Happy April! Ack, I know it's been terribly long since I've posted. Craziness, what can I say? I've not been much in town, in fact, Nathan and I just returned from a spring-break trip to Washington, DC, just the two of us. Such fun! We arrived Thursday, checked into our hotel, and immediately set out for the
White House. After a bit of walking around, we made our way back to the hotel, changed for dinner, and walked over to
Bistrot D'Oc for a lovely French dinner. Nathan's first taste of
escargot was not a disaster - he
didn't much appreciate the
snail, but he seriously dug the
herb-y, garlicky butter soaked up with lots of
baguette slices. Yeah, baby!
We set out Friday morning for the memorial/west end of
The Mall. After touring the Washington, World War II, Lincoln, Korean War, and Vietnam War memorials, we made our way to a quick and tasty
turkey-sandwich lunch at The Corner Deli. As we continued on to the
National Portrait Gallery, we spontaneously popped into
Risorante Tosca to score a dinner res for later that night. And what a dinner, wow, Nathan had a
veal and prosciutto-stuffed ravioli in sage butter, delicious. I had a
whole broiled Dover sole, served alongside
braised lentils and
fennel. Nathan downed a serious
tiramisu trifle for dessert, then we toddled off to our hotel for a good night's sleep.
On Saturday we veered toward the east end of The Mall, opening with a
very crowded walk
through the
National Air and Space Museum. Afterward we met up with my aunt Mary and uncle Bruce, in DC visiting their son, my cousin Craig. Mary, Bruce, Craig, Nathan, and I lunched at
Union Station before making our way back to our hotels via the Capitol and Supreme Court. We all met up again a couple of hours later, with my cousin Kelly, who also lives in DC, hoping to score dinner at
Jaleo. Uh, no dice, a two-hour wait
at best at 7 pm on a Saturday night. Darn! Really wanted to sample their famously fabulous
tapas but it wasn't meant to be (Chef Jose Andres' book,
Tapas A Taste of Spain in America, is one of my very favorites; in honor of the Jaleo meal I didn't have, I've posted a Chef Andres' recipe for Potatoes Rioja-Style with Chorizo in comments, below). Instead, we
stumbled into a lucky table at
Zola, where I dug into a lovely
papardelle topped with perfectly
crispy duck confit and
wild cherries. Decadent, delicious.
And then Sunday, back home. Spring break over, right back in the action, whew, I've hardly caught my breath. Up next, dinner Monday night with Rudy Maxa & Ana Scofield and Stu & Debbie Williams at The Sample Room, which RAWKED! Stay tuned...
Labels: jaleo, jose andres, nathan, potatoes, tapas, washington dc
Inspired by all my talk of tapas (see below for Jaleo, Jose Andres, The Sample Room, and cocktails with Kim & Suz), I've been flipping through Chef Andres' Tapas A Taste of Spain in America for a nice Sunday evening menu. The book is chock-full of tempting tasties (I've posted several in the past, including Catalan Pork Sausage with White Beans, Tomato Toast with Manchego, and Artichokes Sauteed with Ham), but these four Spring-ed out at me as appropriate for this finally-sunny, almost-warm day. Don't balk at the chocolate-salt combination, it's a classic, and it's delicious. For proof, lick a small piece of dark chocolate, dip it in a flake or two of sea salt, then pop it in your mouth and let it melt. Sloooowwwwly. Yeeeeaaaah, they're gorgeous together.
