episode ten: coffee, coffee cocktails, Mexican Food and Mexico City
happy 10th newsletter! we're talking about coffee shops, coffee cocktails, Mexican food in DC and my Mexico City food recommendations!!
the world’s 50 best restaurants list
huge! the list is out! the 50 Best Restaurants List from 50 Best was released this week. of course, these restaurants are very fine-dining focused and I don’t recognize….many of these names haha. i’ve only been to two on this list, Pujol in CDMX (which probably deserves this ranking) as well as Rosetta (which I am surprised about!). only two restaurants from the US made the cut, Atomix and Le Bernardin in NYC. the list/organization has been criticized for its overrepresentation of western cuisine and styles, underrepresentation of female chefs, and this year’s list didn’t feature any restaurants in Africa or India. 🧐 to see how many you’ve been to, and to read more about the list and how its decided, click here.
mexico city 4 u!
my recap post on Mexico City is finally done! i’ve listed all the restaurants we visited and my reviews of each spot separated out by meal type, plus some extra places we didn’t hit that came recommended to us. please look at the list so I can justify paying for a domain name for aditieats.com lol. <3
also, I made a public Google Maps saved list that includes the total recommendations that you can save to your maps app! hopefully, this is useful to y’all too.
for your summer ice cream needs
do you need to know the best vanilla ice cream to pair with your grilled peaches and root beer floats this summer? BA has gotchu! they did a blind taste test of popular grocery store vanilla ice creams and rated each one. they totally ripped on Edy’s vanilla, calling it “sickly and fake” (!!!!) and the Target brand Favorite Day won out on balanced flavor - but overall best went to Ben and Jerry’s. you can read more here.
professional food tasters (how do I get this job!?)
speaking of grocery stores! my latest tiktok find is a company called Sporked, where their job is to taste test and review grocery store items. the Buzzfeed-esque media group is also related to Good Mythical Morning, if that was ever your flavor of YouTube videos. Sporked does reviews of food categories, like Target bagged salads or Truly seltzer flavors, but they also do new flavors of products/niche flavors of very specific snack items, like this flavor of Mountain Dew (rated 7.5 sporks!) the Wendy’s brand canned chili (9.5 sporks!) or the Sunny D vodka seltzer (4 sporks!). my favorite are the end of the week roundups of the best things they tasted that week. if you’re a “let’s try random things from the grocery store” kind of person, Sporked might be for you!
DC’s “mini mexico”
yes yes, Mexican food in DC is perhaps slightly lacking, but there are some great options in what the Washingtonian has called “Mini Mexico” (what a cute name!) this list is a great start to find your go-to summer margarita. my favorite from this list are Taqueria Habanero, but Mezcalero is definitely a close second. Tequila and Mezcal and DC Corazon are both solid too, and i’m excited to try Cinco Soles as well!
so, what’s the deal with blank street coffee?
what seems like very suddenly, we started to see these minimalist and distinctly green (fern-green, as google tells us) coffee shops pop up all around big cities in the US and UK. NYT did a big profile on this company, Blank Street Coffee, last year, and it seems to be slightly problematic for some, and a simple quick-stop coffee shop for others. their philosophy is described as, “a micro-cafe that would be cheaper and more welcoming than Starbucks, with better coffee than Dunkin’ and more ubiquitous than any independent coffee shop or chain.” its an interesting concept - not trying to be the best product, but seeking out the convenience and frequency market with a more efficient technology in their espresso machine, making a slightly cheaper product. it’s a tech company making coffee, essentially, with lots of venture capital and private equity backing. there’s a lot more nuance to this issue, raising questions about what good coffee is, and the role of automation in the industry, which you can read more about here.
it does remind me though, of the same conversation we’ve been having in D.C. around the bakery market - the influx of chains like Tatte and Maman drawing customers away from local spots, recognizing that it is inherently easier for a chain with regional name recognition to secure valuable real estate compared to a local small business, pushing local restaurants out of the market.
I did try the Blank Street coffee today and kind of agree, solid coffee, not the best i’ve had, but interesting flavors and does the job. I was pleased to see their pastries were from the local shop Green Almond Pantry. yes, I could be going to local spots like Slipstream or TCB instead of Blank Street, but different shops meet different moments, and different needs for everyone. coffee is so complicated!
restaurant review: chang chang
Chef Peter Chang’s first DC spot opened up last fall and I finally got to go last week. in my opinion, Chang Chang lives up to the hype! we got to try so many things with a big group and I really enjoyed it all — the szechuan cauliflower was so fun and I enjoyed the Peking duck (my first time trying duck!). the interior of the restaurant is so calming and beautiful too. you can read more about the opening of the spot in this piece here!
f*cked up foods
leaving you with a very wholesome RADish pun, and a suggestion for your next morning coffee (hey, its not that crazy, we did have the butter coffee thing….)
d.c. happenings
Hatoba in Navy Yard is closed :/
SEOULSPICE in Navy Yard opened
Honey’s on Connecticut Ave is a new version of Little Red Fox
new dessert bar called Poppin Mess opening on U St
the millionth restaurant to open in this space, Tamashaa Indian Bar on 14th and Kenyon
Lidl grocery store in Columbia Heights opening on 6/28
Happy Gyro has rebranded their name to Gemini
Eat Brgz in Chinatown closed
home cooking: carajillo
it is carajillo summer!!! remember when I said the espresso martini is out? well carajillos are in! this is a drink that originated in Spain and has gotten popular in Mexico. it’s SO simple! literally a 1:1 ratio of Licor 43, a sweet vanilla/citrus liquor, and a shot of espresso. fill a cocktail shaker with lots of ice, add a shot of Licor and the espresso, shake and serve over ice. try it out!!
have a lovely weekend, all!
yum!!!
i had never heard of 50 best. Take a look at Opinionated About Dining. Pretty comprehensive, and based on reviews from people who have dined at the restaurants. There have to be a certain number of reviews before a restaurant will be included. http://www.opinionatedaboutdining.com/2023/2023_index.html