I had heard of this place in some magazine or other because of the homemade poptarts. So when I was in Reston and craving some mid-day breakfast, I decided to try it out. It’s kind of like an upscale version of an old-fashioned diner. If that makes any sense.
The menu is a mini newspaper (or bulletin, if you will) that also has some articles on the namesake and how the restaurant was founded. They have boozy milkshakes (very on trend right now), so I tried the Bananas Foster with banana rum and caramel. Very good.
Then I tried the signature breakfast combo – The Big Mark – which comes with 3 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage, hashbrowns, toast, and a poptart (I chose the brown sugar bacon flavor). Everything was great except for the sausage, which was way too spicy for me. The poptart was indeed tasty, but I thought it needed a higher filling to crust ratio.
I brought a couple more flavors of poptart home (blueberry cheesecake and strawberry, I believe) to sample a range and so that Jasper could try them. Again, they were good but we both agreed they needed more filling.
Here’s the fun news for breakfast-loving me – they are opening up a location at Mosaic, which is very close to me! I might even sample some non-breakfast items… maybe… probably not.
So, I’m kind of obsessed with the new shopping area called Mosaic District, I spend a lot of time there. It has a lot of restaurants, but not many of them are sit-down type places. Of the few that are there, I like Matchbox the best. The food is good, the drinks are decent, and it’s right next to the movie theater. For these reasons, it tends to always be crowded. But don’t let availability on Open Table fool you – every single time it has claimed to have no reservations, we have walked in and been seated in less than 15 minutes. It’s billed as a pizza joint, but more than half the menu is other types of food. I’d say it’s pretty comparable to Chef Geoff’s, but in a better location.
One thing that is pretty cool is that they have wines on tap, so you can order by the glass pretty easily. But what’s even cooler is a deal with Swirl and Sip where if you buy a bottle of wine from them, Matchbox will waive the corkage fee!
This is one of my favorite pizzas – the prosciutto and black mission fig with black pepper, arugula, and honey.
Another favorite (for Jasper, as well) is the chicken pesto pizza.
This is the crab and avocado salad with roasted corn and tarragon aioli. (more…)
I have an obsession… with a salad shop. This must be what being an adult feels like. I never used to like salads AT ALL, and then I tried Sweetgreen and now a salad is my treat to myself after working out. Not like, “oh don’t wanna ruin that workout, so here’s a salad;” but like “good job, now you GET to eat this salad.” Weiiiiiiiiird. Who am I?
Anywho, Sweetgreen is awesome. It’s like any fast food joint (Chipotle, Subway, etc…) where you travel down the line and build your meal, in this case – a yummy salad made with local ingredients (check the blackboard to see which vendors they use).
They have a number of pre-designed salads (my favorite is the District Cobb) and one seasonal salad per month (above photo is the May 2014 salad), or you can go custom. You can also customize a menu salad. For example, I like to get the District Cobb but swap sweet potatoes in for tomatoes and change the dressing to balsamic vinaigrette (which is super good). You get to choose how much dressing you want (light, medium, heavy) and also if you want bread (the bread is really good, but I try to resist).
Seasonal restaurants like 2941 change their menu all the time as new products become available (for example, here is a post from last Summer), so I like to try to keep stopping in and see what is new. Here is a look at the menu as it was at the end of April.
Beef Tartare with baby kale, cornichon, Dijon mustard, fried potatoes. Those potatoes were pretty killer.
Tart with mangalica ham, creme fraiche, and onion. Good, but not great – I probably wouldn’t order it again.
“Lobster Roll” with tomato gelee and avocado. Very light and refreshing. (more…)
I actually ate here a while ago, but the experience was so bad that I have been putting off writing about it for a long time. Vinifera is located inside a Westin hotel near Reston. I decided to head out there for some wine and tapas before picking my husband up at the airport, and it ended up being a huge mistake.
I sat out on the patio, which was totally gorgeous, but it took 20 minutes before I could flag down a waiter to take my order. I put in an order for a whole bunch of tapas at once, and also some wine. The wine arrived pretty quickly, but the food didn’t even start arriving until 40 minutes later. 40 minutes!!! And then it was only the little one bite skewers; the rest of the food took even longer. That is totally unacceptable. And the food wasn’t even that good. Less than average, I would say, and I tried a whole range of things. I won’t even break down for you what I ordered, because it was all so forgettable. The $1-2 “pintxos” seemed like a great bargain, but they are literally tiny toothpick bites like you would find passed around at a party. Tiny, not that good, not worth $1-2 each, and definitely not worth a 40 minute wait. The rest of the food (and wine) was also overpriced.
I would maybe, MAYBE, say that it would be a nice place to grab a glass of wine on the patio, but not if you are on any kind of a timeline and watch out for a steeper than average mark-up.
San Antonio has become a really hip place since I moved away, and that is due in large part to the Pearl Brewery area. The original brewery was opened in 1881 and ran until 1985 when Pabst Blue Ribbon took over, and then shut down in 2001. The land was purchased and slowly developed into a shopping area, which is now booming. With a weekly farmers market, boutique shops, new apartments, and amazing restaurants – this is now the place to be. It reminds me a lot of Mosaic District, actually. They even built a new section of Riverwalk nearby!
Anyway, when I came to visit – all the places my family wanted to take me to ended up being at Pearl, so I have lots of reviews for you!
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The night I flew in, my family took me to Cured, located in the historic administration building of the brewery. As you can guess from the name, cured meats are a large focus of the menu, but they also have cooked main dishes under the categories vegetable, seafood, fowl, pork, beef, and goat or lamb. My dad ordered a selection of cured meats for us, and they were delish – especially the country style pate and lamb/citrus terrine. I also had the pork cheeks poutine, which was AWESOME. The pickled cauliflower they put in there is totally unexpected and is what makes the dish, I think. For dessert I had a beet twinkie with meyer lemon curd – yum. The drink menu includes cane sugar sodas from much-beloved Dublin, TX; craft cocktails; and a killer beer list. My brother is going to have to get on here and tell me what local beer I had, because it was fantastic.
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The next night, we went to The Granary – a modern BBQ joint located in the original brewmaster’s house. I have never seen a concept like this before – super modern, artistic BBQ – very cool. Apparently my father comes here for lunch at least once a week, because the waiter greeted him by his nickname and knew his favorite dishes. We thought that was pretty funny. (more…)
You should know by now how much we love Marcel’s – the restaurant where we got engaged and where we spend many of our special occasions (previous posts here and here). So when I saw a post about an amazing looking wine dinner on their Facebook page, I immediately called and made reservations. The dinner was four courses (plus Amuse and cheese) designed to pair with seven wines from Grapes of Spain, a Spanish wine importer with a focus on new talent and modern wines. Grapes of Spain president Aurelio Cabestrero, and winemakers Javier Candon and Isaac Fernandez were in attendance. For each pairing, we were given an in-depth description of the wines from the type of land the grapes are grown on, to how they are harvested and prepared, to the tasting notes. It was incredibly informative and a lot of fun, especially as we got to know the other people at our table. The best part? These wines are incredibly reasonably priced, I would even say cheap – most were between $15-$20 a bottle! And we got a discount for being at the dinner, and an even bigger discount for buying a case (mix and match, too). Such an insanely great deal!
Without further ado, I present to you the pairings:
Amuse Bouche – Lobster Egg with Osetra Caviar. This was a lobster bisque topped with custard and caviar, served in an egg shell – delicious.
Biutiful Cava Brut Rose NV – 100% Garnacha. A delicate, subtle, dry, sparkling rose with notes of raspberry and citrus.
First Course – Diver Scallop Tartine, Aged Sherry Shallot Butter, Smoked Trout Roe. Excellent, my favorite course.
Adras Godello 2012 – 100% Godello. My favorite wine of the night – earthy and funky like my beloved French whites, but with more floral and citrus notes making it super balanced and perfect for pairing with food.
Second Course – Saddle of Rabbit Stuffed with Cumin Scented Rabbit Sausage, Butternut Squash Puree, Chanterelle Mushrooms. Very earthy and yummy (I think we can acknowledge that all the courses are going to be yummy). I was starting to get tipsy already at this point, yikes!
Adras Mencia 2012 – 100% Mencia. A light bodied but velvety fruit-forward red.
Third Course – Breast of La Belle Farms Duck, Duck Confit, Valrhona Chocolate, Brandied Cherries. I really liked this course, and boy were those cherries boozy!
Acentor Garnacha 2012 – 100% Garnacha Tinta (Red Grenache). Dry and spicy, Jasper preferred this wine with the duck (and overall – it was his favorite). We both thought it was the most drinkable of all the wines (meaning on it’s own, not necessarily with food).
Bovale 2011 – 100% Bobal. Jammy with ripe berry and chocolate notes. I thought this was the better pairing with the duck because of the chocolate in the dish, but I was definitely in the minority at the table.
Fourth Course – Herb Brioche Encrusted Rack of Border Springs Lamb, Scarmoza Polenta Cake, Madeira Lamb Jus. I think I ate this really fast because I needed food at this point, haha.
Finca La Mata 2011 – 100% Tinta del Pais (Tempranillo). Medium-bodied and fruit-forward with depth. Very satisfying, but not a standout in this group, especially since it was more classic versus unusual.
Arrocal Selection 2010 – 100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo). This was deep and rich with notes of black cherry, vanilla, and spice. This wine was the outlier in terms of price point – at $40 it is well above the others.
Cheese – Reblochon Cheese Cake with Green Gauge Plums. There was no wine paired with this course, so we all took our time finishing whatever we hadn’t been able to yet.
Then came a few petite fours and the filling out of the order forms. The wines were ready to pick up in just a few days. We got ours yesterday and I am so excited! The dinner was lovely and I highly recommend looking to see if any of these wines are available near you. The quality is wonderful on they’re own, but paired with the price they’re unbeatable.
Another belated Restaurant Week post brings us to a somewhat new Bryan Voltaggio concept in Chevy Chase – Range. Located inside Chevy Chase Pavillion (across from Mazza Gallerie), the interior is huge and split into multiple dining rooms. Unfortunately, we were sat in the far back in the most remote and boring corner. We still had pretty decent service, though, especially considering how packed it was.
The New American menu has a lot to choose from with a raw bar, charcuterie, wood fired pizzas, and a range of cooked dishes. The cocktails are innovative, and the wine list is good (our server recommended a wine from a vineyard that has a personal relationship with the restaurant and is hard to get elsewhere).
There was a cheese course on the restaurant week menu, so we went ahead and got that. But we also wanted charcuterie, which wasn’t on the RW menu, so we ordered that a la carte – you can see the portion difference in the photo. Both selections were great and the housemade accompaniments were topnotch. I especially liked the mostarda and the fig jam.
My second course was the kale caesar salad with egg emulsion that everybody is always posting about, with good reason! It’s a caesar, but it’s one of the best you are ever going to get.
Jasper choose the beet salad with burrata. Pretty standard combo, well executed.
For my entree, I choose the goat cheese ravioli with meat ragu. Yummy, but the filling was pretty much just goat cheese, and a lot of it. I like goat cheese, but I would have appreciated a better balance.
Jasper choose the lamb with carrot-jalapeno romesco, which he said was awesome.
We had a good time and enjoyed everything we ate. I would like to return to try out more of the menu, especially with a group since the menu seems to be suited for it.
I know, I know – Restaurant Week was last month. I’m slow, get over it. So I had heard that Kaz was some people’s favorite sushi joint in town and we hadn’t tried it out yet. Well, that’s what RW is for! Except that we got to there and Jasper promptly threw out the RW menu, crying “I want to eat whatever I want!”. This is not the first time this has happened. Oh well.
First thing’s first – the sake. They have a couple of sake tastings, and one of them is all nigori, so of course we ordered that! It was fun to try out a couple different ones, and all of them were new to us. We picked out favorite of the three and ordered a bottle.
First up – pork belly appetizer. Yummy, I mean – it’s pork belly. Liked the presentation, too.
Okonomiyaki – Japanese pancake with cabbage, bbq pork belly, mayo, and bonito. I scarfed this down before taking a photo, so obviously I liked it. But I did think it was too heavy on the bbq sauce.
Next up, sushi – lots of sushi. Standouts were the Hawaiian Walu special with wasabi leaf (top center), lobster with wasabi mayo (bottom right), and seared salmon belly (bottom center ) – though the salon belly was not as good as Kushi’s. Toro, uni, and unagi were standard. The foie gras miso on the tuna and masago and creme fraiche on the salmon didn’t really add anything, I wouldn’t get them again. (more…)
We had two different events planned in two different states in the weeks before Christmas: a weekend-long birthday party in the Outer Banks and a family get-together in Nashville, TN. We decided it would be fun to connect the events via a long roadtrip, stopping at the Biltmore Estate in NC before continuing on to TN. Biltmore is HUGE. The house is the largest privately owned house in the US, and the grounds cover 8000 acres. It takes 30 minutes to get from the Inn on the property to the house.
We stayed for two nights at the Inn, which is a really nice hotel and spa. They were all decked out for Christmas, and had a gingerbread house replica of the Inn. There are multiple restaurants on the Estate – we ate at the Inn Dining Room the first night, and like it so much we decided to eat there the second night too!
The Dining Room is seasonal, farm-sourced fine dining. I really liked their small plates and respectful treatment of produce. The amuse bouche was a different cream based vegetable veluote both nights and they were both outstanding. I could have eaten a bowl of that for dinner and been happy.
My favorite dish was the fried brussels sprouts with a farm egg, frisee, and bacon. This is seriously the BEST brussels sprouts dish I have ever had. It was eye-rolling good. I ordered it both nights and asked for the recipe, which they gave me! I’ll post it at the bottom.
Another standout was the roasted corn and lobster soup with piquillo peppers. This has been added to my list of favorite lobster dishes, and is in the top 3 lobster bisques for sure.
The pork belly with apple tart and goat cheese ravioli appetizers were also very good and I would highly recommend them. The gnocchi with brie, figs, and bacon was not enjoyable, though. The brie overpowered everything else and the bacon was way too salty. It sounded great on paper, but didn’t work.
The artisan meat and cheese platter was very satisfying, with lots of variety and good portions. I didn’t order any entrees, and Jasper ordered specials both nights. He really enjoyed the seafood special the first night, but did not like the steak special the second night.
Overall, the good outweighs the bad here and I would recommend trying it out if you are ever in the area. (more…)
