Tarting It Up

Tom Sietsema's 2007 Dining Guide

Tom Sietsema's 2007 Dining Guide is posted here.

Restaurant Eve's Tasting Room picks up a fourth star.

Adios Zaytinya, adios 1789.

Penzey's Spices

Penzey's Spices is one of the finest sources for herbs and spices out there, and we've used their mail-order service for years.  Their Mexican and Madagascar vanilla beans are plump and moist, and a bargain at just over $5.00 each.  We've used their beans for years to make our own vanilla extract. 

For comparison, we saw a dessicated, tired looking vanilla bean at Wegman's yesterday with a $10.00 price tag attached.  We were unwilling to pay so much for a weeny looking vanilla bean.  We're also poaching pears tonight, and we needed star anise.  We couldn't find star anise at any of our local grocery stores...though we probably should have patronized the huge Asian supermarket that's less than a mile away.

Basically we were looking for an excuse to visit Penzey's retail outlet in Falls Church:

This place is awesome.  A commenter on Don Rockwell called this place "hardcore olfactory food porn", which it is.  The store is full of canisters of spices and beakers of extract that invite deep, deep sniffing.  Not only does the store have a wider selection of herbs and spices than any store I've visited, it also has excellent prices. 

To give you a sense of the selection, there's a large section devoted solely to various sorts of cinnamon - look at the huge cinnamon/cassia bark on display.

Ahem.  This probably isn't even worth whining about, but in what's becoming a theme recently, we got slight attitude from one of the employees for taking pics in the store.  I know, I know, it's the store's prerogative, but when we asked if we could take some (flashless) photos in the store, the employee responded...

::sigh::  ::grimace::  ::pregnant pause::  "a couple."

Her response didn't give us the warm fuzzies. 

Here's our booty, which totaled less than $50 for 15 vanilla beans, poppy seeds, two types of cinnamon, a ton of star anise, and a glass canister.  The prices and quality are excellent, and we'll be dropping tons of dough for Penzey's goods in the future.  If you're into quality spices, you should too.

Penzey's Spices
513 W. Broad St.
Falls Church, VA
(703) 534-7770
Mon - Sat: 10AM-6PM
Sun: 11AM - 5PM

Rose Restaurant

Shamshiry has previously been our go-to restaurant for Persian cuisine, but Tyler Cowen's recent review of Rose Restaurant in Vienna inspired us to try out the new(ish) Persian spot in Vienna.

We'll have to make a couple more visits, but we might have found a replacement for Shamshiry.   Here's M's disembodied head floating towards the entrance:

I took these photos with E's new iPhone.  Be warned that my sense of composition leaves something to be desired.  The bread that came out was hot and pillowy, and was accompanied by yogurt sauce and spicy green sauce.

E and M both ordered the chicken kabob, and both thought it was excellent.  The chicken breast is moist and tender, and the entire kebob tastes as if it's been slathered in a buttery sauce (likely because the kebob has been slathered in a buttery sauce).  In our experience, Shamshiry's chicken tends to be cooked to a significantly higher temperature, and it isn't so saucy and flavorful.

In a slight bummer, Rose doesn't seem to feature all of the different rices that Shamshiry does.  However, when a table near us ordered zereshk polo (sweet and sour rice studded with dried berries), the waiter informed the table that they didn't have the rice that day.  Aha - a secret menu!  (or just my inability to fully read a menu)  I'll have to try to order it next time.

Also - the garden salad at the bottom was simple and good.  It's early September, and the tomatoes really should be excellent, right?  These were.  A garlicky dressing was served to the side.  It was worth having again.

I ordered the salmon, which was accompanied by rice infused with dill and studded with fava beans.  I stirred some of the yogurt sauce into the rice.

That picture turned out poorly.  The rice is seasoned superbly - dill and fava beans are perfect foils for the salmon.  No crisp tah dig though, and according to this Chowhound thread, it's not available even if you want it. 

Like the chicken, the salmon was cooked to a much lower temp than at Shamshiry.  I've never had a piece of salmon cooked anything but well done at Shamshiry.  Without my specifying the cooking temperature, the fish came out what most restaurants would call medium-rare.  I enjoyed the salmon but found it underseasoned.  A a healthy squeeze of lemon and schmear of the yogurt sauce woke up the flavors of the fish.

 

Our bill for 3 salads and 3 dinners came to $57 (sans tip).  This restaurant is a great new addition to the Vienna restaurant scene.

Rose Restaurant
126 W. Maple Ave
Vienna, VA  22180
(703) 255-2557

There are no photos in Pinkberry

Not ten seconds after we took this photo of our frozen yogurts at Pinkberry, we were admonished by one of the store's employees, who said:

"Pardon me ladies, but there are no pictures at Pinkberry."

There was a polite, almost rehearsed, solemnity to the phrase that took us aback.  We put the camera away.  I felt my trademarked Unnecessary Shame at the simple request.

I ordered the cap'n crunch and strawberry model - order this one if you go to Pinkberry.  I thought the sweetness of the cereal counterbalanced the yogurt's sour pang.  E. ordered the kiwi and granola.  She loved it, but I thought the granola was too subtle with the yogurt.

Pinkberry

7W 32nd Street
New York, NY 10001
(212) 695 9631

Pearl Bakery

Ah, back from the moss-covered, drizzly, and tremendously fun city of Portland, Oregon.  We stayed downtown at the 5th Avenue Suites, which seems to be right in the heart of a variety of excellent bakeries, coffee shops, and sandwich joints.  We were just a couple of blocks away from the city-block-huge Powell's Books.  And if you're shopping at Powell's, you need to scoot a few blocks south and visit Pearl Bakery. 

But before we get into the fabulous baked goods that Pearl Bakery offers up, look in my hand.  In my hand there is a bag.  And in that bag there is a Pearl Bakery t-shirt (by the way, you're meant to believe in terms of storytelling that I'm looking into the bakery before going in...the bag ruins the illusion a little.  Suspend disbelief!)

Where was I?  Ah yes, the t-shirt reads "Still Baking" across the chest.  Here is a recreation of the dialogue that I've had with several strangers when I've since worn this t-shirt.

DIALOGUE ONE: LOCATION - ACELA EXPRESS

Woman Stranger: Hey, (eyes read across the breasties) still baking?
Me: Ha ha ha...no...it's for a bakery and...
Woman Stranger: (interest in conversing visibly floats away from her body)

DIALOGUE TWO: LOCATION - STARBUCKS

Another Woman Stranger: Hey, (eyes read across the breasties) still baking?
Me: Ha, no it's...a bakery t-shirt
Another Woman Stranger: Ha ha.  Funny.
Me: Yeah definitely
(conversation quietly curls up on the floor at our feet and passes away)

What I'm saying is that this t-shirt conjures uncomfortable small talk into being.  From Woman Strangers.

I want a place just like this near us.  A bakery with a droolworthy selection of brioche, croissants, and pastry, and a clever selection of artisan sandwiches.  If anyone knows of a place like this in or around D.C., please do tell.  I suppose Breadline comes close, but its baked goods don't compare to those that Pearl Bakery offers.  Just look.

We showed a moderate degree of restraint and each selected one pastry and one half sandwich.

Ahem.  Disregard the above picture where my bag is clearly holding more than just one t-shirt.

Here's what we chose:

Clockwise from the 6 o'clock position, ham sandwich with fontina on wheat, asiago and apple croissant, chocolate croissant nestled up against an almond croissant, salami sandwich with provolone, and smoked turkey with muenster.

What can I say; these are great sandwiches.  I loved the contrast of the creamy tangy sweetness of the red pepper aioli with the bitterness of the arugula on my turkey sandwich.  The turkey was freshly carved as well.  Fabulous.  J. loved her ham sandwich as well - the yellow dots that you see on the wheat bread is their home-made mayonnaise peeking through.  Delicious.  A. loved the tapenade on her salami sandwich.

And on to our desserts...

 

The almond and chocolate croissants were excellent: buttery flaky croissant dough, generously filled.  Well worth having, but let's face it: you know what they look like.  But look above at the asiago-apple croissant.  Interesting, no?  I was expecting an "apple pie with cheddar cheese crust" vibe off of this croissant, but it was much subtler than that, almost more savory than sweet.  Flaky as all hell and delicious.

This place had such a laid back vibe; we talked and laughed and had a chill early lunch here.  Now that I'm sitting back in my living room stressing about work that I needed to get done today, I look at this picture that we took, looking out of Pearl Bakery's window, and I yearn...

 

Pearl Bakery

102 NW 9th Ave.
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 827-0910

Still baking?

Moribund

...is what this site is, and I'll admit it.  We're off to Portland, Oregon this week to celebrate the 85th b-d of J's nana.  GO NANA.

We plan to take pics, eat, drink, be merry, repeat.

Hopefully this westward journey will be a shot in the arm for this site.  We'll report back to sate the appetites of the LITERALLY FEWER THAN ONE HALF DOZEN people who have noticed that this site has long since flatlined.

Tom Sietsema visited these places when he went to Portland back in 2002, we might check them out.

Man I've forgotten how to write interestingly.  Arguably it's a skill I never possessed.  I spend all my days now drafting things like this:

"WHEREAS, the Parties have concluded that it is in the Company's best interest to enter into the Purchase Agreement..."

It's hard to then write interestingly.

But I'll try.  Why come our traffic increases the less frequently we update?

Happy New Year!

Just wanted to wish all of our readers a Happy New Year. 

We've been busy since our last post back in June, hence the non-existence of our posts.  J. graduated law school and passed the bar exam.  After a well-earned trip to Scandinavia, she also started her grown-up job as an attorney and is 'enjoying' it so far.  E. is same old, same old - lots of work, as usual.

There are always great food experiences to be had out there and in the kitchen.  Hopefully we'll be able to devote more time to chronicling our food adventures in Tarting It Up in 2007.

Pastries By Randolph

It's been a while now that we've been blogging... and it suddenly occurred to me that we had never posted about one of my favorite food places in Arlington, The International House of Pancakes!

I'll wait for your laughter and applause to die down before I continue.

Thank you.  But seriously, PASTRIES BY RANDOLPH.  We may have mentioned it in passing, but this place deserves a mention all of its very own.

Aside from Patisserie Poupon, this is by far the best bakery in the area, and if you don't want to make the journey into DC, stopping by this Lee Highway establishment will not disappoint. 

As you walk in, the smell of the place is divine.  This is the real thing, people: they use BUTTER in everything and you can tell...it lingers in the air.  Sadly, I could go on and on for hours about the treats and cakes I've tried from here, but really there is no substitute: go visit and dare to say you didn't like what you had. 

Their carrot cake is the real thing with its soft cream-cheesy frosting (to die for); they have a chocolate walnut cookie that's about an inch thick, moist like a brownie, and generally food-orgasmic; their made-to-order specialty cakes are beautifully executed and great value.  Just look:

We know how to party.  For this cake, the birthday-girl ordered the cake equivalent of Jacob's Coat of Many Colors: yellow cake, chocolate filling, hazelnut syrup and white chocolate buttercream on the outside.  It might sound like a panoply of flavors, but I do so swear and affirm that the cake was a hit, sweet but without overpowering the nutty/chocolatey flavors that birthday girl wanted.  Ahh, another success for PBR.

Pastries by Randolph
4500 Lee Highway
Arlington, Virginia
(703) 243-0070

Caribbean Breeze

... doesn't that sound like it should be a luxury yacht cruising the islands?  Instead I give you...

... one of Arlington's newer restaurants located a block from the Ballston metro.

Since J. is out of commission until the bar exam in late July (we were chanting Virginia's 8 Bases for Long-Arm Jurisdiction on a recent walk), I met up with some friends for lunch last Saturday to celebrate both of their birthdays.  We were toying with the usual lunch options, when I suggested this place, a restaurant that opened its doors just over a year ago and which touts itself as Neuvo Latino Cuisine.  Frankly, I've been curious for a while.

Our experience started off a little shakily as we waited to be seated.  There were maybe three other parties in the restaurant, and we happily waited for the third member of our party to arrive.  And she did!  And we talked and anticipated our nuevo latino lunch.

And then we waited.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.  Um, hello?  L. had to walk up to the bar and actively request that we be seated in this nearly-empty restaurant.  Como se dice, "inauspicious beginning."

Did you ever watch Top Chef?  My boyfriend, Harold often sneered (endearingly) "pssh, is it fusion, or CONfusion?"  (get it?)  This isn't exactly fusion, but it's a melange of All Foods Equatorial: caribbean, mexican and cuban cuisines.  Jerk chicken, quesadillas.  Hmm. 

L. had the Plantain Crusted Soft-Shell Crab with Lemon Vinaigrette. 

Colorful, no?  According to L., the crisp-fried plantain worked nicely with the...er...crisp-fried crab.  The accompanying corn salad and lemon vinaigrette were wonderfully light. 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Since we seem to be averaging a post about once a month these days, I thought I'd catch everyone up on where we're at. Is everyone out there sitting very comfortably? Then I'll begin.

J. endured final finals at the end of April and into May and after a couple of weeks of true free time, she graduated law school on May 20. We were all there and were very proud. Now the grind continues, at least until the last week of July when she sits for the Virginia bar. Um, just looking at the tomes of books and manuals she's been issued for the bar review class, I AM VERY AFRAID.

So, in an effort to lift her spirits, I set about making a requested Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. "It's one with both buttermilk and sour cream in it. On AllRecipes. It's got a lot of great reviews." With such a recommendation, how could I refuse. But finding this well-reviewed recipe on AllRecipes proved a little more difficult. You'll see what I mean if you search AllRecipes for the following string: chocolate banana buttermilk sour cream and look for something which has been reviewed A LOT.

Anyways, as usual I got all of my ingredients together. Assemble the following:

1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
1/3 c. sour cream
1/3 c. buttermilk
(All of the above should be at room temperature. The ingredients mix together if they're at the same temperature.)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla (we always use our own)
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini-morsels in this recipe, since it's all I had)

AND THE STAR OF THE SHOW...