The F in Friday Stands For fHappy fHour

We've been making our own cocktails.  Above is the Moscow Mule.  After checking them out at Bourbon Steak & The Gibson, we were eager to make our own!  BTW, Goya Ginger Beer is WAY strong--we cut these with some seltzer.  But if you need to clear your sinuses, hit it up straight! 

This was a great week.  It started with J&G Steakhouse, and it's going to end with Babies this weekend.  BABIES!!!

Let's recap some weekly news and happenings:

This might not be news, but I had the May Shake of the Month at BGR - chocolate covered strawberry.  It was delicious (are you surprised?).  Coincidentally, that's the name of my favorite flavor at Thomas Sweet.  Or is it a coincidence...

Now really, on to the articles.  Our house is full of pretzels, mostly because of J.  But I'm a huge fan of pretzel chips, and I also looove hot pretzels.  They are SO FILLING, and they are warm and soft on the inside, a little crispy on the outside--just wonderful.  I give you: the sandwich on a pretzel bun.  

My other Times favorites this week are:  The White House pastry chef is awesome.   Go Burger is the name of the BLT spinoff coming to Dupont Circle.  And French onion soup for vegetarians (!). 

Feeding yourself is one thing, but what about your cats and dogs? And because I mentioned dogs, I should show you my dog-niece and her dog-aunt, basking in the sun in the Garden State.  Wow, only Kassidy can make Sophie look big.

Ahem!  Moving along.  We (along with everyone in their right mind) love How I Met Your Mother.  This week showed Marshall representing our so very true obsession with mini hot dogs, mini cheeseburgers, mini pizzas--basically "any food at all that would make [us] feel like a giant."  Excellent episode.

I was tickled to see some celebrity chefs on Treme!  Chang, Ripert, Colicchio, and Dufresne (Wylie, not Andy)--and they namedrop Besh to excuse their lack of reservation. Puh-leez, guys, like you need an excuse?  We love you, you're adorable pretending to act and everything.

BROOKIES (brownie cookies) from Bakerella.  

Cookie Dough Fudge Cheesecake.  I could never, ever make this without either bringing it to a party or hosting one myself.  It would be incredible straight out of the freezer like a frozen creamy dream come true.  (from Eat, Run, Read).

This is drinking related--for those who have had trouble unlocking their doors after a long night.

I'm going to work on a Top Recommended list for a post next week--the places I've been to a bunch of times, enough to recommend frequently without hesitation.  Get psyched.

Enjoy your weekend!  Hopefully the weather is good enough for at least one outdoor brunch.

Cupcake Fail (Is The "Fail" Thing Over?)

Homemade cupcakes, by the lovely C.  Maybe I should have stuck to those for J's birthday.

Instead, like 2,794 other people, I bought the Groupon for a dozen delivered cupcakes from BonaFide Cupcakes (a delivery-only establishment) for $20.  A few months back I made the decision to send a friend returning from maternity leave a dozen Georgetown Cupcakes for about $40, instead of the two dozen minimum required by Curbside Cupcake for only slightly more because I know and love Georgetown Cupcake (P.S., that order was easy, delivery on time, cupcakes impeccable in condition and taste). 

I figured I'd just try BonaFide out with this Groupon - it's a great deal, and I could throw it onto J's birthday by sending them to work.  A little extra surprise. 

As these Yelp and Urbanspoon reviews show, BonaFide had a tough time getting its act together post-Groupon.  I read those on my delivery day morning, but I felt confident nonetheless. After all, when I ordered, they admitted they were super crazed and wouldn't be taking orders until after X date.  Luckily, J's birthday is X date + 2!  Perfect!  I ordered, it was confirmed, and then 10 days later at delivery time, no cupcakes.

No one really answers the phone, so callers have to leave a message.  I e-mailed and called several times as we neared the fourth hour after the scheduled delivery time.  I received a call that was like a comedy of errors, stating the wrong date and wrong company building.  Am I on candid camera?  I was told that for sure it must have been on one of today's delivery trucks, which were almost through with their route.  But alas, who knows, because the system was down.  "Can I call you back?"

Despite giving my telephone number to call back, BonaFide called J, who until then was oblivious to his never-to-be-seen surprise cupcakes.  He was told to call back to reschedule.  I called back immediately, and of course left another unreturned voicemail. 

The next day, nothing.  No cupcakes, no calls.  Another voicemail left, another e-mail sent.  After close of business I notified Groupon of the problem.  I'm pretty sure it's not the first they heard of it.  Groupon immediately agreed to cancel the Groupon and refund my $20.  By tonight (Thursday) my refund posted.  I haven't heard from BonaFide since Monday mid-day when the system was "down," despite my e-mails and calls.

I understand that the Groupon caused an influx of business--that's what it does!  But if you can't handle the orders, don't accept them.  A day (or two!) of leaving voicemails and sending emails to get NOTHING when I was trying to give a gift was Not Awesome.  It's not the worst thing that ever happened to anyone in the world, but it's a pain in the ass.

BonaFide Cupcakes
By all means, if you find a way to have them deliver your order and you get to taste them, do let me know in the comments how they tasted.

J & G Steakhouse

So the other day I was having dinner with Hamid Karzai....oh wait, no, I was NEAR his hotel, but he didn't actually join us for dinner.  I assume he was at the Willard, security was hott right thar.

The W Hotel, formerly Hotel Washington, is home to a rooftop bar with quite the view.  The White House looks teeny next to the Treas from this angle!  It tickled me a bit that the Elevator Bouncer checked our IDs to head up to the rooftop, but no one checked 'em when we got our cocktails at dinner.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten is a man with a plan....to open delicious restaurants all over the place!  We may not be Paris, Bora Bora, or even Las Vegas (I'd rather be in DC than LV any day!), but we're one of the most recent additions to the JG family.  Like Bourbon Steak, the place has steak in the name, but the menu is so much more than that (links to Washingtonian & WaPo reviews show I'm not alone in this line of thought).

Drinks:  Dark & Stormy, New York Sour. 

The spring pea soup with parmesan was unbelievable.  GORGEOUS, smooth as silk, and the flaaaavors and the teeeeextures, for real.  I obviously dig pea soup--when done well, it's so so so happy.  The sweet pea puree was an awesome contrast to the thick, foamy parmesan area.  I kept tasting them separately, then together, then separately...ok, I had a little too much fun.

J had heard good stuff about the calamari - it was a big portion, but very light.  CRUNCH.

The halibut (with scallion and chili sauce, basil and celery) was quite tasty.  LB recommended it, and the fish was nice and light.  Lightly crispy top, as you can see.  And the fun underneath would make an awesome tapenade--I'd like to spread that on a cracker, you know?

J's lamb, cooked medium, with a side of root vegetables.  The first bite I had wasn't as good as the next two--those were awesome (I think the first happened to be a more done bite, and I'm all about the pink).  Very simple - seasoned with salt and pepper, then a dried black olive breadcrumb situation (this was light--if you're anti-olive, no worries).  The result was a yummy, charred, smoky, super delicious lamb dish that was so good I almost didn't want dessert because I wanted the last taste on my tongue to be that lamb.  The texture was what it should be--not chewy, not gritty, just perfect.  Root veggies were root veggies--but the puree underneath them was awe-inducing.

A bit of dessert.  Light and fluffy cheesecake with some "exotic fruit compote and sorbet."  Pineapple?  Passionfruit?  Mango?  Something, or maybe a mixture.  I didn't care for the sorbet, but the cheesecake was very good, and adorable.  And A+ to the staff for listening attentively when I said it was J's BIRTHDAY!!!!  Happy day to him.

As we pondered our meal and awaited our check, a gentleman next to us was going on and on to the server and then the manager about the Caesar salad.  Apparently his lettuce was very soggy, and it was unacceptable, and he wouldn't recommend that people return.  J and I exchanged glances that said Who Would Get a Caesar Salad With This Freakin' Menu, Is This Guy Out Of His Mind.  Then we joked about my 19-year-old cousin who orders a Caesar salad wherever he goes--he's a connoisseur.  We'd have to put it to his test to really find out if this guy was right!   For what it's worth, the manager was very receptive to the criticism, and managed the complaint nicely. 

Service was great--our server recommended the "signature" dishes, which were all ones we had heard about beforehand from other blogs and friends.  He wasn't pushy on the drinks, but definitely was encouraging for us to drink more. The line between being attentive to empty glasses and wanting to up our bill is a fine one, and he got a little close.  But I liked him.

We had a wonderful meal, and a wonderful time.  We'll be back! And yes, my photos got increasingly darker as our window seat became irrelevant--night time, a pox on you!

J&G Steakhouse
W Hotel
515 15th Street NW (Penn & 15th)
Metro: Orange, Blue, & Red Lines to Metro Center (or O&B to McPherson, or Fed Triangle...)

Friday I'm In Love

...with turkey salad.  Oh that?  It's my delicious turkey salad wrap from the Maryland Food Co-op.  It could have used twice the turkey salad, but I could add whatever I wanted veggie-wise and--um--it cost about $3.40.  I splurged on a bag of chips.  

What a week!  It was a blast to finally make it to a Food Blogger Happy Hour.  I was a bit late, and people were kind of sitting all around in already-settled conversations, but I still managed to meet the lovely folks behind Eat, Run, Read; I Flip For Food; DC Loves Food; DC Fud; Eat By Tweet (aggregates tweets by official restaurant accounts by city so you can get news and specials, it's pretty sweet); The Frozen Fix (inspired me to finally get this KitchenAid attachment); Seeking CB, and maybe a few others? 

A few people at the happy hour asked me if I cook.  I do!  We do!  [In reality we really assemble more than cook, but you know.]  We go out once or twice a week.  You may recall that when I started blogging I was a poor student in an unpaid internship.  I frequently accomplished harrowing feats of frugality, including The Summer Of Bringing Lunch Every Single Day Without Fail.  Basically, I don't share recipes because it's all simple stuff that we didn't invent.  We make the same favorite things over and over.  Nothing like this or this or this or this.  Unless we're entertaining.

Speaking of cooking, Inkpad made the compost cookies, yum yum yum yum yum!  I finally got to try them, and I didn't have to dirty a dish : ) I know for a fact that she included pretzels, toffee chips, and potato chips, among other items.

This week in the food-related Internet:

Angela & Mark at I Flip For Food went to Minibar by Jose Andres!  Looks completely amazing--I want to go eventually, but I have no idea when!  It remains on The List.

I want a wood-burning oven in my kitchen (an OMG moment from WSJ).

Everyone's favorite Top Chef judge (not to mention accomplished chef and restaurateur) is talking about the importance of being local, creating jobs, and avoiding chemicals.  High five, chef!

FREE ICED COFFEE on May 11 from participating Dunkin' Donuts, my favorite.  (via @frijolita). Ya'll, today I tried the 99 cent iced coffee that 7-11 has been screaming to me about--yes, screaming.  I drive past a 7-11 and there's a huge tarp/sign advertising it.  Basically, it's as if you took the supersweet frozen coffee blended thing and let it melt.  SO sweet, re-dairy-ified with who-knows-what kind of milk or cream (!), and just yuck.  I just want good coffee--cold.  With milk.  Not skim. 

Maybe Ben's should start serving The Mother In-Law (via WWDTM blog).  What?! A tamale playing hot dog?!

DIY cake platter out of old/different stuff! (Thanks InkPad).

I have to go now, because someone brought home cupcakes from the recently-opened Frosting ("A Cupcakery Bakeshop").  They all look pretty darn good, and the flavor selection is sweet...um, awesome.  "Campfire" has a graham cracker bottom, chocolate ganache layer, and DAMN marshmallow frosting.  Update: I also indulged in the carrot cake.  Both had super moist and delicious cakes and really tasty frosting that wasn't too sweet, a complaint J reserves for Something Sweet.  Interesting flavors and textures, too.  What a pleasant experience!

This isn't food related, but it should improve your weekend.  Have a great one!

NYC is my lunchspot: CRISP & Macaron Cafe

Lunchtime in NYC.  It can be as simple as a hot dog or maybe a bit more fancy (hey, you can get a deal mid-day!).  On a recent trip, there was no subsequent suggestion that would steer me away from the original proposal: CRISP.  With two locations in Midtown, this environmentally- and health-conscious eatery is servin' up some quality falafel sandwiches that are delicious, filling, and downright good-looking.  Keep in mind that only the one at 3rd & 43rd is open on weekends--that information might come in handy, folks.

How adorable is the packaging?  My falafel is IN there!

That rogue lettuce leaf is too cute.

I had the Parisian: tomato spread, goat cheese, roasted peppers, and red onions.  GORGEOUS.  DELICIOUS.  I'd never really had flavors like this with my falafel, because usually it's a tabbouleh/tzatziki kind of situation, a Mediterranean vibe.  Suspicions confirmed: goat cheese makes everything better.  The falafels here are nice and light, crispy on the outside, and airy on the inside.  My sandwich is HUGE: these pitas have 4 or 5 balls in 'em! 

This is sister's falafs, the Africa: North African peanut sauce, sweet potatoes, corn salad, green onions, cherry tomatoes.  A little spicy, so if you like it hot, the Africa may be for you.  You can have your contents in a pita, or served OVER a salad but still with a pita (whole wheat or white) on the side.

And by the way, the fries are great.  Also: the menu notes for you which house-blended tea pairs best with what meal.  For serious!

I can't get over it.  I love lunch. 

CRISP
110 W. 40th Street (btwn 6th & Broadway)
684 3rd Ave (corner of 43rd)



So I needed to bring something back for the old man (sorry about not bringing you back anything from Bouchon).  So macarons it is!

That's pistachio, nutella, coconut, caramel, and two dark chocolates. Yum.  These were pretty good, but they had nothing on Bouchon's ganacheyness.  The cookie part was a little chewy, and the filling didn't make me want to shout praises from the rooftops.  But a cookie is a cookie, and I'd eat them again.  This joint also has some good looking lunch options, but the seating is Sparse with a capital S.

P.S. A note to my friends on the Bolt Bus: Sorry I didn't share.  That was mean.  I know you saw the cookies.

Macaron Cafe
161 W. 36th St

Fun-loving Friday

This past weekend I introduced Berger cookies to my in-laws, and again, they were accepted with open arms.  No one can deny the power of the Bergers cookies.  And if you want a pie full of them, just get the Baltimore Bomb from Dangerously Delicious Pies, which recently opened on H Street NE.  It was Duff Goldman's guilty pleasure on a recent episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate.

I can't WAIT for this weekend! A lovely friend of ours will be in town this weekend, as well as a set of adorable grandparents.  Makes for quite the fabulous weekend.  But before we can get there, we need to talk about the week.  Let's get into the blogosphere!

I freakin' love these carrot cake whoopie pies (via State Dinner).  I could make them myself thanks to the recipe, but maybe I'll just go ahead and add them to my cart at Trader Joe's. 

Homemade Pop Tarts from Smitten Kitchen.  Sometimes when I'm hungry at work and out of snacks I get Pop Tarts from the vending machine.  Not super filling.

Grilled sandwiches.  Filled with cheese.  Seriously.  eNJoy! brings us to a place that Bobby Flay challenged to a grilled cheese Throwdown--the Pop Shop in Collingswood, NJ.

I'd like to make this cake for J for his birthday, but I'll probably screw it up.  Maybe I can buy it off someone.  Ahem.  (via Eat Run Read)

Loving Cara's photo of the egg dish here--check out the avocado.  Speaking of eggs, I've seen lots of 'em lately.  To be specific, both SK and Cara blogged about shakshouka within a few weeks of each other.  Maybe I should try it.

DCist on Ray's the Steaks at East River.  Sounds delicious (and affordable), but I can't help it--when you say East River, I think East River!

I RSVPed for the Food Blogger Happy Hour, and you should too.  Let's relive a little Restaurant 3, shall we?

Just to share my blog-reading philosophy, I just like to post here about what my friends and I send each other on Google Reader, Twitter, and e-mail.  Some weeks I read a lot of news; this week was NOT one of those weeks! (Although yes - slushies may make you run faster. Too bad I'm not a fan.  If only milkshakes had the same effect...)

NEXT week I'll talk to you about my recent amazingly delicious perfect falafel (and not just because I was positively starving), and some more macarons.  I can't stop.  Have an excellent weekend!  Happy May!!!

Bourbon Steak, Lounge

Fries cooked in duck fat.  The words alone could give you a cardiac arrest.  And yet I've eaten them here, here, and now at Bourbon Steak.  YUM.  This incarnation has three varieties--regular, Old Bay (of course), and white cheddar.  The flavors are subtle, and the accompanying dips are straight up ketchup, bbq sauce, and...the yellow-ish one that was fluffy and I loved it, but I have no idea what it was. Listen, the fries were one cocktail in on an empty stomach, and it was late.

Speaking of cocktails.  J enjoyed the Moscow Mule for the second time (second place, 4th Mule, really). He was only slightly disappointed that it didn't come in the traditional copper mug.  Ginger beer is so awesome.  I first enjoyed the Kerouac Cocktail, a pink (ahem, grapefruit) number that wasn't overly sweet, but just right.  Later I moved to the Pear Brandy Sidecar.  I liked both, but the sugar rim on the PBS was a bit too much for me.  Also, next time I have to try something with an egg white in it.  I love protein in unexpected places.   Oy, and the warm, spiced nuts.  They just kept comin'.

The burger was awesome.  Awesome awesome awesome.  Really juicy, a slight crunch on the outside, a great bun...can't go wrong.  I had the duck lettuce cups, it was my restraint--after all, I don't eat that much red meat, and two big burgers in 7 days is just not going to fly.  But J did share. The lettuce cups were nice, although they weren't what I had in mind--I was imagining shredded saucy duck, but it was cubed.  Loved the Thai flavors.  Very fresh, very delish.  And light--I had room for more cocktails, thank goodness.

Burger is a lil' fuzzy in the low light.

It was actually really cute, for some reason our server thought we were sharing the burger (nice idea!) and brought it split in half on metal skewers.  The guy next to us gasped and said, "That looks awesome."  He was an older guy, professional, wearing a suit.  But I guess that's the only way to describe the scene.
 
We were supposed to go to Bourbon Steak last year for J's birthday, but ended up canceling our reservation for a very good reason, then never rebooked.  The price tag is steep ($145 6 oz filet, anyone?), but we're suckers for anything Four Seasons-related, and damn do we love a good burger.  The lounge was PERFECT for us.  It's classy enough for a date (and not particularly crowded or loud), the food is awesome, the drinks are great, and you're eating for a fraction of the dining room price.    

Bourbon Steak
Four Seasons Hotel
2800 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Metro: Blue and Orange Lines to Foggy Bottom