episode nine: fancy ketchup and cupcake bears
in this episode we discuss the death of fancy ketchup, the death of QR codes, and a bear demolishing some cupcakes in connecticut!!
its sandwich szn!
while my #1 outdoor food activity is a pastry walk, a sandwich sit is a close second. I saw a creator do a sandwich + park pairing for NYC and so i’ve started one here too! please comment with any ideas you have to add!
Sundevich + Carnegie Library Park —> the sundevich sandwiches are massive and this combo was real big for me during covid. yes I know this is an apple store but the lawn is a park and its great!!
So’s Your Mom + Kalorama Park —> so’s your mom is cheap and easy and awesome, and Kalorama is so peaceful!!
Each Peach or Nido + Malcom X —> I know both of these shops are in Mt. Pleasant and its a little bit of a walk from Meridian, but I think these are the best spots in walking distance, and savoring your Each Peach or Nido experience will make that sammy even more worth it!!
Meats + Foods or Big Bear Cafe + Crispus Attucks Park —> Crispus is the best the best the best park in D.C. there’s not a lot of super-close food (and bathroom!) options right by, but Meads + Foods is a sausage sandwich shop nearby that is very loved, though I have never tried. Big Bear is close too, but they have such a great patio you could just stay there! if you all have vegetarian-friendly sandwich options near Crispus please let me know!
Compliments Only + Francis Dog Park/P St Beach/Whatever its called —> get your crunchy boi and scoot over to Francis field, and then you can continue into Georgetown for dessert!
this is just a start! please send me your favorite sandwich and park pairings in the comments below!
tunes for that sandwich walk
and if you want some music to listen to during your little park hang, the aditieats aditibops playlist is updated and now over 10 hours long lol!!! enjoy!!
ice ice bb
not sure about you but I have fully entered icetok - where people use a myriad of contraptions to make the prettiest of ice cubes at home. we are obsessed with iced drinks (s/o to the loyal iced-coffee-in-all-weather girlies) and here comes huge news - Starbucks is replacing their ice with pellet ice! people love pellet ice, plus, apparently these machines use less water.
there are actually reasons to use different shapes of ice - pellet ice is made from ice flakes that are compressed together, which means its absorbent of the drink’s flavor. pebble ice, is small pieces of ice broken off from ice chunks, which melts slower but melts into water. Americans in particular loooove ice/ it was an American entrepeneur who had the inspired idea to take clear lake ice in New England and sell it, and put it inside of our drinks. so, for all the pellet ice people, look towards your local Starbucks location soon to get that tasty ice for your coffee.
(I love) the death of QR code menus!
thank god, we are coming to the end of the QR code menu! of course, they came to prominence out of need for distance during the height of the pandemic but at this point, the customer interaction with these is overwhelmingly negative - “They are almost universally disliked,” as quoted in this NYT article about their demise. just some of the many reasons: 1. its rude to take your phone out at the table! 2. the server becomes an “order robot” 3. its kind of dehumanizing? 4. its a romance killer! 5. it can be expensive for the restaurant to pay for! i generally think unless the menu viewing, ordering, and payment is all integrated into the service, like with Toast, its pointless and I don’t like it. i hope it dies! the end!
(I hate) the death of fancy ketchup
i am a proud ketchup truther! i think all potatoes and eggs (yes controversial i know) should be smothered in ketchup! maybe it’s because i just discovered the world of fancy ketchup a few years ago (i am a Maya kaimal / brooklyn delhi curry ketchup fiend) but th8s TASTE article says that fancy ketchup is dead :( it’s actually fairly true, many brands like Sir Kensington’s and Brooklyn Delhi that came out with ketchup that had a slightly different flavors have closed or are discontinuing those products, sales are generally not good. why? people just love Heinz! they have and have continued to completely dominate the market, so it’s really hard for smaller brands to scale to that level. one point i hadn’t thought about, is that ketchup is heavily served in a food service setting, at restaurants, where often you don’t have a choice of brand, so people get so used to it, there’s less of an appetite for variations. “If they’re only going to serve one ketchup, it has to be universally liked by all ages. Restaurants have a million things to worry about, and nobody’s going to complain about Heinz ketchup.” hence, the slow death of fancy ketchup. brb while i go buy the rest of Brooklyn Delhi ketchups stick at my whole foods….
if you give a bear a cupcake
turns out bears love cupcakes, and especially cupcakes from this bakery in connecticut! a worker was loading a truck with cupcakes when all of a sudden a bear entered the garage! the bear started dragging boxes of cupcakes and eating them in the corner, and returned three times to get more. he ate 60 cupcakes and a bunch of coconut cake, it was reported. man has good taste! turns out this bakery is a bear ,agent, a bear sighting earlier in the month was at a 2 year old’s bday in the park and turns out the snacks were also cupcakes from Spellbound! don’t worry the bear is safe and has been treated! maybe this is the sequel to Cocaine Bear…..
nutrition myths (maintenance phase lite)
[TW: food+body] if you are at all interested in the research that works to dismantle the decades + centuries long complex of diet culture in our society, Maintenance Phase is an incredible podcast you should look at. they deep dive into common myths about health that we’ve been taught our whole lives. but! if you want a little primer, this NYT article has a nice concise list of some common myths debunked by certified nutritionists. here’s a summary: canned and frozen foods are good for you! calories in, calories out, is really not true! plant milk isn’t really “healthier” than dairy milk (dairy gang rise!) to read more click here.
the compounding costs of food delivery
we’ve all known that while food delivery apps are convenient for user choice, it can get expensive very fast with the addition of delivery fees and commission cuts. where exactly is that money going? WaPo did a little experiment, and ordered the same food through different delivery apps plus the restaurant directly. obviously, the restaurant makes more money when the customer picks up the food directly, and less of your money is going to others too. it was interesting to see how differently the big companies present their fees, and how their cut, the drivers payout, and the companies’ profit. click through or read here to see more!
indian food in DC
what is the best Indian food in DC? i’ve been asked this a lot and always have a slightly different answer. truth be told, I don’t eat indian food at restaurants a ton, but when I do, I like trying things that I don’t cook at home - street food! oh, and Rasika is overrated.
a creator for InsidersDC who has tried all of the Indian spots in DC did a good roundup organized by price point: Daru and Karma Modern Indian for fine dining, Pappe and Bombay Street Food for mid-tier, and Vegz and Indigo for cheaper. I totally endorse Bombay Street Food and Indigo, and have been wanting to try Daru and Vegz for a whole now. who is coming with me???
restaurant: toki underground
okay fiiiiiinally I went to Toki Underground a few weeks ago and it was so good!! the dan dan noodles rocked, the cloud shrimp bao were so fluffy, the pickle plate (YES!) and the miso cookies at the end!! you can also get drinks at The Pug downstairs and bring them up if you have a wait. would recommend getting a reso early because its a small space that fills up fast, but I can’t wait to go again!
f*cked up food
in time for summer, two new ice cream sandwiches for you all!! :)


d.c. happenings
Tim Ma opens Any Day Now (the chef behind ABC Pony) yummm scallion pancake breakfast sandwich!
NYC bagel maker H&H is planning 10 D.C. stores
SakuSaku Flakerie temporary closing “for negotiations”
Indian egg restaurant, Eggholic opening - cool New Yorker review here
Seven Reasons is closing by end of year
Spot of Tea (the BEST boba) doing a standalone store in DuPont, across from Emissary
Luna Food Hall soft opening
new Turkish spot, Pasha Castle in Georgetown
Nando’s closing…and opening
Two Tattes - Farragut Square and 14th St openings
recipe: the Graza Gibson
okay I gave in and got the Graza olive oil (it was on sale, okay!) and immediately made this “Graza Gibson” by Drinks by Evie - and yes it has black pepper and olive oil on top! my pictures are sad compared to hers from it so here is the little video! I do like the cocktail onion and yes I will make it again!
that’s it folks, happy June, and tune in for more!