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Archive for Washington DC

Elephant Jumps

Jan18

Restaurant: Elephant Jumps

Location: 8110 Arlington Blvd, Entrance is on Gallows Rd., Falls Church, VA 22042. (703) 942-6600

Date: November 24, 2018

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Very nice modern Northern Thai

_

On our last night of the ThanksGavin 2018 trip, back in the Washington DC area, we decided to check out a new Thai place my parents have been frequenting.
7U1A2184
This is a newer place and has a cute name.
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And a newish large mall as its location.

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The interior is small but cute.
7U1A2185
THAI SPICY SHRIMP SOUP. Tom Yum Goong shrimp, mushroom in thai herbs spicy soup.
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FRIED WATERCRESS SALAD. Yum Puk Num Todd Grob fried watercress. served with minced chicken, fresh lime juice, onion, chili sauce.
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EGGPLANT BASIL. One of those traditional Thai preps, a light slightly sweet, slightly spicy basil sauce, with sliced eggplant being the “main” ingredient.
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GREEN CURRY with CHICKEN. green curry paste, coconut milk, eggplant, mushroom, basil. Had a bit of heat, although nothing like Jitlada.

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CRISPY COCONUT SHRIMP. Fried shrimp with lots of coconut in the batter. Like an excellent Thai version of the American appetizer classic!

Overall, Elephant Jumps was quite nice. Stylistically it’s a bit like a Northern Thai place like Renu Nakorn — including the big mall — but Elephant Jumps is a bit more modern and stylish, with a smaller menu and slightly less intense flavors. Still, you could smell the fish sauce in the air, this is real Thai, with a lot of flavor.

For more ThanksGavin dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. I Luv2Eat
  2. Georgian Bakery and Cafe
  3. Eating Philly – Tiffin
  4. ThanksGavin in Review
  5. Hedonists Noodle over Hoy-Ka
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: curry, Elephant Jumps, Northern Thai, Thai, ThanksGavin, ThanksGavin 2018, Washington DC

Banana Split Redefined

Jul06

Restaurant: Central by Michael Richard

Location: 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004 (202) 626-0015

Date: May 22, 2014

Cuisine: American

Rating: Solid modern Gastro-comfort

_

Michael Richard used to be an LA chef, and I went a couple of times to his Citrus years ago, but quite some time ago he moved to my hometown of Washington DC. Central represents him following the national trend of “bistrofication” or the general movement of fancy restaurants down the formality curve.


The fancy Pennsylvania Ave frontage.


The interior is more sleek and with a more expensive build out than most gastropubs.




The menu is a hybrid between French and American comfort food, all updated a bit with modern sensibilities.

Gougeres. I.e. French cheese puffs. These had a perfect fluffy lightness to them.


Roasted beets, arugula & warm goat cheese.


Side salad.

Fish and chips. The green (cilantro?) aioli was bright and tasty.


Crabcake. Washington area staple, and never too bad.


Fried chicken. In the background brussels sprouts and bacon. The chicken was boneless and breaded like a Japanese Tonkatsu cutlet!


Banana Split. Certainly the best Banana split I’ve ever seen. Slightly deconstructed (ice cream on the side). The ice cream was homemade.


Flourless chocolate cake.


Michel’s Chocolate Mousse. Deep and chocolately, with those fun crunchy things.

This was a tasty place. The savories were good but it was really the desserts that stood out.

For more Washington dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Split Croatia – Boban
  2. Split Croatia – Konoba Nevera
  3. Split Croatia – Kadena
  4. The Counter
  5. A-Frame – Ultimate Picnic Food
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BANANA SPLIT, Central, Dessert, Michael Richard, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC

Graffiato Italian Tapas

Dec27

Restaurant: Graffiato

Location: 707 6th St NW. Washington DC 20001. 202-289-3600

Date: December 2, 2013

Cuisine: Italian Tapas

Rating: Good stuff

_

The whole tapas or small plates things has slowly been insinuating itself into the contemporary restaurant scene and Graffiato is a Washington D.C. take on doing it up for Italian. I happen to love small plates, as I’ve become a jaded mega-diner who thinks that 5 courses is just getting started.


Gray December afternoon in D.C.


The menu. Paper of course.


The obligatory modernist open ceilinged and open kitchened interior.

Smoked Beets. sheep’s milk ricotta, pickled orange.

Brussels Sprouts. pancetta, maple yogurt. This had unusual sweet and savory flavors (like bacon with syrup). As a fan of that, I really enjoyed it.

Burrata. meyer lemon, caviar, bottarga. This was tasty, but a waste of burrata’s lovely creamy texture as it was partially cooked. Burrata is best raw.


Toast for the burrata.

Potato Gnocchi. pork ragu, whipped ricotta, crispy rosemary. A nice ragu with a pleasant flavor and interesting texture (curiosity of the whip and the rosemary).

Ricotta Cavatelli. lamb ragu, chili, feta, mint, pistachio. Similar to the gnocchi, but with a pleasant larval chew.

Chinatown Ribs. pear slaw, carrot, ginger. Not very Italian, but very good.

Pizza dough with “pepperoni” sauce. Sure enough, the sauce tasted like… pepperoni pizza!

American Pie. tomato, mozzarella, basil.

White House.mozzarella, taleggio, ricotta, prosciutto, black pepper honey. This was a great pizza. Again, I love those sweet/salty things and this had a nice vibe going between the ham and the honey.

Hobbit. castelrosso cheese, wild mushrooms, lardo, crispy rosemary.

Porky’s Revenge. sopressata, pepperoni, sausage, tomato, mozzarella.

Zeppole. salted toffee. Nothing wrong with donut like stuff, but the sauce, which wasn’t so different from cannoli filling, was great.

Overall, while not strictly and authentically Italian, Graffiato was extremely enjoyable. I loved being able to taste so many flavors and the plates were mostly on-point, bright and yummy.

For more Washington dining reviews click here.

 

Related posts:

  1. Upstairs 2 – Modern Tapas, Lots of Wine
  2. Piccolo – A little Italian
  3. Villetta – More Italian in Brentwood?
  4. Fraiche take on Franco-Italian
  5. 2Amys Neapolitan Pizzeria
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Graffiato, Italian cuisine, Tapas, Washington DC

Jaleo Bethesda

Dec07

Restaurant: Jaleo [1, 2]

Location: 7271 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814. 301.913-0003

Date: November 29, 2011

Cuisine: Spanish Tapas

Rating: Fun Tapas Bar

_

I’ve reviewed a lot of José Andrés restaurants on the blog, seven I think. This is een the second Jaleo.  The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE) and his high end Saam, but also brunch at Trés, lunch at Trés, and to é by José Andrés and Jaleo in Vegas and Zaytinya also in Washington. Back to Jaleo, the restaurant at hand. It’s basically a straight up Spanish Tapas place but with a slightly modernized and enlarged menu.

The menu.

One annoyance of  this particular branch — and not the restaurant’s fault — is the Maryland law against corkage. They have a fine list, but I had brought an amazing Spanish wine 3,000 miles!  Parker gives it 91 points. “The 2008 Termes offers up a sexy perfume of cedar, spice box, violets, incense, espresso, and blackberry. Savory, concentrated, and well-balanced, this flavorful effort will benefit from several years of additional cellaring but can be approached now.”

“Gazpacho de remolacha con queso de cabra y naranjas. Chilled red beet soup with goat cheese and oranges.” I’m a total José Andrés gazpacho whore. I even make it at home home.

This is a different variant, kind of gazpacho meets borsch. It was fantastic. Beety, with that vinegary tang. Delicious.

“Dátiles con tocino ‘como hace todo el mundo. Fried dates wrapped in bacon.” Really how can you beat fried dates wrapped in bacon? Yum yum.

“Ensalada rusa. The ultimate Spanish tapa, a salad of potatoes, imported conserved tuna and mayonnaise.” The Spanish love potato salad.

“Aceitunas rellenas de anchoas y pimientos del piquillo. House-made stuffed olives with anchovies and roasted piquillo peppers.” This is another classic, and these are a really good implementation.

“Jamón Ibérico de bellota Fermin. Cured ham from the legendary, acorn-fed, black-footed Ibérico pigs of Spain and miscellaneous other Spanish meats like chorizo.”

“Pan con tomate. Toasted slices of rustic bread brushed with fresh tomato with Pasamontes farmhouse Manchego.” Basically Spanish bruschetta.

“Salpicón de cangrejo. Jumbo lump crabmeat with cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, cauliflower and Sherry dressing.” While Spanish in flavors I suspect this a bit of a nod to the Eastern shore. Big lumps of crabmeat too.

“Pan de recapte con anchoa. Traditional Catalan bread with peppers, tomatoes and salt-cured Spanish anchovies.” I really wanted Fresh Spanish anchovies, marinated (Anchovies en Boccerones) but they didn’t have them. These weren’t a bad substitute.

“Espinacas a la catalana. Sautéed spinach, pine nuts, raisins and apples.”

“Vieiras con romesco y mojo verde. Seared scallops with romesco sauce and mojo verde.”

“Lomo de buey. Grilled hanger steak with piquillo peppers.”

“Arroz con costillas de cerdo Ibérico de bellota. Made with the famous Ibérico de bellota pork ribs.”

“Arroz Mediterraneo. Made with porcini mushrooms, mixed vegetables, green and black olives and thyme.”

The dessert menu.

“A classic Spanish custard with creme and oranges.”

“Dark chocolate mousse with sponge cake and hazzelnut ice cream.”

“Various fruit sorbets.”

“Vanilla ice cream and grapefruit sorbet.”

“Chocolate ice cream.”

Jaleo is like a good Tapas place in Spain but a little slicker, with perhaps more consistant quality. And they don’t have fresh anchovies! It is also a little (actually more than a little) more expensive than a typical Spanish tapas place in Spain. But considering the scarcity of good tapas places in America… worth it.

For more ThanksGavin meals, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Jaleo by José Andrés
  2. Quick Eats – Bar Pinxto
  3. Zaytinya – East made Easy
  4. é by José Andrés
  5. Saam – José Andrés Squared
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bazaar, Bethesda, Dessert, Gazpacho, Jaleo, José Andrés, Maryland, Paella, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Spanish Food, Tapas, ThanksGavin, Washington DC, Wine, Zaytinya

2Amys Neapolitan Pizzeria

Dec02

Restaurant: 2Amys Neapolitan Pizzeria

Location: 3715 Macomb St NW. Washington, DC 20016. (202) 885-5700

Date: November 29, 2011

Cuisine: Neapolitan Pizzeria

Rating: Really authentic Neapolitan Pizza

_

My brother spent the whole week talking up this Neapolitan style pizza joint just over the border into DC.


They have a classic big wood fired pizza oven.


A sleek front room.


And a backroom bar.


The menu.


A delicious but simple arugula salad.


Fried salt cod fritters. Vaguely like crab cakes, but fishier. Still, very good examples of these.


The classic cheese pizza. The dough here was really really good. Neapolitan flour and slow fermentation for sure. This was a pizza dough good enough to munch through all the remaining crust.


“Santa Brigida Tomato, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, arugula.”


“Calabrese Tomato, onions, anchovy, fresh mozzarella, parsley, olives.” A classic anchovy pizza. Strong salty flavors, but still really good.


The margarita plus pepperoni.


“Ripieno Extra Ricotta, grana, salami, prosciutto, pancetta, tomato.” Full of cheesy meaty goodness inside.


In the front is the “Puttanesca Tomato sauce, rapini, fresh mozzarella, garlic, anchovy, hot pepper.” An interesting combination of bitter and salty.


Fresh ground pepper.


Dessert, although we were too stuffed to order any.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For 50+ meals in Italy.

Or to see my own Ultimate Pizzas, click here!

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  2. Eating San Donato – Pizzeria Pretorio
  3. Eating Santa Margherita – Pizzeria Santa Lucia
  4. Gjelina Scores Again
  5. Ultimate Pizza – Day 3
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: 2Amys, 2Amys Neapolitan Pizzeria, Anchovy, Italian cuisine, Mozzarella, Neapolitan Pizzeria, Pizza, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, ThanksGavin, Tomato, Tomato sauce, Washington DC

Zaytinya – East made Easy

Dec01

Restaurant: Zaytinya

Location: 701 9th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001. 202.638.0800

Date: November 27, 2011

Cuisine: Greek/Turkish/Lebanese

Rating: Great flavors!

_

Zaytinya, which means “olive oil” in Turkish is part of José Andrés’ little culinary empire — which started first here in Washington D.C. and then spread to various other outpsts in the country including LA and vegas.

I’m a bit of a Jose Andres groupie as not only have I reviewed The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE) and his high end Saam, but also brunch at Trés, lunch at Trés, and to é by José Andrés and Jaleo in Vegas.

For those who don’t know, José Andrés is perhaps America’s leading practitioner of  my favorite culinary style: Spanish Molecular Gastronomy. This school of cooking, a radical interpretation of the preparation of food, was begun at El Bulli outside of Barcellona. Andrés cooked and studied there with master chef Ferran Adrià. I first encountered Andrés’s cooking in Washington DC at Cafe Atlantico, and it’s own restaurant within a restaurant, Minibar.

Zaytinya, however, is neither Spanish or particularly molecular. It focuses on the Eastern Mediterranean cuisine of Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. These are all former Ottoman zones and despite their political animosity toward each other share much in common — foodwise.


The modern frontage on 9th street in Washington.


The space inside is clean and white.


The geometric white shapes are reminiscent of Greek architecture.


The menu.


We ordered this “ASHTA. traditional Lebanese-style French toast, bananas, orange blossom honey” for our son. It was more like Pane Dulce I’ve had at other Andres restaurants crossed with Tres Leches cake. He devoured it.


They have this light poofy bread.


The classic roasted eggplant dish: “BABA GHANNOUGE. fire-roasted eggplant, tahini, lemon, garlic.” This was a very bright tasty variant with pomegranate seeds.


And one of my all time favorites: “TZATZIKI. Greek yogurt with diced cucumbers, dill.” This wasn’t nearly as garlicky as in Greece and Turkey, but was more akin to the Lebanese variant. It did have a nice thick Greek yoghurt consistency and a pleasant crunch from the cucumber.


“BEET SALATA. crimson and yellow beets, shaved fennel, upland cress, spiced walnuts.” I doubt this was exactly a traditional dish (even if the ingredients are) but it’s pretty much obligatory on modern menus.

“BANTIJAN BIL LABAN. crispy eggplant, roasted garlic-yogurt sauce.” This was a nice treatment of eggplant — in no small part because it was seriously fried! This was a very crispy coating with hot eggplant inside.

“SPANAKOPITA. house-made phyllo, spinach, feta cheese.” Not your typical version of this dish which is usually triangular in shape. The insides were similar enough though, so more a cheese and spinach taquito than a puff pastry!

“ROASTED CAULIFLOWER. sultans, caper berries, pine nuts.” This is a brighter less fried version of this traditional Lebanese dish (you can see the original here). Good stuff though.


My son got his second order of “French toast.”


Which he polished off in about two minutes.

“GARIDES ME ANITHO. sautéed shrimp, dill, shallots, mustard, lemon juice.” This was a pretty awesome variant on Andres’ normal “Gambas Pil Pil” (photos here in this Jaleo review).

FRIED SQUID. crispy squid, garlic-yogurt sauce.” Nicely done classic calimari.


And a zesty garlic sauce for dipping.

“STRIPED BASS PLAKI. tomato, fresh chickpeas, onion, mint.” This is a local fish, but the prep is very Eastern med. Strong flavors of tomato.

“AGLAIA KREMEZI STYLE CRAB CAKES. mini jumbo lump crab cakes, roasted garlic yogurt.” They can pretend this is Eastern Med — but no, it’s all Eastern Shore. Still, no one was complaining. These little patties were essentially crab imperial balls lightly fried on the griddle. There was a light taragon flavor too.

“KEFTEDES KAPAMA. beef and lamb meatballs, feta cheese, rustic tomato sauce, cinnamon, allspice.” Tasty meatballs in classic Eastern style. Similar to typical “spicy kefta” preparations.

“ADANA KEBAB. skewered ground lamb, house-made harissa, grilled tomatoes, sumac, onions.” Typical ground lamb kabob. This wasn’t my absolute favorite dish here. It was a bit salty and the grill flavor too strong. Not that it was bad by any means.

“URFA BIFTEK. grilled sirloin, Urfa pepper, cumin, heirloom lettuces, caramelized sesame.” And this was even saltier, although the meat did have a lot of flavor.

“LOUKANIKO ME AGINARES. grilled Greek pork sausage, marinated artichokes.” The sausage was good and I liked the onion and pepper (pimento in Spanish) salad on top.


The dessert menu.

A nice chewy cup of Turkish coffee, semi-sweet.


“Turkish delight. Walnut Ice Cream, yogurt mousse, orange caramel sauce.” This was very yummy, but from the name I hoped for something closer to real Turkish delight — which is a favorite of mine, particularly the rosewater flavor.


A trio of very good homemade ice creams (my three year-old loved them). Walnut, apple, and pear. The fruit flavors were very bright and pure.


“Greek yogurt and apricots.” Very yummy. The thick yogurt paired very nicely with the sweet fruit. In Greece they eat the purest variant of this: very very sour and thick goat yogurt with drizzled honey.


Another fruit and yogurt/ice cream blend. Can’t go wrong with berries and cream.


More of the large and modern space.

Overall, Zaytinya was pretty fantastic. It’s neither totally traditional or ultra modern, but instead what one might call a modernized or modestly updated classic. Most of the dishes have their roots in traditional Eastern Med dishes, and they retain — even emphasize — those bright flavors. The form of them is a lighter and slightly more playful, adapted to American tastes. In any case, highly successful.

For more ThanksGavin meals, click here.

I’ve also reviewed: The Bazaar (REVIEW HERE) and the high end Saam, brunch at Trés, lunch at Trés, and to é by José Andrés and Jaleo in Vegas.

Related posts:

  1. Peace in the Middle East? – Mezze
  2. Saam – José Andrés Squared
  3. Son of Saam – Actually more Bazaar
  4. Trés – Brunché Fantastique
  5. Trés – Lunch Fantastique
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dessert, El Bulli, Ferran Adrià, French Toast, Greece, José Andrés, Restaraunt, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, ThanksGavin, turkey, Tzatziki, Washington DC, Zaytinya

Finally, Modern Dim sum in Santa Monica

Feb09

Restaurant: Xino [1, 2]

Location: 395 Santa Monica PlSte 308Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 755-6220

Date: February 7, 2011

Cuisine: Modern Dim sum

Rating: A little heavy, but I’m glad to have some more good dim sum on the westside.

 

Xino is another of the new Santa Monica Place restaurants. I detail the whole deal with the new mall and it’s transformation in my Zengo review.

This one is more or less Chinese, but a sort of modern Chinese, and at lunch they serve real dim sum!

View from the patio. Lunch, on a monday, February. 79 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

My brother presents the dim sum menu. This place is a lot like Ping Pong (REVIEW HERE), the modernized  dim sum I went to in Washington DC. It doesn’t have the traditional cart format, like The Palace (REVIEW HERE). This has advantages and disadvantages. The carts allow more control over the pace of the meal, but made to order is fresher.

Chinese mustard, chili, there was also soy and various sauces served with different dishes.

“Chili Spare Riblets, Sweet Chili Sauce, Asian Slaw.” These were pretty meaty, but fried up like orange beef. Gratuitous, but pretty darn tasty.

“Shrimp and Mango Dumpling, Ground shrimp, mango, firecracker sauce.” Crunchy wanton fried, tasty shrimp and mango inside, and a zesty soil garlic scallion sauce. What’s not to like.

“Shrimp Dumpling ‘Ha Gow‘ Shrimp, Bamboo sShoots, Rice Wrap.” Classic Cantonese dumplings. Good examples of the type.

“Stuffed Eggplant with Shrimp, black bean sauce.”

“Crab Rangoon, Cream Cheese, Sweet Vinegar Reduction.” Not the totally typical rangoon, at least the sauce. Good though, and more filling than most examples. The sweetness of the sauce went nicely with the fry and the cheese.

“Kung Pao Chicken Lollipop, Sweet and Tangy, Crushed Cashews.” This was my least favorite dish, not that it was bad, but it was a little heavy, like hot wings crossed with that nut crusted chicken you sometimes get on the airplane. Very fried.

“Salt and Pepper Soft Shelled Crab, Fresh Chili, Spring Onion, Toasted Garlic.” This was some good crab. The only problem was that it cooled so fast. Basically, fried soft-shell. Nothing wrong with that.

“Candied Walnuts & Honeyed Prawns, Orange Zest & Frisee.” This is a variant of the classic prawn, walnuts in the sweet mayo sauce. This one is lighter, zestier, very yummy.

“Shanghai Dumpling, Pork, Ginger, garlic, Vinegar & Ginger.” These are basically the classic soup dumplings, but very good examples of the type, and nicely served with the vinegar in the little cups so that they don’t break apart on the steamer. Wow!

“Lobster Potstickers, shrimp, pan fried crisp.” These were some pretty awesome potstickers, typical on the outside, nice yummy lobster on the inside.

“Pork Siu Mai, Pork, Shrimp, Shitake, carrots, Egg Wrap.” Another typical dim sum dish, executed very well.

“Lotus Leaf Wrapped Sticky Rice, ‘Lo Mai Gai’ egg, chinese sausage, dried shrimp.”

Open the little packet of joy.

Examine the goodies inside. Also an excellent example of type, one of the best I’ve had.

Cool couches and booths on the patio. Pretty slick spot. And the food was pretty tasty, and reasonable. The above feast was only $66 including tax! What makes the real difference here is that they have a real Hong Kong dim sum chef — so despite the corporate trappings and location, and the slightly jazzed up variants, this is some solid dim sum.

For a second Xino review, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Christmas is for Dim Sum
  2. Food as Art: Ping Pong
  3. Mall Eclectic – Zengo
  4. Quick Eats: Brentwood
  5. Food as Art: Little Saigon
By: agavin
Comments (12)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, chili, crab, crab rangoons, Cream Cheese, Dim sum, Food, Har Gow, Lobster, mustard, Potsticker, Restaurant, Santa Monica California, Santa Monica Place, shrimp, side dishes, spareribs, vegetarian, Washington DC, xino
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