Old Hickory Steakhouse

Dear Food Diary,

This weekend I stayed at the Gaylord Convention Center and Resort at the National Harbor and ate at the Old Hickory Steakhouse located right in the convention center.  Long story short, I tried Beef Tartare for the first time.  It was raw beef served over toasted brioche and topped with a quail egg.  It was definitely worth trying.  Especially if you're adventurous or have a tendency to order your steaks rare.  You'll love this dish.  The meat is soft and chewy and much more flavorful than you would expect of raw meat.  The quail egg tasted like.... well egg.  But it was little and gosh darn it, that's cute.  If you eat here, I recommend you try the wedge salad.  It was a beautifully prepared half a head of baby iceburg lettuce stuffed with Nueske's apple wood bacon, chopped egg, and a housemade Maytag blue cheese dressing.  I've never had a salad arranged that way.  As you know presentation is so very important.  I finished my meal with a bowl of french onion soup which I found out is very hearty due to the tons Gruyere melted in it.  The meal was very satisfying.  And to add to things, I even had a waiter named Happy.  If that doesn't just put a smile on your face, I don't know what will.  It was a great experience.  No surprise at about 60 dollars per person.  So if you're ever in the National Harbor and you want to eat some place extremely fancy, make reservations at Old Hickory.  I recommend pairing your beef tartare with a nice glass of cabernet sauvignon.  Not only does it go nicely with beef but Happy recommended a delicious one for 12 dollars a glass.  Remember to dress nicely, the small print on the menu even asks that you leave your cell phones with the hostess.  As you can see by the picture of me below taken with my cellphone, the girl who ate Fredericksburg doesn't follow the "rules."
 

Thanks for reading my food blog.  This is the girl who ate Fredericksburg, cellphoning where it ain't allowed.  Don't judge me.     

Stalking Danny McBride Part 3

Dear Food Diary,

Once again I went out on the town with Danny McBride.  I think he's really starting to warm up to me.  And this time we went fancy.  Bistro Bethem on William Street has to be the finest dining experience of my life.  Their menu changes daily, so you may not be able to have the same thing as me, but what I had was delicious.  For my appetizer I had the Delmarva Clams in a seafood-garlic-chili broth with anchovy toast.  It was great, it was a buckets worth and I ate the whole thing all by myself.  I felt like the walrus in Alice Wonderland.  So many lost clam lives.  Of course I didn't pretend to be their friend first.  They knew what this was.  For my entree, to continue with seafood, I had the Rainbow Trout stuffed with lump crab meat, breakfast radish, bloody sorrel and panko stuffing.  It was intriguingly tasty and it was the first time I ever had fish with the head and tail still attached.  I tried to get my boyfriend to dare me to eat the eyeball.  He wouldn't.  So I didn't.  For desert I tried Creme Brulee for the first time.  If you've never had that it's a custard topped with a layer of hard caramel and it's fantastic.  The whole meal had me feeling like it should be some special occasion for me to be out at such a fancy place. But no special occasion.  It was just a Wednesday.  It honestly makes me glad I haven't had kids yet.  If you're a parent you can't have Creme Brulee on a Wednesday.  I'm pretty sure it's in one of the books.  Look it up.

Well Thanks for reading my food diary.  This is the girl who ate Fredericksburg, living like you wish you could.

Food Fight Fredericksburg

Dear Food Diary,

I was fortunate enough to attend a unique event this past Friday.  I'm speaking about Food Fight Fredericksburg.  Five area designers and restaurants paired up to compete and each create a one-of-a-kind space along with a small plate and signature drink that encompasses a theme involving the adornment of women.  Now the event was called Food Fight, however I personally felt that the amount of alcohol offered far out weighed the amount of food.  By the end of the night, I was still kind of hungry and a little drunk.  I would have called the night something different, something that included the word cocktails.  Cullinaries and Cocktails?  I don't know.

I would say the night was an interesting experience and I'm glad I went.  Especially, since it was for a good cause, the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center.  But I will say this, if you plan to attend this event in the future, make sure you don't mind being on your feet.  My feet were killing me by the end of the evening.  I'm convinced the main reason The Orion won was because they actually gave the participants chairs to sit in, not that their food wasn't exquisite. 


Of course they had some other great restaurants there.  If you've ever tried Kybecca, Bistro Bethem, Foodie, or Castiglia's in downtown Frederickburg, you know they are worth walking around for.  And I even got to try a couple foods that I've never tried before.  I tried Quail for the first time and I got to try some fresh raw muscles.  That's right I ate a slimy raw invertebrate and I liked it.  Anyway thanks for reading my Food Blog.  This is the girl who ate Fredericksburg saying don't judge me.

The Hobbit Menu at Denny's

What up Belog?,

So you guys already know my sister, the girl who ate Fredericksburg.  Now get ready to fasten your napkins and your culinary fantasies satisfied with a guest appearance by me, the brother who ate Fredericksburg.

Today I woke up hungry.  I said hungry.  Now if you have a sister like my mine, you know that she's the one to call if you're hungry.  And she told me all I needed to know.  "Middle Earth has returned to America's diner and this time it's bringing the dragon."  So I hot tailed it over to Denny's to check out their hobbit menu.  But then I found myself faced with another dilemma.  What should I order?  Should I get Bilbo's Breakfast Feast, Smaug's Fire Burger, the Dwarves' Turkey and Dressing Dinner, or maybe I should just build my own Hobbit Slam with Honey Cake French Toast or Sweet Potato Pecan Pancakes.  What's a brother to do?  In the end I just decided to order it all and let the rings of power fall where they may.  Again, I was hungry.  It was all wonderful but by far the most delectable was the warm red velvet pancake puppies.  And the sweet icing dip was awesome, even on my sausage.  Oh Yeeeeaaaah!
In the end, my only complaint was that the pictures in the menu showed powered sugar on a lot of the dishes.  But maybe they were out, because when it came to my table, no powdered sugar.

Well that's all I got for ya.  I'm the brother who ate Fredericksburg and I want to know.... Where the hell's my powdered sugar yo?

Castiglia's

Dear Food Diary,

Today I had the most rewarding pizza experience ever.  It blew drive thru pizza place right out of the water.  I'm talking Castiglia's on William Street.  This place was awesome.  I have to admit this is the first time I got to watch a chef slapping the dough to make my pizza.  There's seats right in front of the chef so you can stare at him the entire time he works.  I do recommend that you refrain from drooling.  Apparently if you yell out "Oh yeah slap it baby!" they'll make you move to a table.  Just Kidding.  No I'm not, they will. 

Anyway after preparing all the food they cook it in a brick oven.  According to something I read on their bathroom wall, they're the best brick oven restaurant in the state of Virginia.  I tried the Bruschetta Castiglia, which could best be described as subtle.  I followed that with an Arugula Salad made with peppercorn pecorino romano cheese, extra virgin olive oil and a truffle mist.  It was exactly how I hoped it would be, uncomplicated, earthy, deliciousness.  

Eating Castiglia's Cheesy Steak and Cheese Calzone

The Brick Oven Pizza was quite simply the most gourmet of pizzas I've ever tried.  For only $11, I was served a pizza covered with pomodoro, fresh imported buffalo mozzarella, buffalo and meatballs.  That's right, I tried buffalo today for the first time, no bull, buffalo.  And those green leaves you see on the pizza, are whole basil leaves, an absolutely delightful, flavor filled addition that I will miss the next time I get pizza anywhere else. 

That's right, I like my basil whole ya'll.  I'm the girl who ate Frederiskburg. Don't judge me, that's just how I dine.   

Stalking Danny McBride Part 2

Dear Food Diary,

So I continued stalking Danny McBride this weekend.  This time my stalking brought me to some place fancy, a wine bar called Kybecca.  I went there and had the house sparkling.  It was French, I think that means it was good.  Yeah I don't know much about wine.   But I will say if you want to feel extra fancy I recommend ordering their Artisanal Cheese Tray (a selection of cheeses) and the Charcuteries Tray (which is a selection of meats.) I also recommend the Lobster Spring Rolls which were the best spring rolls I've ever had.  Whatever you're looking for, you're sure to find something interesting.  Among their daily specials there was even spam and alligator among the ingredients.  If you are looking for a place to impress a date, Kybecca is definately the place to go.  I for one not only enjoyed myself, but I also found amusement from the thought that Danny McBride has actually frequented this restaurant.  I couldn't help but picture his character Kenny Powers from East Bound and Down taking his wife to dinner there. Oh, and I ended up with leftovers.  I enjoyed eating my leftover cheeses.  Though the blue cheese was a little strong for me.  But tasted great when I mixed it with some beef flavored Top Ramen noodles.  Top Ramen should make a steak and blue cheese flavored variety.

Anyway, thanks for reading my food diary.  This is the girl who ate Fredericksburg saying don't judge me.

Stalking Danny McBride - Part 1

WTF?!

Dear Food Diary,
I went on an adventure today.  I decided to start stalking Danny McBride.  It wasn't my fault.  I didn't come up with the idea on my own.  My boyfriend suggested it.  See Danny McBride is from Fredericksburg.  And my boyfriend came across a list of Danny McBride's favorite places to eat in his home town.  So my plan is to eat at all of them, one by one.  The next time you come to back home Danny, no matter where you eat, you'll feel my presence.  Oh you want to have some thai food from your favorite Fredericksburg Thai restaurant, the Bangkok Cafe?  Did you feel something when you walked in?  Know what that feeling is?  It's my presence.  Oh yes, it's there.

My presence is waiting for you Danny

And now for the food portion of our program.  I tried a few things from the Bangkok Cafe.  I tried their Wonton Soup, their Fresh Rolls, their Crispy Tofu Tod, and their Duck Wontons for appetizers.  It was all good but let me take a minute to describe the duck wontons properly to you.  If a serving of regular wontons had it's unborn baby genetically modified to be a super soldier in a Chinese food army, I believe this is what it would taste like.  To put it more simply they are exactly like regular won tons, only better.  For the entree I had the Bangkok Cafe Chicken, which was half a chicken specially marinated in Thai herb and garlic, served with sweet chili sauce.  It was delicious.  It was like they took the best roast chicken dish and the best roast duck dish and those had a baby that was roast perfection.

Basically there was a lot of baby having going on during my meal and it was scrumptious.


Once again, thanks for the reading my food diary.  This the girl who ate Fredericksburg saying, don't judge me.