Capital Spice

Welcome to the weekend! This afternoon we’re off to a burgundy and game tasting at Maison du Vin and we highly recommend you join us. But before you do anything, hop on over here to vote for DC blog So Good for a Best Food Blog Weblog Award.

Wow, times are tough. The Brits are now eating squirrel. Hey Commonwealth, are you reading this? Actually, I don’t want to follow the culinary trend of a nation that brought us dishes called “bubble and squeak.”

Check out this Inauguration surival guide to dining.  Meanwhile, Ben & Jerry’s debuts a “Yes, Pecan” flavor to honor Obama. Mike, ever the politician, is convinced this move will iinflame the population who pronounces it “Pe-KAHN” rather than “pee-CAN.”

There is a cute foodie movie on the horizon: Ramen Girl. 

So you know when a food or drink has “color added” or “artificial colors” on the ingredients label? Apparently that broad statement can include bug extracts. For realsies. The FDA just passed a new ruling that food and cosmetics must list “bug based colorings” to aid those with allergic reactions, those who keep Kosher or are strict vegetarians. Or those who, you know, don’t like eating bugs.

After the jump: 100 Southern foods to try before you die and best dishes of 2008. (more…)

Click on the image to go to our Google Map that locates all of the establishments offering extended hours during Inauguration Weekend.

Earlier today, the DC Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) released a list of the 213 restaurants, taverns, hotels, nightclubs and other establishments that have paid and been accepted to offer extended hours during Inauguration Weekend.

The Washington Post and Washington Times announced the number of participants yesterday.  So what did we do?  Put them all into one convenient map for you, of course!

The map lists all participants, color-coded by license type (restaurant, tavern, etc.).  Some interesting observations came from this color-coding.  Did you know that Remington’s on Capitol Hill and Szechuan Gallery in Chinatown are classified as nightclubs?  Or that Vinoteca, just off of U Street, is classified as a restaurant but Cafe Atlantico is a tavern?

In return for their $100 to $250 fees, these establishments are able to:

• Stay open 24 hours a day from Saturday, January 17th through 4 AM Wednesday, January 21st
• Sell alcohol until 4 AM (as opposed to the usual 3 AM on weekends and 2 AM on weekdays)

That’s not to say all participants will take advantage of both, so your best bet is probably to contact the individual venues to ask about their policy for the inaugural weekend.

See your local favorites on this list? 

If not, they may be among the 73 additional establishments that attempted to register with ABRA but must first obtain permission from ANCs and other groups with whom they have existing Voluntary Agreements.  They have until 1 PM on Thursday, the 15th, to submit letters to that effect, at which point they will be able to pay and participate in the extended hours.

Let the 24-hour party planning begin!

If you’ve never visited this traditional Chinese tea house tucked away near the C&O Canal on Wisconsin Ave, you are in for a treat. Ching Ching Cha is an airy oasis from the hustle bustle of Georgetown’s crowded streets, shops and restaurants. Stepping into this Chinese tea house, it’s hard not to be surprised by the sheer openness of the space. The ceilings are high, the space is unobscured by walls (save for a small area around the kitchen). Arrive in the afternoon and you can enjoy sunshine streaming in from their skylight.

Afternoons are the ideal time to visit Ching Ching Cha as a break from the gruels of shopping. You can have a seat in the traditional tea house manner – shoeless, on the floor – or help yourself to one of their tables. Or you can ease your way out of shopping mode by perusing their significant collection of tea pots, teas and other small gift items.

The menu at Ching Ching Cha is inverse to that of most restaurants: pages upon pages of tea varieties tickle your curiosity and precede a single page of food options. Selecting tea is priority number one. There is enough tea variety to satisfy any palate. Options range from traditional black or green teas to light white with a touch of fruit to earthy, nearly tobacco-like options. My personal favorites are the performance teas – hand tied teabuds that unravel and bloom into flowers right before your very eyes. More details and photos after the jump! (more…)

I walked into Sonoma restaurant and wine bar on a wet, cold Wednesday night about 20 minutes before Mike was supposed to arrive. I knew on the metro over to Capital South I was running ahead of schedule but looked forward to finding a quiet corner at the bar where I could savor a glass of full-bodied red wine and bury my nose in a book. Tough luck for me. Weather and January trends be damned, the bar was packed. Turns out Congress in session trumps freezing rain. I squeezed past the hostess stand and managed to find a tiny plot of real estate by the end of the bar, where I was pleased to see Executive Chef Drew Trautmann walking the floor and keeping an eye on his diners.

The interior of Sonoma is sleek and cool – grey walls, long low tables and minimal decor. There is a very urban West Coast feel to the place. The only clue that you are dining on Capitol Hill is the patrons. Make no mistake, this is a Hill place.  The bar is packed with clean cut 20 and 30 somethings (aka, the people who actually run the political show behind the scenes) and everyone who walks through the door gets an immediate up and down. Is it because they may know who you work for or because they are giving you the eye for a pick up line? Either. Both. That’s the magic elixir of DC.

Sonoma focuses on local, seasonal dishes although the line for “local” is often blurry. Sometimes it means DC area meat and produce, sometimes it’s reflected in farm-raised offerings from further afield. Ether way, the menu offers classic American staples with a creative twist. Two good friends of ours, Neil and Kiki, were nice enough to buy Mike and me a gift card to Sonoma as a joint birthday gift. Not only was it thoughtful, it allowed us to attack the menu with a vengeance. Did we ever.

What we ordered after the jump! (more…)

Dear strangers: Apparently I learned nothing about just how dangerous you and your shady vehicles can be while I was growing up.  How else do I explain my recent habit of jumping at the chance whenever I hear the foodie equivalent of “Hey kid – want some candy?”

Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to end anytime soon.  My previous experience with Pipe Dreams chevre and my trip to a parking lot just off of Route 50 to buy charcuterie from Chef Jamie Stachowski in December have been unqualified wins.  With food this good coming out of vans and beat up old Isuzu Troopers, who needs Harris Teeter?

On the Sunday morning before Christmas, I was randomly checking out Don Rockwell when I came across a topic labeled “Stachowski Charcuterie.”  Intrigued, I opened up the thread and found a message from Chef Stachowski giving a time, place and password for people to meet up with him and purchase some of his amazing cured and uncured meats.

“Would you mind if I took a quick run out to Arlington to buy meat from the back of a truck?” I asked Elizabeth.

“Seriously?”

In most households, this one word response would be delivered with a tone that said, “What could possibly make you think this is a good idea, regardless of who the chef is?”  Thankfully, Elizabeth was just as taken with the concept as I was, so the real subtext was more along the lines of “Why would you even waste the time to ask me about such an obviously good idea?” 

With an eager smile (mine) and a bemused smirk (hers) I headed out.  What awaited me was about as surreal as you might expect. (more…)

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but we here at Capital Spice can’t help but think that Teddy Folkman, H Street’s own celebrity chef, is headed for a shot at becoming the Next Food Network Star.

On December 28th, the aptly-named Food Network Addict posted a blind item in which he revealed that one of the very recently chosen contestants on the upcoming fifth season of the Next Food Network Star has “previously been on Food Network.”

By itself, this post doesn’t exactly set off any alarm bells, we know.  But stick with us on this one.  More clues after the jump. (more…)

 Happy 2009! 

To ring in the new year properly, we asked some of our foodie friends and neighbors about their food resolutions for 2009. Here’s what they shared:

Gansie of Endless Simmer: “Check out all of the farmers’ markets in the city and buy things that scare me.”

Boozy Betty, boozehound and cupcake eating champ: “To plan meals at the beginning of the week and to cook in advance as much as possilbe.  Mostly the goal is to avoid dinners of popcorn and yogurt becuase I did not plan ahead.”

Casey Taylor Patten of Taylor Gourmet: “Eat less Italian meats and cheeses. Waist line is increasing!” 

La: “Find new ways to use sausage. Does that sound really bad or is it funny? if that’s too dirty sounding you can use this one:  stop treating frosting as a main course.)” 

Chef Spike of Good Stuff Eatery and Top Chef: “Make as many different shakes as I can this year!”

Lauren of Capital Cooking: “My firm is participating in a wellness program and we were all given exams to evaluate our heath.  Turns out my cholesterol is super high, so my resolution is to eat foods that get my cholesterol to a normal level.  Bye-bye butter.”

David, Bacon Terrorist: “Uh, my girlfriend says its to try more new vegetables.”

Leah Daniels, Hill’s Kitchen owner: “My foodie resolution for 2009 is to cook more. With opening the store, I have had very little time to cook and enjoy meals. So, my aim is to do it more often. The other night I made a sweet potato cheesecake (with sweet potato butter from LowCountry Produce, ginger from TSP spices, and vanilla extract from Baldwin’s Extracts) and a pumpkin bundt cake. I was up until 2:30 am tending to my baked goods and had such a great time doing it. I need to schedule more adventures playing with food for 2009!”

Jeremy, Kansas City BBQ Master: “I resolve not to use too much rub on my smoked meat, allowing the meat to speak for itself.”

Teddy Folkman, Granville Moore’s chef and Throwdown Champion: “To expand my comfort zone of cooking and try my hand at Mexican and Italian. To eat out more. To perfectly boil an egg. No gray, a bright yellow yolk and barely cooked but not soft boiled. You’d think after 14 years…”

RJS , active duty Army buddy in Iraq who, true to form, sent us resolutions in bullet point format:
“FR #1:  Figure out a non-stupid way to incorporate food into my love-making.
FR #2:  Dine at Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago and score a reservation in October for El Bulli the following year.
FR #3:  Stop buying expensive dinners for women.  Go out “for drinks” instead.
FR #4:  Eat more fruits and vegetables.”

(No dinners for women but food with the love making? Ladies, the line for RJS’ number starts here!)

Clinton, GM of PX and Eammon’s Dublin Chipper:  “To eat more things with my hands and share my food whenever possible.  I think in both cases, it’s more fun and just tastes better.  Dining and drinking is a communal experience, and better enjoyed when with someone.  I feel that you can better play off of each other’s palates, experiences, tastes and perceptions.  While too many cooks spoil the soup, too many tasters only enhance the libation.”

Ryan Jensen of Peregrine Espresso: “Delving deeper into the world of food preservation—pickling, canning, freezing, etc.”

Jennifer Motruck Loy: “To try more new recipes at home, and eat more green, earth-friendly foods!”  

Allison McConnell of The Humble Gourmand: “Using farmers’ market obsession, move closer to eliminating processed
food from my diet.”

Lemmonex of Culinary Couture: “To conquer my fear of pie crust AND educate the world that there are other foods besides bacon.”

Justin Ulysses Guthrie, mixologist at Central and Hummingbird to Mars (RIP): “No more of Michel’s food. If I have one more burger or kit kat bar, I’m going to grow a beard, start speaking French and open a restaurant called C…..you get it.” 

Jen and Tim W., foodies of Fairfax: “Our resolution for 2009 is to give screw cap wines more of a chance and include more wine in general in our cooking. ”

Ben (aka Nizam Ali) of Ben’s Chilli Bowl and Ben’s Next Door: “Remember, it will taste better with a beer!” 

Portside of Spirit Heels :”Experiment with one new menu or food item per week.”

Alex Nicholson of Brightest Young Things: “This year I want to connect more with the food I eat. Keep buying local, but also start visiting more farms and producers.”

Amanda McClements, food writer and Metrocurean author: “Cook more fish. I love fish but I’m bored cooking it at home, so I’m resolving to find more exciting ways to prepare it. I think Asian recipes may be the key.”

Melissa McCart, food writer and Counter Intelligence author: “Culinary travel. I’d like to plan a few more US city trips than I took this past year and a trip abroad this summer, whether it’s a cooking week, a sampling of street foods or a grazing and sipping trip.”

Tim Carman of the Washington City Paper’s Young & Hungry column and blog gave the question some serious thought:  “I wake up every day trying to figure out how to be a better food writer, a better thinker, a better journalist, a better husband, a better friend, a better brother, etc. The minute successes and failures are what drive me forward to do it all again the next day. Even now, I have failed to answer your question, but I had a good time thinking through it.”

As for us:

Mike of Capital Spice: “To attempt to cook at least one high-end restaurant-quality meal each month.”

Elizabeth of Capital Spice: “To master homemade gnocchi.”

Do you have a foodie resolution? Share it in our comments!