Rhode Island 100 mile

…our little dining excursion in DC got me thinking that I’d like to try the format of the Minibar (lots of small portions) for a dinner and luckily, we already had one planned for 9th with the Bergang/Carpenter/Pelletier gang…I pulled out my cookbooks and came up with an 11 course taste excursion that touched upon a bunch of flavors and textures that everyone seemed to enjoy:

1.) Musico Cantones (from El Bulli-nuts boiled in honey, fried in sunflower oil and dusted with a spice mix).

2.) Olive Oil Bon-Bons (from Minibar- olive oil encapsulated in an isomalt shell).

3.) Sweet, salty, hot, acid (from Alinea- an almond encapsulated in cucumber gelee dusted with raw sugar, cayenne pepper, fleur de sel and lemon zest).

4.) Soup and Sandwich (from The French Laundry- miniature grilled cheese on brioche with tomato consomee.

5.) Egg yolk drops with asparagus (from Alinea- egg yolk drops, asparagus, asparagus foam, lemon puree).

6.) Onion Tart (from Sunday dinner at Luques- puff pastry dough, ricotta, creme fraiche, wild boar bacon, caramelized shallots, thyme).

7.) Dandelion green salad ( from Luques- dandelion greens, radish, fennel and lemon vinaigrette).

8.) Gnocchi (from Sportello spotlight in Saveur magazine- gnocchi, mushroom, peas and cream).

9.) Peas and Carrots (from The French Laundry- lobster, marscapone, shallot wrapped in a chive crepe with ginger carrot emulsion and pea shoot salad).

10.) Dry Caramel (from Alinea- caramel, fleur de sel)

11.) Almond Cake with Rhubarb-Strawberry compote (from Bouchon- almond cake with strawberry and rhubarb).

Here’s a couple of pictures:

Musico Cantones

Olive Oil Bon Bon

Sweet, Salty, Hot, Acid

Soup and Sandwich

Egg yolk, Asparagus

-Josh

Ingrid and I spent the last week of April down in Washington, DC for a few days of work mixed with pleasure. Ingrid had a conference to attend and I did a little work and exploring on my own. We managed to have some really good food, though and found some great places to check out if you’re ever in the area. First off, on Wednesday I headed up to Baltimore to catch a game at Camden yards. After stepping off the train from DC in a heavy downpour, I hopped the light rail from Camden Station up to the Lexington Market. This is an enclosed market in downtown Baltimore which has stall upon stall of food- from produce to seafood which they cook right there in front of you to eat at their tables. I was there a little early (the game was at 12:35)…so I just grabbed an eclair and ate it inside out of the rain.

The downpours started to let up, so I headed to the Federal Hill neighborhood which is adjacent to Camden Yards. This neighborhood is a mix of business and residential buildings with some good restaurants scattered about…I ended up going to the Metropolitan Coffee and Wine Bar. They had a very good beer selection and the menu was just as good. I ended up having a smoked salmon bagel that was quite filling.
I headed over to the stadium to watch the game…it was sad to see the place only about 1/8th full, but I had a seat right behind home plate…you can’t get those at Fenway!! Being in Baltimore necessitated consuming a crab cake- so I got one at the stadium…it was OK- the ones at Nationals Park in DC were better. I headed back to DC to meet up with Ingrid and my aunt for our reservation at Minibar that night. Minibar is a six seat restaurant in Cafe Atlantico run by Jose Andres. The food is steeped in molecular gastronomy and is served sushi-bar style. In over two hours we had an epic 27 course food adventure that had us ooh-ing, awe-ing and salivating the whole time. Three chefs dedicated to the Minibar handle the preparation for the six people seated. You can ask them anything you want about the food, so it’s as interactive as you want it to be…we left satiated and dazed from the barrage- now I need to decipher how they made all that food!

On Thursday night, Ingrid and I headed over to Georgetown to Pizzeria Paradisio. These guys make great wood fired pizzas and also serve italian-inspired appetizers. The Georgetown location also has a fantastic beer list with selections that you don’t often see…definitely a spot to head back to!

Friday night we found ourselves at my Aunt’s house in Falls Church, VA just outside of DC. After the Minibar feast, we decided that it might be best to order food and bring it back to the house…my Aunt suggested that we go get some Peruvian chicken from a place that was nearby. A short walk later, we had in our hands probably the cheapest meal of the week- a whole chicken, rice, fried yucca, french fries and the mysterious white and green sauces all for around $22! The chicken was perfect- roasted whole and perfectly moist…a word of caution though- if you find yourself at a Peruvian chicken joint, watch out for the green sauce…it’s pretty hot!

Saturday, we headed to the Nationals game…I have to say that this park was probably the nicest that I’ve been to. It was nice and open with plenty of food choices…Ingrid got a sausage and I had the crab cakes…after the game we walked up to H St. NE to check out a restaurant that was featured on Bobby Flay’s Throwdown for their moules frites. We got there at 4:30 but they didn’t open to 5, so we went next door to a bar called the Pug.

This was yet another great find…very comfortable and friendly-
they even had cupcakes available- Ingrid was very excited about that! We stayed for a drink or two and then headed next door to Dr. Granville Moore’s. These guys specialize in Belgian Beer and moules frites (but they have other great things on the menu as well). We started with scallops in a Belgian witbier sauce and pork belly sliders. All were fabulous! And then came the mussels- we had their signature moules with bleu cheese and bacon broth accompanied by a big bowl of frites with a few of their dipping sauces. The mussles were cooked to perfection and the frites were golden brown and crispy…paired with a nice Belgian Dubbel, it was the perfect finish to our DC food adventure!

-Josh