Uncorking Cork

Max & Erica (yes, that's who we are) went to Cork last night. Made a reservation and were kindly seated early. Cozy place, very nice ambiance. Friendly and helpful staff. Obviously, we started off with some wine. Max had the Languedoc, medium-bodied, very refreshing. Erica had the flight of Chenin Blanc and followed it with a French pinot noir. Then, we moved on to the small plates. Crunchy, garlicky fries with an Indian-spiced ketchup. Delicious stewed kale topped with slices of parmigiano. Sweet oil-cured tomatoes on toast. Mesclun salad. Fried rock shrimp and calamari. Finished with an amazing goat cheese cake and tawny port. We were excited by our first trip and look forward to further wine explorations.

The: 'If you're ever in New Orleans....' Post

I visited my sister two weeks ago for Mardi Gras debauchery. I think we could solve world peace with barrels of plastic beads, gold colored masks, and small stuffed animals.

Here are my culinary highlights.

La Boulangerie
If you think this is king cake: lame, then you have never lived.
This is king cake: heaven.

French king cake is, in simplest terms, a round puff pastry with almond paste on the inside. La Boulangerie (literally bakery in French) is run by French people and known how to make French pastries. I binge ate this stuff every day when I was in NOLA.

Taqueria Corona
The best Uptown burrito, or just the best burrito you'll have outside of Mexico. Chipotle or California Tortilla got nothing on this place.

Late Night: Morning Call
Lesser known equivalent to Cafe du Monde. Still good, for you to decide.
Beignets are always good.

Piece de Resistance: Cafe du Monde
I'm a damn tourist. And I love it. Cafe du Monde is quite necessary when visitng NOLA. I love cafes au lait and beignets. I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Tootles, Cub.

And then there was more Pizza, and it was good.

So I think I pulled a fast one on Olives and Popeye this weekend. I went to Market Lunch on Saturday and Pizza Paradiso on Sunday with 2 of my friends.

Market Lunch
Blue-Bucks (Blueberry buckwheat pancakes) with Maple Syrup and Pecans and Butter
I only had to wait about a half hour in line to get breakfast around 11 on Saturday (breakfast is only on Saturdays apparently - if you read my blog from last week, sigh - and the wait is always long)
Thus, I basically had the best pancake experience of my life. And it was good.

Pizza Paradiso
On our way to Zorba's last night in Dupont, my friends and I took a right onto P from 21st. Lo and behold we stumbled upon Pizza Paradiso and quickly changed our meal plans. The wait was only about 15 minutes (good in my book). The atmosphere was really nice, but a little noisy and warm (you eat in the room with the brick oven). The waiters were quite pleasant and very attentive.
I had the special for the night of spinach, tomatoes, fontina cheese, (maybe pecorino cheese too, I forget), and roasted garlic. I've never had pizza with cheese other than mozzarella, so this was surprisingly good. It tasted somewhere between parmesan and gruyere. Over all the pizza is very 2Amy's-esque with great tastes and wonderful crusts.
My friends shared the margherita pizza, which was plain, but quite delicious none-the-less.

And to dessert! I had the tiramisu. Very very good if you like tiramisu.
Friends shared a chocolate gelato. More of an ice cream than a gelato, but a very interesting and unique taste making up for the consistancy. Thus it was good.

Back Track: News Cafe
Friday night was my pasta night in Georgetown. News Cafe is an Italian restaurant with the pasta dishes holding people's attention the most. I had the Penne Caprino: Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese and Basil in Spicy Tomato Sauce. Which was very very good, but maybe a little over priced (but I guess I have to accept this as it is on M Street in Georgetown). Atmosphere was loud, but cool. Actually I was with 5 other people so we had a private room with couches instead of chairs, it was very twilight-zone. But it was good.

--Cub Reporter

Good Pizza in the Heart of Gentrification

Last night, Olives and Popeye ate at RedRocks Pizza in Columbia Heights/Petworth. Nice beer and wine to start (Brooklyn Lager & Sur de Los Andes red). Simple house salad. Refreshing. Then, on to the pizza. Olives had the Salsigia. Popeye had the Margherita with arugula. Delicious. Sweet sauce. Gooey cheese. Almost perfect crust. Good structure, in that the slices held up well. No droopy tips. We ate every last drop.

So, the pizza rankings are as follows:

1. 2 Amy's (still the champion)
2. American Flatbread (to be re-reviewed)
   
3. RedRocks Pizza
4. Comet Ping Pong

Still to rate: Pizza Paradiso, Moroni Bros., Vace Italian Deli, Rustico

Earlier in the morning, Olives and Popeye traveled to Le Pain Quotidien. To respect the Cubbie's report, we will not express our feelings. But needless to say, we were blown away.

~Submitted by Popeye (formerly S2)

From Papaya Salad to ACKC

S2 had a interesting lunch today at Burma, a little spot hidden away in Chinatown. A fascinating mixture of Indian and Thai influences.

S1 & S2 traveled up to Bar Pilar for drinks and a bite after work. S1 enjoyed an Italian Pinot Noir blend with a jamon serrano sandwich and grilled sunchokes. S2 threw back a glass of Shooting Star Blue Franc from Oregon. Tasty. Bar Pilar is great place, very reliable, decent beers and wines offered, and super neighborhood-normal. Good music, solid bartender. Cool photo booth in the back.

Afterwards, we walked over to ACKC (Artfully Chocolate, Kingsbury Confections). Very bright and red. Pretty serious hot chocolate. S1 had the Joan (comes with a shot of espresso). Like a light mocha. S2 had the Liz (lavender-infused, topped with pistachios). Rich, rich, rich.

Submitted by S2

Meanwhile, let us take a sip of tea...

I am forever indebted to my best friend Markham, a friend I've had since my diaper phase. He is the one who introduced me to tea. Up until that point, I basically knew Lipton and maybe Earl Grey. Tea was a bitter enemy, something to be drowned in lemon juice and lots of sugar. Then, a whole world was opened up to me, one of spinachy greens, bright and clear silver needles, burlap pu-erhs, and complex oolongs. I read books. I studied and sipped. I crawled into wabi-sabi Japanese tea houses and played Go by the soughing bamboos. Bliss.

Today, S1 and I retreated to Ching Ching Cha, a place of secret tranquility. I had the Oriental Beauty, a deep rich oolong from Taiwan. Gold and delicious. S1 had the orchid oolong. Floral with a touch of sweetness. Peace after a long, hard day.

"The first bowl of tea moistens my throat,
the second breaks my loneliness, and
the third bowl racks my brains, bringing to light the texts of 5,000 volumes.
the fourth induces perspiration whereby all ills evaporate through my pores.
the fifth makes my muscles and bones feel light, and
the sixth links me to celestials.
Be careful when drinking the seventh bowl,
as it makes you feel as if a cool breeze were coming from your armpits."

~Lu Tong, Chinese Poet of the Tang Dynasty

Submitted by S2

Mid-Day Snack at Comet Ping Pong

Today, S2 and I decided to venture over to the lovely, humble neighborhood of Chevy Chase for pizza, of all things. This makes trip #2 to Comet Ping Pong. As usual, we decided to split our meal to save up for a dinner trip with Cubby. When going to this neighborhood pizza joint, keep it simple. Do not try to compare it to our favorite, 2 Amy's. They have 4 draft beers and a few more bottles. I enjoyed a frothy glass of Anchor Steam with my lunch. We decided on the caesar salad to start. Great choice! To go with the, "Keep it simple" attitude, we shared the Tomato Pie. S2 mentioned that it reminded him of his favorite Katonah pizza shop as a child. The pizza was piping hot, tasty and great for what it was. Simple, affordable, neighborhood pizza. I applaud Comet Ping Pong for using local, sustainable ingredients whenever possible. I recommend Comet Ping Pong if you are looking for a fun game of ping pong and pizza.

Yours Truly,
S1

Cub Scouting plus Street Team Mission 3

Well kids, this is the Cub Reporter's first posting (she enjoys not referring to herself as Cubby as someone else we know fondly does...but I won't be naming names of course, because actually....we don't even do that here at S2).

So here's my first post, chock full of lovely things to waste your time reading.

Friday Lunch
Teaism
Teaism is a place you can go to over and over again (believe me, I have). It has a very old world ritualistic type feel to it. S2 says technology is not allowed while at Teaism and scolds its use as a laptop study space. I enjoy its laid back feel how you go to the front to order, wait for your food to come out on a tray and then pick your seats within the restaurant.
This past Friday included a jaunt with my friend to the Penn Quarter Teaism. (There are two other locations at Lafayette Square and Dupont Circle)
My meal: Veggie Bento Box with Silver Needle white tea
Friend's: Chicken Bento Box

Basically, anything Japanese and anything in a box, I'm sold. The main section was sweet potatoes and zucchini with rice, edamame, and tofu. The only awkwardness is that the sweet potatoes and zucchini are usually luke warm (while the rice is hot) and the tofu is in a sort of super salty soy sauce. The chicken apparently was good, but was too much reminiscent of plain chicken fingers. Her sides were rice, cucumber-ginger salad, and sweet potatoes.

Other recommendations:
Any type of cookie
Pick a tea, any tea - a good idea would be to look at their tea selections online before you visit so you aren't holding up the line with a dumb-founded look on your face of "oh my goodness, who came up with all of these freakin' types of teas?"
go get breakfast there too! - my experience has been with the muesli and the french toast, both keepers

Think twice about:
Japanese Sweet Tea - it's good, but only if you like to drink sugar water with a tea flavor
Veggie Egg Rolls - good if you like spring rolls, but very average none the less

Friday Dinner
Julia's Empanadas or here
Apparently there are 4 different locations of Julia's, I have encountered the one on the intersection of Connecticut, 18th, and M, (which I suppose makes it the Dupont location) and seen the one in Adams Morgan. (the other two have eluded me) Each empanada is around 3 - 4 bucks, the dessert ones are around 2-3.

As a sequestered vegetarian, I've only had the pleasure of eating the veggie empanadas (they change weekly depending on the veggies they decide to make them out of) and the spinach (which is the all around favorite between my friends) but apparently everything else is good as well.

Samedi Brunch
Le Pain Quotidien
Get here, right now. Don't stop at La Madeleine or Zed's. Go to Le Pain Quotidien (The Daily Bread for you non francophiles) right now. This basically made my weekend. I had a pesto and parmesan cheese omelette with two different kinds of bread (one baguette and the other unknown) and a salad (all served as one dish when ordered). A cafe au lait and a pain au chocolat for an apres-midi dessert. My accompanying friend had a goat cheese salad with the same fixings and a chocolat chaud which she was able to make herself with a cup of steamed milk and a mini metal pitcher of chocolat sauce. I was quite tempted to steal the butter pads they gave us, I was that entranced by it all. Can I also mention that I now have a love affair with butcher block tables? (it was just an admiration before)

Saturday Dinner and Dessert
Ben's Chili Bowl
Ben's is a staple of DC, defining it's character and keeping it grounded in the past. I always get veggie chili cheese fries and always finish it. If you are really hungry, get a milk shake or a slice of cake. You can never go wrong here.

Love Cafe
I have been fortunate to have visited the Love Cafe with S2 and have tasted the many different famous cupcake flavors causing me to not be overwhelmed at this week's visit. I had the amaretto cupcake (voted the best cupcake choice by numerous friends at the table, take that S2). An easy treat and an easy choice as it is only 3 blocks away from Ben's on U Street.

Sunday Fake Lunch
Eastern Market - Market Lunch and Unknown Bakery (?)
Apparently Market Lunch, famous for it's blueberry buckwheat pancakes only serves them on Saturday. Cool Market Lunch, cool. Since everything on their lunch menu had meat in it I ventured down the East Hall to the bakery section and bought an apple fritter and a peach turnover, and these guys know how to make pastries. (Both were only 3.75 and the size of a large plate) Two friends both had the crab soup at Market Lunch and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Street Team Mission 3
Sunday Dinner
Vegetate

At S² we don't like to hate. So if over-priced, awkward vegetarian food is your thing, go for it. It being half-off wine night made S1 and S2's dining experience apparently much better...

When I actually register what I did last week during my trip to New Orleans, I will post goodies about that...

Street Team Mission 2: From Delicious Wine to Chocolate Cupcakes

The mission continued last night as S1 and S2 had a little mid-week adventure. Started off at Vinoteca on 11th and U Streets. Friends, we sing the praises of happy hour and $5 glasses of wine. S2 had Medoc to start, very thick and intense. Finished with some some long, German-sounding South African white. S2 was very proud to have identified the taste of pineapple. How's your palette now, cubbie? S1 had a Botromagno Primitivo (great with lamb slider) and another red. Topped it off with some venison, beef, tuna, and bison sliders.

Then, we strolled out into the freakishly warm night over to Cafe Saint-Ex.
S2 is always whining about having a light dinner and thus refused to order a full meal. Instead, S1 and S2 shared a dinner starting with an arugula salad. Delicious pears shaved super thin, pine nuts, and pecorino cheese on top. Best part of the meal. Next up was a very nicely cooked piece of tuna with grilled endives. The guacamole sauce was a bit strange. Dessert was a chocolate & peanut butter cupcake with vanilla ice cream. Decent.

And that's a wrap. This weekend, the full team is going out.

Check out Mark Bittman's blog. It's cool.

Submitted by S2