ep 35: DC's restaurant week and Olympics' muffin man
this week we're talking about DC's Summer Restaurant Week, the city's best breakfast sandwiches, the famous Olympics chocolate muffins, and more!
DC Summer Restaurant Week August 12-18 👨🍳
its restaurant week, again!! and its next week! the timing of this newsletter means we might be cutting it close, but if you haven’t made reservations for those summer deals, here are some ideas for you. basically, I combed through the awful RAMW website so you don’t have to!
my criteria for suggestions are as follows: these are places I think would be good deals, which means one of three things: 1) its an expensive restaurant for which you’re getting a cheaper price, 2) this place is only worth it at a discount and not at full price, or 3) its good regardless and you should go. and the list issssss…..
—> Amazonia, Any Day Now, Bar Chinois, Bar Japonais, Bar Spero, Chiko, Cranes, Cucina Morini, Dauphine’s, Elle, Ethiopic, Haikan, Hiraya, L’Ardente, Laos in Town, Little Coco’s, Makan, Maketto, Meli, Mita, Moon Rabbit, Pastis, Petite Cerise, Perry’s, Reveler’s Hour, Seven Reasons, St. James, Supra, Sushi Taro, Taqueria Xochi, The Little Grand, The Royal, Tiger Fork, Tonari, Xiquet, Zaytinya, Zeppelin.
the full list of participating restaurants is here if you need more details. check the restaurant’s Instagram or website for menus too.
sponsored by Big Parma! 🧀
the elite athletes competing at the Olympics participate in months of media leading up to the games, including sponsorships and ads to promote their sport and the companies involved. while it would make sense that athletics companies like Nike engage in sponsorships, one Italian gymnast probably has the coolest sponsor ever - Parmigiano Reggiano!! yes, Giorgia Villa is literally sponsored by parmesan cheese. she has been sponsored by the organization that governs parmesan production since 2021 and regularly posts photoshoots in her leotard with giant blocks of cheese. the only kind of Big P(h)arma we support!
the best breakfast sandwich in the city 🥯
breakfast sandwiches are my favorite weekend treat. Tim Carman, the Washington Post food critic, tried as many as he could in the DC area to determine the best ones. the article starts with an ode to the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin, which might have been the OG, and features the praise it received from the 1979 WaPo food critic Phyllis Richman, calling the sandwich, “high on the list of historic American inventions.”
Carman, with the help of readers, compiled a list of 90 sandwiches in the DMV, of which he determined a clean top 10. I think these picks are fantastic, I love the highlight of Meats and Foods, the egg and cheese sandwich at Tonari is so tasty, Rose Avenue’s scallion roll sandwich is great, and the number one, the Za’atar egg croissant at Yellow, is so deserving of that top spot. see more of the top 10 and the honorable mentions, here.
do you know the muffin man? 🍫
the Olympics Village cafeteria boasted a boulangerie with fresh croissants and bread, but who knew their chocolate muffins would steal the show? enter Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen, perhaps better known as the Olympics’ muffin man. Christiansen was making a video reviewing the food he ate at the village, and he loved these chocolate muffins so much he pivoted his content to exclusively be about this treat, and thus, dubbed himself the muffin man. these cake-like muffins have a gooey chocolate center with chocolate chunks and a ganache topping. the hunt for the muffin recipe has proven difficult, while French food producer Coup de Pates confirmed it was their “Maxi Muffin Chocolat Intense,” they have refused to release the recipe. some have attempted to recreate it at home, so here’s an NYT cooking version for you bakers!
yet another thing making you sick 🍳
yes, unfortunately “Teflon flu,” a sickness that one can get from pans coated in Teflon, is real. this happens when a pan is left on the burner and goes dry, which releases airborne particles containing metallic oxides that are inhaled. the illness causes flu-like symptoms, such as headache, dry cough, and fever. you can lower your risk of Teflon flu by using a fan or a vent hood in your kitchen to recirculate the air, avoiding heat on a dry pan by preheating with oil, or consider switching to a blue steel or cast iron pan. read more here.
“magic” sugar 🍭
the biotech space has come for our candy! scientists at Harvard’s Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, with funding from Kraft Heinz, have made a sugar substitute that contains an enzyme that turns that sugar into fiber. added sugar has proven to be a health issue in the average American diet, so food manufacturers have turned to products with little to no added sugar. artificial sweeteners and natural sweeteners are some alternatives for this, but aren’t always a perfect substitution. the enzyme proposed by these engineers would be encased with nanoparticles that would only be activated when they hit the intestine, where a change in pH would cause the enzyme to release and convert that sugar into fiber. this could reduce absorbed sugar by 30% and increase fiber intake, which is lacking in many American diets. you can read more in this WSJ article here.
Chipotle? how about lipotle? 💄
yes, you read that right, Chipotle is launching a beauty product, a lip oil called “lipotle.” in a collaboration with Wonderskin cosmetics, a beauty brand that has gone viral for their lip stain, the product rolls on as a gloss and is meant to be wiped off, leaving a stain underneath. the Chipotle collab is a guacamole-green color, and is applied like a lip gloss, sprayed with a sealant, and then wiped off the lips to reveal a rose-colored lip stain. I guess the color won’t smudge as you eat your burrito bowl!!
Best of DC 2024 🥇
every year, the Washington City Paper hosts a series called “Best of DC” where they name (self-explanatory) the best of what DC has to offer. for each category, Food & Drink, People & Places, Arts & Entertainment, and Goods & Services, they publish a host of awards from readers and from editors. there’s only one winner per editor category, but there’s a winner, runner-up and finalists for all the reader categories. for the Readers’ Picks on food, I can’t believe Jeni’s won Best Gelato/Ice Cream but at least Mt. Desert was second, and I love that there’s an award for best Tater Tots. the Editor’s Picks were funny too, with All Souls winning Best Place to Watch a First Date, lol.
restaurant review: Picnic 🧺
on a quick day trip to Philly the other week, we went to a fantastic new restaurant called Picnic. its a huge space (we’re not in DC anymore, Toto!) specializing in Rotisserie chicken, oysters, and lots of wine, the meal was so fresh and fun. I loved the anchovies and butter, the grilled oysters, and the star of the show, perhaps the best chocolate cake I’ve had! it was so light and fluffy, topped with whipped cream and toffee, no wonder our server told us she eats it every night for dinner! check out more below.
f*cked up food 🤢
for the scorching heat, I present, banana water…
d.c. happenings 🧐
openings
HRC “Haute Revolutionary Cuisine” (lol) opening by Emissary folks
Compass Coffee taking over AdMo Foxtrot space
O’Kabul opened in Bloomingdale
Bonjon Rumi, Afghani spot opening in Glover Park
Clyde’s opening a spot called Cordelia in Union Market
former BKK Thai space becoming a Persian spot
old Birch & Barley space has new spot Mallard
new restaurant called Rue Café coming to 14th
closing
Edible Arrangements in Georgetown closed
Chinatown Express temporarily closed for renovations
King Street Oyster’s NoMa location ordered closed by police
Baja Fresh closed downtown
other
new menu items at Doro Soul Food
Magpie & Tiger pop-up at Nido DC
home cooking 👩🍳
using up all of that summer produce! made a corn/tomato/cuke/avocado salad for a few lunches this week, and this pasta with a green sauce (I just blended a bunch of greens and herbs!). during a Saturday hang with friends, we made an impromptu dinner, another corn and tomato salad, a pasta salad, and a whipped feta dip with herbs. in yet another dip dinner before an outdoor show, I made a smoked carrot dip, marinated olives and feta, and an onion dip, and my friend made baba ghanoush and fresh pita.
have a great weekend everyone!
Fascinating story on enzyme converting sugar into fiber. If it is successful, it will help daibetic patients as well.