Restaurant Review: Founding Farmers

A few weeks back, one of the people I follow on Twitter posted a tweet about Founding Farmers having a viewing party at their restaurant. The chef had been featured on a show called Meat & Potatoes on The Food Network and they invited everyone to come out to watch it at the restaurant's bar and enjoy some complimentary appetizers.

I'd heard many rave reviews about their sister restaurant, Farmers & Fishers, so of course I jumped at the chance. We arrived around 9:30, the viewing party was scheduled for 10:00, and the place was still pretty full. We decided to grab a seat at the bar. The first thing I noticed was how spectacular it was. They had every type of liquor you could possibly imagine with an ample collection of infused fruits sitting in large containers. It was way past happy hour and a week night so I decided to pass on drinks and ordered an appetizer and meal instead.

The menu had so many great options, it was hard to decide. While driving over I perused the menu and was all set on getting the Southern Fried chicken salad but somehow ended up ordering the Shrimp and Grits instead. My friend and I ordered the skillet cornbread for an appetizer. It came out in a matter of minutes, which was perfect because I was famished. It was so delicious I could've easily eaten the entire thing by myself, despite how large it was, but had to save room for the food.

Shortly after, our meals arrived. Both of our meals looks incredible. I admit I was jealous of my friend because he ended up ordering the Southern Fried chicken salad I had originally planned on getting. His salad was like nothing I'd ever seen before. There was 3 huge pieces of golden brown, fried chicken sitting on top of a bed of crisp greens, with avocado, red onions, chunks of bacon, cherry tomatoes, cheddar, topped with a mixture of honey mustard and ranch dressings. I took one bite and knew that would forever be my staple choice on their menu. While my shrimp and grits were also very good, that salad was hands down the best thing I've eaten in quite a while. Truthfully, I've had better shrimp and grits elsewhere but I enjoyed the fact that the shrimp was very fresh and I like their farm-to-table concept. The grits were also very smooth and creamy and not at all gritty, which I'm not a fan of.

Let me not forget to mention the other appetizers we sampled during the viewing party. They had their signature Bacon Lollis and fried green tomatoes. Being that I'm a true lover of bacon, when I saw bacon I stopped eating myown food and had to get a taste. They were large slices of bacon (just the meat) with a coating of brown sugar and cinnamon served on a stick. Had I not already eaten so much already I would have taken a handful, but I didn't want to be greedy. Then the fried green tomatoes came around and I fell in love. I've had them on a few occasions from other places but was never all that impressed. These on the other hand, were breaded in cornmeal and the green tomatoes were perfectly tender. I've never experienced anything like them.

Not only was the service excellent and the food impeccable, when the check came we didn't even cringe. I was shocked at how affordable our meal was and we both even ended up with leftovers to have for lunch the next day.

Since then I've been back once and can't wait to go back many more times. Hopefully, next time I'll be able to make room for dessert.

Founding Farmers
1924 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20006
202.822.8783
http://www.wearefoundingfarmers.com/

Things to Do: Safeway BBQ Battle on the Mall

If it has to do with food, I'm all about it.  Fortunately, I've been blessed to be fairly petite in stature so I'm able to eat practically anything I want and often times I do.  So when I received an email about this week reminding me about Safeway's National Capital Barbecue Battle, my mouth instantly started to water.  Oh how I love BBQ, let me count the ways...

Sorry, I had a moment but I'm back.  The BBQ Battle will be held on Saturday, June 26 (11A-9PM) and Sunday, June 27 (11A-7:30P) on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 9th & 14th Streets.  This year marks the 18th year the BBQ Battle has been in existence. Every year more and more chefs, locally and from across the country, participate in this cook-off.  In addition to eating there will be tons of vendors and live musical performances, click here for the detailed line-up.  Of course, it wouldn't be a DC event without the Godfather of Go-Go, Chuck Brown.  He'll be making an appearance on Saturday from 7:30-9:00PM.

Being that I love to support as many charitable organizations as I possibly can, it makes me feel even better that part of the proceeds from the Battle will benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington.  The costs are listed below.
Cost:
$10 Adults
$5 Kids (6-12)
Free Kids 5 and under

For more information:
BBQ Battle Website
Event Program

WWWTW: KFC Double Down Sandwich

WWWTW = What's Wrong With The World

So I was watching the local news and the two anchors showed a clip from Saturday Night Live featuring a new sandwich from Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) called the Double Down.  I thought it was a joke until the anchors unveiled they were going to do a taste test on live TV. 

As you can see from the photo to the left, the Double Down is a sandwich with 2 slices of cheese and 2 pieces of bacon which wouldn't be so bad if they weren't served between 2 CHICKEN BREASTS.  There's no bread bun, the 2 pieces of fried chicken serve as the bun.  Really?  How fat can you be to even order that?  If anyone were to wonder why Americans are becomer more obese, this is one of the clear reasons why. 

I find it interesting how the government can regulate drugs and what can and cannot be said on TV but they can't (or choose not to) regulate these ridiculous food options chain restaurants are coming out with.  The FDA needs to get on their job because this is not acceptable.

Detoxing

After going to the doctor for my annual visit last week I left in shock. As the physician's assistant moved the slider to 100 then the other slider crept past 30, I knew something had to be done. My real problem is I'm a foodie. I love food.

Lately, I've been busy running from activity to activity and meeting and meeting which has caused me to not eat how I'm used to. I've never been one to gorge on a lot of food but snacking is my downfall, especially if it's sweet or salty I'll eat it. I decided to do some research and came across a few detox diets that would help me get back to my ideal weight.

I haven't told many of my friends about this whole detox dieting plan, unless they invited me to a happy hour or dinner this week and demanded to know why I wasn't coming, because I don't want to hear what they have to say. One of my male friends insisted that I was fine and didn't need to lose any weight. I'm naturally petite and people always ask me if I work out, which I don't and I know I need to. I know what a healthy weight for my body and frame is so I'm not going to be content until I'm back at that weight. After the detox, I have a lot of traveling for work and personal, so I'm going to have to focus on eating healthy and trying to walk more while the weather's still nice.

Prior to starting this detox diet, the only detox I knew about was the Master Cleanse, what Beyonce did when she was trying to lose weight for Dreamgirls a few years ago. Basically it consists of drinking a concoction of lemon juice, cayenne pepper, maple syrup and some water. The detox I'm doing is not even close to that extreme. I'm also only doing it for 7 days, my goal is to lose 10 pounds, but I'd be happy with losing 8.

My meal plan looks something like this:

Breakfast:
Berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
or a Berry shake with some soy milk, vinegar, flaxseeds

Mid-Morning Snack:
Green Tea (no sugar only honey) w/ orange slices

Lunch:
Lean piece of chicken or salmon with fresh vegetables (broccoli, onions, garlic, sprayed w/ lemon juice and a sprinkle of sea salt) Spinach is also recommended but I don't eat it. They also say to eat "colon-friendly" foods, you know what that means so I'm not going into details.

Mid-Afternoon Snack:
Green Tea (no sugar only honey) and raw carrot sticks

Dinner:
Similar to lunch

The key is to stay hydrated so you can cleanse the toxins out of your body. I do this by drinking at least 4 bottles of water and 2-3 cups of green tea each day.

I'm on day #2 of the detox and as of today I've already dropped 3 pounds, not bad. It actually feels good to be eating better. Hopefully, I will make this a part of my routine and be more careful about what I put into my body.