Girls, Guns, Guacamole, Good Friends, and Greatness

You know what great about having a girlfriend who is also a foodie? You never have to go to a new restaurant by yourself again.

Life in and outside of the food world has been crazy but wonderful since the last time I wrote. To start off with the girl I took to Lebanese food agreed to go out with me again (she must have a thinking for unattractive nerds, it’s the only way I can think of that she would be willing to go on a second date). This time we went to a James Bond themed house party and had the time of our lives! The highlight of the evening food wise definitely was the “Mormon” martinis (cold milk served in a martini glass garnished with a chocolate chip cookie). There also was a whole room dedicated to taking Bond-esque movie photos, complete with props!

Later that week I ran out of time to cook my own lunch, so I tried the local sandwich shop by where I work. Wall Street Deli definitely has the feel of a chain deli (no idea if it is or is not, guess I should look into that) but I was pleasantly surprised by the value and taste. While far from the best deli sandwich I have ever had, that honor goes to Katzinger’s Deli in Columbus Ohio, the Thai chicken wrap had a good texture from the crushed peanuts and fresh veggies and a good level of spice to it. I wouldn't go out of my way to take someone there to eat, but I think it makes a good fall back if there’s nothing better around.

On Wednesday my Mom came into town for a conference at the Gaylord hotel in National Harbor. I really haven’t spent much time out there; normally the price tag is well above my level of discretionary spending.  Mom insisted she be allowed to take me to dinner, so I of course jumped at the opportunity.  We ultimately settled on Rossa Mexicano, unsurprisingly a Mexican/Latino joint.  What they did with the food was anything but unsurprising. We started off by having the “Autumn Guacamole”, which consisted of table side prepared guac in a stone bowl with the added ingredients of roasted apples, pears, and ground almonds. The basic guac was well balanced. I really prefer a lot of cilantro and onions in my guac, but I understand that most people find this overpowering. This kept a solid balance between the herbs and spices and was not too salty (a common downfall of guac IMHO). Add the pears, apples, and almonds were genius though. The sweetness of the fruit off set the inherent savor of the guac, giving it some very complex undertones that developed over the entire time you were eating it. The almonds, which didn't add much in the way of flavor in my opinion, did provide a good texture and crunch that is almost completely lacking from normal guac.

For my main course I went with the Goat Enchilada with Mole Sauce.  I have always been a fan of the bitter smokiness of good mole and the gaminess of Goat. Oddly enough up until this point I had never tried them together. It was delightful. The goad was cooked tender but no soggy and had enough flavor to stand up to the mole (which was very strong). The mole had a similar flavor to northern Chinese brown bean past mixed with Chinese BBQ sauce, I took me by surprise at first but I soon fell in love with it. What also surprised me was that there were more roasted fruits as well! I am normally deeply opposed to fruit on any meat besides pork, but found this to supply a subtle undertone like in the Guacamole.  The goat was gamy, but not over-overpoweringly so to my pallet. I would definitely get this dish again.

Saturday found my mother, my girlfriend (yeah, yeah, I made her a proper Bond girl) and me at George Town Cupcakes. This is still one of my favorite cupcake bakeries in DC, yes there is a lot of hype surrounding it and yes the lines are ridiculous, but they consistently deliver a moist and flavorful cupcake with frosting that is not over powering. I went for the pumpkin spice cupcake, which was delicious but almost too rich (if there is such a thing when it comes to cupcakes).

That same weekend my close college buddy Sterling was in town for his girl-friend's 21st birth day. In preparation of the absolute beating they were going to give their kidneys that night (and partly to mitigate it) they decided to go hit up Good Eats in Eastern Market. Using my superior mooching skills I managed to secure myself an invite to join them on what probably should have been a two person affair (I do love playing the third wheel). Good Eats is know for their thick milkshakes or malts and their burgers. Having already indulge my fat side with the Cupcakes, I opted to skip the milkshake for another day and instead try out their "Obama Burger." First off, this burger had Roquefort on it. Not cheep blue cheese from who know where's or limp swiss, but real, pungent, creamy, Roquefort. This by it self made this beef based bon bon something special. Unfortunately, for the 11 bucks I spent (I didn't even get fries with it!) I only got a very small sandwich which while delicious, what not worth 11 bucks. So while I through enjoyed the sandwich, I won't be going back. I don't mind paying an arm and a leg for good food, but it needs to be worth the arm and the leg that I payed!

Because of the nature of my job I was able to get my office to send me home for Thanksgiving, the drawback being I would be working over the entire holiday.  Since my Co-host, producer and Camera Crew had never been to Ohio before I had the opportunity to introduce them to the culinary pleasures Columbus has to offer. We started off with City BBQ, which is closely tied with Ray Ray’s BBQ pit for best BBQ place in town. Because it is a local chain the quality is much higher and consistent. They do what I will term as “Ohio BBQ” because it does not comfortably fit into any of the standard sub-divisions.  All the meat is first dry smoked and with sauce table side (everything from Carolina vinegar to K.C. sweet) if you want it. To me the chains signature item is their pulled pork. Juicy without being soggy (can’t STAND soggy meat), the pork almost always has a beautiful smoke ring and a dark bark. My normal order is a pound of the pulled pork and a couple of buns and their ‘cukes and inions. My compatriots opted to go with the mega platter which comes with basically everything they serve. They felt the ribs and (to my utter surprise) brisket was the winners of the meal. I‘ve always found their brisket a little bland and overly chewy, but to each his own I guess.

That next day I introduced them to the best Pho restaurant I have yet to be too. Lac Viet is probably the best kept restaurant secret in the city. Nestled quietly in an out of the way strip mall, the owner put out hot pho, ccu ri, and what every else he decides he wants to try that day for almost 10 years. One of the things he does that no one else does is Lamb Pho. While it’s not anything close to traditional (he learned to cook lamb from his brothers who went to college in central Asia during the early years of communist rule), the sweetness and spiciness of the Central Asian lamb mixes great with the pho broth and noodles. Honestly, at this point if I’m not having Lac Viet Pho I’m always a little disappointed. Happy to say that my co-workers felt the same way, though the owner forgot to bring out our Ccu Ri and when I asked him about it he told me he would make it next time (which pissed me off a bit, normally the service is better than that).

Saturday night found me hanging with my friends at my old fall back for good pizza, Hound Dogs! I always warn people when going there for the first time that it is the epitome of a “dive.” It’s poorly lit, loud, most of the tables and chairs look like they were recently used in a pro-wrestling match, and the service is generally pretty bad. But the pizza, Oh the pizza! If you are one of those health freaks that do not like greasy pizza please go somewhere else, you are unworthy to delight in the pleasures in this pinnacle of pizza perfection. The dough is not overly thick (I despise doughy pizza) and is slathered in a butter garlic and secret ingredient (which I’m 99% sure is crack cocaine) sauce that is out of this world. They have several different types of sauce ranging from your basic marinara to spicy, to a white feta sauce, to a pesto that is to die for. The ingredients are good quality though I would not go so far as to call them gourmet. Honestly, this is just a great restaurant to crash at with a group of your closes friends and sit and talk for a couple of hours. The bar adjoining it even has live music some night and sometimes it’s even good!

All good things must come to an end though, and the next morning found me back in the car driving back to the capital. Not that I’m too sad though, there’s still LOTS of food to be tried in DC, I just happen to know a guy…….