Anniversary Food Adventure

Okay, so I usually don’t write lovey gushy stuff. So I’ll try to refrain from that. But my honey and I celebrated another year together by eating! We started off at his favorite pizza place in Leesburg, Fireworks Pizza. We normally just go straight to the point here. Pizza, and dessert. At the Arlington location, I like to get their appetizers. But today we were so hungry, after a 45 minute wait, we got spinach dip to start.

Then the main event, PIZZA! Smokey Blue with shrimp. There’s bacon, bleu cheese, balsamic glaze, sauteed onions along with rosemary, which just ties everything together. Afterwards, we had the chocolate chip cookie sundae. It didn’t last long enough to take a picture. Picture cookie dough in a shallow ramekin, blasted in a wood fired oven, until its crisp on top and the chocolate is bubbling. Top it off with a cold scoop of vanilla ice cream. Oh MY.

Afterwards we went to paper source to feed my stationary and paper goods addiction. And we found this gem.

I took too long staring at pens, stickers and stamps, so he went and got us starbucks!

We went to get pampered before going to our dinner date!

Bistro Cacao. I love this place. It’s so french, it makes me miss Paris more, but fills the void.

Lobster bisque with white truffle oil.

Pan seared duck with a blueberry reduction, braised endives and potato gratin

Mousse au chocolat with raspberry and mango sauce.

I love food. And my life. Le sigh.

Posted on February 5, 2014 by miemo 0

La Diplomate

I finally got a chance to taste La Diplomate. Paris was an amazing experience for me last year. After having tasted a REAL baguette and croissant my palate has been in search of the perfect baguette here in the good ol’ states. I found ONE place that I can pick some up at for home nearby.

It was a hot cloudy day when we went. There were no reservations available for sunday, so we decided to try our luck and wait for a patio seat outside. So french. Other than being a fairly large place on the corner of the street, decor wise, it did remind me of Paris. I loved it.

We sat outside, facing the sidewalk, and watching the street. I had an Orangina, and ordered the duck terrine. I was sad that they lacked the standard charcuterie board, which is my go to whenever I go to a french restaurant. But Ben, our wonderful server suggested the duck terrine, which was on point. The boo had the macaroni au gratin, which was made mostly of gruyere, his favorite cheese, and cavatappi noodles.

Then it started to rain. HARD. Luckily we were finishing up and didn’t have to find an alternate eating situation. The service was great. He even threw in a baguette with my to go food because I loved it so much.

Definitely gotta go back there with someone who will share mussels with me, and again for brunch!

Posted on June 5, 2013 by miemo 0

Society Fair

So you might have remembered, I was away in Hawaii for the week of my birthday. So by the time I came back, most of my friends forgot my birthday even happened. Deanna didn’t. She took me out to fill me with my heart’s desire at Society Fair in Old Town. Ever since I left Paris I’ve yearned for that perfect baguette, the best charcuteries/fromage and the beautiful pink wine to rinse it all down with. I’ve tried multiple places for charcuteries, Bistro Cacao, Lyon Hall, Birch & Barley… but nothing really did it justice…until now.

We literally sat there and ate about 4 bowls of baguettes slices with our charcuteries. And the best part? It’s a market, so I can just pick some up for a girl’s night WHEN EVER. Definitely my new favorite market. I even got to pick up a copy of “Little Paris Kitchen” and some TCHO chocolates.

Plus! One of the chefs was nice enough to give me tips on how to roll my baguettes! *sigh HAPPINESS IN FOOD!

Posted on April 17, 2013 by miemo 0

Bistro Cacao for Dinner

Photo Jan 25, 7 03 07 PM

How much do I love this place? Probably too much. Out of all the French restaurants I’ve been too in the area, this is the best. Really. If you ask me where I want to go to celebrate something, I want to go there. As I mentioned in a previous post the atmosphere is very romantic and inviting. Need a recommendation for a romantic dinner date place, Bistro Cacao for dinner is it.

The service is exceptional. We had Karim, who was polite, observant and very personable. He really knew about the food, and made sure to point me in the right direction when I had questions. Who would have thought to eat a duck medium well? Not me. And thats why I have eating adventures, to learn as much as I can about food. Now lets get to the good stuff. Food.

Their dinner menu is not as extensive as other restaurants, which is perfectly fine in this case, because I think that ensures that every dish is awesome. I missed having a good french charcuterie like in France, and the places that I’ve gotten it around here just didn’t quite hit the spot. When I asked Karim, he put together a board of cheeses and meat for me, even though happy hour was over (thank you!). It came with crostinis, not french baguettes, but it still worked out perfectly. For my main course, I chose the pan seared duck breast, with a port wine blueberry reduction. It was accompanied with braised endives (my first time) and potato gratin.

I got the duck breast cooked medium, which left me with a tender, juicy cut of meat. Even though smothered in sauce, the duck came out with a beautiful crisp crust. I’ve never had such a tender cut of meat. Except maybe a cow’s tongue, but for those of you who aren’t familiar with a well prepared cow’s tongue will immediately be disgusted so I don’t wanna make that reference. I didn’t even make it to the sides, I wanted to devoir all of the duck. And I did. The boo had the filet mignon which was equally amazing, and he cleaned his plates. His sides were also a potato gratin, baby carrots and haricot verts.

Filled to the brim, Karim asked if we wanted dessert. I was so full, and I had to regretfully decline. A few minutes later, he brings us a dessert any way, on the house. Yum, profiteroles. Cream filled puffs with a scoop of ice cream, and chocolate sauce. He places it in front of the boo and says to me jokingly, “You are full, so I guess you can’t have any,” with a wink. After I gave him a mock look of surprise, he puts the plate in the middle and hands me a spoon and says, “Happy Anniversary!”.

I love this place so much.

Posted on January 28, 2013 by miemo 0

France Fever: Macarons

Lets talk about macarons. You know those pretty little cookie sandwiches that are littered all over pinterest with their bright colors and so tasty look. I think there are more people that haven’t had them that has. Usually big cities, such as New York and DC will have bakeries will have somewhere for you to get a taste. But if you are looking elsewhere they aren’t THAT easy to find. I loved looking at pictures of them, and I had this big fantasy of what they would taste like. I have this weird way of being able to calculate the ingredients in recipes and pre-taste them in my mind. Sound peculiar, but usually works.

Source: media-cache-ec4.pinterest.com via Lucina on Pinterest

When I saw the recipe for them, and calculated it in my head. I couldn’t taste them. So I had to go find some. And I did. Let me tell you though. My first time I had them, I did NOT see what the big deal was…and I sat there and tasted about 10 different ones. Not that I would cast this decision so quickly, I found another bakery, to give it another change. It was the Swiss Bakery, in Burke. They were mini, and they were chocolate…and they still didn’t wow me. Feeling like I will have to try them in France to really be sure that I don’t like them… I gave it another chance. Michel Patisserie seemed to be the big provider of these baked delicacies in the area so I decided to try his.

Source: urbanstrawberries.files.wordpress.com via Olivia on Pinterest

I ordered a box of 30 for a friend’s birthday, so that other people could have a chance to try it (50% of the party had not tasted one ever, and the rest had one “a long time ago”). I placed an order, and they said I could pick it up at Artfully Chocolate in Delray. While I was there I picked up 4 flavors of my own to try.. Key Lime, Pistachio, Caramel and Raspberry. OH MY GOODNESS. GUESS WHAT?

I love macarons.

Source: tinyurl.com via Marylouise on Pinterest

Really I do. The crisp of the first bite, the soft melting in the middle, the swirl of flavors in your mouth…win. Why didn’t I like this before?! It was an experience. If you want to try a macaron for the first time, remember this one thing. Get a WHOLE one to yourself. I just realized why I didn’t like it the first time. The first time, I bought so many, and had to share the flavors so we cut them. The second time, it was too small to get the whole “first bite” experience. This third time, really was the charm. I am in lust. I can’t wait to try them in France…OH WAIT I will be eating them next weekend in the City of Lights! Lucky me!

Au revoir mes amis!

Posted on July 27, 2012 by miemo 0

Bistro Cacao for Brunch

Brunch Brunch Brunch. I am ADDICTED. Ever since Birch and Barley, I’ve been obsessed with getting brunch on weekends. I wake up demanding eggs benedict and threaten to hulk smash anything that will get in the way. Well, not really. But I think my new thing, is to eat as many classic eggs benedicts as possible from different places and write about it. Yeah. And MIEMOsas. yum.
So Valentine’s day, the boo took me to Bistro Cacao. The outside looks like a row house on the Hill. We walk in greeted by a friendly fireplace and a crazy wine room. I loved the way it was laid out. Room after room of dining areas. The host seats us in a nook behind red drapes and 3 windows overlooking the street. When it comes to brunch, I am still pretty new. The only brunch I’m familiar with is Dim Sum. So it was my first time having a classic eggs benedict and it was amazing. I am smitten. Quite smitten actually. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. Like most places that host a brunch, its a fixed menu that you get to choose items from. All come with a starter mixed pastries basket. This was my favorite from the basket. Nutella. Yum.
My food. So delicious. So happy. These eggs benedict changed my life. The challenge is to find something like this every weekend. I accept. I would definitely want to brunch there again!