Floriana: No Fork For You! And a Rude Ass Beyouch of a Bartender

So the restaurants along 17th Street, Dupont aren't destinations, and especially not Floriana. They failed on so many fronts, and for the higher than usual price point for that part of the neighborhood, double thumbs down. But the most egregious of the offenses, which I will serve up first, was the b*tch-face bartender. Is it cause we're breeders, guy, that you ignored us when no one, NO ONE, was in the gross cellar bar, save for some fat, obnoxious slob whose jowls were hovered over his slop--looking up only to shout "shut the door" at us? Even when I approached the bar, sir mix-a-not was too busy watching the television and shaking up some green apple martinis.

So, that was the beginning of the sub-par experience. So we get seated, and were hopeful, as the menu looked pretty decent. In fact, we were walking by and stopped only because the menu looked so promising. We got a seat outside that beautiful evening after waiting for a bit in the dungeon of dolts. We wered greeted, thankfully, quite warmly by a young woman who seemed fairly knowledgeable and enthusiastic. But that was the only good about the experience. First came my starter, a salad of orange and fennel...what should have been a great combinationwas ruined by an overly-creamy dressing and listless fennel that had no taste and was more like biting into thinly sliced potatoes than the unctuous and liquorish bulb that I'm used to. So, after finishing (and when I say finish, I mean after four bites I put my fork and knife down), the table was cleared. BUT THEN, our server apologized and asked us to keep our utensils, handing me back my fork, as they ran out and couldn't replace them. No (new) fork for me. Grrr. I'm not that persnickety, but c'mon! The final straw was the sausage tortellini: too heavy, too bland, too chewy.

Oh, but I forgot the one minor bit of joy: a diner who sat behind us, brought along his two very large German shepherds, both with equally large personalities. Cute! (That is one good thing about this neighborhood, you can walk around with your dog and grab a bight to eat outside--but keep walking pass this place.)

Petty Thought of the Day: Foodie

People who call themselves "foodies" bother me. Maybe it's the irony of self-pronouncement--like describing yourself as "attractive" or "classy"...kinda makes you neither. Or maybe it's the sound of the word itself that I find so irksome, like "moist" or "sniff" or "squirt". Let me stop.

What-Washington-Eats-Wednesdays: Larry Craig

They're baaaaack. Yes, after a long hiatus, "Wednesdays" are back. Cut me some slack. I've been lazy this summer, and traveling, and did I mention lazy? That's what hot weather does to a girl. Anyhoo, so here we are...

Okay, this one sort of wrote itself. But for the uninitiated, a brief lesson in "cottaging." Cottaging is a gay slang term referring to anonymous male/male sex in a public bathroom (a cottage), or to the practice of cruising for sexual partners in public lavatories with the intention of having sex elsewhere.

So the good Senator from Idaho, Larry Craig, was arrested at the Minneapolis airport on suspicion of lewd conduct, the nature of which included such cottaging. According to the police report, a police officer sat in a bathroom stall as part of an undercover operation investigating complaints of sexual activity in the restroom. His incident report read as follows:

"At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. ... The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area. Craig then proceeded to swipe his left hand under the stall divider several times, with the palm of his hand facing upward."

Craig had explanations for the behaviors, and suggested that he has a "wide stance" when using the bathroom. Awesome. He ultimately plead guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges and then announced his resignation. However, today his lawyers tried to convince a judge in Minnesota to let the Idaho Republican withdraw the guilty plea. He was to leave office effective September 30th. However, if the judge approves the request, Craig will likely stay in office until the end of the trial.

I know a place where the good Senator doesn't have to defend his wide stance. In fact, the lavatories are one-sies, meaning they're just for one person, and they're pretty big, so he can stand as wide as he wants. And he can be as openly gay as he wants. I'm talking about Logan Tavern, a great restaurant and bar in my gayborhood. And next door is a pretty hoppin' gay-centric club, Halo. Anyhoo, the menu at Logan Tavern is comforting and terrific. Might I recommend the very sexy and tender and fleshy Seared Tuna, Baby Arugula, Spicy Chili Slaw as a starter, and then move to the melt in your mouth
Wasabi Crusted Meatloaf w. Caramelized Onion Gravy & Mashed Potatoes. It's great for that Midwestern boy who likes a little bit of a different take on his meat (and of course no Idahoan can be without his oh so creamy mashed studs--I mean, spuds, right? ).

Okay, enough with the bad innuendo.

17th Street Cafe: Decidedly Limited (But Good)

A few months ago, a new neighborhood eatery opened its doors on the 17th street corridor of Dupont. We stopped by for dinner the other weeknight, not looking for a great culinary experience, but something simple to satisfy our hunger. And we came to the right place. Seventeeth Street Cafe is decidedly limited in its menu of salads, soups and sandwiches, but focused and thoughtful.

The menu has all the trite basics from hummus, to quesadillas to burgers. But somehow they make it worth coming back. Perhaps it's for the level of care put into the simple food and the reasonable prices. I guess I'd describe it as earnest and, like Avis, they try hard(er). They're trying. I'm not sure if they're there yet, but I like the effort. The service is very friendly, while the decor fumbles towards hip and spare (unfortunately, the industrial/office building blue carpet on the second (lounge) floor betrays this aim).

Anyhoo, I had the very yummy grilled cheese! (They have grilled cheese!) And it was done very well and very honestly. The Swiss on sourdough was lovely dipped in a perfect tomato bisque. I think the soup was made with chicken stock (?) along with a bit of cream which made it very satisfying and substantial. My dinner companion had the walnut and cranberry salad which was equally well done and was only "$6 1/2"--cutely written on the menu. The hummus and flatbread appetizer didn't taste the least bit like the packaged stuff that you tend get at other places (say, around the corner).

Seventeenth Street Cafe is like that nerd we knew (or were) in highschool: a little awkward, yearning for cool, kinda smart, and most likely will be very popular at the fifth year reunion.

I love fruitcake

Hangover Helper: Chicken Soup With Rice

Hoogrrl hosted a great night of art discussion, wine, and conversation Saturday. Unfortunately, I forgot to eat, and had more wine and conversation than alcohol-absorbing nutriment. On Sunday I found myself sitting extra still on my couch, blinds drawn, sunglasses on. I felt...how should I say it...awful. My head was pounding and my stomach felt like it had been assaulted, like someone had reached down into it, turned it inside out and then punched it a couple times to ensure the emptying of its entire contents (sorry for the graphic imagery). And I knew my mother (whom I visit on Sundays) would want to try to feed me shovels-full of food, the thought of which made me feel even worse.

Long story short, I got to her house. Couldn't swallow anything. So she made me chicken soup with rice--some sort of old wives tale home remedy that actually works. There's something medicinal about the hydrating broth, strength-replenishing protein, and stomach-soothing rice. Read here about how scientists confirm that chicken soup is indeed medicine. It has something to do with the power of the soup to stop the movement of neutrophils (white bloodcells that are released in great numbers when you're ill), and its quieting anti-inflammatory qualities.

Adding garlic, herbs, and other acoutriments will also help boost the medicinal threshold as well as elevate the stuff from bland nursery food to a more interesting and adult Asian soup (because you have to eat well even when you're sick, right?). See recipe below:

Ingredients

1 (2-lb) rotisserie chicken

2 cloves garlic

1 medium onion, quartered and left unpeeled

6 fresh cilantro sprigs

plus 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 small bunch green onion, chopped

10 cups rice

Instructions

Remove meat from chicken, reserving skin and bones. Coarsely chop garlic and put in a 6- to 8-quart pot along with chicken bones and skin, onion, cilantro sprigs, and chicken broth. Simmer, partially covered, 1 hour.
While broth is simmering, shred about half of chicken meat into 1-inch-long pieces (about 1/4 inch thick) to yield 1 1/2 cups meat, reserving remaining meat for another use. Pour chicken broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing hard on solids with back of a ladle and then discarding them. Skim fat from surface of broth.
Return strained broth to pot, then add rice and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until rice is very soft, about 30 minutes. Stir in shredded chicken and chopped cilantro.

Rexing with Fresh Blueberries and Organic Yogurt

I haven't really gone out to any new places lately, so there's not that much to write about. I'm rexing save for some organic low fat vanilla yogurt and a handful of blueberries (because it's really too hot to eat anything else).

Fresh blueberries are so much better than the preserves that you get in blended yogurt. Toss them into plain or vanilla varieties of yogurt. Try Stoneyfield Farm brand--a little runny, but tastes yummy. And it's organic if that matters.

If I keep this up, maybe I'll end up looking like Jackie (I'm really not that obsessed with her):