Lidia Bastianich at the Smithsonian Dec. 2

Heads up to all the D.C. foodies: America's Italian cooking queen Lidia Bastianich will be speaking at the National Museum of Natural History on Dec. 2 with moderator Joe Yonan, the Washington Post's food and travel editor. Sadly, I'll be in Pensacola on a work trip, but the event is open to the public and costs $25 for non-Smithsonian members.

Tickets can be purchased here.

100 foods to try before you die

My friend group has been circulating a list of 100 foods you should eat before you die. How do you stack up on this list?

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (a pungent unpasturised French cheese.)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda (a warm dip from the Piedmont area of Italy)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (1/2)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (pufferfish)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8%
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost Que?
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu (Chinese distilled alcohol)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (Cocktail)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I've only had 38 1/2 (I'm counting clam chowder in a sourdough bowl as half, since I've had both of those things, but not simultaneously), which I italicized. And while I don't think I'll be sampling some of these any time soon (roadkill? wtf?) there are certainly a few I need to get cracking on!

Update: Lauren just reminded me that I've had apple wine, so make that 39 1/2.

Big ups to D.C. A Through Z

Sick of going to the same old bars in Washington D.C.? You should check out my friend Lauren's new blog, D.C. A Through Z, where she visits a place she's never been (and she's been to a lot of places!) all in the name of a good time. The catch? She's going bar-to-bar in alphabetical order.

Up now, Asylum and Bourbon, both in Adams Morgan. Look out for Chef Geoff's sometime soon.

http://dctotheletter.blogspot.com/

A permanent link to her blog should be on the left pane of this blog if you're ever searching for it.

P.S.-Does anyone know a D.C. bar that starts with X? We're thinking PX might be the best we can do for now.

BlackSalt is DC's seafood central

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

Now that we're in the meat of oyster season, a few friends and I decided to go to BlackSalt, a surprisingly large restaurant space in a small strip mall up on MacArthur Blvd. in an area of D.C. called the Palisades (news to me). While not metro accessible, this place is worth the hike if only for their $1 oyster happy hour (daily from 4-7 p.m.).

The restaurant is separated into three parts. When you walk in, the first thing you see is a little seafood shop, with an impressive assortment on ice. I saw plenty of different types of fillets (even the hard-to-find monkfish), one type of whole fish and a lot of shellfish, including sea scallops (I think around $23/pound), which you can't find fresh in grocery stores right now, to my knowledge. They of course also have arrays of salts and a refrigerated shelf of less popular fish dishes (bacala was notable to me, which is apparently imported from Spain and called bacalao). Growing up, I remember my dad soaking and resoaking cod to get it just right for Christmas Eve, so if that's on your holiday menu, BlackSalt is an option.

In the next section is the bar/cafe, which looks exactly like a restaurant to me. This is where the happy hour specials occur. If you want to up the price a bit and expand the menu, you can walk even further back to the actual restaurant area.

Since there were quite a few of us, we ordered 1 1/2 dozen oysters (you have to order in half dozen increments). Additionally, all but one of the diners opted to also get the steamed blue shell mussels ($6), which come three ways: Addie's (tomato, garlic, lemon), Belgian (Maredsous ale, leeks, fumet) and Spanish (chorizo, romesco, marjoram). I opted for the Addie's, since I knew I'd regret smelling anything remotely Italian on someone else's plate and not being able to eat it. One of us decided to get the calamari ($9), which I didn't try but I'll trust her approval since she also has impeccable mojito taste.

When I got there, I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the $8 on the mojito, which is one of my favorite cocktails. But the problem with mojitos is that most bartenders half-ass them. Not enough mint (it's too much work), not enough lime (stingy) and too much sparkling water (don't these people have any taste?). So when I arrived, I ordered the classic champagne cocktail ($5) with bitters, a sugar cube and a lemon twist. But as soon as I sipped it, even though it was good, I regretted that it wasn't a mojito. On the second round, I went for it, and I have to say this is likely the second best mojito I've had in the D.C. area behind Cafe Atlantico's. Served with a fairly generous amount of mint and limes, the drink also comes with a sugar crystal stick to sweeten it up.

First to come out was an assortment of breads (which is refilled upon request), focaccia, French and some sort of multigrain, served with a spiced olive oil. That was followed by our mussel dishes, which had a plentiful stack of mussels served in a delicious soup they were cooked in (which is why the bread refill is oh-so necessary). They were extremely tasty, and more than one of us kept eating the sauce after the mussels were gone as a soup.

The oysters were also an achievement, with three different types served on ice with lemon wedges and cocktail sauce. I wish I could recall all the types, but I do remember the Virginia oysters being hardy and meaty, and the smallest shell oysters had the most depth of flavor. Honestly, it's hard for me to find an oyster that I don't like, and who can argue with a $1 price tag? It'd have to be an oyster from the river offshore Three Mile Island for me to think twice.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

Although none of us got them, there is also another $1 item on the happy hour menu, cocktail jumbo Gulf shrimp. There was also talk at the table that their crab cakes ($9) are supposedly very good.

If this place was closer to a metro stop, I'd have some sort of oyster happy hour addiction. I'd withdrawl from friends, need a 12-step program. But as it stands, it's a delicious place to head out to every once in a while, and at least I know where to go if I want fresh scallops now.

Bar Pilar: Not your average bar food

Last night, I met up with some friends and new acquaintances at Bar Pilar, a narrow space in the U Street Corridor of Washington, D.C., that frankly, I didn't even know served anything more than your average bar food and beer. I was so wrong!

When you come into Bar Pilar, seat yourself (if you can find the room). We arrived at a little after 6:30 and snagged one of the last tables. To drink, I started with Bonarda, a red 2006 wine from Argentina. It is a dark, dry red with a hint of acidity. My favorite red is a Shiraz, so I guess there's just something with me and Argentine wine.

Bar Pilar, save for one entree on the menu, does small plate dishes, so our table opted to get two each and share (ranges from $6-$10 each). We ordered crispy duck confit, broccoli sauteed in a brown butter and herbs, a lamb dog (think hot dog, but with lamb!), lemony grilled prawns, veal sweetbreads served over risotto, kohlrabi, a braised assortment of wild mushrooms and leaks, and spiny lobster tail. If it isn't already obvious, this isn't your typical bar food.

The broccoli was standard but good, with one diner observing that the brown butter herbs took on and almost cheesy flavor. The prawns were delicious, and I ate my first inside-the-head-of-the-prawn meat/organs, which were actually delicious. If this were an SAT analogy, it'd be black olives are to kalamata olives as prawn tail is to prawn head. It's just like ramping up the flavors tenfold, so if you don't like seafood, you really won't like the prawn head. But if you do, it's so tender and filled with briny deliciousness.

The mushrooms were actually good (I'm normally not a huge fan). The morels were thick and meaty, but I preferred the flavors of the sulfur tuft-looking mushrooms, which were sort of simultaneously sweet and umami.

The dish that I thought was the weakest was the sweetbreads. I've never had them before, but scooped up without the risotto, they largely lacked flavor. Sort of a disappointment since I've heard so much about how good sweetbreads are. With the risotto, they were also mushroomy and salty. Otherwise, it was just like your typical fried food with a slightly different texture than meat.

The duck confit was pretty good, with a perfectly crunchy outside yet a still well-cooked inside. The only draw back was we had to send our initial duck back because it had possibly the largest array of hairs I've ever seen on a restaurant dish. Glad one of my fellow diners figured that out before it ended up in my mouth!

The spiny lobster was interesting, with a flavor more exotic than your typical clawed lobster.

The kohlrabi is something I'd never even heard of until I saw it on the menu last night. Similar in presentation to cut and roasted potatoes, the veggie was starchy like a potato, but had a lingering vegetable flavor sort of similar to broccoli or cabbage but much milder.

The stand out dish of the night for me was the lamb dog. Served just like a hot dog, on a bun with sides of mustard and diced onion, the initial flavors of the lamb are subdued but then hit you like a train at the end when coupled with all those distinctly sausage spices. Not to mention, the way this dish is presented makes it the perfect one-off dish for late-night bar snackers. I really cannot recommend it any higher.

For dessert, our group opted for the black pepper and fig pie and the pear tart tartin, both served with scoops of vanilla bean ice cream. The pear tart was safe compared to the fig pie, and served as a perfectly sweet end to our meal. The black pepper and figs though was a challenge for your mouth. Served in a presentation that looks more like a muffin than a pie, the first bite of the dessert took me by total surprise. The pepper and the fig went together, but my tongue was just completely taken by how foreign the taste was. Though by the second and third scoop, I was a full-on black pepper with figs convert. It might take you a few tries to really love it, but I think a lot of the truly most flavorful and complex foods are like that.

In all, Bar Pilar was well above my expectations of your typical nighttime fare. Just make sure your duck is served crispy and not hairy.

A Lighter Alfredo-Style Sauce for Columbus Day

This year for Columbus Day, I decided to make some northern Italian-style food akin to fettuccine alfredo since Christopher Columbus was was Genoese. But I was trying to think of a way around making it unbelievably bad for you, so I just used a light cream instead of heavy cream and minimized the cheese. I also put some shrimp and broccoli in it. It was still yummy, so here's what you do:

Boil salted water for your fettuccine, and while that's happening, rinse your shrimp, which I then shelled after they were done being cleaned.

From WineAnother Cook

Also, I did a cheat with the broccoli at this point and heated some up in this awesome steamer courtesy of Pampered Chef. I can't stress the awesomeness of this this little device enough. I did this at this phase, because it's less busy than the seasoning that happens later, and I'd rather not be rushed!

From WineAnother Cook

At this point, my pasta was ready, so I put it in the water. Make sure your stir a lot with fettuccine! It's really starchy and sticky.

Now that the shrimp is clean, toss it in a pan with some olive oil on medium high heat. It should only need about a minute per side to be done. Then set it aside on a plate, and put some chopped up garlic in the pan.

From WineAnother Cook

Once the garlic is soft (but not burnt!) pour in some of the light cream and let it get hot and bubbly. At this point, I added a decent amount of powdered garlic to the pan to really add a uniformity to the garlic flavor. I also cracked in some black pepper and some salt. Normally, the cheese you'd put in this dish would salt it up enough, but since I'm only putting a little cheese on at the end, the dish needs salt. The most important thing as you're cooking though is to taste the sauce to see if you like it. If it doesn't taste good now, it never will!

Once it is to your liking, add back in the shrimp and broccoli.

From WineAnother Cook

Then the only cheese you need is what you put on top at the end. This way, you've made a fettuccine alfredo-type dish with zero butter, barely any oil, a lighter cream and less cheese. And you can even feel good about eating your veggies. If you hate broccoli, use peas. If you hate peas, use spinach. Whatever it is you'd like to add some green to your plate.

From WineAnother Cook

Ruth's Chris is Always a Miss

I'd opted to go to Ruth's Chris Steak House (9th St. NW DC location) for the second restaurant week place I'd eat. And after eating there, I was so utterly disappointed that I couldn't believe it. (I've received better service at McDonalds.) So when I heard that I was being forced to give it another shot for a work event this week, I thought, "This is my opportunity to blog about Ruth's Chris while giving it a chance to redeem itself." If only it did! Since I'm sensing a pattern, I figured it was time to reveal the real deal: Ruth's Chris is a joke. There, I said it.

Let's leave the food off the table for a second. Our waiter largely did! The staff for my first visit was, dare I say, rude! Not only was he incapable of bringing us the correct dishes when we were ordering off a (very) limited prix fixe-type menu, he put down the wrong items knowingly and he blatantly ignored our table when we were out of beverages, were in need of more bread and just flat out wanted what we ordered. He creepily called us all "mademoiselle" throughout the meal to boot.

My event this week had much improved service, though between courses was soooo slow! And I'm talking enough time to go walk three blocks away, repark my car so it didn't get ticketed and walk back two blocks slow, all before dessert.

Then there's the food. I've had two salads there, the wedge of iceberg with blue cheese dressing and a Caesar. I really think I could have gotten a better salad at Outback on both of these occasions, though the Caesar was heads over better. If there's anything that annoys me, it's a boring wedge salad, and the wedge was so unrefined that it seemed more suited to be a side dish to hot wings.

The first time, I had the raspberry sorbet for dessert, which was light and yummy (though, like I said, it took a while to get the right dessert in front of me). But the other night I ordered what I thought was a sure bet: cheesecake. I'm no snob. I love digging into bar food as much as the next girl. But bar food as a bar price tag. This is Ruth's Chris. You're presumably coming for an air of refinement. So when the waiter put down in front of me an approximately five-inch-diameter mini-cheesecake--not a slice, people, a whole cake!--I just thought, that's it. I might as well be at the world's nicest TGI Friday's.

That all being said, the steak is really great. The petite filet is good, but can't hold a candle to the New York strip, which is beautifully marbled in delicious fattiness. The filet came with shrimp, which was sadly overcooked and not worth the few extra bucks.

So there you go, my first scathing review. I'd love to say I'll never eat there again, but apparently that's where my office has our Christmas party. So I'll see you in a few months, Ruth's Chris. Keep that steak sizzling and amazing, because it's the only thing you've got going for you.