Girl Meets Food

It’s my favorite  time of the month!  I bet it’s yours too.  If you’re a food blogger, potential food blogger, or just a hard-core foodie, come and meet the most interesting and fun group of people in the D.C. area!

This month, Johnna of Johnna Knows Good Food and Elena of Biscuits and Such are your hostesses with the mostesses.  Join us at Tenpenh on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 from 6-8 p.m. for $5 specialty cocktails, draft beers, select wines and complimentary appetizers, courtesy of Tenpenh.

Tenpenh is known for its Southeast Asian-inspired cuisine and has been praised by Bon Appétit, Wine Spectator, The Washington Post, Washingtonian, and Travel + Leisure since it arrived on the D.C. restaurant scene in 2000.

If you plan to attend, please be sure to RSVP on the DC Food Bloggers Facebook Page and become a fan while you’re at it!

And as always, thanks to the planning committee: Arugula Files, Beer Spotter, Biscuits and Such, Capital Cooking, Capital Spice, Common Man Eats, Gradually Greener, Johnna Knows Good Food, Modern Domestic, Thrifty DC Cook, We Love DC and yours truly!

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EatBar in Arlington has a new menu that encourages sharing among friends!  Because you’re so good at that.

Everyone’s bound to find something they like, with dishes ranging from $1.50 for small bites to $12 for larger entrées.  Snack on $1.50 Portuguese-style bacalao salt cod with lemon aioli, or for $3, choose onion rings or roasted olives.

Ted Turner would love the $3.50 New Frontier Bison sliders with spicy tomato chutney; and sweet & sour pork with house pickle.

An exciting assortment of $5 fresh-baked focaccia with delicious spreads include Red Apron N’duja, a spicy spreadable salumi; avocado with pistachios and sea salt; and salami bread with olive tapenade, mustard and tomato chutney.

Need something like what Ma used ta make?  Try $9 hand-cut fettuccine with Northern Neck Farms broccoli and cherry tomatoes; or baked ziti with bolognese and Mozzarella.

Bigger is better, with entrée-sized dishes including $12 mussels in white wine served with fries; and a $12 housemade burger on a brioche bun with fries.

Don’t forget the cheese and charcuterie plates, and order a trio of wines to go with them for $12, off a rotating list of three themed flights such as “Willamette Dammit,” three wines from Willamette Valley, Oregon; and “Que Syrah, Shiraz,” a selection of Syrahs from around the world.

EatBar also offers a very tempting happy hour every Monday to Friday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., with all drafts priced at $4 and half-price wines by the glass for most 6 oz pours. Food specials include a fritter plate for $5 and a slider plate for $12.

Check out the new menu here!

EatBar
2761 Washington Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 778-9951

There’s nothing I love more than a happy hour that offers quality food at a great value.  I’m talking about Art and Soul’s 5:01 Sessions.  From Mondays through Thursdays from 4:00-7:00pm, snag a space on Art and Soul’s comfortable front patio, and enjoy a refreshing Orleans or Washington Nut cocktail for $6.

I was able to sample many of the offerings for April’s  DC Bloggers Happy Hour.

My favorite is what I amusingly call Art and Soul’s upscale version of pork rinds.  Silky, curly ribbons sprinkled with Old Bay, they were light, airy, crunchy and full of pork flavor.

If you like spice, the crispy calamari is lightly battered with cornmeal, for a gritty, chewy texture that end with a fiery punch.  Try the tiny ham and cheese biscuits, or the deviled eggs, both which are reliable, comforting and filling.

The crispy duck wings were large and meaty, dripping with sauce—tasty, yet not conducive as finger food.

The most disappointing dish perhaps, was the fried green tomatoes, which were small disks overwhelmed by cornmeal batter, obliterating any delightfully tart tomato taste.

In addition to small bites, Art and Soul’s 5:01 Sessions offers specials on wine, beer and cocktails.  So today at 3:59pm, you know where I’ll be.

7:10 (7 Imaginative Food and Drink Pairings for $10)
CRISPY DUCK WINGS
Riesling ‘07, Mercer Estates, Yakima Valley
HOUSE CURED JERKY
Our Manhattan made with bourbon, sour cherries, sweet vermouth, and bitters
CRISPY CALAMARI
Gruner Veltliner ‘07, Brundlmayer Kamptaler Terrassen
FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
Sauvignon Blanc ‘08, Palo Alto Riserva, Maule Valley
HAM AND CHEESE BISCUIT
Chardonnay ‘07, Errazuris Wild Ferment, Maule Valley
DEVILED EGGS
Put Ups Martin served with pickled onions, okra, beets and quail egg
PORK RINDS
A flight of four of our regional tap beers