ep. 54: bagged lettuce, bagged lunch, bagged popcorn

don’t get bagged lettuce, do bring bagged lunch to the office, maybe don’t get the bagged popcorn? its “bagged” week at aditieats!

smart food popcorn on the decline 🍿

some superfans of Smartfood popcorn, the white cheddar flavor specifically, have noticed that the snack just isn’t hitting like it used to. Eater writer Jaya Saxena wrote about how the popcorn used to taste much cheesier, the flavor was sharper and more zingy, and eating the snack as an adult compared to her childhood was starkly different.

she is not alone — users on reddit coalesced noting the same, that the snack was way blander than it used to be. of course, the manufacturer stayed silent about the rumblings that the recipe changed. after some comparison of the ingredients lists, snackers noticed that cheese dropped down to the penultimate ingredient, when it used to be third, suggesting a formula change including less cheese. corn maltodextrin was a new ingredient, which is meant to carry flavor, allowing the recipe to contain less actual cheese.

why was this change made? who knows, it could be supply changes, or sodium regulations, but since there is so much brand loyalty already, Frito-Lay can afford to take the risk on changing the formula, knowing their customers will keep eating. read more here.

DC bartenders observing dates 🤝

recently I was at All Souls for a birthday party, and next to us was a couple on a date. I noticed her outfit (it was cute) and I did not notice his (it was boring) and I went about my evening. about an hour later, there’s a different girl there….with the same man…holding hands. scandalous! a marathon of dates, back to back! I was wondering if anyone noticed (did the bartenders realize?!) turns out, bartenders definitely keep tabs on first date shenanigans. as a part of Washingtonian’s series on dating, bartenders at OKPB and Board Room talk about their observations of patrons on dates. one staff member at Board Room said, “My personal record is a gentleman I saw come in three times on a Saturday with different dates.” yikes!!! other bartenders talked about signs where dates are going well, and where they are not, and how they’re generally rooting for us (cute!).

the modern “it” bar 🍹

speaking of bars, I thought this roundup of trends in “It” bars from Punch was fun. while many modern/trendy bars strive to be different and photogenic in the land of social media, there are some commonalities in decor and design between the cool bars across the country. here are a few: v-shaped martini glasses (La’Shukran), built-in mood lighting via table lamps (Cucina Morini!), glass bricks, granite slab countertops, and fancy silver trays to serve the fun drinks. the thread here seems to be fancy vintage, and i’m into it!

say no to bagged lettuce 🥬

chopped bagged lettuce is making us sick! well, it’s not like every bag of lettuce is ridden with e.coli, but due to funding and staffing cuts at the FDA, foods with high risk of foodborne illness, like chopped lettuce, are flying under the radar. in 2022, leafy greens caused more outbreaks of foodborne illness than any other food. fast forward to now, and the public isn’t learning about outbreaks until months after they happen. this is because the FDA is taking so long to determine the cause of outbreaks that by that time, the outbreak is over, and the public isn’t notified. this means we may need to avoid foods with high risk of causing illness, or take extra precautions to wash produce vigorously, if our government is going to remain unhelpful.

lunch etiquette at the office 🥪

RTO means the girlies are back in office and that means, lunchboxes are back baby! when eating lunch at the office there’s some basic etiquette to follow, at least according to the Washington Post. this includes keeping smells and sounds to a minimum (maybe your coworkers don’t like the sound of your chewing!), doing your part to keep the kitchen tidy (duh, don’t leave a mess! don’t be a fridge space hog!), no eating at a meeting (unless its a lunch meeting!). I think these are all pretty standard, just remember that there are other people around, and the office isn’t your home!

“on hunger and slang” 🗣️

I really liked this substack post from TASTE BUD about the intersection between hunger and slang words. as we all know, food prices continue to climb, certain types of food, have become synonmous with luxury and the elite. there are widespread food insecurity problems, not just in the US, but also forced starvation as a war tactic in places like Gaza or Congo. from these communities of struggle, access to food represents a goal, and the fight for it bears language that reflects both, like getting “bread,” or “cheddar.” the piece also discusses how hunger and these struggles have led to political revolution in the past. read the piece — my summary doesn’t do it justice!

RFK corner 🍬

there’s basically nothing good that comes from a sentence containing “Congressional testimony” and “RFK” but there could be something slightly funny? last week during RFK Jr.’s testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee (also where Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s was arrested for protesting!), he said a lot of gross things promoting his MAHA agenda, but on clear display on the witness table was his beverage of choice: a smoothie from South Block. the local smoothie chain’s logo on the cup was prominently showcased for a majority of the hearing, though the company swears they do not have a partnership with the Trump appointee. but which smoothie was it? I thought sugar was poison!!!

speaking of sugar…..RFK’s worst nightmare, the Snacks and Sweets convention. a writer for the Atlantic went to the annual conference in Indianapolis all about junk food, chock-full of things that RFK can’t wait to ban. sugar, synthetic food dyes, and ultra-processed foods are all poison!! but he faces an uphill battle in banning these ingredients. the candy industry pulled in $54 billion last year, and they are showing no signs of pivoting in reaction to the new administration. RFK’s FDA would have to go through the whole regulatory process to establish the harm of these synthetic dyes, and even then, candy companies would likely sue. read more here.

where should I eat tonight? a quiz 👓

I am honored when my friends and family ask me for restaurant recommendations in this city — and many of you who have done so know that I come back with lots of questions: which neighborhood? what is the vibe? any allergies/dietary restrictions? what’s your price range? well, WaPo is going to put me out of (my nonexistent) business, because they made this quiz with just those questions! honestly, the recommendations it gives are pretty good! try it out here.

restaurant review: Maketto

dishes at Maketto! dumplings, “strange” eggplant, fried chicken, and cocktails

I hadn’t been back to Maketto in a few years and man, it’s a classic! the vibes are cool and lively, the food is spicy, and the drinks stay fantastic. we got a Jungle Bird a peppercorn one (I can’t remember the name but it was so good!). for food, we had the soup dumplings, a dish called “strange eggplant” which was not strange but very pickly and tasty, the fried chicken, and the shrimp fried rice (not pictured, taken home for leftovers) and another round of drinks (a tequila sour type deal and another one I can’t remember sorry). H St is a trek but do not forget that many DC gems remain there!

f*cked up food 🤢

united states of fried rice? (sorry this looks like a flag to me lol).

dc happenings

openings

• Melange Foods opened in Shaw

• new Lucky Danger location in Chinatown/Archives!

• Emmy French Corner to open U St

• Alero opening new NoMa loction

• U Street Fish & Chips opening on U St

• Bonne Vie Cafe & Bistro coming to old Baby Shank space on U St

• H&H Bagels opening on K St

• Honeys, wine and ice cream bar, open on Connecticut

• Suzie Q, retro bar, open in Navy Yard

• Any Day Now location coming to New York Ave

• Jersey Mikes coming to McPherson Square

• Cafe Fiorello opening near White House

• Lost Sock in Noma opening soon

• hot dog restaurant Marv’s Dogs coming to Wisconsin Ave

• Abunai Poke opening in Navy Yard

closings

• Compass Rose closing “as we know it” on 14th St

• Souvlaki officially closed

• Full Kee and Gao Ya given vacate notices to make room for hotel

• Brookland Pint closing this week

• one of two Chipotles at Union Station closed (why there were two in the first place I will not know!)

• Insomnia Cookie closed in AdMo

• Halfsmoke closing in Shaw

• Kayu/Hiraya closing on H St (big sad)

other

• Baked Joint operating out of La Betty space starting in September

• Meats & Foods on “pause” due to health issues

home cooking 👩‍🍳

“dirty” aperol spritz, peas and burrata, and a kind of ugly pic of the NYT tomato risotto

okay yesssss I ate out a ton these past few weeks but I also made many things at home! made peanut-sauce noodles with a bunch of vegetables from my pantry, this caesar salad dressing to use up the quickly-wilting lettuce in my fridge. I loosely recreated a great burrata and pea dish from Gemini, and made this tomato risotto to go along with it — which I was pleasantly impressed by! I also tested this dirty aperol spritz recipe which was kind of underwhelming lol.

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ok yay thanks for reading happy Memorial Day weekend bye!