Christmas this year was peaceful. We had conversations by phone with family starting with Tyler, my 14 year old, calling me at 5:30am. I was sound asleep in the dark and my watch started vibrating. I woke up with a start and realized the phone was ringing so I rolled over and grabbed it. Tyler on FaceTime. “Oh, so you ARE up,” bright and happy! I was expecting could not sleep or upset about something, but nonetheless I was in the dark and a couple of teens were wide awake at their mother’s house and ready to interrogate me…
“Yes, I’m up now, but I’m going back to sleep.”
The next time they called us we were out on our Christmas run.
View of the airport
In my house we run separately except on Christmas and on major holidays, so today was the day. Usually we go down the National Mall from Lincoln past the White House and to the Capitol and back, but neither one of us wanted to see “that part of the town” in the current circumstances so we parked on Ohio Drive and ran south to Haines Point and back opposite the Wharf.
DC Wharf
The Wharf in DC is a newly-redeveloped waterfront area of hotels, condominiums, restaurants, and nightlife. We head down there a few times a year for various events. Even though it’s a hassle and it’s overpriced, we usually enjoy it. Near the Wharf there was a flock of geese loitering.
Geese
Our run ended basically at the Jefferson Memorial which has always been my favorite as there are fewer crowds and it has a view over the Tidal Basin.
Jefferson Memorial
A lot of the seawall near the Jefferson Memorial is under construction and to be replaced, hopefully all the way down to Haines Point. They’ve built a temporary concrete plant next to the MLK Jr Memorial to handle all of this.
Anyway, after this we went home where we had mimosas and omelettes.
And then the presents
One of the more interesting gifts I received was a book of useless information. I haven’t read through it yet as I am busy reading a novel about Antarctica and flipping through Antarctic cruise guides.
As I was awake at 5:30am, the afternoon involved a nap.
Fish pie with pastry crust
For dinner I made Paul Hollywood’s fish pie with pastry crust from his cookbook Baked. And then we topped off the evening with a longer than usual dog walk down to our neighborhood landmark Alcova House.
Alcova House at Christmas
Alcova House was the farmhouse of the original property on the land where we live. The owners sold the land off to the Alcova Improvement Company in 1920 at which point individual parcels were sold over the next couple of decades to people wishing were build. This practice, unlike some of the neighboring communities where the developer owned the land and homes built were consistent, led to the hodgepodge we have here today. We have a mix of ramblers, 1920s Cape Cods, small cottages that sat on large wooded lots back in the day, and infill development.
Not actually this week
On our particular lot, many of the houses are built on lots that are three hundred feet deep and fifty feet wide, like half of a football field. Ours, however, is part of a lot that was diviced two or three times over the past hundred years. Our rear neighbor’s house was built in 1989 off of an eight-sided parcel that was taken from our lot. Our house was built in 1992 after the previous house on the lot – a house built in the 1920s that sat on the rear lot line – burned down due to a maze of extension cords catching on fire.
Thus, a hodge podge.
We’ll see what I get into this week. Today it’s time to start packing.
I always feel like The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping is stuck in my head on Christmas Eve as I dash to and fro possibly while bundled up too tight, but today was typical Virginia, where the weather was showing it can be bright and sunny and warm for the day. And for this I took advantage of some outdoor time, first by walking to coffee with my retired old man group, then by walking the waterfront in Old Town because I arrived too early for yoga, and finally by enjoying the waterfront at dusk after having a mid-afternoon dinner.
Latte at Idido’s
Back before the earth cooled, or at least in the pre-COVID era, a coffee shop opened across the street from my home, where I was living in a large apartment building before I settled down and moved into a house. This was Idido’s Coffee and Social. I actually wrote entire proposals while sitting at Idido’s.
Once I moved I started walking to Idido’s a few times a week to get out of the house as well as I was still working from home all the time. I started noticing one of my neighbors was meeting his friends there, mostly retired civil servants, once a week, and eventually he invited me to join them.
Well, I have long since gotten out of the habit of going to Idido’s, but my neighbor’s group has grown to include between ten and eighteen people, and I still show up once or twice a month. That’s what I did today. I didn’t have to leave early to go to work thankfully. Instead, I left early got head to yoga.
Months ago I started going to a new yoga studio in Old Town Alexandria. Usually I go with The Boss, other times I go by myself (today was maybe the once this month I will go alone). And being the next town over you never know how long, with metro DC traffic, it will take to get there and find parking. Today’s answer? About 17 minutes. Sometimes it’s 30 or 40 minutes. End result, I was early.
Yes, I know I’m droning on and on about this but there’s a point.
View of DC from Alexandria
I walked out to the waterfront to a spot I have never experienced. Let’s call this “things to do while waiting for yoga.” On this point there was, until recently, an empty warehouse but now there is a city park. It has a great view. I took the photo above with my new phone, an iPhone 17 Pro that I figured would be great for penguin photos next month.
I tried to make a joke about penguins but it just wouldn’t fly.
A month ago I was persuaded to upgrade my phone for aforementioned penguins, in part because the camera is so impressive. Purely as demonstration, not necessarily of quality because nothing is great with full on electronic zoom, I offer you this.
The Capitol from six miles distant
A view of the Capitol from six miles distant – notice it’s just a zoom on the photo above, a separte photo. But still, it tells me I can zoom in on an emporer on the ice and have you, dear reader, see an emporer on the ice.
But enough of this. Yoga as great, mostly floor practice, lots of stretching, then I came home and took a nap.
Dinner was at 3pm on Ada’s on the River. They still had their lunch menu up which was fine, it’s great. Ada’s is a better value than going into DC for fancy food and has a more extensive menu than most places in Arlington
Beau Joie Brut NV Champagne
We had a full bottle of champagne rather than cocktails and glasses. The occasion seemed to call for it, and the $89 restaurant price of the Beau Joie seems to be not tooooo far off from the $59 Total Wine price of the Beau Joie (it wouldn’t have surprised me to find that it was $30 in the store, such is the usual markup).
Oysters and Tuna
They had James River oysters which we refer to as being good enough for a half dozen. We like our oysters a bit more saline and tighter and smaller; the Chesapeake and tributary oysters tend to be less saline and larger. But these were fine and Ada’s serves them with excellent accompaniments. We also had tuna tartare and a dark brioche bread.
Mussels were had
Ada’s does a great job with mussels, served with bread of course in a tomato broth with some spice and dill. After oysters, tuna, and mussels, it seemed to order something starchy, so of course there was a side of lobster mac n cheese. Two pots of mussels were the same cost as the lobster mac n cheese.
Time for Tokaji
In honor of Hungary I ordered a glass of Royal Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos. And then the salted caramel chocolate souffle.
Image of man stirring caramel into a souffle
This was actually the only flop of the day, and it honestly wasn’t a serious flop. The server brought the souffle out with a tin of caramel, but the caramel was lacking in quantity and cold. It wouldn’t pour. So, when he cut open our souffle with a spoon and poured it, it wouldn’t pour, so our poor sad souffle was sitting there looking like molten chocolate until he ran to the kitchen and heated up the caramel. It was good and tasty, but the presentation would have been better if it was as intended. Instead, I’ll need to make it at home!
And that’s all for today’s activities outside of the home. Inside the home I’m rolling out puff pastry. More on that tomorrow, maybe. And I’ll talk about yoga.
Okay, let’s see if I have this right. I attended eight holiday lunches, dinners, and events in nine days.
Tuesday – Italian business dinner, fairly casual
Wednesday – Fancy steakhouse dinner, intense with good wine
Thursday – Industry lunch; wore a suit
Friday – Winter gala; wore a tuxedo
Saturday – piano recital brunch
Sunday – a break in the action
Monday – Nothing, god bless
Tuesday – skipped an industry holiday party at a Spanish restaurant
Wednesday – churrasco team lunch
Scratch that, seven holiday events in nine days. I’ve actually grown weary of steak. I felt for some reason it was important for me to write about this as every year November and December seem to be a huge marathon where eventually I grow weary of indulgence. As a result, we have toned down our celebrations for the rest of the month, especially as we are traveling in January – more on that later.
Not actual Italian restaurant dinner; in fact, it isn’t even my photo
The first dinner in the series actually materialized as part of my own instigation. I’ve been avoiding a social dinner with business partners for a while but I finally succumbed as I needed to meet with them anyway and I felt it was an excuse to avoid the supermarket. I decided it was a good opportunity to also try out a restaurant near my office that looked interesting and promising. The restaurant, North Italia, was interesting and promising, but a bit more casual and mass market than I was expecting. If I lived nearby I could see it becoming part of regular rotation but not necessarily for events. Like everything else in the center where my office is it seemed to be designed to be noisy, though.
Australian Waugh Chateaubriand
The second event was a group dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse. Somehow we ended up with some overpriced wine – that was actually very good. This event began with happy hour cocktails and then appetizers (mostly seafood) and then the steaks themselves. Someone who shall remain nameless was handed the wine list by the host and ended up with a magnum of Caymus on the table. Next year we shall avoid that, but now I know also that Costco carries magnums of Caymus at a more reasonable price and it may be worth it for an event at home. The waitress also reported that they won Virginia’s ABC lottery for rare bourbons and had a few bottles but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to sample. This is fine of course as it’s a marathon not a sprint.
A random Thursday
So, I occasionally attend lunches where someone from my industry speaks. That’s what last Thursday was. Some of these are at one country club and some are at another. Usually the meal served, regardless of the country club and banquet room, follows a set formula – a roll, salad, basic entree, basic dessert. Often the entree is combined with the salad. That was the case last Thursday and I was thankful even though I had not eaten since the previous dinner’s steak dinner. We had a roll, a salad with various chopped meats (ham, chicken, bacon in small deli bits), and cookies and coffee. It was perfect. Again, I did not have a large meal that evening. As you can see above usually the unspoken dress codes for these events includes “wear a suit” but aside from speakers and some of our higher ranking customers not many people wear ties for daytime events anymore.
Friday I wore a tux
Friday’s event was a classic winter gala in one of Washington’s big historic-ish buildings. Dress code was formal, black tie preferred. My black bow tie needs replacement as it is a bit frayed.
Last year we attended the same event and there was a lot of bourbon – there was a large bourbon tasting bar. This year there were two whiskey bars, smaller, that were placed better, and this year they had more sit-down seating so I could avoid having just heavy appetizers for dinner. We arrived such that the main event was barely beginning and the executive event was ending, so as a result we were able to find a table to join others and enjoy a meal. Then we met a bunch of colleagues and chatted.
Uber gave us a decent deal on transportation for the evening because I reserved ahead and we had black car transport to and from.
My kid at piano recital
Twice a year our piano school has piano recitals – one for adults and one for kids. My teen plays at the kid recital of course at least for one more year. The adult recital consists of a bunch of adults standing around drinking wine and playing piano at somebody’s home; we have even done it at my house but my current set up is not large enough to accommodate all of the adult students now. The kid’s recital is almost as fun; it’s at a piano bar and includes brunch. At Christmas time it’s a good excuse to go Christmas shopping in Georgetown. Anyway, brunch was good, the piano playing was top notch, and we skipped the mimosas this year as we have all those other holiday events and an upcoming cruise.
By the way, the adult recital was Saturday; Jessica restrained herself from a huge spread and we went home after the “first party.” We could have stayed for the second party which included big steaks, but again it’s a marathon not a sprint.
I have no photo for Tuesday’s event because I did not attend. It was with a company we partner with for services and I did not attend because I had to go home after our afternoon meeting and did not care to drive out to my work neighborhood twice in one day. However, it was at a popular restaurant called Barcelona Wine Bar which operates in many large American cities. They do large spreads of tapas for banquet events. Last year at this event they rented out the whole restaurant for the evening. If I had gone it would have been a long evening.
A random pig roast
Similarly, I do not have a photo of Wednesday’s lunch where we booked a large, long table at a popular churrascaria. For this lunch the meat was served rodizio-style meaning waiters constantly bring a variety of foods until you signal that you have had enough. There was a large salad bar with many options, mostly upscale, plus the meats of course – on lunch offering these included several beef cuts (the best was the flank steak), pork, sausage, bacon wrapped beef and chicken, grilled chicken (white meat, thighs, and drumsticks), and lamb. For my group we have carried on this tradition for the past four years; for this year it was modified somewhat due to a change in budget. We did not include wine officially or unofficially this year.
And that finishes out this year’s holiday-related events. The rest of the year is informal. We will probably go somewhere reasonably casual tomorrow for dinner and then just two of us on Christmas Eve. Dinner with friends and board games on Christmas Day is planned. And then we tentatively have a dinner scheduled at home on New Years Even and are attending a New Years Day open house.
I am still working more than not for the rest of the year unfortunately but have enough downtime for leisure – and for packing for January, of course.
Tonight I had piano lesson. I’m on about eight years of this madness but my 17 year old daughter is on nine years. She learns better and plays better than I do, although with some songs I catch a certain nuance. But anyway, piano is still a time commitment and for now the commitment is on Monday evenings for a lesson. Tomorrow the kids come over and hang here for nine days straight so that meant last night was the night to go out to dinner. Usually this is a once a week event along with maybe a brunch. This week’s choice was Boqueria thanks to an Amex credit; more on that on another blog. But first, the restaurant.
I know I’ve been to Boqueria a few times but the last time was definitely in 2017 or 2018 so it has been seven years at least. The first time was in 2013 with my friend Brian and that’s the only time I ate outside there. In 2018 there were fewer Spanish options around and none in my neighborhood. Now there is one in my neighborhood and more Barcelona outposts.
Usually on an outing like this if the restaurant is agreeable it becomes something to add to the rotation. Boqueria was good, but I would not say it did it for me. Why? $260 plus taxes for four small plates, cheese, dessert, and drinks.
Piquillo peppers and patatas bravas
Wait, five small plates.
First, the cheeses. Valdeon, aged manchego, cabra de cabrales cheese with a dab of fig spread and bread. The cheeses were good and served right. We enjoyed them through the meal and didn’t feel as if they were too hard or heavy.
We had a plate of anchovies that arrived first. This was a classic Iberian preparation of canned anchovies along with some house made potato chips. This was followed by char grilled peppers and patatas bravas, and then a tuna crudo followed by pulpo a la plancha served over a bed of mashed potatoes with capers.
Thoughts on these – the tuna was too thick for what I would call a crudo. I was expecting something more delicate. This was more as if they took strips of tuna from nigiri and placed them over avocado paste. The octopus is good but I’m afraid I’m over-octopus. I think in January when I head to South America I will restrict my octopus consumption to ceviche and salads. The anchovies though were great – delightfully salty and served with orange. I’ll try to do this at home.
Boqueria also did a good job with crema Catalana and had a nice list of sherries for me – I had an oloroso sherry.
So, for me, Sabores in my neighborhood can give me a similar experience for about $100 less. Boqueria’s patatas are bigger and crispier but they don’t need to be. Sabores has tapas that are a little more delicate. I think if I were going for a true Spanish seafood experience I’d spring for Del Mar on the wharf, or one of the Barcelona locations.
Paella at Del Mar
Del Mar is even pricier, but it’s a better experience (not that Boqueria is bad).
I have no idea where this is from but it looks really good
In Retrospect 