Mi Cocina 07.21.2013

Last week I ate for the fifth time at Mi Cocina in Chevy Chase since it opened in May this year.  The food is tasty and comforting, and atmosphere relaxed, and the service very nice.  I don't like to use the word "nice" but that is the only way to describe the service at Mi Cocina.  I pass by the restaurant every evening on my home and there is always a crowd.  

The restaurant is not exceptional, but a reliable source of delicious Tex-Mex food and tall margaritas that take the edge off.  And who doesn't like that?  

The first time I ate there, Eric and I ordered civiche to start.  It tasted as if it had not marinated enough, which is disappointing because you really do want civiche to hit you between the eyes -- both with the lime and cilantro.  It did not.  And, while I never would have complained 20 years ago about too-large portions, I do now.  No one needs to eat that much civiche.  A small bowl would suffice.  

Since that first visit, I have been satisfied with the corn chips and salsa to start, and always have as my main course enchiladas of some variety.  I love enchiladas.  I've tried both the beef and cheese, and it wasn't until two visits ago that I tried for the first time Mi Cocina's spinach enchiladas under the "Moderns" section of the menu.  I enjoyed them so much that's all I order now.  They are topped with cut vegetables and are on the lighter than the beef or cheese enchiladas.  I cannot finish the dish due to the consumption of the chips and salsa so I take half it home and enjoy it the next day for lunch.  Total satisfaction two days in a row!

Eric has gotten the Tacos de Brisket, which I tasted and can confirm are insanely delicious.  And I am not a brisket lover.

I like that the restaurant gives each diner his or her own bowl of salsa; this would make George Costanza happy:  he could double dip to his hearts content without being chastised. Oh yes, he does dip that way.

I have ordered the classic margarita, which generally has been tall and strong, except for the last time.  I had to send it back because it tasted watered down.  Talk about disappointment, especially after a long, stressful day.  But our server and the bartender were -- you guessed it -- very nice about it and stiffened the drink.

The restaurant does not take reservations so you're either in luck when you show up or you wait and have a drink at the bar.  Most days the floor-to-ceiling windows in the bar area are opened up onto Wisconsin Avenue, and there is outdoor seating off to the side of the restaurant next to a fountain, which affords some privacy.  

When the restaurant first opened, I would not have thought it would be kid-friendly, but it is.

I do not like sitting in the main dining room area because it is dark and the decor seems out of place with the rest of the space.  I recommend trying to get seats in the atrium, bar area, or outside.  

Go.

Mi Cocina

5471 Wisconsin Avenue

Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815

(301) 652-1195

Place: The Public Pool 07.17.2013

Girls at the pool snack bar

There is a scene in that creepy/scintilating/riveting movie "Little Children" where the two key characters are gathered at a public pool along with the rest of creation, laying side by side, their attraction to each other intensifying as children and adults splash around on a hot, hot day.  Then, the child sex offender shows up to -- as he proclaims eventually -- cool off.  The crowd parts around him and he is forced to leave.  

That scene has stuck with me.  Not the child sex offender part, but the all-of-creation-showing-up-at-the-public-pool-to-cool-off part.  I love that.  That sound of grownups and children talking, egging each other on, laughing, spraying water, the lifeguard whistle...those for me are the quintessential sounds of summer.  

All of creation has shown up.  It's insanely hot and we all need to cool off.  It's a respite from the day, from work, from everything outside the pool.  I submerge in the water and everything is good.  I have little kids so at this point in my life, I don't mind all the other little kids.  Maybe I will later, maybe I won't.  

And there is specific food tied to the swimming pool snack bar:  hot dogs, pizza, pretzels, soda, ice cream, and candy.  For me (as a kid) it was bubble gum. I could not have enough gum.  Big League Chew had just come out, and it was pretty trendy in my circle of fourth grade friends.  That's right:  we loved gum that was made to look like chewing tobacco.  Ugh.  I have sat next to someone who chewed tobacco and I can tell you that, aside from being a horrible, horrible thing to do, the sounds that come out of the person's mouth are...ugh.  Moving on.

My kids gravitate toward the pretzels and ice cream at the pool snack bar.  The pretzels are huge and bready, which my daughter loves. They ask if you want cinnamon or salt -- obviously salt.  She's half Indian you guys!  No half-Indian is going to ask for cinnamon!  She picks at it like a bird, relishing every single bite, and not one little piece of salt is missed.  If she runs for president, her slogan will be:  No Salt Left Behind.  Or carbs.  No Salt or Carbs Left Behind.

I am partial to the pool snack bar hot dogs.  Not good, but not bad.  Look people, life is short.  

There is, before Labor Day, a mental health day in my future and I will lay by the pool, alone. No kids, no one; just a book, the pool, and lots of basking in the sounds of summer.  And possibly, maybe a hot dog.