Dining: Fainting Goat

May 1, 2014 Russell W. Warnick

In a former furniture store in the heart of U Street, Fainting Goat is a relatively new addition to the neighborhood that has managed to not let the allure of 14th Street overshadow it. With three bars and two floors of spacious-casual dining, the restaurant offers a somewhat limited, but structured menu - which is a welcomed approach from what many kitchens offer - a menu that requires a half hour of reading just to get through it. The recently updated spring menu provides four dining options: nibbles/grazing/chomping/feeding, the nibbles being very much a sharing course while the chomp and feed to be more substantial dishes, with the feed section of the menu offering dishes including skate over succotash and English peas, which is slightly more sophisticated than the sausage and burger offered to chomp on.

It's all about the char, but I'm not complaining.

Dining: Patowmack Farm

April 14, 2014 Russell W. Warnick

Cherry Blossom weekend in DC means one thing, at least for many residents of the city - get as far away from the tourists as possible, this involves avoiding Downtown, Georgetown, the National Mall, and well pretty much anywhere in the city where you see pink. I'm not a hater when it comes to tourists (except for those who don't stand to the right on the Metro escalators), I just like the city a little less hectic.

Escaping the city meant a day in Virginia's countryside, an hours drive West and you're in the middle of rolling hills playing host to farms and vineyards, which is where my friends and I took ourselves. For our first stop we found a 400 acre vineyard outside of Purcellville, Breaux Vineyards is one of the few Virginia vineyards that produces a wine I actually like, it's worth a visit for the Vidal Blanc alone. We didn't visit this vineyard by chance, it's close to The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm where we had reservations for their monthly Sunday Supper, a prix fixe family style dinner which is a little less expensive than the usual menu, but I can only imagine no less satisfying.

There's no choosing at Sunday Supper, everyone gets everything on the menu, which is a meal broken down into four components: snacks, appetizers, entrees and desserts - you could say the view is a fifth course, no other restaurant in the area can touch it, savor every moment.

Events: WCP's Best of DC Fete

April 10, 2014 Russell W. Warnick

We've all seen them across the city, proudly displayed on take-out counters, storefront windows, or for the more outdated accolades - bathroom walls (it's time to let go of being the best of anything in 2006, just saying), Washington City Paper's Best of DC awards. This weeks issue is an impressive 192 pages dedicated to 2014's winners, and last night saw many of the food and beverage picks serve up at the annual fete at the Carnegie Library in Mt. Vernon Square, which has become one of DC's more eclectic events on the calendar.

Attending an event with dozens of food and drink offerings has become an art form, upon entering it's best to grab a drink first as it'll help you battle the crowds, which last night happened to be a small batch bourbon with peach & cinnamon reduction, mint tea & grape fruit bitters from Jack Rose. Thirst quenched I start to circle the room to see what foods I fancy, I try to avoid dishes that require a utensil - the balancing act of holding a small plate and cocktail is a little less than dignifying, there are never enough cocktail tables at these soirees which is why anything served on a aperitif spoon I'll go to first, here's looking at you Zengo with your bay scallop ceviche, thai chile and avocado, I apologize for eating more than my fair share.

With awards including Best Place for the Obamas' Next Date Night to Best Macaron... Use of Bacon... Cupcake... You get the picture, there are quite a few, 85 readers awards in total with an additional 29 staff picks (that's just for food and drink), I've jotted down a few of the more notable readers choice winners below, but you can find the full list over at WCP here.

Dining: Duke's Grocery

April 7, 2014 Russell W. Warnick

It took me awhile to finally visit Duke's Grocery, as a Brit I was skeptical of it's authenticity. I thought to myself, what do two guys from America know about British food, let alone enough to open up their own London cafe? A lot as it seems. I paid my first visit on a Sunday morning, all I really knew of Duke's was that it has a rotating sandwich menu which is updated daily on its Facebook page. A few hours before my visit I took a gander at their Facebook page to see what was in store for me, that days menu hadn't been posted when I checked so all I was expecting from past menus were sandwiches with interesting names, certainly not something you'd find in your typical English cafe.

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