Dinner at 1789 in Georgetown

Have I mentioned that it’s been crazy since we moved back to the states? It turns out that scheduling social plans almost every single night the entire first week we were back wasn’t the best way to acclimate ourselves to our new surroundings.

It’s been a lot of fun – dinners and happy hours with friends, a baseball game and a visit to Virginia wine country – but also exhausting. I’m looking forward to a little more down time this week to finish putting our new apartment together, have a few nights of real sleep and get more organized with work, blogging and freelance opportunities.

I’m hoping to start posting a lot more here more soon, with a mix of travel tales and tips, day-to-day life experiences and a lot of information on my beloved Washington D.C. for both locals and travelers alike. In the meantime, there’s still food and wine.

Cooking at Home… Sort of

I was really excited to get back in the kitchen, but as I mentioned, there wasn’t much time for home cooking this past week. I did get really excited about this avocado egg toast before a long day of Ikea shopping.
We also made this kimchi fried rice, and these Skinny Taste Korean grilled chicken breasts. The fried rice was amazing (if you like kimchi, which I very much do) and super spicy and also incredibly easy. I can’t wait to make and eat it again.

Anniversary Celebrations

Monday night, with our apartment still in shambles, we got dressed up and went out for a beautiful anniversary dinner. As crazy as life has been lately, it’s never too crazy for a little romance. I’m so lucky to be married to such a thoughtful, funny, handsome guy who gets just as excited as I do about a new restaurant experience.
We had dinner at 1789 in Georgetown, a place I’ve always wanted to try but could never quite justify the cost. Lucky for us, they’re currently offering three courses for $48 as a summer special (ending September 11th), which is actually a really good deal considering than many of the entrees run between $35 and $40.

Still a bit of a splurge, but more palatable than paying full price, and you get to choose your three courses from the entire regular dinner menu.
Even as “discount” diners, we were treated like royalty. I loved the small touches of the personalized menu, and a tasty amuse bouche before our appetizers reached the table.

I ordered the yellow fin tuna crudo with watermelon and sour gherkin cucumbers, and Tom enjoyed a fried soft shell crab on top of a delicious vegetable gumbo. For our entrees, I had the pork t-bone with a turnip ragout and molasses glazed peaches (which everyone on yelp raves about) while Tom went with the branzino with coconut red curry sauce and green papaya. While all of the food was quite good, we agreed that both of Tom’s dishes were superior to mine.

I found the flavors of the crudo to be refreshing, but a little bit muted, and the pork was a tad chewy, although the dandelion greens and peaches were stellar. The gumbo in Tom’s appetizer was layered with rich flavors and textures (I didn’t try the crab, but he certainly enjoyed it) and the branzino offered a significant spice level, complex flavors and perfectly cooked fish.

We washed everything down with an affordable bottle of 2013 Sass Pinot Noir (we’ve decided to attempt to find a bottle from our wedding year at each anniversary going forward, which could get quite difficult when we’re older) that was a maybe a bit tight, but still versatile enough to work with variety of our dishes.

Dessert was great as well. At first I thought I’d finally ordered the superior dish with my warm upside down cake with huckleberries and sweet corn cake, but then I tasted Tom’s and realized he’d won yet again (not that we’re competitive or anything). The berries and cream with lemon ricotta cheesecake and wild berry hibiscus sorbet was light and tart and unique.It was a perfect night where we were able to slow down and enjoy each other despite the chaos we’ve surrounded ourselves with lately. There’s no one else with whom I’d rather gush about food and wine. I’d actually told him prior to the meal that I had no intention of blogging about our anniversary dinner, but the food was so beautiful we both wound up snapping photos. The man truly gets me.