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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.