April 2020 – Truxton Is In Shaw

Bresca Pick Up Review

I don’t know why Bresca did not appear in my initial run down of Michelin starred restaurants offering take out. But looking at the various Tock options I noticed it wasn’t on my radar before. That and it is in Shaw!

Well that has been rectified. Bresca is great and provides a major meal. When all this is over, and we have a sitter for Destructo, the Help and I need to sit down at this lovely restaurant.

Looking-into-a-bag-of-food — Our meal before I ruined it in a bike ride

The above is an image of our meal before I ruined it along the bike ride home. The tarts on the right are at their best, so there is no at home photo because when I secured the bag on the CaBi, the meringue was ruined. I tried to come home on a JUMP scooter, but none were working with my app.

I ordered the BeeHome four course meal, which after the 20% service charge and 10% taxes (was the service charge taxed?) came out to $118.80. Money well spent I say. The four courses consisted of a snack of Brioche Tartine, with foie gras topped with a strawberry-campari puree and black pepper and a green leaf I cannot identify. It’s not mint. Maybe an oregano or kind of basil? Then followed by a starter and main course of our choosing. I chose a green tomato salad and the pineapple and carrot salad as the starter. Then the main of the Brioche Stuffed Chicken and the Duck Leg and Thigh. Dessert was a chocolate tart, which got destroyed on the ride back home. Also thrown in, I gather was an amuse bouche of a two little madeleines.

The meal was wonderful, so much so it kicks the Dabney meal down to 3rd place (Rose’s #1, Bresca #2, Dabney #3, and Kinship #4). And the Dabney was almost even with Rose’s at Home. Even better it was so filling, we’ll have some later for lunch this week.

Several parts of the meal was a big hit with Destructo- the 2.5 year old. He really liked the duck and the carrot and pineapple salad. He inhaled the madeleine. I doubt he appreciated the little flecks of salt on the chocolate drizzle. He really, really liked the duck even though he loves the 5 Little Ducks video and excited to see live ducks and even after we told him the duck he was eating once went “quack”. He didn’t care, he just wanted more duck in his belly.

I can’t tell you anything about the chicken as my beloved spouse ate the whole thing without sharing. So I am left with his impression of “it was good.” He said the meat was tender, and it had a cheesy interior. I don’t know if cheese was in it. I think he’s mistaken. I will never know. But I do know about the fennel sausage that accompanied the chicken in another container. That will survive till lunch and what little I sampled, was oh so good. I think there is a whole stick of butter in it. It’s rich herby and buttery, and a little salty.

He was supposed to have the carrot and pineapple salad, but was so stuffed with stuffed chicken, he did not really touch it, which allowed me and the 2 year old to eat it. Destructo liked the salad until he didn’t. There were some vinegary undertones that I think built up until he noticed it enough not to like it. The carrots (and maybe parsnips) were sweet and slightly tender. In the grains (the granola) were quinoa and pickled sultanas. And of course, there was pineapple.

My duck was accompanied with some root veggies, rice and pickled fennel. When I had the fennel, the duck and the rice on the fork they worked together. However, if I had the fennel on its own it was too acidic. Paired that with the green tomato salad, then I was getting way too much vinegar. The other problem was some of the carrots were too woody. Flavor and mouthwise those were my only complaints.

As mentioned, we were pretty stuffed at the end of the meal and had enough for left overs. We saved the chocolate tart for after the days dishes were washed (or placed in the dishwasher) and the toddler was put to bed. It’s a tart with a chocolate shell and a chocolate filling with a layer of passionfruit on top. I ate about 2/3rds of mine and saved the rest for later.

Next, restaurants that do their own delivery.

COVID & Daycares or DC.gov’s Stupid Interpretation of CDC Guidelines

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.– Hanlon’s Razor

So March 15th our daycare closed in response to the corona virus. Then a few weeks later we got a message from our daycare that they would be open on a very limited-restricted basis. I figured it wouldn’t last long, and the daycare closed again citing rules from the DC Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE), which has oversight over schools & child care centers, that were impossible to follow.

I got a hold of those OSSE rules. Most made sense, but several seemed like they were written by someone with no practical knowledge of children or child behavior.

Then I compared those rules to the CDC’s Guidance for Childcare Programs That Remain Open. Yup, OSSE’s rules were written by an idiot, or an intern, or maybe a childless lawyer.

Let’s review shall we? These are the OSSE rules shared with me, I’ve italicized the stupid:

All staff & children above 2 years old must wear non-medical face coverings at all times
One staff member has to be at the door to receive children or go curbside
All surfaces must be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected after each use
Staff must bring clothes to work to change every day before the start of work
Children & staff must be 6 feet apart at all times
Staff are not allowed to hug the children
Staff & children must wash their hands for 20 seconds every 20 minutes
Staff & parents [should be] aware of the requirement to check their own (or their child’s) temperature 2 hours or less before arrival to the facility each morning
Staff are to wear clean, large, button-down, long sleeved shirts when working with infants and young children.
Parents are required to wear non-medical face coverings when picking [up] and dropping off children
Signs posted in every classroom throughout the building with reminders regarding cleaning, disinfection, and sanitation, as well as hand hygiene

Of the 11 rules, 3 are stupid, so stupid all cannot be practically followed. And when looking at CDC’s guidance, they are horrible misinterpretations. Let’s compare:

Face Masks for Kids

OSSE: All staff & children above 2 years old must wear non-medical face coverings at all times.

CDC: Cloth face coverings should NOT be put on babies and children under age two because of the danger of suffocation.
and
When feasible, staff members and older children should wear face coverings within the facility. Cloth face coverings should NOT be put on babies and children under age two because of the danger of suffocation.

Notice the difference between what OSSE says and the CDC. The CDC is mainly saying don’t put masks on children under 2 because of the high risk of suffocation. It appears it got interpreted by OSSE as put masks on everyone over 2. I’m not 100% sure the danger of suffocation is non-existent for the 2-5 year old set. Also, we know for a fact 4 year olds like to rip off clothing. Shoes. Socks. That sort of thing. Many adults working in industries or conditions find protective masks irritating after several hours, and will take them off, I have my doubts the 2-5 year olds will have a greater tolerance.

There is a phrase in all the stupid OSSE rules, “at all times.” Sometimes it’s the part that makes a reasonable rule, stupid. The CDC says that staff and older children (not really defined) should wear cloth face coverings “when feasible”, providing opportunities for meal times and other incidences when face coverings are not feasible or practical. The CDC’ “when feasible” provides more leeway than OSSE’s phrase “at all times,” which I can only imagine means mealtimes and nap times (opportunities for suffocation and partial ingestion of loose cloth– remember this covers the nose & mouth).

Social Distancing at the Childcare Facility

OSSE: Children & staff must be 6 feet apart at all times.
CDC: If possible, child care classes should include the same group each day, and the same child care providers should remain with the same group each day. If your child care program remains open, consider creating a separate classroom or group for the children of healthcare workers and other first responders. If your program is unable to create a separate classroom, consider serving only the children of healthcare workers and first responders.
and
Consider whether to alter or halt daily group activities that may promote transmission.

- - Keep each group of children in a separate room.
  - Limit the mixing of children, such as staggering playground times and keeping groups separate for special activities such as art, music, and exercising.
  - If possible, at nap time, ensure that children’s naptime mats (or cribs) are spaced out as much as possible, ideally 6 feet apart. Consider placing children head to toe in order to further reduce the potential for viral spread.

and
It is important to comfort crying, sad, and/or anxious infants and toddlers, and they often need to be held. To the extent possible, when washing, feeding, or holding very young children: Child care providers can protect themselves by wearing an over-large button-down, long sleeved shirt and by wearing long hair up off the collar in a ponytail or other updo.

There are several examples where the CDC propose the 6 feet of separation, during the pick up and dropoff period, temperature screening and naptime. I have failed to locate in the CDC guidelines anything close to the OSSE’s rule of staff being 6 ft. away from children at all times, which creates another safety issue. The OSSE rule makes no exception for toddlers who need close (less than 6ft) supervision, especially when they are mobile and attempting suicide via exploring their environment. Once again the CDC provides greater leeway than the OSSE.

Our particular daycare has several separate rooms that would allow mixed ages but separate spaces for children of 1st responders and other kids.

The OSSE rules appear not to allow for kids to be in groups, but the CDC does.

Lastly, on this point, outside of a Soviet orphanage, who does childcare at a 6 foot distance? If this was a temporary measure of a few days, less than a week, fine. Longer than that and there are some childhood developmental and behavioral issues (see institutional autism) that could crop up for some population of children. Logically when the economy starts opening up, some of these rules are going to remain in place in order to head off the second wave. And if all the stupid rules remain in place, then daycares cannot remain open and be in compliance.

Wash Yo Hands

OSSE: Staff & children must wash their hands for 20 seconds every 20 minutes
CDC: All children, staff, and volunteers should engage in hand hygiene at the following times:

- Arrival to the facility and after breaks
- Before and after preparing food or drinks
- Before and after eating or handling food, or feeding children
- Before and after administering medication or medical ointment
- Before and after diapering
- After using the toilet or helping a child use the bathroom
- After coming in contact with bodily fluid
- After handling animals or cleaning up animal waste
- After playing outdoors or in sand
- After handling garbage
Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If hands are not visibly dirty, alcohol-based hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol can be used if soap and water are not readily available.
Supervise children when they use hand sanitizer to prevent ingestion.

The CDC guidelines on handwashing are something that should be done anyway, virus or no virus. My only concerns would be with drying out infant skin if interpreted to include them. But OSSE’s rules would have adults and children trying to wash hands 6ft apart constantly all day…. while wearing face masks.

Conclusion

I don’t know how long this is going last, and if things open this Summer, they’ll close back down for the 2nd wave, which tends to be worse than the 1st. I don’t expect to get back to life as it was in 2019. But I would like my daycare to open back up so I can get back to work and it (and the schools) can’t open up if OSSE insists on keeping unworkable rules that have less leeway than the CDC.

Yes, I care about my son’s safety, which is why I looked at the CDC’s webpage. If the daycares cannot open, then I guess we’ll be looking for a nanny, and that has it’s own issues.

You can contact the OSSE and ask about their rules their email is osse@dc.gov or you can fill out the Ask the Superintendent of Education form.

Kinship Pickup Review

I need to mention that the night before I was scheduled to pick up our Kinship order our kitchen sink faucet died. On Saturday, Easter eve. So my mind was more focused on being able to clean our food and make food. You do not appreciate all the things you need a kitchen sink for (beyond washing dishes) until it is out of commission. This is my excuse for less than lovely photos.

I ordered this meal a few days earlier for pick up via the Tock website. I had held off on ordering from Kinship because it wasn’t clear beforehand what the price points would be. But once ordering the prices and options are revealed. I ordered a $50 lamb meal for two and their cocktail Split Tail ($45), which is their twist on the old fashioned.

Like Rose’s at Home you have to heat it up, so it doesn’t matter how long it takes you to get home and it allowed for sticking it in the fridge for later while one deals with an emergency.

The leg of lamb roast came with some Israeli couscous (not pictured). It came with heating instructions and the couscous required heating in the pot with 1oz of olive oil (if my memory serves me correctly). I misplaced the instructions, they probably got swept up with the sink parts.

Although we enjoyed the meal, the 2.5 year old was less than impressed. He didn’t like the couscous, probably a tad too salty for him. And he didn’t care for the lamb, even though I only gave him the well done parts and cut them up small. It seemed too chewy for him. He tolerated the garbanzo bean stew (no olives) accompanying the lamb roast. At first sight, I wasn’t too impressed either, but a few bites in the flavors started working really well. The saltiness of the couscous worked with the lamb and the stew when all of them came together. A two year old is a horrible dining companion so my spouse was really trying to sell the meal to him, and Destructo-kid was not buying. I’ll assume the spouse liked it.

I did not get to the cocktail until after the kid was long put to bed. The Split Tail is a twist on an Old Fashioned. It has rye, Japanese Whisky and Barrel Aged Gin with Walnut Bitters and Demerara Syrup. It serves 6 if using 2.5 oz per serving. I had to provide my own ice and orange peel. Thing is, I don’t have ice but I did have some tangelos around. I had to improvise on making an ice cube, one of those huge ice cubes. The freezer space is at a premium in our house so ice cubes are low on the list.

It makes for a nice Old Fashioned….. when you add a cherry to it. And after the ice melts, the next morning you have a lovely shot of flavored water. Good stuff.

This adventure cost $123.50, for food, booze, tax and tip. Yeah, it was worth it.

I’m not sure if there is another starred restaurant in the que. The fixing of the sink, which includes an expensive wrong part that has yet to be attempted to be returned, set us back a little, so this week we’re making our own food. Maybe next week I’ll look into someone who does their own delivery.

The Dabney- Pick-up review

OMG.
So good.

My pictures will never do justice to the plating inside the take out containers. Nor will the pictures convey the awesomeness of the flavor and the goodness and the everything. And my mind is blowing at the thought that you could get a Dabney meal and also pick up some cocktail happiness at the Columbia Room in the same friggin alley. Usually that much fun in an alley is illegal.

What we ate:
Snack- Sweet potato roll (fancy catfish sandwich… so good)
1st course- Bitter greens salad w/ goat cheese & Spring Pea crostini
2nd course- Grilled heritage chicken (finger lickin’ good)
Dessert- Chocolate cake

The catfish sandwich slider was wonderfully good. It was just right with crispiness and the things (pickles, etc) that make it so right.

My spouse had the crostini and I had the salad. I could have made the salad better my getting an even coating of dressing (packed on the side) on the salad, but chose not to. It was fine with the globs I dumped on to it. My beloved spouse is not a fancy food man. So when I asked about the crostini he said, it was crunchy. I had several forkfuls of the pea mixture and it was very good. I enjoyed the slivers of ham.

Since our toddler was dead asleep, we ate immediately after I came home with the food. So the chicken was nice and warm. I think I should talk about the pick up process.

I picked the 4:30PM pick up time because the other option was really late and since I was going to be on a bike, I wanted to be able to see on my way back home. So 4:30 wasn’t the time I picked up our meal. It was the time I stood in line. I was either the 2nd or third person, waiting 6 ft behind. While I waited there were people arriving in vehicles, and waiting in vehicles. There really wasn’t a lot of room in the alley for the cars that were there. The wait wasn’t long at all, maybe 2-3 minutes from standing in line to waiting 6 ft+ from the bar, to grabbing my bag.

Anyway, the chicken was still warm and I managed to figure out how it was supposed to look on a plate. So I removed the chicken, put it to the side and placed the beans and ramps on a warm plate, then placed the chicken on top. It was tender and delicious. Because we were at home, we could pick up the boned chicken with our hands and gnaw at it.

All in all it was $117, which is the meal, plus taxes and 20% gratuity. There is an option to add wine to the meal, but I live with a 2 year old and a teetotaler, so I opted for the InShaw house white and house red. I’d say what they are but I wouldn’t want some sommelier to touch their face facepalming. Let’s say they are both from Costco and I enjoy them.

Who is better, Rose’s at Home or the Dabney? Hard to say. I really liked the food and the need not to think about what’s for dinner for the three days we had the Rose’s at Home meals. But flavor-wise, the Dabney was impressive. It’s almost a tie, but Rose’s kinda wins.

Okay so Kinship is probably next unless Gravitas gets more frozen meals back in the que.

Shopping with Bank Robbers

Because Destructo-kid goes through 3 gallons of milk a week and because I was running out of greek yogurt, I went shopping at the Giant this morning. A day or so ago the CDC said that we should be wearing non-medical (save the medical grade ones for the medical people) facial masks. So every other person in the store was wearing some sort of thing over their face. There were bandanas, blue surgical masks, dust masks, plastic face shields, wrap around scarves, and homemade contraptions like the one I was wearing. It was like shopping with bank robbers.

Despite the mask, I was able to identify a neighbor in the bread aisle. He has very distinctive hair. I saw another neighbor who works at the Giant, he didn’t see me, and we’re more wave ‘hi’ from a distance neighbors, not chatty neighbors.

So there is some toilet paper at the Giant, limit 2 per customer. I bought two rolls.

There were a decent amount of paper towels. Since we had a lot of microfiber cloths, we started using more of those to clean up non-gross stuff. If it is gross, like Destructo deciding to spit food back out, it gets a paper towel. So our usage is low enough, and our current stock of paper towels is enough for me to pass on that purchase.

Seriously, what is it with the broccoli? Once again no fresh broccoli. There was frozen broccoli. Also in the freezer aisle more frozen strawberries and pineapple than you can shake a stick at. No frozen blueberries. No frozen cherries. Back in produce, there were limes, tomatoes, some onions, a few shallots, salad greens, bok choy, and if you want fresh garlic you have to buy them in packs.

Thankfully, there was 2% milk. Once they turn two, little ones need to get off the full fat milk and on to lower fat milk. For the past week or so, the 2% has been hard to find. And speaking of dairy, there was Greek yogurt, better yet, lowfat Greek yogurt, for now. I bought 2.

I’m going to end with a check on my COVID-19 privilege. I’m not going to shame people on-line for not wearing a mask. They are hard to find in stores and on-line. I have the privilege of still having a paying job and having had been paid on Friday. So I could afford to go on Etsy and purchase masks. I had the good fortune of having fabric scraps, a sewing kit, plenty of thread and ribbon to make a mask last night. We have a few used N95 (used and filled w/ our germs) laying about in the basement. Not everyone is as fortunate.

There are other privileges beyond masks. My spouse and I still are employed, and can maintain benefits. We can work from home (not as productive) and posses the tools and the internet access that allows for that. That work provides the finances that allows us to stock up so we don’t need to go shopping as much or lets us buy on-line. Despite some stresses of being stuck together, I have people I can hug and touch to get that human contact I crave.

So after counting my blessings or checking my privilege (yeah I know that means something different, just go with it), I’m not going to get on my high horse and write contemptuously of people without masks, riding on the bus, shopping, or the like. It’s not like the District of Columbia government distributed masks, gloves, and a weeks worth of rice and lentils to everyone and they’re just refusing to wear them. It’s not as if there are free food distribution centers or grocery stores in walking distance of everyone. I can be classist, and try to keep that -ism to myself, but the classism I’m observing from others during this time is getting a little over the top.

Rose’s at Home/ Rose’s Luxury/P&P – A Delivery Food Review pt 2

This is a continuation of the previous post about the three meal package offered by Rose’s at Home. This part is about the two other meals included in the package.

Meal #2
Lychee Salad with pork sausage, habanero and peanuts
Baked Rigatoni alla Vodka and garlic bread
Medium Rare Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the meal with the famous Lychee salad, which has been one of the things I looked forward to on any visit to Rose’s Luxury. It’s not too hot (spicy) but has enough of a kick to be interesting. It’s got cilantro, if you’re one of those people with the genetic problem with cilantro. This was so good it was not shared with our 2.5 year old.

Destructo-kid did get the rigatoni and garlic bread. Which were low key and fine. Parts were al dente, which the toddler hated, and other parts were soft-ish pasta. When plating it, it was very saucy. Sometimes pasta with red sauce is not a wow dish, but it was filling.

Lastly, for this meal dessert was a cookie. Of course the cookie got heated. Everyone has their own idea of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. My spouse is an odd ball who likes his desserts frozen. And in this situation, he was able to have the cookie just the way he liked it.

Meal #3
Campfire Carrots, yogurt & harissa
Smoked Brisket with white bread, horseradish & slaw
Chocolate Tart & truffle whipped cream

The spouse and the toddler did not care for the carrots.

We all really enjoyed the brisket and not having had horseradish before it was amazing. It was so good I wished there was more. This was a dish that required an oven. I put it in a little longer than recommended because the heating instructions from Meal #2 made me wonder if our oven wasn’t hot enough. As a result, the brisket was perfection and the bread was a little crispy. That was fine since we’re not fans of really soft white bread.

The toddler didn’t get any brisket. He had his own meal, but he did get the white bread. He didn’t eat all the bread. He was not interested in the slaw and I already mentioned the carrots.

The tart was nice. Once again my spouse had his dessert frozen the way he liked it, which made the truffle whipped cream a projectile when he tried to split it with his fork. I enjoyed a room temperature tart with a glass of Costco’s best red wine.

Conclusion:

Trying to plan out dinner for the next week, I realize part of the value of the 3 night plan was the luxury of not thinking about what to cook for 3 nights. We’re both working from home and at times, with a high energy toddler running around (he doesn’t run 24/7, sometimes he naps & there is the electronic babysitter). It also allowed us to get to bed earlier because there were fewer dishes and no pots and pans to clean up. So I’m thinking of looking for places that offer a couple of nights food.

Knowing that delivery services Caviar, Seamless, and the like are taking huge portions of the bill I will stick with places like Rose’s at Home that do their own delivery. That or pick it up myself. That way the restaurant gets to keep the profit and hopefully remain alive for one more day.

So who to do next? I probably should do Kinship but I can’t tell how much anything would cost. The Dabney is a short bike ride away. I like fixed price menus.

Rose’s at Home/ Rose’s Luxury/P&P – A Delivery Food Review pt 1

So all the restaurants are closed because of the global pandemic. The silver lining of this cloud of death is that some of the Michelin starred and Bib Gourmand are offering delivery or take out. Since we’ve become parents, are ability to enjoy the fine dining options in the city have been limited, so this allows us to “revisit” some places in our own home. Last time it was Bib Gourmand Red Hen. This time it’s the one starred Rose’s Luxury (sister to the 2 starred Pineapples & Pearls) with their Rose’s at Home service.

So we got the 3 night meal, because that was the only thing left, and paid a total of $288. It was to be delivered sometime around 3 something on Monday. We got a call from the driver a bit before 3pm (Google map problem I’m noticing with Uber and other things) trying to find us. Then we got this big box of food! And instructions, there were instructions.

Night One Menu
Green Tomato Panzanella, sourdough & anchovy
Pickle-brined Fried Chicken and honey & benne seeds
Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread (not pictured)

The instructions were to leave it out for an hour to get it to room temperature. It worked fine. The chicken wasn’t crispy, but it wasn’t soggy. A fair amount of the crust separated from the chicken meat, which was fine with me. The meal came with some hot sauce that had a burn but was warming, not flaming. It was so good, I was wondering if I could make a Bloody Mary with it.

We have a 2.5 year old and he got dinosaur chicken (nor Rose’s) so he could eat with us. We shared a bit of our dinner with him. He liked the fried chicken, as he said it tasted like candy. That was the honey. He did not care for the pickled green tomato, but he stole all of my soft sourdough croutons. Destructo-kid and my spouse shared the monkeybread. I’m sorta on a diet so I let them have mine. About halfway through the dessert, we decided to just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. That was good too.

The best thing was the time saved. We were able to eat with our son, put away the dishes, put him to bed and amazingly have time to watch a movie. Thanks Rose’s at Home!

I’ll review our second meal later.