Capital Spice

CREDIT: Steve Termine

While the blessed and food-obsessed among us are craftily plotting how to be even more selective about what we eat in 2011, nearly 17 million American children (roughly one in four) are “food insecure,” meaning they do not have access to food that meets basic nutritional needs due to their home’s financial situation.  It’s a sobering thought, especially next to our prattling on about local, organic, seasonal and blah blah blah privilegedcakes.

In response to this challenge, Sesame Workshop – the nonprofit arm behind the classic show – rolled out Food For Thought: Eating Well on a Budget. This bilingual media outreach is designed to support families with children between the Sesame Street wheelhouse ages of 2 and 8 who have limited access to nutritious and affordable food.

We had the opportunity to speak to Elmo – THE Elmo! Who only needs one name! Like Cher! Or Pele! Suck on THAT Boutros Boutros Ghali! – recently so he could share his tips on helping kids eat well and nutritiously on a budget.  Elmo is much more interesting on the phone than transcribed, so we went all 2003 on your asses and recorded the interview. Behold! Capital Spice’s first podcast-type-thing, in several shorter sections:

Elmo explains the difference between a sometimes food and an anytime food.

So what is a “Super Food,” anyway?

More of our conversation with Elmo after the jump. (more…)

Ah, the new year. So full of promise. What do DC’s favorite food bloggers hope to accomplish in 2011? A LOT.  Here’s what they offered from their 2011 foodie-to-do lists…

“My foodie resolution is to drink more champagne! Really — my co-blogger Jill & I plan to devote more time to the second half of our blog name in 2011. We’ll have monthly champagne/sparkling wine reviews in addition to our usual cheesy content.”
- Colleen Levine
foodietots.com | Cheese and Champagne
@foodietot | @100cheeses

Interesting primer on the benefits of hunted and farmed game meat.  A co-worker of mine is married to a hunter and he actually hunts bear (!!). But this isn’t about a fancy rug for the cabin: he brings the meat home and she freezes it to feed the family in the winter. Apparently her bear lasagna is pretty tasty!

Trying out game meat.

Happy Halloween from Capital Spice!

Sorry we’ve been a little MIA lately.

We have a new roommate.

She’s keeping us up at all hours.

Her stuff. Is. Everywhere.

She’s demands constant attention.

(more…)

When it comes to food trucks, DC is quickly earning a place as one of the most diverse and delicious cities across the country.  We’ve got Maine lobster rolls, Cuban sandwiches, Canadian poutine and Korean BBQ tacos – even food from the Fojol brothers’ native “Merlindia!”  On any given weekday a lunch crush could be gathering just outside your office for a taste one of these or a dozen other concepts.

But not yesterday and today.  With the first annual Curbside Cookoff, Washington’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs brought them all together in the parking lot at 11th and H Streets, NW for a snacking summit of epic proportions.  Voters selected their twenty favorite vendors from those who sell in the DC metropolitan area, and they all received invitations to set up at the site of the old convention center for two days of food and fun.

Yesterday’s crowds were a testament to just how popular these food trucks have become – an estimated 8500 guests waited in lines that sometimes exceeded an hour just to taste some of the favorites.

We stopped by for a quick look around in the early afternoon, and some of the vendors had already sold out for the day.  They’ve promised to reload and come back ready for twice as many people today.

Planning to be one of them?  Check out our guide to the Curbside Cookoff – complete with photos – after the jump. (more…)

Chicken Nuggets Are Made From This Pink Goop.

Why no. That is NOT strawberry soft serve fro-yo.

Ask anyone who has ever organized an event: it’s easy to put together the “first annual” version of something.  The challenge comes with the encore presentation…what do you do to prevent your great idea from going down as a one-hit wonder?  To answer that challenge, the organizers behind DC Beer Week have taken a page from Zoolander’s “old school” walk-off rules: Duplicate and Elaborate.

This year, DC Beer Week will take place over the course of 8 days.  It will include more than 30 bars and restaurants highlighting beers from roughly 20 breweries.  And it will even feature a Craft Beer Cruise on the Potomac.  Not too shabby for their sophomore outing.

So what do you need to know to take advantage of so much suds-centric activity across all four quadrants of the city?  Thankfully, the organizers and their partners have put together some great resources to keep track of the who, what and where of each day’s events.

Getting the Party Started:

DC Beer Week kicks off tonight at the Rock n’ Roll Hotel on H Street, NE, with a very special episode of DC Nerd Nite.  Check out Greg Engert, Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s resident beer guru, and other experts as they geek out on topics that address the history, artistry and science of beer starting at 6:30, then stick around for a “rock & barley” show that celebrates the close relationship between beer and music.  Tickets are $10 for one show or $16 for both.

Sticking to the Schedule:

Washington City Paper, which has partnered with DC Beer Week to promote (and in some cases sponsor) the festivities, is here to help.  Or at least The Lagerheads are.  They’ve got every announced Beer Week event on their regularly updated DC Beer Events Google Calendar, and it’s an impressive sight to see.  How often do you have your pick of 5, 9, even 13 beer-themed events in one night?  During Beer Week, it’s a nightly occurrence.  The calendar includes details, location, time and price for each event…everything you need to take full advantage.

Up-to-the-Minute Updates:

The @dcbeerweek Twitter feed is another new addition to the Beer Week toolkit, and it promises regular updates as well as some special offers for followers.

Fritz’s Best Bets:

Fritz Hahn, one of the Post’s Going Out Gurus, knows a thing or two about bars and events in the District.  He gives great advice with his fellow GOGs every Thursday on everything from where to find that perfect indie band to where NOT to have your bachelorette party.  In honor of Beer Week, he’s put together a list of the festivities he’s most excited about.  With 17 events on the list, it’s going to be a busy week for Fritz.  Check out his list and see if there are a few that speak to you, too.  Don’t forget – some of these events require advance ticket purchases or reservations, so act quickly if you see one you’re especially eager to check out.

Know of any other useful resources to help map out your Beer Week strategy?  Let us know in the comments section.  We’re looking around for a Beer Week map…if we can’t find one, we’ll likely make one this afternoon and add it to this post.

By now you’ve probably heard it’s Restaurant Week.  It seems like just about every third tweet in our Twitter feed is talking about a completed or upcoming RW reservation, and most local food writers have already offered their recommendations, or a list of participants’ menus, or a passionate argument for or against the concept and/or its execution.  Some have even taken to recycling previous years’ recommendations, as the song remains (mostly) the same.

But we’ve been a little bit distracted this year, and so we haven’t embraced Restaurant Week with the anticipatory fervor we have in the past.  Sure, we made a reservation.  But there are so many more meals between now and then that we could be using to experience new restaurants or revisiting old favorites!

This got us thinking: what if we just heard that Restaurant Week was going on today?  Would there be any prime reservations available at all?

As it turns out, there are.  A quick search of the OpenTable participant list conducted today at noon for a 7 PM reservation tonight yielded 121 restaurants with availability! Sure, it’s Tuesday night and not Friday or Saturday, but that’s still a pretty healthy list of options to choose from.

Some of our favorites include:

A la Lucia (Old Town Alexandria)
Johnny’s Half Shell (Capitol Hill)
Kaz Sushi Bistro (Downtown)

And there are still a number of available “four dollar sign” restaurants (mostly steakhouses), which represent the greatest value for a Restaurant Week meal relative to regular prices.

But what about the marquee nights?

100 restaurants with availability at 7 PM on Friday, including popular options like AGAINN, Cafe Atlantico, and Indique Heights.

107 restaurants with availability at 7 PM on Saturday, including Agora, Kellari Taverna, and the Oval Room.

There are definitely choices (including some highly recommended options) still out there, so don’t worry if you’re late to the Restaurant Week game.  We’ll check in again on Thursday to see what the weekend holds, but don’t wait until the last minute if you see something you want to lock in!

Thanks to The Unpaid Gourmet for pointing out the vintage American food posters at the Smithsonian magazine site.  Go check them out if you haven’t seen them yet. It’s a curious contrast that these posters were meant to encourage local food production and conservation to help the war effort. Now many of us are doing the same thing – growing food at home, exploring canning and pickling, eating local -  to support and save small farms in lieu of corporate agricultural behemoths. 

Okay, I’m off my soapbox. But if this is something you’ve been thinking about, I highly recommend the book The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen. It’s an enthusiastic and understandable guide to gaining some food self-reliance. The book is specifically written for urban and suburban dwellers, breaking down how to make the most of your space. So yes,  even if you live in a DC condo or Arlington house with a postage stamp of a yard, there is practical advice you can use. (Did you know that painting a wall or solid fence white can reflect the sun’s rays, giving plants more sunlight to grow? I didn’t.)