The flanken, sans bones, at DGS Delicatessen. (Josh Novikoff).
Dish of the Week: Braised Short Ribs
Where: Firefly, DGS Delicatessen
As the thermometer dips this January, nothing says hearty winter cooking like the long, slow braise of a big hunk of beef.
Firefly Chef Daniel Bortnick’s signature dish may very well be his mini-pot roast, a long-standing centerpiece of his American menu. But it’s not little squares of the more traditional shoulder roast that goes into Daniel’s Dutch oven. As reported in the City Paper a few years back, Bortnick’s mini roast is actually a boneless short rib cut that yields a more tender and flavorful dish than your standard chuck. The result is a dish not so unlike what Barry Koslow is serving at DGS Delicatessen a few blocks away.
Flanken is both the name of a certain way to cut short ribs—across the bone so that you several ovals of cross-cut bone attached by the rib meat. In Korean cooking, the cut is marinated for the grill and known as kalbi. In Ashkenazi Jewish cooking, the cut is potted and braised. At DGS, Koslow is putting his own spin on Jewish and deli classics. His flanken, stewed with figs and Tunisian spices, is served on bed of spinach and sauced with braising juice slightly sweet from the figs and a bed of spinach. Just as the pot roast/short rib at Firefly, no knife is required. And just as at Firefly, you won’t find meat falling off the bone. Though the cut suggests otherwise, there is no bone. The meat is meltingly tender.
Small Bites
Sips & Suppers
José Andrés, Joan Nathan, and Alice Waters launched Sips & Suppers five years ago during President Barack Obama’s first inauguration. Since then, the annual fundraiser has raised over $500,000 for D.C. Central Kitchen and Martha’s Table. The Sips portion of the evening, to be held at the Newseum next Saturday night, is your standard high class food, wine, cocktail, and product tasting event with jazz and cooking demos. Its $95 price tag makes it one of the steals of the year, being that it’s a Saturday night and $70 of it is tax deductible. For the much higher priced Suppers portion the following evening, $550 buys a seat at one of 26 private homes where teams composed of pairs of D.C.’s absolute best chefs prepare dinner. A hefty price tag, and you’re not guaranteed placement at a specific dinner though $450 of each ticket is tax deductible. $600 buys a combined ticket to Sips on Saturday and a Sunday Supper.
Balkans to Barracks Row
Offering a taste of something relatively new to the District, Ambar, featuring Balkan fare, opened this week on 8th Street SE. The concept comes from Richard Sandoval, who has opened Masa 14 and El Centro D.F. on 14th Street NW, and his partner Ivan Iricanin, who happens to be Serbian. They’ve brought in one of Belgrade’s most noted chef to create a modern Balkan menu of items like foie gras with an arugula sponge and green apple gelee. A Rakia bar features 30 varieties of the liquor distilled from fermented fruit and popular throughout the Balkans. Regional wines and beers will also be featured. Ambar is located at 523 8th Street NE.
Energy Kitchen
A new fast food, healthy angled lunch option opened its doors downtown this week. Energy Kitchen, a New York import with 11 outposts in the Big Apple, has a menu of a handful of lean burgers and chicken sandwiches, salads and wraps, assorted shakes and frozen yogurt, and breakfast sandwiches in the morning. There are no fryers. Sea salt and sweet potato fries come out of the oven. The chain championed full calorie disclosure even before New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg made it mandatory at chains in NYC. On the other hand, so is a Whopper or Big Mac so long as you leave out the special sauce or mayo. Energy Kitchen is at 1901 L Street NW.
Expensive Reservations
A D.C. date for Anthony Bourdain’s Guts & Glory tour was announced this week. The acclaimed and outspoken chef turned author turned food-travel television host takes DAR Constitution Hall on Monday, March 13. Tickets went on sale this morning With Ticketmaster fees they range from $54.90 to $190.90 each. Not a typo. Yes, $190 to sit up front to listen to Anthony Bourdain talk about how awesome it is to have best job in the world.
