I spend ALL my money on noms. Seriously. I’m totally ok with that though. I love the food and hospitality industry, and I want to learn and experience as much as possible. There are a few material items I treasure – like my camera, rice cooker, and roomba – but personally, I prefer to make memories rather than collect items.
…which brings me to my latest. I didn’t want to do an individual feature on each place so instead, I’m blasting a recap today. I’ll be sharing short blurbs about my thoughts/experiences so let me know whatcha think by leaving a comment below.
Allegory
I’m obviously obsessed this place – for more reasons than one – but y’all gotta get here for real. In addition to dope cocktails and a smokin’ hot bar manager, the food’s solid as well. I can’t disclose who DOES it per se, but I’m sure you can figure it out if you dig a little.
Drink recommendations include:
- They Can’t Kill Us All: rum, amontillado, clarified kefir, yuzu, ube
- Jabberwocky: mezcal, cachaca, rum, Don Ciccio and Figli ambrosia, pineapple, lime, ras el hanour, fermented pepper brine
- Ramon Gin Fizz: gin, lemon, lime, cream, egg white, cane sugar, orange blossom, vanilla, sparking water
- Personalized Cocktail: tell your bartender all your likes and dislikes, and let them come up with a little something special for you on the spot.
Must try food items are:
- Toad in a Hole: mini grilled cheese sandwiches with brioche, white cheddar black truffle, quail egg
- Warm Hand Pies: Indian curried eggplant, cilantro chutney, saffron yogurt
- Rabbit Hole: crispy braised rabbit fritters, prunes, lemon-thyme aioli
The bar has great ambiance, and the art will high key blow you away. They don’t take reservations or anything so show up early and hope there’s space. It’s located behind a (locked) door in their first-floor library, and although they don’t call themselves a speakeasy, they kinda ooze speakeasy vibes. Ya’ll should go and judge for yourself though.
Bresca
I recently dined here with my good friend @dcfoodfreak, and we had an exceptional experience. It’s a one-michelin star establishment, and their course menu’s priced at $94. Honestly, it’s SO worth the splurge – both Bresca and Jont. Easily one of my favorite restaurants in DC Proper.
If you’re looking to celebrate a special occasion or just want to treat yourself to a delicious meal, I highly, HIGHLY recommend you book a table here. Here were some of my favorite bites!
Black garlic “muffin”: foie butter cream, concord grape
Agnolotti: summer corn, bow horn, smoked onion, with truffle add on
Brioche stuffed chicken: caramelized cabbage, peach, jus gras
Dry-aged duck “a la presse”: hana danko, baby leek, cherry
Vanilla madeleines “for two”: clotted cream, vanilla bean, summer preserves
Caruso’s Grocery
I’m a big, BIG pasta person – and I love NRG – so I was stoked to try Caruso’s. The meal started off strong with their garlic bread quattro formaggi. It came with this amazing four cheese sauce, and it was the perfect way to kick off dinner!
As for entrees, everything sounded incredible so it was hard to choose, but ultimately we went with Caruso’s Alfredo and their Chicken Parmigiana. It turned out to be the perfect combo! The alfredo was extremely rich so I appreciated having the parm (and it’s amazing red sauce) to cut through its decadence.
With that said, both dishes were on point. The alfredo came with copious amounts of wild mushroom, and you could really taste the truffle butter. The noods were obviously cooked to perfection, and the texture was beautiful. The parm was awesome as well, and portions were HUGE! It was pounded thin and came with a side of spaghetti to expect to leave full. And remember to save space for dessert – they have a mean tiramisu!
Cranes
Deke’s been hyping this place up so I walked in with crazy high expectations. I think I need to come back for dinner though, to really experience their food. I got their lunch bento (priced at $35), and although it was tasty, it didn’t blow me away like other one-stars in the city have. I’ll make sure to update y’all after I go back in the future.
Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly
OH MY GOD, KUYA JA’S IS INSANE. I am obsessed with this place, and I can’t wait to go back. I’ve had their lechon in the past, but this was my first time dining at their brick and mortar.
I went with my friend @charmcityfoodadventures, and we got a nice spread to share. Everything was good (really though), but the lechon was sensational, like I dream about their food and would HAPPILY sit in DMV traffic to enjoy it again.
It’s crispy. It’s fatty. It’s juicy. It’s fragrant. It’s everything you could ever want, and then some. If you haven’t been yet, GO! I promise it’ll be love at first bite. Then come back and thank me.
True Food Bethesda
They recently invited me to try their new fall menu offerings so I thought why not? My mom loves accompanying me to food gigs so we made a nice day trip out of it! This was my second time at True Food, and I think it’s a great place to go for people who want to eat clean.
The butternut squash soup was reallllly delicious, and I enjoyed their lasagna bolognese as well. It was made with fennel chicken sausage, mushroom, organic spinach, ricotta and basil. Everything seems very health-conscious, and there are a ton of gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options available.
Silver Lyan
I can’t believe I waited this long to check out Silver Lyan. I really wanted to go when they first opened, but I waited…and then COVID hit. Fast forward several years (omfg), and I finally got to imbibe with my favorite human. We actually went after an epic dinner out so we only got a few drinks, but rest assured, I’ll be back to try more very, VERY soon!
So, here’s what we got:
- HMS Resolute: Fords Officers’ Reserve gin, fino & lacto-berry ‘falernum’ tea, also available boozeless
- Ceres Joker: The Macallan single malt, time-travel Plymouth Sloe, ginger, lemon, the detonated lemon twist
- A couple jello shots
A few things to keep in mind for when you go. You can’t buy jello shots individually so you gotta get all 8, which means you should go with friends and share. These were CRAZY delicious, and I can’t wait to go back and try their other flavors.
And 2, if you like filming things for the ‘gram, have your cameras ready for Ceres Joker because IT’S SO FUN! They serve said drink with a maneki neko (Japanese “beckoning cat”), and there’s a balloon tied to its paw. They light it up, and when the balloon pops, it releases aromas to further enhance your cocktail’s flavor profile. FUN RIGHT!? It happens super quick though so you gotta be a ninja with your phone.
Alright friends, that was a long but hopefully fun post. Have you been to any of these places? Where should I go next? Let me know by leaving a comment below, and stay tuned for more delish content coming your way! For more food recs, click here or check out my secondary blog, Nomtastic Foods. Until next time – eat all the things.
People in Texas eating 3 pounds of bacon wrapped fried turducken with a tub of fries…
And this girl’s a fatass ’cause she ate a pancake with flowers on top xD
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haha