Mark's Duck House

6184 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA  22044
www.marksduckhouse.com


Ever since the gentrification of Chinatown/Penn Quarter in DC, (I lived in NYC for 6 years, Penn Quarter is still new to me!  Shush) you've had to go to the suburbs to find good Dim Sum.  My favorite Dim Sum is a joint in a strip mall in Falls Church right near Seven Corners.  You'll find a million good things online about their Dim Sum and I had planned to go about a month ago but those plans fell through.  But, I found myself in the general area this night (my computer is on the fritz so the shop I took it to was just a few miles away) and decided to try out their regular menu.  My plan was to order a ton of dishes and then take them home with me for the rest of the week and the weekend.  After all, there's nothing better than Chinese leftovers for breakfast.

Scotty's Diner

336 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY  10016
212.986.1520
www.scottysNYC.com


The best way I could think of wrapping up my fun-soaked, food-laden, alcohol-thumping, hookah-smoking weekend was to kick my stomach in the you-know-where's and have a nice, greasy, diner breakfast before I left to go back to DC.  And when I say diner, I mean one of the old-fashioned ones that haven't been gussied up or made to look like an old nostalgic diner.  Scotty's Diner is such a place.  It's the kind of hole in the wall you'd never find unless you worked in Murray Hill (like me) but once you find it, it quickly becomes a go-to for reliable diner food.

The Hideaway

185 Duane Street
New York, NY 10013
866.414.9250
www.thehideawaynyc.com


Whenever I think of Memorial Day weekend, I always think of Maryland Blue Crabs with tons of Old Bay.  So, when I used to live in NYC, I was intent on finding a place that served them so about six years ago I found the Hideaway in TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal).  This weekend, I was still thinking of Maryland Blue Crabs and I was coincidentally back in NYC.  I had called the Hideaway on the Friday before I left for the weekend and they were still doing the same old Blue Crabs.  We decided to have a Sunday Funday which, of course, included the Hideaway.

RedFarm

529 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
212.792.9700
www.redfarmnyc.com

Our next destination after Resto was a place called RedFarm which I read and heard about a ton.  It's a Chinese Dim Sum inspired restaurant with a reputation for creativity and elevated Chinese Food.  It's from the same people as Chinatown Brasserie so while I had high hopes, I also had some reservations about it being all about the hype and style rather than the food.  The place doesn't take reservations so we got there late enough (~10 PM) so that there may be tables available. There wasn't AND the first thing they asked was if we called ahead?  Whaaaat?  But, I thought no reservations.  But, you can call ahead?  I'm confused. Anyway, we left our number and they told us it would be another hour.  We were deep into a few drinks at that moment so waiting an hour while finding another place to have a drink seemed like a sensible option.  What follows is why I think NYC is so unique and why I love it so much.

Resto

111 E. 29th Street
New York, NY  10016
212.685.5585
www.restonyc.com


I'm in New York City again! For Memorial Day weekend no less.  I know that sounds counter-intuitive since most people generally flee to the beach or some other body of water for this long weekend which is exactly my point of being in NYC.  Long weekends, especially Memorial Day weekend, are the best time to go and try out NYC since its relatively empty.  The waits for tables are shorter, the bars are less crowded and the weather is almost always nice.

Northside Social

3211 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA  22201
703.382.4875
www.northsidesocialarlington.com

They say breakfast is the important meal of the day which I hope isn't true (yes folks, that's called denial) since I tend to just have coffee and maybe a bagel or muffin.  The owners of Liberty Tavern also own a couple of restaurants situated close by called Lyon Hall and Northside Social.  Lyon Hall is meant to be your typical French cafe and Northside Social is a coffee and wine bar.  More importantly, Northside Social is open at 6 a.m. which is early enough to get a good, casual breakfast in with plenty of time left to get to work.  Since I don't really eat much for breakfast, I decided to go a couple times this week to make sure I get a fuller experience.

Liberty Tavern

3195 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA  22201
703.465.9360
www.thelibertytavern.com


I remember reading something about President Obama visiting the Liberty Tavern sometime last year and I made a mental note to go and try the place since the sitting U.S. President went to visit.  I thought this would be an easy proposition since it's on the way home from work and I could just stop by for a quick dinner.  However, the place is always busy around inner time and the one time I tried to meet up with a buddy for dinner, it was packed and we had to eat somewhere else.   I tried a different tact and went there for a late lunch when you figure that it may not be as busy for those hours.

Momo Sushi

212 Queen Street
Alexandria, VA  22314
703.299.9092
www.mymomosushi.com

I had been eating pretty heavy meals as of late (Good Stuff, The Canopy, Mama Rosa...) so for today at lunch I wanted something on the lighter side and usually when I think of the lighter side, I think sushi.  I have a hard time evaluating sushi when it's not an omakase like Sushi of Gari since that is a pre-defined flow of a meal and of course all you have to say is foie gras sushi and you've pretty much described the experience.  However, when I'm having sushi for lunch and still have to get back to work, I don't like choosing individual pieces and I just go for the quick and easy Sushi meals that restaurants provide.  Also, I stopped ordering rolls years ago since I prefer the cleaner flavors you find with just nigiri.  This may have reduced my exposure to some of the more creative dishes in a sushi restaurant.

Good Stuff Eatery

2110 Crystal Drive
Arlington, VA  22202
703.415.4663
www.goodstuffeatery.com

I remember watching Spike Mendelsohn's season of Top Chef and the only thing I could think of was that he was a huge d-bag.  I understand that he was on a TV show and a competition and that the producers of the show tend to show things out of context and I'm sure he exaggerated his behavior a bit.  That being said, I decided during that season that I wouldn't be interested in his food because his personality was off-putting.  Well, that changed this past week when he opened up a branch of his burger & shake joint, Good Stuff Eatery in Crystal City.  I do love me some good burgers and shakes so I had to try it.  Besides, he has a really funny video that talks about his expansion into Northern Virginia.

The Canopy

9319 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD  21042
443.288.1400
www.thecanopyonline.com


For Mother's Day, we had one final lacrosse game, church, and some general all around activity.  So, since we had our big celebration on Saturday and everything just felt hectic, we decided to just get some Pit Beef from the Canopy and build our own sandwiches at home with a fresh summer salad.  Besides, with all the heaviness from the night before, it was good to have a lunch on the "lighter" side.

Mama Rosa

836 Middle River Rd
Baltimore, MD  21220
443.599.5900
www.facebook.com/MamaRosaRotisserie


It was Mother's Day weekend this past weekend along with what seemed like a million (okay three) girls' lacrosse games that my nieces played in.  My mom wanted to go eat at a Filipino restaurant for Mother's Day and my oldest niece happened to have a game up in the Fallston area on Saturday which is only a short hop from Middle River and Mama Rosa (officially Mama Rosa Rotisserie & Grill) which was recommended to us by a family friend who also used to work there.

Del Ray Cafe

205 E. Howell Ave.
Alexandria, VA  22301
703.717.9151
www.delraycafe.com


I have to admit that I have a man crush on Del Ray.  I've been in and around this area for practically my whole life and I'm wondering why I've never been to this great part of the DMV neighborhood before.  It's a quaint, quiet little neighborhood that has some chic little storefronts and feels like its brimming with quirkiness and creativity.  It's like a countrified Brooklyn when Brooklyn isn't trying to hard to live up to its hipster reputation.  I went to lunch at Evening Star a couple of weeks back and I read about a new restaurant opening up just around the corner called Del Ray Cafe so I decided to give it a go.

Pete's New Haven Style Apizza

3017 Clarendon Blvd
Arlington, VA  22201
703.527.7383
www.petesapizza.com


I had meetings at work today that lasted way past quitting time, the Capitals were on the brink of elimination with game 6 about to start, and I was too tired to cook anything for dinner.  I think this is exactly why they invented something like pizza (especially pizza that magically appears at your door after you call them).  I think subconsciously I've been craving pizza since I've been reading all about Eater's Pizza Week.  One of the places they mentioned in DC was Pete's and conveniently enough they deliver so when I start tearing out my hair in frustration about the Caps, I could be eating in the privacy of my own apartment.

Look Ma...

This isn't a traditional food post but I stumbled onto something pretty cool when I was going through Eater (one of my favorite blogs) today.  I've started this thing where I've started taking pictures of a restaurant's signage or just a cool logo somewhere so I can put it at the front of my slide shows as sort of a cover sheet.  Yeah, geeky, I know but I also would like to think that I actually put some planning into the visuals of my post.  Or at least that's how I justify looking like some weirdo snapping pics all over restaurants.

Green Pig Bistro

1025 North Filmore St.
Arlington, VA  22201
703.888.1920
www.facebook.com/GreenPigBistro


I'm usually reluctant to go to restaurants that are relatively new and relatively hot since there's usually a pretty big crowd and all new restaurants simply need time to work out the kinks.  I was hungry though on a Sunday night and decided to get an early dinner while reading my new book (Stephen King's "11/22/63" which is historical, time-traveling, what if kind of thriller about the assassination of JFK) and since Green Pig Bistro has recently gotten some rave reviews and is pretty darn close to my apartment, I decided to go.

Black Jack

1612 14th Street
Washington, DC  20009
202.986.5225
www.blackjackdc.com


This post is more of an observation than a review since I went to a specific event to Black Jack and I think most of the food originated from Pearl Dive Oyster Palace which is located right under Black Jack.  On this particular Sunday, Black Jack was hosting a Chicken Fried Steak Competition (I seriously considered making this post a Food We Love post about Chicken Fried Steak which to me stand atop the pantheon of comfort foods).  The owner/chef of Black Jack and the rest of the Black Restaurant Group restaurants including BlackSalt challenged several chefs from DC restaurants, that are on my wish list, including Birch & Barley, the Source, and Bourbon Steak.  The competition was hosted by Nycci and David Nellis who have a weekly radio show on Federal News Radio called Foodie & the Beast along with running TheListAreYouOnIt which is a food and wine event website.  Proceeds from the competition were to be donated to the Washington Nationals Juvenile Diabetes Wing at the Children's National Medical Center.  More specifically, the funds were going to go towards building the kitchen for the wing.   So, it was a cause that is near and dear to me considering my recent diagnoses.

Vermilion

1120 King St.
Alexandria, VA  22314
703.684.9669
www.vermilionrestaurant.com


I guess I'm determined to try out every restaurant that's part of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group which isn't surprising since they seem to consistent put out great food.  I've now been to the Evening Star, Rustico and Tallula.  For this week, I decided to try out Vermilion for lunch.  I wanted to go try out their food since they are hosting this really interesting outdoor dinner on a farm called the Spring Farm Dinner.  They're a big proponent of local farm raised products but before I shelled out $185 for one meal, I wanted to get a little preview first.