BIRTHDAY-NESS: Dinner at Komi

If you know me, you know how very much I love birthdays.  Not only do I love my own birthday, but I love the chance to shower my favorite people with surprises and happy memories.  Sooo, this past week, it was my own birthday ... and with any special occasion, my celebrations revolved around food. 

For several years, I have been dying to try out Komi -- Komi is housed in a rowhouse just northeast of Dupont Circle (and basically next to the newly revamped Sushi Taro).  Komi is known for its fresh flavors, creativity, from chef Johnny Monis.  For me, it is very difficult to "categorize" the type of food that you will enjoy at Komi -- a whirlwind of 20-some dishes appear before you, in growing size as the meal goes on -- each dish seems to be somehow tied to the next, but exactly what the common thread is is a bit intangible.  (On a random analogy, it reminds me of watching a fashion show where the collection clearly comes from the same designer, but what exactly strings each design to the next is hard to define.). 

The restaurant is in a word, intimate.  But not overbearingly so and not so much so that you are constantly eavesdropping into the conversation next to you.  I actually loved the table we were seated at -- we were right next to the kitchen that had a big window so you could peer into the kitchen and see all the action.  You could see Chef Monis overseeing the dishes, looking out into the restaurant to watch dinner service... you could see the phone ringing off the hook for reservations (note: call exactly one month ahead of time at noon to get reservations for a particular date -- if you can't get a reservation you can be put on a wait list.).  You see the chefs jotting down on an eraseable board the dishes they've made and gone through.  It is all rather distracting, but in a good way. 

Not only for the blog, but just in general, I love to take pictures of memorable dishes and memorable meals.  So of course, I had camera in tow at this dinner.  But, sadly, the restaurant prefers you not to take photos of the dishes, so I only came away with a photo of the first dish -- kampachi sashimi.  This photo is currently residing at my parents' house, so it'll have to be posted at another time. 

Coming on a Saturday, we enjoyed the 20-course chef's menu (the "progressive" menu) -- the courses are preset, but the restaurant is careful to ask ahead of time whether there are any dietary restrictions, allergies, and the such and can alter the dishes as necessary.  Below is what we had our dinner. The dishes change often, but so you can get a flavor for what we had...

• Kampachi Sashimi
• White Fish Sashimi
• Brioche with Salmon and Caviar
• Scallops two ways (This was one of my fave dishes -- smaller scallops piled on a spoon accompanied by thinly sliced scallops on a scallop shell with a sliver of black truffle)
• Salmon Belly with Pinenuts
• Fresh Mozzarella Cheese with Vegetables
• Caesar salad in a Crispy Shell
• Pork Belly Hoagie (another fave!)
• Grilled octopus with Brussels sprouts
• Serrano ham with potato and Asian pear
• Figs with mascarpone cheese
• Two pastas -- Ravioli and I think pappardelle
• Our "entree" -- served family style!  Super tender baby goat and suckling pig (another fave -- the meat was so tender and juicy, and the skin very crispy) served with homemade pitas (one of my most favorite parts of the whole meal!!  Still thinking about those pitas hah) and various condiments on the side (my favorite was the green salt...).
• Ricotta cheese and honey
• Meyer lemon "creamsicle" on a stick (reminded me of a margherita)
• Chocolate ganache (?)
• A pineapple "cake" with coconut ice cream
• AND housemade birthday animal cookies!  In the shapes of elephants, tigers... (loved these!)

Some of my friends have asked me how does it compare to Minibar -- Jose Andres' six-seater restaurant tucked in one of his other restaurants, Cafe Atlantico.  And, well, you can't really compare the two restaurants.  They approach the food in very different ways and the experiences are both wonderful and memorable.  For me, Minibar just edges out Komi, but that's my personal opinion -- I loved the whimsical dishes at Minibar, the opportunity to interact with the chefs as they crafted our dishes, and the laughter and silliness that sometimes ensued.  But Komi also wins out on certain flavors and dishes that have just stuck with me (for some reason, I can't stop thinking about their housemade pitas and suckling pig).  Either way you go, you'll leave with a memorable meal.

Komi Restaurant
1509 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 332-9200

Our own mini cupcake competition - a birthday celebration!

After mulling it over for months, we decided to finally do our own "DC Area Cupcake Competition!" As I've posted before, the DC area has had its own cupcake explosion in the past year and we thought, well, who wouldn't want to take part in it?

My birthday also just happened to be this past week, so we decided to make it a birthday celebration as well! "Cupcakes and Bubbly" (which turned out to be cupcakes and hot mulled apple cider with a touch of rum) gave us a chance to invite our friends over for a cupcake showdown. (Check this out for some savory treats I cooked up for the party -- baked brie with apricot preserves and antipasti bites!)

Guests were asked to bring half a dozen cupcakes from a local bakery/cupcakery or a bottle of bubbly for sampling. Each guest's set of cupcakes were then assigned a number so the whereabouts of where the cupcakes came from would be left a secret (a blind tasting!). Mini scorecards were provided, asking guests to score the cupcakes from 1 to 5, 5 being the highest score, and to mark down any comments on the flavor, texture, presentation, etc.

After a very successful tasting by discerning judges (and many leftover cupcakes remaining), I tallied up the scores. Here are the results!

(1) Carla's Cupcakes

Score: 5

Price: Time, love, and $3.75 for cake mix and frosting.

Flavor: Yellow cake with chocolate icing

Coming in first, my friend Carla's homemade Dunkin Hines cupcakes!! They received one vote of FIVE OUT OF FIVE and accolades of "simple, sugary, & so my fave!"

(2) Georgetown Cupcake

Score: 4.375
Price: $15 for half a dozen

Flavors: Chocolate strawberry, vanilla squared, chocolate cubed, chocolate coconut, and chocolate ganache

With eight scorecards entered, Georgetown Cupcake (my personal favorite) was a winner for many of the guests for both flavor and presentation. The chocolate ganache and chocolate strawberry were the preferred flavors. The vanilla icing was viewed as being a little bit too "cream-cheesy" -- but this was a plus for some! Comments ranged from "amazing!" and "by far the best" to "Love it, except a little too much frosting" and "vanilla frosting too cream cheeesy but the look of them was elegant."

(3) Buzz

Score: 3.67

Price: Researching

Flavors: Bumblebee (Yellow cake with a chocolate cake surprise inside!), Carrot Cake, Chocolate

With six scorecards entered, Buzz came in third with its ADORABLE cupcakes. A favorite of the group was their "Bumblebee" cupcake ("Un-bee-lieve-able!") with a cute little fuzzy bee coming out of the cupcake. Comments included "loved the cupcake, too much frosting," "good but not awesome," yummy!," "too rich for my blood," "so cute! and great chocolate surprise in the middle."

This was actually one of the bakeries I hadn't heard of so I went to their website and also went to my favorite cupcake blog, Delleicious DC, to see if there was some info there. This tasty bakery is in Alexandria, VA and offers a wide variety of baked goods including also pies, brownies, and cookies (and chocolate!). Buzz is part of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group (for instance Rustico, Vermilion, Tallula). Also see these cute doggy cupcakes that they baked up for the Washington Humane Society's Sugar & Champagne Affair.

(4) Safeway

Score: 3.66

Price: $7.29 for a dozen

Flavors: Vanilla icing with yellow cake, vanilla icing with chocolate cake

Coming in a very close 4th (only 0.1 off of Buzz!) are grocery store brand Safeway's cupcakes! These were $7.29 for a full dozen, only about 60 cents a cupcake! The feedback included "nice, light, fluffy," "love the sprinkles and good frosting (which is key!)," "icing is a little too sweet," and "fluffy, sugary, but nothing spectacular." Looks like a good bet if you have a sweet tooth!

(5) Whole Foods

Score: 3.166

Price: Researching

Flavor: Vanilla icing with vanilla cake

"Small but filling," these cupcakes wowed guests with their icing ("great icing!" "icing good" "love the icing" "amazing icing"). The cake part itself however fell a bit short, garnering comments such as "a little dry," strange flavor and weird texture," and "not fresh."

(6) Cakelove

Score: 3.14
Price: $3.25 each; buy 6 get one free

Flavors: Strawberry, Coffee/Latte, Carrot Cake, Vanilla Cupcake with Lemon Icing

These particular cupcakes came from Cakelove's Baltimore branch and were the least favored of the group. Despite being one of DC's most well known bakeries, their cupcakes lacked some appeal (although the cupcakes were slightly better than other times I've tried them!). The cupcakes drew a mixed bag of comments from "frosting is awesome, but cupcake is not fluffy enough," "a little dry" and "not as moist as I would have liked" to "good cake, frosting TOO GREASY," "icing too buttery," and "cupcake great, icing strange" to "delicious, presentation could have been better."

Cheers to a fun party, great company, and, of course, cupcakes!

Easy and Flavorful Antipasto Sausage, Artichoke, Sundried Tomatoes, and Red Pepper Skewers

I was hunting on the foodnetwork.com for a savory appetizer to accompany the cupcakes and baked brie for my "Cupcakes and Bubbly" birthday party and came across Elie Krieger's "Antipasto Sausage Skewers." Adapted slightly, these were a bit hit!! Below is the recipe:

Antipasto Sausage and Veggie Skewers

What you need:

Cooking spray

12 oz fully cooked chicken sausage (I used Aidell's Chicken & Portobello Sausage)

12 oz jar of roasted red peppers (I used fire roasted red peppers in a jar)

1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes

1 jar of artichoke hearts

Small wooden skewers or toothpicks

What to do:

Heat a skillet over medium heat, spray with cooking spray. Once heated up, add the sausage, cook and brown turning several times until warmed through and browned, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. I added a little bit of pepper, garlic salt, and red pepper flake to the sausage while it was cooking.

Cut the red peppers, sundried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts so they are all about the same size (approx 1 inch pieces).

Once sausage is cooked through, slice the sausages to approximately 1 inch pieces. Cut them so they have a flat bottom so they can stand.

On each skewer, add a piece of roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato, artichoke, and sausage. Arrange them so that the skewer can stand up on the sausage end. Place on a large plate or serving tray and enjoy!

I made 18 skewers (with a sausage and a half left over!), but these ingredients could definitely come out to two dozen skewers.

Melty goodness -- Baked Brie with Apricot Preserves

As part of my "Cupcakes and Bubbly" birthday celebration, I made several more savory bites to balance out the richness of all the cupcakes. Well, one of the things I made was probably equally rich, but offered a different flavor palate from the sugary cupcakes -- a baked brie with apricot preserves! I adopted it from friend who used to bring this dish to all our gatherings and mixed it together with an Emeril recipe I found. It was simply an oozing delight that was so easy to make -- I encourage you to try it out!

Baked Brie with Apricot Preserves

Feel free to be creative and use whatever types of preserves you enjoy. I've also seen this done with dried cherries and pecans.

What you need:

A 6 inch round of brie

Frozen puff pastry sheets (I used Pepperidge Farm)

A jar of apricot preserves

One egg (slightly beaten)

What to do:

(1) Thaw your puff pastry (I left mine in the refrigerator for about 4-5 hours).

(2) Preheat the oven to 400.

(3) Roll out your puff pastry so it will be large enough to completely wrap your brie.

(4) Scoop out some apricot preserves onto the center of the puff pastry square. I used about half a jar, which I think may have been a little bit too much, but still was delicious.

(5) Place your round of brie on top of the preserves.

(6) Wrap the puff pastry around the brie and preserves, making sure that you seal all the seams.

(7) Flip over the pastry package of brie and preserves so that all the seams are on the bottom.

(8) Cut out shapes from the leftover puff pastry for decorating on top!

(9) Brush the egg wash on your pastry package to create a golden crust.

(10) Bake for 20 minutes until the outside is golden.

(11) Reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

(12) Place on a serving platter, surround with crackers and fruit, and enjoy!