vaburbia

It’s that time again. Restaurant Week is beginning Jan 8, 2007. If you haven’t participated before, it’s a great time to sample some of DC’s fine dining establishments at a reasonable price. Three course, fixed price meals are $20.07 at lunch and $30.07 at dinner. First you have to make a reservation with participating restaurants. Using OpenTable is probably the easiest way to accomplish this since you can see what times reservations are available. They fill up pretty fast so I suggest you make your plans soon.

Once in a while when we don’t feel like making food or going to get pho, we walk over to our favorite breakfast spot, Chutzpah. It’s a great little “Real New York Deli” that is footsteps away from our front door in Fairfax Town Center. It’s one of the many perks of living right next to a shopping center. After we stuff ourselves, it’s nice to be able to walk it off on the way home. At Chutzpah the service is always quick and the staff will greet you with a smile. Plan to wait unless you go real early or somewhat late. That just shows you how popular the place is, and it’s not false hype. A lot of people come for the deli meats and bagels to go. We’ve eaten lunch and dinner there only a handful of times but we usually go there for breakfast. Yesterday, to satiate my hunger, I had a nice mushroom, onion, and cheese omelette. My favorite thing at Chutzpah is what comes as a side to most breakfast items, home fries. They always come nice and crispy. I’m an avid potato lover and I’ve never been disappointed with their potato offerings. The fries that come with lunch and dinner entrees are great too. There’s nothing worse to me than sub-par french fries. So if you’re thinking about going to IHOP or Denny’s, don’t. Chutzpah should become your first option over those two restaurants. I can easily say eating here is not a gamble. I only wish it was open late night.

Last night’s venture started in China Town. A few friends and I started the night at Zatinya in DC. This was my first time there and I was excited to check it out. I’ve heard great things about the food and I’ll be sure to try it out some time. You can read about executive chef, Jose Andres, and his other projects here. The big thing at Zatinya is their tapas. If you aren’t familiar, tapas are basically like appetizers. I like the decor, which is very modern. My friends, Arvi and Tim, said that the bar was not very packed last Friday. This was not the case on our visit, we were packed in like sardines. There was a good mix of people there as well as a good ratio of men and women. That’s always good to know if you’re single. Generally, you’ll find a younger more hip crowd here. Expect to pay more than your regular bar, as you should at an establishment like this. We were getting a little claustrophobic so we decided to move on to the next spot.

Walking down the street, we decided to go to Clyde’s. If you do live in the DC area, you’ve probably been to one of the Clyde’s. The newest one located on 7th St is probably the nicest. In my opinion, Clyde’s has more of an older/conservative crowd. If I remember correctly, there are two bars on the first floor and upstairs there is another. There was a bit of a crowd at all of them but it was not much of a challenge to make your way to the bar and order a drink. We were able to have more fun here in the more relaxing environment. I like this location more than the one in Georgetown because the bar areas are much bigger.

Clyde’s Restaurant Group provides many dining options. One of their more upscale restaurants is 1789. It just so happens that my cousin, Diane, had an internship there a few years ago while attending the Culinary Institute of America. Renovated from an old Federal house located on the Georgetown University campus, the several dining rooms provide a country inn feel. Imagine an old wives club having brunch there every Sunday. If you’re male, don’t forget that you have to wear a jacket. Everything I’ve ever tasted there has been nothing less than outstanding. I’m not sure if it is offered year round, but they do offer a a pre fixe or pre-theatre menu. It is a good way to taste a few of their offerings on the cheap. I believe Diane told me it is usually offered over the summer. Dining there will make you feel like royalty with the very attentive waitstaff. I would have to say this is a great place to take someone on a special occasion.

Most weekend mornings, we are not feeling quite up to par after going out the previous night. A lot of the time the lady and I go get some pho to ease our pain. In northern VA we have an abundance of places to go. Pho restaurants are like 7-11s nowadays. On those certain weekend mornings, I’m not in the mood to drive that far. So our best option is Viet House, in Fairfax. Last night we had dinner here. I had grilled chicken and rice. Usually it’s done right, but this time it was a little dry for my liking. Their pho is pretty good and miraculously I do not have eau de pho transfered on to me when I leave. I can’t recommend one item over another because it’s all individual taste when it comes to the meat selection. It’s all pretty good though. They currently have three locations: Two in Fairfax, and one in Alexandria.

Of course everyone has their own opinions about which place has the best pho. There will never be a general consensus on who is best. Some places don’t have consistency when it comes to taste over time and others come and go. We’ll see who has staying power.

Ah, my first review. This past Friday the future missus, her sister, and I met up with their aunt at Grapeseed in Bethesda, MD. Normally I don’t like to venture into MD, but it was her aunt’s birthday. Friday was as cold as I’ve encountered all year. It was not a pleasant night to be walking around. Parking was not a problem and I imagine because of the cold. On a summer day, it is much more crowded. Normally one would find shelter from the elements being indoors but in our case. This restaurant did not fend off the cold very well. The front wall was actually like a garage door where it could be opened. I believe this was the cause of the draftiness. I can’t imagine, but I hope it’s not like this all winter long.

As I sat down my first thought was to order a scotch to warm my body. I didn’t care what kind it was so I just pointed to one on the menu. The waiter was good about getting us drinks, but it took a while for him to come back and get our food order. I ordered braised pork for my entree and a side of bok choi. I highly recommend the pork. It was very tender and done just right. I was very pleased with everything I tasted on our table, especially Theresa’s steak appetizer. I don’t think there were any complaints about the food, only about feeling like we were in a meat locker.

I would definitely recommend trying Grapeseed, with caution. If it’s too cold for you outside, don’t eat there on that particular night.

Welcome to vaburbia.com. I think I have an attention deficit disorder or something because I was starting a different site and changed my mind after having most of it set up. It was supposed to be a happy hour site but it’s been done and one of them is very thorough. They don’t seem to have much for VA outside of Arlington. That’s what gave me the idea for this site. I think more than half the people that party in DC, don’t actually live there. Our focus is the ‘burbs. If you tell someone from DC that you live in Fairfax, to them you live in BFE.