Food

RECENT POSTS

October 4, 2010 | 11:30 AM | By

Word to Tommy Wells

Just saw the following tweet from Ward 6 Council Member, Tommy Wells. If true, this is unfortunate (and I’m usually on the side of Food Trucks):

Via Tommy Wells Twitter account

Considering the heated, ongoing food truck war, this is the last thing trucks should do. The strongest argument that brick and mortar restaurants make against mobile purveyors of noms is that the status quo is unfair, mostly because of the different taxes food trucks pay vs. traditional restaurants. If a truck is avoiding paying a vendor fee, that’s unfair, as well.

Also– allowing customers to cannibalize another establishment’s amenities in order to chow down on $15 lobster rolls? That’s…tacky. One would expect more from both the purveyors and patrons of such a WASP-y concept. My word, I’m clutching my pearls, as I type. I’ve reached out to Lobster Truck DC for comment, will update you all if I receive one.

UPDATE: I spoke to Lobster Truck for a few minutes this afternoon, but they couldn’t hear me/seemed unavailable, so I asked them to call me later this evening. I’ll keep you posted.

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Food, Food Trucks, Politics
September 24, 2010 | 2:58 PM | By

Bloomingdale gets Rustik, tonight!

http://www.rustikdc.com/

Folks in the Bloomingdale neighborhood are elated at tonight’s 9pm opening of Rustik, a pizza joint at 1st and T St. When I say elated, I mean it. Here’s one tweet I can’t show you because of language, but the relevant part of it is this: “Been living in #Bloomingdaledc 4 years w/ no restaurant the dark days are over!”

Four years with no restaurant? Talk about an under-served area. If you’re wondering about the menu, peep this blurb:
Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Restaurants, Bloomingdale, Food, Gentrification
September 23, 2010 | 12:11 PM | By

Won’t someone think of the Food Trucks?

Sauca, one of many mobile purveyors of food in DC

Just in time for lunch– the City Paper’s Tim Carman has written a great feature about Food Trucks in D.C. and the challenges they face from those who feel threatened by their surging, Twitter- powered popularity:

If they so desired, locals would never have to eat another fake half-smoke again.

If only supply-and-demand economics were so easy. The sudden appearance of gourmet food trucks that delighted so many lunch-hour consumers simultaneously horrified the established restaurant community—a deep-pocketed, politically wired bunch.

Now, like in Brooklyn and Los Angeles and every other city where mobile vendors represent new competition, the District’s inline businesses are turning to the legislative process to ease their pain. Thus when it comes to the street-food options, you may not have the ultimate say. Lawyers, lobbyists, social-media activists, councilmembers, and business owners are all working the levers of power to determine what rolls your way for lunch.

It’s powerful stuff. I know I’ll never look at Amsterdam Falafel the same way again– and I’ve been a loyal customer since they opened. I am sympathetic to the concerns of small business owners and thankful for what they give to our communities, but after reading Carman’s piece, some of them just sound…petty.

FILED UNDER: Culture, Food, Food Trucks, Politics, Small Business
September 20, 2010 | 12:26 PM | By

Amsterdam Falafel goes beyond the Morg.

Amsterdam Falafel

Yum. One of D.C.’s delicious places to eat is expanding (Via NBC):

Soon you can grab a falafel from Amsterdam Falafelshop (2425 18th Street NW) without being in the District. The popular restaurant recently filed paperwork to become a franchise. Falafelshops may soon open in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.

While I currently find myself sating my falafel cravings with Roti, there’s no denying that Amsterdam’s fries and hours are fantastic. See, when Roti locks its pretty doors at 5pm, Amsterdam is still slinging chick pea fritters until midnight on quiet nights (Sunday and Monday) and 4am on noisy ones (Friday and Saturday). When they opened in 2004, many of us were elated to have a (vegetarian, no less!) alternative to Jumbo Slice.  Yum.

FILED UNDER: Restaurants, Food, Small Business
September 14, 2010 | 3:00 PM | By

Another restaurant for 11th Street NW

I know, this is southwestern food, not regional Mexican. But it was delicious.

Columbia Heights is getting a new, and hopefully delicious neighbor: a Mexican restaurant. Via Tim Carman’s “Young and Hungry” column in the City Paper:

The tiny, 800-square-foot operation will be located at 3313 11th St., in a former liquor store, and will not only sell regional Mexican foods but also snacks inspired by the L.A. street food scene.

They’re going to be open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and possibly late night. I hope they’re slightly more Vegetarian-friendly than Taqueria Distrito Federal. The proprietor, Jackie Greenbaum, had her reasons for picking the 11th Street location: Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Restaurants, Columbia Heights, Food, Gentrification, Small Business
September 9, 2010 | 3:07 PM | By

One Fraught Order of Falafel

Roti, 1747 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

My latest vegetarian obsession is Roti, the Mediterranean place near the White House. I love the falafel there, because their version is unlike what is served at Amsterdam Falafel, Zaytinya or Maoz. Roti plays hard to get, which is why I’m consumed with it. It closes at 5pm and is not open on the weekends. That’s why I rarely get to eat at the delicious Chicago transplant. Today, an errand took me to 17th street and I gleefully got in line. Oh, I should mention the line. It is long, and thus a testament to the scrumptious nature of Roti food; the good news is, Roti is fast about wrapping up chick pea fritters in warm laffa bread, so the line moves.

After paying, I asked three questions of the jovial immigrant from Africa who assisted me.

“Is there wifi?”

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Food, Immigrants
September 3, 2010 | 1:16 PM | By

Do you know what a Scuppernong is?

Ephemerama

Sweet, sweet, patriotic scuppernongs

I saw them at Whole Foods and muttered, “Scupper-WHA?” then moved on; if I’m going to over-spend on fruit, I’m going to be true to my brown roots and get some mango. Mmmm, mango.  Back to scupper-whats: I was born and raised in California, so perhaps I can be excused for being ignorant of this type of Vitis rotundifolia, which is found in Virginia and the Carolinas. Until I started researching this post, I didn’t know that it was the first variety of grape ever cultivated in this country!

Amanda at Metrocurean has more– she’s been enjoying them since childhood:

If you haven’t had the pleasure of acquainting yourself with the honey-sweet grape variety native to the Southeast, allow me to introduce you.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: History, Food
September 2, 2010 | 6:50 PM | By

Top Chef’s next season shows DC more love.

Looks like Bravo wants to inject some excitement in its aging (albeit Emmy award-winning) reality hit, Top Chef, whose current season was filmed in DC. Next season, its location won’t be its distinguishing feature. Via the Young & Hungry column in the City Paper:

…rumors are already flying about season eight. Both Eater and Grub Street are reporting (OK, rumor-mongering, which Y&H is happy to pass along) that next season’s Top Chef will feature only alumni from past shows.

Among the returnees are three D.C. chefs, including Carla Hall, Spike Mendelsohn, and Mike Isabella.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Culture, Food
August 31, 2010 | 7:49 PM | By

Nas was at Ben’s Chili Bowl

Nas, working up an appetite at Rock The Bells on Sunday

On Sunday, I saw Nas surprise DC-area hip-hop fans at Rock The Bells; that’s a picture of him I snapped as he performed with the Wu-Tang Clan.  The night after that, he headlined a sold-out show with Damian Marley, at the 9:30 club. And on the third day, Nas rested. By eating at Ben’s. He even posed for a nice picture with Virginia Ali.

News of his visit to the iconic chili joint fleetly flew across Twitter this afternoon, inspiring the City Paper to ask, “Oh, Nas! We dig Ben’s, but it’s really an out-of-towner cliche, no?”

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Delightful City, Food, U Street