Capital Spice

Here at Capital Spice, we’re big fans of the concept of “eat and let eat.”  The fact that we helped bring Meat Week to Washington doesn’t mean we’re anti-vegetable.  So we were excited to hear about DC VegFest, a free opportunity for everyone from themost stringent vegan to the most confirmed carnivore to experience some of Washington’s best vegetarian options in one place.

DC VegFest will take place this Saturday, September 24th, from 11AM to 6 PM at George Washington University’s University Yard.  They’re gathering more than 70 exhibitors, including food vendors, retail outlets and non-profits to show just how good veg-friendly living can be.  They’ve also put together an impressive line-up of special guest speakers, including vegan chef and author Isa Chandra Moskowitz, NBC4 anchor Wendy Rieger, and Humane Society President and CEO Wayne Pacelle.

We were especially impressed by the list of food vendors who will be selling their vegetarian and vegan-friendly products at the festival.  They include obvious local favorites like Bread & Brew, Amsterdam Falafel Shop and Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats, but there are fifteen more ways to satisfy your hunger.  Check out Cafe Green, Vegan Treats Bakery, Burrito Bandits, Saveur India, Bakeshop, Nourish Market, Mojo Juice, Curry Mantra, Dama Ethiopian and Pastry, Sweet & Natural, Everlasting Life Cafe or Sunflower.  Or check out two of the hottest (and most fun) trucks on the mobile food scene – the Fojol Brothers will be on site with their offerings from Benethiopia and Merlindia!

And that’s where things get good for you.  To help spread the word about DC VegFest, the organizers – including the Vegetarian Society of DC and Compassion Over Killing – arranged a media preview event last week.  We couldn’t make it to the event, but they were good enough to send us a package with information and a number of giveaways that included $10 in DC VegFest bucks that are valid at any of the food stands listed above.

We want to give these VegFest bucks to YOU.  You’ll be able to sample $10 worth of veg-friendly fare for free – couple that with the free admission and you’re looking at a great way to spend a Saturday that works with any budget.  All we ask is that you take a moment to answer one simple question:

What’s the best vegan or vegetarian dish you’ve ever eaten?

Share your tastiest meatless meal in the comments section and you’ll be entered to win $10 in VegFest bucks.  You can enter between now and 11:59 PM on Wednesday, September 21st.  We’ll pick a winner at random and contact you Thursday to arrange pickup.

With so many delicious dining options (we can vouch for at least four of them), it’s going to be difficult to choose just what to use the VegFest bucks on.  We hope you’ll plan to stop by DC VegFest this Saturday, whatever your personal diet.  It’s a great introduction to the robust DC vegetarian scene and a welcome reminder that meatless eating can be delicious no matter how often you do it.

If you watched Bravo’s debut season of Top Chef: Just Desserts last year, you learned that pastry chefs can be just as competitive (and just as cutting) as their meat-and-potatoes counterparts.  To some, the pressure on pastry chefs is even greater, as most of their creations require perfect recall of ingredient ratios, temperatures and cooking times.  If a souffle doesn’t come together, it’s a lot harder for them to pivot and turn it into another dessert on the fly.

With all that in mind, Bravo is offering up a tasty treat: a second helping of Just Desserts!  Season Two debuts tomorrow night, and the competition has expanded from twelve chefs to fourteen.  We were excited to see that DC would be represented once again, this time by CityZen’s Matthew Petersen.

Petersen has been at CityZen for a little over a year now, and he’s been earning praise for his blending of classic techniques with creative twists.  We caught up with him over email as he was getting ready for his next big thing: a three-course “Simply Dessert” tasting menu ($25) that will change weekly on Thursdays – conveniently the day after each episode of Top Chef: Just Desserts airs.

Questions and answers are reprinted in their entirety without any editing or revision:

Capital Spice: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Chef.  Let’s start with the basics: What inspired you to compete?
Matthew Petersen: I decided that it would be a great opportunity so I decided to apply.

CS: You studied baking and pastry in culinary school – what drew you to them?
MP: I always knew, from about the age of 15, that I wanted to work in a kitchen making pastry of some sort.  I didn’t know then that I would end up in mostly fine dining restaurants working with some great chefs.  At an early age I was surrounded by great, simple, homemade pastry.

CS: CityZen is well-known for the creativity of its menu, from appetizers to desserts.  What is it like working in that kind of environment?
MP: I love working with [Chef] Eric [Ziebold] at CityZen.  The constant rotation of the menu pushes my creativity more than any other restaurant I have been at.  I would say that I thrive in this kind of environment where you are pushed to your limits in every capacity.  It is a grueling effort sometimes but the rewards are great.

What it’s like to follow a Beard Award-nominated chef and more after the jump. (more…)

View DC Summer Restaurant Week 2011 – Participating Restaurants in a larger map

It’s that time again – the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and Destination DC are about to make your afternoon.

About five minutes ago, the site for Washington’s 2011 Summer Restaurant Week went live with more than 200 participating restaurants around the Metro area. This year’s summer foodfest will run from Monday, August 15th, through Sunday, August 21st.  The OpenTable reservations for the most popular tables are probably disappearing while you read this!

With destinations from Trummer’s on Main in Clifton to Smith Commons on H Street, NE, you’ll find plenty of options in your neighborhood offering lunch deals for $20.11 and three-course dinners for $35.11.  But I know what you’re thinking: “This list is alphabetical.  How can I narrow down the choices to just the ones closest to where I live and work?”

That’s where we come in.

You can use the map above to zero in on the neighborhoods that matter most to you – just click on the link below the image to go to the Google map we created.  We’re going to be adding in the OpenTable links this afternoon so you can head there directly from here, but for now you’ll want to check the map and then go to OpenTable to make your reservations.

We’ve offered some advice on Restaurant Week from time to time.  If you haven’t seen it (or if you want a refresher), check out our recommendations after the jump.

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For most of us, July 4th is a day to sit back and relax as we celebrate our nation’s independence.  For Jose Andres, not so much.  The outgoing head of the ThinkFoodGroup has a busy Monday lined up, what with the opening of his new America Eats Tavern and his work with the National Archives’ “What’s Cooking Uncle Sam?” exhibit. We even got an inside tip on what he’ll be doing that morning (which we’ll share after the jump).

America Eats, conceived as a complement to the exhibit, is a pop-up restaurant that has possessed the body of Cafe Atlantico on 8th Street, NW in Penn Quarter.  The restaurant features seating on three levels and a significant facelift that focuses on iconic American images and artwork.  And although the menu is not yet complete, Andres has promised a bill of fare that will serve as a history lesson on a plate, featuring historically significant American recipes along with background information on where, when and why.

We had a chance to drop by the restaurant yesterday and take a look around.  They’ll be working around the clock between now and lunchtime Monday to make sure it’s all ready to go, but what we saw was already well on its way to completion, and there are some decorations that will make you stop and smile no matter where you enter the story of America’s dietary history.

Details and photos – including an impromptu chat with Archivist of the United States David Ferriero – after the jump. (more…)

Think back to that first episode of Top Chef Las Vegas in August of 2009.  What was your first impression of “Mike I?”

Photo Credit: Greg Powers

Chances are, the Zaytinya chef registered as loud, brash and maybe even a bit obnoxious.

Now picture him in the final episode of Top Chef All-Stars this spring.  The Graffiato chef/owner was composed and thoughtful, but still easy-going and clearly enjoying himself.  Within a year and a half he had evolved from a subject of criticism to one of pride among supporters of the DC dining scene.

When the first patrons taste his food at Graffiato’s opening tonight, that evolution will be on full display.  The concept is his.  The menu is his.  The kitchen is his.  It’s been a team effort to get here, for sure, but this is his show.

Buzz surrounding Graffiato’s opening has reached a fever pitch over the past few weeks (we fueled the fire a month ago when we saw Chef Isabella and he teased “Could be two weeks!”).  This is absolutely one of the most anticipated restaurants of the year, and details about the pizza oven, the local partners and the prosecco on tap have only made us more eager to actually taste the food.

We had a chance to stop by for a First Look as the Graffiato team was working through some of the finishing touches in advance of tonight’s opening.  Photos and some more details on what to expect after the jump. (more…)

I have a special place in my heart for a well prepared Old Fashioned. It has been the Christmas Eve cocktail of choice since I was old enough to be handed down a (significantly watered-down) tumbler of my very own.  So long Shirley Temples, I was on my way! I smile whenever I overhear someone ordering a White Russian, immediately thinking back to our wedding reception where our friend Jeremy -who is no lily-livered drinker, let me tell you – got completely bombed on them. It was awesome.

Cocktails, so quickly tied to personal history, are typically accidental passengers in the larger history of the world. Gin and tonic? Originally a medicinal flavoring employed by sweating Brits in India to keep malaria at bay.  Gin is actually a derivation of genever, a traditional Belgian spirit that British soldiers took back with them from the battle lines of Europe after watching Belgian and Dutch soldiers swig it and fight with “Dutch courage.”

DC-based writer Orr Shtuhl and illustrator Elizabeth Graeber brought a lightheartedness to the history of some classic drinks and classic cocktail personalities in their new book An Illustrated Guide to Cocktails. Where some might dive into an exhaustive, unending tome on every cocktail nuance, the duo delivers a fun sprinkling of history mixed with lively illustrations.

The book is a great addition to any cocktail bar and is available on esty. But really, why would you buy it online when you can check out a book launch party in DC this week? The parties are open to the public and they are in some of the best cocktail lounges in DC. Reading about cocktails, much like drinking them, is an activity best pursued with like-minded boozers like you folks.

Parties start at 7pm:

June 20: Room 11, Columbia Heights
June 21: Bourbon, Adams Morgan
June 22: Breadsoda, Glover Park
June 27: The Passenger, Convention Center

The action may have been at home plate for Nationals fans in last night’s 8-6 victory over the Cardinals, but four newcomers to the stadium stole the show out in center field.  Last night saw the debut of the new lineup along the Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk, with four of the Union Square Hospitality Group’s restaurants open for business. Fans can now enjoy burgers and custard from Shake Shack, barbecue from Blue Smoke, fries from Box Frites and tacos from El Verano Taqueria in addition to the already robust lineup of stadium concessions.

If the stadium location is anything like the Connecticut Avenue site that opened last month, you’ll need to brave lines longer than the Nats’ six-run rally last night to sample the Shack Burgers and custard creations.  Get there early – they’re worth it.  We had a chance to take a look at the four new concessions and some of their menu items before last night’s game, and we’ve got a first look at each.

The operations team at Nationals Park worked on the deal with Union Square Hospitality Group for more than a year.  They saw Danny Meyer and his variety of restaurant concepts (not to mention his success with a similar venture at the Mets’ Citi Field) as a “premium” offering that could help to elevate the experience at the stadium.  The new concessions are part of an effort to rebrand the Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk as a place that offers more ambience.  To that end, shade sails and cafe lights help to tie everything together in an “open market” atmosphere, creating a park within a park.

We got to talk with Meyer before the game.  As the restaurateur put it, the goal with the stadium offerings was to present “destination-worthy” food that was still in keeping with the kinds of food you would want to see at a ballpark.  “No one wants fussy food at a game,” said Meyer, “but concessions aren’t playing to a captive audience like they once were.  We want to offer restaurant-quality food that’s as accessible as fast food.”  He indicated that USHG had an opportunity to work with the concession employees that would be staffing the four restaurants, encouraging them to embrace the Union Square mentality of quality service at all price points.

Check out El Verano’s tasty tacos, Shake Shack’s stadium-only specials, Blue Smoke’s ‘cue and Box Frites’ dipping sauces – along with copies of all four venues’ menus – after the jump.

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Sure, we all try to be more conscious of where our food comes from these days.  To make sure you’re putting as few steps as possible between the farm and your table, you can shop the farmers’ market week after week, or join a CSA, or even try your hand at growing some of your own produce.  But when it comes to dining out, it takes a bit more diligence to ensure that you’re making good choices.

Photo by Moshe Zusman provided by Ellen Gray

One of the local chefs who has been extolling the virtues of the “Fresh, Local, Seasonal” mindset since before locavores knew what to call themselves is Todd Gray.  The chef who recently brought Watershed to NoMA has been cooking in time with the seasons at Equinox for more than a dozen years.  Last year, he got together with the people behind the annual International Wine and Food Festival to create a one-of-a-kind dining experience: the Urban Farm Table Under the Stars.

The Urban Farm Table was a chance for four local chefs to partner with local producers and really show off their fresh, seasonal ingredients to the best of their abilities.  Guests sat at long communal tables on the Woodrow Wilson Plaza of the International Trade Center and Ronald Reagan Building.  It was such a success that they’ll be back for a second seating on Friday, June 17th.

Details on tickets and a sneak peek at this year’s menu after the jump. (more…)

Let’s clear something up right away.  DC’s newly-opened Shake Shack is NOT a New York burger joint parachuting into the District and claiming to be God’s gift to quick-service.  Many things about this place – from the menu to the venue – have been tailored to suit Washington.  And we were pleased to see it works.  Well.

Union Square Hospitality Group and the Shake Shack team scouted locations in Washington for two years before finding a spot that offered the combination of community and energy that they were looking for. When the space formerly occupied by Fuddrucker’s where 18th Street meets Connecticut Avenue opened up, they knew they had it.  Their “roadside burger joint” would become a casual gathering place in the nation’s capital, complete with indoor seating.

We took a look on Tuesday, braving the opening day crowd to check out the newest burgers and shakes to enter the already-competitive DC market.  What we found was a restaurant that was ready for the massive crowds that were lined up out the door and down the block.  And, more importantly, a place that could easily stand on its own, without the cache of its New York inspiration.

Lots of photos and our initial tastes after the jump. (more…)

image courtesy of Mango and Tomato

It is a warm spring night. I’m kneading bread dough in a gorgeous white and blue-tiled bakery with three charming Frenchmen. I squeeze the pliant dough with my fingers while pushing it together with the heels of both palms, then flip and slap it back down onto the floured workspace. I am gently teased about my “technique” which is a little bit backward from the norm and occasionally results in flecks of dough arcing through the air. I am a rank amateur. Thirty minutes later, we nibble macaroons (pistachio and coconut are the best) and oozy millefeuilles while bread bakes in the oven.

Cubicle-dweller daydream? Not quite. I’m in the windowed kitchen of Paul, the new French bakery by the Navy Memorial Archives. In what may have been my favorite food event to date, several DC area food bloggers were invited to a bread baking lesson in the kitchen just days before the bakery opened.

I have long lamented the lack of the perfect bakery in DC. A space with an eye toward atmosphere and quality goods. Somewhere the bread is made on site, filling the air with dancing visions of golden crusts and yeasty middles. Where you can stroll in armed with a Kindle and need nothing more but a strong cup of coffee and warm baguette to spend precious spare time in the most delicious leisure possible. Have I finally found it?

Details on Paul after the jump. (more…)