episode 13: restaurant week and tomato season
DC Summer Restaurant week, a crunchwrap scandal, and everything tomatoes!!
restaurant week is upon us!!!
its D.C. summer restaurant week from August 28-September 3, which is exciting, but also annoying because GOD the Restaurant week website is SO BAD! the actual deal ($25 brunch/lunch, $40 or $55 dinner) makes sense - but the platform is so awful!!! RAMW never uploads the restaurant week-specific menus consistently to the website, the data fueling the search functions is often outdated, the search interface is slow and hard to navigate, and many restaurants that end up participating don’t “register” through RAMW so there’s no comprehensive view of all your options. (also, RAMW has had its share of scandals too). plus…there are a lot of restaurants that participate that are aggressively mediocre and not worth your money even at a discount, much less at regular prices.
but! if you still want to participate even after this rant - I scoured the list and did a bit of the research for you. here are my takes of everything currently on the RAMW site:
you should try (these are generally good restaurants OR have particularly good deals for Restaurant Week): All-Purpose, Bar Chinois, Caruso’s Grocery, Chiko, Chloe, Daikaya Izakaya, Dauphine’s, Due South, Duke’s Grocery, Immigrant Food, l’ardente, Laos in Town, Little Coco’s, Oyamel, Perry’s, Pisco y Nazca, Rasika, The Sovereign, Supra, Tabla, Taqueria Xochi, The Royal, Tonari, Unconventional Diner, Zaytinya, Zeppelin
I want to try (haven’t been/have heard good things about/on my list for this year): Annabelle, Café Riggs, China Chilcano, Cranes, El Centro, El Secreto de Rosita, Gravitas, Jaleo, La Collina, Paraiso, Petite Cerise, Sababa, Sushi Taro, Shibuya Eatery/Death Punch, Stable
Don’t go here (I have had a bad experience here/Its mid pls don’t waste your money): Ambar (ok at brunch its meh), Boqueria, Chaplin’s (good drinks mid food), Cuba Libre, literally anything from Farmers - Founding Farmers, Farmers Fishers Bakers, Farmers & Distillers, Gypsy Kitchen, Mi Vida, Officina (they can’t even do carbonara right!), Ophelia’s, The Smith, The Grill from Ipanema, Sequoia, Shaw’s Tavern, Urban Roast
you can fight me in the comments if you disagree with my recs, or just ignore me! happy eating!
TOMATO SZN <3
tomato season is in full swing! our favs at Cooks Illustrated did an infographic series for “Tomato Week” that contained a lot of helpful tips, which i’ve summarized below.
yes, you can refrigerate your tomatoes, it does not impact the flavor and in fact, it extends its shelf life for 5 more days.
slice and drain your tomatoes on paper towels if you’re adding them to a salad, that way they absorb more dressing and the salad doesn’t get too soggy. seeding tomatoes doesn’t make a difference in flavor vs. keeping the seeds, if that is a texture thing for you.
after testing many canned tomatoes, San Merican Crushed Tomatoes won on the balance of sweetness and acidity. another helpful graphic for choosing which canned tomatoes to cook with is here too.
a very helpful breakdown of different types of tomatoes you see at the supermarket here.
speaking of tomatoes, my mom very kindly sent me tomatoes from her garden in Iowa, and I have been eating them all week NYT style - on toasted sourdough, with mayo + shredded cheddar and some flaky salt on top. recipe is here and pics below!
no more celebs in the kitchen
yes we were all wondering why tf Lana Del Rey was pictured behind the counter at a Waffle House recently. we know girly does not need the money, so was this just some weirdo social experiment? turns out yes, kinda. Lana, Prince William, and David Letterman were all pictured “working” at restaurants or stores, and turns out its all just weird PR hiding behind a facade of rich people feigning normalcy. it sounds cool to have David Letterman hand you groceries at Hy-Vee but it is soooo out of touch for someone who never even shops for themselves. “In an industry and time in which most servers are overworked and underpaid, though, it’s a decidedly un-cute look to try out a little bit of hourly labor as a treat.” can rich people just give away their money instead???
a history of food videos
have you ever watched a food video on the internet? of course you have you are a human who exists in the 21st century!! the style of food videos has really changed over the years, which (our GIRL!) Priya Krishna explains in a TikTok (below) for NYT. she goes through the history of cooking videos starting in the 40’s and 50’s, which were super instructional and technical. this vibe changed with Food Network in the 90s and the rise of conversational cooking shows by celebrity chefs. then came cooking videos on YouTube and the “hands and pans” style of video popularized by Tasty/Buzzfeed, where you don’t see a person, just the recipe being made by mystery hands (aka what I used to watch in college scrolling on my laptop in class. oops!)
she notes that TikTok changed the format of the “modern” cooking video, from which she named three emerging styles. 1) the “turbocharged MC,” is a charismatic host in front of a camera who cooks something, stylized with a lot of chaotic shots (like Owen Han) 2) the “gentle storyteller,” a host who tells a story in the background audio that often has nothing to do with the video as the visuals depict a recipe being made (like Justine Snacks) and 3) the “Mad Scientist,” where there is a dish made to induce outrage, something super ridiculous like a hot chocolate made of hot dog water (ew). the question is, do any of these videos teach us how to cook, she asks? I would argue yes, just in a different way than the past. see more in the video below!
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the great sherbet debate
if you say sherbet you’re right, and if you say sherbert, you’re just less right. we are deep into summer and you may be talking to your friends about ice cream, gelato, sorbet and other fun treats. but do you have a friend who insists the word “sherbet” is actually “sherbet”? let’s turn to our girl Merriam-Webster. the word originates from the Arabic word sharba meaning drink, as well as the Turkish and Persian words şerbet and sharbat, all of which decidedly do not have an “r”. “sherbert” was an 18th/19th century variation that basically is just lesser-used. either way, both words refer to the frozen dessert that has milk/cream, fruit juice, egg white/gelatin - which is not “sorbet”- which typically does not contain dairy. so, say it either way and you’re technically right - but sherbet is just….more correct :)
a crunchwrap scandal!!!
have you ever gotten a Taco Bell Crunchwrap and thought “well, this looks skimpy?” you’re not alone! some folks in NYC filed a class-action lawsuit recently against Taco Bell for false advertising, claiming that the Crunchwraps and Mexican Pizzas contained only half of the filling depicted in ads. Sylvie McNamara from The Washingtonian went on a journey to find out if Taco Bell lovers in the DMV were being scammed too. she visited a DMV Taco Bell, a local shop that makes a “muchwrap”, and even employed a volunteer to visit the TBell in Queens at the center of this suit on a very funny (and very scientific!!) journey. while it seems no one is really satisfied with the amount of filling in a Crunchwrap, is it worth a lawsuit? Read to determine your own conclusions!
“I would posit that what’s happened at Taco Bell is not deception, but a classic human dilemma: a clash between our impossible dreams and meager realities. In this life, we are—each of us—relentlessly served the skinny Crunchwrap while expecting it to look like the ad. That feeling is devastating. It stalks us at night. But this agony cannot be solved by the courts.”
more on restaurant service fees
and the service fee transparency debate continues! The Office of DC Attorney General Schwalb issued a Supplemental Business Advisory this week - which adds on to the guidance issued earlier this year explaining the legal obligation for restaurants listing a service fee to disclose those fees properly. it is one thing to say “we have a 20% service charge” but that gives the diner no information on where that fee goes - is it in place of a tip, or not? this SBA distinguishes between compliant and non-compliant disclosures showing that the restaurant needs to state where that fee is going - if its covering operational expenses and going towards the restaurant owners, or if it will be distributed to employees like a tip. it also directs restaurants to disclose those fees before you place your order, and it should not be buried in fine print. you can see this deck here for more examples.
restaurant review: literally everything in Hudson, NY but esp. Kittys <3
a few weekends ago we took a little girl’s trip to Hudson, NY which was so so lovely. my friend Ellie took the reins and planned all our food and WOW it was fantastic! the are really is a foodie destination, known for its excellent execution of the farm-to-table style. you can see a more comprehensive list of recommendations from Eater NY, though a little outdated.
for dinners, we had lovely meals at Feast & Floret and Gaskins (I swear these are the best food pictures i’ve taken ever!!). we got sandwiches from Otto’s Market and breakfast at Bartlett House (incredible English muffins). my two favorites were definitely Kitty’s (pictured below) and our huge sandwich spread at Quinnie’s (peep those beautiful pickled eggs!!) we also had some lovely wine at Bar Bene and a few visits to Grapefruit Wines, a natural wine shop - and some classic soft serve at Holy Cow! highly recommend for a lovely summertime foodie getaway.
f*cked up food
I hope they survive :(
d.c. happenings
Bindaas on Connecticut Ave closing and becoming a wine bar
Mexicue closed on 14th St
new spot coming to former space of The Pig
La Tejana taking a summer break until 8/22 (as will Martha Dear!)
Los Cinco Tacos opened on Florida Ave - open until 3am!
new Petite Maman on 19th St
new coffee shop coming to Kennedy St
a bunch of Corner Bakeries have closed
FREE ice cream sandwiches at new Moltn location in DuPont on 8/16
home cooking: miso corn rice cakes
a common theme in this home cooking section is “this would be so good if I didn’t f*ck up one element” and here is yet another example of the same! i’ve made this miso corn rice cake recipe before, and it turned out really nice - salty, chewy, and a little fresh note from the scallion. but then I went to make it again and just….totally burnt the rice cakes to the point they are were crispy and absolutely inedible :( I would suggest just ignoring the instructions on browning the rice cakes to avoid this risk - but its a great recipe to use up some of that summer corn with some pantry/fridge staples.
ty to all for reading this week!
I had the worst experience at Gravitas a few years back (SLOOOOOOW service, and very pretentiously-plated food, like a single fritter served in a bed of rice). Also the meal cost about as much as a plane ticket. Going for RW seems like the safest bet if you wind up making it there!
Loved this edition and the honest takes on restaurant week!