Photo by Kevin H.Dish of the Week: Pie
Where: Buzz Bakery, Dangerously Delicious Pies, Pie Sisters, Whisked!
It’s the most wonderful day of the year — if you’re a math nerd or happen to like pastries. And when your humble DCist food writer works in economic policy by day, you can bet that the Weekly Feed is going to celebrate the dorkiest food holiday of the year. That’s right, folks: It’s Pi(e) Day.
We know, you don’t need another excuse to eat pie, but here are a couple recommendations anyway. Dangerously Delicious Pies (1339 H Street NE) is a popular choice, between the mind-boggling selection of sweet and savory pies at their H Street storefront or from their roving pie truck. But they’re not the only store dedicated solely to pie: Pie Sisters (3423 M Street NW) in Georgetown also trades in all things encased in a flaky crust. Pies come in a variety of sizes — including rather adorable “pie bites” — if you don’t want to take home an entire pie for yourself. Buzz Bakery (300 Tingey Street SE) also has pies in varying sizes as well as gluten-free crust options, because even people with Celiac disease should be able to enjoy pie. And if you really want to get more pie in your life, consider signing up for Whisked!’s pie CSA. You can order one or two pies a week, available for pick-up at a variety of locations around town.
For those more facile in the kitchen, you may want bake your own pie to celebrate the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. We think of berry pies in the summer and apple and pumpkin pies in the fall, but what to do in March, with its schizophrenic temperatures? My recommendation is to take advantage of the tail end of citrus season. If you can find them, grab some Meyer lemons (a lemon-mandarin orange cross) and whip up a lemon chess pie. If you can’t find Meyer lemons, just use a combination of lemon and orange, or tangerine juice like they do in this recipe, for a floral and not-too-tangy citrus flavor.
Small Bites
Luck of the Irish whiskey
Forget the green beer this St. Patrick’s Day. Head over to Jack Rose (2007 18th Street NW) on Monday for a party on the terrace and a whiskey tasting in the basement. They’ll be starting happy hour early with $5 Guinness pints, $5 Irish Punch (Jameson, tea, ginger, honey, and lemon) and $6 Jameson all day long. If you can’t start day-drinking in middle of a Monday, consider the Castle Brands whiskey tasting, held from 6-8 p.m. in the cellar. The cost is $40 per person and gets you four one-ounce whiskey pours and appetizer pairings.
Ten for $10
Stop by BLT Steak (1625 I Street NW) next week for a special Congressional Recess menu, conveniently priced for those of us not being wined and dined by lobbyists. The “10 Till 10” special features ten dishes available for $10 until 10 p.m. (try saying that five times fast). Selections include local oysters, lobster fritters, and polenta with pork ragu. The discounts will be available at the bar only from March 17 to 21.
Pig out on Fridays
Today marks the inaugural Family Meal Friday at The Pig (1320 14th St NW). On Fridays, the pork-centric restaurant will offer a three course lunch menu for $15. Today’s dishes include a Caesar salad with anchovy-balsamic vinaigrette, bacon-wrapped meatloaf with yogurt mashed potatoes, and vanilla biscuit pudding.
Chickpeas and the Entrepreneurial Spirit
Jimmy and Greg, the guys behind those crunchy chickpeas at 2Armadillos Snack Co., competed this week on the Today show’s “Startup Challenge” and won $100,000. CNBC’s The Profit host Marcus Lemonis awarded the purveyors of healthy snacking the funding to improve packaging and branding. While you can already buy flavors like spicy cayenne, rosemary, cinnamon toast, and tomato basil at hotspots such as Union Kitchen, Blind Dog Café and Little Red Fox, we are hoping this added boost leads to an expansion.— Ashley Wetzel
Peanuts, Crackerjacks, and locally-sourced sandwich ingredient
Chef Mike Isabella will bring his G Sandwich Shop to Nationals Park this season. The 14th Street location (2201 14th Street NW) is currently a sandwich shop by day that offers a tasting menu by night with a mix of Italian classics, paninis and wood-roasted sandwiches, as well as a four-course meal with optional wine pairings (Wednesday through Saturday evenings). The G Sandwich Shop opening on the main concourse, Section 136, of Nats’ Park, will have limited offerings, but expect the same quality ingredients and freshly baked breads. G expects to be open in time for the Nationals’ March 29th exhibition against the Detroit Tigers.— Ashley Wetzel
