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Next week, I’m hoping my string of relatively good luck with international airline travel holds up, as I’m heading to Washington, D.C. It’s a non-wine-related trip (well, officially at least); I’m tagging along with my partner as she attends a conference.
Which leaves me with a couple of days to see and do (and eat and drink) what I like — which is where you, Dish readers, come in. Has anyone been to D.C. and, if so, what are some recommendations for dining and drinks?
This is NOT the kind of D.C. dining I’m after. (Chris Kleponis / TNS files)
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I asked for recommendations on social media a couple weeks back and got some decent suggestions. Take Jack Rose Dining Saloon, which features a staggering 60-plus page list of whiskies by the ounce. There was a nod to ChurchKey, a craft beer bar with an extremely enticing selection of brews. I also stumbled upon Jug & Table, which seems to have a very nice selection of wines with small plates, grilled cheeses and cheese/meat boards.
D.C. is known for their steakhouses, where political bigwigs chew the fat over cocktails, a big hunk of meat and a bottle of red wine, or where ambassadors and attachés go to dish the dirt on political types. You can just go ahead and hook that kind of stuff right into my veins. What with it being the week before the U.S. midterm elections, there’s got to be some serious juicy gossip to be found.
In this 2009 photo, then-president Barack Obama stops at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, D.C. The half-smoke is one of Ben’s specialties. (Gerald Herbert / The Associated Press files)
The capital area is also known for its own signature dishes such as the half-smoke (think a hot dog’s grittier cousin), the jumbo slice and mumbo sauce (or mambo sauce), a tangy regional take on barbecue sauce. They’re all on the must-try list.
A waterboarding kit is seen at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. (Jacquelyn Martin / The Associated Press files)
In terms of non food/drink-related activities, obviously I’ll also hit up the National Mall, war memorials and various Smithsonians, but am also open to suggestions for other kinds of cultural fun — say, the International Spy Museum or the Drug Enforcement Administration Museum in Arlington. Va., or even the Barbie Pond on Avenue Q.
Thoughts? Recommendations? Let me know. On a more local note: what would you consider some of our local/regional specialties? The fat boy? Jeanne’s cake? Something else? Weigh in.
Tasty tidbits
You may have noticed a familiar face in a major national ad campaign recently. Christa Bruneau-Guenther, owner of Feast Café Bistro, is featured in MasterCard’s new Secret Sauce campaign aimed to support women-owned small businesses. You can check out the video here.
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Chef Michael Robins is following his Two Hands co-conspirator Keegan Misanchuk out of the kitchen at One Sixteen and back to the U.K. The pair had been cooking in England before coming home near the outset of the pandemic and starting catering under the Two Hands name before moving into the space they shared with Good Neighbour Brewing Co. on Sherbrook Street.
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Six of Winnipeg’s top chefs are vying for a chance to represent their hometown in a national culinary competition. The regional qualifier for Canada’s Great Kitchen Party takes place Friday, Nov. 4 at the RBC Convention Centre (375 York Ave.). Ticketholders will get to sample dishes from chefs Edward Lam, Brent Genyk, Matty Neufeld, Pamela Kirkpatrick, Thomas Stuart and Richard Duncan while being serenaded by the likes of Jim Cuddy and Whitehorse.
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The spot that was once home to Little Goat Food & Drink won’t be vacant for long. A recent drive-by of the spot (2615 Portage Ave.) saw a retro-ish neon sign lit up in the space that reads “Dreamland Diner.” A quick search turned up a mainly-blank Facebook page that noted the spot will be “A 50’s retro, affordable quick service diner loaded with dreamy ice cream, mini donuts, cotton candy.” Fun!
Recommended fare
Ben: He’s best-known as the way-too-serious mobster Christopher Moltisanti in HBO’s The Sopranos and will soon be seen in the second season of The White Lotus, but Michael Imperioli is also a working musician (his band’s called Zopa), practices meditation and now has a book of fiction to his name. Imperioli’s novel The Perfume Burned His Eyes is a coming-of-age story set in 1970s New York; it comes out in December, but I got an advance copy and have just started to dig into it. So far, so good.
Eva: I had a great meal from Shahi Flames recently. The St. Boniface East Indian restaurant is located on Marion Street in the same strip mall as Vientiane, an equally fab Thai spot. We ordered delivery and the food arrived smokin’ hot. Highlights were the palak paneer, goat curry and butter chicken.
Homemade
Homemade: Recipes and Stories from Winnipeg and Beyond is a community cookbook celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Free Press. Copies can be ordered online.
This week, we’re digging into the archives for some vintage Halloween treats. Although, this recipe for “Lantern Salad,” published in the paper in 1937, feels more like a trick.
Lantern Salad
16 halves canned pears
2 pkgs cream cheese
1/2 cup chopped nuts
8 small round chocolate biscuits
8 marshmallows
Lettuce and pimiento
Cut a thin slice from the large end of the pears so that they will stand upright. Mix the cream cheese, nuts and fill the pears, pressing the two halves together to form a “lantern.” Set them into a bed of lettuce and make eyes, nose and mouth with bits of pimiento.
Place a chocolate cookie on the top for a hat and top with marshmallow. Serve with mayonnaise.
Lantern Salad (Winnipeg Free Press archives)
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