Dish of the Week: Pirozhki
Where: Mari Vanna, Café Assorti
Pirozhki. They’re not to be confused with pierogis, those boiled, flat dumplings popular in Poland. These stuffed and usually baked—though sometimes fried—balls of dough are popular little snacks across Russia and Central Asia. A slightly sweet yeast dough is divvied up into bun-sized portions and folded over a savory or sometimes sweet filling. An egg wash gives the upper crust a shine.
At Mari Vanna, newly opened on Connecticut Avenue, attractive young waitresses from Mother Russia, dolled up in turquoise dresses with polka dots and cherry prints, deliver the pirozhok, filled alternately with ground beef, potatoes, or cabbage and egg. A golden brown crust surrounds the soft dough, steam wafting out of the pies upon tearing into them. They’re a great start to a meal or a bar snack in themselves to go with a night of shooting vodka and downing Baltik beers.
In Rosslyn, under a small flag of Kazakhstan, sits Café Assorti and its bakery case full of savory pastries. The minced beef one is formed into the shape of a little ball. Egg and onion, and a potato variety are more oblong and topped with different kinds of seeds to serve as a marker. The cabbage one stands out for its slight sweetness and dill and caraway accents. Particularly, it’s the moistness of the stewed leaves inside their doughy covering that makes it a favorite. Pirozhok is the singular, diminutive form for the Russian word for pie, pirog. If a handful of the mini pies aren’t enough, the Assorti Pie, a massive combination of beef, eggs, tomatoes, and cheese, is on offer. So are samsas, rasstegai, and cheburek, other variations of the stuffed bread concept.
The Elephants are Coming
The circus comes back to town next week, setting up shop in the Verizon Center from March 21-24. As always, before the big top is the pachyderm parade. The Ringling Bros.’ elephants will walk the streets of downtown on Tuesday to generate buzz for Barnum and Bailey. Traditionally the elephant walk goes down during the afternoon, giving office workers the chance for a pleasant lunch hour diversion. This year the parade is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. and several bars and restaurants around the arena are participating in a Clown Around Downtown Happy Hour, offering menu specials and distributing novelties like clown noses and glow sticks before the elephants arrive.
Cool Nordic Food
It’s been a rough few weeks for Nordic food. An ill chef at the acclaimed Noma restaurant in Copenhagen gave 60 diners a Norovirus infection. There is horse meat in the Swedish meatballs at Ikea. And when my cousin was at the College Park location recently, their soda fountain was—gasp—temporarily out of lingonberry syrup. But it’s been a great time to celebrate Scandinavia at the Kennedy Center. KenCen’s Nordic Cool 2013 is wrapping up this weekend, so it is the final chance to sample the cool Nordic dishes their kitchen is featuring. A fixed price dinner at the Roof Terrace restaurant includes leek ash roasted venison loin as a main course. The KC Café downstairs is serving the open faced Danish sandwiches known as smørrebrød, vinegar braised pork belly, and slow smoked arctic char.
Your Chariot Awaits
What do you do when there are no cabs around to take home patrons from your middle-of-nowhere restaurant? Buy your own taxi. This week Black Salt began offering in house chauffeur service to patrons coming from and especially going back to Downtown, U Street, Adams Morgan, Bethesda, and Arlington neighborhoods for $10 to $30, depending on distance. General Manager Jim Sole said in a press release that 10-15 parties each night request taxis and are often left waiting for so long that “the staff would end up giving guests rides home in their own cars.” That’s sure to generate some grateful Yelp reviews. No butthurt food bloggers in the town car, please.
