restaurants and date nights

I have a friend at work who, like me, loves good food - not fancy food or overly expensive food, but just honest good food.  However, when you come down to it, who doesn't love good food - there isn't too much that can beat an awesome food where you are searching for words to describe the experience!

So we have both been to Little Serow and had awesome meals; me with Healthy Husband for NYE and she with friends to celebrate a birthday.  Throughout her entire meal she kept saying "holy s**t" over and over because it was honestly that good (and I should mention it wasn't that expensive either; $45 a piece).   Throughout my meal with Healthy Husband, I was trying to find the accurate words to describe the food experience I was having...needless to say, I could never really find those words.
Anyways, I received an email from her last week saying that she had found the Little Serow of McLean (come to find out, it's actually in Falls Church...), a place called Bangkok Golden in Seven Corners.  So of course I jump at the opportunity to try this restaurant on my next day off for date night.  Healthy Husband was a little reluctant with the lunch buffet offering they had but I told him to push through that.  We head down there and seat ourselves.  The handed us 2 menus, a Thai one and a Laotian one.  I was told to order off the Laotian menu, so we followed suit.  We ordered 4 dishes, we walked out feeling 50% satisfied which was disappointing - 2 of the 4 dishes were fantastic but nothing compared to Little Serow.  Don't get me wrong it was good but again just not comparable...

Last week we were lucky enough to have 2 dates nights!  One to the "little serow of McLean" and another to a pizza place called Haven in Bethesda.  Healthy Husband has been there a few times with one of his biking buddies and finally I was able to tag along and get a taste of this 'amazing pizza'.  Let me tell you, it was awesome!  There are 2 sizes, large and small.  3 of us shared the large and we were more than fully satisfied.  So we had a large pizza with tomato, mozzarella and prosciutto.  It was very simple but so well done - the balance between the crust and the toppings was perfect.

So even though long hours have been taking over, we are still trying to have fun and try new restaurants...
Until next time, happy eating and dining!

back...?

Inspired...getting there.
Reading my food porn (Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, dc.eater.com, edible DC) has opened my eyes but somedays not enough.
Other days it's interacting with the ladies of Women Chefs and Restauranteurs.
And other days it's getting out and eating at different restaurants.
Aside from the daily routine that I have established at work (the paperwork, the chaos, the BS), those forums are what keep me going.

Additionally, Healthy Husband helps keep me on path with food thoughts and experiments.  He is always coming up with exciting new food stuffs to try at home...sometimes it requires him waking up at 6am to make sure his Valentine's Day breakfast is perfect (and let me tell you, it was).  While I had to work (those of us in the restaurant world don't necessarily celebrate the whole day of love), he thought the next best thing would be to make me breakfast.  He made delicious banana pancakes:

Fresh berries and local bacon (a Smith Meadow Farms product).  All cut, fried and made with love by Healthy Husband and I graciously enjoyed my Valentine's day breakfast.

Anyways, moving on I'm working on daily inspiration to keep me going.
I'll end on a quote that I just read from Skirt Steak and find it relevant!
"If you can get through the really rough times without laughing or smiling, you're f***ed"

Until next time, be strong, take risks and have fun!  Happy eating!

Oregon

As I mentioned last post Healthy Husband let me escape to Oregon for a few days to visit my favorite Oregonian.  It started with a last lunch with Healthy Husband and a couple of glasses of wine (I hate flying!) to help ease into the flight.  It ended in Portland, OR with my girlfriend picking me up and taking me to my new home for a couple of days.

We woke up bright and early the next morning only to hit one of her favorite spots for breakfast, Broder.

I ordered 2 eggs over easy with grilled apple fritters and a chicken apple sausage and a side of a country vegetable creamy potage (soup).  The Oregonian ordered a smoked trout hash with 2 eggs over easy and pickled beets.  Everything was absolutely delicious.  The fritters had actual chunks of apples instead of pieces or diced where you can barely taste then.  The soup was delicious and not overwhelmingly creamy, a very nice balance.  It's crazy, apparently breakfast is a big meal in Portland - the place filled up almost immediately and the overflow congregated in the restaurant next door for coffee.






Next, we drove through Washington Park which seemed to be more like a forest, an endless foray of trees.  It was beautiful.  The road winded through the trees and looked like it lead nowhere.

We cruised into Portland proper and roamed around Powells Books for a little while (of course I ended up buying something).  We also walked through a Starbucks serving wine - seriously?!!  They should stick to what they do, make coffee drinks.  Yet, I digress...  Next stop was Clyde Common for lunch - it's in the Ace Hotel.  I've been to a few establishments in the Ace Hotel in NYC and always had great luck with them as they have a wide array of cocktails, beer and wine or they have a great selection of eats.  So we order lunch: a side of greens with a light vinaigrette and lentil soup garnished with a flavored creme fraiche and scallions.  The heaping pile of greens were beautiful and the soup so flavorful and filling. 

I don't know if I should really mention this but we also ordered a side of fries and a heaping pile of roasted red beets which were still warm from the oven - delicious!  After these two meals out and about, we were spent for the day...well, almost.  We went home to relax and rest off the food coma.  We had been talking about doing a cider tasting - so once our food coma had blown over, we decided to head back out to a place called Bushwhacker Cider.  There was a hard cider that was made with whiskey which was tasty but you couldn't drink more than a few swigs.  There was another house cider made with pear, it was good but too sweet for me.  I settled for a more mild cider - looking back I don't know if I can remember the name of the cider which I ordered...maybe it was all the tasting previously....maybe not.

Next day we decided lunch and dinner would be our meals out; however, our first stop was the real Bob's Red Mill.  You know, the specialty flours, grains and lentils.  We bought a few things in bulk - gluten free brownie mix, amaranth, chia seed and flax seed.  I'm trying to get on the healthy wagon...it's a work in progress.  :-)
For lunch we went to a taco place that had been a food truck.  It had done so well, that they opened a restaurant; well, actually a place that seated about 15 people when completely full.
We went for dessert at wings place.  Dessert was definitely a life changing experience: deep fried oreos.  You heard me correctly, deep fried oreos.  They were delicious - the cookie was still a little crunchy but the icing was all gooey.

We finished this day with a little happy hour action at a place called Urban Farmer in The Nines hotel.  We met up with one of my foodie sisters from the Open Kitchen days (I don't know if I can actually believe that I just used the word 'foodie' in a complete sentence but I guess Portland makes you do crazy things...).

Finally on my last full day there, we are having breakfast at a place called Toast.  It was a very nondescript place but breakfast was delicious!  Then later that afternoon it was off to Salt and Straw - another food truck success turned into constantly busy store front.  After trying a few flavors, I settled on cheddar apple pie and strawberry with honey balsamic and black pepper - both delicious!

After a whirlwind of eating my way through Portland, OR I was heading back to the airport.  But not without a beautifully clear morning with a view of Mt Hood and Mt St Helen with pink highlighted clouds around their base.  It was a magical morning being able to see that!

I realized that this was a quick trip but never fear, I will return Portland to eat at some new eatery that has opened and to drink some more hard cider or maybe venture out to some Willamette wines.

As I was making my way back across the country this was my view when I was over the Rocky Mountains which will always have a special place in my heart....



A couple hours later Healthy Husband picked my up at the airport and we were headed back home...ahh it was good to get away, but awesome to come home!

Until next time, safe travels and happy eating!

playing catch up

I'm back - computer is fixed and I'm back writing.  I've been around - traveling a bit, working on menus a bit and just figuring out life.
Healthy Husband and I went to New York to see my sister and her fam.  It was so great to 'get out of dodge' for a few days.  We spent the first night in NYC which was action packed - met Healthy Husband's cousin for a late breakfast, then walked through High Line park for a few hours then settled in to where we were staying for the night, then out for dinner with my sister and brother in law at a new place called L&W Oyster Company, owned and operated by my sister's friend.  Next morning we were off to China town for dim sum and then to Eataly to have some beers at the beirgarten on the roof of the building.  We also hit up the Holiday Market at Union Square which was a good time.  There were actually decent booths at this market.  When I hear 'holiday market' I feel like there should be cheesy booths and silly nick-nack stores but this market was really great: jewelry, gourmet food items, olive oils/vinegars/salts and other things like that.  Later that day we were off to Long Island to see my adorable niece and nephew.

Menus.  We have rolled out our fall/winter menu (granted it was a month late for fall) and it's been successful thus far.  However, you are never going to be able to please every one so we do get complaints every now and then.  We are working on the winter restaurant week menu which starts up in February.

Other than that, Healthy Husband and I have been getting out for dinner and wandering around trying fun new things for date night.  I get to have a girl's trip to Portland, OR to visit one of my favorite Oregonians.  Work is work and my sight is set on this trip - I can't wait!

More next time...

great friends and great food

A good friend, Rachael, was in town from Oregon (she and I can take any topic of conversation and somehow find ourselves talking about food, it's kind of hilarious!) for the weekend and I made it my mission to spend some time with her.  I asked for Friday night off (I know you are probably thinking, but you're a chef, how did you take Friday off...) so we could get out and have some good eats and drinks somewhere in the area.  She was flying into DCA so I was thinking Alexandria or DC - I ended up selecting Graffiato in DC.  I picker her up from the airport (as the ride from where her family lives to the DCA would have been horrendous in traffic) and we were on our way.  Healthy Husband was metroing in from his office earlier to get us seats at the bar.

Once we got there we had a few drinks (me and Healthy Husband a DC Brau IPA and Rachael a wine from 14 vines winery from her neighborhood).  Our first round of drinks at the bar were accompanied by the house pepperoni sauce with flatbread and marinated olives.  We were able to grab a table once my friend's sister joined us and then began the true feasting.  First round was pumpkin tortellini, cauliflower, charred octopus, and the house pancetta.  Once that was devoured we brought on round two: scallops, chicken breast, and brussels sprouts.  We finished off the meal with "the perfect trifecta" as my Oregonian friend says...the warm chocolate cake, chocolate fudge and salted caramel gelato.  Everything was delicious!

All in all it was a great meal, again at Graffiato.
Happy eating!

all sorts of things

Hi friends...it's been a while.  Work has taken over my life (surprise, surprise).
Since I last posted, I have taken a few trips...camping in the Shenandoah and to a friends wedding in Mexico.
Camping was for Heathly Husband's birthday - when asked what he wanted, his response was chili, camping and smores.  Well that was easy order to fill and then some.  We had some friends (finally) take us up on the offer to go camping.  I made chili a couple days out of camping and we were ready to go.  I had to work in the morning but Healthy Husband took up the responsibility of packing things up and getting the car ready for a prompt departure from our place at 3:30.  And by prompt, I mean closer to 4.  Anyways, we got to our campsite and while I didn't take too many pics this was an example of the colors in the trees we saw as we drove up there.

  

The drive up was beautiful and then once the sun set, the sky lit up with infinite stars - amazing!

After a cold night around the fire with chili for dinner (complete with s'mores and some Makers), we had breakfast around the fire and then set back off.  For breakfast we had cowboy eggs which is a famous dish in my family - we scrambled some eggs and topped it off with the remaining chili.  During the trip down the mountain, we decided to stop off at a winery, Gray Ghost Winery, and do a wine tasting.  We figured the wine would be able to help expedite the warming process - we were still pretty cold from the overnight in the mountains!  

(This is the view from the end of the parking lot behind the tasting room.  The tasting room is about where we are standing to take the picture to the right.)  They had some good wine - me being me, I walked away with 4 bottles.  

All in all I think it was a successful birthday celebration for Healthy Husband!  

The following week we traveled to Mexico for a friend's wedding.  It was a great time to see all our friends where drink was flowing like water.  It was an all inclusive resort.  Something I probably would have not done had friends not been the reason.  It was great to lounge on the beach for a couple of days while it was cold back home.

This is a picture of Healthy Husband and I at the wedding.

That's it for now, more to come on the new menu change which has been consuming my time as well!

Happy eating!

a birthday celebration

Today my brother turned 38.  Every day I think about him and miss him so this birthday I wanted to make sure that we did something exciting and celebrate the way he would (well minus a crazy ski trip to Argentina or something...).  Healthy Husband and I were going to go on a big serious hike.  We decided on Old Rag.  (Do NOT, I repeat do NOT use the new software iPhone map with turn by turn directions....it will get you lost, it got us lost!)  Anyways, once we arrived to the parking lot for Old Rag and payed the fee we were on our way - 8 miles, 4 hours, gorgeous scenery and weak legs.  It was awesome!

This was taken from the summit and the picture does not do the view justice at all!  We stopped to have lunch up there and enjoyed soaking it up.

After the long hike and 8 hours later we were headed back home...but not without stopping at a fruit stand for some fresh pressed apple cider and VA apples.  The cider is downright delicious!

As a splurge, we decided to stop at Rappahannock Cellars and do a quick wine tasting (I mean, why not we had nothing else to do on this fall Sunday).  We tasted 8 wines and ended up bringing 3 bottles home..I'm an impulse consumer, what can I say?  I brought home the Viognier, Mertiage and the VA Red Dessert Wine which tasted like port (I'm a sucker for port).

All in all a great way to spend the day celebrating a great man.  I'm finishing up the day with a glass of makers mark (1, just because and 2, that was his drink).
Happy birthday MPH, cheers and I love you!
More on food next time :-)...happy eating!