The Post Pub, Washington, D.C.

Just around the corner from the Washington Post offices is a little pub called the Post Pub, a place said to cater to the journalistic crowd from the Post and others. Friday, Kevin and I went there for lunch, but we didn't see anyone famous. Of course, I could have seen a really famous reporter there, but I have no clue what any of them look like.

Kevin got a hot pastrami sandwich with chips (thick cut French fries) and a little cup of cole slaw. It looked really good, and had an ample quantity of meat on the grilled rye bread.

I got one of the daily specials, the fish and chips, it being Friday and all. The fish serving was small (but it wasn't an expensive dish), and I was a little disappointed that there was no malt vinegar for the fish (it's an English tradition), but otherwise it was good. The tartar sauce was interestingly full of vegetables and not the standard pickle relish. I found the cole slaw to be interestingly hot and spicy.

For dessert, we each had a piece of carrot cake. The cake was okay, though a little on the oily side. It had lots and lots of raisins in it. I suspect the cake had been held for a while, since our decorative carrots on the icing had sort of melted into the top.


It being Halloween and all, they were serving Vampire's Kisses and Blue Zombies from the bar. We weren't drinking, but the cocktails looked fun.

Dirksen Senate Cafeteria, Washington, D.C.

We had Senate bean soup, cornbread, and birthday cake (for Przemek) tonight for dinner, inspired by my lunch this week in the Dirksen Senate Office Building cafeteria. It's long been a tradition in the Senate that Senate bean soup is on the menu every day.

I "discovered" the "secret" that distinguishes Senate bean soup from just any old average navy bean soup. Well, it's not really a secret....I hear there are a number of recipes out on the Internet that disclose it. What they do in the Senate kitchens is that once the beans are cooked and done, they thicken the soup by adding instant mashed potato flakes!

My lunch on the Hill was fairly simple. I had a slice of pepperoni pizza, a big side of macaroni and cheese (delicious!), steamed broccoli, and a large fountain drink. My colleagues both had reuben sandwiches, one with a green salad, and the other with fresh strawberries and pineapple chunks plus a container of jalapeño poppers; both got soft drinks. Eating in the Senate cafeterias is not cheap—these simple meals cost about $32 for the three of us.

I wanted to take pictures, but there were signs up in the cafeteria that specifically prohibited taking photographs of the food!

A few months ago, the Washington Post reported that the Senate was going to privatize their cafeterias. There's no evidence that the transition has taken place as yet.

Fellowcraft night

We passed seven new Fellowcrafts at Federal tonight. And yet I was actually home before 11!

Dinner was boring tonight, but everybody ate it all. I was feeling depressed and unmotivated today, so I didn't even have any plans specifically in mind until I went to the grocery store this afternoon. We ended up with lasagne (plus one pan of meatless lasagne), country style green beans (you know, the kind that simmers on the back of the stove for several hours and has ham and butter and onion and bacon in it?), garlic bread, a big green salad, and store-bought key lime pie. Simple and boring. I cooked for 36, thinking we'd have maybe 28, but we had about 42 or 43 show up for dinner. Those who showed up more than half an hour late for dinner didn't get any lasagne, and I was having to fight off people coming back for seconds as it was.