Let’s get this show on the road
Let’s get this show on the road
floods, free rent, and my new food fund
Welcome to the very first edition of my newsletter, not so curated eats! Thanks for making your way to this corner of substack. If you’re wondering what this is going to entail, take a gander at my beautifully crafted bio.
I’m so excited to tell you about all the restaurants you should visit, what you should cook for yourself and others, and who is making the food and beverage industry great. I promise we will get to that. But first, I need to explain what my life has been for the past month.
The Great Flood
The timing of this newsletter is utterly silly. I started this draft from the couch of my boyfriend’s apartment in DC, watching the Great British Bakeoff with his roommate, while he went to Bar Amazonia for DC restaurant week. Please find his hot take below.
How did I find myself in this situation you may ask? Great question. How does this have anything to do with this newsletter? Also a great question that I will get to, but not without retelling the saga that has consumed my life for the past month. In short, I was displaced for a month thanks to the greatest belated Christmas and Hanukkah gift: a burst building pipe.
On December 26th, on our drive back to DC after spending the holidays in Philly, I received the most vague text in my young life from our less-than-helpful landlord. For discretionary purposes, let’s call her Darol:
Turns out, there was indeed a burst pipe. In fact, the burst pipe was reported at 9:30am that very morning by a different tenant, and was not acknowledged until my landlord called my building’s management company at 9:00pm that evening. So the greatest gift of 2022 was coming home to 1-2 inches of water in my living room at 8:00pm. I spent the evening throwing down towels and wringing excess water into buckets with my new chosen family: Will, my landlord, and her bestie, who is a highly esteemed board member of our building committee. Luckily, the only victim was a rug that Will kindly donated to me (thanks Will!). For the real adults reading, have no fear. I own nothing of value higher than my $500 deductible. In hindsight, this was quite depressing to share with my coworkers when explaining this situation.
The renovation project timeline changed from 1 week, to 3 days, to 2 weeks, to another week. After weeks of passive aggressive texts and calls with our landlord and contractor, studying our lease, holding Facetime summits to confirm we were being gaslit, and then packing up and moving back into our apartment for a second time, my roommates and I are finally back in our apartment. Most importantly, everything was restored to its full property value with stunning new laminate flooring. A real dream come true.
Here is where I address your second question. What does this actually have to do with your newsletter, Merry? I’ll tell you, fully engaged reader. Food was the constant that kept me sane throughout this feverish nightmare. The three weeks of free rent quickly became my emergency comfort food fund. This month’s newsletter will consist of the dining experiences, bites, and recipes that kept me from mentally or physically harming my landlord, Darol, and our contractor who we will call: Shmark.
Restaurant experiences that kept me from threatening Darol and Shmark
Little Vietnam - I went to Little Vietnam two days after the flood debacle. I’d been once before and had only one dish on my mind: the duck curry. Its spicy and intensely rich flavors are the most effective prescription for someone in need of comfort and distraction. I wish it were slightly more on the brothy side, but that is probably just a projection of my constant need for soup between November-March. Execution here can honestly be a bit inconsistent, but the wings always have a perfect sweet and spicy balance, with a light kick of fish sauce.
Izakaya Seki - I completely forgot I lived in DC throughout this 12/10 dining experience, and even forgot about Shmark lying to me about covering our couch in plastic during renovation (the paint scuffs indicate that he most definitely did not). I was too busy enjoying small plate after small plate of raw, fried, and grilled treasures from Izakaya Seki’s kitchen. I transcended space and time eating their famous mushrooms with butter and garlic, hokkaido scallop crudo, kisu fish & shrimp tempura, umaki tamago, and whole grilled squid. Would definitely recommend this spot for a four-person group to sample most knockout dishes in each menu category.
Bar Amazonia/Causa - I’ve always had mixed feelings about restaurant week in DC. The impact restaurant week has on many restaurants is really burdensome for people who work in the industry. Chefs have to modify or recreate menus for one week into a pre-fixed course for diners who may not understand the shortcuts on ingredients and service that need to be made to maintain profit margins. Servers also have to manage expectations of diners who are going to restaurant week for the deal, which means tips may be lower than expected. I feel better about going to a place like Bar Amazonia during restaurant week that includes a 20% service charge instead of tip, which I’m hopeful goes directly to staff. I would go back for a special occasion for the unparalleled service. Our server ran us through the entire beverage program and menu, and gave us an earnest overview of the pisco distillation process. Bar Amazonia’s program is top notch, and is the only restaurant in the US specifically dedicated to serving exclusively Amazonian dishes.
Bites that kept me from threatening Darol and Shmark
Agujas en aceite de oliva from Nido - I was blessed by Nido’s co-owner, certified tinned fish fairy, Thea, who gave me delish garfish in olive oil when I stopped by for lunch in early January. This was a great rec as I continue to build up my tinned fish portfolio. These heftier fishies are perfectly paired specifically with cracked black pepper and olive oil Triscuits (I’m patiently awaiting sponsorship deals in my inbox). For a full meal, I’d throw these in a salad similar to Nido’s conserva lunch - with a hard boiled egg and lemony dressing made with the leftover oil.
Tamales de pollo con salsa roja from Tamales la Bendición (no website, on the corner of Lamont & Mount Pleasant St) - A few Saturdays back, I ran errands in Mount Pleasant before going back to Philly to celebrate an extremely belated Hanukkah (January 7th still counts, right?) with my dad’s side of the family. A completely unrelated but intense craving for tamales consumed me after buying a copy of Rebekkah Peppler’s À Table cookbook for my brother and his fiancée at Bold Fork Books. Turns out I’ve been overlooking the nameless tent set up diagonally across from the Mount Pleasant farmers market. These are literally hot tamales that stay warm for over 30 minutes of bus transit. I would’ve loved these to be a bit spicier, but they still meet the need for a cozy breakfast with great masa to filling ratio. The masa is really *moist* (so sorry) and almost like a firm porridge which I prefer over cakier tamales.
Lastly and sadly, the $6 nachos at Franklin Hall - I decided to return to the intramural soccer scene after a quick 8-month hiatus. The greatest perk of my league is its sponsorship with Franklin Hall, which doles out $6 apps, $5 rail drinks, and $4 beers for league members. This egregious pile of chips, cheese whiz, salsa, and jalapeños is the light at the end of the tunnel that gets me through my intramural, half-field 7v7 soccer games on Wednesday nights. After 45 minutes of being reminded that I’ve long surpassed my athletic peak, I will happily celebrate a win or loss with a glorious deal on apps granted by my league.
Recipes that kept me from threatening Darol and Shmark
These three picks are all unsurprisingly soup. Don’t judge me, a bitch needs broth.
Youvarlakia avgolemono (NYT Cooking) - I usually need avgolemono for deep winter comfort. When living in my sophomore year dorm at GW, the food hall staff at the Greek fast casual spot (GRK lovers unite) could smell my sniffly ass a mile away, ready to order a steaming cup of liquid gold (pre-COVID, don’t worry). I made a similar version of a lemony chicken meatball soup on my recovery day in DC after a fun-filled Philly NYE weekend. I dissociated on public transportation, in Trader Joe’s, and in Will’s kitchen while making my soup, and returned to consciousness after my first spoonful - an ideal day. The broth is excellent. But I will say these meatballs are missing their star power and could be improved by roasting or pan searing before plopping them into the broth for their bath. For the meatball mixture, I would also do 1-2 more cloves of minced garlic, more dill stems in the meatballs, and some more lemon zest.
Greenest clam and noodle coconut curry (Bon Appetit) - To celebrate reuniting with Zoe, the first roommate to return back to DC, and the completion of our new main room and hallway flooring, we made this brothy fishy soup in Will’s kitchen. I definitely cooked down the broth too much, so my proportions were quite off. The broth had a saucy-pesto texture that threw off my soup mode, not unlike throwing off the Emperor’s Groove (reference is specifically included for my family and my roommates that I’ve forced to watch this cinematic masterpiece). Other than the broth proportions, the flavor was lovely. Cozy and light without sending you into a typical soup-induced coma.
Laksa noodle soup (Woks of Life) - No notes whatsoever. This was a banger. Truly one of my top three recipes that I’ve made at home and I can’t think of what the other two are because this soup is consuming my brain. Laksa noodle soup’s main star is laksa paste, made from primarily dried chilies, shallots, turmeric, lemongrass, tamarind, ginger, and shrimp paste. My research indicates you have to use por kwan laksa paste. The jar has been hiding away in my cabinet since I bought it at Ranch 99 in Virginia around this time last year. The paste serves as a flavor bomb, and is enhanced when fried with brown sugar, fresh aromatics like more lemongrass, ginger, ginger, and Thai chilies, and then simmered with coconut broth. I added egg noodles, fried tofu, puffed fried bean curd, and shrimp instead of chicken to cut down cooking times since I frantically made this after watching the Eagles game at Franklin Hall - GO BIRDS BABY!!! Top with bean sprouts, cilantro, fried shallots, and a lime wedge. Like the Birds, this recipe only leads to victory.
That’s all I have for now. Hopefully February is a little less chaotic, but with an Eagles Super Bowl and an NYC trip on the horizon, I have a feeling we will keep this train rolling. If you enjoyed reading, consider sharing this with a friend or two, and follow @highlycuratedeats on Instagram to see my updates in the meantime.