Ideas for St. Patrick?

The Feast of Saint Patrick is just a week away!

I'm thinking about planning a little St. Patrick's Day party for after the National Symphony concert that night, kind of a late night supper with a little Irish whiskey and stuff, all with authentic Irish food, of course.

And then, as I was looking at my calendar, it occured to me that St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday this year. A Friday in Lent. Eh. That's a problem. What are we supposed to eat? Corned fish and cabbage?

I need some menu idea help, guys! Let's do some brainstorming and come up with a St. Patrick's Day dinner menu that meets the Church's requirements for meatless Fridays in Lent. That means no corned beef, no mutton stew, no boxty with bacon.

And, for those of you in D.C., are there any decent places to get Irish food? We've been to Sin é in Arlington at Pentagon Row, but they don't exactly have an authentic Irish menu there. We're looking for restaurants, not bars that will be packed with thousands of drunken college boys. Last year, we couldn't even get in the doors of any place with a remotely Irish sounding name. Restaurants aren't my preference, but it might have to be my fall-back position.

So, menu suggestions?

Sala Thai, Washington, D.C.

The Sala Thai at Dupont Circle was the site tonight for our "eating for charity" expedition as my friend Steven and I participated in the "Dining Out for Life" fundraiser. This is an annual fundraiser for D.C.'s Food and Friends, where participating restaurants contribute 25% or more of their evening's revenues to the charity that feeds sick and homebound patients.

Sala Thai is a popular local chain that always features good food and standard service, placing it solidly in the pack of similar Thai restaurants at the same price point. The Dupont Circle location is pleasantly decorated in a modern American design with modernistic art works on the wall which echo aspects of traditional Thai culture. The menu features all of the standard Thai dishes we have come to expect in the D.C. area, and they clearly set forth their substantial vegetarian selections on the first page-plus of the menu.



Steven started off with a watercress soup that looked quite delicious. Lots of watercress plus sliced scallions and cooked ground pork floated in a clear pork broth.

For our salad courses, he had the yum nua or beef salad, featuring lots of pieces of grilled beef, and I had the green papaya salad with a mound of shredded papaya and other vegetables with long green beans and peanuts. Both salads were lightly spices and tasted of lime juice, garlic, and Thai chili pepper.




I had the most interesting kee mao j for my main course. This is a noodle dish made with inch-and-a-half wide rice noodles laid in careful strips on the bottom of the plate and then covered with a mixture of stir-fried cruciferous and other vegetables and pieces of deep-fried tofu. It was very tasty, though the design necessitated eating the vegetables and tofu first and then the rice noodles last, and I would have preferred a slightly less sweet sauce. Steven had a dish called "wild pork," with pieces of pork stewed with tomato wedges, strips of red bell pepper, and basil leaves, served with white steamed rice. I sampled a tomato wedge and it was nicely flavored and scented with basil.




There were lots of other interesting things on the menu, including a long dessert list, and Sala Thai has a licensed full bar. Overall the restaurant is comfortable, the service adequte, and the food consistent with other major local Thai places. Give it a try.

University Club, Washington, D.C.

Oh, the shame! Last night we were asked to leave Washington's exclusive, private University Club.

Why? Because Svet was wearing blue jeans.

I suspect also that since we'd been there nearly two hours without complaint that he came to management's attention because he kept wandering around our private dining room (visible to the main club rooms through windows) with his surgically-attached PDA/phone to his ear, and the Club has a strict no-cell-phone rule (there are signs everywhere). So, no matter how wonderful I looked or how well-dressed our investors with whom we'd been meeting, the Club just could not abide a cell phone user in blue jeans. I'm so embarrassed now I shan't be able to show my face at the Club for the rest of the month.

I've not written a "review" of the food at the University Club before; I don't know that yesterday's visit will be much help. None of us were eating and we just drank coffee (the espresso machine wasn't cranked up yet) and bottled Italian mineral water. The other guys smoked cigars. Svet, however, ordered a cheeseburger and French fries, all washed down with a big glass of tomato juice. I was too busy talking to think to sample his food or even discuss it with him. When it arrived, I recall seeing a good sized bun with an unusually thick hamburger patty that was around a full inch thick; the rest of the plate was mounded with thick, golden French fries. The next thing I knew, the waiter was taking away the empty plate. We'll have to assume that the burger was good, since Svet is rather a particular eater and wouldn't have finished it were it not suitably adequate. I don't mean to damn the food with faint praise, it's just that I wasn't eating or paying attention to the food yesterday (not to mention I'm still being vegetarian for Lent).

Otherwise, our abruptly truncated meeting went well, and I think we were just about done anyway when we were ejected.

I wonder if Svet is going to wear blue jeans today?

Three little pigs

Three Little Pigs went out to dinner one night. The waiter came and took their drink order. "I would like a Sprite," said the first little piggy.

"I would like a Coke," said the second little piggy.

"I want beer, lots and lots of beer," said the third little piggy.

The drinks were brought out and the waiter took their orders for dinner. "I want a nice big steak," said the first piggy.

"I would like the salad plate," said the second piggy.

"I want beer, lots and lots of beer," said the third little piggy.

The meals were brought out and a while later the waiter approached the table and asked if the piggies would like any dessert. "I want a banana split," said the first piggy.

"I want a root beer float," said the second piggy.

"I want beer, lots and lots of beer," exclaimed the third little piggy.

"Pardon me for asking," said the waiter to the third little piggy," but why have you only ordered beer all evening?"

The third piggy said, "Well, somebody has to go 'Wee, wee, wee, all the way home!' "

The West Wing set, Washington, D.C.

Yesterday I was privileged to be an extra in the filming for the final series episode of The West Wing, which was in town for the weekend doing on-location shooting. I was on the set for about ten hours, and in between scenes we had lots of time for chatting in the canteen with other cast members and eating both lunch and dinner from the excellent on-location caterers. I wish I knew the name of the caterers—if I find out, I'll edit this post to include the name.

While both meals were completely different, they had in common a huge selection of salads, two or three simple vegetables, three or four pasta dishes, and entrees of beef, chicken, fish, and something vegetarian. Several cakes and tarts, plus sliced fresh fruit selections, were on the dessert table. Lunch had the larger crowd and more elaborate menu, including a carving station with a roast baron of beef and two different types of shrimp salads.

In addition to the lunch and dinner buffets, in another area they maintained all day long multiple tables of hot and cold beverages, all kinds of snack foods, chips, nuts, dried fruits, bagels and cream cheese, muffins, and even the fixings for simple, self-made sandwiches. Out on the set, assistants wandered around bearing bottled water, espresso, and even trays of grapes, berries, cheese cubes, and tiny pastries.

The cast and crew at these things certainly never go hungry!