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.

Local Farmers Markets

Over the weekend Superking and I visited one of our local farmers markets.  It happened to be opening day for the summer market though this particular market in Leesburg, VA does a winter one as well that has continued from October til now. 

We hadn't been to the market in a while but the weather was nice and we figured it would be bustling with spring/summer activity. And it was.  Definitely a lot more summer vendors than winter ones and now all the fresh fruits and veggies are making their comebacks as well.

breads from Becky's Pastries

Blue Ridge Dairy...cheese, butter, and yogurt

One of the farms there, Winding Woods Farms, specializes in making goat's milk fudge and soaps.  They actually just had a couple baby goats born at their farm and decided to bring them to the market to show them off.  Absolutely adorable! This particular breed is called Nigerian Dwarf goat so they are (and remain) very small.  Now I'm convinced I need to take one home for a pet! 

2 sleeping baby goats

snuggle snuggle

from Winding Woods Farms in Purcellville, VA

just born Easter Sunday

beautiful blue eyes

Its important to support your local farms and farmers markets, local businesses, local products.  Most of the time local foods are fresher and healthier.  They're not sitting in a factory or warehouse or even on a shelf for months on end before they reach your table.  They're also not usually treated with harmful pesticides and other chemicals that are not meant for human consumption.  And the flavors and aromas are much more prevalent. 

several vendors had beautiful strawberries, like Valencias Produce and Pleitez Produce

Potomac Vegetable Farm and Medinas Produce had lots of greens!

Have you ever walked through your grocery store and smelled the apples or strawberries or peppers? Probably not because most of what you're going to smell is the store itself.  However, when you get fresh produce from the farm, the aroma of each fruit and vegetable will entice you to take a bite.

pretty herbs from Quail Hollow Farm

lots of different mints

pretty flowers for Mothers Day

Buying local is important for the environment.  The environment of the world as well as your own neighborhood.  Do you realize how much of the produce in your grocery store is from somewhere else around the world? Another state, another country even.  Think about how much time, energy, and fuel is being used to bring your grapes from Chile to Northen Virginia or to California or Michigan.  And yet you probably have a number of farms right in your backyard that can provide produce just as good if not better, chemical free, fresher, tastier, from someone in your own neighborhood. Let's not even talk about rising gas prices.

Willowcroft Winery brought their antique car to show off

very nice smooth wines

Buying local is better for the animals.  Because local farms are smaller than massive corporate ones, they have the ability to really take care of each individual animal providing your food.  The animals are treated with the respect as they sacrifice their lives to put food on your plate.  They are able to run free outside and eat grass like God created them to do.  Healthier, happier animals results in healthier food and healthier happier humans.

Milcreek Farm...we get a lot of our bacon from them

Sweetz Bakery, awesome cupcakes!

It amazes me how concerned people are about the labels on their clothes or on their cars. But they're not at all concerned with the labels on their food or even where their food comes from. Please support your local farms and businesses!

Chicama Run Farm

Ok, I'm interupting my whole Christmas feast recipe list to tell you about the little adventure hubby and I took today out to the country.  Chicama Run Farm is located out in Purcellville, VA and you may have noticed their name listed in my "Shop local and organic" section of my site.  They frequent the Leesburg farmers market and we have bought things from them numerous times and my hubby likes to chat with the lady who owns the farm.  Sometimes they open their farm for visitors to come and see it and to buy their products directly there at the farm when they can't get to the farmers market.  So we just happened to notice that today was one of those days.  Having the day off, we decided to venture out there.

It was so beautiful out there in the country and yet its not really that far from home.  So peaceful and serene.

When we pull up to the house we were greeted by a friendly dog coming to say hello and a fenced in area full of chickens grazing in the grass.  A few of the chickens were actually out of the enclosure roaming around the front yard and no one seemed bothered at all.

Then walking across the yard, we see a big brown llama and a bunch of goats and more chickens. Apparently there were some pigs in the barn but they didn't want any visitors today.  Too cold for them I guess.  But the llama and the goats came near the fence for a quick pose for the camera.

And then there were more chickens down a little hill with a small flock of ducks.  Again no enclosures, totally free range.  As we walked down to get a closer look at the ducks, however, the ducks began running the other direction and instead a huge herd of chickens came chasing after us, thinking we had food for them.  It was hilarious!! And slightly unnerving, seeing all these chickens, and a few very large and burly roosters come running towards you and not sure what they'll do when they discover you don't have the food they were hoping for!

One rooster even let out a very loud and surprising "cock-a-doodle-doo" while standing right next to us!!  Some of the birds feathers were really quite beautiful.

Also in the barn, which we couldn't see into, were some mama goats, soon to give birth.  The farm owner was telling us that the llama was the protector of the goats.  Especially over the mama goats.  When the mama goat gives birth, the llama stands guard right next to her to protect the mama and the baby from any possible nearby predators. God's creations are so amazing!

ducks in the distance

even a kitty cat


Its so important to know where your food comes from and to support your local farms!!