Jeremy and I went out for Valentine's Day, and had a magnificent time wining and dining ourselves at Petits Plats located in Woodley Park (by the zoo). It's a charming little French bistro tucked away in a townhouse across from the Woodley Park Metro station. Thoughts to describe bistro: charming, rustic, quaint, romantic, great place to people watch (especially on Valentine's Day:).
My favorite course on the prix-fixe Valentine's Day menu was the appetizer: Duo of Smoked Duck and Duck Rillette with Cornichon and Pesto sauce. I wasn't a fan of the smoked duck, but the duck rillette was something I'd never had before and it ended up being the perfect start. For those who don't know what a rillette is (I didn't), it is a preparation of meat similar to a pâté. The meat is cubed or chopped, heavily salted, and cooked slowly in fat until it is tender enough to be easily shredded, then cooled with enough of the fat to form a paste. Typically they are served as a spread for toasted bread. (Thanks, Wikipedia.)
For the entrée Jeremy had the Duo of Lobster and Scallops Served with Creamy Mushroom Risotto and Saffron Sauce with Piment d'Espelette. He's a big fan of risotto and thought it was tasty but wasn't too into the lobster and scallops. For myself, the Rack of Lamb Crusted with Dijon Mustard Served with Three Purée (broccoli, carrot, potato) and Thyme-Tarragon sauce. Great purées, especially the carrot. It kind of felt like I was eating baby food, but it sure hit the spot. The lamb was tender and juicy, and a nice touch with the Dijon. I love Dijon. I dream of moving to Dijon, France and just cooking with mustards all the livelong day. Slathering Dijon over baguettes and brioche, spreading it over crostini and crackers. Oh my...
I digress...
for dessert, Assorted Mignardises, which came as a trio of chocolate mousse, fruit tart, and lemon tart. Our favorite was the chocolate mousse. Paired with coffee, it was just too good. Oh I almost forgot, before the apps we ordered the cocktail special. For him, Kir Royal (Champagne, Crème de Cassis) and for her, a Bellini! (Champagne, Crème de Pêche). I was very excited to see Bellini on the menu because I've always dreamed of ordering "a Bellini with caviar please"...until I realized I was thinking of blini with caviar ...oops. :) Still, a delicious little drink.
I was quite excited about Petits Plats because I booked our reservation on Open Table, as a surprise for Jeremy. If you are unfamiliar with Open Table, you need to go visit the website. www.opentable.com. You just type in the name of your city, and a list of restaurants pops up, listing descriptions of each, price range, attire, etc. Très helpful for someone who doesn't know of many Washington, DC restaurants. I even made 2 reservations just in case...then canceled one for a different restaurant earlier that day. They probably don't like you to cancel the day of, but I had to be sure we had legit reservations. Come on, it's Valentine's Day after all! Restaurants in DC were jam-packed.
I was very pleased with the experience. And Jeremy had raved about the Woodley Park metro escalator and how it was the longest escalator in the world! (Not factual, but in his mind it is the longest.)I had to try it out. It is LONG. If you ride it in the winter, be sure to wear a scarf. Brrrr with the wind chill.
After Petits Plats we were feeling pretty lovey and a little tipsy. I mentioned how I've always wanted to go on a date to a piano bar so Jeremy did some research with the help of his Dad's Google research and via text we were able to get directions. A hop, skip and a jump over to the McPherson Square area and we found the place: Tuscana West. An Italian restaurant with a great old-fashioned looking bar and a little old man tickling the ivories. With martinis (her) and red wine (him) we sat and chatted, deeply gazing into each other's eyes [ok i'll stop with the lovesick now] in a corner on a couch by the bar, then ambled over to the piano man. He was playing what I thought was Blue Rondo a la Turk by Dave Brubeck, but it ended up actually being Take Five. I had fun talking jazz with the piano man as he was playing--so talented! Then after a few songs and more couch-time Jeremy stood up, walked around the little glass table to me, and in his wonderfully gentlemanly way, asked if I would like to dance. Of course! We danced the night away...the piano man even played the music theme of The Godfather. How perfect.
After Tuscana West, to be honest I didn't want the night to be over. It was magical and lovely and I knew the perfect way to end the evening. Oysters. We both love oysters, and have explored each other's palates together oyster by oyster. (I like them doused in lemon, tabasco, vinegar, and pepper on a saltine cracker, whereas my purist boyfriend sprinkles a little sea salt and tosses them back). So off to Clyde's we went. Clyde's is a favorite hangout of ours, over in Gallery Place/Chinatown. Sometimes they have an oyster happy hour (!!) with half-price oysters off of the raw menu, but not that night bc it was a holiday. (Really? Valentine's Day?) We had crab, oysters, and I might have ordered a martini? I cannot remember, the oysters were too delicious to remember the drink!
What an evening!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
How to Boil an Egg
I did make a discovery just yesterday. Inspired by the new film Julie and Julia (a blog post on these great ladies later), I realized I had never learned how to properly boil an egg.
How embarrassing!!!
How will I be able to poach an egg, and dip it into a homemade Hollandaise sauce (coming soon), if I cannot even boil one first? How can I call myself a "foodie", if I am so devoid of the understanding of how to properly prepare for myself a hard-boiled egg? Enough questions, Shannon! Time for answers. So I took two eggs, Googled "how to boil an egg", and here's what I found:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2047398_boil-perfect-hard-boiled-egg.html
All you do is:
1) Place the whole, uncooked, un-cracked, preferably fresh eggs into a saucepan.
2) Fill saucepan with cold water, completely covering eggs. Do not salt the water.
3) Place saucepan onto stove on high heat until water comes to a rolling boil.
4) Set timer for 3 minutes, allowing eggs to boil away. Do not cover.
5) When timer dings, remove saucepan from heat, cover with saucepan lid; re-set timer for 8 minutes.
6) After the 8 minutes is up, rinse eggs under cold running tap water for around 1 minute, then peel and eat.
It's that simple. And, as the e-how guide vows, you will never have green or gray yolks again. It's true. My egg yolks, which I usually discard because they're too hard or green or gray and generally nasty, were plump and soft and yellow and tasty. And the white part? Out of this world moist and easy to swallow. I'm not a big egg person but I even had two!
Happy egg boiling,
Shannon
How embarrassing!!!
How will I be able to poach an egg, and dip it into a homemade Hollandaise sauce (coming soon), if I cannot even boil one first? How can I call myself a "foodie", if I am so devoid of the understanding of how to properly prepare for myself a hard-boiled egg? Enough questions, Shannon! Time for answers. So I took two eggs, Googled "how to boil an egg", and here's what I found:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2047398_boil-perfect-hard-boiled-egg.html
All you do is:
1) Place the whole, uncooked, un-cracked, preferably fresh eggs into a saucepan.
2) Fill saucepan with cold water, completely covering eggs. Do not salt the water.
3) Place saucepan onto stove on high heat until water comes to a rolling boil.
4) Set timer for 3 minutes, allowing eggs to boil away. Do not cover.
5) When timer dings, remove saucepan from heat, cover with saucepan lid; re-set timer for 8 minutes.
6) After the 8 minutes is up, rinse eggs under cold running tap water for around 1 minute, then peel and eat.
It's that simple. And, as the e-how guide vows, you will never have green or gray yolks again. It's true. My egg yolks, which I usually discard because they're too hard or green or gray and generally nasty, were plump and soft and yellow and tasty. And the white part? Out of this world moist and easy to swallow. I'm not a big egg person but I even had two!
Happy egg boiling,
Shannon
Why Writing Is Tough For Me, or a glimpse into my zany brain
I am the biggest procrastinator in the universe. I'm worse than anyone I know, have ever met, or will ever meet. I will do everything in the house besides what I need, or even want, to do. I hate making beds, but I'll wash the sheets, wait for them to dry, make the bed, take the pillowcases off and put them back on again, (Ok so I'm OCD too) fluff the pillows, re-arrange the already obsessively-placed pillows into a more fitting color pattern, then decide I don't like the current down comforter...head to the hall closet in search of a better, warmer, prettier down duvet (comforters are SO early 2000s and we're in a new decade...need a new bedspread), and realize the closet is a mess! Time to reorganize! ADD, anyone? 2 hours (and 3 closets) later, the bed is made, but I still have to make my way down my to-do list...
I moved to Washington, DC on the first of November. I still need a new day job, new apartment, new family practice doctor, new ladies doctor, new psychiatrist, new therapist, new massage therapist, an acupuncturist recommended by my current 6 doctors, new trigger point therapist, new dermatologist, etc. Ok, I've never been to a dermatologist, nor a massage therapist, but now's as good a time as any, right?
Alright, I admit it. Along with OCD, ADD, SAD, and pretty much every other anxiety disorder you can think up, I'm a hypochondriac, too. My shoulder's been hurting for 3 years and I'm finally getting around to working toward solutions. Then 3 weeks ago my knee gives out. Like an 86 year old grandma. Not even joking. While I'm getting into a kneeling position to start the exercises my physical therapist gave me for my frozen shoulder, I simultaneously feel/hear 3 clicks of the knee then I'm on my face. O-M-Geeee. Did I mention I have zero pain tolerance?
So how am I ever to update my food blog when I'm on the floor, clearly so forgetful due to ADD that I sometimes forget to eat, not to mention the social anxiety disorder that keeps me indoors, out of the judgmental public's eye? How can I go to restaurants-- Out the door?? Onto the metro??? Into the city????
This a little taste of me. It may sound extreme, but I got issues. Doesn't everybody? I try to laugh about them. I laugh at myself. Oh I'm VERY good at being self-deprecating. I could do stand-up...if I wasn't so petrified of being in a large group of people. All staring at me. Waiting for me to make them laugh. I write, so I can see humor in just how much of a crack-up I am. It's my passive-aggressive way of throwing myself out there to the world. But the truth is, I'm alright. I'll be ok. I read many books, and this lifelong habit helps me to realize I'm not the only fruit loop out there.
Anne Lamott, for example, has all kinds of issues, and look how funny her books are. She is one of my heroes. If her life was perfect, I wouldn't want to read about her. Hello, can we say boring? The imperfections are what make her REAL and FUNNY and HUMAN, hence a better read. Besides, I think we all compare ourselves to others so we come out looking "normal"- even though I don't believe "normal" even exists. Anne Lamott is quirky, but knows who her friends are. She seems the type who can laugh as hard as she can cry-- who doesn't care about her past, as messed up as it may look on paper. In fact, writing those messes out turned her into the beloved writer and fantastic woman that she is today.
This is how I want to be. I want to be like Anne Lamott, who started out as a food writer by the way, and now is this hilarious role model writer lady. Based on her quirks and impurities, she's the funniest writer on the market. In my book, she couldn't be more lovable.
So about the food, as it is, after all, the reason for this blog...
please read next post, entitled "How to Boil an Egg"...
It's OK to be quirky,
Shannon
I moved to Washington, DC on the first of November. I still need a new day job, new apartment, new family practice doctor, new ladies doctor, new psychiatrist, new therapist, new massage therapist, an acupuncturist recommended by my current 6 doctors, new trigger point therapist, new dermatologist, etc. Ok, I've never been to a dermatologist, nor a massage therapist, but now's as good a time as any, right?
Alright, I admit it. Along with OCD, ADD, SAD, and pretty much every other anxiety disorder you can think up, I'm a hypochondriac, too. My shoulder's been hurting for 3 years and I'm finally getting around to working toward solutions. Then 3 weeks ago my knee gives out. Like an 86 year old grandma. Not even joking. While I'm getting into a kneeling position to start the exercises my physical therapist gave me for my frozen shoulder, I simultaneously feel/hear 3 clicks of the knee then I'm on my face. O-M-Geeee. Did I mention I have zero pain tolerance?
So how am I ever to update my food blog when I'm on the floor, clearly so forgetful due to ADD that I sometimes forget to eat, not to mention the social anxiety disorder that keeps me indoors, out of the judgmental public's eye? How can I go to restaurants-- Out the door?? Onto the metro??? Into the city????
This a little taste of me. It may sound extreme, but I got issues. Doesn't everybody? I try to laugh about them. I laugh at myself. Oh I'm VERY good at being self-deprecating. I could do stand-up...if I wasn't so petrified of being in a large group of people. All staring at me. Waiting for me to make them laugh. I write, so I can see humor in just how much of a crack-up I am. It's my passive-aggressive way of throwing myself out there to the world. But the truth is, I'm alright. I'll be ok. I read many books, and this lifelong habit helps me to realize I'm not the only fruit loop out there.
Anne Lamott, for example, has all kinds of issues, and look how funny her books are. She is one of my heroes. If her life was perfect, I wouldn't want to read about her. Hello, can we say boring? The imperfections are what make her REAL and FUNNY and HUMAN, hence a better read. Besides, I think we all compare ourselves to others so we come out looking "normal"- even though I don't believe "normal" even exists. Anne Lamott is quirky, but knows who her friends are. She seems the type who can laugh as hard as she can cry-- who doesn't care about her past, as messed up as it may look on paper. In fact, writing those messes out turned her into the beloved writer and fantastic woman that she is today.
This is how I want to be. I want to be like Anne Lamott, who started out as a food writer by the way, and now is this hilarious role model writer lady. Based on her quirks and impurities, she's the funniest writer on the market. In my book, she couldn't be more lovable.
So about the food, as it is, after all, the reason for this blog...
please read next post, entitled "How to Boil an Egg"...
It's OK to be quirky,
Shannon
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Facing those (writing) fears...
By popular vote (imploring of 2 friends), I have decided to keep the name. Whether I like it or not, it's me, and I still think it's catchy. But I have written a mission statement, which is different than the former mission statement of making this blog all about food and God. As much as my faith is important to me, trying to write about food and faith just isn't where I am anymore. Over the past two weeks, I've sat down so many times getting ready to write about what God's doing in my foodie life, and nothing came...so I promise to write in a way that is truly me, even if it means people don't agree, or don't like that I'm changing around the blog.
I don't see myself as selling out, just being true to myself...on that note, back to the reason for the blog, FOOD!
The past few weeks have provided SO many opportunities to write on a daily basis, and I'm sorry that I haven't. I don't know why I haven't...well if we're being honest here, yes I do...I worry that my food blog won't be good...."good" meaning entertaining, inspiring, encouraging, and above all, packed with foodstuff and stories that make people go "wow". I'm afraid that I'm not a good writer. I'm afraid I'm boring. I'm afraid people will read it and go, "Wow it's too bad she's not funnier/smarter/ (insert adjective here) in her writing". I'm afraid people will think because I'm an English major, I'm this awesome, intellectual, funny, witty writer. I'm afraid that it will be too much about my life and not as much about food. I'm afraid that my fears of what people think of me will take over, and I'll write with a certain person in mind (ie daily blogger who has the LIFE!) and I won't measure up...
So, I'm writing all those fears down, and publishing them on here, and putting them to rest. They're gone. Dead. Buried.
When I was at Palm Beach Atlantic University in FL (2005), before I transferred out, I took a great Creative Writing for Publication class. In the class we had to get serious about our writing, and actually send out submissions to literary reviews and magazines to try to get published. David Athey (phenomenal teacher) had us do this exercise where we took all of our rejection letters, passed them around the room, reading the responses as a group, then we all walked to the middle of the room and each threw a stack up into the air!!! It was so exhilirating and refreshing, and made us realize they didn't matter. What MATTERED, was that we get over the rejection and get writing again. Essentially, to let them fly out of our hands and out of our minds. And it worked. Soon, we were writing again and reading our words out loud, and sending out other batches of submissions. Some students were published; I'm still tossing up those rejection letters...
but it doesn't mean I'm going to quit writing. I love food, and I love writing. So I'm just going to stay true to myself and write about what I love. Eventually, I'll find my groove and my fears will disappear. They're still lingering, but the best way to get over those fears is to face them down.
Determined,
Shannon
I don't see myself as selling out, just being true to myself...on that note, back to the reason for the blog, FOOD!
The past few weeks have provided SO many opportunities to write on a daily basis, and I'm sorry that I haven't. I don't know why I haven't...well if we're being honest here, yes I do...I worry that my food blog won't be good...."good" meaning entertaining, inspiring, encouraging, and above all, packed with foodstuff and stories that make people go "wow". I'm afraid that I'm not a good writer. I'm afraid I'm boring. I'm afraid people will read it and go, "Wow it's too bad she's not funnier/smarter/ (insert adjective here) in her writing". I'm afraid people will think because I'm an English major, I'm this awesome, intellectual, funny, witty writer. I'm afraid that it will be too much about my life and not as much about food. I'm afraid that my fears of what people think of me will take over, and I'll write with a certain person in mind (ie daily blogger who has the LIFE!) and I won't measure up...
So, I'm writing all those fears down, and publishing them on here, and putting them to rest. They're gone. Dead. Buried.
When I was at Palm Beach Atlantic University in FL (2005), before I transferred out, I took a great Creative Writing for Publication class. In the class we had to get serious about our writing, and actually send out submissions to literary reviews and magazines to try to get published. David Athey (phenomenal teacher) had us do this exercise where we took all of our rejection letters, passed them around the room, reading the responses as a group, then we all walked to the middle of the room and each threw a stack up into the air!!! It was so exhilirating and refreshing, and made us realize they didn't matter. What MATTERED, was that we get over the rejection and get writing again. Essentially, to let them fly out of our hands and out of our minds. And it worked. Soon, we were writing again and reading our words out loud, and sending out other batches of submissions. Some students were published; I'm still tossing up those rejection letters...
but it doesn't mean I'm going to quit writing. I love food, and I love writing. So I'm just going to stay true to myself and write about what I love. Eventually, I'll find my groove and my fears will disappear. They're still lingering, but the best way to get over those fears is to face them down.
Determined,
Shannon
Saturday, January 16, 2010
New year, new name
Nope, I'm not getting married...I don't need a new name. I like mine just fine...but my BLOG does need a new name!
In 2007 I started http://www.andbemerry.blogspot.com/, based on my favorite Bible verse... eatdrinkandbemerry was already taken, so I settled on andbemerry. It was catchy. It was cute. But it's been 3 years. I'm not that cutesy person anymore. Last night one of my besties, Shirah, and I were talking on the phone and she asked if I had changed the name yet...noooo I say, ....hoping she would give me some inspired new foodie name, but she said "andbemerry is cute". Exactly. It's cute. But I don't wanna be cute. Cute isn't me. So my blog needs a new name.
After chewing on it for days and not coming up with anything "me", I took to my photo albums to glean some inspiration. I have a lot of pictures of drinks. I like taking pictures of cappucino. Just the look of a great big white mug of frothy cappucino sprinkled with freshly ground chocolate makes me smile (then go to Starbucks), so my blog should be named something that makes me and hopefully other people smile, right?
I like taking pictures of sweets, even though I wouldn't call myself a person with a sweet tooth. (I prefer salt) So over the years I have accrued quite a collection of bakery-item photographs.
I love cheese, of all kinds. Jarlesberg, Brie, Camembert, Saint Andre, Brillat-Savarin, and especially Port Salut...but do I want my blog to be all about cheese? Nah. Keep thinking, Shannon...
I love sitting in cafes, reading a good book like A Moveable Feast, and people watching. So my blog should also have that vibe. But still no ideas jumped out at me.
Then it hit me! My film collection! Surely I can find some inspiration there. Surely a title will just grab me by the cheeks. After casting aside Mystic Pizza and Big Night and Babette's Feast and Mostly Martha (all wonderful foodie films, by the way, and my favorites) ....VOILA!! It hit me, out of nowhere!!!
CANNOLI!!!!! It's one of my favorite foods to eat, photograph, and just admire. It's sweet, but satisfies my craving for cheese too. It's creamy and delicious, wrapped in a delicate pastry dough, and can be decked out with chocolate chips, nuts, you name it, for a unique flavor. I've always stopped to admire it in the bakery case of Italian bakeries before taste-testing then buying a 1/2 dozen to admire myself before eating whole. Licking your fingers after eating a cannoli may just be the greatest thing to do on earth. Yes, yes, yes, my blog must have the word "cannoli" in the title. Then WHAM!
Another revelation. The Godfather. Cannoli. You've Got Mail. Cannoli. A pattern is emerging. What is my favorite quote from The Godfather, so artistically injected into my favorite movie, You've Got Mail?
"LEAVE THE GUN, TAKE THE CANNOLI".... or for blog purposes....TAKE THE CANNOLI.
YES!!!! I love it. takethecannoli.blogspot.com. It's fresh, artsy, inspired by a great film, an amazing cheesy sweet I've always adored, tied to a fascinating culture I am inspired by (Italian). I could barely type the words into blogspot fast enough. I have a new blog name! 2010 is off to a great start, with a catchy new blog that surely everyone will read, and they'll all comment on how I'm so witty and splendidly creative. Take the cannoli! Inspired!
...Until I realize that there is already a http://www.takethecannoli.blogspot.com/. Noooo! How can it be? So I click on it and...it's not even about food! And it hasn't been updated since 2002! Even I can update more than that! What's more, there is no talk about cannoli in the one post "Taylor" has written, about being in some theatre production. Noooo. How can someone take an ingenious line and make it their blog name, taking away my perfect start to 2010? How?
Well, this is not the end of my search. Oh no. I WILL get that blog name. Even if I have to hunt "Taylor" down and hack into his blogspot account myself! I have posted a picture of cannoli I took a few years ago from Cafe Graffiti in Boston in the hopes that my e-mail will be gratefully received, and "Taylor" will be happy to relinquish his little spot on the internet so I might become a famous food blogger. Or at least a food blogger with that perfect name!
Stay tuned,
Shannon
In 2007 I started http://www.andbemerry.blogspot.com/, based on my favorite Bible verse... eatdrinkandbemerry was already taken, so I settled on andbemerry. It was catchy. It was cute. But it's been 3 years. I'm not that cutesy person anymore. Last night one of my besties, Shirah, and I were talking on the phone and she asked if I had changed the name yet...noooo I say, ....hoping she would give me some inspired new foodie name, but she said "andbemerry is cute". Exactly. It's cute. But I don't wanna be cute. Cute isn't me. So my blog needs a new name.
After chewing on it for days and not coming up with anything "me", I took to my photo albums to glean some inspiration. I have a lot of pictures of drinks. I like taking pictures of cappucino. Just the look of a great big white mug of frothy cappucino sprinkled with freshly ground chocolate makes me smile (then go to Starbucks), so my blog should be named something that makes me and hopefully other people smile, right?
I like taking pictures of sweets, even though I wouldn't call myself a person with a sweet tooth. (I prefer salt) So over the years I have accrued quite a collection of bakery-item photographs.
I love cheese, of all kinds. Jarlesberg, Brie, Camembert, Saint Andre, Brillat-Savarin, and especially Port Salut...but do I want my blog to be all about cheese? Nah. Keep thinking, Shannon...
I love sitting in cafes, reading a good book like A Moveable Feast, and people watching. So my blog should also have that vibe. But still no ideas jumped out at me.
Then it hit me! My film collection! Surely I can find some inspiration there. Surely a title will just grab me by the cheeks. After casting aside Mystic Pizza and Big Night and Babette's Feast and Mostly Martha (all wonderful foodie films, by the way, and my favorites) ....VOILA!! It hit me, out of nowhere!!!
CANNOLI!!!!! It's one of my favorite foods to eat, photograph, and just admire. It's sweet, but satisfies my craving for cheese too. It's creamy and delicious, wrapped in a delicate pastry dough, and can be decked out with chocolate chips, nuts, you name it, for a unique flavor. I've always stopped to admire it in the bakery case of Italian bakeries before taste-testing then buying a 1/2 dozen to admire myself before eating whole. Licking your fingers after eating a cannoli may just be the greatest thing to do on earth. Yes, yes, yes, my blog must have the word "cannoli" in the title. Then WHAM!
Another revelation. The Godfather. Cannoli. You've Got Mail. Cannoli. A pattern is emerging. What is my favorite quote from The Godfather, so artistically injected into my favorite movie, You've Got Mail?
"LEAVE THE GUN, TAKE THE CANNOLI".... or for blog purposes....TAKE THE CANNOLI.
YES!!!! I love it. takethecannoli.blogspot.com. It's fresh, artsy, inspired by a great film, an amazing cheesy sweet I've always adored, tied to a fascinating culture I am inspired by (Italian). I could barely type the words into blogspot fast enough. I have a new blog name! 2010 is off to a great start, with a catchy new blog that surely everyone will read, and they'll all comment on how I'm so witty and splendidly creative. Take the cannoli! Inspired!
...Until I realize that there is already a http://www.takethecannoli.blogspot.com/. Noooo! How can it be? So I click on it and...it's not even about food! And it hasn't been updated since 2002! Even I can update more than that! What's more, there is no talk about cannoli in the one post "Taylor" has written, about being in some theatre production. Noooo. How can someone take an ingenious line and make it their blog name, taking away my perfect start to 2010? How?
Well, this is not the end of my search. Oh no. I WILL get that blog name. Even if I have to hunt "Taylor" down and hack into his blogspot account myself! I have posted a picture of cannoli I took a few years ago from Cafe Graffiti in Boston in the hopes that my e-mail will be gratefully received, and "Taylor" will be happy to relinquish his little spot on the internet so I might become a famous food blogger. Or at least a food blogger with that perfect name!
Stay tuned,
Shannon
Pizzeria Paradiso, take two
So on Tuesday Jeremy surprised me with the great news that he had Wednesday off! Do you know what this means? A day to explore Washington, DC. I mean, I explore it on my own fairly often, but it's always more fun with a companion...so Wednesday morning we headed out, with the first stop being the national monument. I've always wanted to see DC from above, and Jeremy had already seen it a couple years ago. So we took the metro in, and it was COLD! But nevertheless, I got my view of the White House, Capitol building, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, all the things I was excited about seeing...from like 550 feet above ground!!
After this, we were HUNGRY! Immediately, Dupont jumped into my head. I really like the area, and felt we had much more exploring to do. I really wasn't sure if I wanted pizza, but once we took the metro around for a while and finally got there (one stop farther than we wanted to go, oops) we were ravenous...and all Jeremy had to do was suggest Pizzeria Paradiso and bring back the fond memory of our first time there and I was sold. I had kind of wanted to check out some other places in the area, you know, try something new, but all I could think about was getting more serious about my food blog, and how you should really dine at a restaurant a couple times before writing about it...to get the full feel of the place. So with that in mind, and with Jeremy excited about some good pizza in his future, off we went. Again, we walked @ Dupont a couple times before we re-routed ourselves and realized we were walking in the opposite direction. We were on P Street, but headed toward the residential part, not where all the shops and restaurants were. So we turned around, walked through the little park and were on our way.
3:00 pm at Pizzeria Paradiso in mid-January was empty, except for a couple folks at the bar. Here are my notes:
Olives! Just as good as before, wish I could have more...they sure know how to get those taste buds all revved up for what's to come...
Drinks- for her, chianti classico 2003 that he ordered for me -great choice. dry, earthy, nice aftertaste
for him- delirium nocturnium beer, from belgium with hints of bananas and red wine! i took one sip but stuck with my wine
Wine still served in drinking glass, and beer served in a wine glass! huh? But I'm kind of liking drinking it this way. It's growing on me.
Appetizer- Crostino Formaggio di capra- which is: toasted homemade bread topped w/ goat cheese and prosciutto di parma for $6.95
Jeremy's reaction after one bite: "That's pretty serious." I think he likes....
Crunchy bread on outside but soft inside, great burst of basil and the prosciutto-goat cheese combo melts in your mouth.
Ambience: earth tones, firewood under hostess stand makes for a rustic feel.
Pizza special: The Little Italy- roasted broccoli rabe, tomato, hot sausage, mushroom, red pepper flakes
Not a huge fan of the broccoli rabe (pronounced "rob", thanks Jeremy or I would have called it "raybe" all day), but mushrooms paired with hot sausage was tasty. Spicy aftertaste. Like Atomica better
We'll have to head back there again for more of the different pizza combinations. Honestly though, each time we visited I left not wanting more of the pizza, but more of the olives!
Eat your pizza! (I ate mine)
Shannon
After this, we were HUNGRY! Immediately, Dupont jumped into my head. I really like the area, and felt we had much more exploring to do. I really wasn't sure if I wanted pizza, but once we took the metro around for a while and finally got there (one stop farther than we wanted to go, oops) we were ravenous...and all Jeremy had to do was suggest Pizzeria Paradiso and bring back the fond memory of our first time there and I was sold. I had kind of wanted to check out some other places in the area, you know, try something new, but all I could think about was getting more serious about my food blog, and how you should really dine at a restaurant a couple times before writing about it...to get the full feel of the place. So with that in mind, and with Jeremy excited about some good pizza in his future, off we went. Again, we walked @ Dupont a couple times before we re-routed ourselves and realized we were walking in the opposite direction. We were on P Street, but headed toward the residential part, not where all the shops and restaurants were. So we turned around, walked through the little park and were on our way.
3:00 pm at Pizzeria Paradiso in mid-January was empty, except for a couple folks at the bar. Here are my notes:
Olives! Just as good as before, wish I could have more...they sure know how to get those taste buds all revved up for what's to come...
Drinks- for her, chianti classico 2003 that he ordered for me -great choice. dry, earthy, nice aftertaste
for him- delirium nocturnium beer, from belgium with hints of bananas and red wine! i took one sip but stuck with my wine
Wine still served in drinking glass, and beer served in a wine glass! huh? But I'm kind of liking drinking it this way. It's growing on me.
Appetizer- Crostino Formaggio di capra- which is: toasted homemade bread topped w/ goat cheese and prosciutto di parma for $6.95
Jeremy's reaction after one bite: "That's pretty serious." I think he likes....
Crunchy bread on outside but soft inside, great burst of basil and the prosciutto-goat cheese combo melts in your mouth.
Ambience: earth tones, firewood under hostess stand makes for a rustic feel.
Pizza special: The Little Italy- roasted broccoli rabe, tomato, hot sausage, mushroom, red pepper flakes
Not a huge fan of the broccoli rabe (pronounced "rob", thanks Jeremy or I would have called it "raybe" all day), but mushrooms paired with hot sausage was tasty. Spicy aftertaste. Like Atomica better
We'll have to head back there again for more of the different pizza combinations. Honestly though, each time we visited I left not wanting more of the pizza, but more of the olives!
Eat your pizza! (I ate mine)
Shannon
Friday, January 15, 2010
Pizzeria Paradiso (take one...early December 2009)
Happy 2010! I have relocated! Foodie greetings from Washington, DC!
In an effort to refurbish this blog and get it up and running again, posting more than 2 entries a year, I need blogging advice! What would make for a better blog? If you are a blogger, help! I need your input, so this can become more easily accessible, and a more entertaining read!
Now for the review: Pizzeria Paradiso, 2003 P Street, NW and at http://www.eatyourpizza.com/
This Dupont Circle pizza establishment is the perfect lunch or dinner after a day out gallavanting the city. My boyfriend, Jeremy, is a line cook, climbing those kitchen ranks, so a day off is much desired, and we're always on the lookout for a great restaurant (that is within our tight budgets)...enter Pizzeria Paradiso.
The first time we dined here was a Monday evening last December. We had spent the day touring the Smithsonian museums, and we were ready for some pizza! I had been carrying around a little DC travel guide since moving to the city, loaded with restaurants to explore, and had highlighted Pizzeria Paradiso namely because it is located in Dupont Circle, where I've always wanted to explore. So off we went. We took the metro from the Smithsonian/Mall area and easily found Dupont Circle, walked around the circle a couple times looking for the right direction of P Street, and found our place.
Straight out of my notes that early December evening:
Cute, quaint, and rustic. I love that they serve a mix of Greek olives in a little dish in place of bread, and I'm grooving on the eclectic crowd. The pizza place for DC hipsters? Roomy enough but not too large of a restaurant. Casual dress code. Bohemian-type servers (all sorts of piercings and tattoos ok here) with a slight air of arrogance...but it works.
Drinks-for her: Montepuciano red wine, for him: vodka martini, dirty
Wine served in a drinking glass!!!--ODD and I don't like it. Wish I could swirl it around and let it "breathe", as dad, J, always tells me to do. Umm, you definitely can't swirl wine in a drinking glass. It splashes and splooshes and it's just not the same. And turning it sideways...not happening. Not so sure about this...
Appetizer: Bruschetta--delicious, but not enough for $6.
Ordered the Atomica pizza (suggested from my little tour guide) which came with salami, mozzarella, tomatoes and what tasted like kalamata olives (website says they are black olives), and hot pepper flakes. First pizza came out looking burnt so we sent it back. Manager comes to table and says, "That's the way it comes" but we insisted he bring us out another pie. He was very polite. Jeremy was very polite too. I was not as polite, quipping, "My boyfriend works in the culinary profession" just to prove we knew good food, and when a pizza looks burnt, it probably tastes that way too. In retrospect, I shouldn't have thrown in that comment (Why do I do those sorts of things?), but the 2nd pizza was great.
Note: I don't usually send food back because of all those horror stories and e-mail forwards about what cooks do to your food (can we say Domino's???) when you send it back, but from my vantage point in the seating area I could watch like a hawk the cooks preparing our pie. No monkey business.
We will return.
***/*****
(Like I'm foodie enough to give stars!)
Next read: Pizzeria Paradiso, take 2
Shannon
In an effort to refurbish this blog and get it up and running again, posting more than 2 entries a year, I need blogging advice! What would make for a better blog? If you are a blogger, help! I need your input, so this can become more easily accessible, and a more entertaining read!
Now for the review: Pizzeria Paradiso, 2003 P Street, NW and at http://www.eatyourpizza.com/
This Dupont Circle pizza establishment is the perfect lunch or dinner after a day out gallavanting the city. My boyfriend, Jeremy, is a line cook, climbing those kitchen ranks, so a day off is much desired, and we're always on the lookout for a great restaurant (that is within our tight budgets)...enter Pizzeria Paradiso.
The first time we dined here was a Monday evening last December. We had spent the day touring the Smithsonian museums, and we were ready for some pizza! I had been carrying around a little DC travel guide since moving to the city, loaded with restaurants to explore, and had highlighted Pizzeria Paradiso namely because it is located in Dupont Circle, where I've always wanted to explore. So off we went. We took the metro from the Smithsonian/Mall area and easily found Dupont Circle, walked around the circle a couple times looking for the right direction of P Street, and found our place.
Straight out of my notes that early December evening:
Cute, quaint, and rustic. I love that they serve a mix of Greek olives in a little dish in place of bread, and I'm grooving on the eclectic crowd. The pizza place for DC hipsters? Roomy enough but not too large of a restaurant. Casual dress code. Bohemian-type servers (all sorts of piercings and tattoos ok here) with a slight air of arrogance...but it works.
Drinks-for her: Montepuciano red wine, for him: vodka martini, dirty
Wine served in a drinking glass!!!--ODD and I don't like it. Wish I could swirl it around and let it "breathe", as dad, J, always tells me to do. Umm, you definitely can't swirl wine in a drinking glass. It splashes and splooshes and it's just not the same. And turning it sideways...not happening. Not so sure about this...
Appetizer: Bruschetta--delicious, but not enough for $6.
Ordered the Atomica pizza (suggested from my little tour guide) which came with salami, mozzarella, tomatoes and what tasted like kalamata olives (website says they are black olives), and hot pepper flakes. First pizza came out looking burnt so we sent it back. Manager comes to table and says, "That's the way it comes" but we insisted he bring us out another pie. He was very polite. Jeremy was very polite too. I was not as polite, quipping, "My boyfriend works in the culinary profession" just to prove we knew good food, and when a pizza looks burnt, it probably tastes that way too. In retrospect, I shouldn't have thrown in that comment (Why do I do those sorts of things?), but the 2nd pizza was great.
Note: I don't usually send food back because of all those horror stories and e-mail forwards about what cooks do to your food (can we say Domino's???) when you send it back, but from my vantage point in the seating area I could watch like a hawk the cooks preparing our pie. No monkey business.
We will return.
***/*****
(Like I'm foodie enough to give stars!)
Next read: Pizzeria Paradiso, take 2
Shannon
Monday, July 27, 2009
I heart Saigon (Cafe)
The Saigon Cafe is truly great. It is located in a tucked-away-enough location so as to "hide" and stay small and quaint. It is family-owned, and they are pretty much the sweetest couple-with-son team in Charlottesville. It is directly behind Cville Coffee, so afterwards you can pop over for a quick espresso. And it's totally affordable! Tonight Linds and I dined out and our budgets are TIGHT. In this economy, splurging on dinner is just not ok. But Saigon is like the only Vietnamese in Cville so what are two hungry twenty somethings to do?
I cannot pronounce what I ordered and seeing as the kindly older gentleman chuckled as I tried in my oh-so-Americanized-wannabe-Vietnamese-accent to pronounce what I had, I will not bother here. But it involved beef. Broccoli. A rich, not-too-salty (but just enough) broth. Bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and that is it. Simple, and not overdone. Accompanied by fried rice...oh God take me now. And Tsingtao. Great beer from Qingdao, China. YUM. I even devoured Lin's extra fried rice portion. Real chopsticks, which shows they care. Humble atmosphere, a lot of Cville political folk and intellectual types, some UVA students (not the obnoxious ones though). I hope Cville doesn't discover this one. Just enough people so that it stays open in these rough times, but please let's not make it the trendy take-out place? Ugh that would be a crime.
Use your chopsticks,
Shannon
I cannot pronounce what I ordered and seeing as the kindly older gentleman chuckled as I tried in my oh-so-Americanized-wannabe-Vietnamese-accent to pronounce what I had, I will not bother here. But it involved beef. Broccoli. A rich, not-too-salty (but just enough) broth. Bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and that is it. Simple, and not overdone. Accompanied by fried rice...oh God take me now. And Tsingtao. Great beer from Qingdao, China. YUM. I even devoured Lin's extra fried rice portion. Real chopsticks, which shows they care. Humble atmosphere, a lot of Cville political folk and intellectual types, some UVA students (not the obnoxious ones though). I hope Cville doesn't discover this one. Just enough people so that it stays open in these rough times, but please let's not make it the trendy take-out place? Ugh that would be a crime.
Use your chopsticks,
Shannon
Friday, January 9, 2009
White Truffle Oil
So in an attempt to taste more exotic flavors in 2009 I used a Christmas gift card from Oil and Vinegar to purchase 1 deciliter of white truffle oil. Every town should have an Oil and Vinegar store! http://www.oilandvinegarusa.com/
No longer am I only a sampler of truffle oil. Oh no, now I am a buyer. Wut wut! It feels great. I have consumed more droplets of white truffle oil in the past 24 hours than I care to admit, but you know what? A new year calls for a celebration. I'm ushering in the New Year (9 days into it) with this tasty oil. Now if I can only work there part-time, I can maybe get the 30% discount and maybe have 20 little bottles of oils to experiment with. $14 per deciliter of white truffle oil may become economically impossible. On the other hand, it's Italy in a bottle. WORTH IT.
Anyone know of recipes using white truffle oil, just post them. So far I found one by Bobby Flay: Parmesan-Encrusted Portobello Mushrooms with White Truffle Oil.
Wishing there were more oil tastings in Virginia,
Shannon
No longer am I only a sampler of truffle oil. Oh no, now I am a buyer. Wut wut! It feels great. I have consumed more droplets of white truffle oil in the past 24 hours than I care to admit, but you know what? A new year calls for a celebration. I'm ushering in the New Year (9 days into it) with this tasty oil. Now if I can only work there part-time, I can maybe get the 30% discount and maybe have 20 little bottles of oils to experiment with. $14 per deciliter of white truffle oil may become economically impossible. On the other hand, it's Italy in a bottle. WORTH IT.
Anyone know of recipes using white truffle oil, just post them. So far I found one by Bobby Flay: Parmesan-Encrusted Portobello Mushrooms with White Truffle Oil.
Wishing there were more oil tastings in Virginia,
Shannon
New Year's Non-Resolutions
So it's the new year. 2009! Wow where have the years gone? Where have the pounds gone? I am happy to report I have lost 16 lbs and it feels good. I wasn't trying to lose, per se, but getting back in shape is good news all around. Getting to sleep by 1 am, drinking more water and less caffeine and ruling out coffee altogether (!!!) has not only made me lose some stomach baggage (too many Cool Ranch Doritos?), but I am also sleeping better. Sorry Starbucks. I still love your seasonal drinks (Grande Caramel Apple Spice, hold the whip)!
Unlike most New Year's seasons, I didn't write a list of "Resolutions" because if I do write out that list, they never come true. That's the one to-do list that never gets accomplished the way I would have liked it to. So, this year, no expectations. My mantra is "just do it". (Okay so picking up running again might have inspired a Nike quote or two.)
This year I have written a list of "foodie" goals. So far all I have is: be more creative with recipes. Meaning: use more items in the pantry until they are gone, instead of spending crazy money on groceries each month. This doesn't mean you have to scrimp on GREAT food.
For example, when you get Christmas money, don't spend it on clothing, spend it on FOOD!!! Good food. Delicious oils and vinegars and fruits and vegetables and herbs and spices.
Plant an herb garden. You can whip up anything with the right ingredients as long as they are fresh and non-processed!
Drink more water. At least 8 glasses a day, but try for more. I try for 10, and last year at this time, I was an avid Coke drinker. But after drinking so much water every day, you really do lose the taste for sugar! Every now and again I'll have a Coke with say pizza, but try to cut down by 1/2. Worked for me! (Tip: Add a lemon, lime, or orange wedge to your glass of water and it is more flavorful and fresh but still healthy...or do what one of my babysitting charges used to have me do...the only way she'd drink water would be with a black cherry dropped in first!)
Oops, I guess I do have a couple "resolutions".
Eat less processed food and less fast-food. Not to be confused with NO fast food. That's setting yourself up for failure... Because if you forbid yourself from driving through the McDonald's line, one day you just might cheat and drive through for a quick Coke to wet the whistle and end up ordering 2 Big-n-Tasty's, a large fry with extra packets of ketchup, and a vanilla milkshake (personal story). Then you have broken your sworn vows to the health cookbooks and health food gods and fruits and nuts sitting on the countertop at home and you have to start all over. No, I don't really believe in health food gods. But I do believe your body is a temple!
So until next time, don't worry about letting yourself down this year. If you know you will not truly hold to your list of 65 resolutions, just have one and keep it. Or don't even "resolve" to do something differently. After all, it's a new year. You should WANT to live better.
Ok, off to have a couple bites of Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra. It's that time of the month, give me a break!
Shannon
Unlike most New Year's seasons, I didn't write a list of "Resolutions" because if I do write out that list, they never come true. That's the one to-do list that never gets accomplished the way I would have liked it to. So, this year, no expectations. My mantra is "just do it". (Okay so picking up running again might have inspired a Nike quote or two.)
This year I have written a list of "foodie" goals. So far all I have is: be more creative with recipes. Meaning: use more items in the pantry until they are gone, instead of spending crazy money on groceries each month. This doesn't mean you have to scrimp on GREAT food.
For example, when you get Christmas money, don't spend it on clothing, spend it on FOOD!!! Good food. Delicious oils and vinegars and fruits and vegetables and herbs and spices.
Plant an herb garden. You can whip up anything with the right ingredients as long as they are fresh and non-processed!
Drink more water. At least 8 glasses a day, but try for more. I try for 10, and last year at this time, I was an avid Coke drinker. But after drinking so much water every day, you really do lose the taste for sugar! Every now and again I'll have a Coke with say pizza, but try to cut down by 1/2. Worked for me! (Tip: Add a lemon, lime, or orange wedge to your glass of water and it is more flavorful and fresh but still healthy...or do what one of my babysitting charges used to have me do...the only way she'd drink water would be with a black cherry dropped in first!)
Oops, I guess I do have a couple "resolutions".
Eat less processed food and less fast-food. Not to be confused with NO fast food. That's setting yourself up for failure... Because if you forbid yourself from driving through the McDonald's line, one day you just might cheat and drive through for a quick Coke to wet the whistle and end up ordering 2 Big-n-Tasty's, a large fry with extra packets of ketchup, and a vanilla milkshake (personal story). Then you have broken your sworn vows to the health cookbooks and health food gods and fruits and nuts sitting on the countertop at home and you have to start all over. No, I don't really believe in health food gods. But I do believe your body is a temple!
So until next time, don't worry about letting yourself down this year. If you know you will not truly hold to your list of 65 resolutions, just have one and keep it. Or don't even "resolve" to do something differently. After all, it's a new year. You should WANT to live better.
Ok, off to have a couple bites of Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra. It's that time of the month, give me a break!
Shannon
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Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Valentine's Day
Jeremy and I went out for Valentine's Day, and had a magnificent time wining and dining ourselves at Petits Plats located in Woodley Park (by the zoo). It's a charming little French bistro tucked away in a townhouse across from the Woodley Park Metro station. Thoughts to describe bistro: charming, rustic, quaint, romantic, great place to people watch (especially on Valentine's Day:).
My favorite course on the prix-fixe Valentine's Day menu was the appetizer: Duo of Smoked Duck and Duck Rillette with Cornichon and Pesto sauce. I wasn't a fan of the smoked duck, but the duck rillette was something I'd never had before and it ended up being the perfect start. For those who don't know what a rillette is (I didn't), it is a preparation of meat similar to a pâté. The meat is cubed or chopped, heavily salted, and cooked slowly in fat until it is tender enough to be easily shredded, then cooled with enough of the fat to form a paste. Typically they are served as a spread for toasted bread. (Thanks, Wikipedia.)
For the entrée Jeremy had the Duo of Lobster and Scallops Served with Creamy Mushroom Risotto and Saffron Sauce with Piment d'Espelette. He's a big fan of risotto and thought it was tasty but wasn't too into the lobster and scallops. For myself, the Rack of Lamb Crusted with Dijon Mustard Served with Three Purée (broccoli, carrot, potato) and Thyme-Tarragon sauce. Great purées, especially the carrot. It kind of felt like I was eating baby food, but it sure hit the spot. The lamb was tender and juicy, and a nice touch with the Dijon. I love Dijon. I dream of moving to Dijon, France and just cooking with mustards all the livelong day. Slathering Dijon over baguettes and brioche, spreading it over crostini and crackers. Oh my...
I digress...
for dessert, Assorted Mignardises, which came as a trio of chocolate mousse, fruit tart, and lemon tart. Our favorite was the chocolate mousse. Paired with coffee, it was just too good. Oh I almost forgot, before the apps we ordered the cocktail special. For him, Kir Royal (Champagne, Crème de Cassis) and for her, a Bellini! (Champagne, Crème de Pêche). I was very excited to see Bellini on the menu because I've always dreamed of ordering "a Bellini with caviar please"...until I realized I was thinking of blini with caviar ...oops. :) Still, a delicious little drink.
I was quite excited about Petits Plats because I booked our reservation on Open Table, as a surprise for Jeremy. If you are unfamiliar with Open Table, you need to go visit the website. www.opentable.com. You just type in the name of your city, and a list of restaurants pops up, listing descriptions of each, price range, attire, etc. Très helpful for someone who doesn't know of many Washington, DC restaurants. I even made 2 reservations just in case...then canceled one for a different restaurant earlier that day. They probably don't like you to cancel the day of, but I had to be sure we had legit reservations. Come on, it's Valentine's Day after all! Restaurants in DC were jam-packed.
I was very pleased with the experience. And Jeremy had raved about the Woodley Park metro escalator and how it was the longest escalator in the world! (Not factual, but in his mind it is the longest.)I had to try it out. It is LONG. If you ride it in the winter, be sure to wear a scarf. Brrrr with the wind chill.
After Petits Plats we were feeling pretty lovey and a little tipsy. I mentioned how I've always wanted to go on a date to a piano bar so Jeremy did some research with the help of his Dad's Google research and via text we were able to get directions. A hop, skip and a jump over to the McPherson Square area and we found the place: Tuscana West. An Italian restaurant with a great old-fashioned looking bar and a little old man tickling the ivories. With martinis (her) and red wine (him) we sat and chatted, deeply gazing into each other's eyes [ok i'll stop with the lovesick now] in a corner on a couch by the bar, then ambled over to the piano man. He was playing what I thought was Blue Rondo a la Turk by Dave Brubeck, but it ended up actually being Take Five. I had fun talking jazz with the piano man as he was playing--so talented! Then after a few songs and more couch-time Jeremy stood up, walked around the little glass table to me, and in his wonderfully gentlemanly way, asked if I would like to dance. Of course! We danced the night away...the piano man even played the music theme of The Godfather. How perfect.
After Tuscana West, to be honest I didn't want the night to be over. It was magical and lovely and I knew the perfect way to end the evening. Oysters. We both love oysters, and have explored each other's palates together oyster by oyster. (I like them doused in lemon, tabasco, vinegar, and pepper on a saltine cracker, whereas my purist boyfriend sprinkles a little sea salt and tosses them back). So off to Clyde's we went. Clyde's is a favorite hangout of ours, over in Gallery Place/Chinatown. Sometimes they have an oyster happy hour (!!) with half-price oysters off of the raw menu, but not that night bc it was a holiday. (Really? Valentine's Day?) We had crab, oysters, and I might have ordered a martini? I cannot remember, the oysters were too delicious to remember the drink!
What an evening!
My favorite course on the prix-fixe Valentine's Day menu was the appetizer: Duo of Smoked Duck and Duck Rillette with Cornichon and Pesto sauce. I wasn't a fan of the smoked duck, but the duck rillette was something I'd never had before and it ended up being the perfect start. For those who don't know what a rillette is (I didn't), it is a preparation of meat similar to a pâté. The meat is cubed or chopped, heavily salted, and cooked slowly in fat until it is tender enough to be easily shredded, then cooled with enough of the fat to form a paste. Typically they are served as a spread for toasted bread. (Thanks, Wikipedia.)
For the entrée Jeremy had the Duo of Lobster and Scallops Served with Creamy Mushroom Risotto and Saffron Sauce with Piment d'Espelette. He's a big fan of risotto and thought it was tasty but wasn't too into the lobster and scallops. For myself, the Rack of Lamb Crusted with Dijon Mustard Served with Three Purée (broccoli, carrot, potato) and Thyme-Tarragon sauce. Great purées, especially the carrot. It kind of felt like I was eating baby food, but it sure hit the spot. The lamb was tender and juicy, and a nice touch with the Dijon. I love Dijon. I dream of moving to Dijon, France and just cooking with mustards all the livelong day. Slathering Dijon over baguettes and brioche, spreading it over crostini and crackers. Oh my...
I digress...
for dessert, Assorted Mignardises, which came as a trio of chocolate mousse, fruit tart, and lemon tart. Our favorite was the chocolate mousse. Paired with coffee, it was just too good. Oh I almost forgot, before the apps we ordered the cocktail special. For him, Kir Royal (Champagne, Crème de Cassis) and for her, a Bellini! (Champagne, Crème de Pêche). I was very excited to see Bellini on the menu because I've always dreamed of ordering "a Bellini with caviar please"...until I realized I was thinking of blini with caviar ...oops. :) Still, a delicious little drink.
I was quite excited about Petits Plats because I booked our reservation on Open Table, as a surprise for Jeremy. If you are unfamiliar with Open Table, you need to go visit the website. www.opentable.com. You just type in the name of your city, and a list of restaurants pops up, listing descriptions of each, price range, attire, etc. Très helpful for someone who doesn't know of many Washington, DC restaurants. I even made 2 reservations just in case...then canceled one for a different restaurant earlier that day. They probably don't like you to cancel the day of, but I had to be sure we had legit reservations. Come on, it's Valentine's Day after all! Restaurants in DC were jam-packed.
I was very pleased with the experience. And Jeremy had raved about the Woodley Park metro escalator and how it was the longest escalator in the world! (Not factual, but in his mind it is the longest.)I had to try it out. It is LONG. If you ride it in the winter, be sure to wear a scarf. Brrrr with the wind chill.
After Petits Plats we were feeling pretty lovey and a little tipsy. I mentioned how I've always wanted to go on a date to a piano bar so Jeremy did some research with the help of his Dad's Google research and via text we were able to get directions. A hop, skip and a jump over to the McPherson Square area and we found the place: Tuscana West. An Italian restaurant with a great old-fashioned looking bar and a little old man tickling the ivories. With martinis (her) and red wine (him) we sat and chatted, deeply gazing into each other's eyes [ok i'll stop with the lovesick now] in a corner on a couch by the bar, then ambled over to the piano man. He was playing what I thought was Blue Rondo a la Turk by Dave Brubeck, but it ended up actually being Take Five. I had fun talking jazz with the piano man as he was playing--so talented! Then after a few songs and more couch-time Jeremy stood up, walked around the little glass table to me, and in his wonderfully gentlemanly way, asked if I would like to dance. Of course! We danced the night away...the piano man even played the music theme of The Godfather. How perfect.
After Tuscana West, to be honest I didn't want the night to be over. It was magical and lovely and I knew the perfect way to end the evening. Oysters. We both love oysters, and have explored each other's palates together oyster by oyster. (I like them doused in lemon, tabasco, vinegar, and pepper on a saltine cracker, whereas my purist boyfriend sprinkles a little sea salt and tosses them back). So off to Clyde's we went. Clyde's is a favorite hangout of ours, over in Gallery Place/Chinatown. Sometimes they have an oyster happy hour (!!) with half-price oysters off of the raw menu, but not that night bc it was a holiday. (Really? Valentine's Day?) We had crab, oysters, and I might have ordered a martini? I cannot remember, the oysters were too delicious to remember the drink!
What an evening!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
How to Boil an Egg
I did make a discovery just yesterday. Inspired by the new film Julie and Julia (a blog post on these great ladies later), I realized I had never learned how to properly boil an egg.
How embarrassing!!!
How will I be able to poach an egg, and dip it into a homemade Hollandaise sauce (coming soon), if I cannot even boil one first? How can I call myself a "foodie", if I am so devoid of the understanding of how to properly prepare for myself a hard-boiled egg? Enough questions, Shannon! Time for answers. So I took two eggs, Googled "how to boil an egg", and here's what I found:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2047398_boil-perfect-hard-boiled-egg.html
All you do is:
1) Place the whole, uncooked, un-cracked, preferably fresh eggs into a saucepan.
2) Fill saucepan with cold water, completely covering eggs. Do not salt the water.
3) Place saucepan onto stove on high heat until water comes to a rolling boil.
4) Set timer for 3 minutes, allowing eggs to boil away. Do not cover.
5) When timer dings, remove saucepan from heat, cover with saucepan lid; re-set timer for 8 minutes.
6) After the 8 minutes is up, rinse eggs under cold running tap water for around 1 minute, then peel and eat.
It's that simple. And, as the e-how guide vows, you will never have green or gray yolks again. It's true. My egg yolks, which I usually discard because they're too hard or green or gray and generally nasty, were plump and soft and yellow and tasty. And the white part? Out of this world moist and easy to swallow. I'm not a big egg person but I even had two!
Happy egg boiling,
Shannon
How embarrassing!!!
How will I be able to poach an egg, and dip it into a homemade Hollandaise sauce (coming soon), if I cannot even boil one first? How can I call myself a "foodie", if I am so devoid of the understanding of how to properly prepare for myself a hard-boiled egg? Enough questions, Shannon! Time for answers. So I took two eggs, Googled "how to boil an egg", and here's what I found:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2047398_boil-perfect-hard-boiled-egg.html
All you do is:
1) Place the whole, uncooked, un-cracked, preferably fresh eggs into a saucepan.
2) Fill saucepan with cold water, completely covering eggs. Do not salt the water.
3) Place saucepan onto stove on high heat until water comes to a rolling boil.
4) Set timer for 3 minutes, allowing eggs to boil away. Do not cover.
5) When timer dings, remove saucepan from heat, cover with saucepan lid; re-set timer for 8 minutes.
6) After the 8 minutes is up, rinse eggs under cold running tap water for around 1 minute, then peel and eat.
It's that simple. And, as the e-how guide vows, you will never have green or gray yolks again. It's true. My egg yolks, which I usually discard because they're too hard or green or gray and generally nasty, were plump and soft and yellow and tasty. And the white part? Out of this world moist and easy to swallow. I'm not a big egg person but I even had two!
Happy egg boiling,
Shannon
Why Writing Is Tough For Me, or a glimpse into my zany brain
I am the biggest procrastinator in the universe. I'm worse than anyone I know, have ever met, or will ever meet. I will do everything in the house besides what I need, or even want, to do. I hate making beds, but I'll wash the sheets, wait for them to dry, make the bed, take the pillowcases off and put them back on again, (Ok so I'm OCD too) fluff the pillows, re-arrange the already obsessively-placed pillows into a more fitting color pattern, then decide I don't like the current down comforter...head to the hall closet in search of a better, warmer, prettier down duvet (comforters are SO early 2000s and we're in a new decade...need a new bedspread), and realize the closet is a mess! Time to reorganize! ADD, anyone? 2 hours (and 3 closets) later, the bed is made, but I still have to make my way down my to-do list...
I moved to Washington, DC on the first of November. I still need a new day job, new apartment, new family practice doctor, new ladies doctor, new psychiatrist, new therapist, new massage therapist, an acupuncturist recommended by my current 6 doctors, new trigger point therapist, new dermatologist, etc. Ok, I've never been to a dermatologist, nor a massage therapist, but now's as good a time as any, right?
Alright, I admit it. Along with OCD, ADD, SAD, and pretty much every other anxiety disorder you can think up, I'm a hypochondriac, too. My shoulder's been hurting for 3 years and I'm finally getting around to working toward solutions. Then 3 weeks ago my knee gives out. Like an 86 year old grandma. Not even joking. While I'm getting into a kneeling position to start the exercises my physical therapist gave me for my frozen shoulder, I simultaneously feel/hear 3 clicks of the knee then I'm on my face. O-M-Geeee. Did I mention I have zero pain tolerance?
So how am I ever to update my food blog when I'm on the floor, clearly so forgetful due to ADD that I sometimes forget to eat, not to mention the social anxiety disorder that keeps me indoors, out of the judgmental public's eye? How can I go to restaurants-- Out the door?? Onto the metro??? Into the city????
This a little taste of me. It may sound extreme, but I got issues. Doesn't everybody? I try to laugh about them. I laugh at myself. Oh I'm VERY good at being self-deprecating. I could do stand-up...if I wasn't so petrified of being in a large group of people. All staring at me. Waiting for me to make them laugh. I write, so I can see humor in just how much of a crack-up I am. It's my passive-aggressive way of throwing myself out there to the world. But the truth is, I'm alright. I'll be ok. I read many books, and this lifelong habit helps me to realize I'm not the only fruit loop out there.
Anne Lamott, for example, has all kinds of issues, and look how funny her books are. She is one of my heroes. If her life was perfect, I wouldn't want to read about her. Hello, can we say boring? The imperfections are what make her REAL and FUNNY and HUMAN, hence a better read. Besides, I think we all compare ourselves to others so we come out looking "normal"- even though I don't believe "normal" even exists. Anne Lamott is quirky, but knows who her friends are. She seems the type who can laugh as hard as she can cry-- who doesn't care about her past, as messed up as it may look on paper. In fact, writing those messes out turned her into the beloved writer and fantastic woman that she is today.
This is how I want to be. I want to be like Anne Lamott, who started out as a food writer by the way, and now is this hilarious role model writer lady. Based on her quirks and impurities, she's the funniest writer on the market. In my book, she couldn't be more lovable.
So about the food, as it is, after all, the reason for this blog...
please read next post, entitled "How to Boil an Egg"...
It's OK to be quirky,
Shannon
I moved to Washington, DC on the first of November. I still need a new day job, new apartment, new family practice doctor, new ladies doctor, new psychiatrist, new therapist, new massage therapist, an acupuncturist recommended by my current 6 doctors, new trigger point therapist, new dermatologist, etc. Ok, I've never been to a dermatologist, nor a massage therapist, but now's as good a time as any, right?
Alright, I admit it. Along with OCD, ADD, SAD, and pretty much every other anxiety disorder you can think up, I'm a hypochondriac, too. My shoulder's been hurting for 3 years and I'm finally getting around to working toward solutions. Then 3 weeks ago my knee gives out. Like an 86 year old grandma. Not even joking. While I'm getting into a kneeling position to start the exercises my physical therapist gave me for my frozen shoulder, I simultaneously feel/hear 3 clicks of the knee then I'm on my face. O-M-Geeee. Did I mention I have zero pain tolerance?
So how am I ever to update my food blog when I'm on the floor, clearly so forgetful due to ADD that I sometimes forget to eat, not to mention the social anxiety disorder that keeps me indoors, out of the judgmental public's eye? How can I go to restaurants-- Out the door?? Onto the metro??? Into the city????
This a little taste of me. It may sound extreme, but I got issues. Doesn't everybody? I try to laugh about them. I laugh at myself. Oh I'm VERY good at being self-deprecating. I could do stand-up...if I wasn't so petrified of being in a large group of people. All staring at me. Waiting for me to make them laugh. I write, so I can see humor in just how much of a crack-up I am. It's my passive-aggressive way of throwing myself out there to the world. But the truth is, I'm alright. I'll be ok. I read many books, and this lifelong habit helps me to realize I'm not the only fruit loop out there.
Anne Lamott, for example, has all kinds of issues, and look how funny her books are. She is one of my heroes. If her life was perfect, I wouldn't want to read about her. Hello, can we say boring? The imperfections are what make her REAL and FUNNY and HUMAN, hence a better read. Besides, I think we all compare ourselves to others so we come out looking "normal"- even though I don't believe "normal" even exists. Anne Lamott is quirky, but knows who her friends are. She seems the type who can laugh as hard as she can cry-- who doesn't care about her past, as messed up as it may look on paper. In fact, writing those messes out turned her into the beloved writer and fantastic woman that she is today.
This is how I want to be. I want to be like Anne Lamott, who started out as a food writer by the way, and now is this hilarious role model writer lady. Based on her quirks and impurities, she's the funniest writer on the market. In my book, she couldn't be more lovable.
So about the food, as it is, after all, the reason for this blog...
please read next post, entitled "How to Boil an Egg"...
It's OK to be quirky,
Shannon
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Facing those (writing) fears...
By popular vote (imploring of 2 friends), I have decided to keep the name. Whether I like it or not, it's me, and I still think it's catchy. But I have written a mission statement, which is different than the former mission statement of making this blog all about food and God. As much as my faith is important to me, trying to write about food and faith just isn't where I am anymore. Over the past two weeks, I've sat down so many times getting ready to write about what God's doing in my foodie life, and nothing came...so I promise to write in a way that is truly me, even if it means people don't agree, or don't like that I'm changing around the blog.
I don't see myself as selling out, just being true to myself...on that note, back to the reason for the blog, FOOD!
The past few weeks have provided SO many opportunities to write on a daily basis, and I'm sorry that I haven't. I don't know why I haven't...well if we're being honest here, yes I do...I worry that my food blog won't be good...."good" meaning entertaining, inspiring, encouraging, and above all, packed with foodstuff and stories that make people go "wow". I'm afraid that I'm not a good writer. I'm afraid I'm boring. I'm afraid people will read it and go, "Wow it's too bad she's not funnier/smarter/ (insert adjective here) in her writing". I'm afraid people will think because I'm an English major, I'm this awesome, intellectual, funny, witty writer. I'm afraid that it will be too much about my life and not as much about food. I'm afraid that my fears of what people think of me will take over, and I'll write with a certain person in mind (ie daily blogger who has the LIFE!) and I won't measure up...
So, I'm writing all those fears down, and publishing them on here, and putting them to rest. They're gone. Dead. Buried.
When I was at Palm Beach Atlantic University in FL (2005), before I transferred out, I took a great Creative Writing for Publication class. In the class we had to get serious about our writing, and actually send out submissions to literary reviews and magazines to try to get published. David Athey (phenomenal teacher) had us do this exercise where we took all of our rejection letters, passed them around the room, reading the responses as a group, then we all walked to the middle of the room and each threw a stack up into the air!!! It was so exhilirating and refreshing, and made us realize they didn't matter. What MATTERED, was that we get over the rejection and get writing again. Essentially, to let them fly out of our hands and out of our minds. And it worked. Soon, we were writing again and reading our words out loud, and sending out other batches of submissions. Some students were published; I'm still tossing up those rejection letters...
but it doesn't mean I'm going to quit writing. I love food, and I love writing. So I'm just going to stay true to myself and write about what I love. Eventually, I'll find my groove and my fears will disappear. They're still lingering, but the best way to get over those fears is to face them down.
Determined,
Shannon
I don't see myself as selling out, just being true to myself...on that note, back to the reason for the blog, FOOD!
The past few weeks have provided SO many opportunities to write on a daily basis, and I'm sorry that I haven't. I don't know why I haven't...well if we're being honest here, yes I do...I worry that my food blog won't be good...."good" meaning entertaining, inspiring, encouraging, and above all, packed with foodstuff and stories that make people go "wow". I'm afraid that I'm not a good writer. I'm afraid I'm boring. I'm afraid people will read it and go, "Wow it's too bad she's not funnier/smarter/ (insert adjective here) in her writing". I'm afraid people will think because I'm an English major, I'm this awesome, intellectual, funny, witty writer. I'm afraid that it will be too much about my life and not as much about food. I'm afraid that my fears of what people think of me will take over, and I'll write with a certain person in mind (ie daily blogger who has the LIFE!) and I won't measure up...
So, I'm writing all those fears down, and publishing them on here, and putting them to rest. They're gone. Dead. Buried.
When I was at Palm Beach Atlantic University in FL (2005), before I transferred out, I took a great Creative Writing for Publication class. In the class we had to get serious about our writing, and actually send out submissions to literary reviews and magazines to try to get published. David Athey (phenomenal teacher) had us do this exercise where we took all of our rejection letters, passed them around the room, reading the responses as a group, then we all walked to the middle of the room and each threw a stack up into the air!!! It was so exhilirating and refreshing, and made us realize they didn't matter. What MATTERED, was that we get over the rejection and get writing again. Essentially, to let them fly out of our hands and out of our minds. And it worked. Soon, we were writing again and reading our words out loud, and sending out other batches of submissions. Some students were published; I'm still tossing up those rejection letters...
but it doesn't mean I'm going to quit writing. I love food, and I love writing. So I'm just going to stay true to myself and write about what I love. Eventually, I'll find my groove and my fears will disappear. They're still lingering, but the best way to get over those fears is to face them down.
Determined,
Shannon
Saturday, January 16, 2010
New year, new name
Nope, I'm not getting married...I don't need a new name. I like mine just fine...but my BLOG does need a new name!
In 2007 I started http://www.andbemerry.blogspot.com/, based on my favorite Bible verse... eatdrinkandbemerry was already taken, so I settled on andbemerry. It was catchy. It was cute. But it's been 3 years. I'm not that cutesy person anymore. Last night one of my besties, Shirah, and I were talking on the phone and she asked if I had changed the name yet...noooo I say, ....hoping she would give me some inspired new foodie name, but she said "andbemerry is cute". Exactly. It's cute. But I don't wanna be cute. Cute isn't me. So my blog needs a new name.
After chewing on it for days and not coming up with anything "me", I took to my photo albums to glean some inspiration. I have a lot of pictures of drinks. I like taking pictures of cappucino. Just the look of a great big white mug of frothy cappucino sprinkled with freshly ground chocolate makes me smile (then go to Starbucks), so my blog should be named something that makes me and hopefully other people smile, right?
I like taking pictures of sweets, even though I wouldn't call myself a person with a sweet tooth. (I prefer salt) So over the years I have accrued quite a collection of bakery-item photographs.
I love cheese, of all kinds. Jarlesberg, Brie, Camembert, Saint Andre, Brillat-Savarin, and especially Port Salut...but do I want my blog to be all about cheese? Nah. Keep thinking, Shannon...
I love sitting in cafes, reading a good book like A Moveable Feast, and people watching. So my blog should also have that vibe. But still no ideas jumped out at me.
Then it hit me! My film collection! Surely I can find some inspiration there. Surely a title will just grab me by the cheeks. After casting aside Mystic Pizza and Big Night and Babette's Feast and Mostly Martha (all wonderful foodie films, by the way, and my favorites) ....VOILA!! It hit me, out of nowhere!!!
CANNOLI!!!!! It's one of my favorite foods to eat, photograph, and just admire. It's sweet, but satisfies my craving for cheese too. It's creamy and delicious, wrapped in a delicate pastry dough, and can be decked out with chocolate chips, nuts, you name it, for a unique flavor. I've always stopped to admire it in the bakery case of Italian bakeries before taste-testing then buying a 1/2 dozen to admire myself before eating whole. Licking your fingers after eating a cannoli may just be the greatest thing to do on earth. Yes, yes, yes, my blog must have the word "cannoli" in the title. Then WHAM!
Another revelation. The Godfather. Cannoli. You've Got Mail. Cannoli. A pattern is emerging. What is my favorite quote from The Godfather, so artistically injected into my favorite movie, You've Got Mail?
"LEAVE THE GUN, TAKE THE CANNOLI".... or for blog purposes....TAKE THE CANNOLI.
YES!!!! I love it. takethecannoli.blogspot.com. It's fresh, artsy, inspired by a great film, an amazing cheesy sweet I've always adored, tied to a fascinating culture I am inspired by (Italian). I could barely type the words into blogspot fast enough. I have a new blog name! 2010 is off to a great start, with a catchy new blog that surely everyone will read, and they'll all comment on how I'm so witty and splendidly creative. Take the cannoli! Inspired!
...Until I realize that there is already a http://www.takethecannoli.blogspot.com/. Noooo! How can it be? So I click on it and...it's not even about food! And it hasn't been updated since 2002! Even I can update more than that! What's more, there is no talk about cannoli in the one post "Taylor" has written, about being in some theatre production. Noooo. How can someone take an ingenious line and make it their blog name, taking away my perfect start to 2010? How?
Well, this is not the end of my search. Oh no. I WILL get that blog name. Even if I have to hunt "Taylor" down and hack into his blogspot account myself! I have posted a picture of cannoli I took a few years ago from Cafe Graffiti in Boston in the hopes that my e-mail will be gratefully received, and "Taylor" will be happy to relinquish his little spot on the internet so I might become a famous food blogger. Or at least a food blogger with that perfect name!
Stay tuned,
Shannon
In 2007 I started http://www.andbemerry.blogspot.com/, based on my favorite Bible verse... eatdrinkandbemerry was already taken, so I settled on andbemerry. It was catchy. It was cute. But it's been 3 years. I'm not that cutesy person anymore. Last night one of my besties, Shirah, and I were talking on the phone and she asked if I had changed the name yet...noooo I say, ....hoping she would give me some inspired new foodie name, but she said "andbemerry is cute". Exactly. It's cute. But I don't wanna be cute. Cute isn't me. So my blog needs a new name.
After chewing on it for days and not coming up with anything "me", I took to my photo albums to glean some inspiration. I have a lot of pictures of drinks. I like taking pictures of cappucino. Just the look of a great big white mug of frothy cappucino sprinkled with freshly ground chocolate makes me smile (then go to Starbucks), so my blog should be named something that makes me and hopefully other people smile, right?
I like taking pictures of sweets, even though I wouldn't call myself a person with a sweet tooth. (I prefer salt) So over the years I have accrued quite a collection of bakery-item photographs.
I love cheese, of all kinds. Jarlesberg, Brie, Camembert, Saint Andre, Brillat-Savarin, and especially Port Salut...but do I want my blog to be all about cheese? Nah. Keep thinking, Shannon...
I love sitting in cafes, reading a good book like A Moveable Feast, and people watching. So my blog should also have that vibe. But still no ideas jumped out at me.
Then it hit me! My film collection! Surely I can find some inspiration there. Surely a title will just grab me by the cheeks. After casting aside Mystic Pizza and Big Night and Babette's Feast and Mostly Martha (all wonderful foodie films, by the way, and my favorites) ....VOILA!! It hit me, out of nowhere!!!
CANNOLI!!!!! It's one of my favorite foods to eat, photograph, and just admire. It's sweet, but satisfies my craving for cheese too. It's creamy and delicious, wrapped in a delicate pastry dough, and can be decked out with chocolate chips, nuts, you name it, for a unique flavor. I've always stopped to admire it in the bakery case of Italian bakeries before taste-testing then buying a 1/2 dozen to admire myself before eating whole. Licking your fingers after eating a cannoli may just be the greatest thing to do on earth. Yes, yes, yes, my blog must have the word "cannoli" in the title. Then WHAM!
Another revelation. The Godfather. Cannoli. You've Got Mail. Cannoli. A pattern is emerging. What is my favorite quote from The Godfather, so artistically injected into my favorite movie, You've Got Mail?
"LEAVE THE GUN, TAKE THE CANNOLI".... or for blog purposes....TAKE THE CANNOLI.
YES!!!! I love it. takethecannoli.blogspot.com. It's fresh, artsy, inspired by a great film, an amazing cheesy sweet I've always adored, tied to a fascinating culture I am inspired by (Italian). I could barely type the words into blogspot fast enough. I have a new blog name! 2010 is off to a great start, with a catchy new blog that surely everyone will read, and they'll all comment on how I'm so witty and splendidly creative. Take the cannoli! Inspired!
...Until I realize that there is already a http://www.takethecannoli.blogspot.com/. Noooo! How can it be? So I click on it and...it's not even about food! And it hasn't been updated since 2002! Even I can update more than that! What's more, there is no talk about cannoli in the one post "Taylor" has written, about being in some theatre production. Noooo. How can someone take an ingenious line and make it their blog name, taking away my perfect start to 2010? How?
Well, this is not the end of my search. Oh no. I WILL get that blog name. Even if I have to hunt "Taylor" down and hack into his blogspot account myself! I have posted a picture of cannoli I took a few years ago from Cafe Graffiti in Boston in the hopes that my e-mail will be gratefully received, and "Taylor" will be happy to relinquish his little spot on the internet so I might become a famous food blogger. Or at least a food blogger with that perfect name!
Stay tuned,
Shannon
Pizzeria Paradiso, take two
So on Tuesday Jeremy surprised me with the great news that he had Wednesday off! Do you know what this means? A day to explore Washington, DC. I mean, I explore it on my own fairly often, but it's always more fun with a companion...so Wednesday morning we headed out, with the first stop being the national monument. I've always wanted to see DC from above, and Jeremy had already seen it a couple years ago. So we took the metro in, and it was COLD! But nevertheless, I got my view of the White House, Capitol building, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, all the things I was excited about seeing...from like 550 feet above ground!!
After this, we were HUNGRY! Immediately, Dupont jumped into my head. I really like the area, and felt we had much more exploring to do. I really wasn't sure if I wanted pizza, but once we took the metro around for a while and finally got there (one stop farther than we wanted to go, oops) we were ravenous...and all Jeremy had to do was suggest Pizzeria Paradiso and bring back the fond memory of our first time there and I was sold. I had kind of wanted to check out some other places in the area, you know, try something new, but all I could think about was getting more serious about my food blog, and how you should really dine at a restaurant a couple times before writing about it...to get the full feel of the place. So with that in mind, and with Jeremy excited about some good pizza in his future, off we went. Again, we walked @ Dupont a couple times before we re-routed ourselves and realized we were walking in the opposite direction. We were on P Street, but headed toward the residential part, not where all the shops and restaurants were. So we turned around, walked through the little park and were on our way.
3:00 pm at Pizzeria Paradiso in mid-January was empty, except for a couple folks at the bar. Here are my notes:
Olives! Just as good as before, wish I could have more...they sure know how to get those taste buds all revved up for what's to come...
Drinks- for her, chianti classico 2003 that he ordered for me -great choice. dry, earthy, nice aftertaste
for him- delirium nocturnium beer, from belgium with hints of bananas and red wine! i took one sip but stuck with my wine
Wine still served in drinking glass, and beer served in a wine glass! huh? But I'm kind of liking drinking it this way. It's growing on me.
Appetizer- Crostino Formaggio di capra- which is: toasted homemade bread topped w/ goat cheese and prosciutto di parma for $6.95
Jeremy's reaction after one bite: "That's pretty serious." I think he likes....
Crunchy bread on outside but soft inside, great burst of basil and the prosciutto-goat cheese combo melts in your mouth.
Ambience: earth tones, firewood under hostess stand makes for a rustic feel.
Pizza special: The Little Italy- roasted broccoli rabe, tomato, hot sausage, mushroom, red pepper flakes
Not a huge fan of the broccoli rabe (pronounced "rob", thanks Jeremy or I would have called it "raybe" all day), but mushrooms paired with hot sausage was tasty. Spicy aftertaste. Like Atomica better
We'll have to head back there again for more of the different pizza combinations. Honestly though, each time we visited I left not wanting more of the pizza, but more of the olives!
Eat your pizza! (I ate mine)
Shannon
After this, we were HUNGRY! Immediately, Dupont jumped into my head. I really like the area, and felt we had much more exploring to do. I really wasn't sure if I wanted pizza, but once we took the metro around for a while and finally got there (one stop farther than we wanted to go, oops) we were ravenous...and all Jeremy had to do was suggest Pizzeria Paradiso and bring back the fond memory of our first time there and I was sold. I had kind of wanted to check out some other places in the area, you know, try something new, but all I could think about was getting more serious about my food blog, and how you should really dine at a restaurant a couple times before writing about it...to get the full feel of the place. So with that in mind, and with Jeremy excited about some good pizza in his future, off we went. Again, we walked @ Dupont a couple times before we re-routed ourselves and realized we were walking in the opposite direction. We were on P Street, but headed toward the residential part, not where all the shops and restaurants were. So we turned around, walked through the little park and were on our way.
3:00 pm at Pizzeria Paradiso in mid-January was empty, except for a couple folks at the bar. Here are my notes:
Olives! Just as good as before, wish I could have more...they sure know how to get those taste buds all revved up for what's to come...
Drinks- for her, chianti classico 2003 that he ordered for me -great choice. dry, earthy, nice aftertaste
for him- delirium nocturnium beer, from belgium with hints of bananas and red wine! i took one sip but stuck with my wine
Wine still served in drinking glass, and beer served in a wine glass! huh? But I'm kind of liking drinking it this way. It's growing on me.
Appetizer- Crostino Formaggio di capra- which is: toasted homemade bread topped w/ goat cheese and prosciutto di parma for $6.95
Jeremy's reaction after one bite: "That's pretty serious." I think he likes....
Crunchy bread on outside but soft inside, great burst of basil and the prosciutto-goat cheese combo melts in your mouth.
Ambience: earth tones, firewood under hostess stand makes for a rustic feel.
Pizza special: The Little Italy- roasted broccoli rabe, tomato, hot sausage, mushroom, red pepper flakes
Not a huge fan of the broccoli rabe (pronounced "rob", thanks Jeremy or I would have called it "raybe" all day), but mushrooms paired with hot sausage was tasty. Spicy aftertaste. Like Atomica better
We'll have to head back there again for more of the different pizza combinations. Honestly though, each time we visited I left not wanting more of the pizza, but more of the olives!
Eat your pizza! (I ate mine)
Shannon
Friday, January 15, 2010
Pizzeria Paradiso (take one...early December 2009)
Happy 2010! I have relocated! Foodie greetings from Washington, DC!
In an effort to refurbish this blog and get it up and running again, posting more than 2 entries a year, I need blogging advice! What would make for a better blog? If you are a blogger, help! I need your input, so this can become more easily accessible, and a more entertaining read!
Now for the review: Pizzeria Paradiso, 2003 P Street, NW and at http://www.eatyourpizza.com/
This Dupont Circle pizza establishment is the perfect lunch or dinner after a day out gallavanting the city. My boyfriend, Jeremy, is a line cook, climbing those kitchen ranks, so a day off is much desired, and we're always on the lookout for a great restaurant (that is within our tight budgets)...enter Pizzeria Paradiso.
The first time we dined here was a Monday evening last December. We had spent the day touring the Smithsonian museums, and we were ready for some pizza! I had been carrying around a little DC travel guide since moving to the city, loaded with restaurants to explore, and had highlighted Pizzeria Paradiso namely because it is located in Dupont Circle, where I've always wanted to explore. So off we went. We took the metro from the Smithsonian/Mall area and easily found Dupont Circle, walked around the circle a couple times looking for the right direction of P Street, and found our place.
Straight out of my notes that early December evening:
Cute, quaint, and rustic. I love that they serve a mix of Greek olives in a little dish in place of bread, and I'm grooving on the eclectic crowd. The pizza place for DC hipsters? Roomy enough but not too large of a restaurant. Casual dress code. Bohemian-type servers (all sorts of piercings and tattoos ok here) with a slight air of arrogance...but it works.
Drinks-for her: Montepuciano red wine, for him: vodka martini, dirty
Wine served in a drinking glass!!!--ODD and I don't like it. Wish I could swirl it around and let it "breathe", as dad, J, always tells me to do. Umm, you definitely can't swirl wine in a drinking glass. It splashes and splooshes and it's just not the same. And turning it sideways...not happening. Not so sure about this...
Appetizer: Bruschetta--delicious, but not enough for $6.
Ordered the Atomica pizza (suggested from my little tour guide) which came with salami, mozzarella, tomatoes and what tasted like kalamata olives (website says they are black olives), and hot pepper flakes. First pizza came out looking burnt so we sent it back. Manager comes to table and says, "That's the way it comes" but we insisted he bring us out another pie. He was very polite. Jeremy was very polite too. I was not as polite, quipping, "My boyfriend works in the culinary profession" just to prove we knew good food, and when a pizza looks burnt, it probably tastes that way too. In retrospect, I shouldn't have thrown in that comment (Why do I do those sorts of things?), but the 2nd pizza was great.
Note: I don't usually send food back because of all those horror stories and e-mail forwards about what cooks do to your food (can we say Domino's???) when you send it back, but from my vantage point in the seating area I could watch like a hawk the cooks preparing our pie. No monkey business.
We will return.
***/*****
(Like I'm foodie enough to give stars!)
Next read: Pizzeria Paradiso, take 2
Shannon
In an effort to refurbish this blog and get it up and running again, posting more than 2 entries a year, I need blogging advice! What would make for a better blog? If you are a blogger, help! I need your input, so this can become more easily accessible, and a more entertaining read!
Now for the review: Pizzeria Paradiso, 2003 P Street, NW and at http://www.eatyourpizza.com/
This Dupont Circle pizza establishment is the perfect lunch or dinner after a day out gallavanting the city. My boyfriend, Jeremy, is a line cook, climbing those kitchen ranks, so a day off is much desired, and we're always on the lookout for a great restaurant (that is within our tight budgets)...enter Pizzeria Paradiso.
The first time we dined here was a Monday evening last December. We had spent the day touring the Smithsonian museums, and we were ready for some pizza! I had been carrying around a little DC travel guide since moving to the city, loaded with restaurants to explore, and had highlighted Pizzeria Paradiso namely because it is located in Dupont Circle, where I've always wanted to explore. So off we went. We took the metro from the Smithsonian/Mall area and easily found Dupont Circle, walked around the circle a couple times looking for the right direction of P Street, and found our place.
Straight out of my notes that early December evening:
Cute, quaint, and rustic. I love that they serve a mix of Greek olives in a little dish in place of bread, and I'm grooving on the eclectic crowd. The pizza place for DC hipsters? Roomy enough but not too large of a restaurant. Casual dress code. Bohemian-type servers (all sorts of piercings and tattoos ok here) with a slight air of arrogance...but it works.
Drinks-for her: Montepuciano red wine, for him: vodka martini, dirty
Wine served in a drinking glass!!!--ODD and I don't like it. Wish I could swirl it around and let it "breathe", as dad, J, always tells me to do. Umm, you definitely can't swirl wine in a drinking glass. It splashes and splooshes and it's just not the same. And turning it sideways...not happening. Not so sure about this...
Appetizer: Bruschetta--delicious, but not enough for $6.
Ordered the Atomica pizza (suggested from my little tour guide) which came with salami, mozzarella, tomatoes and what tasted like kalamata olives (website says they are black olives), and hot pepper flakes. First pizza came out looking burnt so we sent it back. Manager comes to table and says, "That's the way it comes" but we insisted he bring us out another pie. He was very polite. Jeremy was very polite too. I was not as polite, quipping, "My boyfriend works in the culinary profession" just to prove we knew good food, and when a pizza looks burnt, it probably tastes that way too. In retrospect, I shouldn't have thrown in that comment (Why do I do those sorts of things?), but the 2nd pizza was great.
Note: I don't usually send food back because of all those horror stories and e-mail forwards about what cooks do to your food (can we say Domino's???) when you send it back, but from my vantage point in the seating area I could watch like a hawk the cooks preparing our pie. No monkey business.
We will return.
***/*****
(Like I'm foodie enough to give stars!)
Next read: Pizzeria Paradiso, take 2
Shannon
Monday, July 27, 2009
I heart Saigon (Cafe)
The Saigon Cafe is truly great. It is located in a tucked-away-enough location so as to "hide" and stay small and quaint. It is family-owned, and they are pretty much the sweetest couple-with-son team in Charlottesville. It is directly behind Cville Coffee, so afterwards you can pop over for a quick espresso. And it's totally affordable! Tonight Linds and I dined out and our budgets are TIGHT. In this economy, splurging on dinner is just not ok. But Saigon is like the only Vietnamese in Cville so what are two hungry twenty somethings to do?
I cannot pronounce what I ordered and seeing as the kindly older gentleman chuckled as I tried in my oh-so-Americanized-wannabe-Vietnamese-accent to pronounce what I had, I will not bother here. But it involved beef. Broccoli. A rich, not-too-salty (but just enough) broth. Bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and that is it. Simple, and not overdone. Accompanied by fried rice...oh God take me now. And Tsingtao. Great beer from Qingdao, China. YUM. I even devoured Lin's extra fried rice portion. Real chopsticks, which shows they care. Humble atmosphere, a lot of Cville political folk and intellectual types, some UVA students (not the obnoxious ones though). I hope Cville doesn't discover this one. Just enough people so that it stays open in these rough times, but please let's not make it the trendy take-out place? Ugh that would be a crime.
Use your chopsticks,
Shannon
I cannot pronounce what I ordered and seeing as the kindly older gentleman chuckled as I tried in my oh-so-Americanized-wannabe-Vietnamese-accent to pronounce what I had, I will not bother here. But it involved beef. Broccoli. A rich, not-too-salty (but just enough) broth. Bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and that is it. Simple, and not overdone. Accompanied by fried rice...oh God take me now. And Tsingtao. Great beer from Qingdao, China. YUM. I even devoured Lin's extra fried rice portion. Real chopsticks, which shows they care. Humble atmosphere, a lot of Cville political folk and intellectual types, some UVA students (not the obnoxious ones though). I hope Cville doesn't discover this one. Just enough people so that it stays open in these rough times, but please let's not make it the trendy take-out place? Ugh that would be a crime.
Use your chopsticks,
Shannon
Friday, January 9, 2009
White Truffle Oil
So in an attempt to taste more exotic flavors in 2009 I used a Christmas gift card from Oil and Vinegar to purchase 1 deciliter of white truffle oil. Every town should have an Oil and Vinegar store! http://www.oilandvinegarusa.com/
No longer am I only a sampler of truffle oil. Oh no, now I am a buyer. Wut wut! It feels great. I have consumed more droplets of white truffle oil in the past 24 hours than I care to admit, but you know what? A new year calls for a celebration. I'm ushering in the New Year (9 days into it) with this tasty oil. Now if I can only work there part-time, I can maybe get the 30% discount and maybe have 20 little bottles of oils to experiment with. $14 per deciliter of white truffle oil may become economically impossible. On the other hand, it's Italy in a bottle. WORTH IT.
Anyone know of recipes using white truffle oil, just post them. So far I found one by Bobby Flay: Parmesan-Encrusted Portobello Mushrooms with White Truffle Oil.
Wishing there were more oil tastings in Virginia,
Shannon
No longer am I only a sampler of truffle oil. Oh no, now I am a buyer. Wut wut! It feels great. I have consumed more droplets of white truffle oil in the past 24 hours than I care to admit, but you know what? A new year calls for a celebration. I'm ushering in the New Year (9 days into it) with this tasty oil. Now if I can only work there part-time, I can maybe get the 30% discount and maybe have 20 little bottles of oils to experiment with. $14 per deciliter of white truffle oil may become economically impossible. On the other hand, it's Italy in a bottle. WORTH IT.
Anyone know of recipes using white truffle oil, just post them. So far I found one by Bobby Flay: Parmesan-Encrusted Portobello Mushrooms with White Truffle Oil.
Wishing there were more oil tastings in Virginia,
Shannon
New Year's Non-Resolutions
So it's the new year. 2009! Wow where have the years gone? Where have the pounds gone? I am happy to report I have lost 16 lbs and it feels good. I wasn't trying to lose, per se, but getting back in shape is good news all around. Getting to sleep by 1 am, drinking more water and less caffeine and ruling out coffee altogether (!!!) has not only made me lose some stomach baggage (too many Cool Ranch Doritos?), but I am also sleeping better. Sorry Starbucks. I still love your seasonal drinks (Grande Caramel Apple Spice, hold the whip)!
Unlike most New Year's seasons, I didn't write a list of "Resolutions" because if I do write out that list, they never come true. That's the one to-do list that never gets accomplished the way I would have liked it to. So, this year, no expectations. My mantra is "just do it". (Okay so picking up running again might have inspired a Nike quote or two.)
This year I have written a list of "foodie" goals. So far all I have is: be more creative with recipes. Meaning: use more items in the pantry until they are gone, instead of spending crazy money on groceries each month. This doesn't mean you have to scrimp on GREAT food.
For example, when you get Christmas money, don't spend it on clothing, spend it on FOOD!!! Good food. Delicious oils and vinegars and fruits and vegetables and herbs and spices.
Plant an herb garden. You can whip up anything with the right ingredients as long as they are fresh and non-processed!
Drink more water. At least 8 glasses a day, but try for more. I try for 10, and last year at this time, I was an avid Coke drinker. But after drinking so much water every day, you really do lose the taste for sugar! Every now and again I'll have a Coke with say pizza, but try to cut down by 1/2. Worked for me! (Tip: Add a lemon, lime, or orange wedge to your glass of water and it is more flavorful and fresh but still healthy...or do what one of my babysitting charges used to have me do...the only way she'd drink water would be with a black cherry dropped in first!)
Oops, I guess I do have a couple "resolutions".
Eat less processed food and less fast-food. Not to be confused with NO fast food. That's setting yourself up for failure... Because if you forbid yourself from driving through the McDonald's line, one day you just might cheat and drive through for a quick Coke to wet the whistle and end up ordering 2 Big-n-Tasty's, a large fry with extra packets of ketchup, and a vanilla milkshake (personal story). Then you have broken your sworn vows to the health cookbooks and health food gods and fruits and nuts sitting on the countertop at home and you have to start all over. No, I don't really believe in health food gods. But I do believe your body is a temple!
So until next time, don't worry about letting yourself down this year. If you know you will not truly hold to your list of 65 resolutions, just have one and keep it. Or don't even "resolve" to do something differently. After all, it's a new year. You should WANT to live better.
Ok, off to have a couple bites of Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra. It's that time of the month, give me a break!
Shannon
Unlike most New Year's seasons, I didn't write a list of "Resolutions" because if I do write out that list, they never come true. That's the one to-do list that never gets accomplished the way I would have liked it to. So, this year, no expectations. My mantra is "just do it". (Okay so picking up running again might have inspired a Nike quote or two.)
This year I have written a list of "foodie" goals. So far all I have is: be more creative with recipes. Meaning: use more items in the pantry until they are gone, instead of spending crazy money on groceries each month. This doesn't mean you have to scrimp on GREAT food.
For example, when you get Christmas money, don't spend it on clothing, spend it on FOOD!!! Good food. Delicious oils and vinegars and fruits and vegetables and herbs and spices.
Plant an herb garden. You can whip up anything with the right ingredients as long as they are fresh and non-processed!
Drink more water. At least 8 glasses a day, but try for more. I try for 10, and last year at this time, I was an avid Coke drinker. But after drinking so much water every day, you really do lose the taste for sugar! Every now and again I'll have a Coke with say pizza, but try to cut down by 1/2. Worked for me! (Tip: Add a lemon, lime, or orange wedge to your glass of water and it is more flavorful and fresh but still healthy...or do what one of my babysitting charges used to have me do...the only way she'd drink water would be with a black cherry dropped in first!)
Oops, I guess I do have a couple "resolutions".
Eat less processed food and less fast-food. Not to be confused with NO fast food. That's setting yourself up for failure... Because if you forbid yourself from driving through the McDonald's line, one day you just might cheat and drive through for a quick Coke to wet the whistle and end up ordering 2 Big-n-Tasty's, a large fry with extra packets of ketchup, and a vanilla milkshake (personal story). Then you have broken your sworn vows to the health cookbooks and health food gods and fruits and nuts sitting on the countertop at home and you have to start all over. No, I don't really believe in health food gods. But I do believe your body is a temple!
So until next time, don't worry about letting yourself down this year. If you know you will not truly hold to your list of 65 resolutions, just have one and keep it. Or don't even "resolve" to do something differently. After all, it's a new year. You should WANT to live better.
Ok, off to have a couple bites of Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra. It's that time of the month, give me a break!
Shannon
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