Graffiato! America Eats! Masala Art! Rogue 24! Oh My! 01.04.2012

You know how people who keep journals sometimes have lapses of time when there are no entries?  I've always sensed they are doing something terribly fascinating to which their attention is completely and passionately drawn.  And such is the case with my lapse in blogging about my dining interests since August 31, 2011 (!) .  Well, okay, in addition to passionate eating, I’ve also been consumed with work and family, and various other things that tend to come up in life.  But rest assured, lots of fabulous dining has been experienced.

Case in point:  about a month ago, I found myself out of the following:  ground cumin; whole cumin; ground coriander; turmeric; and curry leaves.  In addition to a lot of Indian cooking at home, I’ve eaten at some new restaurants, discovered and enjoyed new items at old favorites, and have kept a list on small pieces of paper carefully assembled on my desk of favorite things in the kitchen.  I am so excited to tell you what they are, but today, I want to recap some fabulous dining.  Here we go!

Graffiato

For my birthday, I wanted to try something new and consulted my friend David.  He raved about Graffiato, which opened in summer 2011 by Top Chef All Stars Runner Up Mike Isabella.  Graffiato is a two-story restaurant with a bar and some seating on the first level, and all seating with a view of the kitchen on the second level.  When we walked in, we were greeted with extremely loud, metal-grunge music.  The place was packed both downstairs and upstairs; not such loud music upstairs.

The service was fantastic, the food delicious.  There were four of us and to start, we ordered gnocchi, ceasar salad with goat cheese croutons, cured meats, and cheeses.

For our main course we ordered several pizzas, which were outstanding:  not too heavy on the ingredients, all of which tasted fresh.  I got Porky’s Revenge, which is topped with sopressata, pepperoni, sausage, tomato, and stracciatella.  Fantastic.

For dessert we shared the warm pistachio cake, which was fine, but what was worth writing home about was the chocolate tart. I am not a huge fan of chocolate, but I appreciate good chocolate.  This was very good chocolate. 

To drink with my meal I had Cock Bull Ginger Beer.  Wow.  It tasted as if I had stuck my head into a vat of ginger.  Ginger beer is my drink of choice these days and I have yet to drink anything that tastes as intense as Cock Bull.  I’ll be writing about my favorite ginger beers and welcome recommendations.

I went back to Graffiato a week later with some girlfriends, the fabulousness repeated.  What should you do?  You should go to Graffiato.

Graffiato

707 6th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20001

202.289.3600

http://graffiatodc.com/

America Eats Tavern

America Eats is in the space that for many years occupied Café Atlantico.  It’s a pop-up restaurant that will disassemble on July 4, 2012.  Jose Andreas designed the concept of the restaurant and menu in conjunction with a National Archives exhibit titled “What’s Cooking Uncle Sam? The Government’s Effect on the American Diet”, which ended this week.

I have memories of Café Atlantico being dark, and America Eats is quite the opposite.  It was a bright, sunny day and light seemed to be pouring in from everywhere.  My friend Andrew and I got a seat by the window. 

There is very little on the America Eats menu that sounds healthy, but I knew that Jose Andreas would make it worth my while. 

I saw hush puppies with corn butter on the menu and convinced Andrew to share them with me.  What’s not to love about hush puppies?  I probably should have stopped at one, but I didn’t.  Despite their bready, heavy nature, I could not stop. 

For my main course I had the lobster roll.  When it arrived, I almost fell out of my chair at the sight of a thick layer of what appeared to be mayonnaise on top of the lobster meat, but was in fact, foam.  If you’ve ever had the pleasure of dining at Jose Andreas’ Mini Bar, you’ve partaken of foam.  I go back and forth on foam.  Like anything else I suppose, it’s good if done well.  Sometimes foam can be too foamy and the flavor of the food being foamed is lost to frothy texture.  The foam on top of the lobster roll was perfect mayonnaise foam.

While I enjoyed America Eats, it didn’t knock my socks off.  And yes, I do expect my socks to be knocked off.  Why wouldn’t I?   And if you go to America Eats, make sure to go during lunch to enjoy the fabulous light pouring in through all the windows.

America Eats Tavern

405 8th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20004

202.393.0812

http://www.americaeatstavern.com/

Masala Art

There is nothing like a good Indian lunch buffet.  Now, now…I know some people think about buffets, but please put those thoughts away. 

I met my friend Padma at Masala Art several months ago   It is an inviting space and the lunch crowd during the week is from nearby businesses in the Tenleytown neighborhood.  The vast buffet selection is spread out in the back of the restaurant, where we sat:  access is key.

Masala Art offers a selection of Indian street food (chat puri, etc.) and some burning-hot chutneys.    I am a creature of habit and I immediately go for chicken curry and rice, which as you know is The Best Food Ever.  I thoroughly enjoyed everything I ate at Masala Art.  My only disappointment being that I have not found time or occasion to go back.

On my list of New Year's Resolutions to Really Keep:  dine at Masala Art for dinner.

Masala Art

4441 B Wisconsin Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20016

202.362.4441

http://masalaartdc.com/

Rogue 24

Everything about Rogue 24 is cool.  It's located in Blagden Alley off of N Street; there is graffiti on the front outside wall of the restaurant reflecting tattoos adorned by the staff; the space is severely spare and elegant with the kitchen right in the middle of the restaurant; most of the food is incredible; and the service is fantastic.  

Rogue 24 offers a 24-course tasting menu, with and without wine parings.  I chose to do the tasting without the pairing, which was a mistake.  If you're having a meatloaf dinner at home -- however extraordinary your meatloaf may be -- paring a wine with it is not going to significantly change the experience of the meatloaf.  A glass or two of wine with the tasting at Rogue 24 would have been sufficient to fully taste and appreciate the food.

There was, for example, hare soup.  I'm not a fan of dining on rabbit, but this soup was delicious and wildly intense.  A sip of wine would have been a good compliment.  I also could have tasted the snails with a sip of wine.  It was my first time and I did not enjoy it.

If you're headed to Rogue 24, get there a little early and have a cocktail in the lounge.  The tasting runs on a tight schedule and it makes a difference to have the courses spaced as RJ Cooper envisioned them.  We were a tad late and some of the courses ran into each other -- some breathing room would have been nice.  

The Rogue 24 menu is extraordinary.  I wouldn't mind going back there to have a cocktail in the lounge area, but I don't know when I'll be ready for another large tasting like that.  

There are some great photos of our meal at my friend David's blog (click HERE).  

Rogue 24

922 N Street, NW

(rear / Blagden Alley)

Washington, DC 20001

202.408.9724

http://rogue24.com/

The Best Crab Cakes Are In Maine. Deal With It. 08.31.2011

I'm going to have to ask all of you Maryland-crabcake-diehards to stop screaming at the computer screen.  It's a computer screen:  I cannot hear you.  Also, I speak the truth.  And let's face it, everything is so much better in Maine (well, except employment, I think).

Eric and I recently drove up to Maine for a two-week vacation with the offspring and aside from spectacular scenery and weather, I looked most forward to the dining.  

Jonah Crab Cake

I ate possibly the best crab cake I've ever eaten at Blue Sky in York, Maine.  The big-city-looking restaurant in a very small Maine town was overwhelmed the night we ate there.  The staff seemed off and dealing with perhaps more customers than they were used to?  I don't know.  But I was forced to forgive off-kilter service and quit being irritated after the first bite of crab cake. Blue Sky's Jonah Crab Cake is all seasoned crab:  there is very little bread and all you taste is dense crab.  Delicious.  

The crab is mixed with peppers, onions, celery, and garlic, and has on the side a black garlic aioli.  Normally I would wish for more aioli, but this crab cake is so good, no sauce is needed.

As I slowly ate my dinner, I was conflicted:  should I feel entirely happy about this crab cake or so angry at every establishment that has served me some crab in a cake of bread?  I felt violated.

Maine-harvested oysters

I also had for dinner that night a plate of Maine-harvested oysters -- fantastic.  And served so simply:  no giant bed of ice chips and little metal bowls of this-and-that sauce. 

We were warned by my sister-in-law that the restaurant does not know how to do salads, and it was true.  Eric ordered a wedge salad and it seemed as if someone cut off a wedge of lettuce but didn't know what else to do with it so just placed it in the middle of a plate and threw some other bits of food on the side.  Really.  I'm not kidding.  

Regardless of the sad salad, we left Blue Sky happy.  The restaurant sits atop the Atlantic Hotel and is surrounded by numerous touristy shops and is just down the street from the water.  I recommend getting there on the early side and walking around after your meal.

Not too far from York Beach is the Cape Neddick Lobster Pound.  

We were driving up to Bar Harbor and had no time during our stay in southern Maine to dine at Cape Neddick Lobster Pound.  I insisted that we do a pick-up order.  Eric drove and I ate.  And I was so busy feeling happy and content that I failed to take a photo of the lobster roll, which I think was about 8 or 10 inches long.  And absolutely delicious.  I had to cut the roll in half to manage it.  The lobster was luscious.  Go.  Eat the 8 or 10 inch lobster roll.  You won't regret it.

Rear view from Cape Neddick Lobster Pound

Take your pick -- live lobsters at Trenton

While we were up near Bar Harbor, we ate at one of our favorite places:  the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound.  it's on the way to Acadia National Park and I recommend that you either stop there to or from Acadia.  I don't eat whole lobsters but it is my understanding from those who do that they are the best at the Trenton Pound.

At the Trenton Pound I eat the crab salad sandwich.  Crab rolls and crab salad sandwiches are, by the way, the best up near Bar Harbor.  Really fantastic.  

The Trenton Pound piles on the crab with lettuce in between two thick slices of bread, with a side of chips, which were all confiscated by the offspring.  

Acadia, as you probably know, is not to be missed -- nor is the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound.  Well, just go to Maine.  Don't miss Maine.

Outdoor lobster-boiling pots at Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound