Les Images

I was browsing Flickr, and found some really neat shots of my neighborhood so I thought I'd share.

By Flickr user Ronnie R.

By Flickr user Ohad.

By Flickr user Citron_Smurf.

Such Good Heights: Adams Morgan's Himalayan Heritage

I'd walked past Himalayan Heritage several times, but had not yet ventured inside until this past week, when - spurred by Tom Sietsema's recent positive review - Jason and I decided to check it out for dinner. As we stepped inside the Nepalese-Indian eatery, we were greeted by a friendly hostess and led to our table. Soon after we sat down, a complimentary small plate of marinated soybeans appeared, which we quickly devoured.

We started with drinks (a glass of sparkling white wine for me, and a Taj Mahal beer for Jason), and appetizers. At Tom's recommendation, we ordered the Gobi Manchurian, cauliflower mixed with a corn flour batter, deep fried and dipped in a spicy hot and sweet soy sauce cooked with capsicum, ginger and green chile. The cauliflower, golden-hued and addictively crunchy, was delicious, but not as spicy as its description would suggest. We also tried the Himalayan Choe-La appetizer, cubes of boneless chicken breast marinated with mustard oil, Himalayan herbs and spices, and grilled in a charcoal oven. The Choe-La was tasty, but again, not as flavorful as I expected. (Perhaps the kitchen tones down the heat for Western palates.)

Our entrees were a more richly flavored. I ordered Lamb Kadai, tender pieces of lamb cooked with fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic and spices, garnished with coriander and ginger. The lamb was well-spiced and perfectly cooked, enhanced by the gravy created from its cooking juices. Jason's goat curry was a nicely complex blend of flavors, the deep meatiness of the goat blending with the sweetness of the onion sauce that accompanied it.

Unsurprisingly, given Himalayan Heritage's good write-up in the Post, the secret is definitely out; the place was packed by the time we finished our meal. As a result, it took a good while to flag down our server for the check, and to have our credit cards returned. As Jason noted, the staff seemed overwhelmed by the time we left. However, until that point, service was very friendly, accommodating, and prompt. The staff, though very busy, seems determined to ensure a positive experience for patrons.

In any case, it's great to have another casual, but good dining spot in the neighborhood. (Not that Adams Morgan is lacking in dining establishments, but it's always nice to have more choices.)

Good to know:
Himalayan Heritage is located at 2305 18th Street, NW, on the corner of 18th and Kalorama in Adams Morgan. Diners were dressed in everything from jeans and sneakers to suits and ties, and no one looked out of place.

Photo by the Washington Post's Olivia Boinet.

Cashion In

I've been looking forward to this weekend all month because my parents will be in town! They live in Chicago (a fantastic food city in its own right), so they only get to DC one or two times a year. For that reason, it's pretty special when they come to DC, and I like to take them out for at least one memorable meal while they're in town.

I gave careful consideration to my restaurant choice this time. My requirements were stiff. The restaurant had to be easily accessible from my apartment (for parental units unaccustomed to and potentially stressed out by zipping around on the Metro), quiet enough to have a real conversation, not so popular that it would be overwhelmingly crowded (sorry, Zaytinya, Oyamel, and the Jose Andres empire in general), with a selection of straightforward fare to satisfy my dad's meat-and-potatoes palate (sayonara Perry's and Sushi Taro), but at the same time, more nuanced than your prototypical Washington steakhouse (ahem), with a good wine list (something we can all agree on), and a restaurant unique to the DC area.

As it turns out, the perfect place exists right in my own neighborhood, in the form of none other than Cashion's Eat Place, the Adams Morgan neighborhood gem serving an eclectic menu of interesting, yet unpretentious American dishes. Despite its proximity to my apartment, I've never eaten there, but I walk by it constantly, and have always been intrigued by the retro neon-pink signage and warmly-hued interior.

Has anyone been? Any menu recommendations?

A taste of Peru

I'll admit it - I'm a sucker for design. Smart packaging is important to me for its own sake. (Though it certainly helps if the thing inside the package is actually good...see Ciao Bella post below, for example.) Perhaps because of my bias toward all things pretty, I was sold on Adams Morgan's Peruvian outpost, Las Canteras, from the moment I set foot in in the intimate and charmingly decorated space. With walls painted a festive vermillion hue, accented by colonial era cast and wrought iron chandeliers and sconces, Las Canteras' beautiful dining room had me at "Hello." Or rather, "Dinner for two?"

Dinner for two, indeed, and what a dinner it was. Perhaps having undermined my own culinary journalism integrity by admitting my predilection for such frivolities as a restaurant's interior design, I shall have to be extra vigilant about my description of its food (the stuff inside the package), lest I succumb to aforementioned schoolgirl crush on the restaurant's good looks and start raving madly about the virtues of the creative Peruvian cuisine being served up in this looker of an eatery.

But, um, I'm going to rave anyway because, well, the food at Las Canteras is just that good.

You'll want to start your meal with the restaurant's coolly sophisticated take on a Pisco Sour, served in a slender flute and topped with a dollop of whipped egg white foam and a sprinkle of cinnamon. As Jason observed, the warm spicy notes of the cinnamon register more strongly as scent than taste, providing a multi-sensory foil to the cool citrus tang of the drink.

To begin the meal, our server brought us a basket of freshly baked bread, an arrival made even more welcome by the accompanying green chile spread, at once creamy, garlicky, and tear-inducingly spicy. Now, I've yet to encounter a bread basket that I didn't like, but with the addition of that smooth, yet spicy green chile spread, Robert C. Atkins himself would've wolfed the stuff down. The piquant spread was but a prelude, however, for the delights that await the palate at Las Canteras. As a serious shellfish lover, I swooned over our appetizer, the Choros a la Chalaca - sweet, plump mussels (nearly twice as large as any I've seen in a restaurant recently), topped with a mix of juicy chopped tomatoes, corn, and cilantro, all dressed in lemon juice, and elegantly served atop the incandescent mussel shells.

Those gorgeous mussels made me happy I'd gone with the Parihuela - a Peruvian bouillabaisse - for my main course, and the aromatic seafood soup did not disappoint. With generous portions of jumbo shrimp, mussels, clams, white fish, and calamari bathed in a steaming broth of wine, lime juice, and cilantro, the Parihuela had me begging our obliging server for another basket of bread with which to sop up every last drop of the spicy, briny juices. Equally worthy was Jason's entree, the Trio de Anticuchos, tender pieces of chicken, beef, and heart of beef, served with a side of garlicky mashed potatoes, corn, and lime-marinated red onion. As Jason noted, the starchy neutrality of the corn kernals served as a vessel to prolongue the other more aggressive flavors on the palate.

Alas, we were too full to order dessert, although the couple next to us ordered a Guava Flan that will definitely be on my short list for my next visit. Even with dozens more places in the neighborhood to check out, I have a feeling my next visit will be sooner than later.

Good to know:
Las Canteras is located at 2307 18th Street, NW. It's not a far walk from the Dupont Metro stop if you walk north from the circle on Connecticut Ave., cut right on Florida Ave., and then swing a left when you get to 18th Street. It's well worth the walk.

Photos taken from Las Canteras' website.

Brunch for one

I love eating good meals with friends and family. But eating alone is equally delicious in its own way. Particularly if said meal is brunch at Meze in Adams Morgan on a sunny Saturday morning.

Having spent about sixteen hours straight in bed (thanks to a nasty cold and lots of Nyquil), getting out of my apartment for brunch was an especially appealing idea. Also, my beloved but ancient coffeemaker had chosen this morning to stage its dramatic denouement (think lots of hissing and smoking), so coffee at home was out of the question. With newspaper in hand, I headed over to Meze for some caffeine and nourishment.

From the moment I entered Meze, the staff seemed to anticipate my every whim. I was whisked over to a nice big corner table (the better to spread out with my newspaper), and immediately a waiter brought over a steaming mug of strong Turkish coffee. (Could it be that I actually look caffeine-deprived?)

Meze's menu features a varied selection of Turkish mezze, or "small plates" (think tapas, 'cept Turkish, not Spanish). As good as all the small plates sounded, I went with a more traditional brunch choice - the"Meze Eggs," two poached eggs over toasted English muffin and smoked salmon, topped with a creamy tomato-flavored Hollandaise sauce. I ordered a side of sauteed spinach too, which I spooned over the eggs.

With such good food and never-ending coffee refills, the Style section was all the company I needed for a great brunch.

Good to know:
Meze is located at 2437 18th Street, a quick walk up from the Dupont Metro or down from the Woodley Park/Zoo Metro (both on the Red Line).

Photo of Meze's interior taken from SieteTango.

Adams Morning

Happiness is waking up slowly with a cup of freshly brewed Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee (ground from whole beans, which you can find at Marvelous Market), sitting by my window and watching the morning's first light tiptoe over the rooftops on the other side of Kalorama Park.

Photo of morning light in Adams Morgan by Flickr user Pappa91.

Pixie Dust

One of the best things about living in Adams Morgan is the continual
sense of being surrounded by things as-of-yet undiscovered. The
neighborhood continues to reveal its nuances, and, perhaps to the
surprise of some, I'm finding that there's more to this place than
bars, clubs, and absurdly large slices of pizza (though admittedly,
about 96% of the joints along 18th Street fall into one of the three
categories.)

Happily, though, the other 4% can hold their own. As evidence, I
present one of my favorite recent discoveries, Miss Pixie's Furnishings & Whatnot, a thoroughly charming treasure trove of antique and vintage furnishing and...whatnot. With an eye for the feminine, the ornate, and the fabulous, Miss Pixie's pink-painted walls house a whimsical - yet, well-edited - collection of furniture, kitchenware, art, and all sorts of other knickknacks.

I'm not sure who Miss Pixie is, but she has impeccable taste, with sort of an Anthropologie meets Charlotte York vibe, only less expensive (on both counts). On my first trip, I found a sweet little mustard-yellow end table, with an even sweeter price tag in the double digits. More recently, on New Year's Eve, upon realizing that I had no champagne flutes, I headed over to Miss Pixie's and scored a vintage set of four for $12.

Unlike some antique emporiums, Miss Pixie's is not overly cluttered. In fact, browsing the neatly displayed collection feels pleasantly like wandering around your most stylish friend's apartment, whose furnishings just happen to be for sale. Plates of chocolate chip cookies add to the coziness factor, as does a sales staff who remembers faces and names.

Chatting with the uber-friendly sales assistant on my last foray, I found out that Miss Pixie's neighbor, the beloved lounge/coffeeshop Tryst, actually buys most of its furniture from Miss Pixie's. (I'm actually typing this post from Tryst, in case you're wondering whether all those yuppies on their iBooks are actually writing things of substance or just typing emails to Mom. Ok, so I did that too. Hi Mom.)

And, um, all this writing about Miss Pixie's is making me wonder what new stuff she's got in the store, so I think I'll finish my latte, close up the iBook, and head on over.

Good to know:
Miss Pixie's is located at 2473 18th Street, in the heart of Adams Morgan. It's Metro-accessible, well, you know the drill, dear readers...Dupont or Woodley on the Red Line. Take yer pick.

Photo of 18th Street (Miss Pixie's is the store with the pink awning, naturally) by Flickr user Eye Captain.

Part II in a series of posts on Adams Morgans' burgeoning intimate French/Belgian bistros-with-sane-noise-levels scene

Besides the previously-blogged-about Napoleon, low-key places to grab a drink and engage in actual conversation are rare in my neighborhood. If you want to, I dunno, actually talk to your drinking companions, the overwhelming majority of joints along the 18th Street strip are just too damn noisy. That's why I was so pleased when my friend Dan introduced me to Cafe L'Enfant the other night.

With its well-conceived wine list and casually cozy atmosphere, Cafe L'Enfant has now joined Napoleon on my neighborhood shortlist of places to go for drinks and conversation. I finally got to try this year's Beaujolais Nouveau, whose youthful berry tones are a bit too fleeting on the tongue for my taste. Nonetheless, I'd been wanting to at least try it to know what the hype was about. For my second glass, I went with a glass of Cotes du Rhone, a heftier wine whose gravity I appreciated all the more in contrast with the Beaujolais. This particular Cotes du Rhone (an appellation sometimes derided for its vague provenance) was selected by Kermit Lynch, a prolific wine importer whose name I recognized from Jay McInerney's A Hedonist in the Cellar (which, by the way, is a great primer for the budding oenophile, and is the first in the series of books I plan to read to educate myself about wine. Well that, and, um, drinking lots of it.)

In addition to wine, Cafe L'Enfant boasts a well-rounded Bieres Menu, though so enamored was I with the wine list, I cannot for the life of me recall which two beers Dan ordered. Like Napoloeon, L'Enfant also serves bistro fare as well as sweet and savory crepes, which make for perfect post-drink snacking. Grab a seat at one of the tables by the window and look forward to an evening of not having to yell "WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

I'll drink to that.

Good to know:
Cafe L'Enfant is located at 2000 18th Street, NW. The closest Metro stop is Dupont Circle on the Red Line. Exit on the north side, then walk north on Connecticut to Florida Ave. Take a right on Florida, till you hit 18th. Cafe L'Enfant will be on the corner to the left. The atmosphere is decidedly casual.

Photo of Cafe L'Enfant by Flickr user robert takes pictures.

Sunday, idle Sunday

On this Sunday after Thanksgiving, I was craving something to feed the mind, having already fed my stomach to capacity on Thursday. I've been meaning to check out Idle Time Books for awhile now, so I donned my reading glasses and black turtleneck, and headed on over to the used and out-of-print book purveyor in the heart of Adams Morgan.

Upon entering, I was pleasantly surprised by just how large Idle Time is. Its quaint storefront gives the appearance of a cozy little shop, but there are actually three large floors filled with a diverse selection of books, spanning topics from Art Theory to Economics to Psychology and lots more. Political junkies will be especially pleased, as almost an entire wall is devoted to books on U.S. and international politics. There is also a sizable collection of biographies, and, of course, a large selection of fiction. My favorite part (well, besides the books) is the multitude of stools and chairs. There's even a red crushed-velvet armchair on the third floor by the window, overlooking 18th Street - a perfect retreat from the hustle and bustle of the street below.

In addition to books, the Idle Time sells records and cd's, though not a very extensive selection of either. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. I snapped up Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed and Wally Lamb's I Know This Much is True.

Good to know:
Idle Time Books is located at 2467 18th Street, NW. The easiest way to get there is probably via the Dupont Circle Metro stop (exit on the North side). From there, walk north on Connecticut Ave., take a right on Florida Ave., then a left on 18th Street.

If you're looking for a specific book, you can actually search Idle Time's inventory on the interwebs (as the kids say) before you go.

Photo of Idle Time Books by Flickr user Eye Captain.

A Napoleon Complex

The days are short, and the air is chilly. Patio happy hours and summer cocktails feel like a distant memory. But that's no reason to pout when the clock strikes 5 o'clock. Adams Morgan's sophisticated new bistro, Napoleon, is the perfect place to cozy up to a couple of drinks and some casual French fare. The Parisien-inspired spot has quickly become my office's post-work venue of choice. The best part? Napoleon's drink menu features an extensive list of champagne cocktails, sure to warm you up in no time.

When I went with co-workers, I tried "A Good Night Kiss," made with Campari, champagne, and Angostura bitter. The bitters made for an interesting contrast to the champagne's sweet fizz. If you find yourself reminiscing about warm summer nights, "La Tropicale" (champagne and mango nectar) will ease your nostalgie. My co-worker, R., had the "French 75," made with Bombay Saphhire, lemon juice, and champagne. I must say, I've seen nary a classier silhouette in Adams Morgan than R. sipping her sparkly ice blue drink from a slender glass flute, the twinkly lights of Columbia Road and 18th Street flickering outside. Napoleon's vibe is a far cry from the usual debauchery that descends on its environs at dark, that's for certain.

All that champagne gave us a good excuse to sample some of Napoleon's bistro fare. The pommes frites are dangerously addictive, and come with ketchup and a sweet tarragon-flecked mayonnaise. The mussels aren't as plump and juicy as I've had elsewhere, but the sauce from the Moules Marinieres (white wine, shallots, and garlic) makes for some divine dunking action with the gratis bread basket. I haven't had a chance to try the rest of the menu, but the savory crepes sound especially promising, as does the Cote d'Agneau (rack of lamb, served with potato gratin). Napoleon also serves brunch, and must be doing a fine job of it - the place is always packed when I walk by on weekends.

In addition to the restaurant upstairs, there's also also a moodily lit downstairs lounge. Think slouchy leather couches, exposed brick, and glowing lanterns mounted on the wall. Though it was empty when I saw it (I took the liberty of peeking around a bit on a trip to the ladies' room downstairs), it's not hard to imagine the room filled with people sitting and talking quietly over those exquisite champagne cocktails (which, by the way, are half price between 5 and 8 p.m.). It's almost enough to make a girl forget about those warm August evenings, sipping Blue Moons on the rooftop at The Reef. Almost.

Good to know:
Napoleon is located at 1847 Columbia Road, NW. It's not terribly close to a Metro stop (probably a 15-minute walk from the Woodley Park - Zoo/Adams Morgan stop on the Red line. I recommend a cab, especially post-champagne, but there is some limited street parking available on the surrounding blocks.

The atmosphere is upscale casual. I felt fine, if a bit stuffy, in my work clothes, but I would definitely change into my slouchy black boots, dark jeans, and gray Marc Jacobs tunic top to hit up the downstairs lounge.

Photo by Flickr user Roboppy.