Exchange, Ltd.

We went to a place called Exchange, Ltd., just around the corner from the Old Executive Office Building for dinner. It's a "saloon and lounge" with an attached dining room. Eugene had a bowl of the clam chowder du jour, which looked pretty normal. Svet had a strip steak topped with grilled onions and served with a side of cheese fries, which he said was good. I had a hamburger with blue cheese and grilled onions and a side of French fries. It was very tasty, though I thought the thick burger was cooked more than the medium I had requested. The food is okay here, and it's a simple place, but this establishment is mainly a downtown bar.

Harry's Tap Room, Arlington VA

Forgot to mention our brunch Sunday morning at Harry's Tap Room in Arlington. Svet and I were meeting friends of his, and while we waited for everyone to arrive, we sat in the bar cocktailing. I had a bloody Mary; it came in a tall pilsner glass; it was garnished with enough vegetables to make a complete salad, including a foot-long stalk of leafy celery, a jumbo olive, a cocktail onion, and a cherry pepper, plus a wedge of lime. Once everyone had arrived, we were escorted to the upstairs dining room with a lovely view of Clarendon Boulevard and all the shoppers.

I ordered a Cobb salad, which was made of an unusual assortment of greens including bitter greens like curly endive, and had large fingers of panko-breaded chicken strips on top, served in an unusual bowl with the rim on the sharp diagonal. The greens were pre-tossed in a tasty, creamy bleu cheese dressing, allowing the toppings to remain unhidden by dressing for the presentation. Svet had an individually wrapped baked brie en croute accompanied by a mound of red grapes. Svet's two friends both had different variations on eggs Benedict, one an "original" (though they used shaved ham instead of the "original" Canadian bacon) and the other using a lot of smoked salmon as the meat, both accompanied by little square bowls of creamy grits. The serving plates for the Benedicts were very interesting: they looked rather like a large bow tie. We also got a big basket of assorted biscuits and muffins including some delicious blueberry muffins and some scones or biscuits I thought looked like they were full of raisins but turned out to be chocolate chips. I liked this place, and I'm looking forward to returning.

Dukem, Washington, D.C.

As they continue their whirlwind tour of D.C., my friend Joe and his family decided to be brave and stretch their culinary horizons, and wanted to try Ethiopean cuisine, something which isn't available in their home state of Florida. We made plans to eat at Dukem on U Street, which I've always thought was one of the very best Ethiopean restaurants in the District. I showed up at the appointed time, however, and found only Joe and his daughter Mary; the teenaged boys decided that Ethiopean was too weird, especially since there was some basketball game on television last night that they could watch in their hotel suite at the Hamilton.

So, it was just the three of us.

We had our waitress Yodit select our foods, since I've always found that to be the best way to introduce "Ethiopean food virgins" to the wonderful cuisine. While we waited, she brought us glasses of tej, a very sweet Ethiopean wine made from honey, very similar to European mead.



Our food arrived on a big sheet of injera, the traditional Ethiopean bread made of sourdough from teff flour, served on a big platter for everyone at the table to share. You can also see a plate of folded injera, which we would later use to pick up and eat our food—Ethiopeans don't use silverware!

I wish I knew what all the food names were, but we had several beef dishes, some lamb, some chicken, some cheese, some lentils, and a whole bunch of different vegetables. It's all good, some mild, some hot and spicy, and I've always found the foods at Dukem to be very artfully prepared and delicious.

We also had a nice visit, and I'm looking forward to Mary's next visit to D.C. without the kids.

I Ricchi, Washington, D.C.

This weekend my friend Joe is in town from Florida, bringing with him one of his daughters and three of his grandsons to Washington so they can see the sights. They graciously invited me to join them for dinner tonight, and we had reservations at Christianne Ricchi's place, I Ricchi, just south of Dupont Circle. Ordinarily I don't think of the elegant I Ricchi as a "family" place, but tonight I noticed not only Joe's family, but two other tables with older children.

I Ricchi has taken a ground-floor office building space and converted it into an Italian trattoria, complete with open kitchen. Walls are painted stucco-yellow and the art and decor tastefully evoke a comfortable yet upscale Italian feel. Tables and chairs are big and comfortable, but closely spaced, as the restaurant is usually full and buzzing, as it was tonight.

After bringing the three of us legal adults glasses of wine, our obviously Italian waiter took everyone's orders, and I followed the family's lead in ordering an appetizer and a main course. It was a little hard to chat with five other people and take food notes at the same time, so I'll have to concentrate on my food and then try to recall what the others ate.

I started with the polenta tartufata ai funghi farciti, a nicely done timbale of polenta (think Italian cornmeal mush) scented with truffles and surrounded with sauteed sliced wild mushrooms brightened with splashes of balsamic vinegar. A bright strip of roasted red pepper lay across the top of the polenta as a garnish. Joe had the zuppa di fagioli bianchi, a thick, rich white bean soup, and the others shared a couple of caprese salads (slices of tomato and fresh mozzarella with fresh basil leaves and olive oil).

I chose the large veal t-bone steak as my main course. It was a very thick steak, nicely grilled to the requested medium rare. It came with some al dente green beans and mushrooms and a unique chunk of deep fried polenta. Joe had the risotto del giorno, which tonight was a shrimp risotto; his daughter had the spiedino di mare, a skewer of enormous grilled shrimp with peppers and onions; the middle grandson had the bistecca all'arrabbiata, which was a big thick New York strip steak; and I didn't hear exactly what the other two grandsons got, but they were both pastas.

We shared a bottle of Sant' Elena pinot grigio with the main course, and it was a nice wine with the food.

It was fun talking with the family, hearing their comments about the museums they'd seen, and trying to explain some of the additional important sights and locations of key restaurants. They are going to have a busy Sunday if they are going to hit all the highlights! Of course, with Washington, one can play tourist for weeks and never have to repeat a museum or monument.