Last Night the Sandwich Saved My Life

Literally. 

The Jayhawk and I tried to make it to District Commons last night, but the bar was 10 people deep, so we ended up at Kinkead's instead.  Good God I'd forgotten how white and boring that place is!  Luckily KK was behind the bar to make our experience bearable.  The half-priced oysters also helped.  As did the cod fritters (a little soggy, but yummy), the smoked chicken quesadilla (very nice; the fire-roasted tomatoes and slight kick to them were delicious), the queso dip (um, yeah, the mini ramekin of melted cheese that aspires to be as good as Chinmey Fall Cat's Ro*tel® queso was disappointing).  We had to leave, though, once the "fabulus" theater gays and their fruit fly arrived.  Their banality was vexing me.  So, we marched our way up 21st Street and landed at James Hoban's.  Good times were had once Mikey joined us.  And then, of course, we ended up at the Polly's (yes...Desperado's) to see Amber and keep mistreating our livers. 

That's where my memory ends.  This morning (an hour ago, really) I pieced together the vague bits of info from the night after being at Polly's.  We may have gone to Dynasty and had a beer at Joe's insistence (gotta be neighborly, you know).  And may have rolled up into Judy but quickly exited.  And definitely went to Fast Gourmet because the half eaten Milanesas in the fridge tell me that we did.  I'm not sure if we watched old videos of Iris Chacón on the YouTube or not.  But I do feel like there might have been some dancing in the living room.  Either way, thank you, mi querida Milanesa!  You really did save our lives.

Not (Completely) Lost on Me

So, EUM at Lost Society was pretty good last night.  The food was decent (better than okay but not wow).  BR and I shared the roasted bone marrow with parsley/red onion salad and roasted beets, the pork belly over collard greens, and the root beer braised short ribs.  Shatterproof got the tomato soup with grilled cheese. 

The marrow was the star of the night.  The combo of the hot melty marrow over very nice and light water bread slices with the fresh parsley/onions and roasted beets sprinkled with sea salt was awesome!  And the marrow was easy to scoop out of the bones!  I hate when the bones are so thin/awkward that trying to scoop the marrow out is a chore.  That’s one reason I didn’t care for the marrow at CommonWealth.  Whoever’s choosing the bones at Lost Society is getting it right.  

The short ribs came in a slightly distant second.  Very tender and rich and sweet.  But if the menu says they come with turnip puree, add some turnip puree to the dish.  The tablespoon of puree that made it on the plate was basically only to hold the short ribs in place. The pork belly was very disappointing to me as a Rican and lover of pig.  Yeah, it was fatty and rich and roasty.  But it was also kind of dry and definitely over-seared and too crunchy on the meaty side.  The greens were good, though.  They had a nice bite/slight crunch to them and were just vinegary/bacony enough.  Quite good.  Shaterproof’s soup was like tomato-flavored buttercream.  It was yummy, don’t get me wrong, but it was definitely a bit much.

With all this said, my feeling was that the place was definitely a bar that serves food.  Which is fine, I guess.  The bar on the first level is huge and smack in the middle of the room with tables and booths around it.  Not that much floor space to move around.  And loud as all get-out.  The upper level is huge!  There may have been tables up there for dining, but I wouldn’t know because all I saw was the expanse of open floor and the 2 gargantuan bars.  Or maybe there were 3 bars?  I don’t know.  All that open space overwhelmed me. 

Anywho, I'm not pressed to run back, but I'll definitely go back to check out other menu items.  Rating:  2 besos (out of 4).

Happy Brithday to Ya

Sister Disco! Last night/this morning was a lot of fun. I'm glad I went out and stayed out with you, Timmy, Tisha K., The Jayhawk, and The District. Not so glad with the major overhang/remnant-drunkyness this morning or that I did that birthday shot (even though it was scrumptiously deelishuss [who knew you could make a shot that tastes like sweet tea?]). But glad I got to ring in your new year with you. Good times. Happy birthday, friend.

(And looky who shares your birthday. You in good company, friend.)

Pretty Pictures Version 01.03.09

Kinda Halloweeny to rid the ghosts from your head, today's Pretty Pictures are Cats in Paris with "Foxes." I know I need to get rid of the ghosts in my head after too many fun times last night at the P-Rat. Ooph...The P-Rat. I lovey you and hatey you all at the same time.

(PS and BTW: Why the Polly's website gone? Cici needs to renew her registration, onetime. Just sayin'.)

Yes We Did!

This is where I was last night after the acceptance speech. No video can do it justice, though, because U Street was blowsed up! It was like Mardi Gras. Everyone out on the street laughing and chanting and yelling and hugging up on each other without knowing each other and honking horns and playing tambourines and blowing whistles and dancing on bus stop roofs and hanging from lamp posts and just having a good ole time. I'd never seen anything like that in DC and feel blessed that I was lucky enough to experience it with people I love. There's a lot of work to be done, for sure. But being on Cloud 9 is works well enough for me right now.

Obamanos!

(Thanks for KWa for the most awesome catchword, ever.)