Thursday, July 30, 2009

600 Restaurant

This year's banquet was being held at the Watergate Hotel, at 600 Restaurant. The setting was a bit different from last year, in that the tables were mostly four people, whereas last year they were much bigger. We were also spread out into multiple sections, so when speeches were given, many of us had to stand in the main room to hear (and eventually sit on the floor, as time went on). The Caesar Salad was average, the bowtie pasta with asparagus was plain (I actually added pepper), and the apple pie was not completely cooked. The bread, however, was quite good... and our table polished off two baskets before the salads were even out.

Cup'a Cup'a

A few of us went for a cup of coffee (mocha in my case) at Cup'a Cup'a, a local place next to the Kennedy Center during a break. Loved it.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Steam Cafe and Lounge

We then had several hours off to eat and see shows and such, and I went to Steam Cafe and Lounge and grabbed a Norwegian Panini (smoked salmon, cream cheese, onions, capers) and a fruit punch. It came with a salad which was nice, but the sandwich was average. I went back to the hotel and napped before heading out again for the 10:30pm monument tour.

Kennedy Center Cafeteria

For another lunch at the conference, I ate at the cafeteria in the Kennedy Center. I must recommend the calamari po'boy, it was top notch!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Red Velvet Cupcakery

I stopped at the Red Velvet Cupcakery on the way to the next session for a snack. For a whopping $3.25, I bought a "Southern Belle" cupcake, which was like a red velvet. They had about 8 different flavors, included cookies and cream, vanilla bean, and "b'day cake." I wouldn't have even paid a $1 for that cupcake at a bakesale.

Geppetto's Catering

At my conference, there was a catered lunch by Geppetto's Catering. The turkey sandwich was pretty good.

Monday, July 27, 2009

American Indian Cuisine

I had my annual LMDA (Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas) conference just a few days after we moved. During the conference, a group of us went over to the National Museum of the American Indian's Mitsitam Cafe to have lunch. It was recommended since the American  Indian cuisine was really unique. I had pulled buffalo and squash slaw -- both were amazing! I can't even describe buffalo... it's tender and tasty and different. The squash slaw tasted like cilantro and onions, so it was quite tasty. In fact, everyone enjoyed everything they ordered, so I'd definitely recommend the place. It is slightly confusing tho... it is a cafeteria, but it has like 5 different stations (for the Great Plains, Pacific Northwest, etc.), so walk around first, then decide which line(s) you want to wait in. [Buffalo sandwiches are Great Plains. For the current menu, click here]

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Venezia Pizza

Then we went to dinner with Andrew (he was in Sunnyvale when we first moved in January, but rotated to Newtown in the spring) at Venezia Pizza. Now that place was a good deal! If you order a dinner, you get a medium salad and bruschetta. I loved my chicken parmigiana (the ziti was HUGE), as did Andrew. Jonathan had the baked ziti, which he liked as well. We also ordered a dozen garlic knots (before we knew the dinners came with so much!), which was delicious. A little bigger and different than the ones at Big Apple, but very good nonetheless. Highly recommended (but at the same time, I have a feeling that many an Italian dish will woo me up here!)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Isaac Newton's

Monday night we went into town and had Isaac Newton's. I had a Caesar salad and ribs combo, Jonathan had the London Broil sandwich, and we shared an order of Mozzarella Sticks. The complimentary bread was boring and cold, served without butter or anything. The appetizer was delicious, in the top 5 mozzarella sticks I've had, I think. My entree was very large, and very good. The salad was pretty standard for a Caesar, but was heavy on the dressing and light on the anchovy, which is fine with me! The ribs pulled right off the bone, but the sauce was a Tennessee Whiskey-flavor, which isn't a favorite of mine. Jonathan enjoyed his sandwich as well. It was served with chips and coleslaw, and was a little overpriced.

Monday, July 20, 2009

FreshWorks

And, instead of California, we now live in Pennsylvania. Sunday we drove through Newtown (not a big place), and to Richboro for lunch. We had some great grub at FreshWorks. We shared a "full" (2 FEET long!!) Bronco Chicken Cheesesteak (with bacon, provolone, and bbq sauce) and some of the best cheese fries I've ever had. They were lightly fried crinkle fries, and the cheese was like a spicy mild cheddar.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

McCaffrey's Subs


We had subs from McCaffrey's for dinner on Monday night. I had salami and provolone, Jonathan had an Italian. Both were great, think Publix-style!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Claim Jumper

Andy, Jim, and Vivian joined us for dinner at Claim Jumper. The food was pretty good - I'd recommend the cheese potato cakes. I had the baked potato cheddar soup in a sourdough bread bowl for dinner, but it didn't stay hot by the time I was done. Most everyone enjoyed their choices, although the chicken-fried steak was looking a little ragged... probably because it was the end of the night so the oil had been used many times by that point.

[since I doubt we drove all the way to Fremont to go to this place, I'm guessing that the location we went to must have closed in the past 18 months]

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Umi

Jonathan had gotten a recommendation to try out the sushi at Umi. Getting there was a bit difficult, challenging us with very steep roads nearby. The place is very small, and the servers very friendly. I had a sashimi platter (3 pieces each of tuna, hamachi, salmon, albacore), while Jonathan had a Golden Dragon roll (california roll topped with salmon, lemon, and ponzu sauce) and albacore nigiri. Mine also came with miso soup (which Jonathan said was among the most flavorful he's ever had) and rice. We both agreed that the sushi was all very fresh and well-cut. Everything was good, and we'd easily recommend anyone else try the place.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Max's Opera Cafe

We had lunch at Max's Opera Cafe, which was incredibly unique. It's a local chain, and they modify the name for various locations, such as Max's Diner, Max's Restaurant, Max's on the Square, and Max's Market. They had all kinds of strange "rules" where if they ask "is everything all right?" you get a free drink, and if they ask "are you guys ready to order" you get a free dessert! Clearly, I'd recommend printing out the rules at home so you can learn them, then catch the server in the act! The menu was also HUGE, as in like 13 pages for the LUNCH menu alone! Andy and JB shared the Chinese Chicken Salad and a Reuben sandwich. The salad had peanuts, chow mein noodles, sesame seeds, hoisin, and some regular salad fixings. I had the "Outlaw" sandwich, which was a turkey-bacon-swiss on toasted sourdough. The turkey was Thanksgiving-style, and the swiss was pretty scant. So this made for an extremely dry sandwich, but with darn good bacon. At least the fries were scrumptious!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Honeyberry

Afterward, we wanted dessert, but the Chinese bakery in Mountain View was already closed, so we kinda just started driving, and arrived at Honeyberry, a frozen yogurt place none of us had been to before. Frozen Yogurt is not a very good description tho, since they only had 4 flavors... they had about 12 gelato choices and another 6 in shaved ice! There were some interesting items on the menu - chocolate-covered strawberries and waffles were on there, strangely enough. I tried the oreo, vanilla, and double espresso gelatos - all incredibly smooth, but the double espresso was realllllly strong. The fresh strawberries and kiwi were nice toppings. The blueberries were sour, the green tea was strong, but otherwise there was nothing that stood out about the other flavors that everyone else got.

There was a frequent buyer card, but you had to buy like $60 worth to get $3 off. Clearly the worst one ever. There is, however, one of those opportunities to guess what your creation will weigh (to the tenth of an ounce), and if you get it right, you get a gift certificate (and the amount escalates with how heavy your cup was, from 10 ounces to over 26!). The overall atmosphere was the icing on the cake... we will not be back, nor recommend the place. It was very unfriendly.