Decided to try this place again. This place has a cool vibe and there is always a young, modern crowd. It is a bit of a place to be seen, but we are here for the food. Got to sit at the bar upstairs on a nice cool fall afternoon. They had the roll-up doors open today.

We shared the nachos, Buffalo shrimp taco, and a steak taco. All the food was very fresh and flavorful. Fresh jalapeños on everything (so good). The nachos had a queso base with fresh corn, pico, guacamole, and pinto beans. Chips were home made. Nice dish. I had the steak taco. Well seasoned meat, fresh and light. The shrimp was nicely seasoned and not too heavily breaded. Blue cheese was a perfect amount too.

This is not your comfort food style Mexican restaurant. The chef is putting out interesting flavorful food. This is definitely one of the good places.

A bit of a nice find in a city with some marginal Mexican food. This is a Jose Andres restaurant. I didn’t know that in advance of dining here but after the first taste of my ice tea I knew this place was special.

We sat outside on 7th street. The weather was perfect and it wasn’t very crowded. The host said their menu was “coming” back. We hear that a lot for restaurants. This is the normal dining post Covid right now.

The menu was full of wonderful items though. We shared the following:

Cheviche con Citros – stripped bass, pineapple, a little spice – life changing experience. Onions, celantro, citrus, and pineapple pair perfectly together. Not too much acid. Balanced.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts – Perfect – Rebecca cleaned her plate.

Fish taco – lightly breaded, fresh crema – any good mexican restaurant does a nice fish taco. Many places over do it. This was an excellent light fish taco. They get it here.

Mushroom taco – heat, firm mushrooms, home made bbq

Frijoles – refried beans stuffed with cheese and fresh sour cream – OMG. Not heavy as well. Very light. Beans were a little dry but the cream balanced that.

Open and surviving in DC. Most Covid rule compliant place I know to watch a Nat’s game. Beer changes frequently. Decent grill.

http://www.thebrigdc.com/

Surprising find! Excellent flavor profile in the little bit we tried. Lil Nikkis are pizza dough puff pasties in a parmesan garlic butter sauce with a side of marinara. We had a custom pizza with kalamata olives and mushrooms. Thin crust.

The crust was cooked perfectly on the pizza. It was lite and crispy. The salt of the olives and mushrooms blended perfectly with the marinara. Small was enough for sharing. The pizza was so good we got the Nikkis.

The Nikkis were amazing. Light and crispy. Garlic parmesan butter was all these needed. They were like savory funnel cakes. The marinara was not needed for these. Marinara was a little sweet and a slight amount of salt would have been good.

Definitely a rare random find. Best pizza I’ve had in months.

It is very interesting traveling and watching the states and cities reopen. Reopening is all over the map and quite frankly a bit chaotic. I’ve been to bars where masks are not worn and have been to strict establishments where they sanitize everything and socially distance their staff and guests. As a traveler, I’ve always kept my distance and never deviated in my approach to going out during this “thing.” I’ve never felt unsafe. I’ve just been curious and shocked by the human behavior I witnessed. (note: much like “he who must not be named” from HP, I refuse to say anything more about what we are going through as a “thing.”)

The one thing I am convinced of is people need to go out. In the US at least we are not built to be home bodies for this long. This is why the service industry is so huge here. We need to experience things. Going out socially validates us somehow.

That being said, I’m stunned at what I’ve witnessed recently in my travels. From grown adults doing multiple shots and being loud at bars in Fort Wayne to hugs between adult friends they haven’t seen in months. I think I can understand this. I’m not going to lie, it is nice seeing something familiar when I travel after months of living and eating in hotel rooms without maid service. I feel society has had enough and people can’t control themselves right now. Ugh.

I’ve been on the road during this “thing” so I never had that much isolation I suppose. My normal didn’t change much. It just changed where I ate and stayed. However as a traveler through all this I am aware of what I’m witnessing and it doesn’t feel right or good.

From a social study perspective, I’m not sure what Im seeing. History will explain and study this some day. Right now my family is my judge and check for me. When my Jersey family is happy with the way things are, I will be. Until then I’ll continue to observe and be distant as best as I can.

It has been a while since I wrote about anything. Dining out is such a part of my life, when forced to find an alternate way of dining, this was not an easy time period to be motivated to write about food.

Today was the first day I ate out socially in weeks. I ate at Sayulita in Ocala, FL. The food is solid and I have been finding my way through the menu since I’ve been in FL. This also happens to be the last place I ate at before the #quarantine.

This post is not about today’s meal.

Dining during the #quarantine has been quite an experience. I support local restaurants as much as I can. However I found the carry out experience not all that satisfying sometimes. Cooking became a focus and preparing my own meals showed me how little I know about food preparation (Reminder: learn how to cook better).

I have learned that for me, food is a social experience as much as it is about the food. I find a romance about the hustle and operation of a good restaurant. I am curious if these favorite places of mine will be around when there is a “normal” again to life.

Sadly, I think many small independent restaurants won’t survive. I see the chain restaurants enduring this. I’m hoping the entrepreneurs out there aren’t disheartened by this and come back. In the meantime I will continue to support local.

He said: My guys love this place. Family run and small. Menu has tons of traditional dishes. They serve a variety of beverages, mainly Mexican cola and beer.

Salsa is fresh made, simple and slightly sweet. They serve it in a bowl. They must know I like salsa by the gallon. The cheese dip is creamy but one of the best for flavor.

I had two tostadas. Chicken and Steak. All the meat is very tender and flame grilled. The tostadas were very traditional. Little more crema then I like but very satisfying. The steak was so well seasoned, Id eat that on anything (steak salads!).

She said: Not a lot of choices for a vegetarian, but what there is, is delicious. And made fresh because they were able to make the vegetarian burrito without the onions.

The guacamole is also simple but fantastic. Visible cilantro and a bit of other flavoring. Fewer ingredients is better in my opinion.

A+

Classic old school seafood restaurant. Caters to the snow birds. Fish and shrimp was flavorful. Meals include salads and sides (such as baked potatoes). Decent stop for travelers passing through town. Service was excellent. Clearly a family run establishment.

Fantastic fish and chips! Get the chips extra crispy and ask for extra tarter! This is a must stop for anyone in the area.

This place has a lot of Las Vegas flash fire and noise. Servers and hosts were well trained and pros at their jobs. This is a dinner and show. The place feels like you were on tv show.

The food was well prepared and tasteful. Every bite we had was better then the last. This place lives up to the hype.

Apps: Wagyu Beef Meatballs and Lobster Risotto. Two different well prepared apps. Meatballs were in a red sauce with melted cheese. Risotto was perfectly made. Lobster was flavorful. Winner – Risotto

Entree: Our table was split between the Beef Wellington and the Filet. All meat was perfectly cook. The sauce smears on the plates were flavorful but not over powering. The Wellington had a crisp flaky cover. Never having one before it was difficult for me to know how to eat it to get all the flavors in one bite. Winner – Beer Wellington

Sides: Mac an Cheese and Corn Queso. Mac and Cheese had a nice smoky flavor. Rich but you still wanted more. Corn had a jalapeño aioli and some citrus. Refreshing. Winner – Mac and Cheese

Desert was on the house. It was their Sticky Toffee Pudding. This was more like a non-dense brownie the pudding. Flavor explosions with every bite. Toffee sauce was awesome. Not a mushy dish. This didn’t last long.

The portions aren’t large but we were left full and satisfied. This food had a lot going on. Complex but not complicated. Everything was blended together perfectly. Good job Chefs