Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Wednesday Restaurant Round-Up: Foggy Bottom


Recently, a new development opened in Foggy Bottom, right by the George Washington University campus, that includes a number of restaurants and eating options.  Since it’s close to my office, I’ve had the opportunity to try a few places:

Circa at Foggy Bottom:  This is one of three Circa locations, with the other two at Connecticut & Q in Dupont and in Clarendon.  There are a number of vegetarian items on the menu, including fried green tomatoes, a variety of salads and pizzas and a mushroom ravioli.  I had the wild mushroom pizza, which came with cremini, shiitake and portobello mushrooms, pesto, Gruyère and shaved parmesan cheeses and arugula.  I loved the pizza – it was super cheesy and the mushrooms were extremely tasty.

Burger, Tap & Shake: Those of you who have been reading for awhile know that I love a good veggie burger.  I am so happy to have found one at Burger, Tap & Shake.  The Haight-Ashbury is a falafel patty with pickled vegetables and feta.  I loved both the seasoning and the texture.  Of all the veggie burgers available in downtown DC, this is my new favorite.

Whole Foods Foggy Bottom: District Commons is also home to a new Whole Foods.  The grocery store is on the bottom and on top is the bakery and to go section.  One cool thing they have at this location is a kiosk where you can put in your order for salads, “good earth bowls,” sandwiches, pizza, etc.  Think Sheetz or WaWa, but with farro and quinoa.  I tried out a good earth bowl, with mixed success.  First, I assumed by the ingredient options that this would be a hot meal – it was not.  I picked kale as my base thinking that it would be cooked, but when I got to the counter, I realized it was going to be raw.  Also, the system forced me to pick a sauce, which, for someone with a soy allergy, is a no-no.  I ended up placing my order with a sauce and then hustling over to the counter to ask them to omit it.  Then, I also discovered that a number of ingredients I selected on the kiosk weren’t available.  In my case, this meant farro and parsley.  But, I was able to get barley as a sub.  The rest of my bowl included the aforementioned kale, eggplant, tomatoes, chickpeas and onions.  I ended up microwaving it back at the office and it was good hot.  I’ll keep trying to see if they work out the kinks.

Some other options include new outposts of Roti and Sweetgreen, both of which I’ve written about before and have tons of great options for vegetarians, as well as District Commons, a new fine dining restaurant I have yet to try, but hope to soon.

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