Capital Spice

Every relationship has celebrated milestones. Like getting brunch together after dancing it up at 80s night, few things cement the “this is getting serious” step like the first trip away together. Most couples choose a sunny, romantic destination. Mike and I? We went to Hungary. In October. Okay so maybe Budapest isn’t everyone’s first idea of a romantic city but whatever. Mike and I are goofy like that.  

Photo courtesy of Love Apples

Our visit wasn’t driven by culinary travel, but we ended up having some of our favorite food-related experiences during the trip. Who would have guessed a tiny eastern European country could deliver a six-foot tall Michael Jackson statue made out of white chocolate? Or a wine destination with what might be the best Wine Goggled name on the planet?  

Gerbaud -  Thanks in part to its downriver Danube proximity to Vienna, Budapest has a striking coffee and pastry culture often celebrated in soaring salons fit for Marie Antoinette. Open since 1858, Gerbaud is the grande dame of Budapest salons. The light-filled salon was painstakingly restored in 1997 to look regally ancient. Gleaming floors lead our eyes up to a brillaint counterop filled with sugary delights. Taking a seat in the salon, we sat back as brisk waitresses flitted between tiny cafe tables with trays of pastel colored goodies and strong coffee. It was the perfect way to fight off jet lagg and ease into our vacation. 

Szabo Marzipan Museum - A little way down the Danube from Budapest is a village known as Szentendre. This little village might be in guide books recommending a scenic getaway into an artists village, a chance to stroll through a small Hungarian community and take in tiny shops and ancient churches. All of these things are true but they don’t shout the town’s biggest feature from the rooftops: The Szabo Marzipan Museum. Could it be true? An entire museum with all of its displays intricately carved from almond paste? So true and so bizarre. Especially considering the chosen topics – countless classic Disney characters vied for attention next to Hungarian landmarks. But the creme de la marzipan had to be the borderline creepy Michael Jackson. Standing at life-size attention and captured during the King of Pop’s miltary-esque costume phase ,the piece is just strange. Deliciously strange.

The Valley of Beautiful Women and the Most Hilariously Formal Restaurant I’ve Ever Visted after the jump. (more…)

One of the questions in our Blogger Beat interview asked about the most bizarre things we’ve ever eaten.  Elizabeth’s answer came without a second thought: cuy.  For this week’s Travel Tuesday, we’re revisiting our trip to Peru, where Elizabeth made her peace with guinea pigs as entrees instead of pets.

The allure of Machu Picchu is a combination of its beauty and its relative isolation.  Of course, that means there really isn’t all that much besides the formerly lost civilization to plan a vacation around.  When Elizabeth learned about GlobeAware, an American voluntourism operation with a program in Peru, we knew we had found a solution that we could feel good about.  We’d spend a week in Peru, volunteering at an albergue in Cusco and visiting Machu Picchu while we were there.

We arrived in Cusco to a meal of quinoa-crusted fried chicken and a steaming mug of mate de coca. This tea, steeped from the leaves of the coca plant, is a natural remedy for the altitude sickness that invariably strikes new arrivals.  At an elevation of almost 11,000 feet, Cusco takes some getting used to.  Something as simple as walking up a flight of stairs can leave you winded (if you’re lucky).  The tea somehow soothes the nausea and headaches that come with the change in altitude.  It’s pretty much the polar opposite of cocaine, despite coming from the same plant.

Throughout the week, we enjoyed simple, homemade meals prepared for us by the full-time staff on site.  We got to experience local produce including a rainbow of potatoes and the strange granadilla. We found ourselves chanting along with a street vendor who passed through the neighborhood every day announcing his fresh produce: “Piña!  Papaya!” We even tried chicha frutillada, a drink made from fermented corn and strawberries that packs a sweet, boozy punch.

More about the maize and a few restaurant meals (including the cuy) after the jump. (more…)

DC is a food city worth its ice-melting salt but there are some missing pieces in our flawless plan. We listed out some destinations we wish we could move part and parcel into our fair capital. But the real question is, what restaurants do you wish would move to DC? Share the wealth.

Tartine (San Francisco) – I have long lamented the state of bakeries in the DC area. While we have a few noteworthy destinations, I have yet to come across a single bakery and cafe that suits all my needs. And this is no diva list. My needs are simple. I want a bakery that can make a killer croissant  and bad ass espresso in the same building. I want an organic feeling cafe where I can sit down and enjoy both of these masterpieces along with a book or across the table from a good friend. Tartine has mastered this equation. I wish they would bring it this way. I’ll even help them scout neighborhoods.

Hot Doug’s (Chicago) – DC is a one hot dog kind of town. Bless our loyalty but we are Ben’s bitches. I’d like to see Hot Doug’s, a Chicago hot dog institution, set up shop and give Ben’s a run for its money. Sure Hot Doug’s can’t touch Ben’s when it comes to DC history and culture. But how about a quality dog with creative, well-executed toppings? Feeling fancy? Try one of Doug’s a dogs topped with foie gras or sauternes duck sausage topped with truffle aioli, foie mousse and sel gris. Even if you are a classicist, at Hot Doug’s the dogs have a satisfying snap, the toppings are on point, and the prices are right. Please visit, Doug. DC needs you.

Casa Bonita (Denver) – I’ll level with you. The food, it is terrible. Mostly mass produced Mexican from a conveyor belt. The prices are ridiculous for the quality. I’m sure if there were actual windows or if the lights were ever turned all the way up I’d find the whole restaurant to be a mess of sticky children’s birthday party filth. But I also think DC children and DC’s young at heart would be a happier bunch if Denver’s infamous La Casa Bonita were in our town. What’s a few overpriced sopapillas when your restaurant has cliff divers? And a video arcade cave? And one of those old timey sepia photo booths where it looks like you took your family to the wild, wild west and your wife and daughter are common saloon whores? Even South Park opined the pleasures of Casa Bonita. I mean, how do birthday parties in DC survive without this place?

Casa Bonita

Three more holes in DC’s foodie heart after the jump. (more…)

We don’t make it out to Kansas City to visit Elizabeth’s family as often as we’d like.  More often than not, our visits are timed around holidays where there’s an abundance of home-cooked treats.

Tough to be us, right?  Even so, we always make it out to at least one or two restaurants while we’re in town.

For our most recent visit, we were all about the classics.  When the family asked if there were any places we wanted to eat while we were in town, we were ready with two establishments that have more than 150 years of restaurant experience between them.  We requested trips to Stroud’s and Rosedale Barbeque.

The family was happy to oblige, and so we hit up Rosedale for lunch one day and Stroud’s for dinner the next.  We were eager to see how the years had treated these Kansas City institutions.  And while Stroud’s is a long-time favorite of Elizabeth’s, Rosedale was a new experience for both of us.

Fried chicken, pulled pork and a drink called the “Chicken Choker” after the jump. (more…)

When this year’s James Beard Award semi-finalists were announced a few weeks ago, Washington restaurateurs had plenty to be excited about.  And it isn’t just our tried-and-true veterans who are in the running for recognition from the James Beard Foundation; three of the thirty-one “Best New Restaurant” nominees are in the Washington area.  This weekend, we had the opportunity to check out one of the three: Trummer’s on Main.

Full Disclosure: We went with friends who have a family connection to the restaurant.  Though we didn’t identify ourselves as bloggers, our dining experience was hardly anonymous and random.  Consequently, we’ll only focus on the food and the decor.  We did pay for our meal, though we all received a tasting plate between our appetizers and our entrees and we were comped a few additional desserts for the table.

Back in the day (“the day,” in this case, referring to the late 19th century), Clifton, Virginia, was a resort destination favored by Presidents and other notable figures.  This relaxing getaway was a short train ride from Washington and Philadelphia, and visitors could enjoy restorative mineral springs and a good meal in town.  These days, the mineral water is more likely to arrive sparkling at your table, but Trummer’s is starting to bring the ‘destination’ designation back to Clifton.

After spending the afternoon in Leesburg (outlet shopping AND antiques, thank you very much), we were ready for an evening of dishes and flavors that were at once comfortable and creative.  Everything we had read about Trummer’s suggested we wouldn’t be disappointed.

Seafood, seasonal veggies and sensational sauces after the jump. (more…)

With all the snow we’ve gotten this winter, the idea of getting away somewhere tropical and warm is more appealing than ever.  Although we weren’t able to escape this year, we did just that a year ago to celebrate our birthdays.  We rang in 2009 at Jaguar Reef Lodge, an all-inclusive resort in Belize.

The resort was wonderful.  The excursions blew us away.  The food…not so much.

Don’t get me wrong.  Most of the dishes we ordered were tasty, and the portions were certainly generous.  But I was hoping for something a little more authentic than chicken nachos and conch fritters, so I found myself selecting the menu items that seemed to be closest to the kinds of dishes a local might eat: rice and beans with stewed pork, grilled fillet of snapper with fruit salsa, etc.

Even so, authenticity seemed to elude me.  I was getting my fill of Belikin beer (regular and stout, thank you) and seasoning my meals with a healthy dose of Marie Sharp hot sauce, but I was eager to see what a local meal really looked like.  So I borrowed a bike from the resort one afternoon and headed down the road to nearby Hopkins Village.

It was there, in Hopkins, that I finally experienced a truly local dish: the Garifuna fish stew known as hudut.  I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but everything about the experience was unique.

What is hudut?  Find out after the jump. (more…)

Sure, there are enough restaurants here in Washington to keep even the most dedicated diner busy.  But a love of good food – and a desire to experience it wherever we go – has led us to all kinds of great restaurants around the world.  We’ve already told you about a few of them from time to time.

Starting today, we’re launching a new feature here at Capital Spice – Travel Tuesdays.  We’ll be sharing some of our favorite road trip eats, destination dinners and even some international meals.  Sometimes we’ll focus on a specific dish or cuisine, other times we’ll offer our dining experiences.

And what better way to kick off Travel Tuesdays than with a visit to New York?  There are so many places to eat – and eat well – in New York.  Every time we go, we try to check out something new.

But we often find ourselves gravitating toward the Village.  There’s something about the narrow streets that spill into one another and the neighborhood feel that make it our favorite place to stay in the city.  It offers an exciting blend of high-end and low-rent restaurants, too…we rarely leave the neighborhood and still find ourselves with too many choices and not enough time.

On our most recent trip to New York, we crossed a few more places of our “to try” list:

The Little Owl

This postage-stamp sized corner restaurant in the West Village champions the holy trinity of neighborhood restaurants: intimate, seasonal, and friendly.  Needless to say, the combination makes it difficult to get a seat on a prime dining night.  After settling into our rented apartment, Mike and I took a quick stroll around the neighborhood and ooohed when we turned the corner to find The Little Owl with – could it be? – tables open on a Friday night.  We were seated without a fuss and our timing was impeccable: the restaurant was completely full within 15 minutes.

The space is even lovelier from the inside. Small-top tables benefit from soaring floor to ceiling windows that allowed light to pour in, bathing the lucky few diners in a soft gold evening light.  The service lived up to its renown with prompt, friendly attention and happy recommendations on the menu. The menu is not extensive – a handful of entrees and small plates – but focuses on seasonal ingredients of good quality.  We started with an appetizer of ricotta cavatelli with fava beans, pecorino cheese, and a rich tomato broth I would have eaten for 3 days straight given the chance.  The Pork Chop (named like that on the menu) is a huge, juicy cut of meat that threatens to overwhelm the plate it’s on.  And the raspberry beignets were everything a doughnut should be – hot, airy and sugary.  The Nutella dipping sauce that accompanied them made a rich dessert absolutely decadent.  It was a tremendous meal made even better by the fact that we hadn’t been expecting it.

The Little Owl
90 Bedford Street
New York, NY

Check out a few more highlights from Greenwich Village after the jump. (more…)

A few weeks ago I coldly abandoned Mike in DC for a quick girls’ getaway in San Francisco with two great friends BabeBQ and The Librarian. It was the first visit to San Francisco for both of them. Giving the uninitiated a tour of my favorite city is no small feat. Type A geeks like me don’t just wing it. We spend weeks plotting out itineraries, checking lists, creating back up plans for unbearably rainy weather.  Touristy or not, some activities can’t be ignored for first-timers. I wanted to be sure we tried a few more insider options, too. (Sure the cable cars are nice but did you know you can ride an 1930s Italian streetcar into the Castro?)

This philosophy went double for food. I knew certain cozy homeruns would make our agenda, namely Cha Cha Cha’s and Crepes on Cole which BabeBQ declared “the perfect neighborhood breakfast spot.” Except I didn’t want to limit our palates to tried and true favorites. I was ready for a little strange on the menu.

Acme Bread Company at the Ferry Building
No food sojurn to San Francisco is complete without paying homage to the Ferry Building. What was once a pass-through warehouse for tourists heading to Sausalito and commuters going home to Marin County is now a delicious destination. The building hosts San Francisco staples Cowgirl Creamery and the Slanted Door as well as less known options like Boccalone Salumeri (boasting “tasty salted pig parts”) and Far West Funghi, a must-visit for any mushroom lover.

Taking advantage of our DC-based internal clocks, BabeBQ and I took an early morning walk over to the Ferry Building for breakfast. We wandered through the vendor hallway, taking in the options as proprieters rattled their doors open. In the end, we were both drawn to the same thing: freshly baked bread from Acme Bread Company. The Acme Bread Compnay is a Berekley-based bread institution in the Bay Area, frequently credited for leading the artisinal bread revolution. The Ferry Building outpost carries the full selection of Acme bread and we lingered over baguettes, croissants and other yeasty delicacies before settling on a perfect small round of sourdough bread. We paired our loaves with ruby-red, sweet organic strawberries from Farm Fresh to You, a gourmet grocery store that seems tailor-made for yuppie picnic baskets, and found a bench outside in the early morning mist.

The bread, baked with a golden, crispy crust and pliant, still-warm, tangy white middle, was perhaps the single best way to start a vacation day. It was amazing we were civilized enough to eat with our hands rather than dive face first into the world’s best comfort food. We tore into our breakfast as rush hour approached and commuters streamed past us, fresh off ferries from Marin County. “You know,” BabeBQ said between bites, “I always see people having a leisurely breakfast or coffee on a weekday and wonder who they are and why they aren’t headed into work like me. It’s nice to be on this side for a change.” I couldn’t have agreed more. 

Acme Bread Company
1 Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94111

After the jump: Dim sum in Chinatown, Italian in North Beach, and what Mike was most jealous he missed. (more…)

Forget sweaters and changing leaves. Here are ten telltale signs we know it’s fall in DC.

1.       Dinner switches from gazpacho to roasted chicken

2.       Mike gets reacquainted with the Big Green Egg

3.       After a summer of crabs at Quarterdeck and Tangier Island, our go-to seafood is oysters at Johnny’s Half Shell and mussels at Granville Moore’s.

4.       Elizabeth starts baking again

5.       Pumpkin beer!

6.       We’re on the hunt for savory recipes starring leeks and butternut squash

7.       We say good-bye to the basil lemontini and hello to the warm duck Rueben at the Poste bar

8.       Too many local apples, not enough apple recipes

9.       Kiss the sunglasses good-bye. We go from al fresco dining to cozy lounges and tea houses.

10.    Fall colors bring road trips and local discoveries like Wasmund’s single malt applewood smoked whiskey.

In food, like in life, all good things must have balance. While Mike and I were ecstatic to go luxe in Chicago during our long weekend we knew our wallets couldn’t handle this city fully loaded. We aren’t Oprah, after all. (Really, we aren’t even Jerry Springer.) Luckily Chicago offers dozens of options where we can eat and drink well without breaking the bank.

Hot Doug’s
Mention you’re going to Chicago, and the first thing you hear from just about anyone is a variation on “You’ve got to try the hot dogs!”  Go figure…the city immortalized as the “hog butcher to the world” is known for their encased meats.  But it’s not the dogs themselves that inspire the fanatical following; it’s the condiments.  Chicago-style dogs are almost as architecturally impressive as the city itself, piled high with mustard, onions, chopped tomatoes, celery salt, bright green relish and a whole pickle spear.  At Hot Doug’s, however, the sausages and other encased meats (their phrase…try not to laugh as often as we did) are just as noteworthy as their toppings.  Their high-quality versions of the basics (hot dog, smoked Polish sausage, beer-soaked bratwurst, etc.) are all ridiculously well priced…you can get a dog for $1.75, tax included.  Our total bill came to exactly $20, and that included a $9 specialty dog that we just couldn’t resist.

The real draw – and it is a draw, as evidenced by the nearly hour-long wait we endured despite arriving soon after their 10:30 AM opening time on Saturday morning – is the secondary menu of rotating specials.  Eager to try an alligator sausage?  Hankering for the ‘Teuben’ made of corned beef and topped with sauerkraut and Swiss?  Just looking for something out of the ordinary that you’re unlikely to find in any other hot dog joint?  You’ve come to the right place, my friend.  We opted to try a Chicago-style dog and a sausage with the works, but we couldn’t just ignore the specialty menu so we went for the big daddy: a foie gras and sauternes duck sausage topped with truffle aioli, foie mousse and sel gris.  And in the name of science, we decided to do a side-by-side test of their regular fries and the duck fat fries that are only available on Friday and Saturday.  The basics were solid from poppy seed bun to crisp pickle spear, and that foie gras sausage was as rich and decadent as it sounds…thank goodness we were splitting it among three of us!  And the verdict on those fries?  The ones cooked in duck fat were thinner, crispier and generally tastier…but we weren’t quite convinced that they were worth twice the price of the standards.  Better to use that cash for a second dog!

Hot Doug’s
3324 N. California Ave.
Chicago, IL

Urban Belly
There is perhaps nothing more comforting that a steaming bowl of soup on a cold night. Which is a good thing for Urban Belly because there is no shortage of chilly evenings in Chicago. This noodle soup house hidden in an anonymous strip mall serves up much more than everyday salty pho. With a small bites menu of reimagined dumplings and sides – asian squash and bacon dumplings anyone? how about pineapple and pork belly fried rice? – diners have an opportunity to fill up before the main courses slosh onto the long wooden tables.  Which would be a shame because these shimmering soups are worth the trip all on their own. 

We tucked into our enormous bowls as soon as they arrived, slurping up noodles and willing the roofs of our mouths to toughen up to the scalding broth. My spicy soup of rice noodles, Thai rice cakes, hominy and succulent pork belly thinned my blood and warmed my soul. I adored the rice cakes looked like floating water chestnuts but tasted like a piece of thickcut homemade pasta. They cut the perfect platform for the fiesty broth. Mike’s Urban Belly ramen featured a full-bodied pho broth with mushrooms and pork. He slurped to his stomach’s content. Bailey, who brought us and had toured the menu thoroughly on her own time, went with a favorite bowl of soba noodles plunged into a snappy Thai basil broth with scallops and oyster mushrooms. We slurped and chatted and slurped some more, way past our stomach’s comfortable contentment. Friendly waitresses offered to put remaining soup in take-home bowls. Alas, we knew our food agenda was full so we had to leave them behind. Relunctantly we sloshed back into the night.

Urban Belly
3053 N. California Ave.
Chicago, IL

Killer brunch and a massive beer list after the jump. (more…)