“Date Night” with Lotsa Pesto

Last month, I went with Dan and Dork to Adega Wine Cellars and Cafe in nearby Silver Spring for dinner (our party was supposed to be larger, but our fourth was not feeling well at the time).

Adega serves mostly lighter fare… wraps, sandwiches, salads, flatbreads, burgers, and pasta. Dan and I tried their weekend wine and dine special (also known as their date night special), which allowed us to have an appetizer, two entrees, and a bottle of one of their featured wines for $35.00. Dork went with an entree of his own and had some of our appetizer and wine (Dan’s not really a wine person).

For our appetizer, we picked fried calamari… The pieces toward the back made me feel like I was eating a whole squid… (heh).

It was a little oily (as exhibited by the platters and the bottommost piece of the bottom photo), but otherwise good…well-balanced flavors and the squid wasn’t too chewy…

Both Dan and Dork chose the Penne Pesto with Chicken for their entrees… Both guys liked the dish, though I’d say Dork is the bigger pesto fan of the two…

I went with the Greco Flatbread, pictured below.  Their flatbread is pizzalike and mine was loaded with pesto, veggies, and cheese.

Definitely liked that the thin flatbread crust remained crispy all the same. A closer shot shows the pesto and veggies…

For many items on Adega’s menu, it may be more cost-effective to get items a-la-carte, rather than taking up the date night special (unless the featured wine is on the more expensive side, and yes… wine can be). If the combination of what you want (appetizer, entrees, wine) works right, though, the date night special is well worth it…

A serendipitous find for me there that night was a small stash of Saranac...  Yep… they sell some beer along with all those wines… 

Another cool thing about Adega is if you purchase a wine from their store to go with your dinner, they’ll open it up and serve it to you. Their staff is also generally very friendly, and I what food I’ve tried so far, I’ve liked (mental note: try the eggplant or sweet potato fries sometime).  All-in-all, I’m perfectly willing to come back to Adega again, even though I rarely frequent DTSS venues due to an incident there a couple of years ago.

Sanaa, Sanaa…*

During the next-to-last weekend in August, my brother and I met up with my sister in Orlando, FL. She’s a huge Disney fan and also a member of their Vacation Club, so we stayed at one of the Disney Resorts: The Animal Kingdom Lodge. She’s normally stationed in Japan and was stateside for a short time, so it was easier for all of us to meet her there instead of having her hop from place to place.

The really cool thing about staying at the Lodge, especially the recently-opened Kidani Village, is that you can see animals roaming around outside almost everywhere you go…

Before heading home, my sister and had a huge lunch at Sanaa, an African-Indian fusion restaurant located in Kidani Village. Don’t confuse it with the Yemeni City.

Like most Disney Theme Parks and Resorts, a high amount of attention is paid to ambiance and detail. Below is a picture of one of the booths at Sanaa. Fortunately, the restaurant wasn’t that crowded:

As usual when I have a lot of food shots, the actual edibles/potables are after the jump…

DC Restaurant Week: Bistro Bis

On previous Restaurant Weeks, members of my immediate circle of friends have tried a number of steakhouses, Georgia Brown’s, the Melting Pot, Vidalia (though I’d love to try it myself sometime), McCormick and Schmick’s, and iRicci (mentioned last and unlinked for a reason…the experience completely sucked). Some of us hadn’t had French Cuisine while living in the DC Area. I, like others in our group were looking for new, unique experiences.

Ultimately, we decided on Bistro Bis, a Capitol Hill venue specializing in French cuisine. Some of us had a great experience at Bis’s sister restaurant, Vidalia. I personally haven’t been to any French Restaurant in recent memory, and there were many dishes I’d heard of but hadn’t tried.

It was a pretty full house when we were seated, but not a surprise for an evening during restaurant week. By the time we got settled, a couple of tables had left… More diners would soon take their place…

Food after the jump, as I took a lot of shots…

Heh…Heh…Heh…

Last Sunday, Dan and I went with a couple friends on a day trip to Ocean City, MD. Most of the morning and early afternoon was spent on the beach: soaking up rays, playing and swimming in the ocean, and just relaxing on the sand.

As with almost any beach town*, there’s bound to be a place with a suggestive name (or even several places). For example, while Ocean City, MD doesn’t have a Dirty Dick’s Crab House, there’s Booty’s:

Did they get crabs while making that Booty’s call?

Big Pecker’s was a restaurant that we passed by a lot on previous trips to Ocean City. It was just too hard to resist this go around, so we stopped by there for an early dinner.

Apparently, we came in early enough to take advantage of happy hour prices (and a less-crowded restaurant). One friend’s beer was only $2.50, while my Guinness was $3.50. Sweeeeeet!

You can’t say they discriminate…there’s a menu for Little Peckers, too!

…and a Little Pecker’s Porch!

A bit more seriously, this place is fairly family-friendly… suggestive name or no suggestive name. Even at a less-crowded time we saw several families seated inside, enjoying the food. Several others were enjoying the outdoor bench-swings on the porch.

As a first course, our group split an appetizer of batter-fried vegetables (zucchini, cauliflower, and mushrooms). We so did not expect this much food to come… more than enough for four.

JD: “Fried vegetables…doesn’t it kind of defeat the purpose of eating your veggies?”
Sabine: “Oh, but they’re ohhhhh so good…”

The only minus was that it was a little hard to distinguish between the cauliflower and mushrooms by just looking at them…

JD got a buffalo chicken salad (unfortunately, not pictured), while the rest of us got various burgers. Mine was a fine 1/2 pound specimen of moo-cow called the “OH my Bacon Back Burger”. It was cooked to perfection and topped with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo…so juicy that I had to perform a modified version of “the (Philly Cheese Steak) Hunch” (yep… also a Guy Fieri-ism) to make sure juices didn’t fall on my shirt.

OH, sweet indulgence…

All in all, our food came out quickly, and the service more than decent (a little slow after we paid… took us a while to get boxes). We were glad that we came in when we did, though…As soon as we headed out the door, the lines heading into the bar and grill looked much longer.

There was much more Ocean City to see after dinner… a park overlooking marshland close to the bay, and the OC Boardwalk. We had plenty of food to last us into the night and through the ride home…

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* OK, so maybe Virginia Beach might be an exception given that they have decency ordinances… like a no-swearing ordinance (these funny signs remind visitors of that).

Slayin’ Flay…

I know not too long ago, I told Dan that Bobby Flay was probably the only male Food Network star I didn’t like…

When I actually stop to think about it more, dislike is a little too strong regarding Bobby; ambivalence is more like it. It looked like for a while he was nothing more than a one-trick pony. During his “Boy Meets Grill” days, he came across as way too cocky and grating. Thinking back on him jumping on the cutting board/counter top at the end of his Iron Chef (Original Japanese) match with Masiharu Morimoto….well… it reminded me way too much of Tom Cruise jumping on the couch on Oprah (even though the Oprah incident happened waaaaay after that IC matchup). It’s also that degree of overexposure, I think (but to be fair, I think you can say that about most if not all Food Network stars).

I think he’s matured/mellowed a little on-screen since the beginning of the Food Network.; he also has demonstrated masterful cooking skill over the years. I have actually heard that he’s a total sweetheart in person; would definitely like to see if that’s true at some point… I actually enjoy his matches on Iron Chef America, and I actually like to see Throwdown when I can get it (I don’t have cable). It is fun on both counts to see if “Davids” can slay the proverbial Goliath.

Yes… this is getting somewhere…

Back in June, Dan and I visited our friend DanGo in Richmond. One of our stops was Buz and Neds, a little old place right by a car wash… When we arrived on a hot Saturday evening, the place was packed… so much so that we had to hover near tables to try to get seats. By the time we got our seats and got our orders, there were some empties, but there were also a long line of people getting ready to fill them again…

So it is on a Saturday Night at Buz and Ned’s.

…and why? For some off the hook barbecue! Yeah, yeah…I’m channeling Guy Fieri.

A closer look at these beauties…

The ribs? Deeee-lish! Complete with a tangy and sweet sauce, a nice crust, and tender meat… you can only get those shades of pink with just the right amount of smoke. Soooo worth the wait.

And the bonus? These racks beat Flay in a Throwdown.

A Couple of PSAs…

Raspberry Sorbet at Sam & Harry’s…

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• I’m a little late on this one (sorry!), but here’s a reminder from me anyway: DC Restaurant Week will take place the week of August 24-30. Participants will be offering a prix fixe menu for lunch and/or dinner. For lunch, a three-course fixed-price meal will cost only $20.09 (Is this a change? I’ve always remembered lunch being two-course); dinner is $35.09 (also three-course fixed-price). Participating restaurants are listed via the link in this paragraph.
• DC Foodies is  keeping a list of restaurants who are extending specials past Restaurant week (as well as linking to restaurants who’ve provided their RW menus to them). Chowhound’s Best and Worst for DCRW may also be helpful, but it’s only as recent as January 2008’s version of RW.

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By no means a Cake Wreck (more of a “Sunday Sweet”)…

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• DC-Area Cake Wrecks fans, rejoice! Jen (the lady behind the wonderfully funny blog) will be visiting Bethesda’s Barnes and Noble on October 6th to promote the new Cake Wrecks book!  Festivities start at 7 PM, and while it’s a while away, it’s best to RSVP (with even a maybe) so the hosts know how many to plan for…

(Sweet) Georgia Brown’s

A group of buddies and I will be heading to Sam and Harry’s tonight to partake of DC’s Summer iteration of Restaurant Week. Until I get those photos taken and uploaded, here’s the shots from our January foray to Georgia Brown’s.

Nothing says “Lowcountry Cuisine” like fried green tomatoes…

And yes… We’re only just getting things started! Entrees and dessert below the jump…

Feeling Chicken Tonight…

Popeye’s is my favorite fried chicken chain by far. Even though they’re well known for their spicy fried chicken (I’m not a fan of anything spicy), they don’t skimp on the flavor for their mild chicken either. If you can get your hands on a fresh-out-of-the oven biscuit (or close to fresh-out-of-the-oven), it’s also a blissful experience. Man… if fat and calories were no object!

This shot was taken at Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport a few weeks ago while I was having dinner during my layover:

Pat Troy’s Ireland’s Own

This past weekend, Dan and I ventured to Old Town Alexandria with a couple of friends of ours to Pat Troy’s Ireland’s Own to take in some live music (mainly drinking songs and covers) and great food and drink.

The long island iced teas were strong, and the musician was quite comedic. It made for a very enjoyable evening and welcome respite from day’s heat.

An Evening at Seibel’s

A few nights ago, a group of friends and I decided to head out to dinner to send off one of our friends who would be leaving the country the next day. Plan A was to go a nearby Cuban restaurant, but when we discovered that it was closed due to lack of power, we went to nearby Seibel’s Restaurant.