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1) The Butcher's Block
Adjacent to chef Robert Wiedmaier's Brabo restaurant, this European-style grocery carries a mix of gourmet nibbles and sips — fresh-baked bread, homemade pates, handpicked artisanal wines — ideal for grabbing for a party or picnic.
» 1600 King St.; 703-894-5253
2) La Fromagerie
Just check the blackboard for which cheeses this "Are-we-in-Paris?" corner shop has on a given day, from French raw-milk Comte to Virginia feta. Rhone-born co-owner Sebastien Tavel also populates the golden-walled space with cheese boards, wines and haute crackers.
» 1222 King St.; 703-879-2467
LONG, LEGGY AND both loved and feared, the communal table has probably already landed in a neighborhood near you. This oversized piece of furniture has been steadily gaining territory in area restaurants for the past decade, popping up at uptown neighborhood haunts, downtown hot spots and suburban bakeries alike. If you haven't yet experienced one, allow us to provide an introduction.
The communal table is a lengthy slab seating eight to 20-some people, be they small groups of strangers or one large party. Restaurants prize them for their versatility, and also because they evoke a sense of community and sharing — plus, they're striking. They hark back to the days when eating was more of a family or community affair; conjure images of spring picnics and fall farmhouse dinners; and borrow a page from the Tuscan book on entertaining (the more the merrier).
Continue Reading "And One Table for All: Communal Tables Fill D.C. Restaurants" »
WITH WARM WEATHER comes fired grills, but you don't have to lift a finger for your charred-meat fix — Rocklands is turning up the heat at its locations with "Grills Gone Wild" week. From March 22 to 28, a unique, completely wood-grilled menu — including dishes such as wild boar sausages served with collard greens and honey mustard; Guinness-marinated bison steak; and ostrich burgers — brings smoked perfection to daredevil foodies. The eccentric menu will be available at all four area Rocklands restaurants. Patrons can also take a piece of the action home with "Grills Gone Wild" T-shirts, selling for $7 each.
Help to Bring Water, Water Everywhere
A glass of H2O is a staple for each place setting at most restaurants, but clean drinking water is far more scarce in some underdeveloped countries. Now, you can help out with that. To celebrate World Water Week next week, Bourbon Steak and Seasons restaurant are asking their guests to donate at least $1 to the UNICEF Tap Project — an effort that provides clean drinking water to those around the globe who need it.
Photo by Stephanie K. Kuykendal/For The Washington Post
NO MATTER WHERE you hang your chef's hat, seasoning blends probably lurk in your pantry, zipping up the taste and looks of almost anything they dust. In the mid- Atlantic, we love to sprinkle crabs (and french fries, rockfish fillets and creamy soups) with Old Bay, a melange of celery salt, pepper, mustard and paprika. In Louisiana, Bloody Marys and blackened fish often get kicked up a few notches by Lawry's Seasoned Salt. Cooks have experimented with their spices since prehistoric times, a culinary cross-pollination that's resulted in time-saving blends. "Some flavors play well with each other, which is why these mixes came to be," says India-born, D.C.-based food writer Monica Bhide, author of "Modern Spice" ($25, Simon & Schuster). "With a blend, you don't have to stand in your kitchen and grind seven different spices. It's something ready to go." Here are five such globe-trotting combos, plus what pros suggest you do with them.
Herbes de Provence
A combination of oregano, basil, thyme, sage, savory, rosemary and, sometimes, lavender.
» Origin: Southern France
» Taste: "It's got a subtle flavor, sort of a shortcut to Mediterranean cuisine," says Paris food blogger Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolateandzucchini.com.
» Traditional Use: This garden-to-table blend has starred in chicken, fish and veggie dishes for centuries. It's close amie: potatoes gratin (aka scalloped potatoes). "It's also good with goat cheese," says Dusoulier. "Cut some chevre, lay it on slices of bread, toast in the oven and sprinkle the herbs on."
» New Wave Use: "Make vanilla and Herbes de Provence ice cream," says Dusoulier. "Infuse the milk you use with the herbs for five minutes."
» Buy It: $4.85 for 4 oz.; Penzeys.com
Continue Reading "Spice Whirl: Globe-Trotting Spice Blends" »
IF YOU'VE EVER gone to a restaurant and fallen in love with the wine in your glass or the cheese on your plate, you're going to appreciate Clarendon's Screwtop Wine Bar, where all the wines, cheeses and charcuterie on the menu are also available in the shop.
"One reason I did this was because of the economy," owner Wendy Buckley says. "People can't afford to go out every night, but they can enjoy the same wine and cheese we have at the bar, and take it home affordably."
Screwtop, which opened in mid-December, focuses on boutique wines, and Buckley says that 70 percent of the bottles for sale are less than $30, with the lowest priced at $9.99.
WHEN THE JAMES Beard Foundation announced its restaurant and chef award semifinalists last month, Washington's J&G Steakhouse found itself among the nominees for best new restaurant.
As the foundation prepares to announce the names of finalists March 22, J&G General Manager Peter Smith spoke about how the latest location in chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's expanding dominion has progressed since it opened its doors at the W Hotel on July 8.
» EXPRESS: What was your reaction to the James Beard nomination?
» SMITH: It's a great recognition among great restaurants. Obviously, we're thrilled. It's the top award you can win as a restaurateur, so we're really happy to be in the running. We're still a little shocked. We just opened, so it's just great.
MOST PEOPLE WANT to get something for their birthdays. Not Art Smith, the restaurateur behind Capitol Hill's Art and Soul (415 New Jersey Ave. NW; 202-393-7777). For his big 5-0, he wanted to lose something: an even bigger 1-0-0. And as he celebrated Monday, he was 90 pounds toward his goal, with plans to knock off the final 10 in the next few weeks.
"Honey, when you're as overweight as I was — and there was a lot of me to love at 325 pounds — it's scary," he says. But it wasn't scary enough for the king of comfort food to do anything about it even after he'd developed diabetes. His feet hurt. His vision blurred. Then, one night last summer he rushed to the hospital convinced he was experiencing cardiac arrest. It was a false alarm, but Smith never wanted to go through that again.
It's not as though Smith was clueless about healthy living. He served as Oprah Winfrey's personal chef for a decade. He's prepared meals for the famously calorie-conscious Obama family, and he even developed the recipes featured in the book "The Spectrum," by wellness expert Dean Ornish. But that didn't mean it was simple to change a half-century of habits.
Continue Reading "New Work of Art: How Chef Art Smith Lost 100 Pounds" »
CHEF WILL ARTLEY of the Evening Star Cafe anxiously peeked out of the kitchen, trying to see the expression on a very important diner's face as she sampled his newest creation: a twist on a traditional lasagna. He didn't need to worry — the 5-year-old girl enjoyed her meal at the Del Ray eatery so much she devoured half of her plate and took the leftovers home in a doggy bag.
"When there's a critic, it doesn't bother me, but I was nervous," says Artley, who was debuting his revamped kids' menu. He used to offer younger customers chicken tenders and fries, grilled cheese and fries and the like (also with fries), but for the past week and a half, he's instead been dishing up meals packed with nutrients, whole grains and only low-fat dairy.
That lasagna, for instance, boasts whole-wheat pasta and a marinara with way more than just tomato. "I added broccoli, asparagus and carrot juice. And I pureed peppers into it," Artley says. His baked fish sandwich comes with a tartar sauce made from fat-free Greek yogurt rather than mayonnaise. His sloppy joe is ground turkey, not beef, on a whole-wheat bun with a red sauce that also includes other invisible veggies.
Continue Reading "Unexpected Asparagus: Sneaking Veggies into Kids' Dishes" »
IF YOU'RE TOO lazy to make your own — or, hopefully, just too tired from your workout — you can order this at Art and Soul for $13.
Ingredients:
» 4 egg whites
» 1/2 cup roasted trumpet mushrooms (1 ounce)
» 2 tbsp caramelized onions
» 1 cup picked spinach
» 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
» 1 slice pineapple
» 1 slice cantaloupe
» 1 slice honeydew melon
» 1 strawberry sliced
» Kosher Salt to taste
Serves 1
Preheat oven to 350. Heat a non-stick oven-safe pan over medium heat and add the oil. Add the spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted. Add the roasted mushrooms and onions, and heat through. Add the egg whites and cook for one minute.
Continue Reading "Recipe File: Art and Soul Egg White Frittata" »
IT MOVED ONLY a few blocks, but the relocated Madhatter could have easily been found at the bottom of a rabbit hole.
M Street Madhatter was a refreshing breath of divey-ness. The basement bar barely let in any light but was brimming with regulars, cheap beers and fried foods. Then owner Michael Tobin "fell in love with the main dining room" of its new Connecticut Avenue address. "Plus, 'Alice [in Wonderland]' being a Victorian book and this place having a Victorian feel" made the decision easier.
Speaking of, Alice and the Mad Hatter can be found on practically every wall. The eclectic art cannot be ignored here as a creepy, colorful Cheshire cat sits atop the bar, eerily welcoming guests. Mirrors and paintings hang upside down. There's even an "upside down room" with a full dining table spread, complete with 3-D effects, mounted on the ceiling.
Tobin commissioned many of the decorative pieces, including tapping family members: graphic designer Lauren Houston, the owner's niece, enlarged and colorized some of the original "Alice in Wonderland" prints; and the owner's brother-in-law (and Houston's dad) crafted the tables. Because art plays such a prominent role, there is a details book at the host stand.
Addison Road