Food & Wine

Linda Roth • February 13, 2014

Chef Update: Reston’s Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro has appointed John-Michael Hamlet as its new executive chef. Previously, he was district executive chef at Compass Group USA. Katie Busch was named chef de cuisine for Bistro Vivant in McLean. Busch most recently worked as executive chef at Hospada, a Czech restaurant in New York. Mike Huff takes over the kitchen at Blacksalt for Black Restaurant Group. Todd Schofield has been named executive chef of Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, where extensive renovations to its restaurant, Wellington’s, were recently completed.

George Vetsch, former chef at C.F. Folks in Dupont Circle, has decided to work with Reza Akhavan, former general manager at Shaw’s Tavern, to open Silo in the Mount Vernon Square neighborhood. Silo will serve modern American food with Swiss and French influences. The 60-seat Silo will serve dinner only.

Restaurants: The Walrus Oyster & Ale House, named for the Lewis Carroll poem “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” will open in the former Ketchup space at National Harbor with an Eastern Shore seafood theme, including a raw bar. The consulting chef is none other than Bob Kinkead. Only a stone’s throw from the waterfront, the restaurant will be open daily with full service as well as meals to go (think lobster rolls and crab salad sandwiches eaten as you stroll). After finalizing lease negotiations, the plan is to open in time for summer.

Republic at Arlington will open in Ballston where Leek American Bistro used to be. Executive chef and operating partner Alan Newton says there will be French influence in the modern comfort food he will prepare. The drink menu will be determined in part by public voting. A February opening is planned.

Amsterdam Falafelshop plans to grow in this region. The Annapolis franchisee has the rights to open a shop in Tysons Corner. A store on 14th Street in the District is slated to open by the end of the first quarter of 2014, with another D.C. location in the works, as well as a Reston location, say founders Arianne and Scott Bennett.

Peet’s Coffee & Tea shop has signed a lease for space at 1001 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, in the former Citibank space that is also home to Michel Richard’s Central and the former Ten Penh restaurant (where San Francisco-based Tadich Grill will open). The region’s remaining Caribou Coffee locations will become Peet’s Coffee & Tea shops. The Caribou at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Ave., NW, is at the top of the list for conversion.

Quick Hits: Dean Vlahos is looking to open his Redstone American Grill at National Harbor, where Red Eye Grill was supposed to open…Woodley Park gets a Dunkin’ Donuts on Connecticut Avenue in the former Café International space.

Busboys & Poets will open in Northeast D.C.’s Brookland neighborhood in the Monroe Street Market mixed-use project, fall 2014. Another Busboys & Poets will open in the second quarter of 2014 in Takoma Park. A beer-centric restaurant is also slated to open in the Monroe Street Market, as well as the QSR concept & Pizza.

Chef Bradley Curtis has been hired to create the menu to complement the wines at Flight Wine Bar at 777 6th St., NW, in Penn Quarter. He previously worked at Graffiato, DGS Delicatessen, Bandolero and Zaytinya. Owners Kabir Amir and Swati Bose are new to the restaurant industry, but Swati knows her wines. She was assistant cellar master at Balthazar in New York. The 60-seat European-style wine bar opened at the end of January.

Recent Openings: Ri Ra Irish Restaurant & Pub in Georgetown unveiled its Whiskey Room. Ted’s Bulletin opened in Reston and Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steaks & Stone Crabs opened downtown. Roofers Union, a casual restaurant opened in Adams Morgan. The Argentinian steakhouse that Jose Garces plans to open in the Loews Madison Hotel at 15th and M Sts., NW, is now slated to open in early April.

Calendar: Sips & Suppers to benefit Martha’s Table and DC Central Kitchen is Jan. 25 (Sips), at the Newseum and Jan. 26 (Suppers), at various homes in D.C. Hosts are Joan Nathan, Alice Waters and Jose Andres. Turn Up The Heat: A Celebration of Women Chefs to benefit the Ovarian cancer National Alliance is Feb. 19, at the Reagan Building. Taste of the Nation is Mar. 31, at the National Building Museum.

Linda Roth is president of Linda Roth Associates. Reach her at Linda@LindaRothPR.com or 703-417-2700. www.lindarothpr.com

Jody Kurash •

Naming cocktails after current events is nothing new, especially in a wonky city like Washington. Whether it’s an election, scandal, debt ceiling, snowstorm or government shutdown, there is always a cocktail commemorating something in D.C.
Two of my favorites in recent years have been the “Binders Full of Women,” a Mitt Romney-themed election tipple from the Mt. Vernon Square bar and restaurant The Passenger, and BLT Steak’s “Gun to a Snowball Fight,” named after the 2009 incident in which a cop in plainclothes pulled a gun during a snowball fight on U Street.

What about naming a cocktail after an international court ruling? This occurred in Peru last month after the International Court of Justice gave Lima economic rights over a slice of Pacific Ocean maritime territory in a 100-year-old dispute with neighboring Chile.

The new elixir, called the La Haya Sour (The Hague Sour) after the Dutch city where the ICJ is based, is a variation on the Pisco Sour, Peru’s national drink. According to Agence France Presse, the cocktail was unveiled on the eve of the country’s Pisco Sour Day.

Peruvians are so crazy about pisco, they have not one, but two national holidays commemorating their flagship spirit: National Pisco Sour Day (the first Saturday in February) and National Pisco Day (the fourth Sunday in July). The official website of the Peruvian government has a link to a site called “Pisco es Perú.”

According to AFP, which interviewed the drink’s creator, bartender Javier Perez, the concoction’s intense blue comes from a dash of Curacao, to “give it the color of the sea.” Says Perez: “It’s a drink that pays tribute to The Hague ruling in favor of Peru and that puts an end to border problems with Chile.”

Naming a pisco drink after Peru’s court victory is a double smack in the face for Chile. Peru and Chile have been fighting for decades over who invented pisco (a grape brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile). Both countries also claim the Pisco Sour as their national drink. While it may sound trivial, the debate can become fierce between these neighbors.
There is actually a town named Pisco in both countries, so each can lay international claim to an “appellation of origin,” a direct link between the product and the land. This is similar to France, where Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy can only be labeled as such if they’re produced in those specific regions.

The Peruvian city by that name dates back to 1574, while the Chilean town was given its moniker in 1936, when then Chilean president Gabriel González changed the name of La Unión to Pisco Elqui. Many believe the name was only changed in an attempt to steal the Pisco name from Peru.

In 2013, the European Commission ruled that Peru will be recognized as the original home of pisco. The decision established the Peruvian village of Pisco as the geographical origin of the drink and protects the country’s right to claim its provenance in the European market.

The rivalry between these two nations goes back to the War of the Pacific (1879-1883), which pitted Peru and Bolivia against Chile. During the conflict, Chile invaded Peru, occupying the capital, Lima, and delivered a crushing defeat to its Andean enemies. Peru, which lost the territories of Arica and Tacna, fared better than Bolivia, which lost its entire coastline to Chile. Tacna was returned to Peru in 1929.

Some Peruvians say that Chile stole the production of pisco during these years of disputed borders.

“Chile, they try to claim everything from Peru as their own,” says Lowell Haise Contreras, a musician from Villa María del Triunfo, a district of Lima that was on the front lines during the 1881 battle for the capital. “Pisco, ceviche, empanadas. . . . They don’t make anything of their own, so they try to take credit for the great creations of Peru.”

As for me, since I consider Peru my second home, I have to side with the land of Macchu Picchu.

La Haya Sour (The Hague Sour)
1 egg white
3 ounces Peruvian pisco (I prefer Macchu Pisco)
1 ounce lime juice
½ ounce simple syrup
½ ounce blue Curacao
Angostura bitters
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the first five ingredients. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds, then strain into a cocktail glass. Top with a few drops of bitters. Garnish with a lime.

Georgetowner • January 29, 2014

Two years ago this week, a
Georgetown couple followed
their dream, opening Unum, a
50-seat boutique eatery in the former
Mendocino Grille & Wine Bar space
on M Street. New York native Phillip
Blane, formerly a sous-chef at Equinox
restaurant downtown, and his wife and
business partner Laura Shiller, chief of
staff for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.),
created an inviting neighborhood
retreat. The name, from the Latin
motto “E pluribus unum” (Out of
many, one), was inspired by the chef’s
globally influenced interpretations of
contemporary American cuisine.

“Every cook’s path can be different,”
Blane tells me when we get together at
the restaurant’s foyer bar. Wood beams
and accents of stone
give the room a
rustic, cozy
c h a r m .
“ T h e
m o r e
y o u
work and create, that path is your own.”
His concise menu of small plates and
entrees is “reflective of my travels and
the food and people who have inspired
me.”

A braised
Indian spiced
l a m b
shank
w i t h
mint chutney
pays tribute to his kitchen internship in
Memphis at noted Raji (now shuttered).
A year devoted to “eating around the
world,” with trips through Europe and
Japan, has brought forth Mediterraneanstyle
grilled branzino with celery root
puree and fennel salad, as well as sesamecrusted
scallops atop a wasabi-accented
risotto with house-pickled vegetables.
Closer to home, his
love of New
O r l e a n s
c o m e s
to the
t a b l e
in a
N e w
Yo r k
s t r i p
s t e a k
paired with
an étouffée
over a cake of
smoked crawfish and
potato, haricots verts and
crisp onion rings.

“This is not fusion,” he says with
determination and passion. “It’s familiar
things with a little twist.”

On a chilly winter night, Unum is
an intimate spot for a generous pour
of Old and New World wines by the
glass. From the cocktail program come
handcrafted drinks
such as “The Deer
Hunter,” composed of
Cazadores Blanco tequila, fresh
lemongrass, white peppercorn and tonic. Spring,
will usher in a “Kyoto Cherry Blossom,” a
refreshing blend of morello cherry puree,
Belvedere vodka, delicate elderflower syrup
and sparkling prosecco.

Customers often ask Blane for the recipe
for his chimichurri, a condiment of Argentine
origin, typically served with grilled meat or
fish. He presents the flavorful mix as part of the
bread service, alongside an herbed butter.

“What’s fun about this recipe is that it
can be altered according to taste. More or
less garlic, more or less jalapeno,” he says.
Experiment, if you like. “Substitute other herbs,
like basil, too.”

CHIMICHURRI
Ingredients:
2 large bunches cilantro, stems removed and cleaned
2 large bunches flat-leaf parsley, stems removed and
cleaned
9 garlic cloves, peeled
6 shallots, peeled
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
3 limes, juice only
2 cups blended oil (canola and olive oil work best)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Roughly chop the first five ingredients and place in the bowl
of a food processor. Pulse until well chopped (not pureed),
scraping down the sides from time to time. Add the oil with
the motor running. (Do not overprocess or the oil will develop
a bitter taste.) Add the lime juice and season with salt and
pepper.

Unum, 2917 M St., NW
202-621-6959
unumdc.com

What’s Cooking, Neighbor? visits with wine,
food and entertaining professionals who work
in the Georgetown area. Georgetowner dining
columnist Walter Nicholls is the food critic for
Arlington Magazine and a former staff writer
for The Washington Post Food section.

Corrie Dyke • January 23, 2014

Diners around the region gear up for a week of eating their way through Washington, as Winter Restaurant Week 2014 kicks off today with a record-breaking 250 participating restaurants. Continuing through Sunday, Jan. 19, area restaurants offer a three-course pre-fixe lunch for $20.14 and dinner for $35.14.

The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington represents members of the growing restaurant industry in the District, Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland and showcases Restaurant Week bi-annually every summer and winter encouraging diners to “Dine Out. Eat Up.”

This year, 20 Georgetown restaurants are participating, including classics like Café Milano (3251 Prospect St., NW) and first time participators Luke’s Lobster (1211 Potomac St., NW). Most restaurants feature special menus for the seven days of foodie heaven, giving diners a unique chance to try an old favorite or explore something new.

“Restaurant week offers a great promotion for our regional diners to dine out and try many new and existing restaurants around town,” said RAMW president and CEO Kathy Hollinger.

New for Winter Restaurant Week 2014 is a guidebook full of reviews from Open Table on the participating restaurants. The book is available at a number of D.C. hotels and can help narrow down the overwhelming number of choices for the week.

If looking for something new, a few restaurants in the District are making their debut to Restaurant Week that includes Mike Isabella’s Kapnos and G (2201 14th St., NW), Alba Osteria (425 Eye St., NW), the Arsenal (300 Tingey St., SE) and Teddy & the Bully Bar (1200 19th St., NW).

Another addition is the “Try Something New in 2014” contest. Through Restaurant Week’s partner NBC4, diners who “Like” NBC4 on Facebook will be entered to win a prize package, including lunch for two at J&G Steakhouse and two “Blissage 75″ massages at Bliss Spa, both located within the W Hotel on 15th Street, NW.

Sponsors of Restaurant Week include Meat and Livestock Australia, Cuisine Solutions, Open Table and American Express. Media partners include NBC4, 94.7 Fresh FM and D.C. Modern Luxury.

Gary Tischler • January 17, 2014

Zubair Popal thinks for a moment before talking about the role of
his older son Omar in the family’s
restaurant and culinary ventures.
Zubair had arrived later to the
ongoing interview, finally coming
out of a major traffic tie-up on Key Bridge and
into Georgetown.

“Omar,” he said, “he is the man with the
ideas. He’s the ideas guy, the vision person, as
well as making things happen, being there all
the time.”

We’re sitting in Malmaison, the Popal family’s
newest restaurant at 3401 K Street, and
something of a radical departure from its predecessors,
Cafe Bonaparte on Wisconsin Avenue in
Georgetown and Napoleon Bistro on Columbia
Road in Adams Morgan, but not in terms of cuisine,
all do feature French-styled food.

Malmaison, named after the first home of
French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his
wife Josephine just outside Paris, is full of ideas.
It opened quietly in January as an events site but
is now fully loaded as a functioning restaurant
and cafe. It also comes with the participation of
big culinary and design names. It is a sophisticated
as well as comfortable place.

There’s a bit of a chameleon quality to it all,
a 50-seat restaurant from which you can look
out straight by Key Bridge, the Potomac River
and a stretch of as yet undeveloped land, with
Georgetown Waterfront Park to your left. As far
as ideas go, Malmaison, translated literally as
“bad house,” is bigger, open-ended and electric
with possibilities and opportunities.

The doors lead into an expansive multifaceted
space: cafe-bakery, detox juices and
good cup of early coffee for runners and casual
customers, restaurant for lunch and dinner, and
an events-bar-club space in the mezzanine with
the Whitehurst Freeway overhead as a kind of
humming presence.

Zubair Popal exudes a kind of old-world
charm which he probably brought with him
from his days working with InterContinental
Hotels in Kabul, Afghanistan. His son Omar
has the focused intensity of a man quite capable
of multi-tasking, thinking on his feet, the phone
ringing periodically, working out ideas as he
goes along, paying attention to details. “With
Malmaison, we went a lot further than before in
terms of a space,” Omar Popal said. “It’s French
cuisine, it’s cosmpolitan, it’s sophisticated. In
terms of the bar and the mezzanine space, we can
use it for anything, really. It’s a gathering place
at night, a space where you can have exhibitions,
weddings, anniversaries, charity events, the kind
of space where you can bring together music,
culture, people, in a very urban and urbane way.”

A measure of both the ambition and care with
which the Popals approached putting together
Malmaison is the fact that while the menus are
small, and the restaurant seats only 50, there
are major league culinary and design players
involved. World-class, much-honored French
chef Gerard Pangaud is the Malmaison consulting
chef, and chef Serge Torres has designed and
oversees the pastry menu, an important part of
any French culinary establishment. See chocolate
bomb with passion fruit sauce.

Pangaud is famous for creating and operating
top-notch French restaurants in Paris, New York
and Washington and has the added serendipitous
affinity of growing up only steps away from the
original Château de Malmaison in France.

Torres came from the South of France to the United States and worked with his cousin Jacques Torres at Le Cirque in New York City.

Clearly, days are both relaxed and busy at Malmaison. You can enjoy a light lunch –the duck confit salad, rapidly becoming a signature offering here, followed by a delicious dessert, or a recommendation by sage waiter Ben Jamil from Morocco.
The atmosphere is contemporary, a very now and forward moving vibe of endless possibilities, but it doesn’t speak to the journey that brought the family Popal to this juncture.

Omar Popal always talks about the family — not just as a family but also as a team united in their endeavors. “It’s not exactly us against the world but us making our way in the world together,” he said. “Us,” being father Zubair, mother Shamim, oldest brother Mustafa, then Omar, and sister Fatima, both with the U.S. State Department. Fatima Popal had been working with mobile banks in Afghanistan.

“I know everybody thinks of Afghanistan in terms of the wars and conflicts, which are still going on,” Omar said. “But my parents lived in Kabul at a different time.”

“Back then, I was working with InterContinental Hotels,” Zubair said. “I had done well there, and Kabul was different then. It was more cosmopolitan then, and lots of Europeans either came there or lived there. It was more European than anything.”
But conflict and war — the invasion by the Soviet Union in 1979 and all the wars that followed — changed all that.
“I decided that it was too dangerous for me and my family, and I left and brought them all out later,” Zubair said. There were stops in India, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates where he once again took up the hotel business.
“But we finally came to the United States, and we all ended up in Northern Virginia in Fairfax County,” he said. “I sold cars with Bob Rosenthal.” Northern Virginia, in fact, hosts a large Afghan community.

The Popals did well, and always, he and his wife emphasized education — all the siblings have degrees, went to school, and did extremely well in various careers. Omar was working with Merrill Lynch when he, his brother and sister came up with the idea of opening a restaurant.

“To be honest, I thought it was a crazy idea,” his father said. “Even with working with hotels, I hadn’t entertained that thought.”
But Omar and his siblings convinced the parents who helped them launch Cafe Bonaparte in Georgetown in 2003. When they signed the lease, “it was an emotional occasion,” Zubair said. It was and remains a popular, classic Parisian-style coffee shop-creperie-bistro-restaurant.

Cafe Bonaparte was followed in 2007 by Napoleon Bistro on Çolumbia Road in Adams Morgan, a corner bistro with a thick menu, outdoor seating and an atmosphere more reflective of the diverse, culturally lively neighborhood surrounding it.

Six years after that — with both Napoleon Bistro and Cafe Bonaparte settled into their locations — came Malmaison, which, as the promotions say, brings “Parisian elegance and Meatpacking District style” to Georgetown. It’s also helping to continue the process of commercially repopulating K Street’s historic waterfront.

When you walk upstairs to the mezzanine, you appreciate the view but you can also imagine almost any occasion here. The industrial-style look is by Grizform Design Architects. There’s a state-of-the-art disc jockey booth, designed by Washington, D.C., DJ, artist and designer, Adrian Loving, along with DJ Ron Trent.

In some ways, Malmaison is a place that is open to transformation in terms of special events, but it has an inviting appeal for individuals, groups, couples and citizens in the French style, depending on the time of day or night.

“This is an international city,” Omar says. “There are all kinds of people, all kinds of flavors, all kinds of cultures. That’s part of what we had in mind.” [gallery ids="101392,154040,154037" nav="thumbs"]

Jordan Hellmuth •

Zeina Davis, event coordinator and marketing manager, wants to give each person a customized experience when he or she enters Malmaison. Being a family-run company gives Malmaison an extra je ne sais quoi.

“It is truly a family run business and each person within the family is involved with every aspect from the overall concept to the day to day functions,” says Davis. It is a team effort every step of the way, from preparation, to execution and follow-up.
Davis works to partner with Georgetown and D.C. businesses to bring a variety of open, ticket and private events to the chateau of cuisine that is Malmaison. As event coordinator and marketing manager, Davis is “involved in all operations outside of lunch and dinner.”

Malmaison is divided into trois (three) sections: the cafe, the dining room and the upper bar area. “The cafe runs as its own entity,” Davis says. She assures us that Malmaison is all about full-scale event planning, not just petite soirées.
Malmaison is equipped to host any type of event, from weddings to book signings, to wine tastings and more. The garage looking doors that lead into the quaint Parisian-style restaurant can be used as screens for Twitter feeds or general projector screens to meet the needs of a client.

“We’ll mold to whatever they’re asking for,” says Davis.
The restaurant is developing a music program to make its nightlife scene “more than just a fun night,” says Davis, who wants Malmaison to be seen as more than a restaurant. Its nightlife scene should not just be throwing a party just to throw a party. “It should be a cultural experience,” she says.

Davis wants for those having dinner at Malmaison to say, “I’d love to have an event here,” and those at an event to say, “I would love to have dinner here.”

Walter Nicholls •

There’s no time for small talk at the late morning start of Najmieh Batmanglij’s class in the art of Persian cuisine. On a recent Sunday morning, ten eager students surround the broad butcher-block island in the Iranian-American chef’s home kitchen, two short blocks from the main gate of Georgetown University. Over the next four and a half hours, the group will learn new knife skills, the how-to of grinding spices and help in the preparation of six dishes — from savory cardamom-scented beef pastries to sweet saffron-laced honey almond brittle. Let the chopping begin.

When the work is done, it will be time to take a seat in the chef’s art-filled dining room and pay due respects to a woman who has spent the past 30 years cooking, traveling and updating authentic recipes from her homeland. All in the group are owners of one or more of her seven cookbooks.

“Now, pick up a peeler . This eggplant will make your life easy,” instructs Batmanglij, as she waves a pale purple Asian variety of the fruit in the air. Unlike the more common broad glossy black cultivar, “It’s not bitter, has a delicate flavor and you don’t have to soak it in salt water.” Non-stop, experience and wisdom is shared. She will tell you that vinegar is her kitchen essential for rinsing vegetables, as well as cleaning counter tops. The stems of vegetables and herbs, such as parsley, have “the best food properties of the plant.” And, who knew that the addition of unripe grapes brings a unique tart accent to a chicken stew?

But this student could not help wandering off to the nearby rear French doors for a view of the lush garden with potted olive and orange trees as well as trellises dripping with thick assorted vines. A perfect oasis. Every interior wall holds treasures from her travels, from Middle Eastern relics to pressed glass pedestal serving pieces. The eyes need never stop.
I came away as a big fan of the chef’s recipe for doymaj — a terrific, healthy and easy-to-throw-together dip, perfect for summer entertaining, made with walnuts, goat cheese and handfuls of herbs. For scooping up the nutty/herbal goodness, serve with small Persian cucumbers (available at farmers markets and Whole Foods stores).

Batmanglij’s current favourite restaurants: Sushiko in Glover Park and Mintwood Place in Adams Morgan.

Doymaj: Cheese, Walnut, and Herb Dip

Ingredients:
1/2 pound goat feta cheese, rinsed and drained
2 cups walnuts, toasted
2 fresh spring onions, chopped
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh tarragon leaves
2 cups fresh mint leaves
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 2 limes
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:
1. In a food processor, place all the ingredients and pulse until you have a grainy paste.
2. Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl.
Serve with triangles of pita bread, Persian cucumbers sliced on the diagonal and a chilled French Rose.
Note: To toast the nuts: Preheat oven to 350?F (180?C), place nuts on a baking sheet, and bake—10 minutes [gallery ids="101396,154099" nav="thumbs"]

Jody Kurash •

Peruvians are crazy for pisco. Not only is pisco, a grape brandy produced in Peru, the country’s national liquor, there are two public holidays celebrating its virtues. National Pisco Sour Day is celebrated during the first Saturday of February and National Pisco Day on the fourth Sunday of July. So one afternoon as I wandered the touristy corridor of Cuzco between the Plaza des Armes and San Blas, I wasn’t taken by surprise when I strolled by a storefront identifying itself as the Museo de Pisco (Pisco Museum). It seemed perfectly logical in this tourist mecca for a pisco museum to exist.

With its walls filled with diagrams, graphs and maps explaining the pisco-making process, distillation equipment on display, and a vast collection of bottles behind the bar, I was ready to spend a cultural day communing with this local elixir. It didn’t take long, however, to deduce that the Museo de Pisco was actually a bar disguised as a museum. This revelation did not sour my visit in any way.

While not official guides, I quickly realized that the bartending staff here had an encyclopedic knowledge about pisco and were eager to educate a gringa about their country’s pride and joy. Not only was I given a primer on the distillation process, but barman Ruben Dario educated me about the specific grape varietals used for pisco and the difference the each grape imparts on the finished product.

The bar stocks more than 40 brands of pisco, each of them with their own unique qualities. After asking several questions about the merits of different types, another bartender, Joe Rojas Garcia, was kind enough to offer me a taste of some of his favorites. As a resident of Peru, I had been drinking pisco for nine months at this point, but I had never taken the time to explore the subtle differences in various varieties.

While I was familiar with the most popular cocktails, pisco sour, Maracuayo sour (made from a local fruit), and Te Macho, (pisco and coca tea), I was instantly intrigued by the bar’s extensive cocktail menu.

Overwhelmed by all the choices, I asked Joe what he recommended. In a flirty move, he suggested the Cusquenita Linda, literally translated, “pretty little lady from Cusco.” The cocktail is a mixture of pisco, cassis, lime and aguaymanto juice.

Aguaymanto is a fruit native to Andean region of South America, also known as the capegooseberry, golden berry or Incan berry. It has a tart, yet slightly sweet, flavor. Herbalists have used it as a folk remedy for diabetes, inflammation and asthma.
Not being a fan of sweet drinks, the fruit mixture intrigued me. The red-orange drink was presented in a martini glass with a cheery star fruit garnish. The mixture of sharp Aguaymanto with the piquant blackcurrant flavor of the cassis and sour lime proved a fitting foil for the crisp, clean and tangy flavor of pisco. The overall result was a sublime and unique tipple that was captivating and refreshing at the same time.

As I savored my cocktail, a tour group arrived, and I was able to absorb another education lecture from their guide, as well as sip on a free sample of pisco punch, mixed with lime and pineapple, offered to the group. I also watched as another bartender prepared one of the many pisco infusions made in-house, which include morado (purple corn), eucalyptus, chili pepper and ginger.

It would be easy to spend an entire afternoon or evening at the Pisco Museum, engaging with the friendly staff and sampling the many delicacies. This year, Peru’s National Pisco day falls on July 28. Wherever you may be on that day, celebrate it with a South American pisco treat.

La Cusquenita Linda
2 oz Pisco
2 oz Aquaymanto juice
¼ oz Lime juice
¼ oz sugar
1 oz crème de Cassis
Mix ingredients in a shaker with ice, then pour into a martini glass. Garnish with star fruit. [gallery ids="101372,153206,153204" nav="thumbs"]

Walter Nicholls •

On Sunday evenings, when Nora Pouillon’s family and friends gather at her 1930s modern home near the Georgetown Library, guests often find a simmering pot of spicy lemon grass broth scenting the kitchen. “This bare stock is so versatile as a poaching liquid,” says Austrian-born Pouillon, co-owner of Restaurant Nora, America’s first certified organic eatery, near Dupont Circle. “For an appetizer, I quickly bring the broth to a boil, add raw shrimp or scallops and let them cool in the pot. They cook perfectly.”

In minutes, the Thai-inspired shellfish are ready to serve with mayonnaise infused with ginger or cilantro mayonnaise. Simple and delicious. “It’s really nice with that first glass of wine,” says the widely known pioneering chef, an early proponent of farmers markets and sustainable organic farming practices.

For private parties at Restaurant Nora, which opened in 1979, the same fragrant broth is the base for a popular entree of seared wild salmon, shitake mushrooms, Chinese cabbage and rice noodles. “It’s so easy to adapt the broth to your taste,” she says. “Add more or less lemon juice for citrus flavor, adjust the heat,” by discarding or using the seeds of the jalapeno peppers.

With farmers markets in Glover Park, Dupont Circle and Rose Park brimming with seasonal bounty, early summer is prime time for Pouillon’s favorite salad of Boston lettuce, mixed with roughly chopped parsley, chives, green onion and even mint. “I like to add spinach, frisee, julienned kale, and often, thinly sliced Persian cucumbers.” The more greens, from mellow or bitter, the better.

Her go-to dressing is “my daughter Nadia’s way,” with the juice of a fresh lime replacing, which she combines with two to four tablespoons of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. “It’s a very refreshing, flavorful salad with all the different herbs and the lime juice really brings out the flavors without contributing too much acid.”

Toned and glowing from a variety of daily workout routines, she is currently on the board of six environmental organizations and is working on a memoir. “It’s about what led me to become passionate about healthy food and lifestyle. I want people to take responsibility for their own health.”

Nora’s current favorite restaurants:
Estadio for contemporary Spanish
and Le Diplomate for French bistro fare, both are in Logan Circle.

SPICY LEMON GRASS STOCK
Ingredients:
5 lemon grass stalks, crushed and cut into 3-inch lengths
6-inch knob fresh ginger, sliced
1 bunch cilantro stems, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 jalapeno peppers, cut into half (with or without seeds to taste)
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon coriander seed
2 yellow onions, sliced
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
3 lemons, cut in half and squeezed (set aside
the juice; use oranges as substitute)
3 quarts cold water
2 cups white wine

Directions:
Place all the ingredients except lemon juice, water, and wine in a bowl and toss so that the oil is evenly distributed. Heat up a large saucepan to medium heat and add the ingredients, sautéing (sweating) about 3-4 minutes until the onions are translucent.

Add the liquids and bring the stock to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes.
Pour the stock through a strainer, pressing as much liquid as possible out of the vegetables. Discard vegetables.

What’s Cooking, Neighbor? visits with wine, food and entertaining professionals, who call the Georgetown area home.
Georgetowner dining columnist Walter Nicholls is the food critic for Arlington Magazine, a former staff writer for The Washington Post Food section and an East Village resident. [gallery ids="101373,153212,153209" nav="thumbs"]

Rachel Scola •

It’s been more than a year since Garrett’s, a beloved bar that catered to Georgetown students and citizens alike, closed its doors for the last time on M Street. Now, the location’s doors will reopen again in 2013, welcoming citizens to I-Thai Restaurant and Sushi Bar.

According to the Washington Post, the building is being remodeled and there are plans to have both a sushi bar and a drink bar on each floor, along with themes for each room. Owner Ann Chevasuttho is planning menus with sushi and Thai food but really hopes to focus on and bring authentic Thai cuisine to Georgetown, adding to the list of other Thai restaurants on the scene.

Chevasuttho owns two other Thai restaurants in Virginia already, which can be visited to see a sample of what is coming to Georgetown. However, Chevasuttho hopes the Georgetown location will have more of an upscale feel and can show its residents true Thai food.

I-Thai will be located at 3003 M St., NW, close to Sprinkles Cupcakes, with a November or December opening day forecasted.