Big Changes at Room 11

Big news for one of the best bars/restaurants in Columbia Heights. The top chef at Room 11, Ben Gilligan, is stepping down.

Just as Columbia Heights gem Room 11 gears up for its expansion, partnerBen Gilligan is stepping down as the restaurant's head chef. According to general manager Jessica Woods, Gilligan — who recently had a baby — is taking a step back to consider some new projects. He'll still be around and involved with Room 11, she says, but the restaurant is now actively looking for a new head chef who will keep the spirit of the tiny small plates restaurant, but will also "put their own spin on things."

 Room 11 is also looking forward to the opening of their expansion space in mid-October which may, if we're very lucky, have a focus on vermouth and amaro. I'll let you know as I hear more.

Small Plates: 09.18.12

Maddy's Tap Room, at 13th and I, has signs, should open September 24th. [PoP]

Pleasant Pops' brick and mortar in Adams Morgan looks really good! [Eater]

Scratch DC sends you pre-chopped/sliced/seasoned ingredients for you to cook with. [Young & Hungry]

Caucus Room and Boveda now open in the Georgetown Westin. [Washingtonian]

MxMo: Rahasia

A hearty welcome back to Mixology Monday! Mixology Monday is a semi-regular event that has various cocktail bloggers creating a cocktail based on a theme. It's hosted by Cocktail Virgin Slut, and we appreciate Fred bringing it back. Past themes have included tiki and morning drinks. This month's theme is 'equal parts'. The idea is to create a cocktail that mixes equal parts of its component ingredients. Since fall is fast approaching, I thought I'd go with an anti-Negroni.

As opposed to the Negroni, which is bright and a little fruity, this is dark and rich. I was originally calling it the Inorgen, which is Negroni spelled backwards, but then decided that was dumb. I didn't think it was going to be much good -- it was pretty sweet and a little syrupy. But the addition of the grapefruit bitters transformed the drink. It's wonderfully complex, with some spiciness from the rye, some bitterness from the Averna, some sweetness from the Cardamaro, and some herbality (herbalness?) from the bitters. It's still very rich, but pretty good. Recipe after the jump.

Snickerdoodle

It's fall time, and that means time for fall cocktails! I've been playing around with Becherovka cocktails, and this one is great for a crisp autumn evening. There's a lot of cinnamon, but enough cookie and ginger that it tastes more like a snickerdoodle than a cinnamon stick. It's not sweet, mind you, but somehow it still tastes like a cookie. This is a golden ratio recipe; it might have been too boozy, but there are enough spices in the Becherovka that you don't notice the alcohol. Recipe after the jump.

Small Plates: 09.14.12

Photo by Quinn Dombrowski, on flickr.

More in brunch news: El Chucho's will be serving brunch starting this weekend. [PoP]

Soon, 14th is going to be a hub of Italian restaurants. Here's a run-down. [Borderstan]

There's a new brewery in Frederick offering tours: Monocacy Brewing Co. [Thrillist]

Cuban-American restaurant Little Ricky's looking to open this September in Brookland. [PoP]

So, whenever I hear Monocacy, I think monocle. Just me?

Wassub?

Wassub? is a relatively new food truck specializing in, you guessed it, subs. What I didn't expect was that it would generally be asian-themed subs, which had the potential to be disappointing since I had been hoping for a steak-and-cheese sandwich. Fortunately, that was their special for the day the first time I went. The sandwich was fine, but it needed something to kick it up a notch; either some spice, or a bit more flavor in the marinade, fancier cheese, better bread, or something sour. Any of these would have helped, especially the better bread. When I tried to pick up the sandwich, it nearly fell apart on me! There was a pretty decent amount of steak, and it combined well with the cheese and green peppers. The mushrooms, though, seemed like a bit too much umami without anything to balance it out. Some pickles, for example, would have helped tremendously.

The second time I went, I got the kimchi, a sub with thin-sliced, marinated ribeye and kimchi. It's advertised as a bulgogi sandwich, so I was expecting something similar to the bulgogi I know and love. It wasn't; not as spicy nor as rich. The sauce was really thin, the cheese, while appreciated, didn't mesh well with the egg. On the other hand, I'm not a huge fan of egg in my bulgogi in the first place. Combined with too much mayo (it's on the bread and in the sauce), it was just too rich. The bread held up much better than last time, and the flavors were fairly rich, so this is definitely an improvement over the steak and cheese. Overall, Wassub? is a decent choice for a sandwich based food truck, but it's not much better than average.

Small Plates: 09.13.12

The Black Squirrel is now offering brunch. They have a decent beer list, check them out! [PoP]

The DC Food Trucks Association is expanding to include trucks in Virginia and Maryland. [WaPo]

The long-awaited re-opening of Minibar has been delayed until late October. [Young & Hungry]

DC Office of Human Rights forces The Pug to rename its "Marion Barry's Dirty Asian Punch" [Eater]