In 2009, I met my mom, aunt, grandmother and cousins in Djerba, Tunisia for a relaxing Mediterranean family vacation (you can read more about that trip here). I had to leave before everyone else because well, I'm the only one who lives in a country that doesn't have 6-weeks of paid vacation days a year (grrr USA!) but did meet up with my dad in Paris for a quick 24 hours before flying back to D.C. My dad and I both have a mad sweet tooth and truly appreciate fine desserts, so these 24 hours turned into quite the pâtisseries marathon. And it was good timing: Éclair Week was in full swing at Fauchon, leading me to rediscover a forgotten childhood favourite. Fast forward to today. Saying ...
Miam Miam
Sweet! There’s a New Menu at The Grill Room
Wednesday night, I headed off to the Capella Hotel in Georgetown to celebrate its new chef Frank Ruta, and the new menu he designed for its restaurant The Grill Room. I must confess, I never ate at Palena, the Cleveland Park establishment Chef Ruta headed before it closed last year. I also never attended one of his famed Bread Feast supper club dinner at Mark Furstenberg's Bread Furst . And yet, I have an awesome memory of Chef Ruta, one that doesn't involve his food directly. Instead, it involves a panel on which he sat at the National Archives a few years back. A panel of former White House chefs. The soft spoken Chef Ruta sat between former White House Executive Chef Pierre Chambrin and ...
Les Merveilleux de Fred Opens in New York’s West Village
I spent the past week in New York City for a work event, and just had to find some time to visit the newly opened bakery Aux Merveilleux de Fred. HAD TO. The Manhattan version of Frédéric Vaucamps' meringue-shop looks like his many Parisian outposts, with a stunning chandelier, rows of merveilleux in display cases and an open kitchen that allows passers-by on 8th avenue to see how the pastries are assembled by hand. And the pastries? Well, they're just as marvelous on this side of the Atlantic ;-) If you're not familiar with the merveilleux pastry, you're not alone. This traditional northern France sweet had fallen out of fashion until the late 90's, when Fred decided to make it the ...
Nutella Cheesecake Mousse
I was looking for an easy dessert recipe to cap off a raclette dinner party when I stumbled upon this no-bake Nutella cheesecake mousse recipe in My Baking Addiction. Not only was it easy to make, but it was absolutely delicious! You can check out the recipe on Jamie's blog, though I did change up the recipe a little bit and made my own whipped cream instead of using frozen whipped topping like her recipe called for. To do that, I simply whipped 1 1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream until soft peaks formed and added 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and whipped further until stiff peaks formed. I also topped each individual cups with a quarter of a Rocher Suchard. Trust me, you'll want to try ...
Chinese Food & a (French) Movie On Erev Christmas
Are Chinese diner and a movie part of your Christmas traditions? If the answer is yes (or oui) and you want to add a little something French to your Erev Christmas, look no further than the Washington DC Jewish Community Center on 16th street. They will be screening It Happened in Saint-Tropez, a French comedy of manners featuring the stunning (and now age appropriate Bond girl) Monica Bellucci. The screening will be preceded by some traditional Chinese food starting at 6:30PM. Speaking of "traditional Jewish Christmas food," the night before (12/23) you can also swing by DGS Delicatessen, which will be hosting its second "Jewish Christmas" Chinese banquet, with guest chefs Erik Bruner ...
Dolci Gelati Cafe Now Spreading Happiness in Shaw
Unless you live in Takoma Park and already have easy access to chef Gianluigi Dellaccio's sweet frozen creations, you're probably like me and pretty stoked that Dolci Gelati Cafe just opened in Shaw. Equally exciting, chef Cedric Maupillier of Mintwood Place is slated to open his new restaurant, Convivial, next door... Dolci Gelati is a labour of love for Gianluigi and Anastasia Dellaccio and I never tire of hearing the story of their business' beginnings, which had Gianluigi drumming up business by going from restaurant to restaurant with a cooler of gelato strapped to the back of his vespa. Today, Dolci Gelati is a larger operation, with a production facility in Northeast ...
Postcard from France: Visiting the Louvre-Lens
Lens, a small town in northern France, boasts a football stadium with a capacity larger than its population, but doesn't have a movie theater. A former mining strong hold, its main touristic and cultural attractions used to be world war I cemeteries and Europe's tallest slag heaps (known by their formal French name of base et terrils jumeaux du 11/19.) That all changed in 2012. That year, one of the world's most famous museums, the Louvre, opened an outpost in Lens, attracting some 900,000 visitors its first year of operation. While that's barely anything compared to the 8 million visitors that go through the Parisian museum each year, that's still very impressive. Lens is easily ...
A Taste of Olney’s Taste Gastropub
Discovering new restaurants and meeting new people who appreciate food as much as a do as two of the main reasons I keep blogging. Last week, I headed to Olney, Maryland for a private tasting at Taste Gastropub, an unassuming restaurant in a strip mall some 18 miles outside of my comfort zone, I mean, outside of downtown DC ;-) I'm definitely glad I ventured out. Lunch with my bestie Cecile, fellow DC Spotter Aparna, Lisa of #PushPlayEat, Jessica of The Dining Traveler, Carlis of Spicy Candy DC (who helped coordinate the event) and Lori of Been There Eaten That was delightful. The wine selection, expertly chosen by chef and sommelier Danny Lledo didn't hurt either! Let's chat about the ...
4 Delicious Reasons to Visit Mosaic District
Being car-less, and quite frankly, living in the city as well, I don't get out to the Mosaic District very often. And that's too bad since Merrifield's upscale shopping and dining complex has a lot to offer, from exciting restaurant concepts to the fabulous Angelika movie theater and one of the cleanest Target you'll ever visit. So when the PR folks with Edens invited me to a fun, progressive dinner-type event I jumped at the opportunity to try out 4 new restaurants and hopped on the silver line. A quick free shuttle ride from Dunn Loring later, I met up with other local bloggers over crab nachos and margaritas at our first stop: Cyclone Anaya's. The Texas transplant just celebrated its ...
Cava Mezze Grill Now Open in Chinatown
Maybe it's because I follow Nikki Rappaport on Instagram and I've been salivating over all the pictures she posts of her Cava Mezze Grill lunches but I'm ridiculously excited that the fast casual mediterranean restaurant chain is opening a new location in Chinatown. The 707 H St. NW spot will be the sixth for Cava Mezze Grill and the closest to where I live. It will soon be followed by new locations in Kenlands, Montgommery Mall and Ronald Reagan National Airport (that one a little less soon.) But let's focus on Cava Grill Chinatown. It opened with new menu items, that will rotate seasonally, and additional partnerships with local food artisans like Whisked!, Optimal Grains, Gordy’s Pickle ...