Daiquiri Experimentation

The bartender at Proof is apparently getting bored: for the next two weeks, he's offering four variations on the Daiquiri. After that, it's the Whiskey Sour for those of you who aren't rum people.

h/t: Urban Daddy

Places to go next week

Urban Daddy reminds us that Graffiato is starting their late night pop-up series next week Monday. On the first Monday of every month, Isabella is handing the kitchen over to another area chef. Kicking it off is Bryan Voltaggio and Owen Thompson, so it should be awesome. I'm not sure I can stay up that late anymore, but someone should definitely let me know how it is. The full schedule is here.

PS7s possibly becoming South American Steakhouse

Rumors have circulated for months about whether PS7s was closing, and if so, what would become of it. It's been pretty clear for at least the last month that it was closing, but until now, there hasn't been much information. Today the Washington Post reported that it would be replaced by "Del Campo," a South American restaurant focusing on the pleasures of the grill. The chef behind it is suggested to be Victor Albisu, former chef at BLT Steak and Taco Bamba. However, there's still no word from PS7's chef-owner Peter Smith. [Washington Post]

Ba Guo Bu Yi

Photo by Milos Kravcik, on flickr. This is bian lian, a traditional mask-changing show.

Recently I've been making an effort to have more regional Chinese food, instead of the typical stuff you see most often in the United States (I think it's typically Cantonese food, but I could easily be mistaken.) The last time we were in New York City, we had some Yunnan food, and DC has a very good Sichuan place in Great Wall Szechuan. But I'll take more, so I was excited to read this in the Washington Post:

Washington has never seen anything like Ba Guo Bu Yi, a Chinese chain dedicated to spreading Sichuan culture outside the province. That could change next year if all goes as Oren Molovinsky plans; the veteran restaurateur and partner in Mala Tang in Arlington has been talking to the parent company of Ba Guo Bu Yi to open a location in the District, possibly in the Penn Quarter area.

They're apparently avoiding Chinatown so that they don't look cheap. What is Ba Guo Bu Yi like?

Each location is large, usually two stories, and serves not only authentic Sichuan cuisine but also authentic Sichuan culture on stage, including the so-called “face-changing” performances from Sichuan opera. According to the Theatre Beijing Web site, face-changing involves a performer who “whips through half a dozen or more fearsome and brightly colored face masks seemingly by magic.”

Sounds great, I can't wait to try it.

Ella's Wood Fired Pizza

One of the things I miss about working near Farragut Square is the variety of options for pizza that exist. There's Fuel, there's DC Slices, Pizza Pino, Washington Deli, The Upper Crust, and that's just off the top of my head. Not all of them are equally good, but they are all pretty quick. It's not hard to get in and out in half an hour, and that's about what I get to spend on a lunch break. Here in Penn Quarter, things are different. Sure, there's Matchbox or Graffiato. But I don't trust either of those to get me in and out quickly. Pi's quick slice was pretty terrible. But thank goodness, there's Ella's.

The pizza here is Neapolitan style, which isn't my favorite type of pizza. But Ella's is cheesier than most, which from my perspective is a big improvement. Their pepperoni was just okay, but the margherita was above average. The basil was really fresh, and it had the right amount of salt. Sadly, the crust was not as caramelized as I like, or would have expected given the wood-fired stove. Not that I drink during my lunch hour, but they have a pretty good selection of craft beers. They also have $5 pizzas during happy hour, which doesn't help me for lunch, but which is probably a good time to check them out.

Ella's: 901 F St NW

Paul

Paul has great bread. That's really the first thing to know about it, what you need to remember. It's chewy and soft in the right proportions, with the right amount of salt. It's in Penn Quarter, which means it doesn't have a lot of competition, so it's okay that their sandwiches are a bit basic. Typically I get their most basic sandwich, the "Sandwich Mixte," which is just ham and cheese on bread. Very good bread! Sometimes I'll get the Sandwich Mixte Charlemagne, which is similar to the Mixte, but is on the Charlemagne bread and has some aioli on it. Other times I'll get the Camembert and Raisin, which is Camembert on raisin bread. Very good raisin bread. The bread really makes the sandwiches here, but the toppings don't seem to be exceptional. Still, best place in the neighborhood for this sort of thing.

Merzi

I've complained that, working in Penn Quarter, there aren't very many lunch options. Once you take out the variety of expensive restaurants, most of what's left are sandwich places. (Some of which are quite good.) The one place that stands out is Merzi, which founder Kaz Kazmi describes as the Chipotle of Indian food. I've never been to Chipotle, so I can't comment on that. But it is a nice splash of color in an otherwise bland food landscape.

The way it works, you pick out a base, a meat, and a sauce. For the base, your options are rice, naan, lettuce, or chaat (a mix of chickpeas, potatoes, onions, and red bell peppers). Alternatively, you can get it wrapped in a wrap. I've always gone with the chaat, just because it sounds like the tastiest option. For the meat, I've tried the lamb, the 'tandisserie' chicken, and the beef. Don't get the tandisserie chicken. It's bland, and dry, and because it comes in one piece, it's harder to blend with the rest of your food. I prefer the beef to the lamb. It's cheaper, and in smaller pieces, and about as tasty. Your mileage may vary, and it might just be due to the sauce rather than the meat.

Merzi offers six sauce, three hot masalas and three dry chutneys. I've tried the two spicier masalas, the creamy tikka and the onion tomato. The onion tomato is the superior sauce, with a really good kick to it, but the creamy tikka masala is also very good, especially if you're less into spice. In general, the food at Merzi is a bit bland for Indian food, and I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but it's a good addition to the scene in Penn Quarter.

Bistro D'Oc

Bistro D'Oc

Bistro D'Oc is a small French bistro located in downtown DC just west of Gallery Place/Penn Quarter. Unlikely the many mussel heavy French bistros scattered throughout DC, Bistro D'Oc focuses on food from the south of France, specifically the Languedoc. So instead of mussels, there's steak in various sauces, such as my favorite, the Ongelet Grillé, or the Boeuf Braise au Vin. But more importantly, there's lots of offal. Lamb's brain, sweetbreads, and tripe, to be specific. Now it can be hard to find offal in DC, and my wife loves it, so this is a very good reason for us to go here when we're in the area.

Bistro D'Oc Sweetbreads.

On our most recent trip, I had the tripe, and my wife had the sweetbreads. I've had their food before, it's generally quite good, and the sweetbreads were no exception. Wonderful little nuggets of savory goodness in a puff pastry (picture on the left). The tripe was less satisfactory. In their defense, I haven't had tripe prepared this way before, since I usually have it in Asian dishes, so I don't know if the problems I had were with my palate or with Bistro D'Oc. But I found them unpalatable. They were in a wine, tomato, and mustard potato purée, which itself was quite tasty. But the dish smelled like a pig farm (and my Dad grew up near a pig farm, so I know what it smells like), and the tripe was so chewy as to be nearly inedible.

Dessert was tasty. We had the peach brioche pudding, brioche and peaches in a ramekin topped with whipped cream. It was a nice complement to the savoriness of the other dishes, and a great way to top off the evening. I'd definitely recommend Bistro D'Oc, perhaps not as a destination restaurant, but one to go to when you're in the area.