Posted by Sarah
This past Saturday I had the supreme pleasure of venturing down to Columbia Heights to eat at Taqueria Distrito Federal on 14th Street with my buddies Jackie and Steve for some of- if not the- best tacos I’ve ever had. When I lived in the area it was definitely one of my favorite haunts and this latest visit didn’t let me down. I’m a creature of habit so I’ve only ever ordered the tacos but they also serve other yummy looking dishes including burritos and tostadas and most everything comes with your choice of something like eight different meat options (including goat!). It’s not a fancy place by any means but it’s pleasant, cheap and really, really good. Maybe next time I’ll branch out and try something new. Or maybe not.
Posted by Meg
I keep (very poorly) a five year diary. I bought in London, it’s been with me all over the world since then. I don’t update it as often as I should, but every now and then it’s fun to see what I was up to years ago. Today, is potentially the most important DC dining day in the last five years: Today, in 2003, was the first time I ever ate a Famous Avocado sandwich at Cafe Recess on the Hill. This masterpiece amongst sandwiches consists of sprouts, spinach, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados and swiss cheese, all in a pita pocket. It’s the salad you pick up. It’s always good, it never disappoints, and today is our anniversary. Here’s to you, Famous Avocado. Here’s to you.
Posted by Meg
Tomorrow is my birthday, hurrah! On Friday night, Boyfriend took me to Mrs. K’s Toll House in Silver Spring. He went there with his family for Christmas, and has been on about how amazing it is ever since. That is to say, this meal easily had a 6 month build up, and still delivered. I can count on one hand the number of meals I have had that were as good as Friday’s dinner. In short: best foodie birthday present ever.
To start, I had a gaspoucho with terribly delicate lump crab meat, chilled. There were dinner rolls, both sour dough and fluffier white (the melt in your mouth kind) and molded butter. For the main course, I had quail with duck stuffing, two baby carrots with the stems on and outrageously tender asparagus stalks. For dessert, we split cheesecake with honest to goodness strawberry sauce, naturally sweet, no that gross processed high fructose corn syrup stuff. There were really good cappuccinos. And we split a bottle of 2004 pinot noir from Bogle Winery in California. In short, probably one of the top 3 meals I’ve ever eaten. Best birthday present ever!
Posted by Meg
This morning, I was listening to BBC World Service and their weekly science program (whose name escapes me) was on. While the first unintentionally hilarious bit was a scientist with a lisp talking about speech and language evolution, the next part was about food. Apparently there is a new strain of stem rust, UG99, spreading at an alarming rate through the wheat crops of the East. It originated in Uganda, and has been spreading steadily through Africa, the Middle East and now South Asia. Already a huge problem, the concern is that UG99 will spread northwards next into Northern Asia, Russia and eventually Europe.
The Global Wheat Trust Initiative is working on finding a solution to the problem. Other wheat problems have been solved before. Norman Borlaug engineered dwarf wheat that wouldn’t fall over and die under it’s own weight. I heard about it on the West Wing and it’s in Wikipedia: it must be true. But, all of these lovely, famine stopping, hunger preventing measures are gasp genetically modifying food.
Where is the line with GMO (genetically modified organisms)? What constitutes a problem that’s worth being solved with modification? What happens if everyone doesn’t agree on a standard? What happens when the wind blows, and seeds from crops that we and weren’t modified mix? Who’s idea was the Grapple? (Seriously, worst fruit EVER!) I think about it a lot (because I think about food constantly), but it’s more than just a meal. If you are what you eat, what are we becoming?
All that thought made me hungry. Despite having had the Famous Avocado from Café Recess on the Hill for lunch (the best sandwich in DC, no contest), I could go for another tasty morsel.