Food Matters, Alexandria, VA

It's a hidden gem, just off Duke Street in Alexandria.
If you turn up into Cameron Station, which looks from the outside like a condo enclave, you'll find a fair number of businesses mixed into the residential set up of the community. Back past the traffic circle, you'll find Food Matters, a restaurant/store with a laid-back style and some great food.
Kat ordered a turkey-and-pesto sandwich, while I had the BLT. Both sandwiches were great, perfect for us after a long day of riding around and sampling food nearly everywhere we stopped. By the time we reached Food Matters, we were in the mood for something light but tasty, and we definitely got it.
If you have the inclination to try something new, visit Food Matters, 191 Somervelle St., Alexandria, VA 22304 (703) 461-3663‎.

Blogging the London Trip- Day 1

It's really nice having an entire day to get ready for a trip before you leave. Our flight out of Dulles was at 10:20pm Saturday, which meant we would get a ride from Super Shuttle at about 6pm. Kat thought that was crazy-early but I said that between security and everything else, it might not mean hours of waiting.

It did, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, we got on the plane before 10pm, a British Airways flight, to find that the air conditioning was out of commission. The temp inside was climbing steadily as more passengers embarked, which meant the Cadbury chocolate bar I bought got melty real fast. Kat and I did our best to ignore the heat but... you can only ignore so much.

We got airborne by 11pm and the air conditioning kicked in once the big engines were going. That was a relief. We found, however, that our overhead lights weren't working at all; this meant the pilot had to reboot the entire system, which meant the TVs were down for awhile. Argh.

Landing in Heathrow, we got through the gate, cashed some US money for UK currency, and then waited for our tour group's bus to show up. Turns out we missed one (must not have heard them calling our names) and caught the next one, putting us into London around 1pm Sunday. We saw a huge mob of soccer fans in the street at one point, shouting in support of Manchester United (who beat Chelsea in a very close match in Moscow last week). We were a bit taken aback by the intensity of their demonstration.

Arriving at our hotel--the Riverbank Park Plaza--we settled into our room, then changed rooms (we were close to the train track behind the hotel). Our hotel was right on the Embankment, with a terrific view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, with reasonably convenient access to the Vauxhall Tube station. (I'll add pictures and links to this post tonight, so you can see what I mean.)

Our only schedule item that evening was seeing our friend Mike Carey at a pub near Tottenham Court Road. We headed out a bit late (after 5pm for a 6pm meet), found that Vauxhall Station was closed for maintenance, scrambled to figure out how to get to Tottenham Court Road, got there about 6:10, and then asked nearly every third person on the street how to find a pub named The Angel.

Nobody knew. Go figure.

Eventually we found a police officer and he produced a pocket map, which showed us we were about four blocks from our target. Kat insisted we buy that very map immediately, then we made it to The Angel... at 6:45. Mike was getting ready to go (or so it seemed to me), but we settled back in, got a round of pints (half-pint for Kat), and talked.

Don't know about you, but I like talking and it seems Mike does too. We covered X-Men (especially Charles Xavier [currently the feature character in Mike's X-Men: Legacy series]and Scott Summers), Felix Castor, writing in other media, travel plans, restaurants and sights of interest, and a dozen other topics--including a very cool writing project Mike is on right now. I won't say more about it because it's his news to reveal, when the time is right, but Kat and I wish him the very best. He's a great guy, a good friend, and we hope to see him again soon.

Mike had to get home, so Kat and I wandered to Rules, a restaurant Mike had recommended. (It happens to be the oldest restaurant in London; it definitely has that feel of genteel antiquity and the service was matchless.) We had a fantastic meal-- Kat said it was the single best meal she had in London-- and made our way home around 11 or so. It had been an exhausting day but well worth every minute.

And on Monday... our first tour. Stay tuned!

Asia Nine and CoCo Sala: Two Great Tastes

Friday night, four of us met to celebrate Kat's birthday (a couple days after the fact) and hit a couple new places downtown.

Our first stop was Asia Nine, which opened rather recently at 915 E Street, opposite the J. Edgar Hoover Building (aka FBI HQ). The menu is pan-Asian, with elements from various cuisines and cool decor (we liked the black ceiling and dark walls). The prices were very reasonable and we found plenty of great dishes to keep us talking (and eating) for quite awhile.

Our second stop was CoCo Sala (note: the web site appears to be a placeholder), at 929 F Street. It only opened about a week ago (I think). We liked the variety of chocolate dishes; we each chose something from the five-course menu, and two of us tried a chocolate cocktail that was excellent. Coming on the heels of Asia Nine, we were all very stuffed when we left CoCo Sala, but it was a good stuffed.

If you have the time, check them out--both places have a lot to offer, great atmosphere and great food.

Weekend of Food

It's been a busy weekend, friends. Kat's father and brother came down from NJ on Saturday and we had a great time with them. Once they got to town, we ordered Papa Johns and played Lego Star Wars. Then, we mostly hit the stores, got our cellphone plan straightened out--temporarily--then went to Woo Lae Oak in Falls Church (GREAT Korean BBQ!). It was the second time I've been there, and if we had a car, we'd probably become regulars.

Sunday was our writers' group get-together. We went to Le Pain Quotidien in Old Town. Everything was going great, we were hanging out and thinking of ordering a second course of food, when the general manager (I think) came over and chirped about how we were still "nibbling" and did we need our stuff wrapped to go? Kat and Sherin were pretty PO'd. They complained to another guy, who said the first guy was Belgian (which means what?), and that he was sorry we'd felt like we were being rushed out. Either way, it's not a good way to induce repeat business. Our afternoon continued at Cosi (which turned out to be an EXCELLENT place to hang out all afternoon), and then a takeout dinner from Popeyes.

Got home in time to feed and play with the kittens before crashing.

How was YOUR weekend?

Night of the Cookers Heating up Baltimore

Went to a new restaurant (literally new, they opened about a week and a half ago) in Baltimore. It's Night of the Cookers, on Cathedral Street near the UMD Medical Center and the Meyerhoff Auditorium. The cuisine is largely New Orleans inspired, heavy on seafood and chicken, with some terrific sides. Our party sampled heavily from the diverse entrees and found lots to enjoy.

If you happen to take in the symphony down the street, this is one great place for a bite or an after-show drink.