The Week In Food

Well, it’s a little gloomy out there folks, now isn’t it? Know what hits the spot? Grilled cheese. Bowl of tomato soup to accompany preferred, but not required. Washingtonian has a round up of the best grilled cheese the DMV has to offer.

It looks like the food truck regulations have moved to the next step in the process – the public commenting period wrapped this week. Meanwhile, PORC, the Purveyors of Rolling Cuisine truck, announced that they’re going all brick and mortar on us. So much for that myth that food trucks hurt the restaurant industry. And then there’s the new food trucks popping up…err…rolling around? A new gourmet popcorn truck will satisfy our flavored popcorn wants, and a frozen custard truck opening mid-March brings a little scoop of Americana our way.

Food folk around DC are practically chomping at the bit for Bar Pilar to start serving food again. Huffington Post got a preview of how the new space is looking and Washingtonian gives us a run down of five new things to expect of the expansion and changes.

Get the rest of the scoop over at City Eats DC’s The Plate! 

The Week In Food

It’s been a sad week for the Toki Underground family. Earlier this week it was announced that Montserrat House would host a Vietnamese pop-up called “Pho U,” which featured Toki Underground chef Thang Le.When the event was suddenly cancelled, announced via Twitter, we learned that there’d been a sudden and tragically loss in the family. While we still do not know how or why we lost Chef Le, there’s been an outpouring of support from the food community. While Toki Underground has reopened, “Pho U” has been postponed for the foreseeable future. City Eats sends our love and condolences to Le’s family, friends and colleagues.

If ever there was a time for comfort food, it appears that time is now. The Washington Post has a run down ofcomfort dishes reinterpreted by DC chefs. Head cheese sliders anyone?

Oh, Mike Isabella. How you love to tease us so! The Top Chef-er is playing coy again — this time in response to rumors that he’ll be opening a Greek joint on 14th Street.

Read the rest of the week in food news at City Eats DC’s blog, The Plate! 

The Week In Food

Tick tock. Tick tock. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and you…yeah you…do you have your dinner reservations?  Check out the CityEats Valentine’s Day Restaurant Guide because there are still a few hotspots with availability. But if you’re feeling more casual, there’s always the opportunity to find love at your local Chipotle this year.

But back to the more mundane – our morning coffee. Hi, my name is Alejandra Owens and I’m a caffeine fiend. Are you? Chances are, if you’re slurping a cup of joe from one of DC’s boutique coffee joints, you’ve probably got the itch for Counter Culture coffee. Washington City Paper exposes just how Counter Culture took over the DC coffee scene.

The battle over food truck regulations wages on in a George R. R. Martin fashion – slow moving but riveting at every turn. The DC Food Truck Association (House Stark) has launched a petition asking the citizens of DC to help them pass the proposed regulations, only with a few changes. Meanwhile, the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (House Lannister) has launched a petition of its own asking citizens of DC to stand up against the regulations…as they will propagate horrific parking and trash conditions in our fair city. As if we didn’t already have parking issues?

Read the rest of the week in food news over at City Eats’ The Plate! 

Where I Ate This Week – Alejandra Owens

As you guys know, I write for CityEats DC’s blog, The Plate. My fellow blogger and friend, Russel Warnick, is doing a fabulous new series for them called Where I Ate This Week and I’m the first to be featured!

I posted a link to the article on Facebook the other day with a caveat (or two): yes, I ate at all those places, yes I work out and yes I am still a healthy person. Portion control and moderation are so important, for all of us, but especially people who are immersed in the food world. There are times when it all goes out the window, right along with the treadmill, but what can you do? Sometimes it all just tastes so. Damn. Good. :) Now on to Russel’s piece:

…..

There are pros and cons to being a food writer. The pros are obvious, we eat out a lot and get to surround ourselves with talented people in the industry. The cons? We eat out a lot, perhaps not cooking as much as we’d like — and we spend more money on food than we’d care to admit. Oh, and then there’s the gym – I can’t speak for my colleagues, but I don’t hit the treadmill nearly enough.

The most common questions I’m asked is where I eat out, what are my favorite restaurants and what do I like to cook at home. Such loaded topics, all. And I’m just as curious about the answers to those questions when it comes to my fellow food writers in The District.

I introduce to you What I Ate This Week, a series providing a snapshot highlighting what a member of the CityEats team eats in a week.

We begin with Alejandra Owens, writer for CityEats, Borderstan and One Bite at a Time.

When I asked Alejandra to tell me what she ate in this particular week, I was overwhelmed by the time she spent at Eataly. Of course, she’s telling us what she ate the week she’s jaunting across the east coast (damn you, New York — we’ll soon have our comeuppance).

Check out what I ate over at The Plate! 

The Week In Food

How’s your 2012 shaping up so far, eaters and drinkers?

Food trucks are already off to a rough start, no thanks to a continually frustrating relationship with the DC City government. Parking tickets, ice cream truck regulations…whatever…I just want my kimchi tacos in Farragut North.

R.J. Cooper of Rogue 24 recently had his highly anticipated surgery and seems to be resting and doing well. While he’s healing and getting back into fighting form, Rogue 24 has been left in a long list of very capable hands. You can buy tickets to check out the guest chef series, Rogue Sessions, over at Gilt City DC, and then book your table at CityEats.

Just when I thought maybe DC had hit a lull in restaurant openings, a slew of new places have popped up or have announced they’ll open soon. There’s news coming from flaky-crust-wielding Pie Sisters, the Asian-inspired ShopHouse (opening a new location not far from their current one), Irish Whiskey, where you can try $177 whiskey, or maybe everyone’s favorite sandwich shop, Taylor Gourmet, where they’ll be serving breakfast at their new 14th Street location just a week after opening their doors.

Check out the rest of the week in food over at City Eats DC’s, The Plate! 

The Week In Food

Happy New Year, friends! Now that we’re back in town after the holiday madness and have made it through our first week of work, I assume everyone’s ready to nosh, imbibe and start 2012 off on the right foot.

• Fortunately for us, there’s a new restaurant to try. District Kitchen opened this week in Woodley Park and Eater DC gives readers a preview of the space and menu. While it looks like they’re still working on the website, you can check them out on Facebook and Twitter.
• If you’re like me, you like to have something to look forward to. Enter (or is that re-enter?) Shaw’s Tavern. The restaurant has a new management team and they’re working on getting the much-talked-about spot back up and running sooner rather than later.
• Then there’s Yo! More Sushi! The motorized sushi joint that hails from London will set up a conveyor belt in Chinatown some time this year. Because don’t you just love grabbing your food as it rolls on by?

Read the rest of The Week In Food over at City Eats DC’s blog, The Plate! 

This Week In Food

Happy Holidays folks!

In the flurry of Christmas cookie/cocktail/where to eat articles we’ve all been reading, I want to take a moment to give some love to those Jewish friends who celebrate the Festival of Lights.

• Both the Washingtonian and HuffPo DC Restaurants have created “where to eat Chinese food on Christmas Day” posts.
• Meanwhile, for the home cooks among us, The Washington Post’s Bonnie Benwick has a guide on how to build better latkes and Washingtonian published  7 Tips for Celebrating Hanukkah.

Put this in the “embarrassing” file: Whole Foods went and flubbed their Hanukkah display, which The Washington Post caught, by stacking boxes upon boxes of matzoh for all to see. And then they took it down.

And that Tim Carman. Man, he loves a good DC vs. NYC challenge, doesn’t he? Tim and The Washington Post’s Food & Travel Editor, Joe Yonan, cooked up a plan with Ed Levine, Serious Eats founder and serious New Yorker, to compare the two cities’ cheap eats. Everything from burgers, pizza, breakfast spots and bakeries were measured, rated and tallied. Who won? You’ll have to check out the score card to see.

To read the rest of This Week In Food, visit The Plate, City Eats DC’s blog!