A Great Day

Last weekend, MFO and I enjoyed what turned out to be a nearly perfect Saturday.  It involved the three things we really enjoy:  friends, food, and fine art (in this case crafts). 

We try to attend the Smithsonian Craft Show each year, but for various reasons have not been able to make it for a couple of years.  This year, the crafter who made our clock was selected for the first time so we decided to get there this year, and Saturday was the only day our schedule permitted travel.   And when we asked our friend who lives up there if he would like to join us or at least do lunch, he said that he had relatives visiting from Phoenix, and would love to all get together for a brunch before MFO and I did the show. With a little bit of research, we settled on Estadio who does brunch starting at eleven (Saturday and Sundays only, normally only open for dinner).  So on a lovely spring day, we drove up to DC in my lovely Flutter Mobile Two, whizzed by the National’s Ball Park before the game crowd assembled and joined up with our friend and his niece and nephew.  He was gracious enough to drive us all to the restaurant, which believe me is a relief because he knows where he is going and is used to the driving “tactics” employed in our Nation’s Capital.   With minimal gasps and deep breaths, we navigated to the restaurant. 

Estadio (Stadium in English) is a Spanish themed place, which is reflected in the décor, with heavy wooden tables and massive (for a restaurant) chairs, tiled flooring, open beamed ceiling and so forth.  There is an “open kitchen” which might give the “stadium” moniker credibility at one end, a bar in the middle, and seating kind of around the perimeter, many against the windows as it is on a corner.  The only table available for five was a high top, which isn’t bad since it gives one a nice view of what’s going on. The restaurant is (not surprisingly) a “Small Plates” format and specializes in Basque and Northern Spanish cuisines.  The brunch menus were left on the table after we were seated, a one page paper affair with food on one side and wine on the other.  Brunch was broken down into four categories:  Starters; breads and sandwiches; Breakfast and Eggs, and Entrees.    Most prices were ten or under with only a few of the entrees in the thirteen dollar range.  By the time we got there, it was very close to noon, so a small chilled glass of Albariño from the ample wine list hit the spot.  It was served in a tumbler rather than a conventional wine glass, which matched a rusty memory of my time in Spain.  The server was a young lady, and although my antennae were probably down a little, I don’t recall a name or the use of the word “guys”.  She was quite pleasant and answered a couple of questions about the menu so we could make up our minds.  Before we each made our choices, we did order a cheese plate for the table.  Meanwhile we considered our food with many (almost too many) good choices to tempt us.  I settled rather quickly on an Egg Tortilla with Jamon, Green Beans, Alioli & Mahon Cheese,  MFO took Creamy Polenta with Breakfast Sausage and Fried Eggs; other selections were the Soft Scrambled Eggs, Goat’s Cheese, Mushrooms & Scallions; Torrijas, (Warm Spanish Toast) Almond Butter & Vermont Maple Syrup; and Grilled Hanger Steak & Eggs with Patatas Bravas.  I was glad to see that nothing on the menu seemed to be too spicy. (reflective of Spanish as opposed to Mexican cuisine).  Pretty quickly the cheese plate arrived with three cheeses, some dates, quince jelly, and nicely toasted baguette (probably a Spanish version) slices.  The cheeses were a cow’s milk San Simeon, a goat Cana de Cabra, and a blue semi soft Cabrales.  Although the portions were probably a bit scant for five people, we each had a taste (except our DC friend who doesn’t like blue cheese…. yet).  They were very fresh and had great flavor.

The food began arriving, brought by runners.  Now, since I fancy myself a “critic”, I have to find something to be critical of, it's my job.  They easily obliged me with one of my pet peeves.  As you probably know, each table in a restaurant has a number which goes on the ticket that is spit out (bad choice of words) in the kitchen.  I cannot imagine that it takes very complicated software, or just a hand written note that the person in seat X at table Y ordered the Egg Tortilla.  Or maybe even a good memory by the server.  But alas, no.  Runner arrives at the table with two plates in hand.  “Who had the Egg Tortilla?... who had the Polenta?”.  Auctioning off the dishes is not what you should expect at a well regarded restaurant.  On top of that, there was an awkward time span between delivery of the first four plates and the steak and eggs.  I’m not sure there was the “oh, go ahead and eat” stage, but close.  The only other thing I could be critical of was that there were two flat screens over the bar which faced us, and they were both on, showing Saturday morning Kiddy Kartoons.. a bit incongruous I thought.

Most importantly I cannot criticize the food.  It was all served (eventually at the correct spot) hot, nicely presented and everybody liked what they had.  my Tortilla

(about seven inches in diameter)

 

The encased jamon/ham was salty (sorry diet) and tasty.. those Spanish have a way with ham.  The green beans were pencil thin, retained a bit of crunch, and the Alioli added just a nice bit of snap to the dish..  we all declined Postres.  We really all enjoyed the experience (with only those couple annoyances to the Bottom Feeder) and had a great lunch.  The visitors from Phoenix enjoyed hearing about Historic St. Mary’s City and “my” Chapel, and vowed to visit the next time they came..  Excellent lunch. (oh the regular wine list is something to behold, and the “cellar” is just inside the door)

After that, we walked to the car, passing a few outdoor cafes which were full of people enjoying themselves on a nice day.  There is just something vibrant and energetic about that kind of thing.  Something you can enjoy in the “big city”.  Then we went back and changed cars to the Mobile II and all rode to the Building Museum where the Craft Show is always held.  We parted company there as they wanted to tour some of the museums.  It was great to make new friends, maybe we’ll see them in Phoenix someday.

The Smithsonian Craft Show is always an enjoyable experience.  There are so many beautiful things, and the Smithsonian folks would have you believe that it is just the crème de la crème.  Pretty much go along with that, although there are some crafters that seem to be perennial participants.  Like the “basket lady” from North Carolina.  They do seem to respond however, because there were a fair number of “new exhibitors”, including Jim Borden who made our clock.  In fact if you take the time to click on the link to TimeShapes the little video that pops up is exactly like our clock, although I’m not sure it is as large as ours and we don’t have the little weight off to the side, ours is high enough on the wall that it is under the clock.  We still love the thing, I sit and watch it, sometimes with a DMOTRWAT!  Anyway, we talked to Jim for a while.  He is such a nice guy.  The only purchases we allowed ourselves were a couple of glasses from Dan Mirer, who does very nice work with glassware.

We have other pieces of his work, they are quite pleasurable to look at and use.  A good thing about the Smithsonian Show is that you don’t get “craft fatigue” like at the Baltimore show.  There are far fewer booths which keeps you energy and appreciation skills from becoming dull.   So eventually we returned to the car, and with only minimal aid from the GPS were able to navigate to Suitland Parkway (past a full National’s Stadium, or Estadio) to the route home.  We stopped at Nick’s of Calvert in Prince Frederick, picked up a couple of steaks, came home and grilled them.
So ended a great day with food for body and soul, shared with friends.  Doesn’t get much better.

On the Road Note..

Tomorrow MFO and I will get in the MOMSTER and head for Providence Rhode (Road??) Island, where MFO is attending a preservation workshop for Archivists.  I am going along as baggage so will have time on my hands for photos and finding food.  Reports to follow.. and yes, we are taking duds to be
DFD