Chowing Down in the Colonial Capital

Farewell Alize

2009-01-08T18:27:00.008-05:00

The signs on the doors indicate that Alize is closed for renovations, but I have it on good authority that they won't be opening again, at least not as one of the Alizes that we've known over the past 22 months. Those of you who know me realize what a blow this will be to my social life since I generally had lunch there at least once a week and the bar was "my" bar. Yes, I'll miss it (and the people who worked there), and I wonder why businesses struggle in that Triangle Building location. For a long time, including while I was in college, it was a Japanese hibachi place called Sakura. After that it became A Carroll's and then Alize. You'd think the location (one block from the College, two blocks from Colonial Williamsburg) is ideal but clearly the students and tourists weren't making it over there.

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Eating has been hit or miss over the past few months. I've had some really good meals at Soya, Cities Grill, zpizza and Food for Thought, some good ones at Center Street Grill, and one truly awful one at Sweet Madeline's. Tomorrow Cosmo and I will be having lunch at Soya. Outside of the 'burg I've had a mediocre dinner at Dogfish Head Alehouse in Falls Church (but the selection and quality of beer more than made up for it) and a yummy New Year's Day brunch at Afterwords in DC. We went through a stage of making pizza with Trader Joe's refrigerated dough. Lovely and delicious but definitely not healthy.

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Tonight I'm making some garlic soup. It's hot, cheap and oh so healthy - add a good book to read and you can't ask for more on a chilly January evening.

TJ Microwave Popcorn

2008-11-15T17:12:00.004-05:00

It had to happen sometime. "Butter flavor microwave popcorn" was my first Trader Joe's disappointment.

Maybe it's because it's been a while since I've had microwave popcorn and my brand of choice in the old days was PopSecret Homestyle. Or maybe it's that the TJ brand just tasted like cardboard. In either case, I won't be buying it again & I'll take the two remaining packets to work.

In other news I finished the green curry and rice for brunch today and yes, it was even better than the first day.

New Idea

2008-11-12T20:35:00.005-05:00

Since I've been in Trader Joe's at least four times a week since it opened here it seemed logical to blog here about the stuff I pick up there in addition to the usual cooking-themed stuff.

Tonight I picked up some Thai green curry sauce (the green beans are on tap for tomorrow's supper),

mixed it with the carrots and chicken left over from the weekend, and ate it over rice. The sauce was a little thin but fairly spicy. It's not the most attractive dish I've ever made but I'm looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I'd recommend it and will definitely buy it again.

5 a.m. breakfast. Really.

2008-10-07T06:26:00.003-04:00

Part of the ongoing Don't Waste Food effort: clams, potatoes, a hush puppy from Saturday's dinner at Backfin. This was much better fresh, nuking made it soggy and/or rubbery. Yum. Still ruminating on that Beck's post...

I Heart Trader Joe's

2008-09-29T21:26:00.006-04:00

The day many of us here in the Colonial Capital have been waiting for has finally arrived and the ensuing tsunami of excitement has washed me back up on the shores of blogland. I'm going to say this once but will no doubt repeat it: Trader Joe's could make me a vegetarian, and a reasonably healthy one, to boot! Seriously, I am strongly considering going vegetarian during the week (with occasional fish) and saving the poultry and meat, as well as the serious cooking, for the weekend. Will this make for exciting blog reading? Who the hell knows? But it should make for a healthier me.

Ok, back to the point of this post. Since the grand opening on Friday I've been only twice. (This is Monday.) Yesterday was a craving-driven, lightning fast foray for some cheddar popcorn; this morning's visit was a bit more leisurely and I had the chance to browse around. During the recon, I picked up some Gala apples, butternut squash soup, dried mango dusted with cayenne (!), dried cranberries, greek yogurt and goat cheese, as well as peanut butter chocolate cookies for the office. Man, am I popular there right now. I almost forgot the a big bottle of framboise lambic that I'm just about to open and enjoy as I do tomorrow's Times crossword.

The Williamsburg store is a little smaller than the one in Newport News (which I've always thought was small too) and even at 9:30 in the morning one suffers from the same clogged aisles caused by deer in the headlights shoppers so common in Fresh Market. But in light of all the great things the store is bringing to the community, these are tiny, tiny grievances. I heart Trader Joe's!

Coming very soon: my report on dinner at Brasserie Beck in DC.

Nearly Perfect Meal of the Month: Palena

2008-09-08T22:55:00.000-04:00

Before I start writing about this great meal, I have to tell you about something incredibly gross. A friend is going to be staying with me for a bit so last night I was half-desperately trying to clear up enough space for two people to walk around the apartment. There were a few iffy things in the fridge, like two whole half gallons of milk, so I thought I'd address those as well. In the corner of the second shelf was a squarish item, neatly wrapped in tin foil. I had no memory whatsoever of putting this in the fridge, not a good sign. When I pulled back the edge of the foil I was greeted with what looked to be the sickly green and bloated fingers of a very large corpse. They made me think about Pirates of the Caribbean, not sure why. I'm guessing these were once sausages and that they started their life in the fridge in, oh, mid-June.

No, I didn't document the death fingers. The lesson here is that I have to do better about wasting food.

Ok, on to the really interesting stuff.

.....

I've been meaning to post this for nearly a month. Argh!

I wish that Palena's website did the place justice. Even having a menu from the current season would help, and a couple of photos of the food and/or bar would be great. That's really the only complaint I have about this charming restaurant in Cleveland Park.

Fairly standard bread basket.

My new favorite drink: Sazerac.

Gazpacho of brandywine pink heirloom tomatoes, with poached king salmon, calamari and hard boiled egg

organic romaine lettuce caesar with house cured Spanish mackeral, crispy friend capers and lemons, and a reggiano cheese dressing

wild alaskan king salmon and beet ravioli with cucumbers, chives, and capers

summer pot au feu, corn agnolotti, small variety tomatoes, zucchini, oxtail in a tomato and oxtail consomme

Snake River Farms Duroc pork loin, lightly smoked and served with parsley puree, roasted cranberry potatoes, and a sauce of green peppercorns and capers

New Zealand snapper and gulf shrimp, braised in olive oil with fennel and tender young arugula, paprika broth?

Cheese plate with Tyrolean almond bread

Finally, yellow plum tart to share. This turned out to be too sour for me, I wish I'd gone with the cinnamon ice cream instead. Not that we needed dessert. They also sent us home with a cookie bag!

After dinner we stopped at the ADORABLE bar for a scotch. I can't believe I didn't take photos of this place.

Adventurous Eater Food Meme

2008-08-19T15:22:00.003-04:00

How many have you eaten? Which would you never eat? What other things do you think should be on the omnivore's tasting list? Tell me in the comments. (bold means I've had it)

The Very Good Taste Omnivore’s Hundred

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

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

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly - no, but I want to!

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

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% ABV

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. Loche absinthe

74. gjetost or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

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 shelled 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

A Tale of Two Brunches

2008-08-18T18:19:00.001-04:00

Over the past two weekends I've had the chance to eat brunch with groups of friends at the Blue Talon Bistro on Prince George Street here in the Colonial Capital. The company was stellar on both days, but speaking for myself one meal was fabulous and one was a disaster. Note that my less-than-scrumptious entree was the exception in the group of six.

First and most importantly: I've said it before and I'll say it again: Blue Talon's Bloody Mary is the best in town.

Sunday, August 10. Here's the situation: 1/3 of the NAFA Symposia Planning Committee is in town and it's my job to make sure they're entertained. Colonial Williamsburg passes go a long, long way on that front, as does the freakishly perfect weather (the Colonial Capital in August is not usually bearable, much less lovely), but I also want to make sure they continue to eat well after the previous day's success at Kuba Kuba and Alize. So the Talon it is.

We met at 1 and the place was moderately busy - there were people around but we had no trouble getting a table. We order a mimosa (Ruth), a glass of white wine (Laura), and a Bloody Mary (that would be me) to distract us from the menu momentarily.

A number of times during their visit, Laura and Ruth split entrees and this was no exception. Makes a lot of sense, wish I didn't have food-sharing issues. Here, Laura holds up a gorgeous looking (and tasting, according to both of them) salad of heirloom & cherry tomatoes with pickled sweet onions, basil & fresh mozzarella in balsamic vinaigrette. Simple, but just beautiful! And the best thing is that this is something that you could re-create at home. Hmm, where's my realfood email...

Next up we have the equally delicious shrimp & grits (with bacon, mushrooms and scallions). I've had this before and it's a real treat, the smokiness of the bacon infuses the grits and really enhances the whole dish.

And finally here's my meatloaf, which came on chopped pork and potato hash with a poached egg, diced tomatoes, and Hollandaise sauce. The egg added just the right touch of velvety smoothness, and the Hollandaise really pushed it over the top of the decadent scale. It was rich and hearty, sooooo (tooooo?) filling for brunch on an August afternoon. Stuffed would be the word to describe me after I cleaned the plate.

Ruth and Laura liked the Talon so much that they returned for dinner on Monday night. They positively raved about the fennel-apple salad, which is sadly not available on the brunch menu but I'm determined to go back for it before the menus change.

>>>>

Flash forward to Sunday August 17, same bat place, about an hour earlier in the day. Cosmo is getting ready to leave the Colonial Capital for Norway and wants to meet up with Adam to discuss questions of house/dog/cat-sitting (which was largely a Ranunculus love-fest). I am happily along for the ride. We're sitting at the bar, letting ourselves be distracted by Big Night on the tv screen.

After we enjoyed our Blue Talon mimosa (Cosmo), regular mimosa (Adam), and Bloody Mary (I'm nothing if not consistent), our main courses arrived.

Cosmo got the truffled eggs, which she pronounced "truffle-icious."

Adam got the French toast which, according to him, was "dense in a delicious way. It was a higher class French toast. The bacon was undercooked, but the French toast itself was wonderful." I had a bite of the toast and can support his claim. This photo doesn't do it justice, it was really lovely. Overall he gave it "two loaves up!"

And then we come to my sad, sad Virginia pork loin, described as a crispy southern style Smithfield pork loin on savory Basquaise sauce with a fried egg. The sauce was thin - watery and not very flavorful, as though someone had forgotten to reduce it. The egg was rubbery. Worse, the pork loin was so tough that I had a hard time cutting it - a steak knife would have helped. The final straw: the loin was dry. How I wish I'd stuck with the meatloaf or gone with the mac & cheese!

Maybe I'm just being picky, or maybe envy has clouded my judgment, but the presentation even seems inferior to all the other plates shown here.

Wouldn't it be great if my dining companions gave more of their impressions in the comments, just to lighten the mood?

But first - more disappointment! Michelle made a special trip over to tell me that there were freshly made donuts but I hesitated - argh! - and missed out on what were surely some delicious morsels of hot fried dough. But the donuts may be a regular item at brunch and I will definitely return to try them, as well as to get my fix of mac & cheese, meatloaf, and shrimp & grits.

Post #1

2008-08-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Chowing Down in the Colonial Capital. The weather's fine here online: there's not a drop of humidity, no traffic or sullen seventh graders or, for that matter, sky-high gas prices. Hope you enjoy your visit.

About me

I've lived, cooked, and eaten in Williamsburg Virginia since 1984, and in that time I've experienced wildly varying levels of comfort and enjoyment. Things are finally starting to look up for people in this town who enjoy good food. While the food scene isn't perfect (would someone please open a taco truck? a kebab van? the students and tourists would go nuts for it), it's head and shoulders above the Colonial tavern or fast food options of past years. Don't get me wrong, I'm not above eating at either kind of establishment. I have a soft spot for DQ chili dogs and the crab cakes at Christiana Campbell's Tavern. But there was very little variety in this town for so long. Now there are a number of local places that offer innovative food and several where the food is outstanding.

About the blog

This is the place where I'll write about what I'm eating at those local places, as well as what I'm drinking, cooking, buying. I do travel once in a while so things won't be limited to what's available in the 'burg, but I will try to review a meal at one local eating establishment per week and blog about other food topics as much as possible. I definitely have my favorites and will try to venture widely across those menus.

Mostly I want to write about food in my adopted hometown. If you disagree with me or think I'm being too harsh and should give a place another chance, write a comment. If you agree and want to add your voice, write a comment. If you have a recommendation for a new place to try, for god's sake leave a comment! It would bite to think I'm all alone out here.