Small Business Spotlight: Washington, DC

Today being "Small Business Saturday", I thought I'd share some of my favorite DC local shops.

Miss Pixie's Furnishings and What Not is a great second hand furniture and home wares store. The first purchase I made for my new home was four vintage diner stools for my bar. These days, I go in searching for the perfect small round, but expandable, dining table or a set of old school lockers that would be cooler storage than I could find at The Container Store. I was just in there a few days ago and they've also got a ton of vintage Christmas decorations and ornaments.
Miss Pixie's is located at 1626 14th Street NW

Photo: OoCities

Coup de Foudre isn't cheap, but ever since I started buying lingerie there (on a splurge), I don't think I've been back to Victoria's Secret. They have a well curated set of designers, including Huit, Cosabella, Hanky Panky and Simone Perele.  I've found that the fit holds the girls better for longer with these - whereas others tend to flop after just one wash. Stop by - and even if you don't want to - let them do a bra fitting. Once they informed me I was wearing the total wrong size, everything changed in the level of, ahem, support I was receiving.
Coup de Foudre is located at 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Proper Topper in Dupont Circle is my go-to for gifts, but just as often I buy something for myself. The store thrives in winter with owner Anna Fuhrman's well edited selection of gloves, hats and scarves that help you brave the elements without looking like a North Face ad. Don't miss the sale rack of clothes either - there's not a huge selection, but if there's anything in your size, snag it fast!
Proper Topper is located at 1350 Connecticut Avenue NW (right at the Dupont Circle Metro South exit)

Photo: From Single to Married to Baby

If I had to pick one store to buy my clothes, it would be Urban Chic. It's not a huge place, but I can shop for work, play, vacation, date nights or just hanging out at home in their racks. Why fight traffic to Tysons when you can get the same fashion in such a cute, local store. They are my go to for Shoshanna dresses and bikinis, J Brand jeans, DVF work-to-going out dresses and more. Again, check the sale racks for fantastic details... especially when they do their jeans clearance!
I usually shop at the 1626 Wisconsin Avenue location (so that I can hit Sassanova and Sherman Pickney too), but there are other locations in Baltimore, Fairfax and Bethesda.

Hill's Kitchen has an amazing amount of adorable and functional kitchen and entertaining selection packed into it's super cute townhouse (with lessons happening up the stairs!) Whether you need pots and pans, DC cookie cutters (they have the Capitol, the Washington Monument and more), decorations for the holidays or tips on a recipe - Leah Daniels at Hill's Kitchen has you covered. (Plus, it's next to all of those fun 8th Street restaurants you've been dying to try.)
Hill's Kitchen is at 713 D Street SE next to Eastern Market Metro

Photo: InspirationDC

I found TroHv randomly. I was looking for an auto parts store... and when I found it, it was kind of in a sketchy neighborhood so I kept driving and realized I was sort of near Takoma Park. I tweeted that I'd never been to that neighborhood and the tips came rolling in. TroHv was my last stop before heading home and I fell in love with the huge open space, mixture of vintage and new home wares and furniture, plus affordable table top and gift items.
TroHv is located at 232 Carroll Street NW near Takoma Park Metro. They also have a Baltimore location.


What are your favorites? What did I miss? On my to-try list today - Foundry and Metro Mutts (for Ike).

My Thanksgiving Menu 2011

The theme this year (hopefully) is low stress. After last year's turkey debacle (planned to fry it, which fell through and had to bake it so we ate late), this year, I wanted to focus on sides and not the main course. We're calling this the Mid-Atlantic Thanksgiving Feast:

The Mid-Atlantic Thanksgiving Plate

Starter:
Sparkling Brie & Cranberry Bites by Yummy Mummy

Mains:
Ham
Crabcakes (made by local DC farmers market staple, Chris)

Sides:
Kale & Leek Gratin (twisting this Michael Symon recipe)
Sweet Potato Souffle
Butternut Squash & Cornbread Stuffing Muffins

Dessert:
Apple Pie from Buzz Bakery in Alexandria, VA

What are you making/serving?

UPDATE: Due to poor planning the cranberry bites didn't make it (I neglected to read that they needed to soak overnight. I'll serve them this weekend for a party instead.) And the souffle... well, my Mom went to the grocery store for something I forgot and while she was gone I, not recognizing visually the difference between my butternut squash and the sweet potatoes, threw them all into the stuffing muffins - oh well, one less thing to make and the muffins were epic!

Fall at Pearl Dive Oyster Palace

I don't know why, but I kind of wanted to not like Pearl Dive Oyster Palace (and it's upstairs bar Black Jack). It's the type of place that has the right PR team, is getting all the buzz... all the cool kids are going to it... and those usually don't live up to the hype. But after my second visit - this time with my family - I have to admit, I'm kind of smitten. It's not a fancy schmancy seafood place like Oceanaire or Hook was, nor is it a fabulously divey oyster shack. It's somewhere in between (kind of expensive, but purposefully weathered?) - but the important part is that in short order, they are cranking out great food with great service. No easy feat for the new kid on the block.

The downstairs bar at Pearl Dive Oyster Palace (access Black Jack upstairs through that door on the right)

They do oysters a variety of ways - I've tried the "Tchoupitoulas" (which frankly I just like to show off that I can pronounce it) with oyster confit, blue crab, roasted corn and aioli and last night my Dad got these Wood Grilled East Coast Oysters with garlic, red chile, South Mountain Creamery butter and gremolata. As he declared them the best oysters he's had in years, our server shared with us that the chef personally meets all of his oystermen and often, the oysters are only three hours from the water to the plate. It shows.

Wood Grilled East Coast Oysters

We also sampled the Pork Cheeks over creamy grits which I couldn't resist ordering on both visits. We were there early and benefitted from a kitchen mistake and got these Squash & Goat Cheese Risotto Fritters gratis.

Squash & Goat Cheese Risotto Fritters

My brother ordered the fun to say "Que Sueno de los Gatos" or What Cats Dream Of... it's a seafood stew with mussels, shrimp, calamari and more in a gorgeous saffron milk sauce.

Que Sueno de los Gatos

Don't stop reading... there's lots more after the jump!

Remote Office: Misha's in Old Town

I work in a windowless office that I share with six women. And while I love them to death, some times it's great to get all Cheney and attack my inbox from an undisclosed remote location.

I'm only telling you this after the fact, but today's remote location was Misha's Coffee in Old Town Alexandria. They made a killer latte the size of my head, had cute scruffy barista boys, rockin' wifi and tasty baked goods.

Misha's Coffee

Where's your favorite place to work remotely (aside from your sofa)?

Other DC area indie coffee shops with free wifi, great vibe and good space: Dolcezza in Dupont Circle, Open City in Woodley Park, Pound Coffee on the Hill and Chinatown Coffee in (where else) Chinatown.

Best of the Web: Thanksgiving Desserts

While trying to decide what kind of dessert to make for a friend's dinner party recently, I stumbled down a recipe rabbit hole and came up with more fall recipe awesomeness than my kitchen could crank out. I'm passing along the most drool-worthy finds on the Internet in hopes that one of them will make it to your Thanksgiving table.

• Apple Baklava by Michael Symon
• Caramelized Banana Splits by Gourmet
• Chocolate Ricotta Pie by Giada deLaurentis
• Cranberry Granita by Giada deLaurentis
• Figs with Honey & Champagne by Erica deMane
• Maple Nutmeg Tart by PassionFruits
• Mini Sweet Potato Pies by Aaron McCargo Jr.
• Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake by Ina Garten
• Pear, Apple & Cranberry Crisp by Ina Garten
• Pumpkin Flan by Gourmet
• Ricotta Sweet Potato Beignets by Gale Gand
• Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Pie by Ann Thorton
• Sparkling Cranberry Brie Bites by Yummy Mummy
• Sweet Potato Casserole Cookie Bars by Scarletta Bakes
• Sweet Potato Donuts by Leanne Bakes
• Sweet Potato Souffle by Martha Stewart

PS. There are purposely no softballs included. (Looking at you pumpkin pie, apple pie and pecan pie.)

PSS. Check out my dream Thanksgiving menu picks on Pinterest.

To Do: Help Homeless Veterans

I'm volunteering tonight at Miriam's Kitchen for the dinner service. After reading this email from them this morning, I'm gonna lose it. No tears in Chef John's chicken pot pies. Repeat.


The following is copied from an email by Miriam's Kitchen, an organization serving the homeless of Washington, DC:

There are 76,000 homeless veterans in the United States on any given night.

At Miriam's Kitchen, nearly 1,000 (or 24%) of our guests are veterans.

Just this morning, we were joined by 15 veterans and had the opportunity to thank each of them personally for their service.

We also had the opportunity to talk with them about the services we provide to veterans.

Those services include:

• meeting their basic needs and providing them with healthy meals and clean clothing,
• providing them with services like medical care, mental health treatment and legal assistance through our case management program,
• linking them with housing programs specifically tailored to veterans,
• connecting them to services through the Department of Veterans Affairs and All Faith Consortium by providing space for their outreach workers in our dining room, and
• helping them find their way by welcoming them into the Miriam's Kitchen community.

You are already a big part of the work we do for homeless veterans but if you're inspired to do more today, here are a few ideas from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

From all of us here at Miriam's Kitchen, Happy Veterans Day.

The Top Chef Texas Florida Connection

Working at Moto in Chicago isn't the only thing Top Chef Texas contestants Chef Chris Jones and Chef Richie Farina have in common. Both have roots in the Sunshine State!

The tweet Chef Jones sent me...

Now you just have to choose whether or not you're going to cheer on Chris who hails from Fort Lauderdale and has family in Tallahassee or Richie who's a Tampa Bay boy - Riverview to be specific!

The tweet Chef Farina sent me....

Meanwhile, I'm heading to Open Table to make Moto reservations for my next trip to Chicago! Good luck guys!

PS. If you aren't following @JeffHouck, the Tampa Tribune food editor on Twitter during Top Chef, you aren't really enjoying the show to it's full extent.

Whirlwind Weekend: Fall in DC

Sometimes, the best planning happens on the fly. When my two besties Kimbril and Whitney came to town for the weekend, all we had on the docket was Saturday night at the Kennedy Center... but here's what happened...

Drinking Blue Veins at Black Jack

Friday night, it was a toss up between some place I love but had been (Estadio) and a new place (Pearl Dive Oyster Palace.) The girls declared I needed to try something new and they were fine to weather the hour plus wait at Pearl Dive Oyster Palace. We got our ticket number (ala DMV) and went up to Black Jack, the upstairs bocce/artisan cocktail joint. It wasn't too crowded, the bartender was fabulous (I might have been crushing on his handlebar mustache or maybe that was the Maple Bourbon drink in my hand.) In a flash, we were at our table, noshing on an amazing seafood stew and oysters. I'll return to try out the catfish-fried egg-BLT and shrimp & grits!

Pearl Dive Oyster Palace

Now, the last time we were all in DC together was probably a decade ago... and I took em to the Tune Inn. The Tune, if you hadn't heard, caught fire about 6 months ago and it was kismet that it was reopening that night. We weathered a taxi ride through Occupy DC's protest d'jour and made it to the hallowed ground of deer butts and Natty Boh... the good news, it looks pretty much the same, but smells a lot better!

The Tune Inn

And then, the coolest thing happened (well the coolest thing since we got a table and didn't have to stand at that crowded bar)... a guy sent a plate of bacon to our table.  In addition to being tasty and way less creepy than that rose selling guy, this gave us intro to half the bar who wanted a piece...

Plate o'Bacon at Tune Inn

Lest we watch the sunrise from our booth, we finally threw in the towel around 3am and went home. The morning required a slight bit of recovery, so we headed to BGR for sweet potato fries and burgers before hitting the 90th Birthday Celebration at the Phillips Collection. If you haven't gone yet, you need to go see the Degas ballet dancers exhibit- insane brush strokes, explanation of his process and co-exhibition of his influencers.

BGR: The Burger Joint

After that, we strolled down Connecticut Avenue with designs on hitting Foto Week at The Corcoran Gallery, but somehow ended up taking the obligatory photo in front of The White House....

The White House

 ... followed by the Washington  Monument, which every DC gal worth her salt knows is best seen from the roof top of the W Hotel...

POV at the W Hotel

 ... and then, because we care about history, we had to go to Old Ebbitt Grill... and because they'd never had them before, we needed Dark n' Stormy's...

Old Ebbitt Grill

Luckily, we are rally-cap-kinda-gals and we dolled up and made it to the Kennedy Center in time to see The Washington Ballet's performance of The Great Gatsby which blew my mind. It was sexy, stylish and cool with flapper dresses and live music. I sported the sparkle made my friend Jen's company, ban.do in LA (dig it, check out her site!)

Pre-ballet bite at Bourbon Steak

The Washington Ballet at the Kennedy Center

My phone battery faltered around this time, but suffice to say, we hopped a cab as soon as the ballet was over and went to J. Pauls to catch the end of the Bama-LSU game. Once the Tigers sewed that up, we wandered over to Mr. Smiths (don't judge) where we sat piano side and belted out tunes til last call.

But no, I wasn't done. I still had to hit Toki Underground... one of the places I'd been lamenting I hadn't visited. They just started staying open til 2AM, so there we were, chef-side with ramen til 3:30am.

It's nice to know we can still be rock stars.