peanut butter chocolate, with PB chips in the cake part and amazing PB icing), challah baking, best hot chocolate ever making/drinking...

 

 

But mostly I played on the internet.  Here were my faves this week:

• Wild & Crazy Pearl's Bakery Touring: Tips for Success includes the indulgence in my personal favorite cookie (and hers), the delights from Levain. 

• My Baking Addiction's Red Velvet Whoopie Pies may be a little more than a week old, but I'm still waiting for someone to make these for me for Valentine's Day.  It seems like the type of semi-complicated task I'll leave to inkpadchocolate; I can't be trusted with food dye.

• Bakerella's ginormous butterscotch cookie covered in an insane amount of chocolate looks so good, it's probably illegal.  And it's stunning.

• matzo&rice's review of Morimoto in Philly--any lover of Iron Chef (and sushi) will enjoy this review of the big tasting menu here.

I also want to give props to Georgetown Cupcake, Cashion's Eat Place, Clyde's, Sushiko, Chef Geoff's/Lia's, Chipotle, and the patient, brave staff of my local Giant Food for keeping us fed, warm, and even out of the house over the blizzardy extra-(extra-)long weekend.  Also a high-five to all the restaurants and neighbors who tweeted #opendc to keep everyone informed. 

If you read blogs/magazines or listen to podcasts with fun, yummy recipes or reviews that you want to share with me, send them to ieatdc at gmail dot com!

Have a great weekend, everyone!  Be careful when you're walking, watch for ice.

Cashion's Eat Place

If you were snowed in (driving-wise) on a beautiful day, wouldn't you also take the Metro to Woodley and walk to Adam's Morgan for brunch?  I thought so!  Bring sunglasses, though.  The glare is wicked.

We (J&J, MyJ, and T) were thrilled to hear that Cashion's Eat Place would be open in our fair frosted city. With public transportation quite unsettled and sidewalks only partially cleared, the journey there was a bit of an adventure. 

J and I went to Cashion's for a great dinner maybe 4 years ago (I know Ann Cashion still owned it at that point), and even though it was GREAT, we never went back.  I recommended it to people, but I guess once we moved to the Orange Line in VA, the idea of schlepping up to Adam's Morgan seemed arduous, especially with so many delicious and more convenient dining options.  But I know we'll be back again MUCH sooner, especially with neighborhood friends like J&J. 

So I know that there would be delicious freshly baked bread, had the bakery that delivers to Cashion's not been hindered by the snow.  ::sniffle::  But seriously, we were fine.  We ordered a side of banana nut bread (um, with chocolate, much like the one I make in muffin form for fair J-dazzle), and it was warm and happy.

4/5 of us had the bison burger with poached egg, potatoes, and hollandaise.  Little fun mushrooms and some green were underneath the burger, hiding but delicious.  At first I was going to get an omelet to break up the monotony of the table, but seriously, we were STARVING, and the idea of meat + egg was too good to be passed up.  It didn't come with a bun, but I think one of the Js figured that was because of the canceled bread delivery.  Or they thought we were all on Atkins : )  We all cleaned our plates---I like that the hollandaise was on the side instead of bathing everything else, I could dip as I saw fit.  Bison is such a lean, clean-tasting meat; if you've never had it, you should try it someday.

 

T was the outlier with the pork hash.  Not like I was surprised---anything with a poached egg, cilantro, and green chilies is screaming T's name.  She eats like me, but a little spicier : ) T says the sauce was the shining star---cilantro/chili sort of pesto--so good she'd buy it in a jar.  And put it in her car.  Go very far.  My rhymes are bizarre.

Service was great (friendly, but not the awkward not-knowing-when-to-come-or-go we've been getting recently), and no one batted an eye as we sat after our meal for about 2 hours, just talking.  It wasn't crowded, and we just wanted to spend more time together...inside.

Cashion's Eat Place
1819 Columbia Rd NW
Metro: Red Line to Woodley Park; it's not a long walk to where Cashion's is in Adams Morgan.

Lia's

Lia's in Friendship Heights is part of the Chef Geoff family---they email me often, but not as often as the crazy PR people behind some other local restaurant groups.  I think they offer some quality food at pretty reasonable prices, and the big menu can please picky eaters or big groups.  Pasta?  Check.  Pizza? Check.  Sandwiches?  Check.  Steak?  Check.  And more.

Even though we couldn't get anywhere for Restaurant Week, we managed to make reservations for RW part 2:  The Bethesda-Chevy Chase edition.  Unfortunately, our Saturday night reservation at Grapeseed was canceled due to mini-snowpocalypse.  By the way, I love how now anything under a foot of snow doesn't qualify as a snowpocalypse anymore---what is WITH this weather!?  ANYWAY, in a pinch, we traipsed over to Lia's, where we hadn't been since moving day.  They offered their whole menu on RW, so options were aplenty.

We started with the beet salad and the rosemary beef skewers.  The beef was delicious, and the cold crunchy cucumber salad on the side was a great contrast.  I could have had 10 or so of those for dinner :)   The beet salad had mache (aka lamb's lettuce) and goat cheese, it was very good and ubercolorful.  I'd certainly have it again.

Next was dinner: I had the Italian pot roast (which J had the first time we went to Lia's) and he had the scallops.  The pot roast itself was pretty good--the meat was very soft, but I didn't feel like on its own it had so much flavor.  On the other hand, the sauce/gravy root vegetables that were around and beneath the pot roast were really to die for.  Talk about comfort food on a cold, snowy night!  I wanted to take all that and put it in a bowl, add some pieces of pulled brisket, and call it a chili.  MMMMM.

The scallops came on a butternut squash risotto, again so now.  J says his meal was good, but he wishes there were a few more---maybe that had to do with it being RW, but maybe he was just a little too hungry.

Last was dessert---we were sort of full, and although we disagree on little (food-wise), J doesn't like coffee.  At all.  Not the drink, not the flavor--so no ice cream, frappucino, chocolate covered beans (what's up Trader Joe's, I'm talking to you!!!).  

I had the espresso y zeppole---espresso semifreddo with mini Italian donuts (they were generously dusted in cinnamon and sugar, oh my).  The donuts were warm, the semifreddo was SO GOOD.  Semifreddo means half cold, so it was almost like espresso gelato, but not frozen, but also not liquidy or runny.  It had the amazing texture of a very cold mousse, and I loved it.  J had the gelato/sorbet assortment:  chocolate and espresso gelato (I picked at the espresso, but really liked my semifreddo much better), and lemon sorbet.  I'm a fan of homemade frozen treats, and these were no exception.

I'm definitely going to go back to Lia's for happy hour and brunch sometime soon--it's so convenient, and I know it's reliable.  I'll check back in when I do!!!

Lia's

4435 Willard Avenue

Chevy Chase, MD

Metro: Red Line to Chevy Chase

Jetties

So every time I drive down Foxhall Road I see the sign for Jetties and think, mmm that sounds like a beachy sandwich place,  even though the beach is pretty far away.    A campus favorite for G Dubbers on the Vern, Jetties is also uniquely situated between Marylanders to the west of DC and Arlingtonians--a great place to meet up for lunch with friends.

Even though there were plenty of tables when we arrived, the late lunch crowd on a Saturday was quite plentiful.  On to the eats!  When you walk in, don't jog up to the counter and bark out your order--pick up one of the order sheets and fill out what you'd like--you can select an existing sandwich or create your own, if you're that type.

First we've got my pick: the Steps Beach ($7.50): homemade turkey salad with golden raisins, diced apples, tarragon, and lettuce--the original is on multigrain, but I went nuts and modified that right into some PUMPERNICKEL!  WHAT!  This was hands-down the best turkey salad I've ever had (except for my mother-in-law's post-Thanksgiving turkey salad, of course.  Obviously.), but not the best "__  salad" ever, because let's face it, Boatyard in Annapolis makes a righteous good chicken salad.  It had texture, crunch, sweetness, and that pumpernickelly bite, all in one sandwich.  I could have this every weekend.

E went for the Surfside ($8.65). Carved turkey, havarti, bacon, avocado spread, and whole grain mustard on sourdough bread.  Now I didn't mention this earlier, but Jetties is pretty serious about turkey--they must roast plenty of them each day to provide the carved turkey sandwiches and turkey salad the way that they do, and I appreciate it.  There's nothing like real meat, none of that deli sliced processed nonsense.  E really enjoyed the sandwich, but she would have preferred less grainy mustard.  I LOVE the stuff, but hey, I'm a mustard fan.  Know yourself, people!

Last but certainly not least, C had the hot sandwich of the day--the name is lost on me right now, but it was brisket and onions, and it was yummy.  I may have picked some stray pieces of brisket off of her sandwich wrapper (plates are for wimps).  Her only improvement would be slicing the brisket thinner--every Passover hostess' dream.  Also, the bread looks a bit weak for what it's holding.

Also, Jetties carries cupcakes from Something Sweet, which has the distinguished pleasure of being situated near 2 Amys (cue angelic/heaven music and bright lights as if shining from above).  J says he's had their cupcakes before and they are "just ok," but he didn't seem to complain or hesitate when I brought him back a chocolate with chocolate frosting from Jetties.

Jetties isn't alone in its family--the other day I passed by Surfside in Glover Park, Jetties' sister on Wisconsin Ave.  It was packed at brunch-time!  I'm sure we'll get there soon--the menu looks reasonably priced (pending portion size, of course) .  And the group's hidden-ish bar that hosts a lot of private events in Georgetown?  I won't hold my breath for an invitation.  I'm unconcerned, given the reviews.  Yikes!

Reviews I read before my adventure to Jetties mentioned that it's pricy.  The sandwich prices are fine, but it all adds up--my sandwich + Nantucket Nectars half & half + bag of chips + 2 cupcakes (one for me, right then, and one for J) = $17.  But if you bring your water bottle and skip the extras, it's definitely tastier than Cosi (and let's be honest, their sandwiches don't fill anyone up, do they? Or is it just me with the neverending pit stomach?) and not far off $-wise.  Service was superfast, even for C's hot sandwich, but keep in mind that it was quiet when we arrived.

Jetties
1609 Foxhall Road
Getting there:  Find the best Metrobus from your place, drive (plenty of street parking available), or put on your hiking shoes from Georgetown.  But there's always the Vern Express from Foggy Bottom.

Upcoming travels: Your advice?

This image is courtesy of the 2010 Austin Marathon and Half Marathon (recently sold out, but put 2011 on your calendar).  

 Enough CYA on copyrights.  News!  Now you can follow me on Twitter.   Besides restaurant news/tasty bites, I might share more about my recipes/cooking there--I try to keep this blog 99% dining out, but it turns out that we actually cook dinner 5-6 nights a week.  Imagine that! 

I'll be checking out 36 hours, Tom's Postcards, Yelp , and Urbanspoon for sure, but if you have any suggestions for the following cities, I would really appreciate it!  Some trips are sooner than others, and some are downright tentative.  But still!

1. Austin, TX (W&CP, I managed to find your friend's blog through Twitter--it's going to help on this adventure)
2. San Diego, CA
3. Savannah, GA (besides Lady & Sons, which I will go to even if you didn't have a good time slash waited on line for 4 hours, because Paula Deen is the southern grandma that I never had)
4. Charleston, SC
5. Pittsburgh, PA

P.S.  A few fun links.  This description of a blog (via @Slate) is hilarious and true.  The second comment is the best.  Also, these macarons. I may not have to run back to Paris as fast as I thought...