episode 55: crunchwraps, creemees, chili
an ode to the Crunchwrap Supreme, learning about ice cream, and chili in Santa Fe!
wheeee life got busy and somehow we have gone a month sans newsletter!! sorry girlies, I spent too much time bopping and not enough time typey-typing, but we’re bacccccck!
an ode to the Crunchwrap 💓
with so much pride, i’m summarizing a NYT profile on the best Taco Bell item to grace this earth, the Crunchwrap Supreme <3 the crunchwrap was introduced onto Taco Bell’s menu in 2005 and became the chain’s fastest-selling menu item in their history. it has also become an unlikely inspiration for chefs to iterate: “They reinterpret its nostalgic layers — ground beef, nacho cheese, a tostada shell, lettuce, tomato and sour cream enrobed by a 12-inch flour tortilla — with ingredients that are deeply personal.” the piece highlights restaurants and chefs across the country who have made the Crunchwrap their own — using ingredients from different cultures, like a Thai Crunchwrap, or with better-spiced veggies (I had a really great one at Superburrito in NYC!). Lois Carlson, the inventor of the Crunchwrap, said that her bosses initially told her that it wouldn’t work, it would be too slow to fold up, but the menu addition solved the problem that TBell didn’t serve a sandwich, and hard-shelled tacos were too messy to eat in the car. Lois, we owe you everything!
i’ve made manyyyy of these at home — the trick is getting an appropriately large tortilla as the base. if you want to try your hand, here is a NYT recipe, I like the use of adobo sauce here!
food and murder! 🔪
over the last month I read a book called Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki, where a journalist named Rika becomes enthralled with the story of a female serial killer, Kaiji, who lured in victims with her cooking skills. the book explores a lot of themes, including feminism, complex friendships, Japanese societal expectations of women, all through discussion of food and pleasure. in the story, Kaiji teaches Rika how to cook for herself and appreciate all the complexities of tasting and appreciating food in order to learn to cook. this idea stuck with me - that tasting is crucial to learning how to cook — both things go hand in hand.
my war with fruit flies 🪰
every spring and summer I find myself waging a war against fruit flies and drain flies. I swear I clean!!! but they lay eggs freaky fast!!! so, how do we ultimately get rid of them? to start, you need to keep your kitchen really clean and throw out anything that could be rotting. then, you can lay out DIY traps (the old ACV and dish soap dealio) or purchase traps for the flies. to get rid of drain flies, throw some ice down the garbage disposal and then flush it out with hot water to get rid of food bits that the flies have laid eggs on. fingers crossedddd!
wtf is a “soft boy cook” 👨🍳
…I said to myself when I saw this headline from NYT, and the comments on Instagram (if harsh) also were skeptical. the piece, written by Eric Kim, highlights internet darling chefs Pierce Abernathy, Jonah Reider, and Chuck Cruz. “I’ve come to call them ‘soft boy cooks,’ everything the cultural bent toward protein-maxxing and large hunks of beef is not.” (so basically, they’re cooking like…women?) the profile goes on to discuss the style of these chefs who shy away from the outward masculinity/loudness of their male counterparts, which lends to the “soft boy” moniker. ultimately a little clickbaity but I like these chefs, so i’ll take it.
the history of Dan’s Cafe 🍶
if you’ve ever been 22 years old in DC you’ve been to the iconic Dan’s Cafe. in recent years, the bar has been known as a messy no-frills weekend haunt serving liquor in clear plastic squeeze bottles. little did I know, the spot is really a historical relic, run by a man named Clinnie Dickens for decades until February when he passed at age 91. Raman Sandra for Washington City Paper wrote this fantastic piece unearthing the 100-year history of the establishment, its owners, how the squirt bottles came to be, and the bar’s many run-ins with the law from patrons’ drunken debauchery. highly recommend reading the whole thing!
New England milkshakes and soft serves 🍦
New England y’all are wacky! I talked to a few people recently who were from/had visited Rhode Island and Vermont and I learned some interesting facts about y’all’s ice cream treats. first off is the Rhode Island Awful Awful. what in the world is that, you may ask? its a dessert drink from Newport Creamery that’s a milkshake-like beverage, flavored syrup mixed with milk instead of ice cream. “A customer drank a 24-ounce serving and called it ‘awful big and awful good,’ according to the New England Historical Society. Awful awful.” what a silly name!
now the Vermonters have the creemee, which is (basically) a soft serve but, creamier? the dessert has a slightly higher fat content than traditional soft serve, and use air which makes the texture lighter. maple is an iconic flavor for many shops, but others have branched out with fun flavors like strawberry and basil. brb booking a trip up north!
other foodie news 🌎
sorry sorry I missed a lot over the last month! here is a summary:
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants released their list, with Maido in Lima, Peru taking the top spot.
2025 James Beard Restaurant Awards were released, with Carlos Delgado from Amazonia/Causa winning Best Mid-Atlantic Chef as the only DMV-area winner.
NYT released its Top 100 list for NYC, with Semma, a south Indian spot topping the list.
Food Network chef Anne Burrell passed away.
NYT hired two new food critics, Tejal Rao and Ligaya Mishan to fill Pete Wells’ spot.
restaurant reviews: Santa Fe and more! 🌯
I went on a trip with my college friends to Santa Fe the other weekend, for which I was in charge of the food planning. thanks to all of you good people and your recommendations, we had some fantastic meals! my favorites were Izanami, where we had these incredible sesame noodles and probably the best chirashi bowl i’ve ever had. I loved the mushroom tlayuda I had at Paloma, and then the dinner at The Shed was really solid, my first time having a burrito with chili! honorable mentions to the really good (but sad looking) breakfast burrito from Betterdays, plus the breakfast burritos from Palacio. more things should we topped with chili!
bonus — I got to go to the PR preview for Karravaan, a new restaurant at Union Market here in DC. I loved these drinks, I got the Spiced Martini and tried a fantastic caramelized shallot dip with pita — see more below!
f*cked up food 🤢
NFT.
dc happenings 📝
openings
Bub and Pop’s gearing up for new NoMa location!
Oro Nami, kosher sushi opening Foggy Bottom
Moya, an Ethiopian and Mexican taqueria opening in Shaw
Casa Mia, coffee and restaurant opened on 14th St
oooo Dog Haus opening in Van Ness
Cork opening in Cleveland Park
old Big Hunt space is future home to Wok and Roll
Kayu of H St has new DuPont circle location
Char’D Burgers coming to 14th and T
Maison Bar à vins coming to Adam’s Morgan on Columbia Rd
Pasha Castle Cafe on Penn Ave open
NYC spot H&H Bagels in Mt Vernon
Slice & Pie opening in Union Market
ZomTum Laos Thai Bistro opening on Eastern Market
Tony Cheng’s reopened in Chinatown
Greek ice cream shop, Yala, opening in Georgetown
Marcus DC from Marcus Samuelsson opened
Lost Sock Roasters opened in NoMa
Wolfgang Puck coming to Union Station
Beuchert’s Saloon closed on Capitol Hill
new Slipstream Coffee coming to 19th St
Taylor Gourmet opening in Dupont
St. Bart new French place coming to Moi Moi spot
closures
a longer roundup of DC area closures
El Centro closing in Georgetown
Duffy’s Dupont closed
Alero closed on U St
Jerk Pit closed on 18th St
Halfsmoke closed in Shaw
home cooking: party time! 🧑🍳
last month my friend and I hosted a dinner party, which was so so fun! so many things were on the menu (we were not chill lol):
drinks and bites: negroni with a twist (an olive!), gildas (olive, white anchovy, pippara pepper)
appetizers: melon with dukkah, tuna crudo
main: handmade spinach pasta with burratta
dessert: pavlova with whipped cream and fresh berries + mint
also I hosted a brunch for Sundress Fest, an annual Columbia Heights day party/fundraiser. for food, we made a ton of deviled eggs, some basic tea sandwiches, a big fruit salad, and Trader Joe’s mini croissants. the sandwiches and the croissants were a huge hit! and then I had deviled eggs for a whole week as leftovers! for drinks we did mimosas, carajillos, and pickle lemonade, which yes, everyone loved! i’m serious!
other things i’ve made (or been sous chef to) include the salmon poke bowls pictured, a lot of salads with kale, and i’m back on my smoothie grind too. also getting excited for tomato season soon!!!
bye everyone have a good week!
Pavlova is my all time favourite
Feetza made me lol, and the crunchwrap is one of the greatest food inventions of the 21st century 😎