Happy Smells

I think that everyone has smells that they consider their own personal “happy smells.” Just one whiff and you are taken to another place, another time. They can completely change your mood. I have several of them. Freshly-cut grass, the first day of fall in the mountains when everything is crisp and a little cool and you can literally smell the leaves changing, pencil shavings, old library books, rosemary, lilies, when you walk by a building and the smell of laundry detergent and dryer sheets comes pouring out of an air vent, and basil, oh basil! My mother and I stayed at the Hotel Palomar in Dupont Circle (which I will get to at a later time) on my first night when we arrived in DC and were recommended to the Dining Room at the Darlington House (http://www.darlingtonhousedc.com/) by Phillipe at concierge. What a recommendation! Great food, great service and a very friendly staff! (Note to my readers: Not a restaurant that exactly fits the shoestring criteria of my blog. It’s in the $$ price range. Pasta $16-20, fish $24-30, mmmmmmMeat $19-26. This is a great restaurant for a special occasion, perhaps when your wonderfully-generous parents come??). The restaurant is located in the first floor of a three-story walk-up, right above a less-expensive cantina, owned by the same people. The Darlington House is decorated in a classic-architecture style and reminded me a bit of Versailles. Seat covers. Chandeliers. Mellow atmosphere. In contrast to this style, numerous framed posters of Obama—the campaign ones that have a graphic-design/photoshop element to them—hung among the silver swirls of wallpaper. Definitely not what you would expect given the rest of the decorating, but they spur some conversation! The host, who I think might also have been the manager, spoke with us a couple of times throughout the meal, as did the chef. The wine list had a good amount of variety and there were bottles that fit pretty much any budget (in terms of restaurant wine). After ordering our wine, we were presented with some freshly-made tomato focaccia an amuse bouche-a small, great authentic bruschetta (I LOVE amuse bouches)!
But back to the happy smells. My entrée, Chicken Paillard ($19), came with basil mashed potatoes. This side combines two of my favorite things in life: basil and mashed potatoes. But you probably could imagine how the two flavors might really not “marry” well. Almost an eww factor, right? WRONG. They were wonderful! They were pureed just enough, with a little bit of remaining texture (not too baby-food-like) and they had just the right green color to them, not too intense that they looked artificial, just perfect! And the chicken breast, pounded out to almost half the size of the plate, had a refreshing citrusy-lemon-butter sauce. My mother had the special risotto of the day, made with a roasted red pepper coulis. It too, was wonderful, which really says a lot, considering the fact that both my mom and I are sort of risotto-snobs. Some restaurants can really mutilate risotto. Over-cook it. Cake it with Parmesan cheese. The chef at Darlington House prepared it perfectly to al dente, just the right amount of the roasted red pepper coulis, not too overpowering… I can’t wait for my parents to come back to DC so we can go back to the Darlington House and I can try a few other entrees and hopefully have a few more bites of their basil mashed potatoes!

Darlington House (Dining Room)
Dupont Circle ($$-$$$)
1610 20th St NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 332-3722
www.darlingtonhousedc.com
Other goodies: private event room, FREE Wi-Fi throughout the house

Why me?

So I've just moved to DC from Colorado and am sitting in the midst of boxes of baking pans, utensils and other kitchen equipment that will sadly be packed away until some far-off date when I have an oven again. You might think that being from Colorado, uprooting my entire life and moving to the, wait for it...EAST COAST (!!!!) for medical school would be the biggest change imaginable to me at this point in my life. But if you are thinking that, you would be wrong...For those of you who don't know this (and I can't imagine that anyone who is reading this wouldn't know it already), but I think of myself as a cook, sort-of. Let's just say that cooking is a big part of my life. So while you're reading this, keep that in mind. For me, moving here is huge. Starting medical school is equally if not more huge. But for me, my kitchen is GIGANTIC. As in REALLY important, not referring to the actual size, although maybe the two go hand-in-hand. I don't have an oven. Instead, I have this oddly-arranged, tiny corner area that is about a fifth of the size of my last kitchen in Denver. It has next-to-no counter space, no drawers (!) and barely any cabinet space. So I will pack away (per my family's advice) everything that I won't be using in my bathroom-size kitchen, and think of it fondly until I move. Which might not be for a few years. But that's that.
Back to the task at hand. I want to write about my experiences here in DC, on the east coast...Sort of a DC guide to eating on a shoestring budget, but more of a foodies guide on a medical student's budget, which basically is a shoestring, since I will be studying full-time and have no income whatsoever. So here it goes. A couple disclaimers to start with:
1. I LOVE ellipses... I use them far too frequently. I know that.
2. I'm not a writer. I'm a great speller, but grammar has never been my forte. And seeing as how once school starts I'm pretty sure I'm going to be SWAMPED with work and will desperately be trying to stay sane and level-headed, my grammar might get worse. I will do my best to make this coherent, but I won't make any promises.
If you are a grammar person and can't handle #1 or #2, you might want to consider stopping here. I'm only thinking of you. I won't take it personally. Hell, I won't even know.
3. My cat's name is Sake. Yes, like the Japanese drink, but he is actually named for the Japanese fish salmon, since he is orange. I'm a little bit weird about him, ok maybe more than a little bit. And since I'm living alone here in DC, I might get weird-er. Who knows?!?
4. I like to go out to eat. I just want to share my thoughts on the places I try here in DC with you! I know everyone has their own opinions and their own tastes. Take mine with a grain of salt.
5. I like puns. No explanation needed.

So that being said, if you're still reading, welcome! I'm excited about this, about DC, about getting to know a new city, about meeting so many interesting people, about medical school, even about living on the east coast. And judging by my first few days in DC, I think that I'm really going to like it here. A few weird people excluded, everyone has been SO nice. I have really been surprised at how welcoming everyone is here. And it's totally made up for the fact that nothing seems to work in my apartment, except my air conditioner and stove (both of which I am EXTREMELY thankful for)! As I am writing this, I'm sitting on my fire escape, getting eaten alive and poaching internet from some unsuspecting neighbor. It's almost 8pm and its still 86 degrees outside with 62% humidity. The weather is definitely something that will take some getting used to, but there has only been one really bad day here in the past week. It was on Monday, when the heat index was 107. Besides that, my only other complaint has been the bugs. I have been getting devoured!! But I think that might just be because I'm so sweet :-) It's time to head inside, get away from the bugs and have a glass of wine! Until next time...