episode 30: croissants, cosmopolitans, and caviar ice cream

this week we’re talking about croissants in the DMV, cosmopolitans, and a fancy caviar ice cream sundae!

wooow! the big 3-0 episode! this newsletter has more episodes than years of my life! I guess we could’ve said that when we hit 29, but oh well. thank you all for your continued readership for this little project of mine! now let’s get into it.

salad-size me? 🥗

the premise of the movie Super Size Me was to conduct an experiment about the American fast food industry and highlight how terrrrrrible a diet of fast food is for one’s health. but is it necessarily better if you replace that daily McD’s with a salad? in our current day to day, fast food has been somewhat replaced by the advent of fast casual food, like Chopt, Chipotle, Cava, etc. these chains boast specialist, bigger, and maybe “healthier” made-to-order meals. so, Adam Reiner for Eater decided to do 30 days of eating only Sweetgreen, a chain salad shop, for lunch and dinner (they don’t do breakfast).

“A week in, my diet has become overly optimized. There’s a carefully engineered sameness to Sweetgreen meals that begins to feel very McDonald’s-like after a while. Even though I finish every bite of every salad, bowl, and plate, I still feel hungry all the time.”

the piece is very interesting, and draws many parallels to the Morgan Spurlock film and the assertions it makes, translated to a 2024 world that has a very different, yet similar attitude to nutrition. it talks about the symbolism of Sweetgreen and its representation of a successful and virtuous lifestyle, the company’s integration with technology, and its sustainability as a business. definitely recommend reading more of the full piece here.

welch’s vodka! 🧃

move over alcoholic Sunny D, a new juicy-adult beverage is in town! Welch’s, our favorite fruit snack and juice company is venturing into the canned drink space with Welch’s Craft Cocktails, made with their own real fruit juice. they come in different flavors like a vodka cranberry, a transfusion with grape and lime, and even a watermelon mule. the drinks will be available in over 20 states.

i’m not adding this to my ice cream list… 🍦

the most expensive sundae

Pineapples & Pearls is a 2-Michelin star restaurant in Capitol Hill known for its luxe vibe, and as highlighted in this piece, is home to one of the most extravagant ice cream dishes I’ve ever heard of. this over-the-top sundae station dessert is $150 (on top of their $345 dinner!) the dish comes with ice cream and a crystal tray of toppings, including gummy bears, sprinkles…and caviar!!

the inspiration for the dessert came from lockdown, when the restaurant had black truffles that were about to go unused due to the lack of customers, so they poached and soaked the truffles in alcohol for preservation. years later, the amaretto used to soak the truffles is mixed into the ice cream base. it’s served with Albanese gummy bears, fried shoestring potatoes, sable cookies, a butterscotch sauce, and whipped cream. so, who is gonna get me a P&P gift card??

sietsema says! 🗞️

Tom Sietsema, the WaPo food critic, is noting some trends that not only include what we’re eating, but how we’re eating too. restaurants are embracing unusual hours, like opening later in the evening or closing during slower days of the week like Tuesdays and Wednesdays, steakhouses are offering more vegetable-based options to appeal to a bigger crowd, and restaurants are denying big group reservations to prioritize the churn of small groups at more tables. these trends are very interesting, and reflect the new actions businesses are taking to survive.

the food critic also came out with a list of the best new restaurants in the area. Pascual, a Mexico City-inspired restaurant tops this list, which looks incredible, and I’ve been dying to try Bar del Monte as well. I don’t totally agree with El Presidente’s spot on this list but I loved my visit to La Bonnie Vache. let me know what y’all think about his roundup!

creative croissants 🥐

nothing like a flaky croissant and a coffee on a Saturday AM walk! Nevin Martell for Washingtonian did a fun roundup of croissants around the DMV. while I wish this was DC only, he did highlight some favorites like Seylou, Yellow (that z’aatar labneh croissant, omg), and Petite Cerise for some creative local options. might I also add Saku Saku Flakerie, Soleluna, and Bread Furst for their croissants as well! check out the list with some pics, here.

now that we don’t have Foxtrot gummies… 🍬

…here are some bougie/“healthier” alternatives for your gummy bear needs. BA did a list of some gummy bear brands doing alternatives to the Haribos of our youth (and adulthood) that have less artificial sugar and no high fructose corn syrup. instead, these gummies have allulose or monk fruit to sweeten the candy and even grass-fed gelatin to bind it together - fancy! of this list, the Better Sour ones in calamansi flavor look so good, and I definitely want to try the Blobs ones for their fun name, haha.

the court has spoken! tacos are sandwiches! 🌮

yes, this is real! an actual judge has ruled that a taco is indeed, a sandwich! an Indiana Judge decided that tacos and burritos are “Mexican-style sandwiches” in a case that centered the zoning policy for a property where a restaurant called Famous Taco was applying to open shop. however, the policy prohibited fast food establishments, but allowed exceptions for restaurants that primarily sell “made-to-order” sandwiches, like at Subway. in this application dispute, the judge ruled that the policy “does not restrict potential restaurants to only American cuisine-style sandwiches” allowing “Mexican-style sandwiches” like tacos and burritos, or even Greek gyros, Indian naan wraps, or Vietnamese banh-mis.

this is actually not even the first time the courts have considered the issue of food categorization. in direct contradiction, a Massachusetts judge ruled in 2006 that tacos and burritos were not sandwiches in a similar zoning policy case. you can read more from the Washington Post on this, here.

the illegal raw milk trade 🥛

did you know that it is very easy to buy (very illegal) raw milk? I did not! a writer for Stat News here in DC wrote an article about this interstate food trade issue. he even bought some raw milk from a seller in NW DC as a part of his investigation, in the same city of the FDA’s headquarters. the FDA is doing nothing to stop the illegal interstate trade of unpasteurized milk. why is this happening?? well, sellers are calling the product “pet milk” under the guise of giving the milk to pet owners to feed to their dogs and cats (wink wink) instead of human consumption. because its allegedly not for humans, the trade is overlooked by FDA, which has only issued a handful of warnings to interstate raw milk shippers in the last 30+ years. in addition, punishing these milk producers would mean opposing small farmers, which is never a good look for the agency.

this is very dangerous, as the trade of raw milk has been linked to the spread of bird flu amongst dairy cows, and months after the outbreak was first reported, two humans have now caught the virus. it’s almost like there’s good reason to kill bacteria!!! the raw milk enthusiasts allege that killing the bacteria decreases the milk’s nutritional value - and when asked about the possibility of H5N1 risk, well, they think viruses are fake! convenient! read more here.

what makes blueberries blue? 🫐

have you noticed that blending blueberries makes your smoothie purple, not blue? well this is because there isn’t actually any blue pigment in the fruit at all. the blue of the blueberry comes from the cloudy-ish wax on the skin of the fruit. if you rub off the wax it looks white, but when you crystallize the wax, it becomes blue. this is because the wax helps to form nanostructures at the microscopic level that interact with light, reflecting the color blue to the human eye. ~~ science!!! ~~

oui oui smelly stamps 💌

the smelly stamp in question

do you like walking around with a baguette in your tote bag? well now you can mail that scent of fresh bread - if you have a Parisian lover, that is! as France prepares to showcase its culture ahead of the Summer Olympics, they have released a stamp with a picture of a little baguette on it with a French flag-colored ribbon. unveiled on May 16, the feast day of Saint Honoré (the patron saint of bakers) the stamp is suitable for international letters, and imprinted with a scratch-and-sniff coating that has a freshly-baked-bread with fragrance. yum!

restaurant review: some beveraginos! 🧋

instead of highlighting just one restaurant for this section, I wanted to highlight some tasty beveraginos I’ve had in the last few weeks! links below to my posts with more info!

• Hibiscus Cinnamon Fizz from Ellē: this is essentially an espresso tonic with a cinnamon and hibiscus syrup, it was so balanced and tasty! I absolutely love an espresso tonic, the tonic makes the espresso tastes much less bitter, so refreshing for summer.

• Clarified Orange Julius and Midori Ecto-Cooler at Your Only Friend: Ohhhhh my goodness, this clarified orange julius tastes like a smoothie I swear - but in a clear drink! The cocktails at Your Only Friend are truly stellar, but this one really takes the cake, its so nostalgic but elevated and well-rounded. I also tried a Midori drink that was sweet and fruity and fun - truly haven’t had a bad cocktail here.

• Vermouth at Lise and Vito: this wine bar in Greenpoint was so cute and the bartenders were the coolest, I got a couple glasses of vermouth served straight up that were super tasty!

• Gemini, a seaweed cocktail at Service Bar: never a bad drink at Service Bar! a few weeks ago we tried this drink thats a part of their Zodiac series called the Gemini that came with seaweed on the side — so fascinating and so tasty. the drink was herbal and briny, perfect for a savory person like me. on another visit I got the Horchata Colada too (I can’t stay away!)

f*cked up food

just in time for summer!

D.C. happenings

• Bar Japonais finally close to opening on 14th

• so many people went to the new ice cream shop Malai on opening they sold out of ice cream!

• The Charmery, a Baltimore ice cream shop coming to Walter Reed

• Boston’s Lehrhaus “jewish tavern” coming next year

• Pasha Cafe coming to Capitol Hill

• Baan Mae opened in old Hanumanh space in Shaw

• San Pancho burrito spot opening next to Cielo Rojo in Takoma Park

• Good Company Doughnuts opened in Waterfront

• Three Fifty Bakery opened 17th St location this week

• Raising Canes allegedly coming to Georgetown

• Z Burger/Maman Joon opened in Columbia Heights

• protests + notes outside of Wydown after their abrupt closure (RIP to the best cinnamon roll in the city)

• Tamashaa in Columbia Heights finally opened!

• Flavor Garden in Van Ness closed

• Eatopia Eatery, Ethiopian food, opened on U St

home cooking

so much cooking lately! a summary by category below.

• dinner party: back on the carrot cocktail grind, made this Carrot Cosmo which has carrot juice and ginger syrup, one of my favs. also did this batched Cosmo (can you tell I’ve been watching Sex and the City) and this beautiful snap pea and burrata salad. these were a hit at my friend’s spring dinner party!

• salmon: made a few salmon dishes for dinner, including this salmon nicoise salad from BA and this lemon pepper salmon from Carolina Gelen.

• chicken: I am finally a part of the rotisserie chicken club (so much meat! already cooked for you!! for so cheap!!! what a steal!!!) and its perfect for a girly who is scared to cook raw chicken like me. turned that rotisserie chicken into pita sandwiches, nachos, and a tasty chicken salad on crispbread and lasted many meals.

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  that’s all folks! have a great Memorial Day Weekend!