End of the weekend, Start of the season

Crab season, that is. Photos courtesy of Chris, whose fingers were not encrusted with Old Bay. This was my first trip to Cantler's in Annapolis and it totally lived up to it's rep. All of the crabs were excellent but the last few they brought me were gorgeous (and huge).



A very special thank you to my friend Missy at Freezer Full, who chronicled her misadventures traveling to Cantler's today on Facebook and made me realize just how badly I needed crabs and what a perfect way it would be to waste away the evening. I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Weekend. I'm so sorry you missed it!

And of course, thanks to my brother Bird and the men and women that serve with him. I very much enjoy that blanket of freedom I sleep under every night, in case you were wondering.

Friday bliss: Lobstah rolls

From day and a half old Luke's Lobster in Penn Quarter. (The shop is a day and a half old, not the lobster. I don't think.) Lots of lobster meat, a tasty bun and an excellent way to kick of summer.

Prison de bébé

I was standing in line at Paul, a new bakery in Penn Quarter,  the other day and while admiring the racks upon racks of fresh crusty bread and the displays of delicate French pastries,  this adorable (yet somewhat medieval) high chair caught my eye:

It is like the mullet of booster seats: business up top, party down below. Or prison down below. It's a banker's chair with a baby leg cage. The bakery has gone to great lengths to recreate a rustic French atmosphere, which makes me wonder if this is what all children's furniture looks like in France. Cribs with padded headboards and canopies? Mahogany swings upholstered in the finest chintz? Le Gaurde-meuble meets Graco.

By the way - the bread (particularly the olive bread used to make the tomato and mozzarella sandwich) is great, though the line and the service suck terribly.

Inadvertently sustainable Saturday

This afternoon we headed out to try one of the few Maryland wineries we haven't visited - Black Ankle (the Crumbling Rock is lovely). Our wine tasting was followed by dinner at Againn Tavern in Rockville, where Colin met his new favorite food and proceeded to get ketchup-wasted. Also, their scallops are like giant pats of butter (and I mean that in a good way).

 It honestly wasn't until we were on our way home that I realized how hippie granola tree-hugger our jaunt had been. Black Ankle is known for their sustainable practices (their tasting room is insulated with straw and has a living roof) and Againn prides themselves on using all locally sourced ingredients. So, that was a happy accident, since I am a lazy, passive environmentalist. Our wine and our dinner probably cost twice what their conventional alternatives would have but at least we saved all that gas money by driving there in our hybrid ;)

Friday bliss: Hill Country Barbecue

Today a few coworkers and I braved the ridiculous lines to try then new Hill Country Barbecue in Penn Quarter. The food was amazing, but everything else about the experience was crowded, uncoordinated and slow.

Not a whole lot made it home to be photographed - but this is cornbread with a really interesting ancho honey butter. Not pictured: out of this world mac and cheese, a rib the size of my forearm and the best smoked chicken I've probably ever had (no offense, Dad). I just hope they get the rest of their act together so that we can better enjoy our meal next time. Now I've got a hankering for some brisket.

Friday bliss: Frites and Allagash White

I met Chris for lunch at Victoria Gastro Pub today and was pleasantly surprised to find that what used to be a Bennigan's is now a pretty dang good place to eat. We started with frites fried in duck fat, topped with rosemary and truffle salt and accompanied by a draft of Allagash White Ale. The frites were pretty amazing, but the lobster grilled cheese that followed was out of this world. I'd honestly put in on par with Central's lobster burger, it was that delicious. Chris went with a boring old burger, but it was topped with caramelized onions and mushrooms, so I think he was pretty happy. We finished off with a perfectly rich chocolate cake with crushed pralines.  I was hoping it the food would be decent, but it far exceeded my expectations. Score for the suburbs!

My best Tom Sietsema impression

Last week I had the pleasure of taking advantage of a few of the offerings for DC Restaurant Week. Two lunches and a lovely dinner scratched my eating-out itch without breaking the bank. Below are my impressions, maybe they'll help you when August's Restaurant Week rolls around.

P.S. Also, I know! I have been a lazy blogger! But between all this good eating out, dinner at my fantabulous Uncle Billy's and otherwise trying to watch my calorie intake, I just haven't been cooking anything interesting. I currently have not one, not two but FOUR chickens in my freezer though, so stay tuned!

Zengo - RW Lunch

Zengo has a really interesting menu - a mix of Latin American and Asian flavors with a focus on small plates. For Restaurant Week, however, their menu is fairly limited and goes the traditional appetizer, entree, dessert route and I believe the offerings for both lunch and dinner are the same. Appetizers included their signature Give and Take salad, a shrimp empanada and a chicken lettuce wrap. The salad looked fairly big and fresh, a good light choice. I had the shrimp empanada, which was good though the green curry sauce it was served with was fantastic. The chicken wrap was yummy as well, although that sauce didn't fair as well. What you would assume would be a sweet peanut sauce was actually a very sour tamarind concoction, ick.

Most of our table ordered the miso braised brisket for an entree (though there was also lo mein and salmon from which to choose). Combined with some great mashed potatoes, it made for excellent midday comfort food. Dessert options were tres leches cake and chocolate flan. I had the flan and although I'm ordinarily a huge flan fan, I wasn't too impressed with this.

I would probably visit Zengo again for lunch (their usual $20 bento boxes seem like a great deal), even though our service was lacking this time. The restaurant was fairly full and our waiter was not terribly attentive, but our plates came out in a timely manner so we weren't left hungry.

The Palm - RW Lunch

For awhile now, this has been the only restaurant in DC that Chris has actually wanted to visit. It would definitely be a good place to take a visiting dad or grandfather for a nice Washingtonian meal. The regular lunch menu wasn't jaw-dropping expensive, and in hindsight I should have just ordered the filet au poivre off of that. The RW lunch menu (they don't participate in Restaurant Week for dinner) was very salad heavy. If I remember correctly two appetizer's and one entree's worth. Chris, wanting the steak salad for an entree, actually ended up eating a salad appetizer as well since the only other option was clam chowder (he's allergic). Anyway, I did have the chowder which was fine. I also had crab cakes which were decent. The only dessert was a mediocre cheesecake. Like I said, I should have gone with the filet and called it a day.

Charlie Palmer Steak - RW Dinner

CP has been on my must-dine list for quite some time, so as soon as the Restaurant Week dates came out I rushed to make a Saturday night reservation. Afterwards, I heard reports of poor service and got a bit nervous but we ended up with a fantastic meal. I had a butter poached prawn and risotto appetizer that was one of the most fantastic dishes I've had in quite some time. I chose the strip steak entree which came with a delightful snow pea medley and mashed potatoes. The chocolate and hazelnut pave was divinely rich.

The regular menu was not as frighteningly expensive as I thought, in fact Chris ordered a rib eye and spinach rather than go with the prix fixe. CP also allows up to two bottles of domestic wine without a corkage fee (we brought a Titus Zinfandel that really impressed me). We had no problems with service. Although admittedly, we saw our bussers more than our server but they were exceedingly professional and our server was never far away. In addition to what we ordered, we were offered an amuse bouche of salmon tartar as well as a selection of lovely petit fours with our check.

I would definitely return for future Restaurant Weeks, as well as splurges or special occasions.

Ray's The Classics

Yay! Chris came through for my birthday and made reservations at a place I've been eager to try. We never made it in last year when Ray's The Classics (sibling to Ray's The Steaks in Arlington) opened. A combination of lots of buzz, lack of reservation-making foresight on my part, and no opentable.com participation (the nerve!) kept us away. Anyway, we had a relatively early dinner on Friday and the food was great. I had the crab bisque, 12 oz. house special steak and key lime pie for dessert. The crab bisque was lovely and silky. Chris has the spiced onion soup and the same steak, only larger. Our steaks, both perfectly done, came with creamy mashed potatoes and some seriously good creamed spinach. Complimentary sides were a pleasant surprise after visiting Sam & Harry's and BLT Steak last month where everything is a la carte. Because Chris has mentioned my birthday when making reservations, the key lime pie was also complimentary - how nice!

We both thought it was an excellent meal at a decent price. In fact, when our bill arrived, I noticed that since dessert was free we'd actually spent less than we would have at others places during Restaurant Week. Our only gripe was the sloooooow service. We didn't notice all too much, since we were enjoying a cozy corner table and a bottle of wine, but we did have four different servers and dinner took more than two hours for just the two of us. We had to ask for the check twice (from different people). I don't think we'll be holding that against Ray's though, we had a very good meal and a nice night out. They even wished me a happy birthday on the way out the door : ) I'd definitely go back for a special occasion meal that won't blow the budget. I just wouldn't recommend it for impatient eaters or vegetarians (half the menu is steak, after all).

P.S. - I won't be updating until after our party this weekend, but I plan to be back with lots of recipes and even a how-to for smoked pork barbecue!