A Night in Northern Thailand

We had read so much about Little Serow (pronounced arrow) that we decided to make a field trip with two of our food loving friends.  We thought that the threat of rain might temper the appetite of other foodies, but to our dismay there already was a line outside of this tiny restaurant when we arrived at 4:50 p.m. with raindrops falling.

Little Serow seats 28 - 8 at the bar and the rest at tables along the wall of this sea green  basement environment with low ceilings, an open kitchen and staff in “vintage” dress. The restaurant opens its doors at 5:30 p.m. and takes no reservations.  Everyone is served the same six courses. As we looked through umbrellas at the people ahead of us, we wondered how many were saving places for others yet to come.

Owned by Johnny Monis and his wife,  Anne Marler, the idea for this restaurant came from the time they spent in Northern Thailand after their wedding in 2011. This region of Thailand is not represented by our local Thai restaurants with their seafood dishes from the South or the coconut milk curries from central Thailand.

Since all the tables were now taken, we were guided to seats at the bar and were greeted warmly by our server who took us through the six course menu, explaining ingredients with great detail and enthusiasm.  The entire staff at Little Serow must take happy pills, and their smiles are infectious.

Our Singha beers arrived with a bowl of raw veggies (two radishes - watermelon and daikon -  cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, Thai basil and Thai eggplant) and a basket of sticky rice for dipping.  Each course was shared by the two of us and had a distinctive sauce or relish ready for our sticky rice.

First to arrive was a combination of diced mushrooms, tamarind and chilies to be spread and eaten on pork rinds. A light peppery flavor announced what was to come in other dishes.  

Tiny pieces of fried catfish, thinly sliced green mango and dried shrimp were next, and portions could be rolled in lettuce leaves or eaten with a spoon.   A very unusual dish  of sour fruit , shrimp paste and palm sugar came. This was followed by finely diced chicken livers with hot Thai peppers to be eaten on slices of cabbage. The tastes were complex and tongue tingling.

Crispy rice with sour pork and peanuts in a sweet and sour sauce arrived, followed by greens in a salted fish and egg sauce.  And finally the most memorable - melt in your mouth pork ribs with dill in a Mekong whisky sauce. 

Little Serow is a terrific food adventure.  No complicated menu or detailed research is required.  Sit back and enjoy each course. Although the small plates had enough for two or three bites per person, we all had very full stomachs as we left.

Range Restaurant

After viewing "The Internship" at Mazza Gallerie, a two hour ad for Google, we decided spontaneously to visit Range, Bryan Voltaggio's year-old restaurant across Wisconsin Avenue in the Chevy Chase Center.  Arriving at 7:15 p.m. we found the place to be half full; nevertheless the hostess directed us to the bar for a 15 minute wait before we could be seated at the counter in front of the "pasta and bread kitchen,"  one of the nine kitchen viewing stations that Range offers as entertainment during dinner.

Our tatooed bartender did make two delicious cocktails for us - Plymouth Bees Knees for Robin (gin and honey syrup concoction) and a Campari Negroni for me (yummy but not nearly as good as the Classico I had at Fiola last month).

To us, the restaurant decor was something out of 1970s California Pizza Kitchen. Light colors, comfy chairs, but without character.  There was considerable noise, but it always seemed to be "over there," and we were able to converse without any problem.

We noted that because of the "plate sharing" sizes (larger than the standard tapas plates), the menu prices seemed quite reasonable.  We started with  raw yellow tail tuna in a lime juice marinade with avocado puree. This was the best tuna I have ever tasted, and could  compete with any ahi tuna out there.

We substituted the bacon marmalade for pepper jelly to add to our jalapeno cheddar biscuits, and this was a brilliant spontaneous decision. (Range charges for its breads, but well worth the cost.) On the wine list we discovered a Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage for $16 and said "what the heck." It was a lovely picnic wine which opened up nicely throughout the rest of our dinner and was priced less than a typical restaurant corkage fee.  We had a nice chat with the sommelier, who said that he tries to price as many wines as he can close to wine store prices.

We shared the leg of lamb cooked over a wood fire-four nice-sized rare chunks of meat.    Robin had the  flash fried brussel sprouts while I enjoyed the creamy polenta.

For dessert we shared the goat cheese cake which arrived in four small pieces, beautifullly displayed over a bed of raspberry puree and accompanied with a spoon of Meyer lemon sorbet.

All this and in the 'hood too!

In-N-Out COSTCO

Earlier this month, our new local COSTCO opened in Wheaton, MD, a short ten minute drive from our house.  So today Robin and I implemented a new shopping strategy at the home of the very large shopping cart and even larger American Express charge.

We entered the store at 10:12 a.m., acquired three items, checked out for less than $100 and were back in the  car at 10:18 a.m.

Hmmm, I think I will go to COSTCO for  bananas tomorrow morning.

Osher Life Learning Institute - Social Break-Through

I have been telling Robin that the social interaction in both of my classes is virtually non-existent - folks looking down at the table with non-expressive faces when one says "good morning" or "hello."  Total non-recognition and blank stares out of the class room is the norm.

Robin said that it was up to me to initiate and get things going.

So this week in my Einstein course, it went like this:

Peter (to the man at his right, who usually sleeps through the class)  - "I see your name is Tibor.  Is that an Israeli name?"

Tibor - "Why do you ask of me that?"

Peter - "Your name ends in "or' which is the same for some Israeli names."

Tibor - "I am from Hungary."

Peter - "Oh."

Tibor - " But I have lived in Israel."

Peter - "Do you have a nick-name?"

Tibor - "No, but when I was young some people called me Tibi."

Henry (sitting next to Tibor and wanting to join in on this delightful conversation) - "When I was in my twenties, I was called Hank."

Tibor - "Why Hank? Is that a nick-name?"

Hank - Silence, puzzled look.

Peter - "When I was in my teens, they called me Pete."

Tibor - "I have a son whose name is Daniel; I call him Dan."

Class then resumes.

Cheeseburger Creep

I have been obsessing about trying Palena’s cheeseburger for months.  This burger has received so many accolades, and it can be found only minutes from our house on Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park.  Robin encouraged me to bring closure to this food distraction, so we went to Palena for an early dinner.   

I had eyes only for the cheeseburger when the menu appeared.  A 7 ounce angus patty with a 60/40 fat ration is not lean beef.  When a slice of sottocenere al tartufo cheese (off white mild cheese with truffles) is added to the ground beef with a schmear of garlic mayo and placed inside a brioche roll, you have quite an edible treat.

We asked if french fries came with the burger, and our server said ,”No, only a garnish of a curried cauliflower floret, a quarter slice of roasted beet, and a slice of a designer pickle.” 

So we decided to split a caesar salad with organic romaine as a first        -$13 - kaching.

A glass of a delicious Bordeaux (perhaps from Weygandt next door)        - $12 - kaching.

A glass of deep plum Cote du Rhone                                                     - $13 - kaching.

Two cheeseburgers                                                                              - $28 - kaching

Tax and tip                                                                                          - $20 - kaching

$86 to resolve an obsession.  Cheaper than therapy.

I think McDonalds has cheeseburgers on its dollar menu next month.

The Short Schmooze - Part III

In a new book, Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes From the House That Herring Built,  by Mark Russ Federman, a grandson of the founder of the Lower East Side purveyor of smoked fish,  etc. he comments on the art of schmoozing from the perspective of a shop owner:

"The perfect shmooze must be a seamless resumption of your last conversation, even if the customer's last visit was six months ago. A truly great schmoozer will attempt to bring other customers into the schmooze.  When two or more customers are introduced into the schmooze, they are likely to discover things they have in common.  You are either born a schmoozer or you're not. "  Federman goes on to note:  "The schmoozing gene will soon be mapped."

DC Restaurant Week (RW)

Robin and I thought it would be fun to sample a couple of restaurants we hadn’t been to yet,  so we selected Ris (for lunch) and Mintwood Place (for dinner).  We were aware of all of the problems with RW - hard to get reservations, over-crowding, rushed service, skeletal menus, and a move ‘em in, move ‘em out mentality.  Nevertheless, we made our reservations and hoped for the best.

Ris has a beautiful interior of beige and dark brown colors, comfortable wooden chairs, some with different backs, a few wooden “farm tables” without tablecloths, and attractive but not distracting art on the wall.  The decor has a distinct Asian feel.  The long rectangular restaurant is broken up into several rooms and this offers a more intimate and reserved dining experience.  Sound levels were moderate.

The RW menu, however, did little to show off the skills of the chef.  Except for Robin’s appetizer, a lovely mousse of smoked trout and creme fraiche - as well as a complex take on rice pudding that Robin also chose - the offerings were pretty boring.  My starter was a pleasant clam chowder.  Robin had salmon with a mustard crust, which we do very well at home; and I was persuaded by our waiter to sample the duck confit, which was too crusty and lacked any real flavor.  The other main course was ho- hum fried scallops.  For the other dessert there was a choice of chocolate bread pudding and home made ice cream and sorbet.  Finally the wait staff, although friendly was a bit under-whelming as they flubbed a request for additional bread and forgot to remove crumbs from the table after each course.  We did get plenty of water refills, though!

Mintwood Place on a Thursday evening was energized even at the time of our 6:00 p.m. reservation. There is a large bar space with small tables as you enter, and one has a view of the open kitchen in the back.  Sounds bounce off the tin walls and wooden ceiling in the back as well as the stressed wainscoating walls and tin ceiling in the front.  Comfort is the key here; please feel at home - stay as long as you want and enjoy the vibe.

Our menu at Mintwood Place was quite interesting.  We started with an ”extra,” their escargot hush puppies, for $11.00.  The idea is clever, but hush puppies are hush puppies, and Robin thought that a half order would have sufficed.  When I reminded her that she and I did split an order, she corrected herself to one-quarter order because of the fried, heavy batter, which disguised the escargot.  The main attraction was their version of a ranch dressing dipping sauce.

For first, Robin selected the smoked potato, sunchoke and mussel chowder, which was so good that she refused to share it with me.  I had a delicious salad of burrata, flash-fried kale (reminiscent of Rasika’s signature spinach dish), hazelnuts, apple, and tamarind.  Our waiter recommended another popular dish for our main course:  roasted pork for two, with braised lentils and potato gratin.  A delicious charcutiere sauce came with the pork.  The portion was so large that we took home another full dinner in a paper box.  With our waiter’s help we chose an affordable Cote du Rhone, a 2010 Domaine Sainte Eugenie, a  mix  of syrah, granache and carignan grapes.  It went perfectly with our meal.  We ended with baked Alaska (for me) and pecan pie with creme fraiche for Robin.

This was  delicious meal; our dining experience was excellent; and we will return.

The Short Schmooze - continued

Sofitel swimming pool - Phnom Penh - January 25 - 3:00 p.m.

Peter (to unknown caucasian in pool) - " How's the water?"

Caucasian - "Great, where you from?"

Peter - "Washington, DC, just finishing up a three week trip beginning in Luang Prabang."

Caucasian - "DC, hmm, do you know the law firm, Collier Shannon & Scott?  I was President of a Hawaiian pineapple company in 1996, and they saved our business from Dole's predatory import prices of Thai pineapples."

Peter - " Are you kidding me? My wife was a  partner in that firm and that same practice group."

And so it goes . . . . .