Washington DC

Eating in D.C.- Sunday Night Dinner

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We ended up at this old, windy townhouse Italian restaurant, Trattoria Alberto, near Capital Hill for Sunday night dinner. Because we had to eat before Hamlet (Yes, we went twice! How often is the Globe in the US?) dinner was at 5pm. This is crazy early for us and apparently DC because we were the only people in the restaurant.

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Why is it when you’re the only people in the restaurant you tend to talk more softly?

I started with fresh mozzerella, tomatoes and capers.

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We mainly watched the restaurant get ready for their evening, which included peeking into the kitchen through a little door on the wall.

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We were both in the mood for simple dinners.

John had a basic tomato sauce.

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And I had a light olive oil, garlic penne with broccoli. I wish every Italian restaurant had a light option like this (ahem, by every Italian restaurant I mean Cascones. Johnny I hope you’re reading this).

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It was a good way to say Ciao to Washington DC.

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Eating in DC: A Surprising Smithsonian Lunch

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The last time we visited Washington DC we were not really wowed by the tourist dining at the Smithsonian. It was mostly heavy cafeteria fare, not very veggie friendly, but it was usually named after a state or city like Wisconsin Mac and Cheese, Kansas City Baked Beans, which made it charming.

We were expecting the same situation at the National Portrait Gallery.

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We were pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful cafe/dining area.

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And some of our most favorite things to eat. We both had grilled cheese (not greasy at all).

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I had veggie chips- very unexpected and exciting. My whole meal was Whole Foods in feel which was surprising.

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The best part– they had pudding cups!

Vanilla for me.

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And chocolate for JY.

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With American old timey folk music playing in the background and it was probably our most fun, relaxing, and favorite meal of the trip!

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Eating in DC: Somona and a little bit of London

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We joined the before-the-theater crowd and dined at a wine bar that also focused on local foods, Somona.

This is a picture of my Syrah headed toward me. After a crazy bumpy flight into town, I really needed a few glasses to settle my nerves!

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We ate here a couple of years ago on our first trip to DC. We ordered the just greens salad then too.

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Needless to say neither one of us remembered this until we took our first couple of bites. The salad has lets say a very “earthy” flavor….

John had a Parmesan and mozzerella pizza. Very cheesy good.

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And I had the pesto, chard, summer squash pizza. I laughed when it showed up because I had been concerned about getting some greens. Ha!

This was my first pesto experience since the dreaded pesto Lyn and I made…

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Yeah, the pizza was good, but I learned I’m still not ready for pesto (dang. When you make the worst meal of your life to really sticks with you!)

After dinner we walked to the Folger Theater to see London’s Globe players perform Hamlet.

The girls who sat next to us at dinner (they ordered a cheese platter and pork) sat near us at the show- tis a small globe after all!

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