Your Special Gift

Jaleo is one of my favorite restaurants. I enjoy the food. I like that servings are small so that I can try several dishes at one meal and I like that I can order dishes as I go to suit my appetite. So I was excited to receive an e-mail from Jaleo a few weeks ago telling me that if I were to come in the restaurant would give me a "special gift" for my birthday. I must have given them my e-mail address and birthday on an earlier visit.

The Sassy Girlfriend and I went out to dinner at Jaleo the week after my birthday. I handed the waiter a printout of the e-mail about the special gift when we placed our order. He said he would talk to the manager and be right back. As we waited, The Sassy Girlfriend and I speculated as to what the free gift would be. Maybe it would a pitcher of Sangria, or a free dessert? Maybe it was flan?

The waiter returned with a clay jug of extra virgin olive oil.

Bizarre Bazaars

Fall in Washington is church bazaar and festival season. I went to four church bazaars last year. I learned of them when I passed each of the churches while riding the bus and saw their signs announcing the festivals. I enjoy these bazaars because they allow me to explore two different interests of mine at once: exotic food and the diversity of the church. The format for these events seems to be the same at each church; there is cafeteria food service, vendors selling jewelry and icons, and tours of the church nave. I’ve spent a little time researching bazaars in the area this fall and these are the ones I’m going to try to make it to:

St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Come-In-Unity Festival
(featuring hot priest on priest basketball action)
11911 Braddock Road
Fairfax, VA 22030
Sat., Sept. 16

Saints Constantine & Helen Church Greek Festival
4115 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC, (202) 829-2910
Fri., Sept. 15, 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Sat. Sept. 16, Noon to 10:00 p.m
Sun., Sept. 17, Noon to 8:00 p.m.

St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of Washington DC
15100 New Hampshire Ave.
Silver Spring MD 20905
Sat. and Sun. Sept. 16-17

Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church Annual Parish Bazaar
7164 Alaska Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20012
Sept. 23

Bazaar of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
4001 17th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
(the corner of 17th and Shepherd Streets, NW)
Sat., September 30, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sun., October 1, noon – 6:00 pm

Do They Serve Baby Giant Panda?

Cafe Nema

On Friday night I met some friends for dinner at Café Nema on U Street. I had walked by Café Nema many times since I lived in the U Street neighborhood when I first moved to Washington in 1999, but I had never eaten there. I had no idea what I had been missing.

As we were settling in, one of my friends told me that Café Nema is owned by a Somali man. Being unfamiliar with the cuisine of Somalia, I was surprised to discover that the menu included many dishes that I recognized as Middle Eastern or Italian. Upon reflection, I decided that this made sense. Somalia is a predominantly Muslim country, which would explain the Middle Eastern influence, and part of Somalia had for a time been an Italian protectorate. The menu included dishes I did not recognize that I assume are wholly Somali.

Googleing “Somali food” to read other’s descriptions of Somali restaurants, I learned that Somali food is often eaten with the hands and that, Somali’s being muslim, Somali restaurants are typically alcohol free. However, Café Nema is a full service restaurant with silverware and there is a full bar. The beer selection includes Heinekin, Fischer Biere D’Alsace, and Spaten amongst others. All beers were $6 per glass or bottle. I didn’t look at the wine selection.

Our group shared several appetizers, all enjoyable: sambousas, triangular pastries filled with jalapeno-spiced meat; falafel; kibbeh, an oblong-shaped fried ball of seasoned ground meat and pine nuts; and hummus, with a strong cumin flavor, rather than the garlic flavor I'm more accustomed to, and served with pieces of tortilla like wheat flatbread.

So many things on the menu looked good, but my mouth started watering when I read the description for Kalankal: either chicken, lamb, or beef stewed in tomatoes, onions, peppers and spices. The actual dish lived up to my expectations. Apparently I wasn’t the only one whose mouth watered at the description, several in our party ordered it. One who didn’t, had lamb chops and he later reported that they were very good.

There were some downsides to Café Nema. It is a small restaurant and was very crowded when we were there. We were interrupted half-way through our dinner to make room for a DJ to set-up. Also the service was poor. There were not enough menus to go round and our waiter took appetizer orders from only half of our party and didn’t return until they had been consumed and we were ready to order entrée’s. Despite these problems, the quality of the food made it enjoyable.

Café Nema is located at 1334 U Street NW inWashington, D.C.

Tater Tots and Rice Krispies Treats

I recently met some friends for drinks at the Quarry House Tavern in Silver Spring. The Quarry House Tavern is a basement level bar with well worn furnishings and interior. There was an unpretentious mixed ages crowd.

One of my companions commented to me that the menu was a little strange because it listed grilled cheese sandwhich as one of the options. I had to agree that grilled cheese sandwhiches aren't generally considered bar food, but they are frequently offered at diners. The boys mother, for as long as I have known her has always ordered a grilled cheese sandwhich whenever it was an option.

While I didn't think the grilled cheese sandwhiches were strange, I did think it was odd that the hamburgers and sandwhiches came with tater tots instead of french fries and that the only item on the dessert menu was Rice Krispies treats.

Eating tater tots while drinking beer makes an evening at the Quarry House Tavern unlike an evening anywhere else. There are a couple other noteworthy items on the menu. First, the homemade potato chips with sour cream and dill dip. The potato chips were thin, crispy, and served hot. Also, my hamburger was thick and juicy. I reccomend both.

The Quarry House Tavern is located at 8401 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring.

International Food Festival

If you've been reading my blog than you know that I like to eat. I've been making the rounds of church bazaars and festivals this fall to try out different ethnic foods. This Sunday, Oct. 30, Foundry United Methodist Church is holding it's International Food Festival to benefit the child development center. The festival runs from 12:30 to 2:00 in the Fellowship Hall. The cost is $12.00 for all you can eat. Food is prepared by the parents of the children enrolled in the child development center who come several different cultures.

Foundry United Methodist Church is located on the corner of 16th and P streets in Northwest Washington, D.C.

Found Food

My father was into found food.

Every Spring when I was growing up in Vermont, he would go out in search of dandelion greens and fiddleheads. Then he'd try to get the rest of the family to eat them with him.

My Big Fat Greek Food Festival

Last Sunday afternoon, some friends and I headed out after church for (pause for dramatic affect) another church, Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church on 16th Street in the District.

Saints Constantine and Helen was holding their annual Greek festival (this year's theme: It's chic to be Greek). There was a small bazaar inside where vendors were selling icons, Greek groceries, and jewelry. Tours of the nave were also available, but clearly the main attraction was the Greek food being served in the courtyard behind the church.

The food was served cafeteria style along an outside wall of the church. There was ample seating under a large canopy and, something that as a protestant I'm not accustomed to seeing at a church event, there was a bar serving beer, wine, and ouzo (I love ouzo).

Going through the cafeteria line, I selected roasted lamb, manestra (orzo in tomato sauce), and a Greek salad. The lamb was served wrapped in tin foil in which it seemed to have been cooked. It was just as succulent as I had hoped it would be. The manestra was was fine, but nothing special. I was also able to sample from my friends' plates sousoukakia (meatballs in tomato sauce), and fasolakia (string beans tomato sauce). Both were excellent. I regretted not ordering those instead of the lamb. Later I had a glass of ouzo. I added a splash of water to it and watched it turn milky white.

Later still, because I like to eat and we were making an afternoon of it, I tried two pastries, a galactobouriko, a custard between two layers of phyllo dough, and a baklava. Both were very good.

After lunch a member of the Saints Constantine and Helen congregation showed us the nave and let us peek into the sanctuary behind the iconostasis.

This seems to be festival season in Washington. The previous weekend I went to the Adams Morgan festival. I had some good food from the vendors there.

This Saturday, September 24, Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church on Alaska Avenue is having a bazaar. I may stop by to see if there is any good food.

Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Massachusetts and 36th streets is having its annual Fall festival from from Friday, September 30 through to Sunday, October 2. I may go to that on Friday.

The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist on 17th and Shepherd streets is having a bazaar on October 1 and 2. I won't be able to go to that one as I will be out of town visiting The Boy.

From the Mouths of Babes

On a Sunday in March two years ago, when The Boy was just two and a half, he and I spent an afternoon together, just the two of us, while The Boy's Mother went to her office to get caught up on work.

We headed first to the Capital Children's Museum that used to be on 3rd street north east. When we got there, The Boy wanted to head first to the Japanese bullet train exhibit. He was excited just to sit in the train seat and watch the video of the bullet train. He pointed excitedly at each train that passed across the screen. From the bullet train exhibit we hit the Metro bus, the fire engine, and then the bubble exhibit.

After we'd hit the highlights of the Children's Museum, we stopped at Union Station to get a snack of french fries from McDonald's. The Boy was very insistent that I share his french fries with him. If my hand was empty he would offer me a fry and say "I share." Sometimes he would eat just one half of a french fry, and then offer me the other half. We were having a pleasant chat when I asked The Boy where he got all of his nice qualities from. "From Mommy," he replied.

We headed from there to The Boy's Mother's office. She took a break when we arrived to get something to eat. While we were sitting and talking, I thougth I would impress her by asking The Boy again, "where did you get all of your nice qualities from?"

The Boy looked straight at me and said to my surprise, "from you."

That wasn't the answer I was expecting, and while The Boy's Mother said that was sweet she hadn't been impressed the way I had hoped. I looked at him again and asked this time, "what did you get from Mommy?"

"I stubborn."

Meat on Sticks

After spending a good hour or so playing at our favorite playground, it was supper time and The Boy and I both had appetites. I listed some options in town for The Boy to choose from, a place to get sandwiches, a place to get hamburgers, or Chinese food. To my surprise and delight, because it was what I was hankering for, he chose Chinese food.

We went to China Star, a store-front restaurant offering over the counter service for eating-in or carrying-out. I read the appetizers off the menu to The Boy so he could choose what he wanted. He selected chicken fingers. I looked over the menu for something else and ordered sweet and sour pork.

When our food arrived I was disappointed to discover that despite one being an appetizer and the other an entree, chicken fingers and sweet and sour pork were very similar dishes. The chicken fingers were long cuts of chicken breast heavily battered and fried with a bowl of bright red sweet and sour sauce on the side for dipping. The sweet and sour pork was small cubes of pork heavily battered and fried and served in a plate of bright red sweet and sour sauce.

The Boy reminded me that we had ordered food for carry-out from China Star last year, but that we had beef teriyaki, which he called, “meat on sticks."

The next evening, after watching the Independence Day parade, I asked the boy again where he wanted to eat supper, and again he chose Chinese food, so we went back to the China Star. This time we ordered meat on sticks, chicken noodle soup, and mixed Chinese vegetables.

The meat on sticks reminded me of an incident from years earlier, in better times, of eating Chinese food with The Boy’s Mother. We had met in college and befriended each other. She had a boyfriend from home, but after they broke-up our mutual attraction became evident to each of us. We made plans to get together over Christmas break our sophomore year in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, halfway between our homes.

We had lunch that day at a Chinese restaurant called Dragon Island, which offered a buffet – as a college student I thought a Chinese buffet would make for a good first date. The Boy’s Mother much later confided in me, that she had never had Chinese food before, so she didn’t know what she would like from the options on the buffet. She followed my lead by selecting from the buffet the same things that I did. I remember when we were eating that she didn’t eat much of her food and she seemed perplexed as to how to go about eating the meat on sticks, attempting first to bite off the meat from the pointy end of the stick, then reconsidering before she stabbed herself.

China Star restaurant is located at 11-15 Main Street in Montpelier, Vermont. It is open seven days per week serving lunch and dinner.

Where's my food?

About two years ago my mother, my sister, The Boy, and I went out to dinner at Mr. Chen's on Connecticut Avenue in Woodley Park. We were seated and handed menus. Before the waitress had returned to take our orders, the boy immediately looked around and asked "where's my food?"

Cafe Luna

Cafe Luna is part of a business empire that also include Skewers and Luna Books. It is a quirkily decorated basement level restaurant with a small patio dining area out front. The walls feature paintings and photographs for sale by local artists. I've been there after church or in the evening for one of there half-priced nights on many occassions.

I frequently have an omelette at Cafe Luna. I enjoy omelettes and I've always had good ones there. This past Sunday afternoon I had the omelette special: an omelette with spinach, feta, red bell pepers, and mushrooms. The omelette tasted good despite being overcooked. An omelette should be yellow and it should glisten. Mine had been browned. It came with a thick cut of 7 grain toast and homefries, both of which I also enjoyed. I washed it down with two cups of coffee for which I only paid $1.50.

Cafe Luna offers half-priced pizzas on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, and half-priced pasta on Mondays, and half-priced bottles of wine on Tuesdays. Cafe Luna is located at 1633 P Street next to Steadman Park. It is open seven days per week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Le Bon Cafe

After a little counter-demonstration yesterday afternoon, I headed off for lunch with an intern from my office. We were on Capitol Hill and she suggested Le Bon Cafe on Second street, S.E., a place she discovered while taking breaks from doing research at the Library of Congress.

Le Bon Cafe is a charming little cafe with small, round, marble-top tables, and a simple menu on a chalkboard: soups, sandwhiches, salads, coffees and pastries. I ordered a mushroom and vegetable soup with a half sandwhich: mozzarella, basil, tomato, and pesto. The intern ordered a tuna sandwich that came with a small serving of boiled and seasoned red potatoes.

I sampled her red potatos, they were good, but I declined her offer to try the tuna fish sandwhich. I don't like the taste of canned tuna fish. My soup was a savory puree of mushrooms and broth. My sandwhich was very good; the pesto and basil are strong complementary flavors. I also tasted kosher salt in the sandwhich. My only disapointment is that I was expecting it to be on a ciabatta as described on the menu. Instead it was prepared with, tasty but unexpected, pre-sliced, whole-grain bread.

Le Bon Cafe is located at 210 Second Street, S.E. in Washington, D.C. It is open seven days per week for breakfast and lunch.

City Cafe

On Saturday afternoon, a good friend and I enjoyed lunch together at City Cafe in Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood. City Cafe is a restaurant and bar in an historical art deco era building complete with the original black and white checkered floor.

Although it was early afternoon, my lunch companion was more in the mood for breakfast. She ordered an omelet with homefries and a Bloody Mary. I went for lunch: a hamburger with french fries and a pint of Yuengling Lager.

All the food was good. I sampled both her omelet and her Bloody Mary. As omelet's go, it was true to form. She highly reccomended the Bloody Mary's at City Cafe. Before I took a sip, she warned me that it was both "chunky and hot." Indeed it was. The dominant flavor was horseradish. The addition of which I assume accounted for the chunks.

I had my hamburger medium rare, which I have only recently come to enjoy. Growing-up, my family eschewed beef for health concerns and I have really only recently learned to enjoy it. For many years I insisted on having it cooked well. I mistrusted the appearence of undercooked meat. As I've recently discovered, cooking beef well cooks out the flavor.

The hamburger came with string fries. I've noticed that most restaurants that serve well-made food will nonetheless serve frozen french fries. I probably wouldn't have ever thought this was strange, but back in December I discovered just how good french fries can be when I ate at DC Coast. I don't know what posessed me to order french fries at DC Coast, but I'm glad I did. They were the best french fries I've ever had. DC Coasts french fries are hand-cut in their kitchen, and they are far-and-away better than any that I've ever had that came out of a bag. I'd love to know how they prepare them so I can make my own.

The pricing at City Cafe struck me as odd. At $9.95 her omelet cost more than my $8.95 hamburger. Otherwise City Cafe serves good food in a pleasant upscale, casual environment.

We ate our meals leisurely, enjoyed good conversation, and we each had a second drink (lagers for both of us on the second round) before heading off to the American Visionary Art Museum.

City Cafe is located at 1001 Cathedral Steet in Baltimore. It is open seven days per week and serves brunch, lunch, and dinner.

Hmm, Turkey

I need to find out how Kosta cooks his turkey.

Reading my own blog had given me a hankering for souvlaki from Greek Deli (see "Souvlaki"). Unfortunately, I arrived after the lunch rush and they were out of lamb. I was offered a souvlaki made with roast turkey (I'm a little unclear on the finer points of Souvlaki - I'm not sure a pita sandwhich can be souvlaki without lamb). All too often turkey is cooked dry. I've tried with some success to roast a moist and flavorful turkey, but the turkey in my souvlaki that day was dripping and tasty. I got over my disapointment about the lamb real fast.

This time there was no doughy taste to the pita.

Is this starting to read like a Greek Deli fan blog?

Oh, well.

Souvlaki

My plan to review restaurants has been stymied by my habit of eating at only a few places. On Friday I was back at Greek Deli.

Kosta has a flair for the dramatic and a hearty sense of humor. With a line of people patiently waiting their turns for service, Kosta yelled out sternly: "There is plenty of food for everyone! No fighting!" Then he looked out to his customers and smiled, before getting back to serving-up lunches.

I can't seem to get enough of Kosta's succulent lamb, but I decided to try having it a different way this time. I ordered the souvlaki. Kosta's souvlaki is a simple yet tasty interpretation of the Greek standard: a pita spread with tzakiki wrapped around a piece of stewed lamb with lettuce and chunks of ripe tomato and cucumber. The juices from the lamb dripped out as I was eating, making a mess all over my hands. My only disapointment was with two bites toward the middle that tasted doughy. Perhaps the pita was undercooked.

See also Naan and Beyond.

File under Great food; no atmosphere

Naan and Beyond

Apart from good food, Naan and Beyond has a couple things going for it: a great name and a thin, bald, south Asian man with gold hoop earings who yells every order back to the kitchen (do all good take-outs have someone who yells? see "Greek Deli").

Three of us from work went there for lunch today, heading down L Street to the 1600 block. I ordered a Caeser's salad with tandoori lamb tikka. As Caeser's salads go it was true to form: bite-sized cuts of hearts of romaine lettuce with parmesan cheese tossed in dressing. The chunks of lamb, however, were a little drier than I would have liked.

My colleagues, let's call them Feminist Islamist and Eternal Sunshine (she was the "complainer of the bunch" in "Greek Deli" but she complained about her moniker so I've given her a more positive one here), both ordered the chicken tikka sandwhich, tandoor cooked chicken with chopped cabbage wrapped in naan flat bread. Both reccomended it. Feminist Islamist said it is her favorite meal from Naan and Beyond. She also reccomended the paneer tikka sandwhich and the samosas, particularly the chicken samosas. She always makes sure to get a cup of mango sauce whatever her order.

Naan and Beyond has a few tables inside and a few more outside during good weather. The service is strictly over the counter.

Naan and Beyond is located at 1710 L Street NW in Washington, D.C. next door to Ascot Lounge.

Do the baked goods suddenly get fresh again at 6?

Au Bon Pain's baked goods go on sale at 50% off every day at 4:00. Several months ago I developed the habit of visiting Au Bon Pain right after work to buy a couple cookies or a pastry. One day, running late I arrived just after 6:00. The clerk rang-up my purchase. When I saw that I had been charged full price, I asked: "Isn't everything marked down after 4:00?"

"Yes" the clerk replied, "but it is now after 6."

Greek Deli

One of my intentions for this blog is to write food reviews. My goal is to seek out those rare gems and true bargains among restaurants. Those places where it's all about the food and not about the presentation: take-outs, self-service, fast-food joints, and diners. In essence, places with great food but no atmosphere.

I'd like to pursue this as a quest for the archtypal bargain restaurant. The problem is I'm pretty sure that I've already found it: Greek Deli on 19th Street Northwest between L and M.

I've been eating from Greek Deli for a few years now. Shortly after starting my current job four months ago I began raving about it to my coworkers. Finally, I convinced one of them to go with me. Now she is as hooked as I am. Today four of us headed over there, and brought back lunch for ourselves and one other.

We headed off from the office at noon down L toward 19th. Sure enough the line, as it is every day, was out the door and all the way to the street. The line moves quickly. The wait from the street is probably just fifteen minutes.

Greek Deli is strictly take out. It is a small and cramped place, tucked between Nooshi (formerly Oodles Noodles) and Nooshi take-out. There is just enough room inside for the line and people to pass by on their way out. The food has all been prepared ahead, except for the pita sandwhiches, and it is served to order into styrofoam containers. Once inside, you discover that the line moves quickly because Kosta, the owner and chef is barking "next, next" as he serves-up the orders. A member of his staff operates the cash register.

Back at the office we all dug-in. I'd ordered a Greek salad with lamb on top. If succulent ever described cooked meat, it describes the lamb from Greek Deli. The salad was fresh: lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and peppers topped with plenty of feta cheese. One of my colleagues had also ordered the salad and lamb: "the lamb juices and the salad dressing get mixed-up and it's all yummy."

The third in our group had ordered the lamb platter, which came with orzo, fava beans, a salad and bread. She had also ordered a side of hummous. She reported that everything was good, but what really seemed to make an impression on her was that hummous: "I've never had such good hummus. It had a lemony taste to it."

Another colleague had a chicken pita. The chicken, she said, tasted of olive oil and zatar spices. The complainer of the bunch, she said the chicken pieces were cut a little big and that there was lots of cilantro on the sandwhich. "Usually cilantro on any dish kills the dish for me."

The final member of our group had ordered the Moussaka platter. She said her lunch was "phenomenal." Like me she ate the whole thing. She "took the bread and sopped-up all the oil."

Greek Deli is located at 1120 19th St., NW in Washington, D.C. It is open for breakfast and lunch.

See also "Did you hear the one about the restaurant on the moon?"

Did you hear the one about the restaurant on the moon?

Great food; no atmosphere.

File under Great food; no atmosphere