I went to a farmers market on my first full day in Washington D.C. Its awesomeness is that it's a mere block-and-a-half from my apartment! This means I went pretty much every week or at least every other week I was in town.
The Penn Quarter Farmers Market happens in late afternoon on every Thursday. It's small, yet manages to cover every type of ingredient one may want want to buy. Although the list of booths changed a bit week to week, in general there are two general vegetable stands, two more that mainly specialize in fruit, a mushroom specialist, a stand that only sells salad greens of various types, two cheese/yogurt stands (one also sells skin cream and soap), a bakery, a prepared food stand, an empanadas stand, a pasta-and-soup-and-jam stand, a cured food stand (pate, sausages, duck confit, etc.), a fresh meat stand (free range chicken and pork, grass-fed cow and lamb), a gelato stand, two flower shops, and an artisan soap stand.
The fruit stands mainly sell a huge variety of apples--more than I've seen in the bay area, including many I hadn't heard of--as well as an assortment of pears, including multiple Asian varieties. I got in the habit of eating apples and pears every day. Indeed, when the market closed in late December for the winter, I was in such a habit that I stocked up, buying 13 pounds of fruit to last me the following three or four weeks. Over the winter I then began going to the Dupont Circle Farmers Market--which is open year-round--for my fruit and other needs.
In the spring I became a regular visitor to one flower shop, regularly bringing a single flower stem home to brighten up our studio. I really enjoyed this. It cost only a dollar or two (depending on the flower). I'm sad I can't do it anywhere else in the country: no other places I've seen sell individual stems; all sell bouquets for $10-15.
The bakery sells bread and pastries, including scones, muffins, and croissants. Oddly, it sells chocolate, almond, and ham-and-cheese croissants but no plain ones. One day I tried the pain au chocolate and found it decent: buttery but not flaky. I also tried a physically-heavy almond croissant, which was good. Like the pain au chocolate, the dough had the right flavor even if it wasn't flaky, and the almond paste inside added just the right amount of flavor without adding too much sweetness. Later, I tried the almond macaroons, which tasted like the sweet almond-paste that made the croissant so tasty.
On other days I tried a blueberry muffin, a pumpkin-apple-something muffin, a cherry-almond muffin, and a carrot-apple-pineapple-and-some-sort-of-nut muffin. I thought the first three were fairly good but sweeter than I like. The latter was simply good; it was naturally sweet from the carrots but didn't feel like it had extra/excessive added sugar.
I also tried one of the bakery's small cheddar-and-bacon scones which turned out to taste more of cheddar than of bacon. It was more like a crumbly (buttermilk?) biscuit than a scone. Alright, but not really my thing. I enjoyed the currant and macadamia nut scone more. It was more scone-like, though I don't think the nuts went with it. Even later I tried the fig (& something) scone and found it the best yet. The figs, cut in sizable chunks, were good and went well with the crumbly, scone-like dough that had a bit of a toasted flavor (whole grain?).
I bought a loaf of the bakery's extraordinarily expensive tasting bread for a dinner party. A sweet bread, it was densely filled with unidentifiable masses of dried fruits (supposedly cherries and currants) and hazelnuts. I toasted it as recommended and served it as an appetizer. Everyone enjoyed it; it was neat and tasty and festive.
The empanadas stand has surprisingly many flavors: tilapia, crab, chicken, beef, mushroom, etc. The stand is often sold out by the time I arrive. My verdict on the mushroom empanada: the crust was good and buttery and with a dash of salt. It was remarkably thin--thinner than other empanadas I've had--making the filling the focus. Good. The spinach empanada I had on a different visit was similar, with a thin crust and heavy emphasis on the filling. Another time, I had a crawfish-and-mango empanada. It was good, with the definitive taste of shellfish and some sweetness from the mango. The smoked salmon empanada was similarly good. The smoked salmon wasn't like lox but rather like whole salmon, smoked, then flaked. The empanada was full of it. Incidentally, the stand also sells crab cakes, some soups, and, at times, savory scones. I bought a savory scone with prosciutto and some sort of slightly spicy cheese. I liked it quite a bit; not just the ham-and-cheese taste but also its texture. I bought it once or twice again.
At times I bought items from the pricy pasta-and-jam stand. Di Yin and I tried the pulled pork tortellini and duck confit ravioli. Both were good, with the flavor of the main ingredient shining straight through (i.e., they're exactly as described), yet the tastes were somehow unsophisticated and therefore not great. By the way, in case you're wondering what kind of jams a pasta shop like this sells, I wrote down one flavor: strawberry vanilla bean.
In case my comment about apples and pears didn't convince you that Washington D.C.'s farmers markets have some appeal even when compared with California's, I should mention I spotted a vegetable I never saw previously: pole lima beans. I've seen lima beans for sale in California but never the type grown on vines/poles.
Penn Quarter Farmers Market
Near Home (Penn Quarter & Chinatown)
Di Yin's fellowship provided housing! They own a bunch of condos in two buildings downtown. The condo they gave us was a decent-sized studio. The walk-in closet was large enough that we easily had enough space for all of our stuff despite it being a studio. The studio came nicely furnished: simple, tasteful furniture, modern appliances (including a dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer), and posters from the National Gallery of Art on the walls. The appliances were designed well. The microwave had the best user interface I've seen. The refrigerator had reconfigurable shelving. The oven racks folded, meaning you can have a rack that extends only halfway across the oven. Although we didn't use this feature, I imagine it can be helpful if you have a tall pot in the oven and want to cook enough other items that you need partial racks. It's just another example of the well-designed appliances. Also, the gas stove was very nice, with strong, even heat (not as strong as the gas stoves in China but better than others I've used in the States).
In contrast to the quality of the appliances within the condo, as we discovered in January, the building's water boiler wasn't powerful enough to keep up with the usage on cold mornings. Showers were lukewarm. This lasted only a week, at which point the weather warmed a bit. Or they fixed it. In either case, it didn't affect our lives much.
I enjoyed that many of Di Yin's coworkers lived in the same building. This made it easy to have dinner parties or simply drop by to say hello.
When I said the apartment was downtown, I meant it. Pennsylvania Avenue is the street that runs from the Capitol to the White House. We were a block off Pennsylvania Avenue, about halfway between those two reference points. Naturally, this part of the city is called the Penn Quarter.
Being downtown had its negatives. A building across the alley from us was under renovation, and the workers started at around 6:30am or 7:00am. I was usually woken by the sound of trucks backing up and dumpsters being emptied. I could hear construction noise the rest of the day, but those early morning noises were the loudest. I don't know why they didn't do the loudest activities at a more reasonable time.
I loved that I could walk to the Mall and its many (free) museums in ten or fifteen minutes. I also loved that I was two blocks from Washington D.C.'s central library. In addition, because we were in the center of the city, we were near multiple metro stations. This meant we could easily catch trains on any line--no need to transfer--and only had to stay on the train for a handful of stations before we got anywhere we wanted to go.
Conveniently, our apartment was located about halfway between Di Yin's work and mine. We each could walk to work in less than fifteen minutes. In rare instances, the walk was exciting. BP has a floor in the same building as my company and in a neighboring building--sometimes there were protests.
I liked how the area near my apartment was well lit at night. Lots of street lamps. Di Yin also said the fact that the FBI building is across the street made her feel safe.
Penn Quarter is mostly a commercial district. In the vicinity are various nice fast-food restaurants such as Cosi, Pret A Manger, Paul's, Potbelly, Qdoba, and Starbucks. There are also various nice chain restaurants: McCormick & Schmick's, Gordon Biersch, Hard Rock Cafe, Ruth's Chris, etc. There are also a bunch of independent restaurants. Of these, we visited Cure Bar & Bistro, located in the grand atrium of a hotel lobby, for a good meal in an impressive, stylish place.
There are various dessert-y places nearby. Crumbs Bake Shop (a chain) makes pastries, especially cupcakes. The variety is incredible. They make about eighty different flavors, though I'd guess from appearances that only about a third of them are available on any given day. Regardless, it's still an enormous selection. Tangysweet sells frozen yogurt. The classic is fairly tart. During one visit the special flavor was banana. The toppings policy is a crowd-pleaser: if you pay for toppings, you get as much as you want of as many types as you want as long as you can fit them in the cup. There was another frozen yogurt place, one which sells by the ounce, that isn't very good. The more-sophisticated Pitango (a local chain) offers gelato & sorbets in lots of intriguing flavors. I was most tempted by the fruity ones: banana, pineapple, white grapefruit, cantaloupe, mojito, quince, and rhubarb, but was also interested in the spicy chocolate, hazelnut, and orange dark chocolate gelatos. Eventually I tried Pitango during the summer heat waves.
The neighborhood known as Chinatown is adjacent to Penn Quarter. It's a few blocks to the east-northeast from our apartment. The neighborhood has nothing to do with China. It's an odd place. There's little Chinese there, but everything that is there has a Chinese name on its sign, including places such as Clyde's (bar & grill) and the Marriott (hotel). One doesn't see Chinese people in Chinatown (but then one doesn't see many in Washington D.C. in general). Instead, I'm told the neighborhood has some of the city's top restaurants, and none of these are Chinese. It's basically a stylish destination; the China connection is mostly historical. Even the big Chinese gate is a recent introduction; it was built in 1986.
I visited the library regularly to pick up books and DVDs. Its collection is large and it's easy to request delivery from other libraries within the D.C. system. I didn't tend to hang around / browse the library much because it was an older building and not particularly welcoming (though not unpleasant) and because the DVDs in particular are so disorganized that I couldn't often find what was supposed to be there. Instead, I just requested the items. The library also has the negative of most major city's central libraries: a large number of homeless people and, about half the time, the smell of pee near the entrance.
Occasionally the library had exhibits in its lobby. It once had an exhibit on Jews in Washington D.C., the first time I heard a discussion of this topic. The exhibit described how the Jewish community evolved over time in Washington D.C. from the first synagogues (which soon became reform) to the influx of eastern European immigrants and the spawning of more orthodox synagogues to the gradual acceptance of Jews in government and politics. I particularly enjoyed seeing Jews alongside African-Americans protesting segregated parks in the 1960s; it felt an appropriate scene to be shown in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library.
By the way, I took pictures at random times of things I spotted in my neighborhood.
Travel to Washington D.C.
On Wednesday, September 24, 2011, I, the revenant son, returned after a long absence to my youth home, the Washington D.C. area.
I ate a good breakfast in the morning, then headed to the airport. Getting to the airport to catch my flight was an adventure that bears not repeating.
I flew Frontier, possibly for the first time. It seems like a decent airline. All the seats were fake leather and had a personal TV. Interestingly, there seemed to be only one class of seat. But the best feature was that they serve warm chocolate chip cookies on every flight.
I transferred in Denver. I like the Denver airport's architecture, or at least that of Terminal A. Also, the Denver airport has a fairly good selection of promising-looking restaurants including a brewery. I ate in a diner-y one; it was good. I also browsed the terminal's photography exhibit. I wouldn't mind transferring in Denver again.
I landed in Washington National (DCA), a small airport that's the closest airport to Washington D.C. In contrast to Denver, DCA was drab and ugly (or at least its Terminal A).
Heading outside to catch my shuttle, I observed it was a balmy, pleasant night, nice weather to arrive into. Funnily, I recognized the news, traffic, and weather radio station (WTOP) playing in the airport shuttle even though I hadn't thought about it in years.
I saw the Washington Monument the instant the shuttle left the airport. We then quickly crossed the Potomac and passed some of the Mall's memorials. It was a nice welcome to the city. I'm glad I took the shuttle instead of the metro (which would have caused me to miss these sites).
Washington D.C. Food Trucks
D.C. has a good assortment of food trucks. Most Fridays I instigated a food truck outing with my coworkers. Most wouldn't go; I'd usually get one or two people. We either went to Franklin Square Park or Metro Center, both had pods of food trucks and each were only about three blocks away. Sometimes we ate outside, sometimes on the roof of our building, and sometimes inside by our work area. Sometimes on non-food-truck days, we also took our plates of food from lunch up to the roof. I vividly remember that on one (of the many) unseasonably warm days in the winter--February 1st--we ate outside on the roof in the sun.
I also went to food trucks solo, on days when I happened to be on my own for lunch. Some days I ate on the grass in the park.
The quality of the food trucks vary. Some are rather mediocre. Others are great. My favorite food trucks of those I visited more than once are Fojol Brothers (any version), Rolls on Rolls, and Basil Thyme. They're bolded below. Note that there are some great trucks that I only happened to visit one; they're not bolded.
Here's everything I tried in chronological order:
- Capitol Greenz (sandwiches, salads, and soups).
They served me a panini exactly the quality I can make for myself without thinking. Also, the black bean soup I tried was kind of like gruel in texture and with nothing besides black beans in it to liven it up. - Fojol Brothers (Indian and Ethiopian and Thai).
- From the Merlindian truck, the chicken curry, made from chicken thighs, was good. The curried chickpeas were decent but still respectable. The spicing could've been better in my opinion. Basic average Indian fare.
- From the Benethiopian truck, the Ethiopian shiro was a quite good, thick, buttery, red sauce. The dish of mostly carrots with some green beans was also good. Definitely this place is better than some sit-down Ethiopian places I tried in the city. The injera was also good and respectable. Another day I returned to the Benethiopian truck, having the carrots and green beans again and also a dish of red lentils that pleased me as well. Yet another day I returned, having decent collard greens and great beef berbere, wonderfully soft beef in a thick curry sauce with a slight twang of spiciness.
- From the Volathai truck, I tried two delicious dishes: drunken noodles (a.k.a. pad kee mao) with beef and duck red curry. Both had a nice kick. I was happy with the balance in the drunken noodles of rice noodles, broccoli, tomato, onion, and beef (though the latter was a bit tough). Likewise, the balance of jasmine rice, curry, duck, pineapple, potato, basil, and maybe other stuff was right in the other dish. The duck itself was perfectly done, with not much skin to remove (and still tasted just as good with the skin removed). I would order these again in a heartbeat.
- Rolling Ficelle (sandwiches).
They serve sandwiches on baguettes with a soft crust. I got the special of the month: "eggplant, roasted red pepper, tomato compote with mozzarella and roasted garlic aioli." It was very good. It reminded me of a meatball sub (with an appropriate sauce) but with small chunks of eggplant and peppers inside the sandwich instead of meatballs. Incidentally, I was amused to see the sign "boss blocked twitter? Find us on foodtruckfiesta.com" (a site that aggregates and republishes twitter feeds for D.C.-area food trucks).
- Rolls on Rolls (Indian).
They serve kathi rolls. My chicken masala roll, served with cabbage in a spicy sauce in a naan-like roll, was good. Note: I asked for it spicy and it indeed was mighty spicy. I had to eat yogurt to cool down my mouth. Months later, after I forgot I ate here before, I tried a kathi rolls with chickpeas. I was a bit nervous about eating something with only chickpeas, but there was enough stuff going on with the cabbage and blend of tastes. I ordered it medium and it had the right kick. Maybe I just like kathi rolls. Indeed, I do: I enjoyed the mixed vegetable roll (medium spicy) I had a few months later. It contained peas, corn, green beans, lima beans, and cabbage. Next time I think I might order something else, as I felt it lacked solid substance. And next time I did order something else, returning twice back to the chickpea roll. - Chupacabra (tacos, both traditional and unusual).
I tried the pumpkin taco, with pumpkin chunks, refried beans, pumpkin seeds, onions, and maybe some other stuff. I definitely liked it. Refried beans apparently go with pumpkin. My only complaint was occasional bursts of saltiness. - 1st Yellow Vendor (Korean).
I had the spicy chicken bibimbop, containing chicken, kimchi, a fried egg, shredded carrots, greens, and mung beans over rice. It was pretty typical (except that the egg was fully cooked) and quite good. - Tasty Kabob (Middle Eastern).
I wanted something small so I skipped the namesake kabob plates and simply got a side of chickpeas. It was good, served in a tomato stew with a bit of sweetness but also the tanginess of tomatoes. The chickpeas, though full-cooked, still had a nice bite to them.
- The Big Cheese (grilled cheese sandwiches).
I ordered the Mt Fuji, a sandwich of brie, fuji apples, and honey on seeded multigrain bread. It was okay; I discovered I don't really like warm brie. The apples were sliced thinly and so didn't contribute much. I also had the tomato soup, which was decent/standard but also not something I'd get again. - Cajunator (cajun, mostly po boys).
I had the shrimp po boy with tomato, lettuce, pickle, and remoulade sauce. Served on a long (ten inch maybe), crumbly roll and filled with deep-fried shrimp, it was fairly good and filling, though I wish it had stronger flavors. Later, I tried it again but thought it was merely okay/decent. It didn't have much kick or flavor and I wished it was better mixed: the shrimp were on top of the other ingredients. - Sauca (eclectic, one dish each from most major cuisines, all served on/in flatbread).
I had the Mexicali Fish Taco, a bunch of shredded fish with lots of pico de gallo and some hot sauce. It was good, a medley of flavor that were hard to individually identify. I admit I found it odd to eat a taco-like-thing wrapped in thick, kind-of-bouncy bread--think naan--but it worked fine. - Basil Thyme (lasagna). (I hate how misnamed this truck is.)
I ate the "lisetta", a good square of lasagna that was nicely light, flavored with pork and spinach in a lively tomato sauce (supposedly vodka sauce). It came with an ample side salad containing lettuce, olives, roasted peppers, grated parmesan, and cucumbers and adorned with a pleasing vinaigrette. All in all, definitely a good combination and not as heavy as I think lasagna meals tend to be. Another time I tried the catena, a lasagne with chicken, spinach, and a bechamel wine sauce. This was might tasty, though a bit rich (I wouldn't want to have it every day). The side salad was nice, but I didn't notice much dressing. - PORC: Purveyors Of Rolling Cuisine (Barbecue).
I had a pulled pork sandwich alongside baked beans and coleslaw. The pulled pork was good but not great; the hot bbq sauce gave it some nice character. I'm glad I ordered it hot--a friend advised me that the medium bbq sauce was kind of boring. Spongy bread soaked up the grease. The baked beans were great; the bacon in them gave them a luscious fattiness. The coleslaw, which lacked zest, was julienned cabbage in a vinegar dressing. - Kimchi BBQ Taco (Korean Tacos).
Okay. I had three tacos, each with spicy chicken but different Korean toppings on each: white cabbage kimchi, red cabbage kimchi (spicy), and sweet-and-spicy radish kimchi. I kind of like the flavor profile of the radish; the red cabbage was okay but boring; I liked the coolness of the white cabbage but found it too was plain. Regardless, there wasn't much other topping; mostly the tacos had chopped lettuce and a squeeze from a mayo bottle. Also, I was disappointed the tortillas were flour, not corn. - DC Empanadas (Empanadas).
Good. I tried three empanadas: one with shredded chipotle chicken, green onions, black beans, and corn (quite good; the best of the bunch), one with crumbled chorizo, roasted red peppers, onions and more (okay; somehow managed to be plain in spite of its ingredients), and an Indian-spiced one with potatoes, onions, peas, and more (decent/good, much like a regular samosa). All the empanadas were fried, yet they didn't have the greasy, fried feel. The frying just made the crust nice and crispy. - BBQ Bus (Barbecue).
Decent/good. I got the sampler platter: pulled pork (respectable; long strings), brisket (good, though should've been trimmed better), spicy chicken (good, my favorite of the bunch), coleslaw (vinegar-based) (respectable), baked beans (good; sweet and spicy, with a number of strings of onions), and cornbread (quite good, rather mellow flavor with a buttery finish). - Pepe (Spanish). The food truck started by the famous local chef Jose Andres.
Good I suppose, but could have been so much more! I had the pollo frito, a narrow baguette (flauta) filled with a breaded and fried chicken breast, iceberg lettuce, aioli, and brava sauce. It supposedly also had peppers (piparra), which is why I ordered it, but I didn't see any :-(. The ingredients were each done well yet the sandwich as a whole didn't feel special. - Cirque Cuisine (eclectic--menu changes weekly). Note this truck is more expensive than most.
- One week I tried the "sun-dried tomato wrap with chicken, smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, and chipotle aioli." It was quite good. A bit too large a bacon to chicken ratio but each of those parts were good so who am I to complain? I liked the kick from the aioli. The wrap came with delicious home-made sweet potato chips, probably the best home-made chips I've tasted. (I found most places that advertise home-made chips are not to my liking.)
- Another week I managed to find them again--they're not often in my area--and ordered the baked cod. This plate was like something one would find in an upscale restaurant: cod baked with roasted cherry tomatoes, slivered summer squash, thyme, and lemon in parchment paper, served with a green salad and a corn dish. The cod was respectable, with the thyme and lemon doing good things, though I admit I don't like roasted tomatoes. The mixed green salad with watermelon radishes, a few nectarine slices, and a lemon vinaigrette was of similar quality. I most enjoyed the roasted corn salad (yes, some was charred); it was cool and refreshing, served with bits of okra (they were in small pieces so as to be hard to identify, but that's what the menu said), cherry tomatoes (uncooked), and perhaps a few more pieces of chopped summer squash.
- DC Ballers (falafel and fries).
I ate a terrific falafel sandwich. The falafel was top-notch. It was mixed perfectly with tabouli, cucumber, pickled cabbage, and tahini--I got pretty much everything in the right amount in each bite. Furthermore, the hefty pita bread was well sealed on all sides, making it an easy and clean thing to eat. My only complaint is the wait time: it took twenty minutes after ordering for me to get my food. - Tapas Truck (tapas, duh!).
All the small dishes I tried were decent, and I think they probably hit the flavors the chefs wanted, but I wasn't enthralled with any of them. I tried all three small dishes available that daya:- chicken pimenton (chicken, somewhat shredded, "in a smoked paprika sauce with piquillo peppers"). My favorite.
- pork andaluz (crispy pork cubes in a sweet-and-spicy sauce). Too sweet for me; reminded me of Americanized Chinese food.
- shrimp pil-pil (shrimp "in a spicy garlic and sherry sauce" served atop a fried thing, maybe a corn or potato fritter).
- garlic fries. The usual, though a bit better than average.
- saffron rice. Fairly good, fluffy rice. Went best with the chicken and its thick, piquant sauce.
- Wassub (Asian subs).
I tried the chicken teriyaki sub: chicken beast with teriyaki sauce, melted provolone, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and onions on a traditional sub roll. Fairly pleasing. I thought the melted cheese wouldn't go but I was wrong--the teriyaki sauce, sweet and soy-y--was there in enough quantity that the other items were minor, not-disharmonious notes.
By the way, these guys have a great sign enumerating why their subs are better than sex. I can't (surprisingly) find a picture of it online. I planned to photograph it the next time I saw the truck but I never remembered to. - Sate (Indonesian).
I tried the "mie ayam", a dish of thin egg noodles, diced chicken thigh, oyster mushrooms, and bok choy. It was alright: rather plain even though the individual ingredients were fairly good. Served with fried wontons which were also nothing special. Perhaps I should've ordered the chicken sate (or its combo plate); the truck's business was nearly exclusively those.
Washington D.C. Restaurant Endorsements
Of the restaurants we visited two or more times while in Washington D.C., here are our favorites. This criterion of two or more eliminates some restaurants I thought were great that we never happened to make it back to. For the sake of restaurant consistency (don't promote too much based on one visit) and conciseness (keep a shorter list), I'm using this restriction. Some restaurants on the list are distinctive; it's hard to find those cuisines or dishes in other places. Some, such a pizza, are not; one can find pizza everywhere. However, I'm sharing these types of recommendations here as well because they're our favorite place in Washington D.C. for a particular thing.
In no particular order:
- Bens Chili Bowl (nominally a diner yet it's better called an institution that servers chili and hot dogs/sausages.) (U Street)
- Jaleo (solidly good Spanish cuisine, with a menu that includes all the staples; this is hard to find anywhere.) (Penn Quarter)
- Amsterdam Falafelshop (a great falafel shop; you might be able to find something comparable in every city. However, you won't find the likes of its incredible toppings bar anywhere else.) (Adams Morgan)
- Ray's Hell Burger, Ray's to the Third, etc. (mini-chain with terrific burgers, so juicy that when I bite into them, they can spray across the table. Plus, they also have good toppings for the burgers.) (mostly in Arlington)
- Pitango (mini-chain serving gelato and sorbets; I especially like their seasonal fruit flavors.) (various locations)
- Dukem (Ethiopian; the shrimp, surprisingly, is exceptionally notable.) (U Street)
- Nando's Peri Peri (an international chain that serves good rotisserie chicken) (Chinatown)
- El Pollo Rico (Peruvian rotisserie chicken, unbelievably juicy; better than Nando's but more of a trek and they're both worthy of this list) (Arlington)
- Paul's (an international chain that does top-notch baked goods, both savory and sweet) (Penn Quarter)
- Pete's New Haven Style Apizza (mini-chain; Di Yin found a pizza place she likes better, I found a place I like better, but we're always both thoroughly satisfied here and we've certainly found places that are worse.) (various locations)
- District of Pi (pizzas, both deep-dish and thin-crust, exactly in the style of Little Star in San Francisco) (Penn Quarter)
- Luke's Lobster (NYC & DC chain that servers lobster rolls, crab rolls, etc.) (Penn Quarter)
- Cheesetique (food that involves cheese: cheesesteaks, grilled cheese, mac 'n cheese, etc.; I especially like the cheesesteak.) (Alexandria)
Washington D.C. Overview
On Wednesday, September 14, 2011, I moved from California to Washington D.C. Di Yin had a fellowship that required her to be on-site for a year. I moved with her and worked out of my company's office there.
Most people when I told them that I was moving to Washington D.C. said that it must be nice going back to my childhood home. Childhood home--hah! When growing up in northern Virginia, I rarely made trips into Washington D.C. Sure, when I was less than ten years old, I made trips with my parents or my school to visit museums. But I never visited when I was a teenager and certainly never got to see the side of the city that I'd experience when living there. Living in Washington D.C. would be like living in any new-to-me city. Growing up in northern Virginia did not give me a special relationship to the city. The only thing it gave me was a few good reasons to leave D.C. (to visit restaurants and whatnot that I remember liking in northern Virginia).
I visited Washington D.C. for about a week in 2007. That overview post contains impressions of D.C. that based on that trip. This post contains the impressions I have after living in D.C.
I like living in Washington D.C. Fundamentally, it's an easy and comfortable place to live. Plus, it's pretty. And I don't just mean the monuments and government buildings. Whole swathes of the city--commercial and residential--are simply attractive places to walk around.
Below, I'll elaborate specifically on what I think about particular aspects of Washington.
Washington's Feel
I like how much of the city has symbolic significance. I did not say historic importance. Sure, some buildings are famous for a particular event that occurred there. But there are many more sites of symbolic significance: memorials honoring a particular class of people (e.g., police officers, members of the navy), monuments honoring the whole of particular peoples (ethnic groups, etc.), etc.
With the innumerable monuments and memorials (and associated plaques), historic buildings, and (free) museums, Washington D.C. is chock-full of site-specific Game clue sites. It's a great city for a Game.
I'll discuss the feel of particular neighborhoods in Washington D.C. in other posts (Penn Quarter and Chinatown, Dupont Circle, Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria, everything else).
Federal Government
Washington D.C. is truly a capital city. Maybe my recent trip to Paris made me more attuned to this, but when walking around D.C. one is very aware one's at the seat of power of government. No other U.S. city has the number of monumental buildings that D.C. has. It's an entirely different feeling.
More than just the seat of power, Washington D.C. is clearly a government-centered city. Walking around downtown at almost any time on a weekday, most people one sees are wearing clearly-government-issued ID cards around their necks. As more evidence, there are advertisements on many bus stations advocating to preserve federal government jobs. (I assume these are here not just to target legislators but to show employees their union money goes visibly to lobbying.)
Being government-centered, it's no surprise that there's a lot of security. Sometimes it's a bit off over the top. I once had to go through security to mail a package at a UPS shop. (It was located in a federal building.) Another time I tried to go to a chocolate shop with an address at the Pentagon. It turned out to be behind security, thus only selling to people with the appropriate credentials. I guess it's a big enough market.
Naturally, with so many people employed by the government or people who know people who are, politics is a frequent topic. I overhear political discussions much more often at lunch at work here than elsewhere. Furthermore, the people here seem to be more aware of the detailed goings-on and minor, short-term news stories. People here pay more attention to names, places, and events. They know the names of many congressman and senators, not just those from their states or who are head of the parties. Politics is in the air.
Another aspect of Washington D.C is that it's not part of any state; it's national. Elsewhere in the country I thought visiting a National Park was something special. In D.C. it's not--nearly every nice park is run by the Feds.
The People
Washington D.C. is diverse in a different way than other major American cities: it has a higher percent of African-Americans than San Francisco and even New York, but fewer immigrants (e.g., Chinese). D.C. also has lots of (apparently) homeless people. They generally seem to be in better condition/healthier/less scruffy than those in San Francisco.
Food
The restaurant scene in Washington D.C. is acceptable. Most of the places we tried were fairly good. We didn't find as many amazing / top-notch places as in the bay area, but that could be because I wasn't in D.C. that long. Nevertheless, I found some good stars; I'll share the restaurant highlights in a separate post. While in D.C., I missed a little of the bay area's diversity of cuisines. D.C. does have representatives from nearly all cuisines but from what I read those restaurants aren't as good as the ones that can be found in the bay area. D.C.'s also missing a few cuisines; for instance, although I know they exist, there so few Vietnamese restaurants in the city that I never stumbled across one. Washington D.C. is supposedly famous for its Ethiopian restaurants, but in our experience there are an equal number of them in the bay area and the bay area ones tend on average to be a bit better. On the other hand, there are more Southern restaurants here than in the bay area, a fact we didn't end up exploiting much.
There's greater culinary diversity in Virginia and Maryland's suburbs. It's true; I can vouch for some (authentic) Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants we visited in the suburbs, cuisines that aren't well represented in the city. Virginia is also where we went for Asian grocery stores.
Washington D.C. has a farmers market scene. Most neighborhoods have a weekly market, and the larger ones are on par with California's. Naturally, most (but not all thankfully) markets close during the winter. The ones that stay open are a good size and have a decent selection of winter vegetables and meats. I'll write more about farmers markets later as well.
A noticeable fraction of restaurants are closed for dinner and on weekends, an indication of the size of Washington D.C.'s commuter class. Though other cities I've been in also have lunch-only restaurants, this city's fraction of them is the largest. Hence, the city is slightly more active/exciting during the day rather than at night, but this effect is relatively minor--it's still a major city and therefore has things going on at all times of day and evening.
By the way, a sizable fraction of Thai restaurants have pun-y names: Thaiphoon, Thai Tanic, Mai Thai, Beau Thai, etc. I never tried any of them.
Weather
It was a great time of year to arrive. The fall temperatures were nice. The balmy, warm, humid days in September pleased Di Yin. "Good for the skin," she said. I said, "bad for my hair."
It remained fairly nice through the rest of fall, and even through most of winter. It was a surprisingly mild winter, with many days with a high of 50. February 1st hit 70!
I enjoy that, unlike the bay area, the weather is pleasantly changing. One day it can be cold and two days later the highs are twenty degrees warmer.
I also really liked the clouds. Washington D.C. regularly has interesting clouds. This makes for nice sunsets but also makes it pleasant to simply look out the window in the middle of the day.
Summer was unpleasantly hot, often reaching record highs. We saw many days in June that hit a hundred degrees.
Transportation
Washington D.C. is geographically well designed. With a regular rectangular grid and systematic street naming (1st, 2nd, etc.; A Street, B Street, etc.) it's easy to know where an address is. The occasional diagonal boulevards make it easier and faster to get places on foot than a purely rectangular grid.
It's nice to walk. Sidewalks are wide. I loved how all the crosswalks count down. Not some of them--all. Moreover, I noticed less time is given to pedestrians late at night: a smart traffic engineering decision given the relatively fewer number of pedestrians compared to cars at night.
The metro system made getting most places easy. They run frequently and transfers aren't too roundabout. I like the metro stations' design, especially the arched, vaulted, patterned ceilings and curved, recessed walls. I read that the architecture, including the recessed, even lighting, likely contributes to the system having less crime than comparable metro systems and also less crime than would be expected given socioeconomic factors.
Also, the metro system is clean.
By the way, the subway stations are quite deep. It's neat to ride the long escalators that bring one from ground level to station level.
Biking in D.C. is also a-okay. Sure, the Mall and waterfront are nice, but I've also biked through downtown D.C. during rush hour on roads with bike lanes or roads simply labeled bike routes. The bike lanes are much nicer than those in most cities: rather than a single lane for bikes squeezed between parked cars and traffic, the bike lanes in both directions are side-by-side and separated from the cars by metal poles. The bike routes are okay too; these are roads with numerous lanes that have relatively low traffic even during rush hour. I found it easy to claim a lane as a biker.
Also, in the wider metropolitan area, I love all the railroad right of ways & canal towpaths that have been converted into bike trails. They made nice, straight, flat, often pretty rides.
Life
Every weekend there was at least one rally/protest/march. I didn't go hunting for them but, because I lived close to the Mall, I often ran into them. Likewise, many weekends we found a festival on Pennsylvania Avenue near our apartment.
I loved that most of the grassy areas on the National Mall are available for sports. Sometimes I played ultimate there. Most cities would prohibit all activities that might damage the grass. Not Washington.
Washington D.C. has many free public lectures due to the presence of the Smithsonian institutions and because it's a requisite stop on any book tour about politics or policy. I didn't end up going to many though: only three, all art-related. The Smithsonian also has a number of pricy lectures or classes; I didn't do any of these.
Seemingly the day spring arrived, just as the cherry blossoms started to bloom, the tourists descended. Busloads of them on sidewalks in many places throughout the city. Crowds in museums. On the way to work, I walk down a street with a tourist bus loading area and also cultural sites related to Lincoln. During the season, I often crossed the street to avoid the people, though sometimes they covered both sides I'd have to weave between them.
Interesting Articles: Q3 2011
Politics & Media:
* Why Political Coverage is Broken (Jay Rosen's PressThink). An interesting article arguing that writing about an election like a horse race is wrong. (That's two of his three points and thing that resonated the strongest with me.)
Also, a radio segment, A Media Post Mortem on "Death Panels" (WNYC's On the Media via NPR), describes another facet of political coverage that bothers me. This piece explores how the media can debunk a claim while simultaneously printing quotes and statements made by the people on the wrong side of the facts. (Yes, it's an odd dialectic.) There is no reason we should pay any attention to things people say that are wrong.
Statistics, Academics, and Media:
* The statistical error that just keeps on coming (The Guardian). Fundamentally, making precise statistical statements requires a lot of careful thought and phrasing.
They've identified one direct, stark statistical error so widespread it appears in about half of all the published papers surveyed from the academic neuroscience research literature.
Lake Tahoe
My division in my company had a relaxing off-site to Lake Tahoe from Wednesday, August 31, 2011, through Friday, September 2. We had a nearly-identical off-site the previous year. Indeed, all the meals were at similar places at similar times. The activity schedule was basically identical. The only difference on my end was that this time I stayed in one of the hotel's townhouses on the beach rather than in the high-rise hotel building across the street. Also, we didn't have a puzzlehunt this year.
It was a fun trip. I played a lot of games (Through the Desert, Dominion, Ticket to Ride). For the main activity on Thursday (the one whole day we were there), I went hiking. I also tossed a disc on the beach as well as relaxed and read in the sun.
I took pictures from the beach on Wednesday.
I also took pictures of the hike on Thursday. As you can tell from the picture captions, I was hiking with some people (both coworkers and tour guides) knowledgeable about botany. For the hike, we took a chartered bus, parked by Spooner Lake, and hiked to Marlette Lake and back. It was 9.5 miles roundtrip. It was nice except for the clouds of dust kicked up by many dozens of people walking. I took a shower upon my return.
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