So we went to the new Good Stuff Eatery on the Hill this weekend. For you Top Chef fans out there, Spike is the mover and shaker behind this new offering on the DC food scene. I didn’t recognize the guy, but my sometime-in-the-future-to-be-mother-in-law was a little flustered at seeing him behind the counter. In a cute fedora.
There was a line out the door when we went on a Thursday night, but it moved pretty smartly. We didn’t wait more than half an hour to get to the counter inside. After giving your order at the grill, you move to the register where any drinks are ordered. Of note: There are drafts (Yeungling and Blue Moon) as well as bottles (Sam Adams Seasonal, Sam Adams Dark, and Red Stripe), and shakes for any DDs or sweet tooths out there.
I felt bad, but the comparison that kept creeping into my head was “it’s like an upscale Five Guys.” Now, I don’t think this quite does credit to the place. For one thing, the options are a little more interesting than your average burger joint: “Vegetarians are people too ‘shroom burgers” involve organic portobellos and panko breading, “Blazin’ Barn” has pickled daikon and carrots along with mint and cilantro, and “Colletti’s Smokehouse” is topped with applewood bacon and sharp Vermont cheddar. The one thing they hit out of the park in my opinion was the shakes. They were out of the Milky Way Malt, so I settled for a Black and White which is a vanilla shake drizzled with fudge sauce. It was hands down the best shake I’ve had in a long time. Very creamy, and sweet, but not overpowering.
Running out of a signature flavor was just one symptom of a newly-opened joint. I watched as a guy behind the counter smooshed three burgers with the back of his hand, determined they were all too cold, tossed them, and had the orders re-flamed. They monumentally screwed up our drinks order–but rectified the situation by sending up a second round (of the correct order) on the house. They even have signs up: “We’re in traning, please be gentle.”
The burgers themselves were good. I should mention that it was a million degrees out, so I had a turkey burger with avacado and sprouts: somehow a lot of beef just didn’t seem surmountable. The fries and vidalia onion rings were also delicious.
With a price range of $4.29 to $7.69, and a couple more weeks to iron out the kinks, this will be a respectable (and much needed) casual dining experience in Eastern Market.
As an aside, I have an obsession with sinks in particular, and bathroom decor in general, and I was duly impressed by the Good Stuff offerings. Although the batroom locks were a little confusing to patrons, as the key had to be taken from the outside of the door into the room in order to lock the door.
303 Penn Ave SE
Washington DC 20003
www.goodstuffeatery.com
This is a guest blog by FUD alumn Liz G. Thanks! Yay!

As anyone who watches Top Chef knows, cooking sous vide means cooking food sealed in a vacuum pouch, in a low-temperature water bath, for a long time. As anyone who has ever considered actually doing this knows, the “proper” way to do this – with special bags and a fancy, temperature-controlled water bath setup – is really expensive. I don’t even have a vacuum food-saver, let alone a separate gizmo for water temperature control.
But I still wanted to try this sous vide business, and decided to see what I could come up with. I figured – my freezer bags are supposed to be microwave safe, why not lukewarm water safe? I also have a large pot and a candy thermometer which handily dangles from the side, measuring the temperature at about the center of the pot. The half-pound mahi hahi fillet I bought at the fishmonger today was just begging me to experiment.
I filled my large pot with water over a high flame and set up my thermometer. I stirred it around occasionally to make sure the temperature was even, and when it was at 125 (F) I reduced it to low heat, and made sure I could maintain it there while prepping the food.
For the marinade, I decided to go a bit Japanese, and used:
1/4 cup shochu (sake might be better, but I had shochu)
1/4 cup water (because shochu can be vicious)
1/8 cup light soy sauce
2 squirts of Sriracha
1 handful of chopped spring onions
I put all that, along with my fish, into a medium-sized (2-cup) freezer bag, and sealed it almost all the way. I then made my own vacuum by sucking the air out of the remaining open corner, pressing it shut as I did. Don’t do this in front of your guests – it might will weird them out. Then, I dropped the bag into my pot and watched until the temperature rose back up to 125. Then, stirring occasionally and checking/adjusting the temperature, I let it cook for a little under 25 minutes (this was all, by the way, wild guesswork).
I opened the bag and served the super moist and extremely tender fish with jasmine rice. Let me tell you, this is a great way to cook. The flavors were amazing! I would use an even lighter marinade next time, because the fish really did just suck it all up – I even cut myself a few bites from the very center of the fillet and even there it was saturated with deliciousness.
Sous vide may become my new default way of cooking, when I’m not in a hurry. Fish cooks pretty quickly, but something like chicken or steak (which I fully intend to try!) will take a bit longer. But let it be known – this technique is not just for fancy-pants drama queens on Bravo. You too can use the principles to cook some really spectacular stuff at home.

It requires an online reservation.to be made by August 24th, and you have to dine before September 25th. Check out the coupon here and the store locator is here.

For me, a good coffee shop or sidewalk café is key to living happily: a comfortable spot to get caffeinated, to read, work, and meet people, preferably with good (by which I mean impressively bad) art-for-sale on the walls and enough traffic (inside and out) for good people watching. New Orleans’ Café du Monde is pretty much the ultimate example in my mind, though DC’s L’Enfant does pretty well. Atlanta’s café selection is, unfortunately, a study in disunity.
The coffee at San Francisco Coffee Roasting Co. in Virginia Highlands is really good – rich, hot, and not all burned like it’s been there too long or has been over-roasted to generic Starbucksness – but that thing on my plate was not a scone, by any definition. It was a biscuit which, in addition to overcooking it, someone has shoved a great deal of refined sugar and a small handful of sulfury currants. It’s mostly too dark in the large, otherwise comfortable shop to read happily, but the jazz standards, while uninspired and generic, are piped in at a volume which allows enjoyment but does not interfere with conversation. The patio out back is small and fine enough, except the view is of a parking lot. My large iced coffee was about $2.00.
Decatur’s Java Monkey has a few comfy chairs, some slightly awkward bar and counter seating, and lots of tables that could do with some de-wobblifying. It also has the nicest patio of anyplace I’ve been down here. The coffee’s pretty good – all fair-trade and often organic for those in to such things – and the food is on the better side, with tasty paninis and fair hummus and tapenade. They also have wine and beer, which helps. The people-watching is pretty good here, as is the eavesdropping. The downside, which keeps me from Java Monkey rather more than I’d like, is that every night seems to be open mic night.
I’m all for supporting local artists and such, but there is only so amateur slam poetry one’s mind can handle. The same would go, I suppose, for professional slam poetry, should such a horror exist. Plus, open mic night is LOUD: it’s not the cheering or the moderate extra crowd, but the bloody mic is turned up all the way and the performers (especially, but not exclusively, the slam poets) tend to shout. This makes working, reading, and often conversing rather impossible.
Outwrite has geography, and books. The coffee is atrocious, but the tea is pretty good and enough sugar makes the espresso passable, so it’s easy to maintain your buzz while watching the scenery strut down 10th street. Seating is limited inside, but enough of the patrons are sufficiently friendly that sharing tables is a norm, which is helpful not only in comfort but also in learning all about that hot blonde walking by on the arm of a much older (and…homelier…) gentle(?)man. Sadly, outdoor seating is a no-go: the ‘patio’ is a nine-by-four-foot deck occupied by dedicated smokers and those willing to shout over the too-loud music. Inside, the music isn’t too loud, but it is often crap.

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