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DC: Amsterdam Falafelshop

Amsterdam Falafelshop
Originally uploaded by kerner.

If I had to pick my favorite restaurants from the trip to DC it would be hard to split the top two. For quick, easy, and late night (although we ate lunch there) food the winner would be the Amsterdam Falafelshop.

If you've never had falafel you have to try it - perhaps not something to make at home, but mmm. Falafel is a deep fried ball of spiced, ground garbanzo beans. It is most often served in a pita as a sandwich (as at the Amsterdam Falafelshop) then topped in a variety of ways. 

The menu is amazingly simple. You can get two sizes of falafel in white or wheat pita, two sizes of fries, brownies, and assorted beverages. The menu is really only 3 items long: falafel, fries, brownies. The complexity comes with the topping bar. This is also where the goodness comes into play.

The topping bar consists of nearly twenty different sauces, salads, and pickles. It's possible to build your falafel in such a way that no two bites taste the same but every bite is delicious. This was my goal. I did fairly well for the first two thirds, but by the time I got to the end of eating the toppings had blended together giving me a very flavorful finish. Lest your fries feel left out they include traditional Dutch mayo, ketchup, and malt vinegar for them as well.

DC: Old Ebbitt Grill

Old Ebbitt Grill is the sort of Washington establishment that you could imagine in movies. It's steps from the White House, has been around for 150 years, was popular with presidents, and is still an active meeting spot in downtown DC. Sarah and I did our common appetizer, split entree, dessert routine and we were very pleased with the food. We started with the calamari which was great - Sarah made note that there were no tentacles - a part she particularly dislikes. For the main course we had whitefish in a parmasan cream sauce with asparagus - exceptional. For dessert we ordered Bourbon Walnut Pie.

The pie is something I'm hoping to recreate using pecans. It is a chocolate chip cookie batter crust filled with the bourbon walnut pie filling (fairly similar to pecan pie with chocolate) and topped with vanilla ice cream. Delicious.

Shifting focus?

I've been pondering switching the focus of this blog for awhile now. I haven't been posting much in the food arena, mainly because I don't seem to be as passionate about it as I once was. I'm thinking about moving to more of a general focus of my life to the posts - there will still be food posts, in fact I have ideas for two different weekly series for the summer (because that makes me post regularly). I'll also do restaurant reviews, recipes, etc as they happen. It seems that I pretty much eat the same places and don't cook creatively much any more though.

I really noticed this shift starting last fall when I took the job at the church. My passion has really shifted towards ministy and I've thought about shifting the blog focus accordingly. My first thought is that I will change the tagline to read "thoughts on food, technology, and ministry" and include my thoughts on being in full-time ministry. I have a theory that regular posts of any type might spur more food writing as well.

 Comments?

Hickok's - Better than Flame

I've got a lot of things to write about from the DC trip - 5-6 restaurants, but I realized that I hadn't written a review of Hickok's, the new steak house across  the street from Patton Alley Pub and Agrario (it's also managed by Eric Zackrison who owns the Pub and Agrario)

We went to Hickok's the first weekend they were open and were somewhat disappointed. Sarah and I had outstanding food - I had a ribeye, Sarah had a strip. Unfortunately our friends, Matt & Meredith, didn't get good food. Matt ordered beef  tips, which I always think comes across as prechewed, mush (which it is), and Merebear ordered the same thing as Sarah and her food wasn't good. Other than the beef tips I think most of the issues were related to new grill, new staff, etc. I didn't write a review then, because I wanted to give  it another chance. I'm glad I waited.

The weekend before we left for DC we tried Hickok's again. It was outstanding. We had the chicken fried steak, the spicy burger, and the bistro broil, salads, and bacon cheese bites. Nothing disappointed. The menu has been revamped, portion sizes have been adjusted and sandwiches have been added.

The one thing that needs to be mentioned is that the burgers at Hickok's are exceptional. They grind the beef from the steak trimmings. They are perfectly juicy, meaty, and delicious. I've got to say that they are the best burgers in the Walnut/Patton Alley area. 

Buzz Conference

 We're about halfway through the Buzz Conference. I've managed to get enough cell phone coverage to connect and post this note. The sessions yesterday were outstanding,  this morning we've had a bloggers breakfast - a great chance to meet people who also have blogs, the sermon branding session has been good as well. I'm looking forward to the panel this afternoon. Overall I've got to say that this is a phenomenal first conference for NCC.

Washington Round Up - Day 2/3

Tuesday we went to the Zoo, National Cathedral, and wandered around the Adams Morgan neighborhood. I think zoos seem much larger when you're a kid. Overall I was disappointed with the National  Zoo experience. I don't think it was much better than any of the large zoos in other major cities around the country (St. Louis for example -- maybe even KC). The one distinguishing factor is the giant panda family. We got a great opportunity to see the pandas outside. The adults were very active and the baby was sleeping in a tree.

After the zoo we walked to Adams Morgan for lunch at the Amesterdam Falafelshop. I promise there will be restaurant writeups, but  I'm saving those for easy blogging in the next two weeks (some are already written and scheduled). Adams Morgan seems like a neat neighborhood - I'll probably go back on Saturday.

Saturday afternoon was occupied by our misguided attempts to get to the National Cathedral. It took us over an  hour from Adams Morgan. I've thought the cathedral was cool ever since I first visited it when I was younger - it's even cooler after having visited some of the  large cathedrals in Europe.

Washington Day 1

 
Originally uploaded by kerner.

Our first day in DC we did a lot of the standard tourist stuff. We had a good lunch and a great dinner, but those are separate posts. Here is the quick overview of what happened on day one.

• Washington Monument - Saw Marine  One headed to the White House while waiting to go up.
  
• WWII Memorial
• Lincoln Monument
• Korean War Memorial
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial
• Lunch - Capitol City Brewing
• Smithsonian Castle
  
• American History Museum - including the puffy shirt
• Arlington National Cemetary and all the normal stuff there - Kennedy graves, tomb of the unknown, Arlington house. I tried to convince Sarah to walk back into the city, but she refused.
• Dinner - Old Ebbitt Grill

So that's the first day. Today we're headed to the zoo, Adams Morgan, and the National Cathedral. Then sushi with a friend of ours from Mizzou.