May 2010

We have been getting a lot of feedback from our readers lately, which is fantastic.

Our good friend Laura, from Life on the Potomac wanted to share a few tidbits from around the web with you:

• Do you have any ideas how many veggies you can eat for 100 Calories? I had no clue FitSugar put together a chart to show you how many veggies you can eat for around 100 calories. Did you know you can eat 36 spears of asparagus for only 106 calories?
• Laura was a big fan of this pasta maker attachment on The Kitchn. I kinda like it because it reminds me of the play-doh extruder I played with as a kid. But to be honest, I like to go old school and make it by hand.

Kelly emailed us asking for recommendations on a cheap but quality dinner in the Georgetown/Courthouse/Rosslyn area. I generally feel that most (if not all) of the restaurants by the water in Georgetown are overpriced garbage.  Just because you have a good view doesn’t mean you have to have expensive crappy food, does it? We suggested for a casual meal they check out TackleBox in Georgetown. If they wanted something a little bit nicer to check out two of our favorites – Guajillo and Me Jana.

@SnackDecision tweeted that I should buy my wife this PB&J Pouch. I think I learned my lesson on that one. Although, I will be attending a wedding this weekend, rocking my new (picture coming soon!) PB&J Cufflinks! Aww yeah!

@RedMangoCEO shared our review of Red Mango. CEO’s tweet about us. We’re kind of a big deal. Dan Kim, if you want to send us a bunch of free coupon’s for Red Mango to spread the word, that would be awesome.

Got a question? Need a recipe? Have an idea for a blog story? Email us at eatdrinkmore (at) gmail.com, or tweet us at EatDrinkMore

In other news…

• Equinox is opening soon. Y&H has pictures of the renovation and the new space looks amazing.
• Ripple, a new restaurant focused on locally sourced and seasonal dishes opens this weekend in Cleveland Park.
• EatMore DrinkMore went to Cantina Marina last night. Great time, it was our first time there. Great spot to have a few drinks on the water. Much less pretentious than the Georgetown scene.
• It’s Memorial Day weekend. Fire up the grill w/ one of our Lamb Burgers or check out these tips from BLT Steak on grilling an inexpensive steak dinner for four.

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Last night we had a chance to check out the new Red Mango in Clarendon. Whoever opened this place is a genius. A Frozen Yogurt shop –  summer, high traffic location and right next to a Yoga store (Lululemon) and a Washington Sports Club? Are you kidding me? This place is going to be printing money this summer.

It was my first time trying their yogurt and I was very impressed. The white peach was excellent and we topped it off with fresh blueberries. I love that they use fresh fruit as toppings and not the compote that you see at other establishments.  The yogurt only has 90 calories and they are open till 11! I always hated that TCBY in Ballston closed at nine. 9:30 – 10:30 is prime frozen yogurt time in the summer.

For our gentlemen readers, the guy girl ratio was easily 20 to 1, and every girl in the place was in a good mood. I heard at least five different female customers say “OH MY GOD!! THIS IS SOOO GOOD!!! LOVE IT!”. It got to be comical.

So if you’re a single guy, a frozen yogurt lover, or if you want a low calorie treat to cool off from ridiculously hot summer we are having, go check out Red Mango.  Say hi to me when you’re there, because I have a feeling my wife will be sending me there every night. Red Mango is certainly a million times better than the 100 Calorie Chips A-Hoy packs from Costco you are eating at home.

Red Mango – The Clarendon Commons
2831 Clarendon Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201
Phone: 571 431 7359
sun-thurs: 10:30am-10pm
fri-sat: 10:30am-11pm

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Last weekend I was in Napa with my girlfriends (winery post to come) so I hadn’t hung out with my husband in awhile.  Since he eats nothing but frozen pizza while I’m gone, I decided to make him a nice dinner to pair with some of the wine I bought.  I ended up making paninis with asiago, prosciutto and basil pesto plus strawberry, toasted walnut and feta salad. The whole thing was incredibly quick and easy and paired very nicely with my Elizabeth Pinot Noir from Baldacci Vineyards.

Prosciutto & Pesto Paninis (recipe is per panini):
2 slices of rustic whole wheat bread from Trader Joes (it is the best option for Paninis!)
3 thin slices of asiago cheese
2-3 torn leaves of basil
1-2 tablespoons pesto spread over the bread. Again, Trader Joes makes a really good jar version if you don’t want to make your own.
2-3 slices of prosciutto

Strawberry, toasted walnut and feta salad with balsamic vinaigrette
Chopped romaine, mixed greens or spinach (enough for two bowls)
Handful of sliced strawberries split between both bowls
1/3 cup of chopped walnuts toasted in a skillet split between both bowls
4 tablespoons of feta split between both bowls

Homemade balsamic vinaigrette:
Simply combine all ingredients below and whisk together

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 pinch salt
1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

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• Pupatella is “this-close” to opening. They may be opening tonight, if not tonight then may be Monday. I had a chance to try some pizza from their new oven and it was fantastic. My coworker described their Fried Risotto Balls as ‘heavenly’.
• For those of you that are curious, I ordered cufflink backs to make my peanut butter and jelly cufflinks. I am super excited about them.
• We went to Komi this week. We sat at the same table that Obama sat at. My butt feels presidential. Komi is amazing. I liked every single course, the highlights were the marscapone stuffed dates, the citrus – salted caramel balls, and the goat shoulder. Missy and I will have a detailed review up soon.
• EatMore DrinkMore was on FoodGawker this week. That was exciting. Oh and we were on What’s the Deal too! Oh and DC Blogs said we are one of the better DC Food Blogs going right now. We’re kind of awesome. Tell your friends.
• Do you ever read Ed Levine over at Slice or Serious Eats? If you don’t you should. Or perhaps you want to read his book about pizza? If you don’t like to read and you just like to eat pizza don’t worry- Edan MacQuaid is opening up a pizza shop this June in Falls Church – Pizzeria Orso.  Who is Edan? He has worked at 2Amy’s, Pizza Paradiso and Red Rocks. Ed Levine called him “the best pizza guy on the East Coast.” - Source
• Leslie Kelly used to be a Critic and now she is trying her hand at becoming a chef. Check out her column onSerious Eats.
• Lots of buzz about Acqua al 2 in Capitol Hill. I need to get over there. I have been hearing very very good things about that place.
• The food truck universe - Tim Carman . I had an awesome sub the other day at Rebel Heroes. I wish all restaurants had bottles of Sriracha handy.
• Eric Ripert is speaking tonight at the Warner Theater with Anthony Bourdain. Y&H does an interview with him this week.  As much as I love Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain, I am not a huge fan of these types of events. You pay a bunch of money to see a famous chef speak, and afterwards you felt like you just spent $100 to watch the Food Network/Travel Channel for an hour.
• Did you join a CSA this year? If you did, send us a picture and a description of your weekly bounty and we’ll post the best one on the blog. CSA’s are sexy. Britt and I are members of Norman’s Farm.
• Firestation – 1 is supposed to open today in Silver Spring. Looks like a really cool spot.
• Really good article on sniffing out bogus Yelp Reviews by Tim Carman. BTW, Tim Carman you’re having an awesome week of articles. Although, I have to say the condiment to food ratio in your fridge is absolutely ridiculous. From the pictures, it looks like it is 100 to 1.

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Today is my wife’s birthday (Happy Birthday Ilyssa!). After the Peanut Butter & Jelly Necklace debacle, I decided that I needed to up my game a little bit.I decided to replace the necklace, with several items from Lucy and Ann Taylor Loft. A pretty safe bet with my wife. This morning I made Ilyssa, Challah Bread Pudding. I found this recipe over at Mango & Tomato, this recipe is super easy and the perfect recipe for an easy make ahead brunch. I also attempted to make homemade ricotta cheese last night, after the ridiculously fantastic home-made ricotta we had at NorthSide Social last week. Unfortunately, it was a big fat failure. When I figure out what I did wrong, and after I  (hopefully) get that recipe from Northside Social, I will post it on EatMore DrinkMore.  More importantly, do you know where we are going tonight? KOMI!! So excited, I can’t even tell you. We went there for our first wedding anniversary and this will be our first time back. Thank god we got a reservation before the Obama’s went there last week, because I am sure it is going to be next to impossible to get a reservation there now. Hell Burger still has a line because of the Obama visit. Fortunately, I don’t go to Komi often so this last date night won’t impact me too much. I swear, if Obama heads over to Me Jana in Courthouse, I am going to be pissed. I love that place and I like being able to get a reservation there last minute.

Recipe after the jump.

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Hello readers, and happy Monday! Did everyone enjoy their Taste of Arlington experience yesterday? What a silly question…blue skies, great food, and an appearance from the ABC Storm Chaser, who wouldn’t enjoy that?

I LOVED it! It was my first “taste” event and I am happy to say it was a great success. In hindsight I think my wonderful taste experience is all thanks to a few key moves I had made. I suggest you all follow these steps for your future taste endeavors.

1. I brought friends (Meredith and Krista). Among the three of us we had 16 taste tickets. At first I was concerned that wouldn’t be enough, but the portions each vendor gave out were a lot larger than I had thought they’d be. We all shared our plates to assure everyone tried everything.
2. We got there VERY early and scouted out all the tables to help decide where we wanted to go, and in what order we wanted to do it in. This allowed us to make sure that Meredith tasted her paella, Krista got her cupcake, and I  got my BBQ chicken pizza and oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich.
3. We didn’t give up when we saw a long line. Instead, the group divided and conquered.

If you didn’t get there early enough I could see how you may have had a difference experience than I did. Around 1pm the crowd was both very big and very hungry: a deadly combination for any taster.

I myself would have given up at that point, but crab cakes were on the line, and it’s a sin to walk away from crab cakes.  The crab cakes were from Carlyle by the way, and they were delicious. Served on a sourdough roll with a side of coleslaw I think they were well worth the wait.

Other crowd favorites: The chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting from Best Buns Bread Co., the chicken pizza from Willow, and the outstanding array of cookies from Culinare cooking school.

I was too full to try the gazpacho from Busboys and Poets, but it looked delicious. Same goes for Jaleo and their giant Paella (giant is an understatement…this Paella was huge. It was awesome).

All in all, the event was wonderful! It was clear a lot of work had been put into planning. A special thanks to all who helped pull it together.

If you attended the event, please share your experiences with us! Was that mango sorbet from Toby’s Ice Cream as delicious as it looked? Let me know. Until next posting…happy food adventures everyone!

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• Top Chef DC will air June 16th, You can view the participants for this season at Bravo TV
• Tim Carman on Food Trucks in Washington DC.
• These brothers make great music and great restaurants. In case you missed it last week, Melissa McCart  has a great article in the post about the brothers behind 18th Street Lounge, The Gibson, Thievery Corporation, and Marvin.
• Tom Sietsema thoughts on Kids in Restaurants
• The Post reviews the new 701. I never thought I would get excited about trying Carrot Soup, but if Tom Sietsema is that impressed, I need to head over there soon.
• Estadio from the owners of Proof is opening in Early June in Logan Circle. For more on Estadio check out Metrocurean.
• Healthy Lunches in schools are getting a ton of press lately. Hopefully this trend continues.
• Carmines is coming to DC, and it is going to be HUGE.
• Top Chef Sibling Rivalry - The Voltaggio Brothers
• Want an update on Meridian Pint, Prince of Petworth has a bunch of pictures up.
• WeLoveDC profiles the brothers behind Matchbox and Ted’s Bulletin
• If you are only going to read one thing in the Friday Roundup – Read this article. A guy in Brooklyn tries to live off of all of the food he can grow/raise in his 900 square foot backyard. He may be a bit insane, but it definitely teaches you to not waste your food.
• This is a company perk I can get behind. Company Gardens for employees. Builds morale, team building, and you get great produce to bring home. Definitely better than a $10 Starbucks giftcard.
• Wish you worked at the White House? The times profiles the WH Pastry Chef.
• This is a close contender for first place in the Roundup this week. Washington Post talks to Tyler Cowen, economist, ethnic food champion, and GMU Patriot (Go GMU!).  His ethnic dining guide is a great source for authentic ethnic food around the DC Suburbs.  In the post, he discusses his many rules and thoughts on life, my favorite is his take on globalization “A typical American yuppie drinks French wine, listens to Beethoven on a Japanese audio system, uses the Internet to buy Persian textiles from a dealer in London, watches Hollywood movies funded by foreign capital and filmed by European directors, and vacations in Bali; an upper-middle-class Japanese may do much the same.”
• Yoga for Foodies. Yes. Seriously.  While I hate the term “foodies”, I do like this article.
• How could I not share more Ray’s the Steaks news? You know how I love that place. Michael Landrum is bankrolling an after school program for kids in Ward 7. He really is amazing.
• Todd Kliman lets his mom do the reviewing on the Best Bites Blog. Mom- want to start blogging here?

Well if you read all of those links, you are certainly not going to get any work done today. Britt is in Napa right now. The rest of us are very jealous. Anna will be at Taste of Arlington on Sunday. Make sure you go to0, it is a great time. Missy and I will be at a wedding. They better serve little hotdogs, everyone knows that little hotdogs are the best wedding appetizer. I would also like to wish my mother a Happy Birthday! Don’t worry Mom, you will not be getting a Peanut Butter and Jelly necklace this year.

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