Come Again

Last week a post-conference dinner for 4 quickly turned into an 8 people affair, and I had no time to call for reservations. Since everyone else had been travelling all day, a 40-minute wait was not an option. I shepherded the group down New Jersey Avenue, hoping the views of the Capitol would stave their hunger. The host at Bistro Bis was gracefulness personified – he welcomed everyone (the nametags were a dead giveaway) and had a round table set at the far end of the wood, steel and glass dining room, which allowed me to split my attention between musings on legal anthropology and the vintage food posters in French.

Bistro Bis, a sister restaurant to Vidalia, is a few blocks away from Union Station at the George Hotel. Split into three areas that flow into each other, the rooms are tied together by the use of natural cherry wood and soft lighting. Though its location says power lunch, the feel is cozy, and there were plenty of dates going on around us.
As a quick starter for the table (aside from the bread basket, devoured in record time) I ordered mussels in curry cream for the table. The mussels have a wonderful kick from the piquillo peppers, and where it not for the consistency of the curry cream I would have thought I was at Brasserie Beck.

Since everybody was having different entrees, a bottle was impossible. I had a glass of Gamay, a fresh and floral wine that hails from the Beaujoulais region and is also served slightly chilled. The fruit notes were cherry, with the acidity of strawberry. For an entrée I had the Duck au Rhubarb, two of my favorite tastes. The duck breast was crusted with pink peppercorns, which added color and flavor to the meat while keeping it from drying out. The rhubarb was present as a compote as well as a gastrique. I’ve had duck with cherries on several occasions so the rhubarb is an interesting twist, highlighted by the fact that using breast instead of leg and thigh keeps the fat and its smoke away. A second cut sat on top of thinly sliced slightly fried potatoes and a touch of salad.

I ordered the Petit Fours for the table – a selection of confections, cookies and chocolates that on this particular night featured macarons, peanut butter and dark chocolate triangles, and lattice cookies. My favorite on the menu, though, is the spiced carrot cake topped with buttermilk panna cotta, a wonderful combination of acid, warmth, degrees of firmness, and a refreshing side of mandarin orange sorbet.

We poured into E street happy, well fed, and fully recovered from the first day of the conference.

Bistro Bis @ the Hotel George
15 E St NW
Washington, DC 20001
www.bistrobis.com

Brainfood Grill-Off 2009

DC-based nonprofit Brainfood uses food and cooking as tools to teach life skills and healthy living to teenagers in a safe and positive environment. For their annual Grill-Off, top chefs (including Central's Cedric Maupillier) team up with amateur cooks, including amateur aficionados and Brainfood program graduates to compete for top honors in a grilling competition.

The event will also include hors d’oeuvres, open bar and live auction. 100 percent of ticket sales ($75 per ticket and $3,000 per team entry) will support Brainfood after-school and summer programs, including hands-on instruction, educational field trips and guest chef demonstrations.

The Grill-Off will take place on Thursday, June 11, 2009 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Decatur House on Lafayette Square (1610 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20006). For more information, please click here.

Amo Gelato!

One of the foundational myths in my family is that my maternal grandfather opened up the first (and for the longest time, only) soda shop in Cerralvo, Nuevo Leon. My grandmother would go in every day, and her love for ice cream became a +50 year marriage. At least that was the story we got when we would ask grandpa why he would go into the kitchen exclusively to make milkshakes and smoothies, and why grandma persistently ditched her own touring kin to make gelato-stops all over Rome. Is it any wonder why it is one of my favorite comfort foods?

Last week I was invited to to Pitango Gelato's new shop across the street from Whole Foods on P. S. and I sampled a flight of Gelato - from custard to nuts to sorbets - that was a welcome respite from an overwhelmingly humid Memorial Day. The Pitango space is decked out in green, it's signature color, dark wood, stainless steel and custom-made blown glass light fixtures. There is some seating in a bar with 8 stools that runs the lenght of the back wall (there are plans to add outdoor seating soon).

While many gelato shops in the area favor the mound presentation (one does eat with the eyes, after all), Pitango keeps its offerings under stainless steel drums. While you won't have your eyes to make up your mind, the staff behind the counter will be happy to offer you a sample, and the drums, which used to be an Industry standard before air became a primary mean of cooling, not only look sharp and clean, but also keep smells and flavors from mixing, while keeping ice chips from forming. I've never been so aware of the smell of gelato and sorbet, and how that aroma can bring the flavor to you while your palette concentrates on its temperature and texture.

S. and I were very lucky to have Founder and CEO Noah Dan guide us through our flight. His philosophy is simple: with a single ingredient, you can't cheat. Pitango sources its milk and eggs from an organic, family-owned Mennonite farm in Lancaster County. When possible, the fruit is local and in peak season, so the offering change several times a month. The coffee (an espresso for me and a capuccino for S.) is a custom-blend of Latin American coffees, roasted in Baltimore, a bright floral with just a touch of smoke.

We started out with Crema, an Italian custard. Eggs, milk, a hint of vanilla. A very delicate taste in a very rich texture. We moved on to Nocciola (hazelnut), one of the few imported ingredients from Italy. This is where the smell really hit me - I normally associate hazelnuts with Nutella, which is processed to no end. These hazelnuts are smokey, and made me think of the top note of Jabugo ham, made from hazelnut-fed pigs. Pistachio is one of my favorite gelato flavors, and the Pitango version did not dissapoint - instead of tasting the milk first, you can both see, taste and feel the roasted Pistachios di Bronte, flown in from Sicily. My favorite - and it was hard to pick - was the Creme Fraiche gelato because it combines the tang of yogurt with the texture of gelato - the best of both worlds and a perfect summer treat. In the interest of quasi-journalistic integrity, we moved on to Sorbets, where we found S.'s favorite - White Grapefruit, which we sampled along with tangerine. The sugar is organic, but the fruit is not sweetened to oblivion.

By the time we left, the after-dinner crowd was making a line well outside Pitango's shop. Having had gelato for dinner ourselves, we took our leave, but not before I noticed the take-away containers. I toyed with the idea of buying one to take home but opted against it in hommage to my family history - what would become of love stories put away in the freezer?

Pitango Gelato - Washington, DC
1451 P Street, NW
Washington, DC
(202) 332-8877
http://www.pitangogelato.com/

Bessie Knows Best

The Conventional Wisdom for those of us that frequent Old Town Alexandria is that, particularly on King Street, the further away from the water the better the restaurant. While this adage may ring true for less-than stellar destinations right on the river that mostly rely on tourist foot traffic, exceptions must be made: La Bergerie on Lee Street, and Jackson 20, half a block away from Market Square.

I've often found a perch at the Bar at Jackson 20 to enjoy the view and the cocktails, Located on the edge of a dark wood dinning room with a picture window on one side and an open plan kitchen on the other, it is a good place to unwind, watch some random sports on an available but never intrusive TV set, and chat with some of Old Town's friendliest bar tenders. Jackson 20 is a restaurant with a sense of humor - the centerpiece of the dining room is Bessie, an often-costumed pig. To find a bust of Mr. Jackson, he of 20 dollar bill fame, you will have to head for the back door. The courtyard, an ample space for beautiful nights away from the bustle of King Street, also hosts the storied Doggie Happy Hour, a tradition that Kimpton kept when they took over the property a few years ago.

On this particular outing I got to sit with a group of writers at the Chef's table, a large marble slab opposite the bar. We started with cocktails. While my favorite is the Honeysuckle (Absolut Ruby Red, grapefruit juice, honey syrup and muddled ginger), this time around I decided to try the Presidential Punch, concocted for Obama's inauguration - a delightful and unlikely combination of Cachaça, peach Schnapps, sparkling cider, house-made raspberry syrup, accompanied with fresh apples, peaches, and pineapple. The fruit at the bottom truly makes it a punch, and it puts one's stomach in good stead for the Southern-inspired food to come.

For an appetizer, I ordered the Scallop and Shrimp Brochette, a skewer wrapped in bacon with a side of grits and greens. I was looking forward to the dish, as I love scallops and what Chef Denis Marron does with them. While the grits were creamy and the greens peppery and fresh, the bacon overwhelmed the proteins. The kitchen also sent us shrimp fritters (fried just enough to keep them doughy and hot) and ham sliders, the perfect size for a bar bite - Country ham with fresh-made slaw on a biscuit with a great salty taste, but a bit dry.

In between courses I switched to a glass of Oregon Pinot Noir - Jackson 20 has an extensive selection of wines by the glass, as well as some funky wines for 20 dollars a bottle.
As a main dish, I decided to go for the full rack of ribs, after securing promises from around the table that I would get some help with them. At 20 dollars (10 for half), the dish is one of the best dinner deals in Old Town - a portion big enough to share (and a plate that had to be carried out by the Chef, insert Flinstones jokes here.) The pork ribs were cooked just right - the meat came right off as I went through the motions of using a fork, extra sauce was at hand: the smell was complex without being overly pungent, with a top note of all spice and hints of chocolate, topped with a dusting of chives. The smashed potatoes were well-seasoned, and I would have finished them were it not for the Virginia Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese Casserole that we ordered for the table - the bacon and ham hock gave it an added texture and smoke without making it too salty, and the top was crusty in all the right ways.

Once I secured a box for my ribs (even with all that help), I joined in the partaking of a cross-selection of desserts. My favorite was the Pecan-Chocolate Pie, a reminder that NoVa is, in fact, Virginia. A tall chocolate pie, it has the consistency of a very dense mousse (or a very fluffy pudding), a buttery crust, and a good quantity of pecans, topped with a dollop of Chantilly Cream. A close second was the Blueberry Cobbler with buttermilk ice cream, a well-rounded combination of hot/cold/tart/sweet. As opposed to many cobblers, the starch could have stood up on its own in terms of taste and texture. The Lime Meringue Tart and the Banana Pudding, both beautifully presented, would make many grandmothers proud.

Pay your respects to Bessie next time you're in Old Town. She'll even be a a good sport about the barbeque sauce-stained napkin you'll leave behind.

Jackson 20 @ Hotel Monaco, Old Town
480 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
www.jackson20.com

No kid hungry

1 out of 6 children in the United States do not know when their next meal will come - that's 12 million kids going hungry every day. Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale is a national effort that encourages Americans to host bake sales in their communities to help end childhood hunger, with funds going back to the community that raised them.

Buy a cookbook, buy baked goods or host a bake sale of your own. For more information, click here.

(Any takers for WDC? Send us an e-mail!)

Somewhere very "us"

S. came back to DC before embarking on her summer stint at the WHO, and I wanted to treat her to lunch to celebrate the end of her first year in graduate school. I gave her free reign over the location and cuisine - surviving Glennon is no small feat. People that have found their way back to DC often request Ethiopian food. After weeks away, I hanker for Thai. There's something very interesting about food nostalgia, the twin aspects of the meals that you miss, coupled with the places and people that made them special. S. said she wanted to go "somewhere very us."

Before Buzz, my regular post-office watering hole was Leopold's. Tucked away from the bustle on M street on Cady's Alley, their terrace is open for most of the year, and I've always found it a pleasant place to stop by for dessert or a light meal. While the décor is nothing like you would expect from an Austrian coffehouse (for that, go to Neue Galerie in NYC), the bright and airy space is decked out in orange, the signature color of the Leopold Museum in Vienna, has plush flowers for barstools, and it is the only place in DC to get a cup of Julius Meinl coffee on a silver tray next to a glass of water. Over Inaugural weekend, Dr., Viennese to the core, gave it her thumbs up.

On this particular outing, we sat in the terrace enjoying the sunshine and the babble of the courtyard's fountain. We started out with cocktails: a Strawberry Kir for me and a Summer Lemonade for S. The Kir was sparkly and refreshing, with the fresh strawberries giving a bit of acidity to the Chambord, which took the place of the creme de cassis. S. declared hers to be a fun spin on SoCo and lime.

S. ordered the Heurigenplatte, a charcuterie plate that features prosciutto, ham, green olives and some very fresh cornichons. The plate is big enough to share as an appetizer and the presentation is thoughtful and balanced. I had the Tunfischsalat Nicoise, their towering interpretation of the French classic, minus the egg. The presentation puts the roasted tomatoes at the base, giving the impression of a tuna tatare. Upon closer inspection, I found the cooked tuna nestled under the string beans. It is always interesting to see a salad that won't let the greens define it. The herb tapenade dressing plays very well with the smokey taste of the roasted tomato.

The crown jewel of Leopold's is, of course, the pastry case. S. and I went to inspect the contents - macarons, petit fours, tartes, chocolate and hazelnut in every which way - we set aside old favorites (including the Papillote) for the Malaga, a raspberry mouse topped with very light vanilla cake, enrobed in white chocolate. Fresh and tart, it is s a perfect summer dessert. It is hard to go wrong with that pastry case (which can look a bit bare on Sunday nights) and my only disappointment in 4 years has been their Sachertorte, which I found dry and too dense. We raised our double espressos to the friends that used to come with us to Cady's Alley, gone but never forgotten: the defining taste of food nostalgia is always bittersweet.

Leopold's Kafe view menu
3318 M St NW
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 965-6005
www.kafeleopolds.com

SAWIP Wine Sip!

On Thursday, May 14th, the South African Embassy will be hosting a Wine Tasting Event in support of South Africa - Washington Internship Program, a leadership program for university students. SAWIP seeks to empower and develop a new generation of leaders committed to building upon South Africa’s progress and growing a stronger and robust civic society.

The event will start at 6.30 PM at the Former South Africa Official Residence (3101 Massachusetts Avenue, NW) and feature South African cuisine and wine, with selections from KWV Cathedral Cellar, Nederburg, Neethlingshof, Savanha and Spier.

The cost is $100 for guests, or $1,000 for the benefactor level. For more information, please click here.