CHANG CHANG in DC is a bang bang winner (11-27-23)

 We had friends visiting from out of town and headed to CHANG CHANGE just south of Dupont Circle for a fabulous dinner last night which is the best Chinese food I can ever recall in DC. The spot is very simple with wood tables and chairs, that are oddly a tad too low for the tables(one of ours was broken) and table legs that could be better placed for comfort, but we persevered in the quiet front section we were seated in. Indeed, for a Monday the place was virtually dead, although lots of take-out orders seemed to be going out all evening. I like the decor with small Chinese vases and artwork as well as some large stucco Chinese pieces that look like the Terracotta Army!

We ordered a crisp citrus-y Albarino from Mar de Vinas and then moved on to a tasty Domaine Chaume Cotes du Rhone red from Arnaud. The food can be very spicy so pick your wines carefully.

Duck Spring Rolls were tasty, and the giant Bubble Pancake(scallion) was fun with a curry dipping sauce, but the winning starter were the Shanghai Pork Soup Dumplings, although they need a better serving method as when you pick them up from the steamer, they often break losing that superb soup inside.

Our server Emily was very helpful as the menu is huge with so many options. We migrated from one chicken dish to another and finally settled on the Chicken Nuggets with Ghost Chili which was fired chicken with a kick-ass dry spice rub! Similarly, the Mala Crispy Pork Belly was fried with "furu" dry spices.

Tomato & Egg Stir Fry is a Cantonese Specialty and came right after these intense spicy dishes and was a welcome "palate cleanser" and we all loved the purple rice which is a mix of purple and white rice for a tad more but worth it.

Sizzling Brussels Sprouts & Tofu is a winning veggie dish for sure served in a cast iron pan and loaded with flavors. The Dry Pot Scallop & Prawn with Asparagus & Cabbage was a huge dish beautifully presented on a pedestal in a magnificent bowl with cover and probably the favorite of us all, although the fired spicy dishes were fab as well.

Dessert was a yummy slice of Passionfruit Pie with Calamansi-lime infused filling in a rice-flour graham cracker crust with black pepper meringue that is not to be missed.

While Chang Chang is about 15 mins away, I could easily see us heading down there for take-out as well as it is worth the trip for sure.

DC's NAMA KO knocks it up another notch! (11-26-23)

 Back in the summer I headed to DC's new NAMA KO at 14th & U, NW for Restaurant Week and had a super meal. Now that the "deals" are over, we returned last night and were totally impressed even more with the fabulous fusion food that makes this place so much fun.

Check out the video on my FB page of the presentation of the SMOKY MT FUJI a whiskey drink with Manzanilla, Demara and orange bitters by our server Freddie, who is also the bartender. All the drinks are great here from the Coconut Kiss(Rum, coconut, pineapple, orange), Pears in Zen (a sweeter pear spiced brandy with canton, ginger and sake) and my fave the What's in a Name? with serrano-infused Espalon Tequila with Ancho Reyes(a superb spicy Mexican liqueur), honey, pineapple and a Togarashi(Japanese chili) rim.

We shared lots of appetizers as this is easy and a great way to try many things such as the super crunchy Crispy Shrimp Tempura, cooked divinely with a kick-ass yuzu chili sauce.

A new dish was the Wagyu Dumplings which are not to be missed and are topped off with a Truffle Soy Dip that is another treat. Edamame are served with a nice cherrywood smoked sea salt and the Lemongrass Chicken Dumplings(don't let them slide out of your chopsticks) are steamed with a scallion relish and a yuzu-ponzu-ginger sauce. Another treat (not needing chopsticks and you can just pop them in your mouth) are the Kani Croquettes of Maryland Crab with sushi rice and Aji Aioli.

Sundays are a great deal here as all wines and sakes are 50% OFF!! So we ordered up a large bottle of SOTO JUNMAI SAKE which is a true treat--so smooth and goes with everything.

Will had a main of Tobanyake Fried Rice with 5-year kimchi, short ribs and Onsen Egg that was huge and yielded some take-home leftovers. The rest of us went for sushi as the special rolls are so tempting and indeed all were different and delicious:

Pink Lady is simple with tuna, avocado, salmon, yellowtail and soy paper while the Almost Paradise gets fancy & spicy with Spicy tuna, avocado, cucumber, spicy Mango Sauce and tempura flakes all over. My Candy Cane was a beautiful vision with Shrimp Tempura, Yellowtail, Tuna, Avocado, Apple and Jalapeno with Tobiko on top. Presentation here is as good as the food and the service!!

Desserts here are the homemade soft-serve Ice Cream available in two versions and you have to choose which YOU like: Black Sesame or Truffle/Miso/Honey....they are both divine.

NAMA KO is managed by the amazing Aziz who I have known for almost 40 years and wherever he goes, he runs a great establishment indeed. If you are in the Studio Theatre, Source Theatre/U Street corridor then NAMA KO is the name to choose for your meal!!

DIRT CANDY does delicious vegetarian (or vegan) in NYC (11-24-23)

 We had tried to take Samuel two years ago to return to DIRT CANDY after a covid hiatus as it is truly our favorite vegetarian dining destination in New York, but sadly they had a codi outbreak and closed that night. It took two years for the three of us to be back in NYC together and we returned last night for the fabulous $105 tasting menu (also available in vegan option) and settled into the warm crowded dining room on a chilly NY post-Thanksgiving Day. Our server Brian explained that virtually none of the cocktails were not sweet, so we decided to try the California Roll, a yummy horseradish-infused vodka martini with nori-infused sake, white soy, avocado oil and pickled ginger. It's a great variation of a dirty vodka martini and we both loved it as Sam did his Celery-Lime vegetable pop (soda). He switched to a Carrot-Lemon Ginger Veggie pop later on and we moved on to a superb Foradori Vignetti delle Dolomiti Teraldego Rotaliano(red from northern Italy where we just visited) in Alto-Adige.

The menu is technically 5 courses fir $105 but there are two "gift" courses, and each dish is truly a winner on its own. Each course has a featured vegetable ingredient as well creating a journey through the garden. CELERIAC was first in the form of a tasty Celeriac Latke with Pink Apple, Seaweed Caviar, Creme Fraiche and some slices of miniature onion(was it shallot?)--all the photos are in Facebook as usual. We oohed and aahed at this tasty latke giving me new ideas for Hannukah in 2 weeks! 

Dane arrived from the kitchen with our first gift of Brussel Sprouts Carpaccio which were sliced thin leaves fermented in Koji with Caperberries and Pistachios. Once again, this dish burst with flavors and really excited the palate with the wonderful, fermented leaves.

BEET was next in the form of a gorgeously constructed Napoleon or Beet Strudel with layers of red sumac on top, yellow beet & saffron in the middle and tahini mousse on the bottom (hence red, yellow and beige) all topped with salt-roasted beet balls and sorrel. A beautiful presentation that would have enticed even those who do not like beets.

Gift #2 was Parsnip Fundito served in a miniature cast iron pan topped with melted Oaxaca cheese over a parsnip puree and crispy parsnip chorizo (vegetarian, that had a great spicy kick) and an adorable Margarita in a shot glass on the side!

ARUGULA featured Arugula Calamarata (a tube pasta) with Smoked Garlic Oil and Idiazabal cheese with lemongrass and arugula balls. Anyone who makes pasta and has gluten issues might want to investigate the way to create this novel dish!

The last "savory" dish was Japanese SWEET POTATO Karaage with Sweet Potato Bacon (yes, veggie!), Yuba, Thai Basil, Napa Cabbage, Spinach, Sancho Chile in a deilish Lime-Beurre Blanc sauce and preceded a revelation of dessert entitled CHICORIES including Chicory Root Panna Cotta (made from radicchio and endive), Candied Pecans, Rainbow Chicory Sorbet, Chicory Tuiles and Pecorino Ice Cream (wow!!) that was a wonderful end to a superb meal that also had some yummy Sunchoke Caramels arriving to send us home.

Dirt Candy is a destination for everyone, but a real bucket-list dining spot for vegetarians and really makes a great trip downtown when in NYC!!

BESITO for marvelous Mexican makes it merry in Rosyln, NY(Long Island) 11-22-23

 We joined our Long Island family last night for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner at Besito here in Roslyn, where we are staying for the holiday. It's a large establishment and last night it was heaving with families and folks out for a pre-holiday party. We settled in with some fun margaritas (blood orange with a not so spicy rim, pineapple with same, some regular ones, a mojito and then moved on to a decent Rioja as the wine list is quite limited. Our server Anthony was a treat and made us very happy as our first bowl of guacamole (made to order) wasn't that spicy and the side of chopped jalapenos was even milder! The second batch was just perfect. When I booked I saw lots of veggie option on the on-line menu, but in house the menu has fewer veggie choices. We asked Anthony and he said most of the dishes were available as veggie options, so Sam chose the Iron Skillet Taco veggie style(like fajitas) which comes with grilled veggies in a skillet, a small container of tortillas on the side and multiple salsas of Guajillo & Verde Cruda. I had the Same Skillet style called MIXTOS which came with a ton of skirt steak (cooked perfectly to medium rare), chicken (a tad overdone) and chorzo all smothered with melted Queso Chihuahua...way too much for one person indeed, but the Nopales (cactus) salad on the side was superb and oh so refreshing.

Sonora Ribs were piled high with Agave Chipotle sauce and lime glaze and the halibut & shrimp dishes were hits as well. The portions are quite large, so best to limit the starters and there was no way we could even consider dessert!  It's a fun place for sure, but beware of Long Island prices in this very high end neck of the woods!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all today and don't eat as much as I do!

Melina makes the Mediterranean (eg Greek) so close and so good (11-19-23)

 We took a dear friend to dinner last night and since she lives in North Bethesda, we decided to try MELINA located in the wonderful new area up Rockville Pike at Old Georgetown Road that has become so popular for dining, hotels, shopping and more. It's quite a large space but very comfy and has a hugely tall interior that unfortunately has nothing to buffer the noise on the ceilings which makes the din a tad unbearable. That said, we managed as we were in a cozy comfy booth at the end of the room with a fun mirrored table!  Our server Daniel was very helpful with suggestions and explanations, and we settled in with a bottle of Assyrtiko Karamalegos from Feredini in Santorini that was crisp and refreshing with our many starters which are great to share here...think tapas gone Greek or mezze.

Tuna Tartare here is not spicy but benefits from some Greek ingredients such as Kalamata Olives, Chickpeas, Capers and a yummy Tarama Cream with some crispy "Phyllo" chips that are really fried dough. The Tarama cream was yummy and indeed we wishes that TaramaSalata was on the menu. The Beef Tartare is also super yummy with some twists like a spicy tomato paste, egg yolk custard, mint, Graviera cheese and some nice toasted sourdough to load it onto. There was sadly a small blond hair atop this dish and the price was immediately removed by the manager who was more than apologetic(note nobody at our table has blond hair and he said nobody in the kitchen did either!).

The Cheese Pie with Laffa Dough is a simple dish with a very bready crust and a gooey cheese filling of Feta & Graviera cheeses with a nice spicy Smoked Chili Honey drizzled on top. It has a slight punch as some chilis are on top, but was a tad too much bread for me. Tops were the Roasted Carrots with Walnut Pesto, Smoked Creamed Manouri Cheese, Puffed Quinoa & Carrot and a Ginger Vinaigrette; this dish is a vegetarian delight indeed.

The Icelandic Cod with Beets, Black Garlic, Almonds and Potato Cream was a huge hit with our friend who left a totally clean. Will and I decided to split an order of the yummy Crispy Potatoes with Tzatziki, Feta Cream and Wild Greek Oregano as well as each have a plate of Lamb Kofte Kebab (we could have shared it as well as the two kebabs on each mezze were a huge portion and we ended up taking two home) which come with Pickled Onions and a Spicy Roasted Tomato Relish. Our red wine was a superb Agiorgitiko Halkia from Nemea (a female winemaker) in the Peloponnese. 

One small complaint would be the very dim lighting in the very nice rest rooms, but that aside, Melina is a place we would head back to again for sure.

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Always raves for ROBERTO's in Vienna, VA. (11-13-23)

 We returned to one of the top restaurants in the DC area and Roberto's in Vienna still stands at the top of the Italian food list in our book. We joined two friends for dinner last night and it's always a fine welcome from the friendly staff and a glass of prosecco arrives faster than you can sit down! we ordered my favorite white wine, Manincor "La Manina" 2021 from Alto Adige in the Dolomites where we just visited 6 weeks ago!! This Chard/Sauvignon Blanc/Pinot Blanc blend is truly one of the best white wines on earth!

The fab breads arrived, and we ordered our starters:

Polipo Grigliato Con Salsa Verde is a beautifully grilled baby Spanish Octopus wit potato foam, fingerling potato salas and salsa verde that is always a hit. I adored my Ghiandole al Porto which were the most tender and luscious sauteed veal sweetbreads with chanterelles, celery root and port, as well as polenta!

Main courses were the Fettuccini alla Parmigiana prepared tableside by Dimitri in the giant Parmesan wheel with a blow torch and always full of flavor and oh so rich. My Ravioli Verdi Con Anatra was gorgeous light cylinder-shaped spinach ravioli stuffed with tender braised duck and topped with Pioppini mushrooms and duck jus. The whole Branzino got raves as well with salsa verde with basil, parsley, anchovies & Garlic and sauteed spinach.

We moved on to another Dolomite red from Alto Adige 2018 Falkenstein Blauburgunder or Pinot Nero(aka Pinot Noir) that was medium-to-full bodied and loaded with flavor.

The Sfogliata Dolce was a Fig Tarte with vanilla gelato and caramel sauce that was out of this world and the Bugie are fun fried dough with chocolate sauce, honey drizzle and powdered sugar..think totally tasty Italian funnel cake, but way better!

What a great time was had by all as we always do. It is truly like going home when we head to Roberto's!!