rose's luxury

rose's luxury

717 8th street se, 20003

tel: 202) 580-8889

what was consumed: the entire menu. seriously. we said, "one of each please." 

bon apetite named rose's luxury the best restaurant of 2014 (or something like that). i can totally see why.

the bunch of us decided to take others' recommendation and wait in line for the first seating. while some people say that a 5:30pm dinner time is too early, i prefer eating early. the only challenge is that everyone in our party has to be in attendance for the restaurant to seat us. sadly, that was the problem. but fear not! we parked ourselves at the upstairs bar, where all of the food options were still available, and began our plan of action.

there were enough of us for us to decide on a mini tasting menu of our own. minus a few of the pastas, we decided we wanted to try everything. so that's what we did. "minus xxxx and xxxx, we'll take one of everything." and being able to order like that? yeah, felt really good.

now, about the pastas. there was a little incident (we received some bad customer service from some of the wait staff and expressed our frustration to our bartender, mostly because we were shocked that that was something we'd experience at roses). nonetheless, our bartender/server brought out tasting plates of the pastas to soothe our wounds. wounds, what wounds? woohoo! we were happy with his genuine apology; the pastas were heaping scoops of cream cheese icing on the cake!

now, about the other food. DE-LI-CIOUS. i loved some dishes more than others, though i was happy to have tried them all. the egg dish i could have eaten a gallon of and i wished i had a larger stomach so that i could enjoy a whole order of the ginormous brisket dish (served for sharing). the presentation was comfortable, but classy. though that didn't matter all that much since all of our food was devoured pretty much as soon as the plates hit the tables.

the ambiance at rose's is also pretty spectacular. comfortable and casual, sorta hipster, sorta pretentious, sorta country bumpkin, sorta sophisticated, sorta avant garde ... all wonderful. and i enjoyed the family style, sort of farm-to-table sense that the restaurant oozed from its pores. but you know what? totally enjoyed it all.

rose's does a rotating/seasonal menu, so i will definitely go back to try other things. and maybe even dish out for the rooftop special dining situation ... yes! more delicious food please!

online: http://rosesluxury.com/

range

range

inside chevy chase pavillion

5335 wisconsin avenue nw #201, 20015

tel: 202) 803-8020

what was consumed: oysters! and woodfire oven pizza. and desserts. and homemade soda!

bryan voltaggio! beginning with the top chef days, who didn't have a crush on either of the voltaggio brothers? i still want to make it out to volt (it's faaaaaaar), but in the mean time, i'll make it out to range.

after getting rained out from a washington nationals game, and then some earlier eats at daikaya, friends and i head to range to meet others for some late night treats. friends and i head to range because we heard that they did a reverse happy hour for their oysters. i even called ahead of time to see if their seafood tower was still on the happy hour menu (it wasn't). that said, they still had a reverse hh special and we most definitely enjoyed quite a few oysters. so fresh, expertly shucked, accompanied by countermand that i might have thought about eating alone. 

not knowing when we'd get a chance to come back to range, we also ordered a few other things because 1) we wanted to try, and 2) we were getting reverse hungry (i.e., hungry again after dinner had digested). i enjoyed the creative toppings that sad atop my thin crust pizza. and while i used to be one to use a fork and knife to consume pizza, i now just shovel slices into my face.

and the desserts! with just enough sweetness to curb that little tug for sugar at the end of a delicious meal. and so pretty! almost too pretty to eat. of course, that didn't prevent all of us from digging in to get small tastes of our own.

thank you, bryan voltaggio! range's food is delicious. i can't wait to try the rest!

online: http://www.voltrange.com/

bts

bts

2200 pennsylvania avenue nw, 20037
tel: 202) 587-6258

what was consumed: burgers! i think we had the tejas and the big daddy. and fried stuff - potatoes sweet and regular.

burgers, taps, and shakes! i'm always game for a good burger. and when you're overseas, even in a place where they serve good burgers, there's something like coming home to the good 'ol US of A and enjoying a big, hearty burger. so, when k and i got together for the first of many meals, we were both happy to enjoy some good 'ol american fare at bts.

bts offers a wide range of burgers. you can create your own or you can go with their signature combinations (i recommend this). some of their combinations are a bit sauce-y, but some will argue that that is necessary for a solid burger. i like that heir patties are hearty and come just as you order them (i.e., you don't have to worry that your burger will be well-done when you order medium rare. and it's ok (and actually recommended) to order it medium rare! ahh, america, i've missed you).

and the sides! don't forget to add a serving of fries, either regular or sweet! or, let's face it, just get fries. i hear the shakes are to die for, but i'll have to wait for you to tell me what you think. i will say that they have a good beer selection.

i'm also happy to see the good addition of bts to the collection of eateries out there in foggy bottom, a convenient location for me (and all of those gw kids as well as those follks working in the area). 

i want a bts burger (with fries) NOW ... please. thanks in advance.

online: http://www.burgertapshake.com/burgertap.html

g by mike isabella

g, by mike isabella

2201 14th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20009, United States
tel: 202) 234-5015

what was consumed: tasting menu! and the roasted cubano and roasted cauliflower sandwiches for lunch.

turns out, i'm a fan of mike isabella's establishments. so i jumped at the opportunity to visit mike isabella's sandwich shop by day, price fixe dinners by night place "g." 

rockstar m and i were getting together for the first time in months and while he told me stories about life on the road and i told him about my first tour as an FSO, we enjoyed multiple courses of tasty treats. our meal started with multiple small and fresh bites, presented on a large tray, a bite for each of us. we then moved to pasta dishes (rockstar m and i opted for 1 of each of the options so that we had more to try).

the dishes were as delicious as they were pretty to look at. i'll also comment on the value. at $40 per person for dinner, i'll wholeheartedly concur that the meal was delicious and affordable. i can't even begin to describe how delicious all of the bites were. i secretly hoped rockstar m wasn't hungry (he is never not hungry. like me. haha) and not-so-secretly hoped i had another stomach so that i could enjoy the entire meal again. good good coupled with good company always makes for delicious delicious evenings!

bjl and i then later went back to try their sandwiches. we were looking for something delicious, but quick. in response to my recent viewing of the movie "chef," we opted for the cuban sandwich and the recommended roasted cauliflower sandwich. half-sies, of course. and how do they do it?! the bread, the filling, the sauces! i sort of didn't want to go half-sies (except that i wouldn't have been able to stuff all of that in my belly, so i'mm glad we did). i could have also eaten all of the fillings on their own. cuban sandwich insides? roasted cauliflower insides? YES PLEASE.

when mike isabella changes his dinner tasting menu, i for sure wanna go back with bjl. and sandwiches, ALWAYS. delish!

online: http://gbymikeisabella.com/

a-town bar and grill

a-town bar and grill

4100 n. fairfax drive, arlington, VA 22203

tel: 703) 528-1110

what was consumed: seafood HH

kdk and i were determined to go through some list of seafood tower HHs in the wdc area. even though the list was pretty recent, the offers were already outdated. that didn't prevent us from wanting to go through this list. a-town bar and grill was the first on the list and since i was coming out of va for training, we said, "might as well!"

turns out, a-town bar and grill didn't have the seafood tower HH as the article said, but they did have a crab leg special. crab legs it is!

i will also comment that despite our initial plan for crab legs, we also enjoyed some sriracha wings and tator tots. i'm not particular about my tator tots (i.e., i can (and will) eat troughs and troughs of them), and these were no different. crispy on the outside, soft in the center, and sprinkled with finely grated cheese. YUM. and the sriracha wings! kdk and i were (mildly) concerned that the wings would be overly sticky and sweet, but they weren't! i contemplated ordering more of them or ordering yet another order of crab legs. hahahaha.

kdk and i had a great time - a great start to our seafood tower HH challenge!

online: http://www.a-townballston.com/

taqueria del distrito federal

taqueria del distrito federal

3463 14th St NW

tel: 202) 276-7331

what was consumed: tamales (only on the weekends!), carne asada torta, tacos tacos tacos, and their spicy green sauce that comes with chips that i want to pour on to everything

taqueria del distrito federal is one of my favorite (and my go to) latin american places. people have told me it's more mexican, others have told me it's more salvadorian. i've realized that when i'm devouring some tamales, it doesn't really matter to me. hahaha ...

when c and i have a hankering for tex mex, distrito federal is our go to place. their home made fare (chips!), their delicious salsas, and so on. distrito federal has some indoor seating, but we try to get there to sit outside. distrito federal's strategic location near the heart of columbia heights makes for some awesome people watching.

we make sure we go on the weekends because i have a weakness for tamales (will someone just offer to provide me a lifetime supply of their abuela's tamales? thanks in advance) and distrito federal only offers them on the weekends. the shell is soft and is filled with tasty carnitas, all wrapped in a corn husk. and when you peel the corn husk away, there is delicious tamale waiting for you. sometimes i use sour cream, usually i don't. argh. so delicious.

and while tamales are my go to selection, i will frequently add a selection of tacos and the carne asada torta (i usually cut myself a slice and then eat the rest at home). the tacos are filled with delicious meats, more meat than anything else, topped with a bit of salsa and other fresh veggies (i.e., onions. which i will sometimes pick out because it's just so much. others seem to really enjoy it). the carne asada torta is really a slab of beef with delicious salsas as sauces, topped with tomatoes and slices of mexican cheese.

where is c? distrito federal, now! muy muy delicioso!

 

online: http://www.taqueriadf.com/