We attended the Paella Fest Kick-Off Party at Jose Andres’ Spanish Diner in Bethesda yesterday. This was to kick-off to its annual, two-week celebration of paella (9/19-10/2). Chef Daniel Lugo cooked shrimp paella outside in front of guests. The other paellas were brought from the kitchen already prepared. Tapas, wine, and sangria were also served; the white sangria was a big hit (and was fizzy).
We understand that it is difficult to prepare and coordinate food for large groups of people at these party-like events. That said, two of the 4 paellas were very oversalted (the shrimp and the squid ink). Most likely, the paellas will be more spot on when directly ordered from the menu.
It was a nice event overall and the flamenco dancer was great; it was nice having live entertainment outside. The service was good.
Mahal BBQ has been open a few weeks (weekends) at the Sandlot in Georgetown (2715 Pennsylvania Avenue NW). These are really great guys who know their food and work hard, but still need to work a few kinds out after only a couple of weekends of service. Also, the prices are pretty high. This is an outdoor venue, so isn’t open when it rains. Also, there is a bar at the Sandlot.
The Half Chicken was the standout here, and I would stop by for it (and the Chili-Vinegar Sauce) regularly if it wasn’t $24. Try it once, it’s worth it. The Smoked Beef Cheek ($26) was too tough to chew, which is something they need to work out. We did not try the Sausage Platter ($22) or smoked Oyster Mushrooms (20). The Green Papaya Salad didn’t taste like much until I poured the tasty Chili-Vinegar Sauce on it. The Pimento Cheese could have had a better (thicker) texture. Give them some time to work the beef dish out, but get the chicken in the meantime, if it’s in your price range.
3 Stars in DC had been open for 10 years when they recently closed their doors. Dawson’s Market in DuPont Circle has several varieties in Stock (not the Ghost IPA). Their Peppercorn Saison is one of my favorite local brews and is great for the summer, so you may want to grab some ASAP. The Rockville location should have 3 Stars in stock too.
Sura (in the old Bangkok Thai space at 2016 P St NW) in DuPont Circle is having a Fat Nomads Popup through June 26th, 4pm-9:30pm with cocktails and Thai Moonshine by Andy T. Reservations are suggested for Friday and Saturdays — you can call (202) 450-6282. The menu is here. No idea why they didn’t call it “One Month in Bangkok.” 🙂
We recently received a box of sourdough bread from Wildgrain. The bread arrived baked most of the way through and frozen, and you then finish it off it the oven and let it sit for 20 minutes. We focused on the vegan options so did not try their pastries or pasta. Sampled were the Sourdough, Sourdough Wheat, Harvest Sourdough, Sesame Sourdough, and Cranberry Pecan Sourdough. The Slow-fermented focaccia and Sourdough Rolls are still in the freezer, but we wanted to write this article while you still have a chance to join with their “Free Croissants for Life” special which means you need to jump on it by the end of May (2022).
We even joined their affiliate program and were able to get our readers the code “DCFUD” which will give you $30 off your first order. This discount code expires 8/31/2022.
So, how was the bread? You have to be careful not to burn the loaves, but even after slightly burning the first one (as seen in the photo on the right), we could tell that Wildgrain makes quality products that are not bland (under salted) like many other artisan loaves. The favorite was the Cranberry Pecan Sourdough, and we enjoyed the Sourdough, Sourdough Wheat, Harvest Sourdough, and Sesame Sourdough. While we enjoyed the dried fruit in the Cranberry Pecan Sourdough, the Harvest Sourdough was my least favorite because it had too much dried fruit (dried apricots and candied ginger), giving it a weird (flexible) texture. All sampling was of slices fresh out of the toaster.
DCFüd’s long time friend, JC, posted photos of Wildgrain’s Blueberry Biscuits, which she very much enjoyed. Oh, looks like they don’t have eggs, so I actually could have ordered them.
Feel free to comment on this post with your favorite Wildgrain products.
-JAY
Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or entry to events. Our words are still our own.
Pressed is definitely a nice addition to the area, and it is great that it has outdoor seating. Georgetown and Mosaic District locations are coming soon.
-JAY
Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or entry to events. Our words are still our own.
We recently tried out a week’s worth of Territory Foods‘ meals. Territory is based in the DC area. The meals arrive at your door (Sundays and Thursdays) already prepared and just need to be heated up. They do not use gluten, dairy, or refined sugars in their dishes. Currently, there is a discount code for your first order on their website. You can also check their menu out directly.
The Zaatar Pesto chicken had a lot of ingredients, and would up being a bit muddled and one note (from all the spices), which could be corrected by serving it on white rice instead of cauliflower couscous (but they can keep the red peppers). It also was dry, which must be why they include a small container of olive oil. It still wasn’t a bad dish, but we were surprised at how good some of the other dishes (salmon, fajitas) were.
We definitely recommend checking Territory out.
-JAY
Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or entry to events. Our words are still our own.
Taqueria Capital is on P street in Dupont, below ChiKo. This small Mexican restaurant is from the same entrepreneur (Elias Hengst) as the Emissary cafes (one of which is across the street).
Assorted Tacos.
Chorizo Quesadilla.
What’s Left of Some Birria Tacos.
Their happy hour is Monday to Saturday 4 to 7pm with $6 beers and $7 glasses of house wine. It’s nice to find a restaurant with a Saturday happy hour.
My dining partner ordered a mescal margarita, which I was assured was quite good, and a tasty Chorizo Quesadilla. I ordered three tacos, with my favorites being the Salmon and the Carne Asada. My Chicken Tinga taco may have been a little over cooked. We enjoyed the the guacamole, which tasted freshly made. The Birria Taco image is actually from the waitress’ dinner. I’ll definitely be going back soon to try the Birria Tacos.
They even serve breakfast and brunch, coffee, tea, and house-brewed chai. I know, all you needed to hear was “brunch.” (It’s a DC thing.) Take a look at their full menu.
This is a restaurant that makes everything fresh (including the tortillas) from organic ingredients, and the food is quite tasty. Plus, the service was great, with the waitress and bartender both being friendly (chatty even). They even have some outdoor seating.
This topic reminds me of my recurring column from many years ago about eating in Arlington when nearly broke. Here are some Dupont Circle specials:
Dawson’s Market free beer tastings on Thursdays (City State are DC Brau are the next two events). Photos of some previous tastings and their event calendar were covered in a previous article. They also have one Friday wine tasting a month at the DuPont location.
Rakuya has Happy Hour (HH) food and drink specials including $3 shishito peppers or edamame, $5 yakitori, $5.50 gyoza, green beans tempura, shumai, crunchy spice salmon rolls, or spicy tuna rolls. They also have $4-8 beer, $7 glasses of wine, and a few $8-9 cocktails on HH.
Firehook Bakery has Buy One Get One pastries M-F 5-6pm, but not cookies, or cupcakes; it’s items like scones and cinnamon rolls.
Across the Pond has a special on Mondays 4-8pm: $6 hamburger and fries ($1 additional per topping).
The Admiral HH features 3 cheeseburger siders for $10.
Specials from our neighbors:
Chef Geoff’s West end (a few blocks from DuPont) has a number of food on their HH menu like $4 mahi tacos, $6 white truffle popcorn, $12 pasta Bolognese, $5 off of burgers, etc. And, a few $8 cocktails and $10 supermug drafts.
Ted’s Bulletin in Logan Circle during their HH Monday – Friday 3 PM – 6:30 PM has $3 drafts, $5 wines, $7 cocktails, and food specials like $6 fried pickles, $6 French onion dip with truffle potato chips, and $7 chicken parm sliders, $7 bacon cheeseburger empanadas, or Rueben tacos.
We recently sampled a few products each from True Primal, and BeanVivo Organics. True Primal produces a line of gluten-free and paleo-friendly soups, most of which are beef, but a couple are chicken. Bean Vivo specializes in seasoned legumes.
BeanVivo Curried Chickpeas and Purple Cauliflower Tacos
True Primal Roasted Chicken Soup, Garnished with Fresh Oregano
True Primal Savory Wedding (Beef) Soup
While I preferred the varieties of True Primal’s chicken soup (Roasted Chicken, Tuscan-Style Chicken) to the beef (Savory Wedding, Beef and Vegetable), the latter were fine if doctored up. The beef soups were a little one note as far as flavor but I added fish sauce, which helped a lot. A little lemon or cider vinegar should work if you don’t have fish sauce on hand. The beef soups are organic certified, but the chicken soups are not (although they are pastured).
We tried BeanVivo’s Coconut Curry Chickpeas, Baja Black Beans, and Three Bean Vegan Chili. We used the chickpeas and black beans in tacos, which we enjoyed. We absolutely did not like the flavor of the vegan chili, but this was the first time we tried vegan chorizo.
