Braised pork belly, kaiware sprouts & scallion was amazing.

Finished the meal with some Awesomesauce Sea salt gelato.

Fairly nice evening so we sat outside…. I started with a La Tradicional  – Silver tequila, fresh lime, organic agave ….YUM. I love me a classic margarita … on the rocks … [...]]]>

Met a friend here before the last Caps home game of the regular season….. I have been here for drinks before… but never to eat.

Fairly nice evening so we sat outside…. I started with a La Tradicional  – Silver tequila, fresh lime, organic agave ….YUM. I love me a classic margarita … on the rocks … with salt.

Next up….. Guacamole en Molcajete – prepared tableside – avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro – served with tortilla chips, warm corn tortillas, salsa pasilla de Oaxaca, and salsa de tomatillo y habanero.  This was awesome.  Like I wanted to just shovel it in my mouth. (I’m also on a huge avocado kick right now… so that probably had something to do with it.)

Finally for “dinner” I went with the Costilla del Mercado/Garlic and Lime Smoked Ribs – served with a jicama, mango and cucumber salad.   – Ribs were Ok… nothing spectacular.

I would totally go back… if for nothing else to sit outside, drink margaritas, and shovel guac into my mouth. 

This place is fancy (aka… pricey and white table cloths), but didn’t make me feel out of place as I was wearing my Semin jersey. (and later into [...]]]>

Ended up with a Groupon type deal from RueLaLa for this place.  Since its close to Verizon, I figured may as well try it for a pre-game meal.

This place is fancy (aka… pricey and white table cloths), but didn’t make me feel out of place as I was wearing my Semin jersey. (and later into our meal…. another group arrived in Caps apparel… and later I saw a girl in a Sharks jersey).

I went with the Roast Chicken Breast – sautéed leeks, maitake mushrooms, celery root puree, truffle jus — Everything was cooked perfectly…and Hey… they have Fat Tire on draught….

I’d go back if I had another groupon -type deal.

First up… Appetizer…. I was torn…. because I like [...]]]>

Picked Acadiana on the referral of a friend that went last year during Restaurant Week for lunch and raved about it.  The great thing about Acadiana for RW is that they allow you to choose any entree off the main menu (most give you only a few limited choices).

First up… Appetizer…. I was torn…. because I like to always try something new during RW…. SO I was looking at the Turtle Soup…. then I googled and saw that it was actually made with turtle meat (I thought they just threw the shell in the pot (like with the rock soup we made in kindergarden)….eh… not so much.  So I asked the waiter for his opinion.  He said it wasn’t a big draw on the menu…

So I went with Roasted Corn and Crab Soup…YUM

But since we were so curious the waiter said he would bring us a sample.  Not bad… I certainly didn’t feel like I was eating turtle…. it just tasted like a spicy vegetable soup to me… but I am glad I went with the Corn and Crab soup.

Next up entree… I was looking at the shrimp and grits… but ultimately went with the  -blackened tilapia – sweet corn pudding, collard greens with benton bacon, crawfish lemon tabasco butter.  So good.  Haven’t had blackened anything in a while… so this was nice for me.  Can’t go wrong with corn pudding….

Dessert - Gianduja chocolate crème brulee – chocolate crinkle cookie, hazelnut brittle – I love me some creme brulee… and this was no disappointment.

This is a major benefit of working downtown…. can hit up RW options for lunch… which is about $15 cheaper than the dinner option… The only problem is if you have an afternoon meeting…. you may be in a food coma

January 1st is notorious for being a big football college bowl day (well… it was until a few years ago when they started spreading them out over a week or two).  Enter the NHL trying to horn in with the Winter Classic.  Last year the Caps played and I hosted an awesome party (even though [...]]]>

January 1st is notorious for being a big football college bowl day (well… it was until a few years ago when they started spreading them out over a week or two).  Enter the NHL trying to horn in with the Winter Classic.  Last year the Caps played and I hosted an awesome party (even though I had to keep moving the start time… due to the game being pushed back to 7pm from a 1pm start).

This year the game was moved to the 2nd because the 1st was a Sunday and apparently the NHL didn’t want to compete with the NFL.  Though there were still some college bowl games being played.  Friend and I decided to brave it and try to watch the game at a bar in DC.  We eneded up at Penn Quarter Sports Tavern (PQST)…. arrived around 1:45  for the 3pm start time.   PQST is 2 levels…. we walked in  and the 1st floor was packed… so we headed upstairs….

We snagged 2 seats at the bar (after asking the bartender if he would put the hockey game on).  We actually got him to put the NHL Network pre-game show on…. until 2 football fans showed up behind us and asked for some college game (though the bartender told him they could only have it until 3pm…….) BUT then we noticed the next TV over was playing the Ravens game from Sunday…. so we asked if that could be changed… since it wasn’t live.  Score.

Then some Flyers fans showed up. Then some guys at another table asked for hockey to be put on the TV nearest them also….Then the football people behind us got pissed off and left… Ha!  Then they put one whole wall of TVs on NBC for the #WinterClassic…….. and then… they turned on the sound… without us even having to ask.  Awesomesauce.

Now can someone in this hockey town tell me what the hell is going on with Alex Semin and “The Cut” on his arm??

After my successful 15K I decided to sign up for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler lottery. And secretly hoped I wasn’t picked. I was. Which is odd… because I never win anything.  So now I get to spend my weekends running.  Good in the long run…. not good when I want [...]]]>

After my successful 15K I decided to sign up for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler lottery. And secretly hoped I wasn’t picked. I was. Which is odd… because I never win anything.  So now I get to spend my weekends running.  Good in the long run…. not good when I want to sleep in.

So I put together my training plan… and while I think I had about 2-3 weeks of extra runs in my 15K training plan… this one makes me think I am going to be cutting it close.  Also the odd 5 miles for the week of March 5 – when I’ll be running the St Patricks Day 8k…. has me not feeling good about this training plan –  But I’ll remember what the nice guy I met while running at the Toronto Hotel gym told me after he asked me if I was training for something and I told him yes…a 15K… when he then asked me what the longest I had previously run was — When I answered 10K…. he said… “You got this. If you can run 10k… you can run 15k”  And I guess if I can run 15k (which is just over 9 miles) then I can run 10 miles.

Running starts back up next week……….

Cashion’s has an outdoor patio (too [...]]]>

About a year ago I bought a Living Social deal for Cashion’s – the WaPo critic always raves about the place…. So I figured this would be a good way to try it out… and I finally got around to using it this week… Hey! I’ve been busy

Cashion’s has an outdoor patio (too chilly for that now though)… bar area and not too large dining room.

I started with a Moscow Mule –  vodka, ginger beer, and lime… it was delish.  They also brought out this amazing crusty bread. YUM!!!! Hey…I’m carb loading for all my upcoming races

For my entree I went with Pacific Halibut fillet with Truffle’d Potato Puree, Sauteed Spinach …it was awesome!!  I had to refrain from licking the plate clean.

Next up dessert… I went with Chocolate Mousse filled cream puffs on top of some caramel sauce.. and glass of red wine… I believe it was the  AVE MALBEC ’09 (the server wanted me to try a dessert wine, but I am really not a fan … she even gave me two wines to sample – the Malbec and the dessert wine and I picked the Malbec!)

Would love to go back here and try brunch…. I hear that is great too….

Zengo has a small bar/lounge area downstairs… and a large dining area upstairs…

We wents for drinks and pre-game drinks….

I started with a  lychee Martini – Stoli / lychee – It was so good I had a second one [...]]]>

Bought a Living Social deal for this place a while ago…. finally used it prior to a Caps game….

Zengo has a small bar/lounge area downstairs… and a large dining area upstairs…

We wents for drinks and pre-game drinks….

I started with a  lychee Martini – Stoli / lychee – It was so good I had a second one

For dinner I had Salt and Pepper Shrimp Tacos  – tomatillo-avocado puree / pickled cabbage /lemon-sake aioli / flour tortilla – These were pretty good too.

A little pricey…. but there was a decent crown inside Rockin the Red…. so it looks to be a good pre-game spot.

I was out and about for a Caps on Tap event (wristband gets you access to $2 beers at select bars in Chinatown). Lucky Strike was one of the [...]]]>

If you’re like me you may not realize that Lucky Strike has a full bar area with along with tables for extra seating and serves actual food.

I was out and about for a Caps on Tap event (wristband gets you access to $2 beers at select bars in Chinatown). Lucky Strike was one of the bars, and my friend declared that we could eat there, too. Um, news to me….. I figured they were just a bowling alley.

Nope…. full bar and menu, along with huge TVs that were obviously showing college football (it was a Saturday… duh).

I ended ordering Mini-Burgers…you can do 1, 2, or 3 … and they come with fries.

I went with — Buffalo Chicken — grilled chicken breast tossed in buffalo sauce and served on romaine lettuce with ranch dressing and tangy blue cheese crumbles and — Short Rib — boneless, slow roasted short ribs simmered to tomato au jus.

Buffalo chicken was nice and spicy and Short rib was good, but I wished the the buns were a little more toasty.

Definitely a decent place to go before a Caps game (it wasn’t even crowded on the afternoon that we went).