Ballou HS Rocks the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
Caps Thankful for Varly in 2-0 Win
Thanks to This Week's Advertisers
Zapp's chips, available in snack size from Potbelly (Alicia Mazzara).
The supermarket aisle is crowded with many a mediocre potato chip, but every once in a while, a truly great chip comes along. Zapp's, started in Gramercy, Louisiana by Ron Zappe, produces a singularly crisp and flavorful potato chip. Unlike many brands, Zapp's actually taste like potatoes, rather than a cardboard-like wafer of sodium and artificial flavoring. (Don't get us wrong, we enjoy the occasional can of Pringles, but they're apparently not potatoes.) Zapp's kettle cooks their thick-cut chips in peanut oil for extra crunch and lightly tosses them in funky Southern-style seasonings such as Cajun Crawtator, Cajun Dill, and Hotter 'n Hot Jalapeno.
This summer, Potbelly switched to Zapp's chips, changing (my) lunch hour forever. Unfortunately, Potbelly doesn't carry Zapp's full line of flavors, but you can still try the classic Regular, Salt and Vinegar, Sour Cream and Creole Onion, or Mesquite BBQ. Salt and Vinegar is tangy without being overpowering, but our favorite is the mild and creamy Sour Cream and Creole Onion. Both flavors do an excellent job of letting the delicious potato-y flavor shine through. More exotic flavors have been glimpsed at Cost Plus World Market or can be ordered from Zapp's website or by calling 1-800-HOT-CHIP.
Small Bites
Whiskey and Poste Roast
Poste will be hosting a special tasting of Copper Fox Distillery's whiskey and rye paired with three different roasted animals: suckling pig, capretto (baby goat), and baby lamb on September 17 at 6:30 p.m. The event costs $45 pre-tax and tip. For reservations and for more information contact Stacy Nemeth at (202) 449-7062 or stacy.nemeth[at]postebrasserie.com.
Festival Frenzy
Apparently every food festival in the area decided to schedule themselves for the weekend after Labor Day. Take your pick -- there's something for everybody this weekend.
St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church is holding their 34th annual Middle Eastern Festival and Bazaar Friday through Sunday. The festival will feature performances, crafts, and, of course, tasty food. St. George is located at 16th and Webster Street NW.
If a Crab Soup Cook-Off is more your speed, head out to Sandy Point State Park for the Maryland Seafood Festival. There will be over 30 different kinds of crab soup alone, not to mention a band called The Craw Daddies. Tickets are $10 at the door.
Arts on Foot kicked off on Thursday and continues today and Saturday in Penn Quarter. Highlights include the free Restaurant Sampling Court, as well as cooking demonstrations from chefs behind The Source, Zaytinya, Minibar, and Proof, among others. Our personal favorite from last year is the World Market Wine Area, which features tastings and expert wine seminars for only $10.
Last week we told you about DC Veg Fest, taking place on Saturday at GWU. Check out some cooking demonstrations and a talk on vegan body building. Free.
Finally, who could forget good ol' Adams Morgan Day? Hang out with Mayor Fenty, Jim Graham and the gang while munching on an endless array of bbq, pad thai, chicken skewers, tacos, and ice cream. Free.
Casa Oaxaca also kicks off a celebration of Mexican Independence Day on September 15, going through September 30. They will feature special menu items, such as tostadas de pata - pineapple vinegar cured pork trotters on top of fresh tortilla, as well as beef tongue tacos and tacos al pastor (grilled pork with pineapple).
We hope this place opens sooner than Wagamama
The Washington Business Journal reports that Erik Bruner-Yang, previously of Sticky Rice, will be opening Toki Underground, a noodle bar at 1234 H St NE. Expect ramen and dumplings with a Taiwanese influence.
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Who could forget good ol' Adams Morgan Day? Who wants to remember it? Greasy lo mein and nondescript meat on a stick, it's the definition of lousy street festival. There's a reason why it's free. Contrast that with the Greek Orthodox festival near the National Cathedral and it's like night and day: whole charcoal roasted lamb on a spit, a basement full of handmade Greek pastries, THAT'S what food festivals are supposed to be about. Not a blocked off street full of morons gobbling the same generic crap they can get from any third-rate Chinese carryout. But it's so urban and vibrant! Eat me.
Zapp's is a pretty good brand, particularly the Crawtators. World Market in Pentagon Row carries them, but the best are still Grandma Utz in the brown bag. Thick cut and fried in lard. They come the closest to duplicating the old Charles Chips that came in the big tin. Used to get them delivered to the house. That was back when you had the milkman and the Dydee Diaper Man and the Charles Chip man delivering all that $h!t to your doorstep. Gibbles is also a pretty tasty chip. They're Nibble-gibble-icious®, muthaf**kers! As for the flavored ones, you can do the same at home with any nonflavored thick chip, scattered on a cookie rack over a baking sheet with your favorite spice and bake for 10 minutes at 425. The residual oiles leach out of the chip and cause the spices to adhere.
gibbles were the chip of choice in our household when i was growing up. mom loved them...
i had some route 11 dill chips at a talk at SAIS yesterday. pretty damn good, if you ask me...
Having grown up with Zapps, I let Potbelly know how happy i was that they started carrying them. But that I won't feel complete until they get the Cajun Crawtators. Back in La, that's the flagship flavor. A staple of everyone's diet.
My mom still has 2 Charles Chip tins. They were good. Even the pretzels had so much more flavor than most of what can be bought now. In Philadelphia, we had the diaper service, Charles Chips, meat, egg, milk and beer and soda deliveries. My mom would leave the basement door unlocked on Thursday morning and the money for a case of longnecks and a case of cokes on the washing machine with the returnable bottles. That beats PeaPod anyday.
Charles Chips - that totally brings me back to my grandmother's house in Willard Ohio.
I'm an Utz girl locally, but they don't hold a candle to Snyder's BBQ, which I stock up on when I'm back in the Cleve.
The one thing I can't stand about Zapp's is how loud they are. I work in a common workspace, and I feel like they are echoing inside my head when I am chewing. I wish Potbelly's still carried UTZ!
Thick-cut chips tend to be loud, unfortunately. Big Potato should really invest some R&D money into developing a silent chip. A "ghost chip," if you will. One that would not only be undetectable when eaten but also create awareness and honor the memory of all those spuds who perished in the Irish Potato Famine.
So basically a caterpillar drive for chips. I will defect to whatever country develops it first.
Fortunately, silent chip technology is an integral element in the cure for cancer. Nostradamus predicted it. Win-win if you ask me.
It was a very sad day when Potbelly dropped Utz for Zapps. Zapps Salt & Vinegar are a poor replacement for Utz Salt & Vinegar. Utz!!!
I tried the sour cream and creole onion today, after my trip to Calvert Woodley to stock up on booze. It was way too bland - I was expecting something with a bit more of a kick. Nice crunch though.
I don't know what kind of booze you buy, but everything tastes better with Jose Cuervo!
The Red and the Black on H Street NE carries the entire line of Zapp's chips- perfect after or during a long night out :)