diningindc

Sitting outside on Dino’s outdoor patio, along Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park, on a sunny warm Saturday a few weeks ago, my husband and I enjoyed the evening in the best way possible – sipping a fabulous Pinot Noir and eating excellent fresh seasonal Italian fare.

Dino offers several menu options including their “Restaurant Week” menu of three courses of select menu items for $39. The “Menu della Sera” also offers 3 courses for just $25! One caveat – orders must be placed by 7 p.m. Diners may choose from a selection of antipasti, selected pasta & entrees & dolci. Still a great deal, especially in today’s economy.

We really enjoyed our dinner at Dino and can’t wait to go back! The service was excellent and I will never forget that it was because of our waitor that recommended the Adelsheim Vineyards Pinot Noir from the Williamette Valley, Orgeon that now I have a favorite Pinot Noir! Dean Gold and Kay Zimmerman have done a superb job keeping the menu authentic with very good quality ingredients. If you don’t already subscribe to the e-newsletter, you should! I look forward to hearing about his travels, mostly to Italy and all of the new seasonal dishes that they are trying out on the menu.

I visited Pho 75 1721 Wilson Blvd., Arlington) for the first time. It’s right next door to the new Ray’s Hell Burger, which I am dying to try also. I’ve been dieting and really trying to watch what I have been eating. I looked up on the internet the calories and fat of Pho. It doesn’t seem to be too terribly high, but I definitely know that it depends on the cuts of meat that you order as “toppings” in your Pho.
A quick glance online before I left work about this place told me that it’s not fancy and that’s cafeteria-like, but that the Pho at Pho 75 is one of the best in the DC area. Since I have never tried Pho before (pronounced FUH – not FOE), I was pretty excited and since our friend Ben was going to be there, I knew that I was going to be dining with a Pho expert.

The write-ups about the establishment was right on the money. It was not fancy, or cozy, nor quaint. It did feel almost like a cafeteria. There were five or six rows of long tables that could be shared by diners. Dark chairs lined the tables. Sitting atop of the tables were reusable chopsticks and soup spoons, along with hot and spicy sauce and plum sauce.

It took a little while to get the server to come over to us to take our order, but once we ordered, the soup came in minutes! Very fast! I ordered the #12 with eye-round and well-done beef brisket. The Pho Soup consists of beeth broth, very thin slices of beef that you can almost see through, onions, long thin white rice noodles, and cilantro. Separately on a small plate, you are given sprigs of fresh basil, bean sprouts, slices of fresh jalapenos, and slices of lime. This allows each person to season their serving to taste. The menu offered several different cuts of meat. Some other possible “toppings” were soft tendon, flank, bible tripe, some fatty cuts, and brisket. Fattier cuts of meat does effect the nutritional value of the meal as some of the fattier meats tend to have a higher fat content. Apparently, as I learned from Ben, it is common to add a hearty helping of hot sauce to the dish as the soup is somewhat bland without condiments, however; I added very little of the hot sauce.

I really liked the Pho very much. I think it was delicious. I definitely plan to try more Pho, especially a variety of meats. Pho really is quite a bargain. The restaurant’s walls were

How often can you order a burger ‘Medium’ and get it medium? Yeah, that’s my point. Oh let me splain … no let me sum up. I went for the first time to Matchbox last week. I went with a friend who frequents this Gallery Place/Chinatown (713 H St., NW) favorite often so when she found out that I had never been, she insisted that we go.

I must add that my friend and I are remarkably similar in tastes and seem to like some of the same things. So I was pleasantly surprised when we both wanted our miniburgers, medium. Even more surprising is that the 3 Angus Beef miniburgers actually came medium! Can you believe it?! You order something … and it comes the way you want it. Amazing!

The burgers were topped with a heaping portion of crunchy onion straws drizzled with grated Parmesan cheese. The burger itself is served in between a perfectly lightly toasted brioche with tiny Gouda slice (cheese optional for $1) and a single pickle slice. I wondered why Matchbox staff were wearing t-shirts with ‘3.6.9’ on it … until I saw the menu. These miniburgers are served in orders of three, six, and nine for $8/$14/$18. Along with my miniburgers I ordered a small pear, apple, Gorgonzola salad with sweet candied pecans. The balsamic vinaigrette was perfectly sweet and tart. The candied pecans were delicious; they added a sweet crunch to each bite. The small salad is served perfectly proportioned for sharing entrees or several appetizers.

Our sever, Jim was attentive, polite, humorous, and rather cute. His suggestions for desserts included the chocolate chip waffle. Yeah, he didn’t have to twist our arms. The chocolate waffle was drizzled with “chocolate ganache”, a rich, dark chocolate topping and Crème anglaise or “English Creme”, a light yellowish custard. On top of the waffles sat a perfect little scoop of almond gelato. For color, a few raspberries were added; nice touch.

View from our table I asked Jim about the recent completion of the restaurant addition and renovations. He said that the renovation increased their seating capacity to a whopping 210 people. Part of the newly completed expansion included another brick oven for pizza. I didn’t have a chance to try their pizza. We were fortunate enough to be seated to the table right next to the pizza oven on the bitter Tuesday night several weeks ago. It is as beautiful as the pizza that comes out of it! I can’t wait to return to Matchbox in order to try their pizza!