16 Years!

Last week, on the 21st of August, my husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary!! Yep, we've actually made it that long and are still in love! It hasn't always been easy but we've always stuck together…okay enough of the cheesy, mushy stuff!

 Anywho…so we took the day off from work to relax and do some fun stuff. We ended up going to see the movie Shaun the Sheep (which is very cute and funny…big fan of Wallace and Grommet and most things from Aardman Studios) at the Alamo Drafthouse in One Loudoun. If you haven't been to the Alamo, you need to go check it out. The theaters are very nice and small, which is good because you know it won't be overcrowded. You have the option to assign your own seats and they serve food like in a restaurant, with a waitress and everything. And I have to say, I was surprised how good the food was the first time we went.

Its nothing spectacular or 5 star but its like upscale bar food and everything we've had has been pretty tasty. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because 1. its dark in there, and 2. they are very strict about no cell phone use. But we've tried their loaded fries, a couple pizzas, and fish 'n chips. Everything was delicious and not very overpriced. They also have a few different sodas for those who are more drink connoisseurs. If there is a unique drink offered, I'm probably gonna try it. They have homemade root beer, which is probably my favorite soda, and they also offer Italian sodas which are sweet and creamy!

hotel bathroom...never seen a sink like this before!

hotel lobby...love the green glass chandeliers!

Later that night we went downtown to have a nice dinner in the Penn Quarter area of DC.  There are a ton of good restaurants in that little area and there was one we've had our eye on for quite a while, called Poste. It serves French-American cuisine and it sits in the middle of the Hotel Monaco. That evening the weather was very tolerable for being August so we got to dine outside in the courtyard. It was a beautiful night and the food was delicious!

First we were served an amuse bouche…a little kiss or taste from the kitchen. A roasted mushroom crostini…savory, earthy, just melts in your mouth! A good sign of things to come!

It just so happened to be restaurant week when we were there so we got to take advantage of some specials. If you choose to order from the restaurant week menu, you get an appetizer, entree, and dessert for $35. Not bad at a place like this. Hubby is not a dessert guy so he didn't take this option. But we both ordered an appetizer. I chose the crispy duck ravioli. It was a large crispy wonton stuffed with juicy, tender duck meat that had been braised with Asian flavors, served with a caramelized onion and carrot slaw, and drizzled with a soy garlic sauce. A good combination of sweet and salty.

Hubby's appetizer was wagyu tartare, basically raw wagyu beef that was served like a terrine on a crostini. It was prepared with pine nuts, arugula, parmesan, and truffle vinaigrette, and topped with potato croutons (like fancy tater tots!). If the thought of raw beef scares you, you are missing out on a good thing! Trust me, its yumma yumma!

Then for the entrees: steak frites and halibut. The steak frites is a 12oz ribeye served with truffle fries and a couple of savory dipping sauces. What's not to like? For me, I chose halibut, a bit of a lighter dish because I was holding out for dessert!  The halibut was pan seared and served with sautéed pea leaves, wild mushrooms, ramps, and a chili oil sauce. It was light and fresh! The sauce made even the greens taste good!

Then came my favorite part: dessert! I'm a sucker for goat cheese, especially when it comes in a cheesecake! This goat cheese cheesecake was served with sour cherries, buckwheat-hazelnut sable, micro sorrel, and sangria sorbet. Ok so first, a definition lesson. I actually had to look up a few of these words while at dinner so I would know what I was eating. Let's start with the buckwheat hazelnut sable.  This is essentially a fancy thin crispy shortbread style cookie. It sort of had a nutty, slightly bitter taste. That might sound like a bad thing, however, the bitterness created the perfect balance for all the other flavors there.

Next definition: micro sorrel. Sorrel is a type of green herb and micro just means it has small leaves. Yes there was a green herb in my dessert! It was a little strange but somehow it worked! The whole dessert had every flavor combo…sweet, bitter, savory, tart, salty. As much as I love the whole over-the-top-chocolate-peanut butter things, these kind of unique desserts end up being some of my favorite. Unexpected flavors that tantalize every area of your tongue!

And since it was our anniversary, the staff also brought out a special surprise! A miniature chocolate coffee mousse cake topped with strawberry sorbet! Hubby only took one bite so it was up to me to finish my own dessert and this one before the candle burnt out…I won!

And THEN, as if that all wasn't enough, while we were waiting for our check, they brought us out another amuse bouche…some kind of little almond sponge cake topped with apricot jam, I believe. So instead of an after-dinner mint, we got after-dinner cake!

It was a great night! Was it absolutely the best restaurant ever? No, but it was deliciously satisfying food and the company wasn't too bad either! Happy 16 years, Superking! Here's to many more! <3

Birch and Barley

Superking and I have been wanting to go to this place for a long time and we finally made it there a couple weeks ago.  Birch and Barley, a very cool urban DC restaurant gem, is located near Logan's Circle.  When you walk by you almost miss it because the front of the restaurant looks like a garage door and the actual door is somewhat hidden in the wall.  Its like a secret entrance into an enchanting world of delectable food and drink with a relaxing candlelight (or should I say oil lamp light) atmosphere.

Even though we've lived in this area all our lives and have done many restaurants searches and adventures in DC, we had actually never heard of this place until it was featured on the Cooking Channel's Foodography show one night. Birch and Barley's big claim to fame is not their food but their beer.  Their website boasts that they have "an unparalleled collection of 555 artisanal beers". They don't always necessarily have all those at one time but they do have about 75 working beer taps pouring out the golden liquid every night.  It seriously looks like a huge pipe organ behind the bar! 

However, their food is no slouch either.  The night we arrived, the only reservations we could get was for their Chef's Kitchen Seating, which is essentially a bar area looking into the kitchen.  Some people might find it a little noisy sitting there but I found it interesting; watching all the chef's and kitchen staff bustling about, preparing all the food, each one with their own job, the head chef yelling out orders, and without even acknowledging they heard him, each person whips into action like a well-oiled machine creating amazing and delicious works of edible art.

We began our adventure with a complimentary "amuse bouche" from the chef...a lovely little arancini (basically a rice ball, covered with bread crumbs and seasoning and then fried and topped with a little cheese and tomato sauce)...each one sitting on top of a shmear of butternut squash puree.  A tasty little bite!

Then they bring out the bread.  Not just any ol' ordinary bread basket but a board of several artisanal breads served with soft creamy butter and stone ground mustard.

Next I ordered the Veal Sweetbreads.  When someone talks about eating sweetbreads, we're not talking about cinnamon buns.  Its the fatty part of either an organ or a gland from the animal, in this case it was veal (baby cow) thyroid gland.  That may sound gross but let me tell you, if you've never had it, you don't know what you're missing.  If you can get past what it is and just taste it without judgement, I don't know how anyone could not love it afterward.  Its like eating really fatty bacon, sort of. Its creamy and juicy.  And this was served so nice with some pretty little greens, a beet and parsnip slaw, and a creamy sauce.  Wow, so delicious, I almost forgot to share it with Superking!

He ordered the Sardines.  Beautiful little silvery fish that are house-cured and served with cauliflower puree, some more pretty greens, pinenuts, and confit lemon.  So light and fresh and yummy! And might I add the importance of the seafood sustainability with this dish...small silver fish with the skin on that are caught locally are the best kind to eat for your health and the health of the water environment.

After those wonderful starters, we split a large charcuterie plate called the Butchers Board.  There were a couple different kinds of cured salami, some mini toasts, pigs head terrine (kind of like a pate made from pigs head), foie gras, chicken liver mousse topped with house-made bacon, all served with stone-ground mustard and cornichons (mini pickles...how cute).  We totally made pigs of ourselves (no pun intended).

Then for dessert, I could not pass this up because it was so unique and I knew it would be amazing.  And I was not disappointed in the least.  Goat's Milk Cheesecake.  If thats not enough in itself, it was topped with port soaked pears and pistachios and served with salted olive oil ice cream. O.M.G.  The cheesecake itself was super creamy and dense with a slight tang from the goat's milk.  The pears were so sweet and juicy (and a little boozy) and the pistachios added a nice crunch.  But the ice cream...salty and creamy, sweet and tangy, so strange yet so delicious.  I couldn't get enough of it. 

As always there were so many other things on the menu that we would have loved to try but there just wasn't enough room in our bellies.  I would go back just for that dessert though.

Waterscapes

Superking and I were able to do two fancy dinners while in Myrtle Beach.  Our favorite one we saved for our last night, which you'll hear about in a later post.  But we wanted to try a new place as well. We found a restaurant called Waterscapes.  Its located inside a hotel called the Marina Inn at the Grand Dunes.  The Grand Dunes is a more upscale portion of Myrtle, located right between the north and south areas, so this hotel was pretty posh as was the restaurant.

pretty fountain outside hotel entrance

Waterscapes strives for a sustainable "farm to table" dining experience. All their seafood menu options are selected fresh every morning by the head chef himself, straight off the fishing dock in Murrell's Inlet, a small fishing town just south of Myrtle. As such, the menu changes daily depending on what was caught that morning.

beautiful "waterscape" paintings along the hallway leading to the restaurant

fancy balcony in hotel

sweeping "Scarlett O'Hara" staircase in hotel leading to restaurant

We began with an appetizer of Foie Gras Torchon.  The foie gras (fatty goose or duck liver) was served with rum-pressed peaches, pickled radishes, and pain perdu (which is sort of like French toast, kind of sweet and eggy bread).  The foie gras was super creamy and smooth while the peaches were very boozy.  Very unique and interesting presentation of ingredients.

Superking also ordered a salad.  A fried salad actually.  Yes, a fried salad. Kind of an oxymoron isn't it?  It actually was called the Parmesan Seared Romaine Salad. A long chunk of romaine lettuce topped with sun-dried tomatoes, crispy prosciutto, kalamata olives, and a creamy house dressing all of which is covered with a layer of parmesan cheese thats been lightly seared just enough to melt it and slightly wilt the lettuce.  We've never seen or even heard of anything like this before.  The melted cheese gave the whole salad a light crispy shell that was amazing!

Superking also ordered the Seared Tenderloin for his entree.  A juicy tender cut of beef served with a mushroom ragout, asparagus spears, and topped with a lobster tot.  We weren't really sure what a lobster tot was but when it arrived, it appeared to be a risotto croquette with lobster in it. Delicious of course! And the steak was ordered rare and was cooked so perfectly, he wasn't even given a steak knife because the butter knife worked just fine.

I decided I had to go for their specialty...one of their fish specials of the day.  After consulting with our knowledgeable waitress, I went for the Triggerfish, a local specimen, topped with pork belly and served with a fig risotto.  Omg, it was absolutely amazing.  I think probably the best fish I have ever eaten.  Sometimes white fish tends to be a little dry or bland.  This was nothing of the sort.  Completely juicy and as flavorful as chicken.  The pork belly (ok you haven't lived until you've eaten pork belly btw) was smokey and sweet. The fig risotto was also sweet and creamy.  The combination of all of it together was pure awesomeness.  And beautifully presented too.

We were pretty stuffed but I knew once we got back to our room, I'd be ready for dessert so I ordered one to go.  A coconut cake soaked in rum with a creamy coconut filling in the center and served with a passion fruit sauce. And the slice was huge! The flavors didn't quite live up to what we had in our entrees but I think if I had eaten it fresh, it probably would have. Still, who's gonna turn down a coconut cake soaked in rum?

Founding Farmers

Happy Memorial Day everyone! What better way to celebrate the fallen men and women who have given their lives for our country and freedoms, than to have a great meal with family at the Founding Farmers Restaurant.  Located in the heart of our nation's capital, just a few blocks from the White House in the Foggy Bottom area of DC, this restaurant makes everything from scratch. Yes everything, even their ketchup and butter and sodas.  And all their food is obtained from local sustainable sources. Even their tables and decor are environmentally friendly, using re-purposed woods for the tables, recycled paper for the menus, and "green" paints on the walls.

cool lobby decor made from natural products, even a little reading nook filled with foodie books to peruse while you wait for your table

little pig statue over-looking the lobby

The first thing we had to order were the Bacon Lollis.  Yes bacon lollipops, essentially. Smoked thick-cut bacon on a stick that has been candied with a cinnamon brown sugar glaze.  OMG! These were unbelievable!! I could've eaten just that and been completely happy for the rest of my life.  As a matter of fact our waiter, Branden (who was a really good waiter) said sometimes his favorite meal from there were the bacon lollis and a glass of a bourbon.  Awesome.  What else can you say to that?

We also ordered Farmers Chips, Cheddar Crisps, and Dips.  The cheddar crisps were like cheesy crackers and the chips were real potato slices, both served in a copper bowl.  The three dips, all super yummy, were onion dip, pimento cheese spread, and Green Goddess dip, which I believe was avocado based. 

Left to right dips: pimento cheese, green goddess, onion

As we scarfed those all up, I enjoyed one of their house-made seasonal sodas...grapefruit soda.  It was real grapefruit juice with sparkling bubbly soda water.  Simple, yet refreshing and delicious; the perfect drink on such a hot steamy 95 degree day.

neat staircase lined with cute bird lights overhead, leading to the upstairs dining room

jars of fruit and veggies, unique decor

For my entree I opted for one of their gourmet flatbreads.  Proscuitto, fig, and marscapone on toasted ciabatta bread, served on a wooden paddle made from some local guy in Maryland.  It was the perfect combination of salty, sweet, and creamy with a little tanginess from the balsamic vinegar drizzled on top.

lower bar area (there was a smaller one upstairs)

Superking enjoyed a good ol' country farm-boy meal of fried chicken and waffles. The chicken was pan-fried southern-style to perfection...juicy and peppery with just the right amount of crisp.  The combination of the chicken with the semi-sweet waffle topped with house-churned butter and white creamy pepper gravy was strange yet beautiful.  It was served with some really cheesy mac 'n cheese and asparagus which was supposed to be double-whipped red potatoes.  But the waiter fixed it and quickly brought us a side of the potatoes as well.  Still steaming, you could see the potato skins mixed in. Delish.

cute and tiny metal carton for the pepper gravy

My in-laws joined us on this food adventure.  We thought it only fitting to bring them along since they were the ones who told us about this place.  And my father-in-law is ex-military, plus yesterday was his birthday, so happy birthday and happy memorial day to him all in one meal!

this whole side of the menu was drinks, mostly alcoholic

Mom Superking ordered the fish and chips.  The chips were served in a brown paper bag as is traditional, I've heard, in Britain. They were also supposed to come with an 8oz draught beer! But she decided to skip that.  Dad Superking decided on the Chef salad, a nice large wedge of iceberg lettuce topped with fresh veggies, including tomatoes and golden beets and even soft corn bread croutons.

sorry the fish and chips are a little blurry (trying to take it fast!)

beautiful colorful salad

The restaurant offers a breakfast/brunch menu, and at least a few of the items are served all day, including their beignets. We so badly wanted to order those but we were so stuffed from everything else! Oh well, that just means we'll have to go back. And very soon!

Superking waiting for our table, dreaming of the yummy food we're about to have

For those of you looking for more animal-friendly choices, they also offer a separate vegan menu with items such as BBQ "chicken" (which I believe is actually tofu or some soy-based product) and chocolate stout waffles. Sounds worth a try even for a bacon-and-dairy-lovin' girl like me!

Left to right: Superking, me, Mom-in-law, Dad-in-law

The Founding Farmers motto, written right on their front door is "true food and drink". Here's a quote from them about what they stand for..."The Founding Farmers name represents a combination of ideas: it is a celebration of the land and the American family farmer; it is a nod to the founding fathers of our country, many of whom owned and farmed land that surrounds Washington, D.C.; and it is a place where true, sustainably-farmed, grown, and harvested American foods are brought to our guests...It’s about growing, buying and eating food that is good – for the people that eat it, the farmers that harvest it, the animals that produce it and the world that grows it." 

God bless America and those that have fought for our freedoms!

pretty church across the street