Oh Sweet Brown

One of our Oklahoma City based "celebrities" who had slightly longer than her 15 minutes of fame, was Sweet Brown. Her interview, by local media, of a fire within her apartment complex went viral. If you've not seen it, click here for the KFOR interview.

This, however, is not the Sweet Brown that is currently on my mind. I'm thinking of sweet Georgia Brown's restaurant in Washington, D.C. I'm in D.C. visiting from Oklahoma for a conference. My friends Amy and Bruce and their two sons are in D.C. visiting from California for their family vacation. We've been able to meet up in the evenings for dinner. Wednesday night was Amy's birthday and Georgia Brown's came as a recommendation to her. This was AWESOME as it meant going to another restaurant in D.C. to which I've never previously visited. And ... Oh Sweet Brown!

Prior to dinner we had actually been out walking among the Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial monuments. We were all hot and sweaty and our feet were tired. The COLD water was a such a relief and I know I just guzzled four glasses before I could blink. But that's not the reason for me saying "Oh Sweet Brown".

The biscuits and corn bread that were served with an amazing honey butter set the southern soul food experience ahead of us off to an amazing start. The corn bread sticks reminded me of what my mom or my Louisiana aunts might make using an old cast iron pan. The batter was sweetened to perfection and once cooked and combined with the honey butter it all just literally melted in your mouth.

not my picture; one I found online

For my entree, I had the shrimp and grits. And let's just say this was shrimp and grits LOADED: Jumbo Shrimp, Shallots, Andouille Sausage, Garlic, Scallions, mixed with Organic Stone-Milled Grits and covered with Lobster Sauce. Large juicy shrimp combined with spicy Andouille are always a great combination of flavors. To me, what "made" this dish is the lobster sauce. I want the recipe! I demand the recipe 😉. The flavor and spices within the sauce just helped to elevate this dish to a level that was pure WOW. I even used another couple of corn bread sticks to soak up the remaining sauce after eating everything else.

Amy recommends the Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Bruce recommends the De-Constructed Jambalaya.

The evening ended with Amy being served an amazing Peach Cobbler a la Mode. If you've ever wondered what "the south" tastes like...it's the peach cobbler; I'm so thanking that Amy shared her birthday treat with the rest of us.

Getting Crabby Makes Me Happy

One of my most favorite places to eat while in Washington, DC is Old Ebbitt Grill near the White House. I've eaten wonderful lobster rolls and swordfish items at lunch. I've watched friends enjoy steaks (I'm not a big steak eater personally). My current Lt. Governor boasts his love for their burgers. And my personal favorite is their crab cakes.

Just before leaving for this trip to the District I learned that a friend of mine from northern California and her family would be on vacation in Washington at the same time I'd be here for a conference. Amy and I met as part of a global education program for teachers several years ago and have remained great friends; I've even flown out to California to attend an OKC Thunder v. Sacramento Kings NBA game with she and her son, Ethan, because he, like myself, is a major Thunder fan.

On a trip to DC related to that global education program, Amy and I along with another of our friends from the same program at Old Ebbitt. As her family arrived into town last night she mentioned that she wanted to go there for dinner that night. So we went.

Amy, Ethan, and I got super Crabby (and, thus really happy) with our crab cakes, while her husband, Bruce, enjoyed some oysters and her younger son, Cade, enjoyed pizza and tater tots. I can honestly say that I've never had better crab cakes than at Old Ebbitt. If you know of someplace (even far away from Washington, DC) to get better crab cakes please let me know. I'll try out your suggestion, because I just love to get Crabby 😉.

Making Italian Mommas Happy

One of my favorite restaurants in Washington, DC is Otello. Located just off of DuPont Circle, Otello is an awesome Italian restaurant.

The daughter of some friends of mine lives in the DC area; she's stationed here as part of here military duties. She and her siblings like to call me "Uncle David" even though there is no real blood-family relationship. I had written to her a few weeks about about having dinner while I was in town and we set something up for this past Friday evening. Her boyfriend, also military, was able to join us.

As they got to the restaurant they both admitted to being skeptical about this place. His family is of Italian descent and his momma is known for her cooking. So they were prepared to be disappointed it.

She ordered Fettuccine Alfredo and he and I both ordered the Gnocchi Della Casa. The skepticism on their faces was completely wiped away. He started talking about how his mom would LOVE to eat this and they both talked about how they should bring her to eat at Otello the next time that she is in DC. While she was not able to finish her big bowl of fettuccine, he did eat all of his gnocchi. He had sauce left and got a to go box for the sauce so that he could pour it over his own pasta the next night.

I just smiled. 😊 This was my third visit to Otello. I remember having lasagna and spaghetti before. I knew that tonight would not disappoint!!

Not one of my pictures; I was too hungry to wait.
I found this one online and I hope there are no copyright violations.

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).

Land, Air, and Seed

WOW. It's been a very LONG while since I've posted on this blog. I should absolutely change that...let's start now!

So, I find myself near the end of day two of a nine day work related trip to Washington, DC. Last night I met with a "niece" and her boyfriend to eat some Italian food; perhaps I'll do a post about that dining experience as well. My plan for most of today had been to visit a local burger joint that I've frequented on a few other trips to the District. However, as it came dinner time I thought: "David, perhaps there is some place near your hotel that you've never dined at before and you should try tonight.

So I pulled out my iPhone and opened up my Google Maps app and searched for restaurants. Out of the many options located within  mere steps of my hotel I saw "Founding Farmers", a place I had considered at my last trip to D.C. in December 2016. I read some reviews and looked at the menu; Founding Farmers is one of these restaurants that specializes, as best as it can, in being a farm-to-table concept in which most of the ingredients are locally sourced. It looked like a solid place and would only be a 2-1/2 block walk away. The reviews must be pretty good, because the place was packed with both locals and visitors to the District. Being alone for the evening and due to how crowded the place was (a family of four was told it would be at least a 45 minute wait) I opted to sit at the bar...I still waited nearly 20 minutes for a bar stool to open up.

Having had already looked at the menu online I had an idea of what I was interested in trying. I did ask the bartender, Paul, a few questions and he made some recommendations. I had not seen seen the meatloaf online (it was there I just notice it) and was leaning that route rather than the steak and enchiladas which I did see online. The steak and enchiladas were under the "signatures" portion of the menu which is why I had taken notice of them originally. I asked Paul for his recommendation between the two of them and he said hands down, no questions, the steak and enchiladas. I ultimately went this route because I do love good enchiladas (I judge Mexican restaurants by this staple dish and I have not returned to some Mexican places the otherwise get "high marks"...if you can't make those right, you don't deserve to call yourself a Mexican restaurant, but I digress) even though I'm not a big fan of eating steak (insert the calls for demanding I surrender my Oklahoma citizenship card). Paul added that the steak and the chicken enchiladas were accompanied by sweetened corn on the cob.

My findings: the steak was much better than I was prepared for (that means it was GOOD) and the chicken enchiladas would make any quality Mexican restaurant a regular feature in my food play book (that means they were also GOOD). The star of the plate, however, was actually the sweetened corn on the cob. The sweet corn was coated in a sauce that highlighted the natural sweetness of the corn yet provided a savoriness that was just WOW. I could have easily forgone a dessert order and asked for another cob instead. And I truly contemplated it. So in the battle of land, air, and seed, in which all three were very strong competitors, worthy adversaries, the seed (sweet corn) won the day.

Speaking of dessert I asked Paul for his recommendations from among the lengthy list. He said the beignets or the apple pie (in that order, he insisted). But the chocoholic in me just wanted to try the three-layer chocolate mouse cake: devil's food cake with semi-sweet chocolate ganache served with house-churned strawberry ice cream. The cake was TALL and pretty and I enjoyed the strawberry ice cream so much more than the cake. The cake was a tad dry for my tastes and seemed more like a dense traditional cake rather then devil's food. The ganache was tasty but much thinner that I'd prefer as a true ganache for what should have been a truly decadent cake. But that ice cream, that sensational blend of cream and strawberries...think of that ice cream social from your church where all of the ladies (or guys) made a batch of their own homemade ice cream (preferable in the hand churned makers, but the electric ones work too)...picture the most delicious crowd pleasing favorite and then multiple it by ten. YES!!! That's how good this strawberry ice cream was. I'm not sure if I regret having gone with one of Paul's other recommendations, because the ice cream was that much of a privilege to enjoy.

I know beyond any doubt that I will return to dine at Founding Farmers...and it could easily occur within the remaining seven days of this trip.

Entree Enroute

In February 2011, my principal and I were in transit at Chicago's O'Hare Airport en-route to Washington, DC for an educators conference. It was breakfast time and we had a couple of hours to kill. So we walked around until we were certain that we had found the perfect spot: Tortas Frontera by Chef Rick Bayless. Frontera features Latin American themed sandwiches, or tortas, and even has a handful of breakfast options (eggs & bacon, eggs & chorizo, eggs alone...each with peppers, avocado, and salsa verde). We each made our orders...mine the egg & chorizo...and sat down to enjoy.

And the rest is history...

Every time I know that I'm going to be routed through Chicago for a trip, I do my best schedule enough time to run over to Frontera. Usually this takes commitment because I usually fly American Airlines and Frontera is located in the United terminal. I've travelled alone, with colleagues or friends, or ran into a friend in the airport who was also in transit somewhere and showed them my love of those breakfast tortas.

I'm so glad that my trip to Louisville this year has allowed me another opportunity to dive into a delicious salsa verde covered egg & chorizo torta! Each time I dine here I remember that first trip with my principal (recently retired) and the others with whom I've shared this culinary adventure.

Sticky at Sully's Saloon

It's my first night in Louisville for the yearly conference that I attend. For dinner, my group of friends I walked 4th Street Live for a place to settle for dinner. There wasn't a wait at Sully's (a place we've never visited in previous years--not sure it even existed) so we picked it.

Walking to the table should have been the first hint that this could have been a poor choice. The floor was absolutely sticky!--as in it hadn't been thoroughly cleaned/mopped in a long time. Additionally, there was a strong odor of something that smelled like spoiled beer, but this odor was restricted to one area along our walk to our table. Looking around we noticed that we were basically the only ones present...but that would change somewhat over the next hour or so. Sticky and smelly don't create an atmosphere that is pleasant for a place to eat (or do much else).

As we began looking at the menu and asking our server questions on his personal favorites and other popular items, we were informed that several items on the menu were not available tonight because they "ran out" at a private party the previous night; basically any item which featured pulled-pork was off limits tonight. I settled on the "Good Morning Burger" which featured country ham, bacon, cheddar cheese, over easy egg, maple bourbon aioli on a toasted bun. As I'm writing this and reflecting on what was served...I don't think the country ham ever made it on the burger. each of the other guys got the "Dublin Burger"...a basic burger with tobacco onions and BBQ sauce. Two of us had the cheeses garlic mashed potatoes as a side while e others had French fries.

Over all the food was pretty good!!!

However, that smell and the stickiness greeted us again as we left...it won't greet me again. I don't care how great the food is at a place, if your atmosphere is not condusive to a basic standard of  quality dining then it won't include me as a customer.