Nicaro - Closing??

In case you were heading to Nicaro for dinner tonight, or tomorrow, or anytime in the next couple weeks, think again. As of today, June 29, Nicaro will be closed for "2 weeks." I added the quotes since I am a bit dubious about the mid-July re-opening.

Word on the street is that head chef, Pedro Matamoros, is heading west. Well, not too far west, Ramsay Ave in SS. Pedro is working to open a new place where Teddy's previously served the best roti in town. You do know roti, right? It's that fab West Indian griddle-cooked flat bread traditionally served with a curry dish of potato mixed with seafood or meat.

I've actually never had, but it does sound interesting. You may know Teddy's as a previous incarnation, the Luau Hut, which was recently featured on the award winning Silver Spring Singular. However, Pedro's new restaurant is not scheduled to open till the Fall.

Supposedly, a new ownership group will be re-opening 8229 Georgia Ave. However I don't want to say Nicaro will be re-opening since that really won't be happening. It looks like when the doors do re-open, Nicaro staff will be in place, but perhaps just to train new servers and cooks, maybe? It's all pretty uncertain at the moment. However what is certain is that the Nicaro we knew and loved (at least I did) has shut its doors. What's to come at 8229 Georgia and at 8407 Ramsay is a mystery. Stay tuned. If I find out more I'll let you know.

Buy Local Block Party

In my efforts to encourage folks to buy local produce, meats, etc, I wanted to help get word out about an event taking place on Sunday, June 28 from 1-4:00 PM in (or at?) Arts Alley, right next to Mayorga Coffee at 8030 Georgia Ave called the Buy Local Block Party.

While there won't be many food vendors at the event, it does look like something worth checking out. Moorenko will be there to cool everyone down with its wonderful ice cream and if that doesn't work for you Hook and Ladder will be out pouring their finest brews. You'll no doubt see me in that line. I may have to break out my rather large German beer stein for the afternoon.

You'll be able to enjoy your sweets and brews accompanied by some Afro beat hip hop sounds - I won't even attempt to comment on this since I absolutely know nothing about it - and then later a couple DJ's from the good folks at Roadhouse Oldies will likely be spinning some old school vinyl.

In addition, Pyramid Atlantic will be there, also portrait sketching, yoga demos, and our own Jerry McCoy regaling folks with stories of SS history.

It's undoubtedly an event not to be missed. See you there.

Back in the states, but...

not yet back in SoCo. Had one day back in the hood - ate some great crayfish (thanks Eric) - but then had to head to Ithaca, NY first thing Monday morning. Drag! So since I wanted to do a new post, I figured I'd do one highlighting a really good little Korean place here in Ithaca (specifically Collegetown) called KoKo.

I've been there a few times now and always look forward to sinking my teeth into one of their sizzling hot pots. But, before you get to your entree, KoKo - like many other Korean restaurants - provides a few different panchan (small dishes served gratis before your entree). Tonight, I got kimchee, some pickled zucchini, bean sprouts, some interesting cold potato cubes, and a sizzling egg. Yum! I wish I could add sound because this bad boy was really sizzling when it hit the table. First time I ever had anything like it. I waited a few minutes before I ate it and the egg had pretty much cooked and was surrounded by a wonderfully seasoned broth.

And since I don't eat Korean all the time, I typically forget about the panchan. Tonight was no different and of course I had also ordered an appetizer. I don't really regret it, but all total it was a lot of food. The app was a wheat flour pancake filled with kim chi. Again really nice, served with a soy-style sauce. Add some hot sauce and I was in good shape. Fortunately I had plenty of water and another reason I like this place, I was able to bring in my own beer. I walked down the street from Ko Ko to a kinda dumpy little convenience store, but they really have a good beer selection. Maybe 'cause it's a college town? Maybe 'cause I'm used to the ultra-lame selection at our County stores? Either way I walked out with a big bottle of Blanche de Chambly, a white ale from Quebec. Tasty.

Once done with my pancake, and some of my panchan, I was ready to dig into my sizzling hot pot. You can choose from 3 kinds - seafood, meat, or vegetarian. Given the amount of meat I had consumed on my vacation, I opted for the veggie route. Two days in a row for me now. Not bad. So this one was filled with tiny cubes of tofu, carrots, zucchini, onions with a raw egg dropped in the middle. Of course since it's a hot pot, the egg does get cooked. Don't worry. All the veggies are sitting on a mound of rice which because of the sizzling hot pot stays warm and the rice on the bottom gets this nice crispy texture. You actually have to jab the rice with your chopsticks to pry it off the bottom. Love it when you need to do that.

So if you have reason to be in Ithaca - it is pretty this time of year - and you get a hankering for Korean try Ko Ko. I'm not saying it's the best, because it is a bit of a dive, but I have certainly found they serve some tasty dishes. Once you're done you can walk down the hill a bit to the Chapter House and get your beer on.

And I will give a plug for the DC Korean vendor on the corner of L and 14th streets (SE corner). Try them out; you won't be disappointed. I know there's plenty of good Korean places in No Va, but if you don't feel like hauling your ass over the Potomac and you're already in the city, try out this mom and son vendor.

Eating the Adriatic

OK, another non SoCo post since I'm still away from home. I felt compelled to write about two fabulous meals that we had on the beach of the Adriatic. The restaurant, Ciaschi, is located in a small seaside town called Grottammare. There is a long boardwalk in town and while it was a little early in the year when we visited, I imagine the town gets pretty full during the summer months.

Now I cannot comment on anyplace else in Grottammare because our only two meals were at Ciaschi. We had dinner one night and it was so good, we had to go back for lunch the next day before heading south to Abruzzo.

Ciaschi, as one might expect, is a seafood restaurant--and man, do they know how to do seafood well. It is mainly prepared in a simple fashion to let the natural taste of the fish shine through. Given the amount of food we consumed during our visits, I'll only focus on a few things. But rest assured, on the taste scale the dishes we tried fell between very good and excellent. (Socoblogirl adds: the other draw here is the owner/chef, Antonio. He is so enthusiastic and proud of his local cuisine. He brought out raw fish to show us what we were eating, and bragged about the local catch. So charming!)

I assume the creature below may look familiar to folks who live in or near Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay, but these were not anything like our blue crabs. These crabs, granchi, were much smaller and as you might expect, containing less meat, but they were so sweet; incredible. Part of the wonder of this dish stemmed from the spicy olive oil sauce in which it came. The crabs themselves were pan fried in olive oil and then presented as you see them in the sauce. Fab!

Another highlight of the meal came before the main course, lightly fried squid legs with oil, parsley, and tomatoes with what seems to be a local delicacy, fried jumbo olives. We had them the night before and they were stuffed with a mix of beef and pork, but since this is a seafood spot, theirs were stuffed with fish. Scrumptious. And I know fried squid legs is not something extraordinary to find, but these were very fresh and having them with toms, parsley, and oil did make them different from at least what I was used to.

And how could I write a post about an Italian restaurant, even if seafood is its specialty, and not mention the pasta. Here at Ciaschi they served us spaghetti with roe and little lobsters (more like shrimp for us) in olive oil. Again, a straightforward dish done very well.

While I won't post more pics, other dishes in our dining extravaganza included cold marinated salmon, alici (anchovies), mussels, turbot, skewers of grilled fish, and a couple Adriatic oysters (ostriche) which were briny, clean, and really gave you a taste of the sea. I'll also mention a lot of white wine was consumed, making everything taste even better.

The owner, Antonio, says because the Adriatic is not as deep as the Atlantic, the fish are more flavorful. After that meal, how could I argue?

Dinner and lunch in Cossignano

Settling in to the Italian countryside. We are in Le Marche. Found a fabulous ristorante called Castello de Marte, run by a young guy named Fabio - no, not him. Our guy buttons his shirt.

This is a tiny little village. Some older Italians are chilling in the square drinking whiskey and playing cards. Is this what older Americans would be doing if we had a real social safety net and a younger retirement age? I'd like to find out.

Anyway, back to the food. Since it's the closest place to our lodging, we dined here for dinner last night and then again for lunch today. Have consumed a lot of cured meats, asparagus - very much in season - and of course pasta! All washed down with some local wine. I'll be sending some of this home to SoCo.

If you are ever near here, I would heartily recommend you make your way over to see Fabio. Mixing countries, our dinner last night was all omakase. We ordered nothing, but everything came. I think we had 5 starters. It was pretty incredible. Our only choice was which wine to drink. It's nice not have to give too much thought to where you'll eat and then what to order. It was very much appreciated.

This is ideal. I think it's nap time. Ciao.

Early Summer Break - back in 3 weeks

I hope the flag to the left gives you an indication of where I am heading later today. I see much cured meats, vino and pasta in my future.

My wife and I are celebrating a significant wedding anniversary so we're heading across the pond. In addition to eating, I guess we'll do some sightseeing, and visiting some of my family who live in Abruzzo.

And once done there, we move on for the second half of the trip. We'll undoubtedly continue our gastronomic journey eating probably the best pork on earth, paella, fresh seafood, and drinking more vino - but this time poured from high over our heads. There will certainly be a large dry cleaning bill for me once I get back to SoCo.

I plan to take many pictures of the delicacies we encounter. If I can blog while I am gone I'll do so, if not then upon my return. OK, behave yourselves. Ciao.

Long Live The Greek Place

Man, I was so over the Big Greek Cafe. It's time for something new and exciting at 8417 Georgia Ave. And that new and exciting dining spot is: The Greek Place. Now open for business.

So for those jonesing for gyros, hummus, or falafel, you can now get your fix. Well you probably could have before at Lebanese Taverna. But if you specifically need a Greek fix, you're now in luck.

I was told the same hours, same food, same menu, but because of new owners they had to change the name.

Not sure yet exactly what happened on the ownership front. SS Singular reported in March that the Big Greek Cafe was being operated by the same family who have run the Golden Flame since like the 18th century. So I did a little searching on the website for the MD Dept of Assessments and Taxation. However, that provided little clarity.

It was odd. On Feb 16, 2009, a document was filed stating 8417 was now owned by the Big Greek, Inc. Then on April 16 a document was filed stating the trade name of 8417 Georgia Ave was the Big Greek Cafe. But says the president is Jose Carino. Then just last Tues (May 5), another document was filed stating the new name is Taqueria El Mexicano, owned by Carino. What?? The taqueria is certainly long gone. What gives?

But this is probably way more than you want to know, right? Does anyone really care? If so, let me know and I'll dig in more. If not, just get over there and eat some hummus.