I was in DC these past couple of days for a surgical conference and as interesting as it all was, and as nerve wracking as the presentations were, and as fun as it was to go from exhibit to exhibit checking out the latest laparoscopic toys and scoring free pens, mugs and t-shirts... my favorite part was the food...
Not at the conference, of course...
In DC.
Seeing as my department was paying for my trip and meals (and being a poor post-grad/non-resident who still takes public transportation and packs her lunch everyday), I was more than happy to indulge in an extravagant meal or two.
The first night we went to a Brazilian steakhouse, Fogo de Chao, on Pennsylvania Ave. I'd been to several Brazilian steakhouses before, including another Fogo in Atlanta, but many of our team were newbies to the restaurant where red means stop and green means go go gooo! For those of you who have never been to a Brazilian steakhouse before, the concept is simple. There is a small coaster looking item on the table for each person, and on one side it's red, and on the other, its green. When you place it red side up, it means that you're full or still working on your plate and so the servers will keep walking by. But when it's green side up, the servers suddenly emerge out of the woodwork with several different cuts of steaks, lambs, porks, chicken, sausages and more... over 15 kinds of meat on skewers that you can eat until you are gasping for air. My favorite meat is lamb and I think I may have single handedly eaten a whole rack. Even the salad bar is stocked with over 80 irresistable items, and it is a novice mistake to fill up on just that. We ordered some wine (in moderation), and a few deserts in the end... and in the end rolled out of the restaurant. We actually had high hopes of hitting a bar afterwards, but we were all so full and high on food, that we decided to call it a night and part ways to our hotels. I'm kinda glad we did... I was dreaming of a bed before my head even hit the pillow that night.
The second day we went to Legal Seafood by Chinatown for lunch and it was by far the best lunch I'd had in a looooooong time. Dozens of raw oysters, clams on a halfshell, shrimp cocktail, stone crabs, crab cakes, mussels, scallops with caramelized bacon (I didn't know you could make bacon better), seaweed salad, lobster rolls... omg... I think we had half of the Atlantic on our table... I'm still dreaming about the mussels (and caramelized bacon)! It wasn't prepared all fancy or plated with flare... it was plain and simple, but fresh and top quality seafood that only the best seafood restaurants can offer.
After we worked the crustaceous calories off in the convention, we gathered for a reception and dinner at Zaytinya, a Mediterranean dream only a few blocks away from the Washington Convention Center. After a few pomogranate sangrias from the open bar, we sat down for a delicious eleven course dinner:
Appetizers included:
1) Maroulosalata, a shredded romaine and dill salad with mizithra cheese and a red wine vinegarette.
2)Tzatziki, a tangy yogurt with diced cucumbers and dill. Served with puffed pita.
3) Hommus, a classic Mediterranean puree of chickpeas, garlic and tahini.
Next round was:
4) Falafel, traditional chickpea fritters with tahini sauce.
5) Salmon, perfectly baked, pink in center, with spicy eggplannt and cracked green olive saltsa.
6) Garides Me Anitho, sauteed shrimp in a buttery sauce of dill, shallots, mustard and lemon juice. (This was my favorite dish!)
The main courses:
7) Piyaz, warm giant beans with kale, and oven roasted tomato and garlic.
8) Shish Taouk, grilled chicken, sumac onions, grilled tomatoes, and a delicious garlic tuom. (I wanted to eat the whole bowl of garlic tuom it was so good, but lucky for everyone around me, I refrained.)
9) Crispy Skirt Steak, pickled radish, onion seed, yogurt, with a green chile zhoug sauce.
Desserts were:
10) Turkish Coffee Chocolate, a warm chocolate cake with bittersween chocolate flan and a cardamom espuma finished with espresso syrup.
11) Turkish Delight, walnut ice cream, yogurt mousse, drizzled with orange-caramel sauce and caramelized pine-nuts, plated with honey gelee.
I highly recommend any of these places, and my only wish was that I could have stayed in DC another day. I had an evening to see the memorials and monuments too, but man... if I could eat my way through the country...
Yummy!
...
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