Dr. Granville Moore's

Last week I went to Dr. Granville Moore's Belgian Beer and Gastropub with Shane and Sweeting. What a neighborhood diamond in the rough is that place! I was about to say neighborhood secret but it's definitely NOT a secret since the buzz about it started going around DC and then the Food Network show "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" definitely fueled that fire. Shane, Sweeting and I went on a Wednesday night around 8:30pm - not dinner primetime, right? Wrong. We had to put our names in and went down the street for a drink to wait for the guy to call us when our table was ready. There wasn't much room to stand and wait in the restaurant and it was rainy/hot outside so it's nice they are willing to call. Anyway here's the story... the restaurant is located in the former doctor's offices of Dr. Granville Moore who apparently did a lot of pro-bono work and was widely respected in the H St. community. They gutted the place and kept the name and the really cool part is they didn't go back and refinish anything. The decor is exposed brick and half painted walls... pipes in the ceiling. It has a LOT of character to say the least!


Our very attractive flirtatious waiter was knowledgeable and pointed us in the right direction around the huge imported belgian beer list. The main fixture of the food menu is the Moules (mussles) which you can order in about 6-8 different ways. The frites and dips are popular too. I highly highly recommend this place - I'm telling you, the Atlas district is taking off thanks to awesome finds like this one. I'm a little concerned that they are not quite equipped to handle their increasing popularity, but those kinks will be ironed out in time. I for one will definitely be back!

DINO and Diets

I went to DINO in Cleveland Park last night for dinner with two family friends. Fun to catch up with them! We had some laughs and I now have an ally to float some travel ideas to my parents for family vacations :)

Speaking of dinner, I'm doing okay on the diet front. About a week into it and feeling pretty good. I'm trying a cleanse for the first couple of weeks- just a ton of non-processed foods... veggies, protein, water. Pretty boring, but okay if you plan ahead. I'm paying dues so that in my next life I can have the metabolism of a small child.

One funny and kind of gross thing to mention... so I'm taking supplements and as a caution/note on one of them it said "May cause unexpected bowel movements at night or in the morning." Um. WHAT? Like... couldn't they have added an adjective or something to explain exactly what they mean by "unexpected?" Unexpected like... hello! There it is! Or unexpected like... I will have some warning?? Just for the record, so far I've been okay.

Busboys and Poets

If you haven't discovered Busboys and Poets (www.busboysandpoets.com) just up from U St. on 14th, let me assure you that you are WAY behind the times. I can't for the life of me remember who introduced me to the place, but I CAN remember many occasions when it was the perfect place for variety of dinner/brunch get-togethers ranging from Donny G's visit with a few Spring 04 SASers, my brother's visit, brunch with the 'mos, to a post-concert late-ish Sunday night dinner with Sweeting.

Quite simply, Busboys and Poets hit the mark when it opened in the "up and coming" U Street Corridor area in 2005. It's loungey, trendy, artsy, and smart. There's an in-house progressive bookstore to mill around in, poetry slams and open mic nights to frequent, wi-fi and shared tables for laptops, and a great menu to boot.

The menu's price point is dead on and ranges from healthy vegan and vegetarian options to the best (and only) meatloaf I've had in the last well... 23 years. Sweeting and I shared a low table with a lounge chair on one side (mine) and a part of the couch (his). We were weary from concert jumping and jostling so we ordered a semi-well refilled iced tea and diet coke and started with the hummus. The hummus was great- much like Sabra, Liz- and they gave PLENTY of dipping pita slices so as to fully utilize each hummus smear possible. We then split the BBQ chicken panini (and shamefully sprung for the fries instead of the salad) and a chicken/spinach/red onions/mushroom pizza. There's nothing crazy or frilly about the food... it's just good. Although I will say I've had the BBQ Chicken panini twice now and feel I could make a more adventurous selection next time.

In sum, I was glad we ended up at BB&Ps after all (Ben's Chili Bowl was closed). Service fine, food good, atmosphere great, and company fantastic. The relaxed lounge feel allowed for quite a conversation of hypotheticals indeed. Sweeting and I collectively give Busboys and Poets 4 Langstons out of 5 possible Langstons :)

Rasika

I told Sweeting he needs to write a review for Open Table but I'll do my part here also. After debate, we agree Rasika at D St. NW between 6th and 7th gets 3.5 of 5 Elephants. Don't ask me how we came up with the elephant thing but... that's our rating system so "DEAL WITH IT!"

I couldn't figure out which waiter was ours so I waited for like ten minutes just to get some naan with our avacado appetizer thing. And then even when we got the naan it was like... a bites worth. Sweeting went ahead and ate it without the naan but believe me it was SO much better with. I got chicken tikka for my entree, Sweeting got some lamb babablahblah dish. We split a chocolate samosa for dessert which I thought was more like baklava.


Actually the food was all delicious, I just felt like the service wasn't great. And they poured my glass of wine shallow, which took them down half an elephant for me. Go, though. It was good. Better than Bombay Club. What Sweeting and I really need is to find ourselves a good hole-in-the-wall place that serves unlimited naan and has good Chicken Tikka Masala.