Fire in the House

During my visit in Washington, D.C. I decided to venture out to old town Alexandria, VA for part of Sunday. Ever since I first visited Christ Church in 7th grade I've wanted to attend Sunday church services there. Christ Church is the home church of George Washington; Mount Vernon, his plantation, is located just a little ways outside of Alexandria. It was rather neat to spend today, Father's Day, at the home church of the "Father of our Country".

After church I was hungry and so I walked a few blocks to find a restaurant that was 1) open at 11:15, and 2) not totally booked up due to Father's Day Sunday Brunch reservations. About two blocks from Christ Church (south and east) I found Columbia Firehouse. There was PLENTY of room at the bar (I"m not a lush, I promise).

Being brunch time, I opted for an order of the Southern [Eggs] Benedict: BBQ Pork, Poached Eggs, Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuit, Beernaise, served with a missed green salad with citrus dressing. Knowing that Eggs Benedict and a salad could be rather light and might not hold me over until the dinner at my conference, I also ordered a bowl of the Crab Chowder (sweet corn, crab meat, old bay crackers) as an appetizer.

The chowder was very flavorful! It was obvious that there was some spice to it and that suited me just fine. I do like spicy foods. There was the perfect amount of crab...that means there was a lot. The old bay crackers helped with some texture, but I could have used a few more of those.

The Southern Benedict was just also very flavorful. The pork had a wonderful tangyness that truly enhanced the pairing with the egg and biscuit. There was just a hint of jalapeno in the biscuit, but enough to tell it was there. The poached egg was just a tad under-cooked for my tastes, but it was still good. The salad, especially the dressing, was an amazingly refreshing surprise; the citrus was more of a sweet orange flavor rather than a strong lemon or lime flavor. Just perfect.

Of course, since I'm sitting at the bar and it is brunch time, I did try their Firehouse Bloody Mary. Before I settled on that choice, the bartender did give me a sample of the Bloody Mary mix...it was rich and spicy. My only complaint with the actual Bloody Mary as fully made is that the garnish was carrot and cauliflower. I would have much preferred green olives and/or celery. Their garnish did not help, nor did it hurt, the flavor of the Bloody Mary; it just made it odd (to me).