Mari – Page 71 – Truxton Is In Shaw

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.

So we got our DC School Lottery Results

First off, we’d pretty much given up on caring that much. The daycare that Destructo is one of those few child development centers that offers free Pre-K 3 and 4. I was angling for something a bit fancier but due to Destructo’s not being fully potty trained, put a monkeywrench in the ranking order. So maybe next year. Also we’re eying an exodus from this lovely city for career reasons in the near future, so there’s that too.

Anyway, here is what we got in the email today.

Yes, I knew we had a snowball’s chance in the hottest part of Hell of getting into Mundo Verde. If we got in or if his waitlist number (not shown) wasn’t 3 digits, I’d be fast tracking that potty training. For reasons, too gross to put here, I believe he has more control over his body than he’s letting on. Same thing for Yu Ying, which is also a three digit waitlist number.

If I could have found something about proximity as a preference for Cleveland Elementary, I would have. Cleveland is closer to our home than our in-boundary school Seaton. But I didn’t see anything about proximity, so apparently that wasn’t a factor…. maybe. Our waitlist number for both Cleveland slots is thirty-something.

I love the fact that DC has school choice. I didn’t have to choose a school based on an address. When I bought my house, almost 20 years ago, I was a single childless woman, so what school boundary I was in was immaterial. Looking at where we’d move to in the land of Maryland drivers, yeah, elementary school boundaries are a concern. It also helps that Seaton is our in-boundary school, which isn’t that bad, and there are a couple of good charters in walking distance.

Looking at our top 5 which actually is a top 4, you can guess what we found important. Language. What do Cleveland Elementary (DCPS), Yu Ying PCS, and Mundo Verde PCS have in common? Dual language programs. Destructo is getting a bit of that at his daycare, ad hoc, but I don’t think Tagalog is a language he can take with him past Pre-K 4.

I appreciate an article written in the Post profiling 8 families and what went into their lottery choices. I get that people want to have families choose in-boundary or neighborhood schools over charters and out of boundary DCPS schools. But the reality is some schools suck. And I have a good memory of what DC schools were like in the 1990s and early 00s, and schools have improved, but they aren’t equal to all students. We and other parents, make decisions based on what we think is best for our family or our individual kids. We only have one, but I know kids, even in the same family are different. And the school that worked for kid #1 may not work for kid #2. Same for the neighborhood school that may work for kids 1-11, but not kid #12, #32, #57 or #71- 102. And programs take time to develop and by the time it’s ready for the kids it was promised to, those individual kids have moved on.

Anyway, I hope your waitlist number was low, or you got into the school of your choice, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Red Hen- A take out food review

So we wanted to help an area restaurant because the global pandemic has hit DC and all the restaurants have pretty much shut down in some way. Many have reopened but with a limited or different menu. I love food and I love fancy pants dining, but I have a 2 year old which means a sitter, so we pass. But as I mentioned in my last post, this disaster has presented an opportunity to dine from some very fine restaurants with the 2 year old.

Tonight, we tried out Bloomingdale’s Red Hen. In 2017 and 2020 it was named as a Bib Gourmand restaurant in the Michelin guide.

Looking at this I’m admitting I tipped poorly, but I was aiming for a round number. I sent the spouse out to get the food and he came back with some switchels I did not order, I should have tipped more. (See note below).

Anyway, Red Hen’s regular menu and their take out menu are pretty close. I found their drink menu, entertaining. The house cocktails were either a kit or a batch. Their bottles of wine range from $45 to $145. Not sure what the $20 corkage is.

I had the Italian Chicory Salad and the Roasted Spaghetti Squash. My spouse had the Chicken Liver toast and the Radiatori. Our 2 year old had bits of our meals. The food came in paper take out containers. I do realize a lot of what makes some fancy schmancy places special is presentation and well, it’s the end times, whaddya want? They looked very nice in their packages. At first, the 2 year old loudly refused samples of what we were having. But as soon as he saw us eating, he wanted some. He took about 1/2 of my spaghetti squash dish, and ate most of it. He had a few bites of Daddy’s toast…. nope, he did not want any butter or chicken liver. It was the fancy hard bread. He had a few slices of Wonderbread level soft bread from the Inshaw kitchen. He also had Daddy’s pasta, but by the time he got around to getting a second bite, Daddy was done eating.

I have no star rating. It was good. We enjoyed it. It probably would have been better if my spouse left the house earlier to pick it up ad if we ate immediately after he got home with the food but the 2 year old delayed things. So some of the cheese had solidified in the pasta dish, but not to the point it was less than tasty. It was quite tasty. It is better when it comes fresh from the chef’s kitchen. So my advice is walk faster and eat sooner.

NOTE (edited 3/23/2020): I noticed the charge on our account for this was higher than $70. My beloved spouse gave an extra $30 tip. So now I don’t feel bad about the tip anymore.

Support Local Restaurants or an opportunity to eat well at home

Note- This was typed up 3/17/2020. Everything subject to change with the rules of how governments and businesses respond to COVID-19.

So we are to hunker down in the house, but every so often you need to get out. Why not support some local TC businesses and still enjoy the goodness that is them?

ANXO at 3rd & Florida NW in Truxton Circle will be selling ciders and wines to-go. Their Instagram page has more info. Also you can support them by buying gift cards, so you can enjoy them when things are back to normal.

Republic Cantina on the other end of the TC on N St. NW is also doing take out. They are offering their cafe and dinner menu items for take out.

Am I missing any other Truxton Circle biz in the TC?

Over in Bloomingdale:

So Red Hen, you know Michelin mentioned them… finally you can get take out at this usually fine dine in restaurant. I’m licking my lips looking at their dinner menu. They are also selling gift cards for when happier days come around.

Tiber Creek, not mentioned by a fab French tire company, via their Instagram (I am not signed up for the instas, I’m old and I’m annoyed I have to go to Instagram to find things out because info is not on your main web page or Twitter) will be doing take-out.

Bacio Pizza– Take out only (stupid Instagram info).

Michelin level restaurants make you food-

Seeing the opportunity that Red Hen presented, a normally sit down restaurant I can’t go to because I’d need a sitter because the 2 year old has terrible table manners, is now offering take out food. So that got me wondering what other places of that high caliber, that require a sitter, are providing provisions? So I took a look at the Michelin Guide for DC and saw these. If it ain’t mentioned, they either are closed or haven’t mentioned anything.

Kinship– at 1015 7th St NW, the website says tomorrow (3/18/2020) they will be doing to go service. So watch that space.

The Dabney– They have take out, 3 courses for $45. From their site “Orders will be taken by phone from 11am – 2pm daily by phone only for that evening’s menu; there are limited number of dinners available. We are unable to modify the set menu, and payment will be processed upon order. In addition, a concise selection of wines by the bottle are available for purchase. ”

I have no idea what Jose Andres is doing in his awesomeness, but I doubt the community kitchen offerings at minibar is going to be as amazeballs as normal minibar.

Masseria– They will bring food to you. You just have to order before 3pm, delivery between 4-6pm.

Gravitas– They plan to offer pickup and delivery options.

Rose’s Luxury– They already have the Rose’s at Home service, which is currently offering drop off and Pick Up service. And there is the take away menu. The Pineapples and Pearls site will point you to this service.

Maydan– They have to go but I have no idea what is available.(instagram info)

Komi and Little Serow– Get carry out at Little Serow and Komi plans to implement Happy Gyro later this week.

Little Pearl– See Rose’s Luxury and their evening takeout menu.

Sushi Taro– (g*d**m Instagram). Pick up menu from 12-8pm, $30. See the stupid instagram page for options.

Truxton Circle Population 1880-2010

So I was cleaning up and found this and decided to post this helpful table.

Truxton Circle Population 1880-2010
Year	Total	Black	White	Other/Asian	Note
1880	1511	678	832	0
1900	4723	2438	2281	4
1910	6801	2232	4565	4
1920	7234	3008	4221	6	4-Chinese 1- Japanese 1- White/Chinese
1930	6175	4455	1712	6	All Chinese
1940	8244	6519	1718	4	Note: 3 Japanese 1 Chinese Total also 8244
1950	7720	6186	1511	23
1960	6789	6716	58	15
1970	5830	5768	21	41	2 yrs post riot
1980	3349	3249	61	39
1990	3623	3347	189	87
2000	2997	2713	103	181
2010	3028	1964	816	248

Source: US Census

Shaw School Review: Friendship PCS- Armstrong Elementary

Friendship PCS- Armstrong Elementary
1400 1st St. NW or 111 O St NW

Type of school: Public Charter
Grades: PK3-5 (Note: Middle School for 2020 grades 4-8)
Before & After School care: Yes. Contact school. Prob. $70 a week for before and after care.
Enrollment: 417 (2019-20)
—PreK3: 55; PreK4: 72; K: 63; 1st: 40; 2nd: 65; 3rd: 38; 4th: 37; 5th: 47
PCS LEA 1 Programmatic Capacity: 900; Unfilled seats 499 (2018-19)
Cost Per Pupil- No figures found. Apparently those numbers will be available later in 2020 or 2021.

Attracts Students From These DCPS schools (2017-18), 10 students or more

Name of School	# of Students
Thomas Elementary School	17
Truesdell Education Campus	10
Walker-Jones Education Campus	88
Browne Education Campus	23
Langley Elementary School	15
Seaton Elementary School	36
Cleveland Elementary School	13

Physical activity: Grades K-5: 65.00 Minutes/week

PARCC Scores 2018-19, % meeting & exceeding expectations
	Black	White	Hispanic	Pac. Is/Native Am.
ELA 2018-19	9.2%	n<10	n<10	n<10
Math 2018-19	22.9%	n<10	n<10	n<10
Males ELA	7.3%	n<10	n<10	n<10
Males Math	18.2%	n<10	n<10	n<10

Mari’s 2 cents–

I chose the picture of Armstrong before it was renovated. Friendship is the second charter school to take over the building. I almost feel that I should have a photo of the Langston school to show the importance of charters on the neighborhood. However, Langston is so far long gone no charter, no matter how well funded, isn’t going to touch it, unless the neighboring Slater building comes with.

I should write about the program. As the mom of a toddler, I should point out this is one of the few (the only I found) charters that seems forgiving when it comes to potty training. KIPP and Mundo Verde demand that students be potty trained.

They will have an open house on March 11, 2020 9:00am-10:00am and March 25, 2020 5:00pm-6:00pm.

Sources:
https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/150
https://www.dcschoolreportcard.org/schools/120-0269
Copy of EdScape_Chapter 3 Facilities_Facility Enrollment and Utilization_6
2018-19 School Year Annual Enrollment Audit Report Supplemental Tables
Detailed 2018-19, 2017-18, 2016-17 PARCC And MSAA Performance