Highline RxR

Fun Fact:  Crystal City's food and bar scene is extremely disappointing.  Filled with chain restaurants (read: Chili's and others), and monstrous concrete buildings there is nothing unique or community-oriented about this section of Arlington.  I know there is a Business Development initiative designed to try to work on this challenge, but honestly the place is set up for tourists.

However, noticeable changes are underway, starting with a new restaurant in town -- Highline R&R.

Simple and industrial, with a focus on a good beer selection, this restaurant is everything that I love in a bar.  Casual and comfortable (sneakers allowed), open air (HUGE windows) and eclectic (potted herbs on the bar tables lining the windows).

The food is okay, but I think with some attention, they could do much more.  The wings and kettle cooked chips were good, but nothing to write home about.  They need a little flair to make them stand out and complement the beer menu.

The disappointment was the bacon nuts.  They had SO MUCH potential.  And then, they under-delivered.  Way too savory and no balance with a spice or a sweet flavor.  REVISE. 

Despite the missteps with the food, I still love this place given the beer menu and atmosphere.  It is a welcome change to a stale Crystal City and, with some fine tuning with the menu, could truly be great.

  

Linger in Denver

Sometimes I get to travel as part of my job.  I used to travel A LOT and now, not so much, which is actually quite nice because traveling for work tends to be exhausting.  But I will say, the cool thing about traveling for work is the ability to go to different cities that you might have not planned a trip to.  The down side is that you rarely get to see the city (rather the inside of a conference room).  

This past week, I traveled to Denver for work and I got to visit one of my favorite people in the whole world.  And, she suggested a fantastic restaurant for us to have a 'girls night out' - Linger. Win, win - good friend, good dinner.

Linger is in the Highlands neighborhood of Denver, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of the skyline and a hip, urban vibe.  The restaurant itself is open and airy, accented with vintage decor.  I immediately loved the scene - trendy, but not uptight.  And our server was super friendly and very attentive -- he had great recommendations about cocktails to try and menu items that stood out among the rest.  All around, a perfect setting with wonderful service.    

Since I had sat on a plane for about four hours, I was definitely ready for a cocktail.  The La Rosa immediately caught my eye with St. Germain, Aperol, Lemon Juice, Rosemary and Prosecco.  It was absolutely delicious, light and refreshing with a soft sweet finish.  Yum!

 

Linger makes housemade popcorn every evening with variations on different seasonings/flavors.  We sampled some curry seasoned popcorn the night we dined at Linger and it was fun little snack - airy and crunchy with a light dusting of flavor.  It was a nice compliment to the cocktails.

For dinner, our server recommended we chose 3 dishes to share, and after much debate, we settled on the Popper "Breakdown," Mongolian BBQ Duck Bun, and Carrot and Lentil Falafel. 

The Popper "Breakdown" consisted of sishito peppers, cheddar curds and orange-habanero jam -- cheese and spice, two of my favorite things.  The peppers where lightly sauted and tender while the cheddar curds were flash fried with a crispy outer shell.  This small plate was outstanding.  It was the perfect balance of spice from the peppers with the sweet jam to give it a smooth finish.  Our server recommended grabbing a pepper with a cheese curd and dipping it in the jam.  The trio of these flavors combined was amazing - it just popped in your mouth. 

The Mongolian BBQ Duck Buns were served on a doughy bun topped with tender, succulent duck flavored with scallions and miso-pickled cucumbers.  I also tasted a sweet orange sauce with the duck meat which rounded out the dish.  The duck buns were quite tasty - meaty with a slight bitterness from the pickled cucumbers. 

Our last dish for dinner was the Carrot and Lentil Falafel which were made from garbanzos, cashews, chile, scallion and gingered shittakes into falafel balls wrapped in butter lettuce with a herbs and lemon tahini yogurt dipping sauce.  The falafels were dense little balls with a crispy shell and had a spicy bite to them.  I loved the tahini dipping sauce, it added a depth to the falafel with its creamy texture. 

Even though I was completely full, my friend FORCED (literally, forced!) me to have dessert.  We opted for the Italian "Coffee & Donuts" which were zeppoles served with an espresso-chocolate mousse.  Growing up in NJ, we always used to head to the pizza place after school and order zeppoles for a snack.  So I was skeptical about how Denver might fare in this arena.  And I have to say, I was impressed.  The zeppoles came in a little brown bag that you shook to cover the zeppoles with the powdered sugar.  The dough balls were warm with a crunchy shell and spongy center.  We dipped the zeppoles in the mousse and it was amazing.  A fun dessert with a great presentation and a sweet ending to our dinner.

Overall, I have to say, I loved Linger.  Not many restaurants get everything right - the atmosphere, impeccable service, and delicious food.  But they did.  Well played Linger, well played!        
 

 

 

Dinner at Little Serow

It was 3 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon in February, and I was getting ready to head out to dinner.  No, I do not live in Florida and I wasn't trying to get the early bird special/senior citizens' discount.  It was the night of my birthday dinner (long awaited, I might mention since my birthday was in December) and we were headed out to Little Serow.

Little Serow is an ultra-hip, vintage Thai restaurant in DC created by the chef of Komi, the Washingtonian's Best Restaurant of 2012.  This sister restaurant just opened last year and was included in Bon Appetite's Hot 10: America's Best New Restaurants.  It is a little peculiar and has some very specific ideas around dining...

• They don't take reservations; seating is first-come, first-serve
• They offer one menu with seven courses, no substitutions
• There is no seating available for any party bigger than four
• It is located in the basement of a townhouse which can seat about 10 parties at any given time
• There is no sign for the restaurant
• No flash photography (which means no pictures for you all to see, sorry)
• It is supposed to be very, very good and spicy (YAY!!)

So we headed up to Dupont Circle, ready to get in line to wait for a table at Little Serow.  We got to the restaurant around 4:15pm (an hour and fifteen minutes before they opened).  When we arrived, we were about the 5th party in line.  By 5:15pm, the line for the restaurant went down the street and wrapped around the corner.  It was unbelievable.  It was also 30 degrees out, so it was a little cold waiting outside for over an hour.  I felt like I was waiting in line for a Black Friday store to open or for concert tickets (do they even still do that?  camping out for tickets?).  My toes froze but I swore it was worth it.  

On cue, at 5:30pm the door to the basement opened and a girl's head popped out, accepting one party at a time inside the intimate restaurant.  By 5:45pm we were seated at a long, communal table (on one side) that faced a big, white basin sink with beer on ice.  SUCCESS!

The decor at Little Serow is simple with a distressed tin roof, vibrant sea-green walls, and classic white tables with bar stools adorned with tea-light candles.  The entire ambiance is like having dinner at someone's house -- relaxed, cozy and fun.

There is a small, selective wine and beer menu that offers a range of drinks like Belgium beers, IPAs, and a Lambrusco (sweet, red Italian bubbly wine) -- all pair really well with the spice in the courses.  They offer beers by the pour - $5 for a 5 oz glass.  Which is what I went with - a Belgian variety.  Then it was time to get things started.

Each table gets a rice basket (sticky white rice) and veggie basket (cabbage, radish, Thai eggplant, lettuce, and Thai basil among other things) as an accompaniment to each course.  These both can help temper the spice of the dishes if things heat up too much.  I didn't have any problem with the spice in any of dishes but that didn't stop me from eating all those veggies!  Turns out, fresh cabbage is really tasty.

The first course, nam prik gapi was a spicy shrimp based dip with pork grinds for dipping.  Really yummy and the pork grinds were light and airy, perfect with the dip.

The second course was the tom kha het served with the bla chorn lom kwan.  The tom kha het was similar to a coconut-based soup with mushrooms which I used to dip my little balls of sticky rice.  This soup had sliced thai chilies and things got spicy fast when I used my spoon to eat it like traditional soup.  It was delicious - one of my favorite as I really like the sweetness of the coconut paired with the spicy chiles.  The bla chorn lom kwan, made of snakehead fish, was a solid salad-type dish.  But I was honestly focusing all my attention on the spicy soup.  

It was at this point in the meal that I noticed the gentleman seated next to us.  He had taken off his glasses and was wiping his forehead which was a little damp with sweat.  Hmm.  So I guess these foods might be *really spicy* to some.  I honestly, wasn't phased by the spice.  Yes, at points my lips got hot, but it was at no point, burning my mouth.  I guess the moral of the story is to know your heat tolerance before dining at Thai restaurant.  

The third course, laap chiang mai, was a rich and complex spicy pork dish.  This one was my husband's favorite.  I liked the fourth course better, the sweet and sour crispy rice and pork, naem khao tod.  It reminded me of the flavoring used in larb gai, with the mint and cilantro playing off each other with a balance of sweet and bitter flavors.

The fifth course was fantastic - sweet, caramelized brussel sprouts in phat ga lam.  This course went well with the final course, the dill pork ribs, si krong muu.  Our dinner ended with a sweet treat from the kitchen - coconut cream over sticky rice.

Overall, it was an excellent dinner at Little Serow - I absolutely loved it.  The food was outstanding, the service was attentive, friendly and relaxed, and the ambiance was truly like no other.  I love no frills dining with a focus on delicious food - cooking what you cook well and doing it a way that reveals something about who you are and what you love.  My only qualm was the pace of the food.  At points, things came out a little too quickly from the kitchen and it was hard to take a break between courses.  But I still ate it all and loved every minute!  




        

A Night to Remember at the Joshua Wilton House

This month I celebrate my 8th wedding anniversary with my husband.  Every year for our anniversary we go somewhere special for dinner.  For our first anniversary, we went to dinner at the Inn at Little Washington, which was absolutely lovely but hard to top in year two.  Last year, we went to my favorite restaurant in DC, CityZen at the Mandarin Oriental.  And for our 10th anniversary, I fully expect to be taken to French Laundry in Napa Valley (I've been hinting at this for YEARS and posting in this blog makes it official!), one of the few restaurants awarded 3 Michelin stars in the US.  I know, it probably sounds a little demanding but I like GOOD food.  I want to taste a dish and be knocked off my feet wondering "how did they come up with that!?!" or think "I have never tasted anything like that in my LIFE!" It's a tall order to fill.  But it's who I am.

This year, my husband (bless his heart) spent a lot of time trying to come up with a good place to go dinner for our anniversary.  Ultimately, he decided on a two-night stay and dinner at the Joshua Wilton House in Harrisonburg, VA.  Given that I went to college in North Carolina, I had never heard of the Joshua Wilton House.  But my husband went to JMU (located in Harrisonburg, VA) and apparently, the Joshua Wilton House is a legend unto itself for those familiar with the Harrisonburg area.

The Joshua Wilton House is a bed and breakfast in an elegantly restored Victorian home in downtown Harrisonburg.  We spent two nights at the inn, enjoying a luxurious four-poster bed, a little sitting area and terry cloth robes.  It was quite lovely (not to mention, peaceful and quiet).  The inn also offers a full service restaurant on its main level featuring fine dining with locally grown produce and meat.  The inn boasts a charming, simple and cozy dining area coupled with a quaint bar area complete with fireplace and leather arm chairs.

Our package at the Joshua Wilton House featured a 5-course tasting menu for dinner.  To start off our evening, I ordered the Grace, a specialty cocktail featuring Dibon Sparkling wine, Hendrick’s gin, St~Germain, Chambord and house-made sweet and sour mix.  This little cocktail was crisp and light, a delicious aperitif.

Before our first course, we received an amuse bouche (a tasty little tidbit some restaurant kitchens send out "compliments of the chef").  An amuse bouche is a way of teasing your appetite and setting the tone for meal.  For our dinner, it was a date stuffed with blue cheese, wrapped in bacon and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.  The date was baked to perfection, soft and tender with gooey cheese oozing from the middle.  The balsamic vinegar was a wonderful compliment to the blue cheese and savory date.

The first course consisted of lamb served with shaved Manchego cheese, capers and white truffle oil over a bed of arugula.  The dish was simple and classic, focusing on the lamb and Manchego pairing.  It was good, but did not offer anything distinct or innovative.

The second course was one of my favorite courses of the evening.  The Chef offered scallop and pork belly accompanied by corn and zucchini served over grits with a roasted red pepper sauce.  The scallop was delicious - pan-seared to perfection, light and flaky.  The grits with the corn and zuchini, with the touch of the red pepper sauce were absolutely wonderful with the scallop - they added a sweet southern flare and flavoring to the scallop.  I realize that these were supposed to giveway to the salty, meaty flavors provided in the pork belly.  But for some reason, the pork belly didn't hit the mark.  The pork was just sort of an add-on, it didn't really create the 'ying and yang' that I think they were going for by pairing with the scallop.  I would have been perfectly happy with just the scallop topped with bacon crumbles. 

The third course featured swordfish served over soba noodles with shiitake mushrooms and red peppers accompained by ginger infused wasabi aioli.  This was a good dish but the Asian-inspired dish with the soba noddles and wasabi didn't really follow the flow of the first few courses.  It sort of seemed out of place.  It was definitely good, but not really in line with the tasting menu.

The fourth course won out as the star of the evening.  This dish was truly remarkable -- duck breast served over pureed sweet potatoes topped with a blueberry hickory glaze accompanied by chili-glazed green beans.  It was the perfect symphony of the four flavors (sweet, sour, salty and bitter).  And the most intriguing part about the dish was the house-made hickory-blackberry sauce.  It highlighted the sweet undertones of the potatoes while adding a rich finish to the duck.  Truly a dish that 'knocked me off my feet.'

The fifth and final course was dessert.  I was definitely full at this point and then they brought out chocolate.  A bittersweet chocolate ganache tart topped with hazelnuts and served with a pistaschio crisp.  Silky smooth and decadent.

Our anniversary celebration at the Joshua Wilton House was exceptional.  A quiet and elegant bed and breakfast with delicious dining and a knowledgeable, friendly staff.  Truly, a night to remember.                   
    

Biking and Belgian Beer at Cock & Bowl

I exercise so I can eat and drink what I want.  Yeah, it makes me feel good after I'm done and sure, I enjoy the sense of accomplishment.  But most importantly, I like to not have to think about calories and fat content... I just want to order what I think looks most delicious off a menu.  And then eat desert.  So in order to do this, I exercise.  I run and I bike.  And NO, I do not adorn my car with stickers that advertise this fact to other drivers on the road.

Our family lives in Burke, VA and honestly, there isn't much happening around here in terms of great places to eat.  There are a few decent places, and places the kids like (such as Glory Days) but if we have a babysitter and go out to dinner, we usually head to DC or Arlington.  The other day though, I stumbled upon Cock and Bowl in Occoquan, VA.

For those of you who have never been to Occoquan, it's actually a quaint little town right outside Fairfax County, VA.  It has a historic downtown area with little shoppes and restaurants on the water.  If you've driven on 95, this is right about where you hit traffic right after the "Mixing Bowl."  Ha, now you know where I'm talking about!

When I saw the outdoor patio at Cock and Bowl, their European style menu, and the selection of Belgian beers, I knew I had to try it out.  Since it was a nice day, I thought I would take my road bike down Rt. 123 to Occoquan and have lunch with my husband at Cock and Bowl.  That way, whatever calories I burned off riding down to Occoquan I could replace with Belgian beer. Perfect.

Cock and Bowl is actually very tiny inside, I think it is a small row house.  They have about 4 tables downstairs and 4 tables upstairs.  They also have about 8 tables outside on their patio.  Lucky for us, it was not crowded at lunchtime.  But I can imagine the wait on a sunny fall afternoon during the weekend.  

We sat down to lunch and looked through the extensive Belgian beer list.  It was impressive how much beer they have on their menu.  Generally to get a beer menu like that you have to go up to DC and go to places like The Brickskellar.  But now there is one close to my house... nice!

We decided to order a beer we could share.  The first beer we chose was no longer in stock, but the waitress was smart enough to bring three other bottles to the table for us to choose from.  I always am impressed by a wait staff that actually knows what they are serving and can make recommendations based on what you originally ordered.  Nice job, Cock and Bowl.  We decided on the La Chouffe brewed by Brasserie d'Achouffe which was delicious, light and sweet with a little hoppy taste.

I don't know what that little gnome is doing, I hope it's making beer!

 Since I had biked down to lunch, I was definitely ready to eat.  We started off with the Pommes Frites and the Pâté a la Maison. 

Perfect amount of frites to share...

The frites were crispy, salty and delicious.  The side of mayo was exactly that, mayo.  It was not the like the lighter dipping sauce usually served with frites (which you can sort of replicate by cutting regular mayo with garlic and fresh lemon juice).  That was a little disappointing.  

The pâté (chicken liver terrine) was served with toasted bread, cornichons, and stone-ground mustard.  It was good, a nice addition to the frites.

Between the frites and pate, I had restored my salt content

After our snacks, we shared a bowl of mussels.  I like my mussels prepared in a simple broth, so we opted for the mussels in white wine, garlic, shallots, parsley and butter.

Serve these in a pot!

The mussels were good.  There were a good number that didn't open in our bowl, which is annoying.  But they provided a generous quantity of mussels, so that made up for it.       

For dessert we ordered another Belgian beer and the Turtle Waffle.  The beer, St. Bernardus Abt 12, was definitely more thick and complex than the first - it was creamy and sort of tasted like caramel.  Perfect for dessert.

Another 'person of the cloth' having fun with beer! I may be in the wrong profession...

The belgian waffle was topped with chocolate, caramel, pecans and whipped cream.  It was sooo... good!

umm, I might have to bike back home after eating this

We had a yummy lunch at the Cock and Bowl.  The food was good and the beers were even better.  And, it's super close to my house!  If you are ever stuck in traffic on 95 in Occoquan, now you know what to do... hit up the Cock and Bowl, have a beer and wait for traffic to end. 

  

Sunday Brunch at American Tap Room

I love brunch.  Brunch is hands down, my favorite meal and sadly, it generally is only available on Saturdays and Sundays.  At brunch you can get breakfast and lunch foods paired together as a mid-day treat, embellished with fantastic beverages like mimosas and bloody marys.  Seriously, what is not to love?!?

Given that at this point in my life I have two young children, I don't get to frequent brunch very often because it interferes with pool visits, birthday parties, and nap time.  Total bummer.  But this past weekend, the kids had a sleepover at their Grandmom's house so we got to go to brunch!  I could just hear the mimosa calling my name when I woke up on Sunday morning (in a quiet house - which was a treat unto itself).

We decided to go to American Tap Room in Clarendon for brunch because we work nearby and have often wondered what it was like.  So off we went for our highly anticipated, much coveted brunch experience.

We had to wait for a table (about 15 minutes) since it was prime brunch time (around 12:30pm on a Sunday) -- not bad at all considering if you head to Eastern Market for brunch you could find yourself waiting about 30 min to an hour.  We went to the bar and ordered a drink (don't judge - it was after noon and it was brunch!!).  I got a mimosa and my husband ordered a bloody mary.  My mimosa was delicious but from what I was told, the bloody mary could have been a bit more spicy. 

I hear you mimosa, and I'M COMING!!!

We were quickly seated at our table (in an oversized chair that was comfy but a little unwieldy) and I ordered the eggs benedict while my husband ordered the carolina pork hash - we agreed to share our order because we honestly wanted a little of both.  I am no fool though, and I knew that I had to order the eggs or I would get nothing of those because my husband can put food away really quickly.

The eggs benedict were fantastic.  Perfectly poached eggs, the right amount of hollandaise sauce - yum.
  

Break the yolk!  Break the yolk!

 My husband absolutely LOVED the carolina pork hash.  I tasted some and it was good but apparently for my husband the very idea of bbq for breakfast was the hook, and he could not get enough.  I swear when I wasn't looking, he licked his plate clean.

Bar-be-Que for breakfast, a special treat

It was about this point in the meal, while I was sipping my mimosa and chasing it with coffee, that I realized that we were listening to crappy 'house' music.  My husband maintains it was not 'house music' but some version of pop, but either way, it was distracting from an otherwise relaxing brunch experience.  It was just a weird mix.  I would expect this type of music at a bar at 11pm, but not really at brunch.

Regardless of the music, the waiter came around with a dessert tray and we were hooked.  We had to have the dessert equivalent of what was described as an "Irish Car Bomb" - something about a brownie made with Guinness topped with Bailey's flavored ice cream.  It was really, really good.

Couldn't wait to take the picture, had to get that spoon in there!

It was a great brunch experience at American Tap Room and I will be definitely be going back to try their dinner menu with fried pickles!


 

DC Restaurant Week - Jackson 20

For all of you who aren't aware, this week is DC Restaurant Week.  It's a lovely week in August (which comes again in January) where local area restaurants offer a special lunch and/or dinner menu for a set price ($20.12 for lunch, $35.12 for dinner).  For the businesses, it's a good way to bring in customers at an otherwise 'slow time of year' (because Congress is out and DC folks are generally out of town on vacation) and for price conscious diners, it's a great way to go to some fancy DC restaurants at half the cost.  Everybody wins!  

For Restaurant Week this year, I made plans to go out with my girlfriends to dinner at Jackson 20 in Old Town Alexandria.   Jackson 20 is part of the Hotel Monaco, a trendy little boutique hotel that is right on King Street and I'm sure has the coolest little chocolates on your pillow which I can only dream about.  We chose Jackson 20 because of its Southern style menu and to be perfectly honest, it looked swanky and fun.  Goes to show, a good restaurant style can go a long way.  

We arrived at the restaurant on time for our reservation and were promptly seated (which I was relieved about because I read reviews about people waiting a long time for a table they had reserved).  True to form, the layout and design of the restaurant was fantastic - great lighting, bold colors, and velvet benches with sparkly pillows.  My friend was in love with the napkin rings and used this inspiration to serve as the resident photo stylist for the evening. 

Oink, oink!  Pig-themed Jackson 20

For their Restaurant Week menu, Jackson 20 offered three choices for appetizers, main course, and dessert which were items off their standard menu.  For the first course, I ordered the American Farm Cheese Selection.  It came with three cheeses (which I am guessing were a goat cheese, a soft creamy cheese (like brie), and a cheddar) a fruit jam (raspberry/strawberry), a caramelized onion spread, and grilled country bread (like Texas toast).  It was a good cheese plate and was very filling but I was not a huge fan of the bread.  It was hard to break apart to use with the cheese and jams.  Given that it is a Southern restaurant, I might recommend serving the cheese plate with some spiced pecans.  To even out the flavor mix - that would give the plate something sweet with the jam and spicy with the pecans.  Just my suggestion but you know, I don't run restaurants so I could be off...

Cheese me up!

We also got a bread basket with biscuits and corn bread.  It was awesome... totally Southern, and the butter was honey-flavored.  I love flavored butter and the honey butter with the corn bread was the perfect pairing.  Well played, Jackson 20, well played.

So good, it melts in your mouth

The main course I ordered was the Charcoal Roasted Slow Cooked Goat.  I picked this for my dinner because I have never had goat before and I was intrigued.  The goat was delicious - it was shredded and tender with a light salt seasoning.  Yum.  It was served with pureed sweet potatoes and creamed corn which were good accompaniments.  The goat was also served along side pimento cheese stuffed ravioli.  I could have done without the ravioli.  The dish was filling enough with just the goat, creamed corn and sweet potato puree.  The ravioli, in my opinion, didn't really add anything to the dish (and I forgot that was not much of a pimento cheese lover).  I did not eat the ravioli on my plate.

Meaty good....

For dessert I ordered the Grasshopper Pie made of Oreo crust, marshmallow and mint and it sounded awesome.  It was very good, but very sweet.  So sweet that I could only eat a quarter of the dessert.  A great concept but they could probably stand to serve half of what they put out on the plate.  And I loved the toasted marshmallow smear on the plate, it reminded me of making s'mores by a campfire - it was a very artistic touch.

Toasted marshmallow without the fire hazard

Overall, it was a solid dinner from Jackson 20.  And a fun time with my girlfriends!  I would recommend going once just for the experience but I probably wouldn't make it my first choice of places to go to dinner in Old Town.  It's a good runner up (like say, if you can't get reservations at your top choice in Old Town and need a Plan B).  

Oh wait, I totally forgot to mention - gazpacho!  They had gazpacho on the menu for the first course.  My friend got it and IT WAS SO GOOD!!!  It was very different than the gazpacho I made - it was a completely pureed soup and they added cream to the base.  The best part was the salt ice cream dollop that you could mix in according to taste.  Very clever on the part of the chef.  I love that kind of stuff.  Check it out.

Gazpacho... everybody's doing it!

 I knew gazpacho and tomatoes would come back to haunt me.  This time it was in a good way!