Capital Spice

Resident mixologist and cocktail nerd Derek Brown guest posts on Young & Hungry, explaining how he stays in the loop of new cocktail trends and educated on vintage ingredients.

Photo courtesy of Matthew Lyons

Carla Hall fans should stop by the Banana Republic at 13th and F NW. The store’s display features professional photographs of Chef Hall wearing clothes from the new fall season. . 
 
Is the famed New Jersey diner scene in danger?  

All We Can Eat has a recap of the American Cheese Society’s annual competition. Cowgirl Creamery’s Red Hawk, that stinky beast of a cheese, took second place. You can find Red Hawk at Cowgirl Creamery downtown and Cheesetique in Del Ray.

Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse makes some changes to adjust to the economy.  

Rouge My Knees found some fantastic olds ads from late 60s Playboy issues, including this Henessy ad.

Anticipation for Sunday’s Mad Men premiere has hit frothing-at-the-mouth levels. Will Don go back to his family? Will slimy Peter meet his bastard child and grow a soul? Will that Italian dude ever come out of the closet?

As any foodie worth their sea salt knows, the best way to celebrate is with a meal. So how can you celebrate the return of Mad Men in style? Here are a few suggestions.

Booze

No doubt about it, the characters of Mad Men hold a gimlet-eyed view of the world. A Mad Men-themed dinner party would never be complete without a strong supplement of cocktails.  If Prohibition created the cocktail to cover up crappy basement-brewed liquor, the 60s was the age to bring these concoctions to exotic climax. 

The exotic.  Sterling Cooper clients are wooed with Asian-influenced mai tais. Heineken was brought out for a big, international splash during Betty Draper’s dinner party. The Moscow Mule, steadily gaining popularity since the 1940s, was a happy hour staple. 

More tips on drinks and food after the jump! (more…)

Who doesn’t have fond summer memories of hearing tinny, recorded bells and running outside to greet the Ice Cream Man?  For those of us who were lucky enough to live on a cul-de-sac, it was a pretty safe bet that we’d have time to convince our parents to let us buy something, get the money and dash out the door before the driver could negotiate the turn-around and take off.  Here in Washington, with its grid system of streets that just keep going, the four-way stops are a hungry kid’s best friend.

As for us hungry adults, we rarely scream for ice cream.  Tart frozen yogurt, on the other hand…that’s another story entirely.  We wrote about our own yogurt safari last fall, when we checked out TangySweet on P Street, Mr. Yogato on 17th and SweetGreen on M Street in Georgetown.  What a difference a year makes.

Since that post, we have seen the following additions to the DC frozen yogurt scene (in no particular order):

A second TangySweet location in Penn Quarter at 7th and E Streets
A second SweetGreen location in Dupont Circle on Connecticut
A third SweetGreen location in Bethesda on Bethesda Row
IceBerry at 30th and M Streets in Georgetown
YogiBerry on Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park
CaliYogurt on 18th Street in Adams Morgan
YogenFrüz at 14th and I Streets downtown

That’s right…the number of frou-frou fro-yo purveyors in DC has more than tripled in the past year.

But there’s one addition to the field that we just can’t get enough of: SweetFlow Mobile.  Like a grown-up version of an ice cream truck, it makes its way around town with speakers playing its very own electro-jingle version of Turkey in the Straw.  And that siren song draws plenty of twenty-somethings to it whenever it makes an appearance.

What is it?  Simply put, it’s an environmentally conscious mobile unit for SweetGreen’s popular tart yogurt.  They load up this specially-converted bus with a yogurt machine and an assortment of their fresh, organic and/or local toppings and head out to spots around town to sell yogurt to the lucky eaters in the area for a few hours before moving on to another spot.  There are a few fixed times over the course of the week, but the truck makes unscheduled appearances around town pretty frequently.  Not quite the steady pace of your average ice cream man, but still worth a cheer.

So how do you find SweetFlow Mobile?  And what can you expect once you do find it?  Answers after the jump. (more…)

If you’ve been watching Twitter or reading some of our fellow bloggers from NoVA, then you know that Kora, Chef Morou Ouattara’s new restaurant, has been days away from opening for, well, days now.  There were rumors they would open last Monday.  Then delays led to a goal of Thursday – which became Friday or Monday.

Chef Morou got some good news yesterday, though, and he wasted no time in sharing it with his fans by tweet.  With all of the necessary permits and paperwork in place, Kora has gotten the green light from the city of Arlington and will be opening its doors officially at lunch on Thursday.  Bye-bye Bebo, hello Kora.

We caught up with Chef Morou (he prefers to be called by his first name) at the restaurant, where he was getting ready for the opening, and asked him a few questions about the new place and how it will – and won’t – compare to Farrah Olivia:

Image from Kora website

Capital Spice: Thanks for taking a few minutes to chat with us, Chef.  By now a lot of people have talked about what Kora is going to look like and what will be on the menu.  But how would you describe this restaurant relative to Farrah Olivia?
Morou Ouattara: This is definitely not going to be Farrah Olivia, though we’re certainly going to be give the same close attention to the quality of the food and the service as we did there.  Kora is meant to be more cost-conscious…more casual.  But we want people to see that these things don’t mean that we’re going to be cutting corners.

CS: Will you be the only one coming over to Kora?
MO: With Farrah Olivia closing temporarily, we’ve been able to bring quite a few staff over to the new restaurant.  My wife, Heather, will be handling the front of the house as she did [at Farrah Olivia].  And much of the kitchen staff at Kora will be coming with me.

More from Morou after the jump. (more…)

There is a Bermuda triangle of the popped-collar set in Georgetown. Cycle through the following at key weekend moments and you’re bound start recognizing the same faces: Smith Point and the Daily Grill for Friday night drinks and debauchery, Paolo’s and Cafe Milano for Saturday night dinner, a trip up to Gin & Tonic or Townhall that night and Peacock Cafe for Sunday morning brunch.

When we were lucky enough to have Mike’s parents include a stopover in DC on their way home from a super glam trip to France, we knew we wanted to take them somewhere delicious. After a week dining in France, we couldn’t have their first meal back in their home country be a let down. Peacock Cafe is buzzed to have the best weekend brunch in DC and, I must admit, we weren’t disappointed.

Peacock Cafe put two early points on the board with me for their schedule: brunch (not breakfast, brunch) on a Saturday and availability starting at 9 am. Finally, a restaurant brunch schedule that works for a couple of nerdy early birds like us.  Plus, Peacock Cafe hosts a slew of sidewalk seating along Prospect. We were thrilled to lay claim to an outdoor table under one of the restaurants gleaming umbrellas, letting us watch Georgetown drive, walk, and Vespa past us as the city dragged itself out of sleep. 

The “juice bar” at the Cafe is one of its most discussed perks.  A juice bar means something else where I’m from, but I was able to get over my twelve-year old snickering long enough to give it a good look.  I’m glad I did. The array of fresh fruit and veggie smoothies was impressive, going beyond the standard options to include things like Mike’s Red Zinger – blending apple, carroits, ginger, and beets into a vividly healthy drink he couldn’t resist.  Meanwhile, MrsMikesMom and I were perfectly pleased with our fresh lemonades, mixing just the right amount of sweet and tart.

Moving onto solid foods, the brunch menu was an impressive list of options ranging from standard breakfast (egg white omelet) to lunch (the Gene Kelly veggie sandwich featuring grilled portobello mushroom, avocado, roasted red pepper,  and tomato) to hangover cures (nachos!).

MrMikesDad’s mind was made up the minute his eyes hit the menu: corned beef hash with poached eggs and a Hollandaise sauce.  Truth be told, the corned beef hash was one of the reasons Mike wanted to bring his parents to Peacock Cafe – it’s been a longtime favorite of his dad’s, despite his kids forever moaning about how gross it looks. The hash passed muster: I haven’t seen a grown man come so close to swooning since Mike and TheJer met a cop/comicbook store owner in Boston.  

More food reviews and photos after the jump. (more…)

Washington area farmers’ markets have always offered a wealth of options when you’re looking to pick up fresh produce, local cheeses and even humanely-raised meats.  We’ve even had some vendors take the fruits of others’ labor and turn them into delicious baked goods, soups and gelati.  Anyone who tells you they don’t visit farmers markets because they don’t have time to cook or they want more than just vegetables just isn’t looking hard enough.

Two new vendors who have arrived on the scene this year epitomize the value-added mentality that defines the producer side of “grower/producer only” markets.  Red Apron Butchery, an undertaking by Chef Nathan Anda of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, has emerged as a go-to source for all things cured when it comes to pork and beef.  And Chef Stefano Frigerio’s Copper Pot Food Company is blowing people away with handmade pastas and jams using fresh, local ingredients to create huge flavors.  Here at Capital Spice, we’ve been buying up a variety of products from both of these new ventures over the past few weeks, tasting as we go. 

The verdict in a nutshell?  Wow.  In each case, we’ve found ourselves smiling and shaking our heads as we devour entire packages of bresaola or duck-confit ravioli in one sitting.  If you’ve already tried some of Red Apron’s charcuterie or Copper Pot’s filled pastas, you know exactly what we’re talking about.

If you haven’t tried them yet, read on for descriptions, photos and where to track them down after the jump. (more…)

Do blue M&Ms heal spinal injuries?  
 
Young & Hungry reviews Present, a Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church.  

J. Lo does not enjoy her Gray’s Papaya hot dog.  
 
Endless Simmer’s Top 10 Food Terms that Sound Dirty But Aren’t has us giggling like 5th graders.  
 
Choosing the right cheese for a road trip lunch. 
 
Arugula Files tries to eat less meat and comes up with a delicious plate of mushrooms, thyme, shallots, and polenta. 
 
DC Foodies shares its love for Galaxy Hut.

Feel free to write a love letter to the city of DC for defacing the brand new cobblestone street outside Eastern Market.  

The Grand International feasts on a shrimp and feta dish.  
 
The former Greenbriar chef has returned to its kitchen.   
 
The DC Rickey Month winners got together at Bourbon to celebrate and sample. 
 
The New York Times named Sam Sifton the new Restaurant Critic.

Trummers on Main is launching a brunch menu this weekend. 
 
The Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining show (this November 6 and 7th) announced its chef line up, including familiar faces from The Food Network and some of DC’s brightest stars. Of particular note? Bryan Voltaggio of Volt who may or may not be a big deal by November, depending on his performance on Top Chef. Don’t worry Bryan – you’ll always be a big deal to us!  
 
Foodie Tots takes on a blueberry clafoutis with a 3-year old sous chef.

When I set out to duplicate twelve chefs’ recipes over the course of this year, I knew that there were some chefs whose recipes could be attempted year-round and others whose work would fare best in certain seasons (summer and fall, I’m looking at you).  My birthday dinner at Restaurant Nora last year convinced me that Nora Pouillon, the patron saint of the DC organic dining movement, falls squarely into the second category.

And when I flipped through a copy of Cooking with Nora, her groundbreaking cookbook from 1996, I knew I owed it to Chef Pouillon’s recipes to wait until summer to try my hand at her dishes.  Cooking with Nora is not your average recipe collection; rather than grouping dishes by unifying themes (‘desserts,’ for example, or ‘fish’), the chef has opted to provide her readers with recipes arranged into multi-course meals by the season.  She’s practically giving you the blueprint for your very own organic dinner party, with everything from appetizer to entree and accompaniment through to the dessert spelled out.

She also presents her recipes in a narrative fashion, a style I first encountered in Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food.  I find this to be a very natural and useful way of having the author walk me through a dish from beginning to end, and it certainly helps me prepare my mise en place before I get too far ahead of myself.  When you’re trying to execute two or three recipes simultaneously, that kind of preparation in advance can be a lifesaver.

For my fifth attempt at recreating a chef’s dishes, I decided to take three recipes from one of Pouillon’s summer menus.  I started with a Jewell Yam Vichysoisse and then followed it up with Grilled Lemon-Marinated Chicken Breasts served alongside Japanese Eggplant and Roasted Red Peppers. 

Walking the Dupont Circle FreshFarm Market, I was pleased – if not especially surprised – to see that all of the main ingredients to Chef Pouillon’s recipes were readily available (seasonality aside, Nora Pouillon is a member of FreshFarm Markets’ board).  It looked like I was well on my way to a fresh, local and seasonal jackpot.

Cold soup, grilled grass-kickin’ chicken and fresh veggies after the jump. (more…)

<<UPDATE 3: 8/9/09 8:00 AM – Just checked out the Facebook group again and saw that there are two more events listed – a tasting at the Black Squirrel hosted by DC Beer and a DC Beer Week Happy Hour at RFD.  I’ve updated the list below and the map accordingly.>>

<<UPDATE 2: 8/6/09 4:15 PM – New details on the Beer Week special pricing for the 8/21 Nats-Brewers game: 
Mezzanine seats for only $23 (regularly $30) and LF/RF Reserved for only $16 (regularly $24).
Call Mike Benko at 202-640-7648 and mention “Beer Week” to purchase your discounted tickets.>>

<<UPDATE: 8/6/09 1:15 PM – Just got back from Teddy Folkman’s first lunch service at Capitol Lounge, and I had a chance to chat with him about Beer Week.  To register for any of the ticketed or reserved events – like the beer dinners – contact the respective restaurants directly.  He also encouraged me to direct people to the DC Beer Week Facebook group, which they are regularly updating with events as they get them locked in.  I’ve updated our map and our list below so they are current through right now.>>

You missed out on Savor and the unofficial Beer Week events that surrounded it back in May.  You passed on the opportunity to taste your way along the “Virginia Ale Trail” with the folks at the Brickskeller last month.  By now you’re probably thinking that you’ll have to wait until 2010 to get all hopped up on hops…or else you’ve just continued drinking beer at your favorite bars around town (why can’t every week be Beer Week?).

Fear not!  The organizers of DC Beer Week ’09 are here to help.  Beer Guy Jeff Wells (aka “Hoppy”) and chef Teddy Folkman have collaborated to bring us five days of events at restaurants and bars all across town from Sunday, August 16th through Friday, August 21st.  Ranging from the truly beer-focused (like dinners featuring pairing specials) to the merely beer-friendly (like the Friday evening Nationals-Brewers game) this is another great opportunity for Washingtonians to celebrate suds.

If you’re like us, you find it helpful to see all your options for the week in one convenient place.  While other folks like Orr Stuhl at the City Paper and Tom Cizauskas at Yours for Good Fermentables have published the events in list form, we have yet to see a map that will help you plan out your Beer Crawl.

After the jump, we’ve got the current list of Beer Week events to go with this map.

Click on the image to go to our Google map that locates all of the participants in DC Beer Week 2009 with event details.

(more…)