The last week has been an absolute surreal dream. Thanks to a Christmas Day mistake fare tip from The Points Guy, I’ve just returned from an absolutely fantastic trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. While the six days we spent there were unexpectedly perspective changing in many ways, I think the stellar food we got to sample deserves a highlight post. Found Aroos Damascus, a local, hole in the wall type joint that we hit up for breakfast one day and (over)ordered this fantastic manaish, which is a fairly common flatbread-type snack you can find all over the Middle East. My favorite by far is the one on the right, which is covered in za'atar (a combination of sumac, sesame seeds, oregano and other herbs.) Obviously we couldn't get enough of the Indian food available so for our final dinner in Abu Dhabi, we were lucky enough to find Peppermill, a self-professed purveyor of "colonial" (....) Indian cuisine. Despite the somewhat dicey description, the biryani and butter chicken were completely bonkers delicious. The biggest personal takeaway from the food we had over the six days was a realization that the chefs and cooks in this region approach food with incredibly bold, gutsy flavors. They aren't afraid to use oil (yes!) and use ample, aggressive seasoning (double yes!), all of which are things I appreciate.
I absolutely can't wait to be back to see more of this part of the world. What we flew: Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE (on its brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, if you're a fellow aviation nerd) Where we stayed: Sheraton Dubai Creek, in Dubai Fairmont Bab al Bahr, in Abu Dhabi What we ate: Everything
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Two of my favorite mainstay 14th Street restaurants in DC are Estadio and Doi Moi, so I was pretty excited to hear that two veterans of both these establishments, Greg Kakaletris and Brittany Frick, are trying to open up a new seafood concept that aims to fill the gap between for the rustic, seafood shack type of experience and expensive, high-end fine dining. Their concept, Albright Special, is one of four restaurants vying for crowd-sourced funding through EquityEats - basically a Kickstarter for restaurants and dining concepts. In the meantime, I was lucky enough to score tickets to a preview of the Albright Special pop-up concept over Valentine's Day weekend last week at 2 Birds, 1 Stone (the cocktail bar below Doi Moi just off 14th). Here are some highlights from the menu - hover over each for a description. The verdict - nine courses of this variety and quality for just $49 was a total steal. Only time will tell if Albright Special gets the funding it needs to build out its full counter concept but I'm happy to see that innovation like this is happening in DC.
Check out Albright Special's EquityEats page here and also consider attending a pop-up event for one of the other concepts before making an investment. Some of you may recall one of my first reviews was of Red Apron in Penn Quarter here in DC, an excellent place to grab a quick deli sandwich or some cold cuts to go. Red Apron actually shares a space with its sister restaurant The Partisan, which is a narrow and buzzy sit-down establishment that sources its proteins through the Red Apron butchery. As you can imagine, this place is, uh, not very vegetarian friendly so look away now if that's your thing. (Though if you want, you can actually get a bunch of quite delicious veggie pasta, salads, and partake in the rather excellent wine list.) The occasion was Graham's birthday which meant he'd gotten yet another year further into the dreaded late twenties period of one's life. The only solution was red meat and quite a lot of it. Luckily, The Partisan didn't disappoint. From the sushi-style (!) menu of charcuterie to the spiral-bound entrees menu categorized by protein (Pig, Duck, Poultry, Beef, etc), fellow carnivores are going to be completely spoiled for choice and maybe even a little overwhelmed by the meaty options. Some highlights from our meal, made even better by bottle(s) of red from the surprisingly diverse and affordable wine list: We also did manage to squeeze in some seafood, which was either deep fried or carb-oriented: The only minor let down of the night was when the rabbit pot pie came out with a distinctly fishy flavor but the waiter was more than happy to remove it and kindly had the dish taken off the total bill at the end. No harm done (and I guess I can probably learn to make a pot pie pretty easily at home. Squid ink pasta, not so much.) So, the verdict: Food: 4.5/5. For a meat eater, you can probably count on one hand the other restaurants in this city that will give you this much variety at such a high level. Drinks: 4/5. Awesome wine selection but not much in the way of liquor selection in the bar in the back (but that's not why you came here, right?) Ambiance: Narrow, cozy, tons of mood lighting. Try and get a table in the front section - tables in the rear of the restaurant next to the bar can get loud and crowded. Jasmine says: Solid four chomps. Totally worth the meat sweats. Come with a date or a big group of friends - it's good for (pretty much) everyone. The Partisan is located at: 709 D Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20004 Reservations available via OpenTable. |
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February 2017
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