You Are What You Eat: July 2 through July 10
For the second weekend in a row I was on the road, resulting in lots of eating out and lots of new restaurants for my list. This trip plus baseball also nearly doubled my repeated restaurants for the year. I probably need to break out travel restaurants to get a more accurate assessment of my normal habits, but that can wait until a future time.
Tuesday, July 2 - We drove down to Columbus on Tuesday night to drop M's dog off with her parents. M, her mother and I then got dinner at her parents' all-time favorite restaurant, Villa Nova, which is an Italian place that's been there for a gazillion years. My sandwich was just barely ok, but apparently afterwords her mother said I'd ordered one of the "less good" things on the menu, so who knows.
Wednesday, July 3 - We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Dublin that night and had breakfast there. While it was a different Holiday Inn Express than earlier this year, it's still the same food, so from here forward the second visit to any extension of a franchise counts as a repeat.
One long drive later we were near FedEx Field around 5pm. We stopped in at Jasper's to have a snack and a drink before the Rolling Stones concert. It was adequate. The service was mediocre and food was nothing special, but then we picked it for proximity more than anything.
M had a few beers during the concert, but I only had a pop.
Thursday, July 4 - We got up late and our hotel didn't have breakfast anyway, so we grabbed a snack at the cafe in the National Portrait Gallery, which was actually our second museum stop of the day. It was just grab and go.
After a long day in art museums, we popped across the street to the Jose Andres restaurant Zaytinya, which is was Mediterranean oriented small plates. We had a 7-8 different small plates and a lot of very fresh pita, all of which were delicious. For dessert, they had an ice cream trio with a rose, a walnut and a baklava ice cream, which were definitely flavors I don't get too often. The rose flavor was very strong. This was the best restaurant of the trip in my book.
Friday, July 5 - We got up relatively late and tried to go to Founding Farmers, but the long line persuaded us to go across the street to a chain place called Paul's, where we had a decent breakfast. My hot chocolate was good and I had a sandwich and a pastry. Nothing special, but it did the job.
For dinner, we met M's friend Carrie at a very stereotypical looking Irish pub called the Dubliner that had been there for longer than I've been alive. The menu, thankfully, had some non-stereotypical options and I actually had a decent salad there.
Later in the evening we had a drink and a snack at our hotel bar, which was called Bell20. Well, M had a drink. I drank all the water instead, along with a BBQ chicken flatbread.
Saturday, July 6 - We met M's friend Cecilia for brunch at Tico's, where I learned about the wonder that is DC brunch. Apparently, the brunch scene is so competitive that if you don't offer an "all you can eat" brunch you won't make it. We shared many different small plates covering nearly 3/4 of the options. The vast majority were very good. I'd certainly go back there again.
For dinner, we stopped in Wheeling late at night. The first two local places we tried had already shut down their kitchens, so we gave up and ate at Applebee's. It actually was decent, but I have no need to rush back.
Sunday, July 7 - Another morning, another breakfast at a Holiday Inn Express. This one was in Wheeling, where we had decided to stop for the night after finishing our late dinner. I do love that they have turkey sausage now.
Back in Columbus we met all of M's immediate family at a local chain called Rusty Bucket, where we watched some World Cup soccer while having lunch. I had a decent southwestern salad.
Immediately upon arriving home I headed downtown for MLB All-Star festivities. I ate some ice cream at Progressive Field.
Monday, July 8 - Since I didn't have time to go grocery shopping, I ate lunch at work.
For the second day of All-Star festivities, I was able to get back into my usual "have a beer and a snack" at Great Lakes before heading to the Home Run Derby. I skipped the snack at the park this time.
Tuesday, July 9 - For the third and final day of All-Star festivities, I took off the afternoon at work. This meant I could have lunch at Great Lakes. From there I went to a concert at the Rock Hall, caught the All-Star expo at the convention center, and then went to the park for the All-Star game proper. I did have a drink at the park.
Wednesday, July 10 - Since I didn't still hadn't had time to go grocery shopping, I ate lunch at work again.
When I got home, I removed that excuse by hitting the grocery store, and made Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili for dinner. That came from the February 2011 Eating Well, and it was the first time I made it this year. It was a restful evening after the prior week and change.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 9
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 1 / 1
New Recipes: 0
Leftover Nights: 0
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 16
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 3
New To Me Restaurants: 10
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 8
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 0
Repeated Recipes: 0
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 190
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 123 / 161
New Recipes: 68
Leftover Nights: 7
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 92
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 34
New To Me Restaurants: 47
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 27
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 13
Repeated Recipes: 10
Tuesday, July 2 - We drove down to Columbus on Tuesday night to drop M's dog off with her parents. M, her mother and I then got dinner at her parents' all-time favorite restaurant, Villa Nova, which is an Italian place that's been there for a gazillion years. My sandwich was just barely ok, but apparently afterwords her mother said I'd ordered one of the "less good" things on the menu, so who knows.
Wednesday, July 3 - We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Dublin that night and had breakfast there. While it was a different Holiday Inn Express than earlier this year, it's still the same food, so from here forward the second visit to any extension of a franchise counts as a repeat.
One long drive later we were near FedEx Field around 5pm. We stopped in at Jasper's to have a snack and a drink before the Rolling Stones concert. It was adequate. The service was mediocre and food was nothing special, but then we picked it for proximity more than anything.
M had a few beers during the concert, but I only had a pop.
Thursday, July 4 - We got up late and our hotel didn't have breakfast anyway, so we grabbed a snack at the cafe in the National Portrait Gallery, which was actually our second museum stop of the day. It was just grab and go.
After a long day in art museums, we popped across the street to the Jose Andres restaurant Zaytinya, which is was Mediterranean oriented small plates. We had a 7-8 different small plates and a lot of very fresh pita, all of which were delicious. For dessert, they had an ice cream trio with a rose, a walnut and a baklava ice cream, which were definitely flavors I don't get too often. The rose flavor was very strong. This was the best restaurant of the trip in my book.
Friday, July 5 - We got up relatively late and tried to go to Founding Farmers, but the long line persuaded us to go across the street to a chain place called Paul's, where we had a decent breakfast. My hot chocolate was good and I had a sandwich and a pastry. Nothing special, but it did the job.
For dinner, we met M's friend Carrie at a very stereotypical looking Irish pub called the Dubliner that had been there for longer than I've been alive. The menu, thankfully, had some non-stereotypical options and I actually had a decent salad there.
Later in the evening we had a drink and a snack at our hotel bar, which was called Bell20. Well, M had a drink. I drank all the water instead, along with a BBQ chicken flatbread.
Saturday, July 6 - We met M's friend Cecilia for brunch at Tico's, where I learned about the wonder that is DC brunch. Apparently, the brunch scene is so competitive that if you don't offer an "all you can eat" brunch you won't make it. We shared many different small plates covering nearly 3/4 of the options. The vast majority were very good. I'd certainly go back there again.
For dinner, we stopped in Wheeling late at night. The first two local places we tried had already shut down their kitchens, so we gave up and ate at Applebee's. It actually was decent, but I have no need to rush back.
Sunday, July 7 - Another morning, another breakfast at a Holiday Inn Express. This one was in Wheeling, where we had decided to stop for the night after finishing our late dinner. I do love that they have turkey sausage now.
Back in Columbus we met all of M's immediate family at a local chain called Rusty Bucket, where we watched some World Cup soccer while having lunch. I had a decent southwestern salad.
Immediately upon arriving home I headed downtown for MLB All-Star festivities. I ate some ice cream at Progressive Field.
Monday, July 8 - Since I didn't have time to go grocery shopping, I ate lunch at work.
For the second day of All-Star festivities, I was able to get back into my usual "have a beer and a snack" at Great Lakes before heading to the Home Run Derby. I skipped the snack at the park this time.
Tuesday, July 9 - For the third and final day of All-Star festivities, I took off the afternoon at work. This meant I could have lunch at Great Lakes. From there I went to a concert at the Rock Hall, caught the All-Star expo at the convention center, and then went to the park for the All-Star game proper. I did have a drink at the park.
Wednesday, July 10 - Since I didn't still hadn't had time to go grocery shopping, I ate lunch at work again.
When I got home, I removed that excuse by hitting the grocery store, and made Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili for dinner. That came from the February 2011 Eating Well, and it was the first time I made it this year. It was a restful evening after the prior week and change.
Totals For This Post
Days Covered: 9
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 1 / 1
New Recipes: 0
Leftover Nights: 0
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 16
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 3
New To Me Restaurants: 10
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 8
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 0
Repeated Recipes: 0
Overall Totals 2019 (less January 1)
Days Covered: 190
Meals / Dishes Cooked: 123 / 161
New Recipes: 68
Leftover Nights: 7
Eating Out / Take Out Meals: 92
Eating Out Drinks/Dessert Only: 34
New To Me Restaurants: 47
Repeated Restaurants in 2019: 27
Parties / Friends / Family Cooked: 13
Repeated Recipes: 10