I have been to Washington, DC several times in the last 2 weeks. I really like the city. I had a a Jose Andres day last week. I went to Jaleo www.jaleo.com for lunch and Zeytinya for dinner. At Jaleo, which serves Spanish food, I had their lamb sandwich. It was OK. A long crisp roll with small slices of lamb and then other stuff and sauce.It was presently poorly, basically it was thrown on a plate. The sandwich was not cut in half, there was no garnish or side. I had a small salad with the sandwich. Same thing. Small bowl, some tomatoes, lettuce and peppers, just given to me.
Restaurant pet peeve. Waiters in many restaurants just take orders. Food is delivered by others and the empty dishes are taken away by others. I find that this leads to a hap- hazard meal. For example, at Jaleo I sat at the bar. I ordered from the bartender. My salad was brought out by someone and then my sandwich showed up 2 minutes later. They were nice but presentation is important especially in a restaurant that wants to be taken seriously.
At Zeytinya we had assorted small plates. I had been there before and it is still very good. The fried mussels are great. We had a Lebanese wine that I had tasted the week before in a Lebanese restaurant in DC. The wine Chateau Ksara Reserve du Couvent is blend of cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and syrah from the Vallee du Bekaa, Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. I liked the wine. It is fruity without being grapey. It has some character and it was probably the cheapest wine on the wine list, $30. Try it if you see it.
Priceline
I have use Priceline name your price twice in the last few weeks. I wanted a DC hotel midweek and I hit the Renaissance Mayflower for $170. The Marriott website price was $450. I also used Priceline in Philadelphia and for $90 hit the Loews hotel downtown near the Convention Center. The Loews website had the room for $220. I have had very good success with Priceline. I have used it in large cities where you can be precise about the area and can request 4 star or better hotels.
Amtrak
I have also been using Amtrak to travel to Philly and Washington. The trains have been on time and the prices have been very good. Can't complain. I also meet some fascinating people on the train.
Philadelphia
Friends have told me about the Reading Terminal Market www.readingterminalmarket.org/ for years but have never dragged me there. It is near the Convention Center in Philadelphia. I had the opportunity to check it out and was impressed. There are some good places to have a sandwich. Looked like some nice corned beef and pastrami was being hand sliced at one place and there are several Italian sandwich places that looked good. I found a Chinese place, Kee Peking Sang Duck that was great. I had wonton soup, sound mundane but it had great wontons, bok choy, roast pork and a pint container cost $3. It was truly a delight. Next time I will try the duck.
There are also bakeries and chocolate shops that looked good. The meat and vegetable stands were OK although a fresh chicken place had some nice local chickens and the some of the fruit and vegetables were bargains. A place to explore further.
Recent Wines
Domaine Drouhin has their 2012 Pinot Noir Rose for sale. Very small quantity made. I have ordered some but have not tried it yet. The 2011 is great. 2012 is supposed to be a great vintage in Oregon.
I also have tried the 2011 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir. Oregon $40 Very good wine. Intense flavor, good terroir, and just drank nicely. I like their wines.
2010 Bodegas Borsao Garnacha Campo de Borja Tres Picos Spain $12 Good wine with intense flavor and nice nose. However it tastes a bit hot to me. This wine is always high in alcohol. The total effect is a wine with good flavor but a thin or light mouth feel. Would drink again. I have had this wine in many vintages and it can be hot. A darling of the critics. We like the basic Borsao more.
2009 Pelissero Pasquale Barbaresco Bricco San Giuliano Italy $20 Interesting wine. I did not taste the potential in this wine shown by the WS review, which gave it a 93. Tannic, some fruit is coming thru but did not really enjoy the bottle. Price wise it is very reasonable for a Barbaresco but ultimately I need more in a wine to want to drink it more than once.
| 2011 Evergreen Vineyard Riesling Kungfu Girl Washington $9 Decent riesling. Fruity but with a dry finish, which we like. Not much complexity. A good price at Costco. Charles Smith makes this wine. He makes very good and reasonably price wines from the state of Washington Try his Cabernet Sauvignon. |
2012 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough New Zealand $13 A reliable NZ sauvignon blanc. Fruity and drinks easily. A good price at Costco
makes it a better deal. Always one of the better NZ Sauvignon Blancs.
2010 Poderi Foglia Taburno Concabianco Galluccio Italy $9 Interesting white from Italy, fruity but with a nice finish; decent complexity,
good mouth feel, enjoyed the bottle. Crazy price when walking through the Wine Library one day. Even their Cindy price was more.|
2011 Domaine Lafage Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes Bastide Miraflors
Vieilles Vignes France $12 OK wine. Lots of alcohol 15%, big wine, lots of fruit, glycerin, acid; I can see why Parker loved it. He gave it a 93, which for the price is insane. It sold out at the Wine Library quickly. However this is not a wine for drinking more than a glass; share it with 4 friends and everyone will enjoy a glass; not my cup of tea, I do not see it improving much over time, not a fun wine to drink; I have 2 more bottles so I will see how it drinks next time. Off to Kauai soon. Will have lots of pictures and other good stuff. |
