The Reinvention of Me: What Comes Next

Nestled in the middle of D.C., on Georgia Avenue, is a hidden gem of  a place that perfectly blends live music with ample listening room, a great selection of beers, plenty of flat screens and an open area to enjoy the warmer evenings that are soon upon us. Long-time club promoter-turned part owner, Jamie Hess, has hit his mark with Blue Banana Sports and Rock Bar.

Having lived in Pacific Beach, CA for two years, I found myself sometimes missing a good dive bar that embodies what SoCal residents are accustomed to frequenting – being able to listen to good live music and drink with some low-key, fun individuals. There’s no need to dress up and certainly no need to have serious conversation.  It’s a place to relax, a place to listen to talented local musicians (more on that in a minute) and a place to call “your sports bar”.

As of the last month, Blue Banana (as it’s now affectionately called) has had some great local musical talents come through.  Last Friday evening, a showcase of talent rocked the night away, which included Hannibal Bray, Felicity Amos, Ken Suarez and Chris Walling. (Video clip of musicians Hannibal Bray and Felcitiy Amos can be found here.)

This week, there is a sneak preview of the long-awaited Beer Garden.  The invite can be found here.

In the last few weeks, I’ve been to three places I’ve never been before, all of which have been around for quite some time.  For those of you who are not from D.C. or are foodies, this review is for you.

Oyamel

Oyamel, in my opinion, is a French-Mexican fusion of sorts with their eclectic menu and “rare -t0-be-found” list of ingredients. Located in Penn Quarter, I went there to meet up with a girlfriend of mine, whom I had not seen in a very long time.  We each started with a drink, mine was a margarita called El Diablo Nuevo.  Although mighty small in size, it was incredibly tasty.  This was followed by a review of the menu.

I’ve seen a lot of interesting things in my day but Grasshopper tacos (Chapulines) and cactus were two I had never come across before.  Given that I don’t eat bugs (that I am aware of anyway), I decided to go for the latter.  In its official name, I had ordered: Nopal asado con salsa molcajete.  Although a bit smokey, grilled cactus tastes like a tougher grilled green pepper (and yes, there are no prickles attached) – it was topped with a delicious salsa.  On the safer side, we also ordered Quesadilla huitlacoche with traditional cheese and truffles in a corn tortilla.

Although the food was delicious, the price is what you come to expect from a higher-end Mexican fusion place and thus, I’m not sure that Oyamel is at the top of my recommendation list.

Tallula

On Saturday morning, before bed shopping, my boyfriend suggested we head to Tallula for brunch.  I can’t believe this has been sitting almost literally in my backyard and I’ve never been.  For those that have never been there, it’s almost Al Capone-meets-Mad Hatter.  The smokey-looking, 1920′s feel of a restaurant has these incredible high back chairs in burgundy and purple, with matching drapes (hence the Mad Hatter), with a huge fountain in the middle.  To add to the ambience, the music is very 1920′s and 1930′s-inspired.

We were seated next to the wine rack and immediately ordered mimosas (they were generous on the champagne).  Their brunch menu was phenomenal.  If you love omelets, choose the Tallula omelet.  It’s because of it that I am now putting spinach in my omelets.  I’d highly recommend this as a hidden brunch spot.

Circa – Clarendon

Since my plans changed on Sunday, I ended up at Circa for brunch.  Located in a brand new building in Clarendon, this restaurant didn’t disappoint in atmosphere.  It’s what you come to expect from Circa – fine dining at reasonable prices.  Their brunch menu was one of the least expensive I’ve seen (one mimosa and a meal was $15) but the food quality was only decent.  My suggestion, try their dinner menu instead, unless you’re looking for inexpensive food, after a night out.

There was a time and place growing up when the Town of Vienna was small – REALLY SMALL.  It was the type of town you see in movies – slightly run-down but full of history.   Everyone in the town knew each other and would gather together for block parties, festivals and parades.   Over the last five years, it’s seen a beautiful transformation, particularly the main strip – Church Street.  Church St. went from a tired strip of shops, vacant lots and train tracks to what looks like a small charming ski town.  It still holds the centuries-old bank building, Freeman House, clock shop and toy store but it also boasts some great new additions like Bazins on Church.

The owners Julie and Patrick Bazin were property shopping for a place to put their restaurant when they were driving through the Town of Vienna and saw a vacant plot of land on Church St.  From that moment on, they just knew it was the right space.  Thus, almost five years ago Bazin’s on Church became a reality, as well as a great success.

I walked up the brick walkway to a warm, inviting door that matched the charm and warmth of the city.  Once inside, it looked like a cozy ski lodge, dressed in warm woods, brick walls, warm fabrics and warm aromas.  It’s the type of place where during the day, women lunch and in the evening, couples come with or without their families to dine or singles get together to meet at the bar.  It’s a one-of-a-kind place in Vienna – something that was desperately needed.

The menu matched the atmosphere – almost all of it warm, fall-like comfort food with things like Chicken Pot Pie, butternut squash ravioli, and sweet potato and coconut soup.  Since my mom was with me, we ended up sharing an appetizer – Profiteroles with goat cheese (I just ate the filling) with pickled seasonal vegetables.  I ordered an entree of a lemon-marinated grilled chicken breast salad and for dessert, pumpkin chocolate cheesecake (again, I ate the filling, which is all that mattered

I’d highly recommend that people make a day of this town and include Bazin’s on Church as a stop in their itinerary.  They are open every day except for Mondays and serve lunch Tuesday – Friday from 11:30am – 2pm and dinner 5pm-10pm.  Saturdays is dinner only from 5pm – 10pm.  On Sundays, they serve brunch from 11:00am – 2pm and dinner 5pm – 9pm.

When my boyfriend and I walked into the bar of Farmers & Fishers this past Saturday evening, we were assuming to get another quick bite to eat before heading home.  What we didn’t expect was the overall experience we would get whilst dining there.

For those of you who have never been to this restaurant or have never heard of it, it sits on the Georgetown Waterfront, amongst the usual favorites: Sequoia’s and Tony and Joe’s.  It’s an organic place with something on the menu for everyone.  The food there is so fresh and so full of taste that I found myself repeating the words, “This is amazing” over and over again.

The first order of business was finding something to drink – in this case, something warm, as I was too stubborn to wear a coat, literally in denial about the temperature outside.  We requested Irish Coffees with Baileys, something our bartender refused to do.  He said that if he was going to make an Irish Coffee, it would be done the right way.  This is how we came to meet F&F’s Chief Mixologist and Restaurant Consultant, Jon Arroyo.  Jon has an awesome story of how his life transpired.  He was a trained actor who found himself in DC, becoming well-known for his creative (and rather tasty) drink menus and natural talent for advising restaurants on their bar concepts. (You may have also seen him at Artini.)  We spent quite a bit of time chatting after our meal.

Onto the food…

Our first course (out of two) was chocolate bacon lollipops.  I’ve NEVER dipped bacon in chocolate and I’d happily do it again.  The bacon was thick (although it could have been a bit crispier) and the chocolate was the perfect amount of sweet.  It was an interesting taste that seemed to cancel each other out, yet oddly tasty at the same time.

Our second course was just as great, if not better.  I chose the grilled corn tortilla tacos with a chicken, granny smith apple and feta mixture, while my boyfriend chose the organic roasted half chicken with vegetables.  Again, all of it fresh and all of it amazing.  I don’t believe I’ve ever been so excited to eat tacos in my life, nor so eager to go back and eat them again.

I’d highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who is looking to try some good food in a great section of town.

Yesterday evening, I was invited onto the District Dish to talk about an upcoming event.  This particular episode was being filmed at Carmine’s in Washington, D.C. – a brand new family-style Italian restaurant, known for authentic Italian dishes.  Most people (and most likely my cousin first) would ask me what on earth I could eat at a place like that, aside from a salad.  Answer: LOTS!

Jill Collins, Carmine’s PR representative, was an amazing hostess who walked me through their special menu – whether you are gluten-free, garlic-free, dairy-free or a vegetarian, they are able to provide you an extensive enough menu that you feel as though you have plenty to choose from. (Those menus cannot be found online but trust me, I’ve seen it!)  After reviewing the menu, she chose a gluten-free pasta pomodoro for me to try.  She also brought out their signature salad,  a “side” of Eggplant Parmesan (could easily feed two), spaghetti with their infamous gigantic meatballs, bread (obviously the latter three being for everyone else).  In addition, they had two amazing wines for us to try from their vineyards in Italy: a red – Montepulciano d’abruzzo and a white – Trebbiano d’abruzzo.  Truly everything was wonderful and incredibly delicious.  But, not only was the food great, so was the atmosphere.

At 20,000 square feet, the restaurant can hold 700+ at any given time.  There are no small tables (or dishes) there, as it’s family style, which means if you’re on a date, you might want to consider a double date.  With rich woods and black and white family portraits on the walls, you feel like you’ve stepped into an Italian family’s home.  But my favorite part – the wine glasses – true, authentic wine glasses.  In Italy, it’s not customary to drink wine in stemware at dinner – they use what we would consider small water glasses, something I found to be much more enjoyable, only adding to the experience.

Just when we thought we were done eating, another additional surprise comes out for us to try:  (Side note: Come to Carmine’s on an EMPTY stomach and bring friends, especially for this part.) The Titanic.  The Titanic is a flourless chocolate cake, covered in 6 scoops of ice cream, a ton of whipped cream, strawberries, almonds, bananas, hot fudge and tube-like cookies (to resemble smokestacks) – in other words, a gigantic banana split.  Just like the dinner dishes, it’s meant to feed 4-6 people.  There were 6 people at the table and we touched half of it, groaning, moaning and holding our stomachs, while vowing to “work it off” the next day.  Yet, there wasn’t one frown at our table.

We all agree that the experience we had at Carmine’s was amazing and that it was worth noting to family and friends.  I’d like to thank District Dish, Kate Michael, Jill Collins, Sonya McKay, Bev Kirk and the entire staff at Carmine’s for a wonderful evening!

One of the best things about Washington, D.C. are the endless number of restaurants to try.  However, not many are known for their brunch.  Most DCers tend to gravitate towards the brunch spots that are places to see and be seen and very rarely seek out new establishments.

This past week, my girlfriend and I were looking to get together with our significant others for brunch.  She suggested Georgia Brown’s.  Since I had never been there before, I jumped at it.

Georgia Brown’s is VERY southern cuisine – after all, the chef is from South Carolina.  Their brunch on Sundays  is a three “act” meal with a live jazz band.  When I say three acts, I’m not joking.  For $40 a person, you get a full breakfast buffet, offering you every type of southern breakfast food you’d expect – biscuits and gravy, grits, fried french toast with pecan/caramel topping, a carving station, an omelet station, a ton of sweet breads and even a chocolate fountain (just to name a few).  This is followed by Act II – another full-course meal (aka lunch).  For those that have never been there – ask for the second act “to go”, which they are accustomed to.  There are seven different full course meals to choose from.  (My boyfriend and I brought home gumbo shrimp and fried chicken with whole spinach and mashed potatoes.)  As for the finale, Act III is sweetbreads (if you can make it that far).

In addition to all the amazing food, there is a live jazz act, making it feel like a full after-church brunching experience.  I definitely recommend making reservations there!