Loyal Readers, no doubt you are afeard of the Brigade's demise, and the lost bond of fraternal breaking bread and the shouting of expletives at Virginia's intersections that would entail. Be afeard no more. The Brigade is alive and well; our gluttony had lulled us into a state of lethargic complacence that made writing hard.
This past Sunday, the Brigade ventured out to the Unholy Intersection of Doom known as Seven Corners in Northern Virgina, to indulge in a dim sum feast at
Fortune Chinese Seafood Restaurant.
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| All the brigadeers point at once! |
Before we even sat down, multiple waitresses with carts full of food surrounded our table and began offering us deep fried and pork stuffed treats. We said yes.
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| This was just Round One of the multi-part feast. |
I really don't remember the specifics of anything we ate. Most dishes were pretty tasty, because that's what frying and pork stuffing will do for you. We suspected that even our Chinese Broccoli was covered in pork sauce. Most of the food was good, but not fantastic, although the excitement of a steady stream of food filling up the table somewhat made up for that.
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| Stuffed and Happy |
A few weeks ago, the Brigade minus Adam went out to easily navigable and accessible Silver Spring, MD for some pretty amazing Cuban food at
Cubano's. (Yes, Virginia, that is a dig at you.)
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| Pointing in the rain! There's a certain artistry to this composition, don't you think? |
Since two thirds of the dining contingent grew up in Miami, and one of them was raised by a Cuban mother who is an excellent cook, we felt like we were in a good position to judge the quality of the food. And when we saw the prices, we were prepared to be especially difficult to please. Cubano's does not quite fit the "cheap" mandate of our Brigade ethos, but we decided to try it out anyway. And we were really glad we did!
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| Chicken and beef empanadas, cut into thirds by Julia, our resident photographer and cutter. |
The food was delicious! In addition to the empanadas, we had lechon asado (pork) and ropa vieja (stewed shredded beef) with white rice, black beans and platanos maduros and tostones (sweet and savory plantains). Everything was wonderful, especially the black beans, which are frequently an afterthought, but can really be amazing when they are well-made. At one point, Marta said almost weepily,"There are Cubans back there," referring to the kitchen.
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| The pork with maduros. |
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| The beef with tostones. |
Since it was pouring out, we decided to sit back and bask in our contentment and have some cafe con leche.
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| To friendship! And coffee and adorable old men in guayaberas. |
Speaking of Cuban food, do you know where you can get a delicious Cuban sandwich in DC? At a gas station on 14th and W, near the U St, metro. Strange, yes, but we highly recommend
Fast Gourmet, a high-end sandwich shop in a low-end space. Adam tried the Cubano first, and was so impressed, he returned the same weekend, along with our motivational speaker and aesthetic visionary, to try the Chivito, which he reports was even better. Adam
reviewed Fast Gourmet for his student paper. We have pictures somewhere... Anyway, the fancy sandwich competition has really taken off in DC, and we rank Fast Gourmet at or very near the top. Julia and I also ate at the very recently opened
Sundevich in Shaw, and enjoyed it. These two places are definitely challenging
Taylor's claim to being the best sandwiches in DC.
