Author Archives: B

Food Truck Tour, 25 May 2012

Determined to finally jump on the bandwagon of the DC-area food truck craze, on Friday I set out for the city armed with my handy Food Truck Fiesta tracker.

I arrived at the McPherson Square Metro Station and walked over to Franklin Park, conveniently just outside the station.  This is an outpost where a number of food trucks set up shop (see area highlighted in red on map below).

Food trucks set up in the area highlighted in red.

I arrived to the park at around 10:30 and watched the trucks park and set up.  Based on the trucks checked in on Food Truck Fiesta, I was expecting around six to eight total at this location, but by the time 11:00 rolled around there were seventeen around the park.  The people that work in the vicinity to Franklin Park have endless food options…I’m quite jealous (and I might start looking for gigs around this area just for this very fact!)

Food trucks on the east side of Franklin Park

What to choose, what to choose… These were the trucks on the east side of the park…

Food trucks on the north side of Franklin Park

…and these were the trucks on the north side of the park.

For my first stop, I decided to go with Ball or Nothing.  This truck specializes in meatballs of various types, and from what I can tell from their twitter feed (@theballtruck), they get pretty creative (I wouldn’t mind trying out the Tsukune – chicken meatballs in coconut rice that they were serving up on Wednesday).  I’d just like to point out to the uninitiated that these food trucks are not the typical “roach coaches” that you might be familiar with.  This scene has gone gourmet.

Ball or Nothing

Trendy branding and tasty menu on the Ball or Nothing truck.

I tried Ball or Nothing’s Meatball Platter ($9), which consisted of their meatballs on a bed of Mac & Cheese and Yukon Gold Potato, and topped with ghost chili tomato sauce, bitter greens, and local asparagus.  There was a fruit salad on the side, with pineapple, pomegranate seeds, grapes, and strawberries.  The tastes all worked together really well…I was definitely happy with my first food truck meal choice, and I’d hit them again.

Ball or Nothing Meatball Platter

The Meatball Platter in all its glory.

The Meatball Platter was definitely filling.  Normally I wouldn’t need anything else, but since I was doing a food tour, and there are so many food trucks available, I decided to hit one more.  Wanting to see more options (as if I needed to – seventeen in one place not enough?), I walked over to Metro Center, which according to my handy food truck app was another hang out for the trucks (mostly along 12th St NW at the G St entrance to Metro Center Station).  There is a courtyard next to the Metro Center escalators with plenty of seating for those that want to enjoy some time outside while eating their food truck lunches.

Metro Center Food Trucks

Plenty of choices at Metro Center too, and they certainly know how to brand. There’s even Spanish tapas available…that ain’t no “roach coach.”

I decided to go with Mojo Truck (@mojotruck), which specializes in chivito sandwiches (a popular dish in Uruguay).  When ordering from Mojo Truck, you pick a meat (steak, chicken, pork, or vegetarian), and choose the style of sandwich toppings (Classic [$7] – lettuce, tomato, mozzerella, fried egg; Canadian [$8] – same as Classic, but with ham and sauteed onions added; Special [$9] – Same as Canadian, but also includes bacon and avocado).

I went with the Chicken Special Chivito this time around.  Really tasty.  The chicken in mojo sauce, the mozzerella cheese, the egg, and the avocado, and the nice and buttery grilled bread really did it for me.  The sandwich isn’t small either…you’ll definitely be full from this.

It took a little longer to get my food at Mojo Truck, but that’s because 1) it was noon by this point, 2) they seemed like a popular food truck and had a pretty large line, and 3) they grill your sandwich to order.

Mojo Truck and Chivito Sandwich

The Mojo Truck with helpful ordering directions, and the Chivito sandwich before I dug into it.

I have to say that I’m impressed with this food truck explosion, and based on the number of options available, clearly it’s got a decent market in the city.

The mobile kitchen industry faces some issues though.  Apparently, DC police harass the food trucks, and the city has been too slow to change the applicable regulations to take into account this burgeoning market.  Some of this might be attributed to pressure from brick-and-mortar establishments, however the smart and enterprising ones (Pi, sâuçá, among others) recognize that there are different eaters at different locations in the city, interested in different cuisine at any given particular meal.  Some of these food trucks also act as incubator businesses that develop into restaurants, as has been seen in other parts of the country (see here, and here).  Food carts are a cheap way for start-up chefs and gastronomists to test out their cuisine ideas and make cash to fund future hard-walled restaurants.  Overall, the food trucks are probably providing a boost to the economy rather than taking away from it, and DC bureaucrats should recognize this and get on board.

Next, I really want to try TaKorean (Korean tacos?  Yes please!), a shawarma truck (saw quite a few), and an Afghan one (I saw one at McPherson that had some good stuff on their menu…Mmm mantu).  DC is going to be seeing a lot more of me around lunchtime.

Mmmm….mantu.

Cafe Milano the place to go for international intrigue…?

Afghan Minister Threatened Dismemberment After D.C. Dinner, Official Claims – Buzzfeed

This is the second time in the last several months that Cafe Milano has been in the news due to threats of violence between foreign government officials. A few months ago it came out that the Iranians were planning a hit on the Saudi ambassador there.

I’m gonna have to hit this place and see what the heck is in their food!

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Cafe Milano
3251 Prospect St NW
Washington, D.C. 20007
(202) 333-6183
http://www.cafemilano.net
Book on OpenTable

Food Trucks in the DC-area

So I am way behind the ball on the local food truck craze.  I am hoping to remedy this starting Friday.  I’ll try to hit a few a week to get caught up.

There’s also iPhone/iPad/Android apps to track some (not all) of the area trucks via Food Truck Fiesta…looks like that is going to be pretty handy.  I have mine downloaded and ready!

Dinner at Das Ethiopian, 22 May 2012

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For the past couple weeks I have been fiending for some Ethiopian food.  I got my fix last night at Das Ethiopian in Georgetown.  Das used to be known as Zed’s.  If you liked Zed’s, you’ll like Das…I believe I read somewhere that the owners changed, but that they kept the same chef.

Top picture:  The dish at the top of the picture is an Ethiopian dried curd cheese plate called Kaisa…gives a contrasting taste to the other food I generally get.  The other appetizer in that picture is beef zilzil tibs.  Nice and spicy, and slightly crunchy.  Good starters.

Bottom picture: Lots of stuff going on in this picture.  At the top and bottom left is what’s left of the Kaisa/beets/onions from the appetizer.  Just above the beets/onions, and also at the top right, is an order of Steak Tartare Kitfo.  I’m a big fan of rare meat dishes, although it’s not for everyone.  If you don’t know if you are, this is a place to find out (as an aside, I’d also recommend Zaytinya’s Kibbeh Nayah as another great tartare dish).  Seen at the middle of the plate is Chicken Doro Wot, served as a chicken leg (it’s a little challenging to remove from the bone if getting your hands dirty is a problem for you) with a boiled egg, topped with a red pepper sauce.  The last dishes are vegetarian sides that came with the two entrees.  On the menu, I believe these are the Red Lentil Miser Wot (top left) and Collard Greens Gomen (bottom right).  Both are good; I especially liked the collard greens, which are mixed with onion and garlic.

Everything I had was served with traditional injera bread.  There are no utensils…the food is eaten by scooping it up with the injera.  Your fingers WILL be stained at the end of a meal, especially from the darker red and brown sauces, but it will be worth it (and you’ll get some wet naps at the end of the meal).

I usually get a bottle of white wine with Ethiopian food.  This time I got a Fleur du Cap Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa).  Depending on your tastes and your orders, you might want to go with something else.  I have a feeling that beer would also go well with the dishes I had, and there is African beer on the Das menu.

I’d definitely recommend Das as a great date place with a great menu, and if you haven’t had this type of food before it will be a little adventurous.

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Das Ethiopian
1201 28th St NW
Washington, D.C. 20007
(202) 333-4710
http://www.dasethiopian.com
Book on OpenTable

Afghan Food

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I was going through some of my photos from my time overseas, and came across pictures of food from Afghanistan.

The local food I had in Afghanistan was better than any of that type I’ve had in the D.C.-area…a fact I would fully expect would be the case anywhere else in the world regarding local dishes.

In the top picture is Qabili Palau.  According to Wikipedia, it is “the most popular dish in Afghanistan.”  I certainly saw a bit of it in southern Afghanistan, and it’s a staple at the D.C.-area Afghan restaurants, so I can believe it.  It’s typically made in a broth which imparts quite a bit of taste to the mixture.  Where I was in Afghanistan, the Qabili Palau was moist…much more oily than the stateside restaurant versions that I’ve tried.  It was good enough that some naan bread and Qabili Palau made for a complete meal (heck, even the naan over there was flavorful enough to eat by itself).

The bottom picture shows a veritable feast.  Succulent lamb, delicious chicken (some of the best chicken I’ve had ANYWHERE), tasty tomatoes with eggplant, and an Afghan pudding dessert (Firni) made with cardamom and pistachios.

I only wish I had more of the local food while I was there.  The western food there got boring.

And yeah, Sprite and root beer probably not the best choice to go along with such good food…probably should have had Red Bull.

Protip: Absinthe Misto

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Rather than pouring absinthe into your glass to prep it for your Sazerac, use a Misto bottle filled with la fée verte to apply a thin coat.  Saves you from having to pour out any excess that would otherwise muck up your Sazerac.  I’ve got another Misto for bitters, and one spare in case I come up with another good idea for it.

I made this Sazerac with Bulleit Rye, Peychaud’s bitters, Sugar in the Raw (which is my go-to cocktail sugar), and Lucid Absinthe.

(h/t to the mixologists at Founding Farmers for passing along this idea.)

Fiery Pomegranate Margarita

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A little something I whipped up for Cinco de Mayo.  Homemade habanero simple syrup (see my last post re: flavored simple syrups), Gran Patron Platinum (overkill, I know, but this was shot-sized and 05 MAY), Rhuby rhubarb liquor, and pomegranate juice.  Shaken, bruised.  Came out great.

Flavored Simple Syrups

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1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Desired flavoring (habanero peppers, cucumbers, cloves, etc, etc, etc.)

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan on high heat.  Continue stirring the mixture until the liquid changes from milky to clear.  At this point, add the desired flavoring to the liquid.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then set heat to low and let it sit for 10 minutes.  Turn the heat off and allow to cool for another 30 minutes.  Strain and pour into a closed container (I use these) and refrigerate.  The concoctions seem to last for a few weeks.

For habanero simple syrup, use 3 peppers cut into halves (more info below).  For cucumber, use one peeled cucumber cut into slices.  Use other additives to taste.  This is an easy way to experiment with new mixology ideas that you’d typically only find out at mixology bars.  It’s a much simpler flavoring method than infusing your own liquors, and will save you on the cost of the liquor you’d otherwise infuse (heaven forbid you mess up on infusing an entire bottle or two of liquor and lose yourself the cost of the bottles).

(By the way, be careful handling the habaneros and subsequent syrup.  Even the infused syrup alone will burn your eyes if you get any of it in them).

Thanks to Tipple Sheet for the habanero simple syrup recipe.