Bites of My Life

A few travel delays, but made it home late last night after celebrating my oldest friend on her bachelorette party. It’s so wild living out moments that you only imagined as a kid. Getting old is w e i r d, but I wouldn’t change it! I got to spend about 24 hours in D.C (!!!!!) before heading down to Charlottesville for the scene of the crime (party)! I loved getting to explore this Virginia town that means so much to Anna.

-Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free Brownie mix is unmatched compared to most grocery store brownie mixes. My friend Reid brought a batch to our Bach finale watch party last week. And thank goodness she did because sustenance was necessary during that episode…
-Flower Child chicken plate w/ yuzu brussels and currently the green goddess asparagus is my go-to pick-up order when I have a short week and don’t want to buy a bunch of groceries.
-Made it to D.C. to kick off Anna’s bachelorette party and got the party started with homemade Jungle Birds made by her fiance, who doubles as my old high school friend!
-Followed by dinner at one of all of our D.C. favorites, Lapis. It is an authentic family-owned afghan restaurant that I highly recommend.
-Drove down to Charlottesville to really get the party started. A walk around campus and a morning run for the infamous Bodo’s bagels was necessary.
-My Bodo’s order - whole wheat bagel, feta spread, tomato, and sprouts. Excellent!
-We spent Saturday doing a wine tour, making stops at Pippin Hill, King Family and Veritas Vineyards. I’m not a huge wine drinker, but I loved have sips at each stop and indulging in the bread and cheese :)
-Anna reigned in such a good crew to be a part of her bridal party, and I had the best time with them all weekend.
-#SeeYaSearcey! Time for Martins in the Mountains next month!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Monday of last week feels like ages ago and the 4th seems like at least a month ago. Does anyone else feel like that was the longest holiday weekend ever? Not that that is a bad thing by any means. After a few classes at a new workout studio (that I loved) and doubled up happy hours, I packed and got on a flight for the 4th in D.C. My oldest friend Anna and her bf Wade (also my very good friend), are officially permanent residents in the District. Anna and I lived together there 5 summers ago. We had such a great time exploring new places, visiting some of my old faves, eating all the things and running in to other D.C. friends. You can see everywhere we went saved in my “DC” highlight on instagram stories.

-I’ve been trying all the Dallas workouts. Pilates, spin, surf (yes) and now a workout inspired from skiing. TBH I’ve been a little underwhelmed with all the classes I’ve tried. Something is just off with each one. I tried Powder Heart last week and then went three days straight. It’s basically a HIIT workout, but with a twist, which keeps my attention. I’m signed up for class this morning and I can’t wait.
-When new friends text you to come over for piña coladas, you know they are good friends!
-Friend happy hour part 2 in true Dallas fashion with ranch waters and chips and guac!
-Patriotic in-flight outfit because when traveling on the 4th, what else are you supposed to wear?
-After arriving in The District, it was already mid-afternoon. We did late afternoon drinks and an early dinner at Lucky Buns before watching fireworks from Anna and Wade’s roof. Wade and I went halfsies on the Bun Mi burger and the El Jefe. Insanely good. This was just one of the great spots we went to in their Adam’s Morgan neighborhood.
-This picture is technically from our afternoon in Alexandria, but the patriotic colored row homes were too cute not to share.
-At home bagels and lox. 1. to avoid spending money on every meal. 2. because yum.
-Dolcezza gelato is a DC staple and when it felt like 100 degrees, ice cream was necessary. I went half coffee and cookies, half blueberry lavender (yum)!
-Woke up Saturday to walk of Friday’s pasta off and I and intentionally went in the direction of the cutest book store I used to love to go to. I went more for the brunch, but still.
-Le Diplomate is a favorite by so many. Since we had all been here a few times before, we decided to go off the grid, and go big and order the seafood platter. Worth every penny and stare we got.
-Had such a great long weekend in D.C, but was glad to get back early Sunday morning to have the day to get organized and to have one last indulgence before the weekend was over. Crossed Oishii sushi off my Dallas eats list! You have to get the cesar roll if you go.

Annie

p.s. I snuck in two recipe posts last week! Don’t miss my Mayo-Less Salmon Salad and Quick Pickled Red Onions.

D.C Diary Reunited

It's baaaaack! I loved using my D.C. Diary posts to log my summer adventures when I lived there. Two years later and I was able to squeeze in a trip back to my favorite city. No better way to recap the weekend than with this Take A Bite original. 

Hoped off the plane Friday evening and metro-ed into town (super proud of myself for still being able to maneuver the metro) to meet my host/bestie at her apartment. Kudos to Anna for being patient with me. I sent her an itinerary of everything I wanted to do over the weekend a few weeks back and she happily played along. Friday night was all her though. First stop on the #dcdining adventure was Rasika. More palak chaat please!! This crispy spinach dish is unreal.

Indian food and passion fruit cocktails were the perfect way to catch up and start the weekend. 

Anna and I lived together two years ago, she's now back in the district and I'm living vicariously through her. Did I mention we've known each other since we were born?

After a summer taking classes at Barre3 Georgetown, I was so happy to come visit and try out the new 14th street location. Seriously gorg studio in one of my favorite areas of town.

Can't help but stop and stare at the quaint side streets full of row houses and brownstones.

Saturday afternoon we went back to my old hood for lunch and shopping in Georgetown. Why oh why did Chaia not exist when I worked there?

Quick stop by the waterfront, before a quick detour to Baked and Wired. 

And now comes the best part of the trip. After a failed attempt at trying to get into Rose's Luxury two years ago, I've been dying to try again. They don't take reservations and you have to get in line right when they open to just hope you get a spot. I've been gawking them on social media and the internet and knew that this had to be apart of the trip. They were named Best New Restaurant ranking No.1 on Bon Appetit's Hot 10 list and rank tip top on several other round ups. 

Two of our friends and current D.C. resisdents, Katie and Sarah were meeting us for dinner. They were more than down for the waiting game. I love friends who love food the same way as me.  We got there at 5, got our name on the list and they happily let us know we should be seated by 7:30/8. Rose's is eclectic. They use the most interesting combination of ingredients and serve everything on mismatched china and silverware. The head chef, Aaron Silverman has said he wanted Rose's to be like having a dinner party every night. Congrats Aaron, you did it. 

I also love when people are cool with me snapping away at each course and embarrassingly asking the waitress every item in the dish. Just so you know you are looking at coconut milk foam, pork sausage, habanero cream, red onion, lychee, basil mint cilantro, togarashi, lime juice, champagne vinegar, coconut powder, and garlic chips. Ya, woah. 

Next up was a grilled romain salad with duck egg and grilled veal. 

Then confit goat and rice with BBQ sea island red peas. Like how do you even come up with these things Aaron? Everything was insane.

This. This is what sent us over the edge. Bucatini with pesto, ramps, jalapeno, blue crab and crispy breadcrumbs. This may be the best thing I've ever eaten. We pretty much all threw in the towel on ever expecting to eat anything better in our lives. 

So many cheers throughout this meal to celebrate it's amazingness and experiencing it together. After a few cocktails and many bites of bucatini we decided we had formed some kind of bucatini sisterhood. 

More pasta because we had to try their famous strawberry tomato sauce. Bon Appetit has a recipe for it here. 

Absolutely not done without dessert. Rhubarb custard tart and tiramisu.

Thank you Rose's Luxury. Everything really is awesome. You heard it first here but this is my favorite restaurant of all time. The food, the service, the experience, everything is gold. I mentioned at one point in the night that I was a little sad to have found this at such a young age. What do I have to live for now? 

Sisterhood of the traveling bucatini: Marsha, Virginia, Heidi and Charlie. I think our amazing meal sent us into some kind of weird trance, but we weren't trying to get out of it. 

Sunday morning recovery at my (old) favorite spot, Le Diplomate.

I dreamed of the next time I would get to have this mushroom tart since the last time I had it. 

Post-brunch shopping at Salt & Sundry. 

Since I was in D.C. they have grown from their Union Market location and built a brick and mortar on 14th. 

Serious home good/gift coolness overload.

Sunday afternoon called for a serious cat nap after going going going and a touristy stop at the national archives. We got to see the Declaration, Bill of Rights and Constitution. Total Nicholas Cage/National Treasure move.  We found a pick me up later in the day at Baked and Wired's new sister A Baked Joint. 

Weekend coming to a close, but going out with a bang. 

Steamed buns at Momofuku.

And ramen for days. 

Followed by none other than my NYC fav, Milk Bar! This duo traveled south a bit and opened locations in D.C's new City Center. 

Cheers to this trip, this friend, this city, it's food, it's culture and so much more. Now get that internship next summer too so I can come back! 

Annie

Bites of My Life

Post vacation depression. Why must all good things come to an end? After 72 hours, it has me craving more. Cheers to you D.C. you really know how to put on a show! Besides the weekend in my favorite city, there was the bachelorette, work meetings, a fair effort at cleaning out the fridge and a birthday celebration for big daddy T.

-Quinoa Fried Rice: my ultimate clean out the fridge/haven't gone grocery shopping in weeks kind of meal. 
-This matcha obsession is getting a little out of hand. Evoke knows how to serve it up.
-Happy Birthday dad! I love celebrating you.
-Finally made it back to my favorite city with my favorite D.C. loving bestie!
-I loved taking Barre3 when I lived in D.C, but it was the perfect start to my Saturday getting to take a class at the new 14th St. location!
-Back in Georgetown for the afternoon, back to my old stomping grounds.
-Chaia took tacos to the next level. I've been stalking them on insta since they opened and they didn't disappoint.
-Amazing dinner, better company. Marsha, Virginia, Heidi and Charlie roll out.
-Oh Roses's. I went into this dinner knowing you'd be good, but I didn't know you'd be that good.
-Cappuccino and mushroom tart please! Le Dip still cranks out a delicious brunch!
-Sunday night ramen night. After so many Milk Bar treats, I can finally say I tried their big brother restaurant Momofuku. And I didn't even have to go to New York to get it!
-Cheersing to the best weekend with Milk Bar cereal milk ice cream.

Annie