Founding Farmers...

I decided to visit my friends at Founding Farmers. Luckily it was a few days before the most recent Washingtonian came out, lauding them with the following:

• Best Value (#3)
• Best American Restaurant (#1)
• Most Overrated (#3)
• I disagree with the last one (FYI)

We sat in the upstairs dining room. The ground floor was packed with all of the seats at the bar taken and quite a few people waiting for tables and reaching in for drinks.
We started with a Farmer's Smash, which is kind of like on Old Fashioned, and a Knob Creek and Ginger. What was nice about this was that they either make their own ginger ale, or they use something that is very far removed from Canada Dry. It was very tasty.
We had the assortment of deviled eggs. I'm not sure what was in all of them but there weren't any that weren't good.

Nice presentation on the deviled eggs.

Paul had the Rockfish Provencale as suggested by our very friendly waiter. I was actually going to order this myself, but since Paul did, I could pass on the fish and go for the meat.

The fish was done perfectly. Moist, flaky, and tasty.
This was my dish. I got the prime rib, mid-rare natch, and it came with homey mac n'cheese. This is the best prime rib I've had since my days as a waiter in Lexington, KY. The outside had a nice savory rub and the inside was roasted to perfection.

We were in a bit of a hurry, so I can't comment on dessert. What I can say is that these guys have their formula down. The food is good, the place looks great, service is well above average for the DC metro, and the prices are not out of hand.

Best wishes for a happy holiday friends.

I'll be posting about creating dinner with my photographer friend for Thanksgiving.

Until next time.....

Washington Reality at its Best...The Fundraiser for a good cause.

Michael Mina of Bourbon Steak

Eric Ripert of Le Bernadin, 10 Arts, Westend Bistro and others..

Morou of Kora and Iron Chef

Mike Isabella of Zaytinya and Top Chef

Sometimes I don't just work when I work. Sometimes it's actually fun to do my job. Last night was one of those times.

I got to go to the DC Central Kitchen Food Fight. Chefs battle in a mini-Iron Chef-type competition. The food and drink is good, the company is great.

The cause is stupendous.

DC Central Kitchen not only feeds the homeless, they train people to produce the food, thereby giving people skills they can use to break the cycle of whatever it is that has put them at risk to begin with.

Very noble effort. www.dccentralkitchen.org

If you only attend one charity event next year, try to make it this one. Tickets sell out early, but they are worth it.

Thanks for reading.

Lot of stuff going on in DC Metro these past few weeks...

Kellari, by Stavros Aktipis of NY, Masa 14, by Richard Sandoval, Kaz of the eponymous Sushi Bistro, and Latif Guler of Jacks, Birch and Barley by Michael Babin of NRG, American Flatbread, Kabab-Ji, BGR, and a few others either opened in the past few weeks or will open in the next week.

Busier than a one-legged man in an ass kickin' contest!

That's all good though. It gives me more experience dealing with the trials and tribulations of restaurant ownership so that one day, when I finally grow a pair, I too can open a restaurant and, if the gods are smiling upon me, be successful with it.

I went to Kellari for dinner with friends on Friday. We were treated warmly and the dinner was nice. We got the chef's selection, which was $45.00/per person. It included plates to share for the table. Very nice.

That same day, I was lucky enough to enjoy a lunch with one of my friends at Bourbon Steak. This restaurant in the Four Seasons in G-Town has it down.

A trio of duck-fat fries. Generally, duck-fat fries are limp and greasy, but here Mr. Mina has figured it out. Very crisp, nice presentation, and nice dipping options.

This was my flat-iron steak. Very tasty.

This was a tough call here. Was the burger better than the steak? It was close. The burger had some very nice flavors to it and was prepared perfectly. Cave-aged cheddar, tasty beef. Yum. Was it broiled in butter a la Mina? I'm not sure, and probably don't want to know in any event.

Anyhow, thanks for reading. Help the country eat its' way out of the recession! Dine often.

Until next time...