March 2010


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The $100 Martini Gets Recessionized

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(Photo: Kellari Taverna, Britannia)

In case you DC folks haven’t heard yet — this town now has its very own $100 martini. You can air a sigh of relief to know you don’t have to travel 300 miles north on the BoltBus to buy one. The shocking part of this story is not necessarily the price, as we all knew it was a matter of time, but that the drink is not served at the minibars, Passengers or POVs of the world but rather Kellari Taverna, an inconspicuous Greek spot on K St. that has certainly made its mark on the DC restaurant scene in its short life.

I’d love to tell you about Kellari’s amazing seafood wall, with foot-long Madagascan Shrimp or the very much alive and kicking crustaceans on the menu, but instead I’m here to tell you about the mix of some fabulous liquors and gold leaf —you read that right, gold, in your drink.

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in Drinks / Endless Cocktails / Recipe 4 comments
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I Mention Rachael Ray in this Post

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The Jewish calendar is lunar and therefore Passover can land anywhere between the end of March to the end of April. My birthday is at the end of March, my mom’s birthday is at the beginning of April and my sister’s birthday is at the end of April so it’s a always a hold your breath moment to find out who’s birthday will take place during this dreaded no-bread, no-cake, no-ice cream, no-soft pretzel eight day stretch.

This year it’s so early that this spring themed holiday can’t feature the season’s produce. We usually serve asparagus, but this year we still had to rely on winter’s hold overs. I’m a bit tired of winter squash, as is the rest of the Northeast, I’m sure.

With Passover, though, I wanted to think of something slightly new. Maybe not in flavor, but in form.

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in Cheese / Holiday / Recipe / Veggie 2 comments
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Food Fantasy: A Hollywood Kitchen Makeover

The Father of the Bride.

This casting call notice for a kitchen makeover show got my heart racing:

Do you have a friend or loved one who has a real passion for cooking but is trapped in an outdated, nonfunctional or just plain ugly kitchen? Now’s your chance to nominate him/her to receive a kitchen worthy of a gourmet chef for free! We are currently casting dynamic homeowners who love to cook but are in desperate need of a completely new kitchen.

Um, hi. Too bad I’m a renter  — but it set me thinking about my ultimate dream kitchen. This probably says something about how much time I spend with Netflix, but my kitchen daydreams are pretty squarely centered on deciding which TV/movie kitchen (equipment aside) I’d most want to live with.  If, you know, I was directing a crew to recreate it in my Capitol Hill rowhouse.  Am I the only one who watches every blockbuster movie and thinks — damn! I want that kitchen!? If so, indulge me while I take a look back at my ultimate dream Hollywood kitchens:

Father of the Bride

The first one that comes to mind, of course, is George and Nina Banks’ kitchen from Father of the Bride. This is basically the fallback fantasy house for an entire generation of movie watchers, right? The New York Times even mentioned the “bourgeois splendor of the Banks house” in its movie review. But the kitchen looks so cozy and usable, which you rarely find in houses put together by a set designer. It’s like the platinum version of the kitchen you grew up with…copper pots hanging over the butcher block island, floral curtains, fruit baskets filled oh-so-properly, KitchenAid mixer (swoon!) in the background.

Something’s Gotta Give

Slightly less cozy but still inviting is the airy Hamptons kitchen from Somethings Got to Give (like Father of the Bride, a Nancy Meyers-helmed project). It’s clean and classic, with a splash of color from the potted plant and warm touches like the wooden bowls. On the down side, it seems like plenty of folks are already co-opting that one. If I’m going to copy a kitchen, I certainly don’t want to be copying the same one as everyone else.

Something's Got to Give

Something's Gotta Give

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in Celebs / Trends / TV 4 comments
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Making the Most out of Manischewitz

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Once again, I am home for Passover. When I was younger I never understood why so many foods were off limits. Sure, bread is bad. No toast, bagels, challah. I get it. But gum? Peanut butter? Mustard? I knew that corn syrup was off limits, whatever the hell corn syrup was. No one, however, could really tell me why some of the other foods were off limits.

I guess it’s kinda like religion in general. It can’t all be explained.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t look for special holiday recipes. Or get excited to cook dishes for the first time. I’d never contributed to the sedar plate before. But with only 20 minutes til the sedar, I jumped on the chance to make this traditional dish my own.

Apple Two Way Charoset

I diced two apples, let my cinnamon obsessed sister sprinkle some of the sweet brown powder over top, then stirred it around with fresh lemon juice and just a pinch of salt.

Boring. And wrong.

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in Holiday / Recipe / Veggie 0 comments
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Taco Topping Revealed

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Well maybe this one was not as crazy as I thought. While I loved your guesses of pickled daikon radish, sauerkraut, curried onions and more, a bunch of you, starting with our own ML, guessed that my mystery taco topping was in fact spaghetti squash.

Finishing up the winter squash season, the veggie gf and I baked up a butternut squash (fine, I’ll admit, we microwaved it — but almost every recipe online says to do it that way!) And it only takes like ten minutes. Our first use was for some faux sesame noodles —spaghetti squash mixed with soy sauce, sesame oil,  rice vinegar, crushed red pepper,  sesame seeds and a little sugar—it was delicious, but if you’ve ever made an S squash before, you know we had about two pounds leftover.

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in Recipe / Veggie 0 comments
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Give Me That Fish (Woo)

Although I don’t eat it often, I love fast food. Nachos Bell Grande? McNuggs? I’m there. And you know what I love more than food? Fast food jingles.

So when a particular jingle is catchy, annoying, creepy, and lasts for more than a year…I’m bound to drunkenly force someone to drive me to McDonald’s and get said sandwich.

Even drunk, I was terrified of the Filet-O-Fish. I’m really particular about my fish, and there was nothing particular about this sandwich. Some people told me they weren’t bad, but the thought of eating fried fish from a fast food restaurant made me dry heave. But I just loved the song so much I had to order it.

After a self pep talk (and some drunk photographing, see below) I took a bite.

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in Fish 7 comments
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ES Local: What’s Eating DC

Our weekly local roundup of the best eating and drinking events going down in Washington, DC…

Event of the Week: Head to any one of the DMV area locations of Rocklands BBQ for their Girls Grills Gone Wild weekend event and try some of the elk, bison or ostrich they have to offer.
View ES Local: What’s Eating DC in a larger map

Remember, you can check out the constantly updated map any day of the week.

If you represent a restaurant or bar and wish to have your event listed on the ES Local: What’s Eating DC map, please write to me at britannia(at)endlesssimmer(dot)com.

in Restaurants 0 comments
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