First food pictures of 2011

Its been a good start to 2011. One week in and we've already had....

Chirashi



Taco salad



Pork chops



and a Duck!

Crab Rechad and Bouillabaisse

If you've lived in Bombay on the Western railway line, and like Goan/Malabari cuisine, chances are you've been to Soul Fry in Pali Hill. Soul Fry used to be one of our regular haunts when we lived in Bandra, and I'm extremely partial to their spicy Crab Rechad, a Goan crab dish, and their equally spicy Bloody Mary's. A couple of weeks ago Moosh and I went on a seafood buying frenzy at our local Giant and ended up with our take on Crab Rechad (see below)....





...and Bouillabaisse (see above). While Bouillabaisse is often defined as a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille, it is essentially a hearty seafood stew that can be found in coastal communities all over the world. Take equal parts seafood, vegetables, broth, add herbs and spices, hey presto you've got some of the best tasting seafood stew around.

Komi

Komi
1509 17th St NW
Washington D.C., DC 20036-6262
Tel: (202) 332-9200

Did you know that two of DC's greatest restaurants were literally side by side? Tucked away in a nondescript Dupont Circle neighborhood, you'll find two restaurants - one with a sign and one without. The restaurant with the sign is Sushi Taro, purveyor of some of the best sushi in DC, while the one without is Komi, arguably DC's finest restaurant.

I'd heard of Komi from a friend and managed to snag a reservation for my wife's birthday (getting a reservation at Komi is like Cafe Atlantico's Minibar - you have to call a month in advance). Its prixe fixed with no set menu - the menu changes with whatever is in season and fresh. Our meal started with a succession of seafood appetizers (9 in total) starting with caviar and each dish better than the last one. We had two mains - a spaghetti as primi and a grilled lamb as secondi. The lamb was probably the best I've ever had outside of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego. And to wrap it all up, there were 5 desserts. As with dining at the table of all great chefs, Chef Johnny Monis makes the diner keel over in submission with amazing tastes and textures.

Verdict: A must visit. The best food I've had in DC.

While you're not allowed to take pictures of the food, I did manage to sneak a couple in before I was politely told to refrain from taking any further pictures.

Au Pied de Cochon

Au Pied de Cochon

536 Duluth Est
Montréal (Québec)
H2L 1A9

I first stumbled upon Au Pied de Cochon aka PDC after watching Anthony Bourdain's mind blowing visit to chef Martin Picard's temple to all things duck and pig. The restaurant is one of Montreal's most famous restaurants and is my all time favorite place to eat. Here's the a clip from the episode of No Reservations that visited PDC:



The PDC menu is a veritable dream come true for carnivores and members of the international hoof and snout mafia. My favorites include the foie gras poutine, the duck in a can, the eponymous Pied de Cochon, and of course the dish that send me to ecstasy every time - pig's head.

Here are some pictures from a recent visit.

A small salad of multi-colored tomatoes to start

Duck in a can

Au Pied de Cochon

Pig's head for 2

That's 24 carat gold on the snout of the pig's head - yup, if you eat this you are so money that you'll actually shit gold the next day

To sum up, if you're ever in Montreal, the one thing you must do is eat at PDC. There used to be an old joke amongst tour guides 'once you've seen Florence you can die', I'd actually change that to once you've eaten at PDC, you can die.

Song Que

Song Que
Eden Center
6769 Wilson Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22044
Tel:(703) 536-7900

If you want Bahn Mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwiches) in the Washington DC area, Song Que is the place to go. Their cold cuts bahn mi is outstanding as is their grilled pork bahn mi. Apart from bahn mi, they have a vast selection of pre-made deli meals that just need to be nuked as well as what some call the bubble tea in the mid-atlantic. Definitely a must visit restaurant.

Gratuitous food pics.

Cold cuts (#1 on the menu) and grilled pork (#8) bahn mi with mango bubble tea



Grilled beef (#9) bahn mi with mango bubble tea

Otto Enoteca Pizzeria

Otto Enoteca Pizzeria
1 5th Ave (between 8th St & Washington), New York, NY 10003
Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
Tel: (212) 995-9559
www.ottopizzeria.com


We went to Otto's with high hopes after reading all the positive reviews but came away sadly disappointed. The food was good but the service and attitude was terrible, so I'll break this review into 2 sections:

Group Size: 5 adults (walk in)

Food Review: We ordered the Carni Platter, Heirloom Caprese, Roasted Beets & Saba, and Summer Squash & Pecorino as starters, all of which were very good. The Carni Platter has head cheese (hard to find on most menus, one of my favorites) and was a standout. For the main course we ordered the Panne Frattau, Margherita D.O.P., and Vongole, all of which were very good. To round off, we tried the icecream with 3 flavors - Olive Oil, Coconut and Peppermint Chocolate Chip. Dessert was a bit of a let down as the much hyped olive oil icecream wasn't all that.

Service Review: While the food at Otto's was good, the whole meal was soured by the service and attitude. When taking our main course orders the waiter made it point to tell us that the chef takes an order from a table just once, which we thought was odd but didn't give much thought into. We initially ordered 2 pizzas as we didn't know how big they would be. In the end, it turns out that we needed to order a 3rd pizza, so we placed an order for another pizza. Boy did that turn out to be a huge problem for the restaurant. The waiter told us that the chef would not take the second order. We couldn't believe our ears - a restaurant that refuses to serve food! After sending the waiter back to the chef TWICE to convince the chef to take our order, the chef finally agreed to make our 3rd pizza. We still don't know what to make of their attitude. As a marketing ploy (ala Seinfeld's Soup Nazi) it might seem innovative, but all it does is leave customers with a sour taste over the dining experience.

Final Verdict: Good food, but appalling attitude and service. Save your money and go elsewhere. If this restaurant continues to refuse its customers food, it deserves to go out of business.

Curry Laksa

Curry Laksa is another one of my go to foods when I can't make up my mind what I want to eat. Moosh whipped up this magic over the long weekend:

The ingredients:


Add the curry and its ready to eat!

The Inn at Little Washington

The Inn At Little Washington
309 Middle St
Washington, VA 22747
Tel: (540) 675-3800
www.theinnatlittlewashington.com

We'd heard about The Inn at Little Washington ever since we moved to the DC area but had never tried it. Moosh and I went there for our anniversary dinner last week. All in all I would say its worth a visit once. The food was good, but not really out of this world, and definitely not aligned with the prices they charged (this was the most expensive meal we've ever head). Service on the other hand was excellent, and they went the extra mile to customize our desserts.

Chili Garlic Lobster

Singapore style Chili Garlic Crabs are probably one of my favorite dishes. Moosh and I and tried to buy crabs last weekend, but the recent gulf oil spill means that they are no where to be found in local groceries. No matter, we ended up buying a few lobsters and Moosh whipped up some amazing Chili Garlic Lobster!

Goodness in the pan:


Ready to eat!

How to pick a watermelon

I love watermelon in the summer months. We usually buy them from our neighborhood supermarket (usually Giant, but also from Trader Joe's and H-Mart) for the princely sum of $3.99 per watermelon. Here's my 3-step way to get the best watermelon on sale:

1. Look for a melon that is nice looking, meaning free of dents, bruises, cuts, etc. Check under the melon - if it has a yellow or light bottom, it should be ripe.

2. Tap the watermelon for signs of hollowness. If it sounds hollow, its ripe. Not hollow, unripe.

3. Look for a heavy melon. Watermelons are made up of mostly water, so an ideal melon should be heavy for its size.

Get these three simple steps right and you're on your way to sweet watermelon goodness (pardon the blurry cellphone pic):

Kitchen Reno - Mid-way Evaluation

Well, we're halfway there and the kitchen is functional again after nearly 3 weeks. We now have to pick a color, hardware for the cabinets, electrical outlet covers, and a lighting fixture for the Subzero enclosure before we can embark on the final leg of this reno. Maria spent the better part of the day cleaning the kitchen and its looking pretty sweet!



Wolf bling - making a quick cup of tea is a cinch with the heat these bad boys put out.



Cleaned up Subzeros and Miele stack.







Can't use the dishwasher yet as the Miele salt to soften the water doesn't come in till tomorrow. Man, are these German toys high maintenance.



Our man Trevor did a great job with the backsplash.

Fired up, Ready to go (Day 8 of the Kitchen Reno)

At Barack Obama's last rally before the election in Virginia, he led the rallying cry of "Fired up, Ready to go" for 90,000 people. Well today, the plumber (no not Joe-the-plumber), the electrician and the tiler finally hooked up most of the kitchen.

Wolf down draft up and running.



Miele powered up with Sunil goofing off with it.



Sunil playing peek-a-boo with the Subzeros.



The backsplash is more than 75% with just the grout remaining. It'll take 2 days for the epoxy to cure.

More than just countertops (Day 7 of the Kitchen Reno - Update)

Some more pictures from the end of Day 7 of the reno. The island is massive. Seats 9 people easily - maybe even 12 if you tried.



With the Laser Film off, the Subzeros show their true size.



My red knobs!



New sink with built in chopping board.

Countertop day (Day 7 of the Kitchen Reno)

The countertops went in this morning. Its hard to be at home when they're going in - the smell of the epoxy is pretty overpowering.

Install in progress.











Countertop installer-in-chief Jason.



A whole new meaning to straight edge.



Checking the install.







Close ups with different aperture settings.





And finish off, som pictures of Donny goofing off.