January 4, 2008
The Weekly Feed: Looking into the Butter Ball Edition
The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear A Girdle
Hank Stuever posted his annual WaPo Style section list of what's in and out for 2008. He lists Vita Coco, street cart bibimbap, banh mi, tap water, vinho verde, red-wattle sausage, and burrata as in. He also lists wagyu beef as in, and Kobe beef as out. Funnily enough, Kobe beef is to wagyu as champagne is to sparkling wine; a geographically specific version of essentially the same thing. Kobe is the wagyu breed of cow raised in Kobe, the capital of the Japanese prefecture Hyogo. Wagyu of "American Kobe" is the wagyu raised here.
Nonetheless, it's been a big year for D.C. food nerds. We've seen the arrival of big name chefs, eaten tons of pizza (some that tastes "like eating a hot circle of garbage", imbibed tons of Belgian beers, seen big names making casual fare, and lined up for food carts. So what do we see on tap for next year?
Wine bars will continue to be big, but I think that cocktails will become increasingly important. I have it on good authority that we should see at least one really awesome new cocktail-focused place opening up some time this year. And with Tom Brown shaking things up at Cork, I am positive that things will be getting very interesting.
Meat may be a constant, but we're definitely going to see some movement there. Charcuterie has been pretty hot, but most of it has come from outside producers. We'll start seeing it produced from the actual kitchens, instead of ordered from elsewhere. Nathan Anda of EatBar and Tallula has definitely kicked off a great New Year with his flavored bacons, like Old Bay, vanilla, and coffee. And rumor is that two great forces in this city will be coming together to put together some serious charcuterie (blind item!). And if the burger debate weren't hot enough in this town, Fatburger is coming to town. Not to mention upscale burgers have been huge and Eric Ripert's self-proclaimed best burger may have some serious competition later this year.
As for the DCist staff wishlist for 2008, we really want to see a quick transition for Eastern Market, a dumpling bar, noodle bar or solid pho place in the city, izakaya, In-n-Out Burger, White Castle/Crystal burger, Sonic, Jose Andres and Michel Richard keeping their eyes on D.C. and giving us more love, more offal, more Malaysian food, more street carts, more good bar lunch deals, Montreal-style bagels, Chicago deep-dish, and - for all our commenters - true New York-style pizza. As for dreaming on, maybe some sort of Thomas Keller outpost. Anything else to add to the list?
Yummy bread photo from LaTur.
Small Bites
More than Just Popcorn
Arlington Cinema 'N' Drafthouse will be opening up The Old Arlington Grill next door during the third week of January. It's touted as a place with "a new twist on New American fare." Regular specials at the Old Arlington Grill will include; 1/2 Hamburgers on Mondays, 35-cent Wings on Wednesdays, 15 percent off Entrees on Sundays and 1/2 Price Desserts on Fridays & Saturdays after 10:30PM.
Curtains for Viridian
As we mentioned earlier this week, Viridian has closed. We wish everyone there well, and hope they land on their feet. In the meantime, we'll be watching to see where Chef Michael Hartzer lands next.
Eastern Market Rundown
With the fire at Eastern Market in April, it's been a bit of a mystery as to what's been going on. Endless Simmer does a rundown of what's in the East Hall now.
Peacock Grand Cafe Open
The second outpost of Peacock Grand Cafe from Georgetown has opened up at 2020 K Street NW. We saw a pretty packed house yesterday on our walk by at lunchtime. Anyone been?
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Squirrles are in! YAY!
good cheese fries.
good pretzels
i want:
poutine
more good korean options in the city
my corner bodega dude to keep my brand of cigarettes in stock
a place a block way that stocks good but cheap champagne cuz my ass is too lazy to walk to whole foods or any other place and buy the fizzy stuff
papa john's to come back to 14th street. I miss u!
Keep an eye on the Four Seasons. Word on the street is that they're bringing in a big name after the next renovation.
As far as restaurant reviews go, the term "uninspired" is OUT. I mean, what the hell does that even mean? An Easter bunny nailed to a cross-shaped plate? Braised oompah loompah in wangdoodle coulis? The only thing worse is if you'd say a meal was "not uninspired" which is wrong on so many grammatical and molecular gastronomy levels.
Also, a Dagwood's Sandwich Shoppe is supposed to open in Rosslyn, and a Counterburger is coming to Reston, so good news on the sandwich/burger front.
Monkey- totally agreed. This is what I posted after a dcist restaurant review back in Sept:
When reading any review, there is one word that causes me to automatically question the authority and experience of the reviewer and the validity of the entire piece. That word is “uninspired.” What would an “inspired” wine list have looked like? It is just such an incredibly pretentious and meaningless descriptor that it can be used in virtually ANY situation in which you don’t want to actually put any thought into something. Try it at work when a colleague gives you a document to review that you don’t want to deal with; tell them it’s “uninspired” and they’ll spend the next 4 billable hours redoing it and leaving you alone. When your girlfriend has dragged you to the store, is trying on jeans and asks how they look, simply answer “uninspired” and you’re not only a thoughtful, fashion-conscious guy but you’ll be able to get out of there faster than it takes to say “bootybootybootybootybootyeverywhere.”
Then again, reviewing a review is pretty damn pretentious and meaningless as well…
Speaking of bacon flavor, how about the bacon-flavored chocolate bar from Biagio? It tastes better than you think:
http://intelligenttravel.typepad.com/it/2007/12/biagio-bacon-fo.html
I really really really want a good Dutch-style Panakoeken House in DC. I already contacted the folks at Amsterdam Falafel once last year and begged them to consider the idea.
What's it going to take to get doner kebabs in DC? A flood of Turkish gastarbeiters?
I saw the oddest thing last month: a Maid Rite catering truck at the Marine Barracks. How the hell did that get there? I thought Maid Rite loose meat sandwiches were only in Iowa. Love to have one local, but I guess it just isn't sophisticated enough for refined local palates.
And forget deep dish. Bring on the Italian beef sammitches.
Loving the wine bar trend! And definitely second the calls for better bagels, more noodle bars, and Korean options.
For my part, I'd add less grocery store-opening delays to the wishlist.
How about some place to get a damn sandwich on U Street?
sumergocognito - I've had some tasty damn sandwiches at Henry's Delicatessen on U near 17th, although I'm inclined to go for the fatback breakfast special simply because I'm trying to kill myself in the most cost-effective and tastiest manner. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=cityguide/profile&id=1122906&categories=Restaurants">Dan the Man's Teryaki and Subs near 9th and U does some damn good subs, too.
Pizzaphiles of DC, unite!
Why must we live in a city where the pizza is either horrible or horribly expensive?
On the one hand, you can get pizza in any number of places in and around Adams Morgan, e.g. Pizza Mart. This cheap, food-like substance will fill you up (especially if you are drunk), but it is horrible pizza.
On the other hand, one can get a pretty decent Neapolitan pie at 2 Amy’s, Pizza Paradiso or any of the recent wood fired clones that have sprouted up as a result of the new concept of $12 personal pizzas.
As for Italian Store (Arlington), yeah, it’s good, but it’s just a pain in the ass to get there and then deal with a level of bureaucracy usually reserved for obtaining a building permit in Palermo. And there isn’t any indoor seating.
Meanwhile, a mere 200 miles up the coast, there lies a pizza mecca in New York City, where good pizza can be found on nearly any street-corner for chump change, in a city that exceeds even the price tag of DC! I won’t even go into the whole bagel phenomenon there, not to mention the papaya craze as it just gets too painful. But Dear Lord, you’d think we could get one decent place. I’m not even talking a Two Boots—just any old place would do.
Query, is New York so far away that it just hasn’t made its way down here? I have heard people say the difference is the water. Perhaps the distributors are different?-- but one would think that is just a matter of putting the stuff in a box and putting it on the Dragon Express. It can’t be that difficult. And I know every Tom, Dick and Harry in NY doesn’t have a wood fired oven—most are gas.
So, is there anything to the “water” argument??? I would think this plays less of a role that one would think and even if it were a factor some enterprising person would fill up Deer Park bottles with tap water on the Upper East Side throw it in a U-Haul and have a heck of a marketing gimmick here.
In the meantime, I shall assume there exists some secret decree by the Trilateral Commission prohibiting the transport of decent, cheap pizza in interstate commerce south of the Mason Dixon Line. Psha!
Pizzaphiles of DC, unite!
Why must we live in a city where the pizza is either horrible or horribly expensive?
On the one hand, you can get pizza in any number of places in and around Adams Morgan, e.g. Pizza Mart. This cheap, food-like substance will fill you up (especially if you are drunk), but it is horrible pizza.
On the other hand, one can get a pretty decent Neapolitan pie at 2 Amy’s, Pizza Paradiso or any of the recent wood fired clones that have sprouted up as a result of the new concept of $12 personal pizzas.
As for Italian Store (Arlington), yeah, it’s good, but it’s just a pain in the ass to get there and then deal with a level of bureaucracy usually reserved for obtaining a building permit in Palermo. And there isn’t any indoor seating.
Meanwhile, a mere 200 miles up the coast, there lies a pizza mecca in New York City, where good pizza can be found on nearly any street-corner for chump change, in a city that exceeds even the price tag of DC! I won’t even go into the whole bagel phenomenon there, not to mention the papaya craze as it just gets too painful. But Dear Lord, you’d think we could get one decent place. I’m not even talking a Two Boots—just any old place would do.
Query, is New York so far away that it just hasn’t made its way down here? I have heard people say the difference is the water. Perhaps the distributors are different?-- but one would think that is just a matter of putting the stuff in a box and putting it on the Dragon Express. It can’t be that difficult. And I know every Tom, Dick and Harry in NY doesn’t have a wood fired oven—most are gas.
So, is there anything to the “water” argument??? I would think this plays less of a role that one would think and even if it were a factor some enterprising person would fill up Deer Park bottles with tap water on the Upper East Side throw it in a U-Haul and have a heck of a marketing gimmick here.
In the meantime, I shall assume there exists some secret decree by the Trilateral Commission prohibiting the transport of decent, cheap pizza in interstate commerce south of the Mason Dixon Line. Psha!