I am going to more and more places that I either don’t have time or don’t think appropriate for a full blog post quite yet.  So I am now dating my Eating Around posts.  I will add a seaparate category for them too.

The Lounge at Eventide:  I haven’t been back to the formal dining room in a little while now, but I had a lovely meal with company and hubby at the Lounge at Eventide.  Bar Manager Steve mixed us up some lovely cocktails- some on menu, some off.  I suggest telling him what flavors you like and letting him craft something for you.  The soft pretzel with deviled hame spread and stout mustard were perfectly made.  The salty pretzel and ham with spicy rich mustard are a great combo that I just can’t pass up.  I don’t like a lot of mustard, but this mustard is divine, grainy with just enough spice, but no lingering spice.  I then had the locavore salad- which if you are looking for a good entree salad this is it- with chicken, tomatoes, bacon-sherry vinaigrette and a host of other lovely things that make this salad seem much more than a salad.  Bison sliders were soft and tender with a tangy tomato barbecue sauce.  What I love about the lounge at Eventide is the laid back vibe, while being quite perfectionists about the ingredients and food coming out.  They mix it up a lot and while not everything always hits me, there is always something that to euw and aaw over and make you want to come back, and I like that they frequently change the menu (so long as the pretzel stays- do you hear that Eventide?)

Pupatella: Don’t even ask me to compare this to Pizzeria Orso because I can’t.  I recently had lunch at Pupatella and had their sausage pizza with homemade sausage.  The sausage was really out of this world, zoom zoom to the moon good.  I would buy that sausage if they would sell it to me.  The crust was extremely thin.  Not too charred, with a nice chew to it.  I want to go back to try some of the other toppings as everything coming out just smelled phenomenal.  As  a note 1 pizza is enough for two people unless you are extremely hungry.  I also had an eggplant arrancini which was crisp with great flavor.  A little too much cheese inside only because the eggplant itself was so phenomenal I wanted more.  The eggplant really is perfection inside a crisp rice nugget.  And it is great value.

Uncle Julio’s: You know if you go only for fajitas every now and then this place is good.  But don’t stray from fajitas or the butterflied shrimp.  There is nothing else worth ordering.

Sidamo: Please open in Arlington.  I know we have Northside Social, but I want you Iced Chai on a more regular basis.  If you haven’t had a Sidamo iced chai and you like iced chai, well you just haven’t awakened your mouth to what iced chai is really supposed to taste like, possibly what iced chai tastes like in heaven (ok, ok, maybe it could be better in heaven, but I don’t know how).  But peeps, this place is not a one trick pony.  They also have great fruit smoothies, coffee and sandwiches.  The club paninni is particularly good with a nice chewy but soft bread, crunchy bacon, fresh tomato, melted cheese and turkey- it just all comes together in a great way.  But really- go for the iced chai.

Thai Terrace:  This isn’t someplace worth traveling for, but if you happen to be in the Ballston, Courthouse, Clarendon area, especially if you like delivered food now and then, Thai Terrace has some real good stuff.  What I most appreciate is that if you ask for it spicy or if you order a spicy dish, they don’t dumb it down for you.  Oh no, they bring the heat.  I recently had Pad Prik Pao a combination of chicken and shrimp with broccoli, carrot, onion, sweet pepper and thai chili sauce.  This is a growing heat dish, that is pretty spicy and that spice just builds and builds in your mouth.  Best with a Thai iced tea, or some ice cream after.  Hubby gets the Ka Prow and I like to steal some because the ginger, basil and garlicy sauce is just great.  I am happy to have this place in the neighborhood, but again it isn’t a destination, but it does great take out too, they never screw up our order.

Bittersweet Cafe (Old Town Alexandria): ok for a quick lunch, but Firehook down the street is a lot better.

Boru (or whatever Matsutake turned into): I noticed Matsutake was going down hill, this though is really bad.  Avoid.

And ending on a high note had a fabulous Don Rockwell dinner at La Caraquena.  This place is great.  Do get there before Triple D (that’s right Diners, Drive Ins and Dives) makes it impossible to get a seat.  Get anything with the shredded beef and you will be happy, very happy.  And the saltenas here cannot be beat.  Although they are a little more of a cold weather food for me, they are so good here, I couldn’t pass it up.  Soupy, crispy and wonderful with their spicy jalapeno salsa/chutney.  The corn salad was good too, but remember shredded beef.

Just some updates:

Pizzeria Orso in Falls Church-  just opened its doors, but already is showing an amazing amount of progress.  The crudo, giamette and filetto were my favorites.  The crust was nicely charred and chewy, but still slightly crisp.  But a must order are the clams, cooked in a fantastic white wine garlic sauce.  Nice concise wine and beer list.  And gelatto from Dolcezza, mmm.

One World Cafe in Baltimore-  this cafe specializes in vegetarian and vegan food, but does so in a really tasty way.  A friend of mine had her rehearsal dinner here and it left everyone satisfied and not missing any meat.  Especially with the fantastic vegetable lasagna that had really good roast carrots in it.

Punk’s Backyard Grill in Annapolis- if this place franchises my husband and I both agree we would invest in a location Arlington.  Punk’s has fantastic fresh and simple food.  Grilled right when you order with always fresh ingredients.  We both had the Skinny Chicken Sandwiches- nicely grilled and still juicy chicken with herb spread, a terriyaki glaze and really good fresh bun.  The drippings from the sandwich made the perfect dip for the accompanying arugula and cherry tomatoes.  We also had a small salad and their really good red skin potato salad.  It is mashed redskins with a fantastic dressing that ends up not being heavy at all and with lots of flavor.  The Boylan’s sodas are an added bonus.  So is the dog-friendly outdoor seating.  Max had a great time laying in the shade and licking my fingers.  They were just named as one of Washingtonian’s best Cheap Eats for 2010 for good reason too, our bill was very reasonable for all we got.

Matsutake in Ballston- has slid even further downward.  Cannot be trusted.  Avoid at all costs.

Liberty Tavern in Clarendon- needs to re-work a couple dishes on the current menu that just need tweeked a tiny bit, but continues to be very good.  You can’t go wrong with their mixed seafood pasta, Vermont Pizza or their Hanger Steak.  Meanwhile their sibling Lyon Hall is very quickly getting their feet under them and turning out some great food.

Lebanese Taverna in Arlington- I love the original location for the stellar service and charm.  Their hummus is my favorite in the area (you can buy it in large tubs at the Market down the street).  I had the Mouzat the other night and the lamb shank was fantastic with great flavor in the tomato sauce and meat falling off the bone, but maintaining that great pungent lamb flavor.  And if you don’t like their freshly baked pita… well that is a great shame.  They even gave me extra pita with my leftovers.  I have to say that of all the small chains in the area this one has done the best in maintaining great quality control and service.

M&S Grill in Baltimore- if you are at Harborplace and need an option that won’t have an hour long wait and will have decent food head to M&S Grill.  Their cod was fresh and well prepared, as was the salmon.  And the steak salad is very good too.

After being under the weather I hope to get out to more places soon.

Ballstonites- have you noticed that not only are we getting a Rustico, we are also getting a Buzz Bakery!  I am so excited as Buzz has great coffee and baked goods and a really nice vibe.  Max is excited for a Buzz dog treat too!

**More pictures coming soon**

I had a fantastic long weekend in Nashville, filled with good friends, good food and lots of good music.  Here is my report:

The Hutton Hotel- This is one of my all-time favorite hotels.  Many of the Leading Hotels of the World I have been to recently haven’t really met their or my exacting standards, but this one met and exceeded them.  It boasts free wifi, free wine between 5-6 pm, free car service within 3 miles, espresso machine on every floor to make you complimentary espresso, rain shower heads, nice cotton bedding, nice restaurant, nice bed, soothing atmosphere with really nice L’Occitaine toiletries.  Lots of free bottles of water and chocolate each night during turndown, multiple types of power jacks in your room, wonderful staff who were friendly and who would do anything asked.  To add to that they also have a great hotel bar and staff.  It is one of my favorite hotels.  And really what more than that could you ask for?  As a specific note Nashville is a place that you want to stay out late at night.  There is so much good music and in cases like that a relaxing, soothing respite is necessary.

As an aside while I was there they were having a Bobbi Brown Fall Color Convention (Employee Presentation).  I happen to adore Bobbi Brown products for their lack of harsh chemicals and their focus on the basics and neutrals with hints of color where appropriate.  I happened to run into one of the artists at the bar who hooked me up with some new products.  John- you are amazing.  It is people like you that make me adore Bobbi.

Entertainment:

It is worth checking out the Country Music Hall of Fame even if you don’t love Country Music.  The exhibits are really neat and even those of us not well versed in Country recognized so many of the songs.  While we were there they had a fantastic exhibit on the precious Brenda Lee.

I just missed an exhibit at the Frist Museum on Paris Fashion that looked wonderful.  As a note the Frist does not have a permanent collection so judge whether you want to go on how interesting the two exhibits showing will be to you.  While there they only had a Chihuly exhibit and it was rather small for the $10 admission.

Nearby check out the gallery at the Tennessee Art League.  While there they had a fantastic exhibits by both members and children with some neat things.

Cheekwood House and Gardens is a very neat house with pretty gardens.  They had the larger part of the Nashville Chihuly exhibit, but not as expansive as Phoenix one I visited before.  The house itself had impressionist art, primitive american sculpture by African American, and fabrege exhibit.  the bottom still housed many of the details from the family who built it, the Maxwell House family. The gardens were extensive and very pretty, but not as nice as the Huntington in L.A. or Vizcaya in Miami, but very cool and worth a visit.

So where to hang to get some of that good music?  Well if you want to go downtown then I suggest starting at Bang Bar where dueling pianos have a good fun with the audience and the people watching is top notch.  Then for some more serious music head over to the Stage or Second Fiddle.  On a whim you could also stop by Roberts or Wildhorse Saloon which just reopened from the flood.  Look for the crowds.

Away from downtown the Red Rooster and Tin Roof have live music, sometimes Country sometimes not and Dan McGuiness Irish Pub can turn somewhat into a college bar/club later in the evening.  More of a last stop kind of place.

To Eat:

Jack’s BBQ- The great thing about Jack’s is it isn’t one thing.  Nashville not being Memphis it can do whatever BBQ it wants without picking a style.  It does brisket, pork ribs, pulled pork and sausages.  The brisket and ribs were stand out, as well as, Carolina mustard sauce and their vinegar sauce.  I liked being able to mix the Carolina mustard sauce with the brisket without dirty looks.  They had good bready dense cornbread, slighly sweet, but very bread like.  Nice ambiance, with big tables, a patio and very casual ambiance.  It is right downtown among the honky tonks with long hours.

Pancake Pantry- this is a very down homey breakfast all day joint.  Nice staff, not overly chatty because they have work to do, but nice.  On my first visit I had cornmeal pancakes with bacon, cheese, green chiles served with salsa, maple syrup and sour cream.  Nice mix of savory and sweet flavor, a few bites with syrup was good, but I mainly ate it with salsa and sour cream.  Awesome lunchy, savory pancakes.  The cornmeal had a crisp outside but tender inside and wasn’t overly sweet like some cornbreads.

On my next visit I had the Chef’s Skillet with their fantastic crispy hashbrowns and sauteed peppers, onions and tomatoes and ham.  Topped with swiss cheese and fried eggs.  As I was sharing the dish we ordered it with two buttermilk pancakes.  It was crispy and very satisfying after a night out on the town the poached eggs soaked down through the mixture and perked you back up.  It was nice to be able to have this and one of their light fluffy buttermilk pancakes.  I don’t like a large amount of pancake, but one with their warm cinnamon syrup really hit the spot.  Their pancakes really are incredible.  They aren’t too thick or thin, they are a little crusty on the outside but fluffy all the way through.  The buttermilk for me have enough tang that they aren’t overly sweet with syrup.  I also like that they have buckwheat pancakes on the menu and real maple syrup.  I lucked out both times I waited less than 30 minutes to get a table, probably because we ate late.

City House- this restaurant is nicely composed.  A little hard to find, but well worth the attempt.  The design is modern and minimalist.  They had a short but diverse wine list, house salami with boutique wisconsin parmigana was excellent.  The salami was peppery and flavorful, but the texture was soft and tender similar to the texture of lox. The parmigana cheese was from a company turned co-op and rivaled some of the best I have had anywhere with its flavor and texture.  For an entree I had the margherita pizza with arugala, this was perfect neapolitan style pizza with excellent fresh taste, pillowy crust, and arugula gave nice crispness.  Bread gnocchi of my dining companion so-so.  I think if you had bread gnocchi before and knew what the texture and flavor was like then it would be ok, but on such a hot summer day it was a bit heavy.  But their dessert list is amazing.  I wish someone here in D.C. could come close to the wonderful creativity of the dessert list here.  We split the peanut butter panini with rhubarb preserves and buttermilk ice cream.  This dish made you want to give Elvis a hug.  The ice cream had awesome tang and the warm peanut butter on cornbread then grilled for a crisp outside had perfect sweetness and crunch, but was balanced by tart rhubarb and tangy ice cream so as not to be too rich.

Neely’s BBQ- Yes, yes the home of the famous Food Network Neely’s is Memphis, but they have an outpost in Nashville too.  Their BBQ, although not as smokey as Jack’s, was ok; their pulled pork was much better than Jack’s.  It was juicy tender, but they put the sauce on it for you, and a lot of it so you couldn’t judge just how good the pork would be on its own.  Good but standard mac and cheese and beans.  However, they gave you toast instead of cornbread… not cool.  I would go to Jack’s over this place if you want anything but pulled pork only.  The portions are huge though, if you dig that.

Taco Mamacita- this is a fun taco joint with not your normal tacos.  Instead be prepared for carnitas, jerk chicken or gyro tacos.  I had a gyro and a fish taco.  I did lament that you didn’t get a choice of hard or soft taco or a choice between flour and corn tortillas.  The fish taco was really nice with a lightly floured then fried fish that remained moist and interesting slaw.  The gyro was just a gyro in a tortilla, but it was good.  The black bean and corn slaw was refreshing, but had too much cilantro for me.

And below the Taco Royale which was a favorite among our group:

So thank you Nashville for providing a great place to catch up with my best friend, and a great place to party hard with dear friends.  I am so glad that it is recovering so well from such a devastating flood and keeping in such good spirit!

My just delightful Mother had her birthday this week, so Matt and I wanted to take her out somewhere she would really enjoy.  The one requirement was that it be accessible to the Orange line metro so that she could metro in.  My Mother went to Ireland this year, and her family being of Scottish-Irish descent I thought taking her to somewhere with modern British-Isles fare would be fun, so long as it wasn’t for a traditional English breakfast.  So off we headed to Againn.

The first thing to note is the lighting and ambiance.  I think the cleanliness of the style with multiple types of lighting, which wasn’t to dim or bright, just really made it feel fresh and almost romantic.  The wood booths, the natural light, the glass at the bar all just made you feel comfortable.  But just wait till you taste a cocktail crafted with what is inside those bottles.  I had the Haig & Peaches- haig pinch, peach lambic, aperol, benedictine, lemon, vanilla rooibos tincture, egg white.  Now while this sounds like a lot on paper the smooth, slightly sweet, slightly tart drink was very refreshing, without being too much of anything.

Then they brought out the bread, crusty sourdough that was tender and soft in the middle with perfectly room temperature butter.  The service was professional with the servers not being overzealous, but not leading you to want for anything.

I started with the Ale Battered Maryland Soft Shell Crab fried and on a bed of ratatouille.  The crab was crispy, juicy and sweet.  The ratatouille was a chunky version with good flavor.  They paired well together as a nice dish that wasn’t overseasoned in which you could taste the fresh vegetables and crab meat.

I then moved to the Ale Braised Rabbit with pickled ramps and grits.  And as a note although both dishes had ale elements it didn’t take over any part of the flavor.  This dish was so good I could have perhaps eaten seven of them if given the chance.  It is a mini dutch oven of perfectly tender and flavorful rabbit that just melts amongst the white grits.  The white grits have a nice texture and absorb all the flavors of the dish, while the pickled ramps give you a crisp and pungent hit of tang so that the rich flavor is balanced.  I scooped up every bit that my fork couldn’t reach with bread.  And while it wasn’t a huge portion, it was just right in this hot hot weather with my starter.

I also snagged a decent portion of Hubby’s shepherd’s pie.  Which came with a small salad (not noted on the menu but fyi in case you thought of getting a salad for a starter).  His pie was a generous portion of ground lamb and scallion mashed potatoes.  The lamb and its sauce was nicely spiced and not your typical bland filling.  Both the meat and the seasonings used to make the sauce had a lot of flavor.  The mashed potato topping had a nice dense texture and was crispy on top, but the scallions gave you a crunch and some added flavor so that the dish wasn’t boring at all.  The birthday girl had the Cod, with mussels, cockles, spinach and saffron broth.  She loved the crisp outside of the fish and that it was very firm while not being dry.  The accompaniments while rich added nice depth to the broth.

We ended the night with absinthe.  Although the dessert menu looked great the hot and sticky weather just didn’t bode well for dessert.

Againn might be one of my very favorite restaurants in the DC area.  The ambiance, service and food were all top notch without being stuffy or over the top.  I really enjoyed it.

I have been chowing at so many places recently and I just don’t have the time to devote a post to each place so I am going to give some collective notes from the field.

Lyon Hall- the newly opened restaurant in Clarendon features a wonderfully diverse menu of all things seasonal and meatastic.  They have a nice and rather long beer list (with appropriate glasses for the beers).  The charcuterie selections of duck proscuitto and rabbit rillettes were a hit (although they needed some sort of serving mechanism- we used the leftover bread basket).  The pickled vegetables served with the charcuterie were particularly delicious.  The leek salad and pea and proscuitto snitzel both showed that Lyon Hall is quickly going to produce some extremely tasty and creative dishes for the neighborhood.

Cafe Normandie- Although this restaurant has graced the Main street of Annapolis for years, I had my first brunch there recently.  The omlettes reminded me that the French have a knack for making a fluffy and appropriately crisp omlette in a way that many other persons just haven’t figured out yet.

Cafe Atlantico- The cocktails at Cafe Atlantico tell you how your meal is going to be: full of surprise with a focus on creative, vibrant food.  The passionfruit martini was dangerously close to eating the juicy, gooey goodness right out of the fruit shell.  The guacamole, conch fritters and duck confit with fresh favas are noteables on the menu.

Earl’s Sandwiches- While this place has few tables, it has many fans.  Their freshly roasted meats and good bread make for excellent, comforting sandwiches.  My favorite are the Louis and the Cuban.

Liberty Tavern- on my most recent visit the candy bar dessert wowed me.  You wouldn’t think of Liberty tavern as a dessert destination, but their often changing dessert menu keeps me ordering more.  The pasta with fresh seafood wasn’t bad either.

H St. Country Club- this restaurant surprised me.  I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was.  Not as good as it could be with a little more care and finess, but it has potential that you wouldn’t expect.  Although I don’t know if they will harness the potential as it is clearly all about partying and drinking.  The tacos were good, duck entree also good.  But avoid the sangria on all accounts, and the mojito for that matter, both were terrible.  Stick with beer or something simple.  The games downstairs were fun.  They need a better seating system though.

The bar at Eventide- I find time and time again that this is a great place to relax.  Probably the best reason for this is that the managers are very hands on and involved.  The pretzels with homemade stout mustard and chopped Virginia ham are addictive.  The bison sliders are like a wonderful gourmet sloppy joe.  And the cocktail program is phenomenal.  The seasonal and well balanced cocktails here really are the biggest draw for me, the good food though is why I come back time and time again.  Save room for the brown butter cake.  Their desserts are elegant, but with excellent flavor profiles.

Sidamo- the best iced chai that I have had ever, period.  The food coming out here smelled delightful, and the ginger molasses cookies looked heavenly.

Taylor Gourmet- I had the South Street with arugula.  The bread was great, crunchy, but not too much bread.  The grilled chicken wasn’t overcooked with nice grill taste.  The ingredients were all fresh and none overwhelmed the other.  The fried risotto balls stuffed with mozarella were crunchy on the outside while just oozy enough on the inside to be delicious.  When not ordering for delivery will have to try the roast pork.

Kline’s Frozen Custard- I always mean to stop here on my way from court in Prince William County and I finally did.  This place is the ice cream stand of your youth, in my hometown it would be a-kin to the Custard Stand.  I got a mixer with vanilla custard and heath bar.  The custard here has a really rich full flavor while still really refreshing.  It may be the best custard around.

Blacksalt for Mother’s Day Brunch- I truly love Blacksalt and kudos for having a normal a la carte menu and not ripping off the general public because it is a holiday.  Highlights were the fresh herbs in the gratis fruit, the crisp hot beignets loaded with powdered sugar and the Louisiana poached eggs with perfectly cooked crawfish, and a poached egg that would make you slap your Momma if it were not in fact Mother’s Day.  The little market outside also provided some wonderful lemon lavender sugar cookies in nice packaging for Momma.  (They had a whole stall of only lavender goods and I only had $6, so sad)

Coastal Flats- The lobster roll here is really hard to beat in this area, especially when served with nicely grilled corn.

Tacklebox- as a general note- do not get the lobster roll here, it is a disappointment.  However, the wood grilled bluefish is amazing, especially with a side of grilled asparagus or broccoli, and that makes for a really healthy meal.  The mac and cheese here is a little strange, way too saucey, like gourmet kraft gone wrong, as if it doesn’t sound wrong with that description anyway.  Also the fried clams here are pretty darn good.

I am sure that there are more, but that is all I can think of.

Coming up- homemade dressing recipes.  For Tamaki, with love.

They other day while running errands with the Pup and Hubby, stomachs began to growl.  It was a beautiful day so we decided to head to Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe.  When the weather is decent, and sometimes even when it is not, they are out grilling wursts.

I got a beautiful knauckwurst- a little spice, but a lot like a big flavorful hotdog, on a homemade bun.   What I love is if you are unfamiliar with the taste of their wursts they will give you samples to help you decide.

We split some sides of homemade German potato salad (a mix of skin on potatoes, caramelized onions, vinegar and spices served warm), pretzel and apple strudel.  This was a huge meal even when you split the sides.  But everything is prepared with care and baked fresh.

They have picnic tables over on the grass some with umbrellas, so you can sit outdoors enjoy company with fellow diners and enjoy the splendor of nice weather in Virginia.  Max got to run around in the grass and sniff for sausage, of which he found none, a big disappointment I am sure.  We got some time in the sun and very good food.

The shop itself has pastries, breads and deli.  Whenever someone asks where to find some sort of baked good, I always end up seeing it at Heidelberg.  Their Black Forest Bread is exceptional for sandwich making.  And while their pastries are not as artistic as Patisseries by Randolph, I have found that they have a great variety of the German favorites my Amish Nanny used to make me.

And to top it off, with my hands full with drinks and Max, they carried my lunch to the table for me.

My last trip to Miami was very bitter sweet.  I left my Dad’s bedside to see him for the last time to go, but I knew in my heart he would want me to go, really he would want to be there.  My Father was a sunaholic.  He loved to go lay on the beach, get frozen drinks and turn at just the right time to have the perfect tan.  He enjoyed Anguilla, St. Barts, and the French Riviera way more than any city.  He never went to Miami, but he would embrace Miami, the good food, pretty women and lots of sun.

We went despite everything because our best friend was getting engaged.  And I think it was important for me during that time to embrace the good that was happening, as well as, the bad.  Just feeling the warm sunshine I was reminded how much Dad loved to feel that warmth.

The Skinny on Hotels.  Now I have stayed at many places in Miami and visited others.  And some notes on hotels.  First off, stay in South Beach.  Everything you really want to be around is either in or near South Beach.  After being at the Biltmore or Ritz Key Biscayne, it is just a lot nicer to be at South Beach.  Second, don’t stay at a huge hotel, pick a medium sized one.  My favorite is the Ritz in South Beach.  I prefer it because of its great location right at Lincoln Road, the 24hr pool and decent spa, and the spacious bathrooms with wonderful Ritz beds.

I also really like The Palms, which is a little more North, but also quieter and has a nice beach area, which isn’t quite so busy, with nice, comfortable rooms.  I also really enjoy the hammocks by the pool for a lazy afternoon napping in the sun.

This past trip I stayed at the National.  When their Pool Suites are renovated it will be really nice.  During the renovation it was so noisy relaxing by their beautiful pool was a no-can-do.  The rooms were moderately sized, bathrooms were smaller, like a boutique hotel.  My only quibble with the bathroom was not the size, but the half glass shower door which got water everywhere and was a bit more chilly than a normal shower.  (Very European like)  It is also really lacking in amenities and their toiletries were dreadful.  But if you wait till the renovation is done it isn’t a bad hotel at all, especially if you can get a good deal and don’t mind going out of the hotel for your amenities and bringing your own shampoo (with the Delano and Ritz next door spas are just a step away).

After Sleeping, Eating is Best.  When you want an excellent meal, head to Hakkasan at the Fontainebleau. The monstrosity and madness, and almost half mile walk through the resort, is worth it for this restaurant.  The extremely long bar has almost any spirit you could think of with a huge drink list.

For dinner we had the dim sum platter, tea smoked ribs, duck spring rolls, soft shell crab with curry and grilled shanghai dumplings. The dim sum platter, tea smoked ribs and soft shells were the best, but all the appetizers left us very satisfied and hungry for more.  Dumplings weren’t too thick and everything had excellent flavor. For entrees we had five spice wagyu in hot pot which was really really good, if you like beef this is a must order.  The stir fry xo prawn with pineapple was good, but not a must have spicy and sweet, but just not as good as other entrees, such as the roasted satay chicken with very crispy skin and juicy chicken, shredded ribeye beef that was spicy and chewy got a B+ in my mind, the doung bo pork was excellent and the snow pea shoots were excellent with both garlic and ginger sauce. End of the meal with a white chocolate mousse with passionfruit sorbet to leave yourself on a sweet and tangy, the mousse had great texture and richness, but the passionfruit really cut the sweetness.  This is one of our all time favorite restaurants in Miami.

Next on the list is the Blue Door in the Delano.  This place holds a special place in my heart as it is where I got engaged.  The menu is always creative and excellently prepared, with great ambiance.  I like indoor seating for a intimate, romantic dinner, and outdoor for a more fun, laid back vibe.  At night the whole place seems to be a glow with a just right amount of ambiant light.  The Homard Paillette and Mango Porco are some of my favorites on the menu.

Being from a city with a real lack of deli- Hubby and I always stop by Jerry’s for a lean pastrami.  It is tender, juicy with great taste.  I like the melt myself.

I also really like Sushi Samba, Tantra and for Cuban in South Beach Puerta Sagua.  And if you do stay at the Biltmore, the one big perk is they have great restaurants.

To do once the Sunburn sets in.  I love visiting Vizcaya.  It is a beautiful house, with really nice gardens and a fun history.  I also really like to shop at Merrick Place in Coral Gables.  An outdoor mall, with covered walkways, housing all designer stores such as Diane Von Furstenburg and Caroline Herrara.  If you want a daytrip, head down for some great diving in the keys, or head to Key West.  You can also charter a boat to take you around to check out the outrageous celebrity homes.  Did you know J. Lo has a huge, ugly bunny statue in front of her gigantic pink house?  Lastly you could take a drive down to the Fairchild Botanical Gardens, they are a bit of a drive, but have some really unique plants.  And of course, Little Havana, is definitely worth checking out.  Or stay local and wander Lincoln and Collins Avenue.

(Vizcaya)

Wouldn’t it be nice to live like this?  Way to go James Deering.  You’re an industrialist with vision.

I have been itching to go to New Heights now for months.  In the whispers of foodie land I heard great things about Logan Cox, the chef and the creativity he has brought.  And I wanted to go before everyone realizes he is a genius and you have to make reservations a month in advance.  Can I just say with strong affirmation: now is that time.

I went during Restaurant Week- of all weeks to try out a new fabled legend, Restaurant Week is not it.  Still it was the only interesting place on the list with a reservation.  But man, if ever did a restaurant pull off Restaurant Week while still keeping it high end and creative, New Heights did.

New Heights is in an akward area of Woodley Park, but thankfully they have valet parking.  Downstairs is a small, but glamorous gin bar.  While everyone is touting dark woods and prohibition era cocktails, this bar keeps it really prohibition style with a huge gin list and house made tonics.  No nonsense just good gin.  It is glamorous in that it doesn’t try to hard, but feels particularly delightful to sit at.  It isn’t Gibson or Zaytinya glamorous, it is glamorous for people who don’t need other people to make them perfectly happy.  I particularly recommend the Krahn.

Then you go upstairs to a cozy, warm dining room.  The owner Kavita, is particularly friendly and you can tell she puts a lot of care into the oversight of her restaurant.  The server chilled our wine while we sipped various gins, and the bread basket with warm, moist cornbread gave promise to the rest of our meal.

The appetizer of chicken liver pate was smooth on perfectly crisp toast and eaten with the pickled vegetables had a really nice balance.  The artic char entree was creamy in texture on the tongue; however, the skin was crisp and had just the right amount of salt to balance out the sunchoke puree and broccoli rabe.  However, the real winner was the roasted pork loin that was cooked perfectly with perfect texture- a little crisp on the outside but juicy and incredibly tender on the inside- the smoked apple butter served with it made the bites a refined, homey taste that you could have eaten four plates of, paired with brussel sprouts and buckwheat polenta the dish had a great winter warmness to it.

Desserts were a nice finish to the very composed meal.  Ginger creme brulee had a wonderful taste of real, fresh ginger not something you get in many “ginger” dishes.  The toasted almond biscotti served with it was some of the best biscotti I have had.  I would love that recipe (hmm, this might have a follow up post).  The sugar and masala doughnuts were light cake doughnuts with good spice, but the chocolate dulce de leche sauce served over them was incredibly decadent, and you will want to finish any part not swabbed by your doughnut with a spoon.

The service was professional, not fussy, not too absent, he hit that fine line where he read you just right.  Wine glasses looking a little low, filled, but not after every sip.  Recommendations given when asked and very thoughtful to personal likes.  Courses explained as they arrived, and yet it was never intrusive.

And this was only Restaurant Week… I look forward to seeing what this place can do every other night of the week.  Next time I am bringing my gin loving girls with me.

Last night I met up with a few girlfriends at Overwood.  The space is tucked away on North Lee Street, in a little brick building full of shops with La Bergerie right next door.  The inside is warm and casual, with an open kitchen in the back, just the right place for a cold winter night.  There is a nice small bar space with TVs showing news and sports.  We had a nice booth in the back of the restaurant near the wood grill.

We happened to be there on half price bottle of wine night, and considering how reasonable their bottles of wine are anyway, this was a particularly good deal.  As a note they have very nice wine list, with a lot of affordable, but good bottles.   We had two bottles of Tepana, Tempranillo for $26.  It was a nice red that was mildly fruity with a nice balance, which is good for us ladies as we can have some very different taste in wine.

We were waiting for our last friend stuck in traffic and our server was really fantastic about letting us take our time and wait for her to arrive while enjoying our wine, but checking in to make sure we didn’t need something.  Then when our friend arrived she was wonderful about letting us take our time to catch up.  The service really was wonderful, the server read us so well, she anticipated our needs and had perfect timing.

All of us on best New Year Resolution behavior ordered salads, although the Blackened Mahi Mahi on grits, and steak going by to other tables smelled amazingly good.  I really like places that offer interesting dinner salads, as sometimes for whatever reason a big dinner salad is really needed.  And I really liked that they understood that a salad isn’t just iceberg or romaine with tomatoes, red onion and a couple cucumber slices.  Rachel had a nice looking ceaser salad with wood grilled salmon, I had the arugula salad with chicken instead of duck (I know it can be rather lean and it looked beautiful, but doctors recommendations are to eat more fish and white meat so I am trying.).  The salad was really lovely with spicy arugula lightly tossed with vinagrette with oranges, hearts of palm and a few fried onions.  the chicken was sliced thinner than normal grilled chicken in a salad which made it easier to eat.  Next time will get it with duck.

We all split a brownie sundae to give us time to finish our second bottle of wine, and to splurge a little.  Sometimes after all the fancy desserts you just need something simple.  I have to comment that many places have one or two desserts on their list that are tempting, but the whole list at Overwood looked quite good: Godiva chocolate bread pudding, key lime pie, the Elvis, Sweet potato cheesecake… it all looked great.

Between the reasonable prices ($84 for three huge salads and two bottles of wine), the wonderful service, and the very good food (and very good smells eminating from all directions) we will be back, and I think I might have to take Hubby for a date here.  It is a perfect low key, but nice spot which tends to be my favorite.

So if you haven’t been, GO!  It is really a great place that I wish I had discovered long before I did.  And if you are abiding by your New Years Resolutions too, they have a lot of healthy options other than salad to help you stay on track even when eating out.

So I have to be bathing suit ready by the last weekend in January- ugg.  But now and then even on the best of diets you must splurge.  I crave pizza, a lot, and lately American Flatbread has been there to coddle my obsession.  They strive to be local, organic and sustainable, which I really honestly think equates to better pizza mainly because the ingredients are superior to so many other places.  And they are community friendly, here they are at a soaked Clarendon Day.

I have had their Virginia Country Ham with Apples and Cheddar and their Revolution Flatbread with additions and variations.  I love their tangy red sauce, it has the distinct taste of real tomatoes without being too thick nor to thin.  They have a terrific spice blend on the cheese, and just the right amount of cheese (although anyone who is a NY pizza fan will find it lacking).  I think their pepperoni is really fantastic.  It is savory and spicy and just tastes fresh to me.  Now the crust isn’t as thin as you would suspect a place called American Flatbreads to be, but I would argue that it doesn’t matter because it is excellent.  It has nice crunch while still being soft and balanced in terms of testure and flavor.  I think there is nice salt to the dough without being salty.  It has a wonderful texture of real bread- homemade bread- bread made with care.  They have a wood fired earthen oven lovingly built by staff and volunteers that just puts out lovely lovely bread.

I also like that their pies are cut in small squares which makes it easier to share and easier to portion.

It is in the Zoso building off Fillmore Street in Clarendon and boasts very helpful staff and free parking.  The interior is a little stark, but it is a pizza place.  They have happy hour with $3 draft and $5 house wine.  They also have a personal pizza at the bar (why isn’t this restaurant wide?).  They have a TV at the bar often showing sports and games to keep you or your little ones occupied.

Note: They also have an Ashburn location for those of you who live way the heck out there.

There are a couple caveats: The wine list, especially wines by the glass need some work.  They need purse hooks badly.  And the diet soda tastes, well, very diet.  But these are minor details I am sure they will address in time.