mb palaver

RestaurantPalaver: Rick Eats DC

Since I've been blogging less frequently than Roger Federer wins majors, I thought the least I can do is refer you to my friend Rick's terrific blog on the DC food scene.  Rick Eats DC reviews the latest hot spots, hidden gems, and old favorites, and he has great taste and a thoroughly entertaining style.  His "best of" lists are my go-to resource when I'm trying to think of new places to try.  And he's so thorough and dedicated he once asked me if I wanted to have lunch at a certain pizza place "to see if it's still terrible" (I said yes, obviously).  His reviews are always candid, so he won't steer you wrong.

IrishPalaver: Nigella's Chocolate Guinness Cake

Hi all -- long time no blog!   But I had to come back to wish you a happy St. Patrick's Day, and to suggest this delicious chocolate Guinness cake, courtesy of Nigella Lawson.   You bake the moist cake -- made with cocoa, butter, Guinness, and sour cream -- in a springform pan, and then top with icing made from confectioner sugar, cream cheese, and heavy cream, so that, as NIgella says, "it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness."  Cheers! 

DCPalaver: Murphy's Irish Pub Closes in Woodley Park

 

I'm glad I read popville on Friday or I would have missed my last chance to hoist a Guinness at Murphy's Irish pub in Woodley Park.  Murphy's Woodley Park location opened on St. Patrick's Day 1986, and closes its doors for good tonight.  In truth, I always wished Murphy's was better than it was.  I hoped it would turn into something like a local version of the old Red Onion in Monroe, Ohio, a neighborhood tavern that happened to serve fantastic food.  But I've spent many enjoyable evenings at Murphy's, and I will miss having an old school bar in the neighborhood, and the cozy fireplace, and the snoozing leprechaun.  I want that snoozing leprechaun!  I hope the staff is able to find new jobs quickly.

 

 

 

FoodPalaver: Put an egg on it!

 

 
If you find yourself with leftover stuffing after Thanksgiving dinner, consider this option Friday morning:   Form the stuffing into single portion disks (if the stuffing is pretty dry it might not hold together, but that's okay), fry them in a little butter, and top each with a fried egg.  I think this was my inspiration.  It was so delicious it made me want to make stuffing just for the hash.

WinePalaver: Sneak Peek at Cork Market & Tasting Room

Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts, the husband-and-wife team who brought us Cork Wine Bar, will soon open Cork Market & Tasting Room just up the street at 1805 14th Street, NW.  According to Metrocurean, the market will sell wine, beer, specialty items such as cheese and charcuterie, sandwiches, salads, and some items from Cork Wine Bar's menu.  They'll also hold wine tastings and private events upstairs.

Cork Market is getting ready to open any day now, and is offering a sneak peek and a chance to order wines to complement your Thanksgiving meal.  Just pick out the wines you like from the list below, call (202-265-2674) or email ([email protected]) your order, and either pick them up this Wednesday or ask them to deliver if you live nearby (and are of age and can prove it).  Though if you have them delivered you won't have a chance to go poke around the new digs.
 
Bartolomiol, Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, "Gemin," Spumante Brut NV  $ 14
R. Dumont Père et Fils, Brut Rosé Champagne NV $ 33
Domaine Saint-Anthelme, Viognier, "Les Petits Cailloux" 2007  $ 15
Domaine Paul Garaudet, Bourgogne Blanc 2007  $ 19
Zilliken, Butterfly Riesling 2008  $ 21
Pascal Lambert, Chinon, "Tradition Graves" 2007  $ 17
Marchesi di Gresy, Barbera d'Asti 2006   $ 22
Vietti, Dolcetto d'Alba, "Tre Vigne" 2008  $ 25  
Domaine Gérard Charvet, Moulin A Vent, "Vieilles Vignes" 2006  $ 17
Domaine Monpertuis, Vin de Pays du Gard, "Cuvée Counoise" 2006 $ 15
Ludovicus, Terra Alta 2007 $10

 

FoodPalaver: Bruno's of Jersey City Lives On in Minty, Chocolatey Dessert

If you're hosting any holiday dinners and would like to include a no-effort dessert, you might want to try what my parents served up one night over Thanksgiving weekend:  a bowl of Edy's peppermint ice cream with chocolate sauce.  It was a revelation, and not just because the peppermint and chocolate made such a great combination.  My parents are known to have a scoop of ice cream at night from time to time, but the chocolate sauce seemed to be a new twist.  It turned out it wasn't so new to them.  They spotted the limited edition candy cane-inspired ice cream at Kroger in Middletown, Ohio, and reminisced about the mint ice cream with chocolate sauce served at Bruno's, an Italian restaurant in Jersey City they went to many decades ago.

I found a photo of Bruno's from back in the day via Google Book Search.  Sadly,  I can't post it, but you can view it here.  It's from one of those "Images of America" books that includes old photos and history of towns and neighborhoods, this one called Jersey City 1940-1960:  The Dan McNulty Collection.  For anyone interested (you know who you are), you can read a fair amount of it and view a lot of photos at the Google Book Search link.  The book says that "Bruno's was one of the most popular and fanciest Italian restaurants in town until it closed in the 1970s."  According to a September 25, 1977 New York Times article, Bruno's was later turned into a restaurant operated by Patrick House, a drug rehabilitation and alcohol treatment program.  The article describes the former Bruno's as "a Jersey City landmark on Summit Avenue that contained a private room where Mayor Frank Hague and his successor and nephew, Mayor Frank Hague Eggers, dined and held conferences."  The Times ran a review of the new Bruno's on October 9, 1977, which included this historical information:

Bruno Valeo began his career by making spaghetti upstairs over a Jersey City tavern called Hillman and Rountree.  The place -- it was on Hudson Boulevard -- became a hit with the political crowd, so much so that Bruno was able to open his own establishment, Bruno's, on Mother's Day in 1946.

In 1972, with most of the old crowd dead or moved away, Bruno's shut its doors, apparently for good, and Mr. Valeo retired.  Then, just last year at this time, Bruno's reopened, stirring up the ghosts of scores of long-forgotten ward healers and trying to bring back the aura of a city that used to be.

The new owners were -- and are -- the Hudson County Drug and Alcohol Program, better known as Patrick House. The restaurant was conceived as a money-making venture, and not as a place for addicts to work.  It is not the old Bruno's, or [sic] course, but it is not bad.

I don't know what, if anything, is at 161 Summit Avenue now, but Bruno's lives on in dessert and memories in Middletown, Ohio.

ShoppingPalaver: Food & Friends at Crate & Barrel Thursday, Nov. 6

Food & Friends is holding it's annual private food and shopping party at the Spring Valley Crate & Barrel early this year, just in time for the post-election what-am-I-supposed-to-do-with-all-my-time-now blahs.

Crate and Barrel's DC store will close its doors to the public on Thursday, November 6th, and host an exclusive evening of shopping, hors d'oeuvres and raffle prizes just for Food & Friends' best supporters. Culinary bites will be provided by local restaurants and, when you shop, Crate and Barrel will donate a percentage of their proceeds to support our services to those in the community facing some of life's most difficult challenges.

Sponsorships are available beginning at $175 and include tickets to the event, as well as additional promotional opportunities, and Individual tickets are $35.

We look forward to seeing you there!

An Evening of Food & Friends at Crate and Barrel

Thursday, November 6, 2008
7:00 - 9:30pm
4820 Massachusetts Ave, NW

You can purchase your tickets online here.  For those who can't make it on the 6th or don't live nearby:

Never fear, you can shop online with Crate and Barrel and still make a difference in the lives of our clients facing life-challenging illnesses.

From November 7th through midnight on November 13th, when you shop online with Crate and Barrel, 10% of your purchases will be donated to Food & Friends.

It's easy! For your purchases to count, all you need to do is originate from the link we'll provide for you.

Food & Friends provides nutrition counseling and prepares, packages, and delivers meals and groceries to people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses throughout the Washington, DC area.  It's a great cause, and this is a fun event.  If it's too early to start your Christmas shopping, it's a good time to outfit your Thanksgiving table.

 

Crate and Barrel
4820 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC  20016
(202) 364-6100

Photo from 2006 event photo gallery

FoodPalaver: Hello, Peanut Blossom Cupcake

I finally made it to Hello Cupcake today to give it a taste test.  Because Maya Favorite Cupcake is not a Monday option, I tried the Peanut Blossom, a take on the cookie of the same name, with chocolate cake, peanut butter frosting, and a chocolate kiss on top.  I experienced double nostalgia nirvana:  the nostalgia of eating cupcakes as a kid, which presumably explains the current cupcake craze, coupled with the nostalgia of eating Drake's FunnyBones.  Mmmmmm.  Drake's FunnyBones.

In case you've wondered, you can eat in at Hello Cupcake, where they have a few tables and serve coffee, as well as milk (which I really wanted but was too embarrassed to order).

If you live out in Virginia and getting to Dupont Circle is too much of a trek, evidently Wegman's sells FunnyBones.  Though they have more sorbitan monostearate than Hello Cupcake's version.

Hello Cupcake
1351 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC  20036
(202) 861-2253

FoodPalaver: Well, Hello Cupcake

Tomorrow (Monday) morning at 10 am the cupcake trend continues, when Hello Cupcake opens on Connecticut Avenue just south of Dupont Circle.  I'm jonesing for maya favorite cupcake.  Pick out your own favorite here.

Hello Cupcake
1351 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC  20036
(202) 861-2253

FoodPalaver: Hold the Fiddleheads

Chef Vinod of Indique Heights, the restaurant preparing the Bhutanese food at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival I wrote about last week, pointed out on donrockwell.com a menu substitution I missed despite the clear evidence of my own photographs.  Chef Vinod says:

I am glad you liked the dishes - I am going to tone down the heat a little bit tomorrow for the Ema Datsi - I do not know whether you noticed that we changed the chicken dish to jasha tshoem instead of nakey tshoem - nakey means fiddlehead ferns which are out of season and cannot get them.

I hope I didn't get anyone's hopes up for those fiddleheads.  Though you probably knew they were out of season . . . .

(P.S.  Yes, the photo above is blurry.  You do not need new glasses.  As far as I know.)