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.