Posts Tagged ‘dupont’

Another Dupont Gem

So this is what it was like to live in Dupont a hundred years ago? Patten and I discovered this Beaux Arts mansion during the Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk in June; a few months later, we visited as bona fide tourists just to confirm how special this place was. Built as a winter home for Larz and Isabel Anderson in 1905, the Anderson House is a study in opulence: carved oak ceilings, marble floors, delicate Flemish tapestries, you name it. After the couple died, they donated the home to the Society of the Cincinnati, along with most of the furniture/artwork.

The Anderson House is open to the public from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free, as is the tour. Located directly across the street (Mass Ave), the Anderson House is the perfect aperitif to The Phillips Collection. Don’t miss either.

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Our New Discovery

There’s nothing I like more than discovering a great inexpensive restaurant, particularly when it pops up in my neighborhood. Saigon Bistro is our find of the month—though as I’ve been bragging to everyone about how wonderful it is, I’ve had mixed reviews from my listeners: One guy found it greasy; another was just a bit bored. However, they had not tried the Pho, which I think is the best dish here. Yes, that Pho Tai, or Beef Noodle Soup #1 ($8.99; pictured below) is the best of its kind in D.C.-proper.  It’s full of flavor—seasoned well, without being too salty. Add a few squirts of Sriracha and you’ll be singing! The interior of Saigon Bistro is about as boring as a corporate conference room, located in that same odd open-kitchen space once used by the Fractured Prune. I’ll take taste over decor any day, and there’s something quite fascinating about having an open kitchen at a Vietnamese restaurant.

Saigon Bistro; 2153 P Street, NW; 202-558-6188

If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It: Part Two

When our server told us last fall that they were “shutting down for several months to remodel,” I got nervous. Sushi Taro was one of my favorite restaurants. It was close to perfect—great feel, fresh food, reasonable prices (especially at lunch). Hands down, Sushi Taro’s bento box ($10 for miso soup, salad, gyoza, shrimp and vegetable tempura, and sashimi) was the most satisfying lunch in the city.

I finally tried the new Sushi Taro last week. It opened months ago, but I was scared that it wouldn’t be the same. Well, actually I knew it wouldn’t be the same, judging from the menu that listed mostly new items with GIGANTIC prices. Not to mention the interior, which they’d gutted, and remodeled to look like every other semi-chic restaurant in this not-so-chic city. Out with the authentic feel. Out with the open kitchen. (A sushi bar without visible sushi chefs?). Out with the traditional low-to-the-ground, chairless tables. Out with the bustling vibe, the smell of frying tempura, the long lacquered sushi bar, where you could sit and watch the chefs compile gorgeous spreads of nigiri.

We were told it’d be a 30-minute wait, though the place seemed quiet. We chose to stick around, and were seated in less than 10 minutes. The menu is almost entirely different, save for the preexisting daily special—typically some sort of chicken or pork dish. My fellow diner ordered the special (now $12 vs. the old $10) and I chose the sushi plate for $15. We were both excited when we were served the odd appetizers, included in the lunch price. One dish held wilted bok choy; the other, a sweet broth with very silky tofu (pictured above). They were interesting, but hardly as tasty as the old Taro lunch appetizers: steamy miso soup and a soy-dressed salad. Our entrees were decent. The special— Japanese fried chicken—was odd, but good. My sashimi plate was fine, though there was so much wasabi smeared beneath the fish, I could hardly taste what I was eating (pictured right). Our lunch took about 75 minutes vs. the 45-minute turnover in the old Taro—fine for those willing to piddle away their afternoon with a bottle of sake (which, surprisingly, several of the tables around us were doing), but not so good for those of us that have day jobs.

As I knew I would, I left upset and not eager to return. Call me old fashioned, but why, oh why, change something that people loved?!? WaPo’s food critic, Tom Sietsema, thinks the change is thrilling: “Almost overnight, what for 23 years had been a popular neighborhood spot became one of the most fascinating restaurants in Washington.” He likes the fact that the “table is yours for what seems like the night” and the space’s “new sense of serenity.”  Yet, I have to wonder: By winning over the food critic, did they shun their neighborhood loyalists? Only time will tell…. But I, for one, won’t be back in a long while. Unless Tom wants to foot my bill for the “omakase,” (or chef’s table), which starts at $100 per person.

Birthday Bust

Total with tip = $150. Ouch! And we even skipped dessert…

Patten and I tend to be quite frugal when it comes to anything, including food. But we do splurge on birthday meals. Saturday night, I took Patten to Vidalia, knowing full well that I’d pay the above amount. I just expected to leave happy with life. Such was not the case.

It started out well. I made reservations just two hours before—”Wow, they can get us in tonight!” I say, and we start sprucing for our evening. We were seated at a two-top, with two empty tables to our sides—each with about 18 inches between them. This is a great seat, I’m thinking, so long as they don’t fill these two tables. Seven minutes later, we had two couples on both sides. Ordering was slow, but we didn’t care much as we waited with two glasses of $9 Cava. Soon after we put in our order, we were served their homemade hot rolls (my favorite part of the night), followed soon after by an amuse-bouche, a shot glass of yellow gazpacho, a gumball-sized puff pastry, and a quarter-shaped fish patty with a fancy French name. We were hardly wowed, but still had high hopes.

About 15 minutes later, our appetizers arrived: Patten wasn’t a fan of his squid-wrapped chorizo, though I quite liked it. My raw yellowtail was delicious, served as it was like confetti—squares of melon, avocado, and fish scattered about the plate (pictured above). This was Patten’s favorite taste of the evening. And then it all got worse. We waited 35 minutes for our entrees to arrive; my stomach in turmoil. I sat with an empty water glass for 15 minutes—something that should never happen at such a nice place. When the water and our entrees finally did arrive, we were both disappointed. Something didn’t taste right about my dish: trout atop fried green tomatoes. Patten took a bite: “The cornmeal is freezer-burned.” I tried it again—that was it. Yuck! We told the waiter, and he kindly brought me the crabcakes, which were outstanding…though I could have done without the bits of sausage that came mixed in the corn maque. Patten’s shrimp and grits were forgettable, though I’d heard raves about this dish. Patten’s from the South so he is picky when it comes to grit dishes, but even as the non-afficionado, I was hardly impressed. Was it just tonight? We did walk in with about 10 others—was the kitchen slammed? We were too full to order dessert—and frankly, we were just ready to get the hell out of there.

I’d been to Vidalia twice before and loved it both times. I hadn’t been in two years, but Vidalia still ranks #7 on Washingtonian’s list of Best Restaurants. Why was it all so bad tonight? Has it lost its mojo? I left not wanting to go back, and maybe I never will…unless some of you loyalists out there can convince me otherwise.

Vidalia

I’m still flitting about in San Fran, but my other reporter (code name P) was on the ground this weekend in D.C. to snap these shots. Talk about salt in the wound….

Weekend To Do’s

Assuming this freaking rain stops eventually (!!!!), get out of your Netflix dens and do something active this weekend. Weather forecasters predict sun on both days, so there’s no excuse. Without further ado, here’s your weekend list:

* Friday

All day: Get your freeloading off to a caloric start! Pick up a free donut at Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts all day long. You must buy a drink at DD to get your treat for free; no strings attached at KK.

5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.: Attend a book-signing reception with Barbara Fairchild (editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit) at sweetgreen. For $35, you’ll get her book, a signature, some salad, and a job. Start drafting your elevator pitch!

* Saturday

10 a.m.-4 p.m.: Take advantage of free admission to our neighborhood museums during the annual Dupont Kalorama Museums Consortium’s Weekend Walk. My heart’s set on a visit to the Anderson House, with its oppulent interior (pictured), and Fondo del Sol, for its Latin American art.

* Sunday

noon-6 p.m.: Hang out with Good Stuff’s Spike Mendelsohn at Capitol Skyline Hotel’s weekly Spike’d Sunday pool party. For the $10 cover charge, you get a burger and access to the pool. [tip: GOG]

Sitting Pretty

Welcome to City Sitting, the once-weekly feature that evolved from a misunderstanding: “Your blog’s called City Sitting?” she asks. Ta-da. The light bulb appears above my head. And so City Sitting begins, thanks to someone’s bad ears (or my poor annunciation). Each Wednesday, we’ll swap the “f” for a “t” and post a photo of someone sitting in the city. Typical bench/park shots are fine, but the more creative the pose, the better. Sitting animals and inanimate objects are game too. Got a City Sitting shot? Please send by Tuesday, so I can post the next day. Jay-pee-dubb starts us off with a shot he caught Sunday in Dupont:

Title: Sitting Pretty
Photographer: Patten Wood
SIT-uation: I was walking down Q street with my new camera (woot woot!) and saw these two across the way. I asked the girl if I could take her photo. Simple as that.

The Magnet, Vacuum, Black Hole, What-You-Will

When I exit my apartment, I veer to the left before I’ve even decided what I want to eat. It’s my subconscious leading me to sweetgreen, our neighborhood’s new salad and yogurt joint. This pull occurs several times a week, costing me about $80 per month. But I can’t stop. The $9 salads are better (and cheaper) than most I’ve ordered in sit-down restaurants, and the $4 sweetflow yogurt, piled high with fruit, is a better bargain than its neighborhood counterparts.

I challenge you to find a fresher salad bar in this city. Seriously. I’m so amused by the ridiculously fresh-looking food that I actually inspect the containers of veggies, fruit, and meats for any browning or crusting each time I go in. There’s none to be found, and there’s nary a smudge on the sparkly-clean sneeze guard. The whole process of ordering/tossing/paying takes about 45 seconds—and I often find myself walking out the door one minute and ten dollars later with my Bondi, Chic P, or Guacamole Greens in their biodegradable salad container and made-from-corn fork thinking “Wow. How do they do it?” Really, how do they do it? This place is one of three locations (the other two are in Georgetown and Bethesda), run by 3 guys that are 2 years younger than me—and they get hundreds of crazies like me throwing 80 bucks at them each month and walking away happy about it. Now that’s a good business plan. Can I have in? I’ll tweet for you…

As for the yogurt, I won’t get into much detail of its sweet/tangy/creamy ratio in comparison to its competitors (it’s been too long since I’ve eaten the other stuff), but suffice to say that its price beats out Yogato and Tangy Sweet and its one-flavor-only offering saves me from the angst of choice, from which I suffer at every other sweet-treat shop. I’ve been known to leave my desk on lonely afternoons and order my usual: small sweetflow with rasberries, strawberries, and coconut ($4). It occasionally gives me goosebumps. I know. I have a creepy obsession.

Sweet Green; 1512 Connecticut Ave.; Open daily, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Europe vs. World

I’ve lived in D.C. for almost four years, yet prior to this weekend, I’d only been inside three embassies. When you live just a hop away from Embassy Row and you write a blog called City Sifting, this is embarrassing. So I approached this year’s Passport DC (the day in which many embassies—35 this year—open their doors to the public) like I’d approach any important trip: I drafted an itinerary. This was really more like a sheet of printer paper scribbled with addresses, but the point is, we got to the first embassies before they opened and visited 6 in a matter of 4 hours. Yes, a City Sifting award for me (and Laura and Patten). The most entertaining experience was at the Embassy of Venezuela, with its calypso and may pole lessons (see video below); the biggest crowd pleasing embassy was Korea, with its totem-pole carving demonstration (pictured); the “most worth the wait” embassy was Indonesia, where we felt okay about our 20 minutes in line because of the sheer opulence and jaw-dropping quality of the building’s interior, especially the Art Nouveau staircase; and Colombia was, well, the biggest surprise—hidden on the corner of 20th and Q, who knew the non-remarkable exterior would house such a lovely collection of Latin American art? They had a Botero, my fave!

Missed Passport DC? More embassies will open up their doors this weekend for the European Union Open House. From 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 9, you can visit any of these 27 European embassies. I advise you to go early—crowds seem to triple as the day wears on. In the meantime, I’ve posted a video of our lovely calypso dancing lesson at the Venezuelan Embassy. For a few more photos, go to my Picasa page.

La-di-da, la-di-da, la la.

Antebellum reminded me just how much I love theater (and how lucky we are to have great performances here in D.C.), so I’m on a stage binge. Next up? Tom Stoppard’s Rock N Roll, which P and I are going to tonight. But first, some thoughts on Theater J’s performance of The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall, which I saw on Wednesday night:

First thought: Fun. Second: Well-written. Third: Okay, so maybe I do like Woody Allen. As to that last idea, the play is essentially a modern evocation of Allen’s humor, named after and very loosely following the storyline of his most famous movie, Annie Hall. Its postmodern plot works: a play about writing a musical. More specifically: an adaptation of Annie Hall about a guy who wants to write an adaptation of Annie Hall for Broadway.  (Think: Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation, but easier to digest). We watch the main character, Henry (played by Josh Lefkowitz, who looks and acts like Josh Radnor), struggle to come up with an idea for a musical, and once he does, can’t seem to write it because he’s always talking about it. Like Annie Hall, we get that talking-directly-to-the-audience/camera thing; the awkward, yet realistic dialogue; and the plot parallels (spoiler alert: the Annie in this play does the same thing as the Annie in the movie—moves to Cali!). To make it modern, Facebook, Wikipedia, and text messaging play important roles. WaPo and DC Theatre Scene go into much more detail in their reviews, but I’ll keep things short and sum it up now: I really enjoyed this performance. It had me laughing and tearing-up. It’s smart and creative, and definitely worth your time and dollar. And best of all—if you like to take a play with you when you leave—this is made to stick. I’ve been thinking about it for the past 36 hours.

The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall. Runs through May 24. 1529 16th Street, NW. Buy tickets here.