episode 11: Barbie foods, girl dinner, and Tatte treats (4 the girlies)
we talk Barbie food marketing, the mysterious Girl Dinner, too many Tattes in D.C., and more!
i’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie (food) world!
if you have even stepped *foot* on the internet in the last 4 months you know the Barbie movie is coming out next weekend. you also know that Barbie has been doing some extensive collaborations to promote the movie, so, of course there are Barbie-branded foods - and contributors at Bon Appetit tried them all. the dumbest appears to be Barbie pasta which was…..just small pasta, followed closely by the $44 burger at the Barbie Café (yikes). the froyo at Pinkberry looked verrrry cute though, lots of sprinkles and apparently tasted like gogurts (love). opening this article I honestly thought there would be more than 5 things to try, but hey, I guess Barbie can’t technically…eat…so…
sriracha shortage :(
there was a time when Sriracha was everywhere in the 2010s, everyone had a bottle in their fridge, and the craze extended to merch too - sriracha t-shirts and little mini bottle keychains (yes I had one). fast forward to now, there is a serious sriracha shortage and bottles are going for $60! it all leads back to the food supply industry and global warming (ugh, classic). rising temperatures in California and New Mexico are causing a shortage of the red jalapeno peppers used in the hot sauce, leading to a decrease in production. in the meantime, try a sambal oelek or a gochuchang-based sauce to tide you over, and cross your fingers for decreasing temps.
the ✨Girl Dinner✨ trend
and a report on your latest TikTok trend! what, is a Girl Dinner you may ask? a universally-recognized concept by the girlies, it seems. its not a particular dish, but more of a concept, having something very simple for dinner, or a combination of a lot of little snacks. for what it can’t be described in words, one commonality seems to be that it is free from the constraint a central protein. think, a plate of cheese and olives and crackers and also some leftover pasta, a plate of pickles and four different dips with veggies - instead of having those veggies plus a meat or a tofu. it could also be something incredibly low effort - buttered noodles or a plain baked potato.
it is not about eating a certain amount, its just about making a meal for when you want to do the bare minimum. girl dinner is low-effort and fun and best enjoyed with the girlies who get it. here are some of my recent and my friends’ recent girl dinners for your observation! if you still don’t get it read more here or here or watch some TikToks here and here.
tatte-ification of D.C.
all of a sudden there’s a million Tattes in D.C. why! how did this happen! local journalist Colleen Grablick went on a hilariously hungover adventure to visit every single Tatte in D.C. and I totally get why she was quickly questioning this choice. there are just….so many? why do we need 10 in the local area? the Boston-based chain seems to be living out the mission to make the restaurants in settings that, “feel more like Parisian patisseries than elementary school cafeterias.” while there is no clear answer after her 6-hour adventure to visit every Tatte on why so many exist here (she asked them, no response), as Grablick put it, “If you build it (a cafe with wifi and lots of neutral tones, aesthetically suited for food porn-y photos of croissants and pretty lattes) they will come.” if you want a laugh, read the full journey here!
ancient pizza?
archeologists recently discovered this 2000-year-old fresco still-life in a home connected to a bakery in a Roman city. it shows a tray of food, with a flat focaccia-style bread and some fruit, and from the specks on the bread, it resembles a pizza. after this headline circulated, archaeologists then clarified that it was not pizza, just a bread covered with fruit, like pomegranate or dates, finished with a pesto-type sauce. it is not believed to be what we think of as pizza, because Europe didn’t yet have tomatoes, and mozzarella was not discovered until the 1700s. while it may not be the marinara pizza we know today, it could be the pesto pie ancestor!
best salads in D.C.
there is nothing I love more in the summer than a crispy, refreshing salad - those who know me know that for a period of 6 (maybe more) months, the Trader Joe’s vegan Caesar had a chokeholdddddd on me I had it like every day. those who know me also know that I always spell it incorrectly as cesar (ty autocorrect!)
this Washingtonian roundup features some great salads in the D.C. area in many different categories, and yes, the Best Caesar salad <3 From this list, I’m very excited to try the Petit Cerise salad, the Warm Shrimp salad at Le Dip, and the Boogy and Peel Caesar salad pizza. I did try the Caruso’s Caesar (more below) and yes, it really is very good.
veggie burgers
as a non-beef burger gal, I do really enjoy a veggie burger. however, not all veggie burgers are created equal! we want real pieces of veg in the patty, that holds up on its own in a burger, not something dry and crumbly and vaguely meat-colored. presented in a beautiful Cooks Illustrated visual, the magazine ranked all the grocery store veggie burgers. looks like the Morningstar burger was the best (OG) but this burger from whatever The Actual is looks really good too. happy grilling (microwaving?) for all my vegetarians!
D.C. food hot takes (as if we need more)
D.C. is a city where eveeeeryone has an opinion, about literally everything, including about food. you can imagine the twitter replies went WILD when Jessica Sidman asked for people’s hot takes about the D.C. food scene. of course, it was filled with Call Your Mother slander, people declaring we have NO GOOD insert cuisine here - mostly in reference to Mexican food or pizza. I had a couple takes to contribute that I think are good (obvi) but she also rounded up a many more into this article. and yes, the takes are hot!
I couldn’t disagree more on the cupcake debate, as she alleges Georgetown Cupcakes is better than Baked and Wired - the flavors at B+W are miles better and sue me, I love a lot of icing! QR codes are freaking annoying (end them), and fine, a $20 sandwich that lasts me two meals is somewhat reasonable - or maybe, inflation and D.C. prices have reeeeally gone to our heads. its…probably the latter.
I guess I have to talk about Grimace
a purple blob character took over the internet during June with a corresponding milkshake? yes, totally makes sense! originally a scary villain the Grimace character in the McDonalds’ character universe, changed into a friendly blob man, it has been interpreted as a “taste bud” or the “embodiment of a milkshake” (whatever that means??) McDonald’s released a special meal and a berry-flavored purple milkshake in honor of his 52nd birthday along with a whole line of merch. it blew up with, “The Grimace Shake Incident” where people drink the shake, and then dramatically pass out, the ~spirit of the Grimace having taken over~. to be honest, I don’t get it, but go off Grimace, I guess?!
restaurant review: Caruso’s Grocery
Caruso’s Grocery had been on my list for a year so I made a rouge reservation a month in advance and it paid off - it was SUCH a great time! $12 cocktails, solid portions of red-sauce Italian plates, you really can’t go wrong. we tried the famous Caesar salad and it was so tasty, great dressing, crispy croutons. oh…and the tiramisu <3 a hefty slice, mascarpone-forward, so tasty. read more in the post below!
oh, and WETA, our local public radio station, was filming everyone in the restaurant for a solid hour for a segment called Signature Dish, so if anyone sees us on local news, please kindly let me know <3
f*cked up foods
leaving you with a summer classic.
D.C. happenings
Himitsu popup at Little Vietnam, no I didnt get a res in time :(
Looking Glass closing by end of year :(
Tsehay Ethiopian opened in Adams Morgan
huge - Biergarten Haus abruptly closed last weekend
Bryan Cranston did free mezcal at L’Ardente?!
Chop Shop, a Peruvian chicken shop opens in NoMA
Sala Thai opening in Hill East
Falafel Brothers coming to Shaw across 9:30 club
Dumpling Hot Pot on H St opened
new coffee shop Mola Empanada opens in Adams Morgan
Buca di Beppo closes in DuPont
Dolan Uyghyr opened Dolan Coffee in Cleveland Park
also - RAMMY award winners! wins from Compliments Only, Baked Joint, Kevin Tien, and more!
home cooking: noodle girl summer
pickle pasta salad: don’t knock it until you try it, this very easy dill pickle pasta salad rocks!! pasta, pickles, carrots, fresh herbs in a little yogurt/mayo sauce, so crunchy and delicious for summer.
udon noodles: i’ve been inundated with videos on easy chili garlic or peanut sauce noodles with udon and yum they’re so good! so I bought the Vietnamese clear ones instead of the Japanese wheat ones to make the dish and it wasn’t exactly right, but still so tasty. nut butter makes it all better.
the end! have a lovely weekend, all!
the DC food hot takes tweets had me entertained for DAYS