My Summer Restaurant Week

August 21, 2015 – My Summer Restaurant Week

I just wrapped up a week of good eating, prompted by Washington Summer Restaurant Week.  Of the three restaurants I tried, only one was officially participating in Restaurant Week.  That was Jaleo, the Spanish restaurant on Seventh Street in DC.  I usually try unfamiliar restaurants during Restaurant Week, but Jaleo is a long-time favorite of mine and I wanted to introduce my friend Cheri to its glorious array of tapas.  We got off to a spectacular start with the bread and olive oil – the bread so crusty, so olive oil so fragrant – that we asked for seconds.  Counting carbs was forbidden at this meal.  Among the tapas we chose, the Catalan white bean salad and the shrimp with garlic and smoked paprika were standouts.  I didn’t hesitate when it came to dessert.  Jaleo makes one of the best flans I’ve ever tasted, subtly flavored with orange peel and vanilla beans.  

I got drunk on that olive oil!

Catalan white bean salad; Endive, orange and goat cheese

Shrimp with garlic and smoked paprika

Two different kinds of flan

Elliott was my dining partner at the beginning of the week.  We enjoyed an excellent lunch at Mazadar, an Afghan restaurant in the unlikeliest of locations.  Once you step through the doorway, you forget that you’re in a strip mall in suburban Virginia.  The calming décor, a seamless blend of the traditional (abundant tile, splashing fountain) and the modern, creates a sense of escape from the outside world.  The restaurant prides itself on using the highest quality ingredients and preparing everything from scratch, including the tangy yogurt.  I wasn’t sure how Elliott would like the food, but our meal got off to a great start.  For our shared appetizer, I ordered something he would recognize, i.e. falafel.  The chickpea fritters were crispy on the outside and wondrously light inside.  Elliott approved, and showed real enthusiasm as he tore off pieces of piping hot naan to scoop up the accompanying hummus. 

The staff at Mazadar is very attentive and eager to make helpful suggestions.  When Elliott found that he had trouble chewing his grilled lamb kebab, our server volunteered to bring out a complimentary dish of meltingly tender braised lamb shanks for him.  While the menu favors meat dishes, there are also satisfying choices for veggie-lovers.  I ordered a platter consisting of three separate vegetable dishes – eggplant, spinach, and squash – served alongside by a heaping mound of basmati rice adorned with sweetened carrot strips and raisins, and seasoned with cardamom.  Each dish had distinctive and delicious flavors.  The only downside to eating at Mazadar was the couple of extra pounds that the scale showed the following morning.  

The lovely décor at Mazadar

Elliott with his lamb kebab

Wonderful vegetables at Mazadar

I invited Matt to help me wrap up my week of gustatory indulgence.  Since he’s a pizza lover, we headed over to the Clarendon area in Arlington for Pete’s New Haven StyleAPizza.  My two slices (white clam and veggie) and antipasto salad were more than filling, but I was determined to make room for ice cream at the nearby Nicecream Factory.  I was intrigued by an article in The Washington Post that described the Nicecream Factory’s method of making ice cream by freezing it with liquid nitrogen right before the customers’ eyes.  It sounded like fun, and it turned out to be delicious.  I was impressed when Matt, who wasn’t an adventurous eater as a child, ordered a sundae made with strawberry-basil ice cream.  I was delighted with a simple scoop of August’s flavor of the month, peachy keen.  

New Haven style pizza at Pete's

Making ice cream at the Nicecream Factory

Matt's strawberry-basil sundae

Eating out was great, but eating at home this past week wasn’t too bad either.  All the wonderful summer produce from the Fairfax Farmers’ Market made it easy.