Arlington County is for Fall Vegetable Gardening

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Wednesday was a beautiful night to spend outdoors, so I headed over to Arlington’s Central Library demonstration vegetable and herb garden, where Don Weber, USDA-ARS Entomologist and Plot Against Hunger volunteer, gave a talk and fielded questions about fall vegetable gardening.  At the close of the night, attendees received seeds (including Bolero carrots) as well as collard, (Win Win) bok choy, and broccoli transplants for their own gardens.

Admittedly, I don’t know much about gardening, but it was clear that many of the approximately 35 attendees have been regularly getting their hands in the dirt (including a woman who brought a leaf from her pumpkin plants so that Weber could diagnose its ills—turns out her worries were ill-founded). Weber’s message for the night was that gardening fun does not have to end with the harvesting of warm season crops such as tomatoes, sweet corn and cucumber.

The end of summer and early fall is the most pleasant time of year to work in your garden, as the weather is milder. And your soil likes this season too—it retains water better. Generally, you will experience less of a pest problem (although the dreaded Harlequin bugs—related to the stink bug and also called “Sherman bugs” because they arrived in the South from Central America during the time of the Civil War—can wreck even more havoc in the fall.)

So what can you plant between now and mid-September? Cool season crops (broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, cabbage, lettuce and peas) prosper during the cooler days of autumn and can withstand light frosts; and frost-hardy crops (carrots, leeks, kale, Brussel sprouts, spinach, and turnips), as suggested by their moniker, are harvestable long after freezing weather.

Takeaway points of the night were:

1)    Time of planting is essential.

2)   Make sure that your soil is well taken care of before planting. You can use compost or some other nutrient amendment. Plant seeds deeper into the soil than you would for spring planting and consider placing a board (not cedar or pressure-treated) over the seeded soil until sprouts are visible.

3)   Transplants are more resistant to heat, drought, and pests as opposed to seeds, so you may consider planting these during August and September. If you use seeds, you may want to invest in pelletized seeds for plants that are slow to germinate, like carrots, celery and spinach. These seeds are coated in clay, thereby retaining hydration better.

Weber presented attendees with a vegetable planting guide (available here), which details depth for planting, spacing of crops, and fall planting dates. He cautioned that it was specifically tailored for Arlington’s microclimate (where the first killing frost arrives around early to mid-November), so don’t expect to have the same success in, say, Leesburg. (To create your own guide for other microclimates, he suggests using the Johnny’s Selected Seed calculator.)

Are you a curious gardener who wants to get regular advice from the experts? Here are a few invaluable resources:

- Stop by the Plants Clinic held at the Central library by the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia on Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. 

- Visit the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia tables at three area farners markets (Arlington from  8-11 a.m.; Old Town, Alexandria from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m.; and Del Ray from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.)

- Get help year round by calling the Master Gardener Help Desk: (703) 228-6414.

Other upcoming events at the library include an August 31 talk on both composting and “bodywise” gardening (i.e., how not to hurt yourself ) and inside the library in September, a lecture by Dan Redmond on the agricultural history of Arlington County.

Happy gardening! And speaking of gardens . . . be sure to read tomorrow’s Gut Check for more information on the Arlington Central library’s demonstration garden and the Arlington Food Assistance Center’s Plot Against Hunger program.

-Johnisha M. Levi

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Something New to Try: Seasons 52

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Seasons 52 recently opened in June and I finally got the chance to go try it the other day. The unique thing about this restaurant chain is that all of their menu items are under 475 calories, great for anyone who is watching their weight. They change their menu four times a year for each season*, and feature specials that change every week. There are 52 weeks in a year, thus the name “Seasons 52.”

I didn’t really care for the seating arrangement of this restaurant. There is the “main dining room” which is reserved for reservations and had a long wait. Then there is the other half of the restaurant that works as first-come-first-serve, meaning if you see people leaving a table, you had better run over there to grab it. When I asked my server what the difference between the two rooms, he said that there wasn’t a single thing different. Okay, why not just have the host/hostesses seat both sides of the room before hungry diners get into a fight over a table? Any who, that’s not the point. **

The entrees I got were pretty bland and not memorable. I mean, you can’t really expect bold flavors from a protein-filled dish that is under 475 calories (I had to refrain myself from asking for barbecue sauce to smother my entrees in). However, the thing that did stand out was their flat bread.

On my visit, I got the flat bread special of the week which happened to be the spicy pork taco flat bread. This thing was amazing. It was packed with flavor from the cheese, tomatoes, spinach, red onions, pork, and drizzled spicy nacho cheese. It really tasted like a spicy taco, except in flat bread form. The flat bread itself was very crisp and crunchy under the savory toppings. Unfortunately they no longer serve this flat bread as it was a weekly special, but I’m sure their other flat breads are just as good. If you plan to dine at Seasons 52, I would just skip the entrees and order two or three flat breads to share.

*Update: I was informed by a representative of Seasons 52 that the menu actually changes four times a year, as opposed to my previous post that said it only changed twice a year. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused.

** Update: The other half of the restaurant is completely segregated from the restaurant and is the bar section of the restaurant. I have been informed by a representative of Seasons 52 that this is a common practice of many restaurants to have their bar section on a first-come-first-serve basis.

- Mai Nguyen

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Palate Press Prognosis on Virginia Wine: Pretty Good, But…

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Palate Press Contributing Editor and New York Cork Report Executive Editor Lenn Thompson weighed in on the state of Virginia wine in a lengthy post this week, saying several nice things about our fine state, and then following up that praise with a healthy dose of derision. To Thompson, while Virginia produces some fantastic wines, the state’s overall character lacks distinction, tastes too much of wood and lacks that “spark.” Let’s break it down, first the nice:

Virginia Makes A Lot of Wine

Fifth largest wine grape producer in the country! 500,000 cases per year! “A player in the East Coast wine community.”

Loads of Diversity

Because Virginia weather is what we here in the state would describe as “wackadoo,” with all sorts of varied soil types, elevations and weather patterns, Virginia wineries are able to work with a wide selection of grapes, opening the door for loads of variety and experimentation. “Out of that miscellany come several successful varieties—everything from crisp, focused Sauvignon Blanc to beautifully floral and peachy Viognier to intense, almost-brooding Merlots to varietally-correct Nebbiolo to ripe but not over-ripe cabernet Franc to Petit Verdots that burst with ripe black fruit and spice character.” He also goes on to say that Virginia Rieslings are kind of bad.

It’s Hot!

We complain about the heat in Virginia as often as possible, but on the upside of things, it allows for wineries to work with late-ripening strains which other states can’t produce.

 

And that’s more or less it when it comes to nice things. “While I have found many good wines, the exquisite, life-changing wines that I would seek out and drink again and again are few and far between,” says Thompson. According to him, this is where the state’s wineries go wrong:

Virginia Wineries Over-Crop Their Vineyards

Because most of Virginia Wineries are relatively recent upstarts, a lot of their crop has had to sit for a few years before it produces anything, burning cash the entire time. To make up for it, some wineries, according to Thompson, put too much strain on their vines to make up for the lost revenue to the detriment of their product. He says: “I am not saying that increasingly lower yields absolutely results in better wine. We know that is not always the case. But are there Virginia viticulturists and winemakers pushing that down to two tons or fewer? If there are, I have not met hem yet.”

 

Everything Tastes Like Wood

Well, not everything, but Thompson does seem to think that most of Virginia’s wines, especially Virginia Viogniers, are dominated by an over-emphasis on oak aroma and flavor. “Unfortunately, too much of the Viognier I have tried tastes too much of wood, wood-derived vanilla and spice, and ML-derived buttery notes. Why would you cover up wonderfully ethereal honeysuckle aromas in favor of the Home Depot lumber aisle?”

The Region Lacks Distinction

While Thompson praises the state for its variety of grapes, he says too many of them are hybrids, and many shouldn’t even be growing here, singling out Virginia Chardonnay as being particularly dull. Because the wines from the state are so varied, it makes it difficult to peg the state down to one unifying flavor: “It can be difficult for those outside of the region to quickly grasp but Virginia wines are all about. They very well may ask, “Oregon has Pinot Noir. Napa has Cabernet Sauvignon. What does Virginia have?”

Too Much Tourism, Not Enough Innovation

The biggest slight Thompson lays on the region is that many Virginia wineries rely too heavily on drawing tourists out to their tasting rooms rather than putting their product out in the market. He cites a statistic that many wineries sell 70% of their stock directly to visitors, which is tremendously more profitable than working through wholesalers. This great news for vintners, what’s to stop them from getting complacent? “But if you are selling out of all of your wines every year—consistently—simply doing what you are doing today, what motivates you to lower yields (see above) or invest in and employ new or different vinification techniques to make your wines even better? Where is the spark? Where is the obsessive drive to improve?”

If you’re interested, there are over 50 lengthy reproaches already on Thompson’s article (most of them from winery owners by the read of them), nitpicking practically everything he says to death. So if you feel like you have nothing better to do than read vintners argue about viticulture and oak character, by all means dive right in.

For everyone else, did you see that AC/DC is getting into the wine business? Highway To Hell Cabernet Sauvignon!

- Kris King

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Crop Rapport: The Kraft Foods Mobile Pantry

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

According to the Feeding America report, “Map the Meal Gap 2011’s Preliminary Findings,” an estimated 912,790 Virginians (or 11.8% of the Commonwealth’s population) are currently facing food insecurity. As part of a solution to a critical problem, a new “farmer’s market on wheels” is coming to the aid of the more than 30,000  food insecure residents living in Planning District 16 (encompassing Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George and the City of Fredericksburg). The Fredericksburg Area Food Bank, in partnership with Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, launched its new Kraft Foods Mobile Pantry truck at a morning ceremony today; the mobile pantry then proceeded to its first distribution site at the Dahlgren Harbor Apartments in King George.

The Kraft Foods Mobile Pantry Program is currently in its third year; to date, it has delivered in excess of 33 million pounds of food to Americans in need. Food banks across the nation vied for the 10 trucks recently added to the Kraft fleet. Dayna Klein, Major Gift & Marketing Coordinator for the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank, wrote the grant proposal on behalf of the food bank, one of seven serving Virginia. Fredericksburg was ultimately selected as a recipient along with food banks in Missouri, Florida, Indiana, Utah, California, Washington, and Ohio.

The Kraft mobile pantry will bring 130,000 pounds, or 104,000 meals, to the Planning District’s residents each year; Giant Food has already donated 20,000 pounds of food for the pantry’s launch. The beverage-style refrigerated trucks will start out providing fresh produce and non-perishable goods, but will eventually expand its offering to include a wide variety of both meats and dairy products. The mobile pantries previously serving Planning District 16 lacked refrigeration and therefore were limited in what they could provide to meet residents’ needs.

Klein explained that the mobile pantry is “not designed to provide individuals with long-term support,” but rather “to supplement income-qualified individuals during those last few days in the month” when it is hard to make financial ends meet. With today’s launch, there are currently eight designated mobile pantry sites in the Planning District, in addition to designated drop-off sites. The mobile pantry delivers at one or two designated sites throughout the Planning District each week–either on Wednesdays or Thursdays, depending on the location and the rotation schedule. Mishelle Krogstad, Agency & Programs Director, oversees the food bank’s mobile pantry program, which also relies on dedicated long-time food bank volunteers and staff to man and run each mobile pantry successfully.

For more information on the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank and its mobile pantry program, click here.

Fredericksburg Area Food Bank
3631 Lee Hill Drive
Fredericksburg, VA 22408
(540) 371-7666
www.fredfood.org

-Johnisha M. Levi

Northern Virginia’s Farmers Markets and Hours

Annandale Farmers Market • 6621 Columbia Pike, Annandale – Thu, 8-noon
Arlington Farmers Market • N. 14th St. & N. Courthouse Road, Arlington – Sat, 8-noon
Ashburn Farmers Market • 44036 Pipeline Plaza, Ashburn – Sat, 8-noon
Ballston Farmers Market • N. Stuart St. & N. Ninth St. – Thu, 3-7 p.m.
Brambleton Farmers Market • 22875 Brambleton Plaza, Ashburn – Sun, 9-1 p.m.
Burke Farmers Market • 5671 Roberts Parkway, Burke – Sat, 8-noon
Cascades Farmers Market • 21060 Whitfield Place, Sterling – Sun, 9-1 p.m.
Clarendon Farmers Market• 3100 Wilson Blvd., Arlington – Wed, 3-7 p.m.
Columbia Pike Farmers Market • S. Walter Reed Drive & Columbia Pike – Sun, 9-1 p.m.
Community Farmers Market • West & Main Streets (Sat), North St. & Old Lee Highway (Sun), Fairfax – Sat: 8-1 p.m.; Sun: 10-2 p.m.
Crystal City Farmers Market • Crystal Square Arcade between S. 18th and 20th Streets – Tue, 3-7 p.m.
Culpeper Farmers Market • E. Davis & Commerce Streets – Sat, 7:30-noon
Dale City Farmers Market • Dale Blvd. & Minnieville Road, Dale City – Sun, 8-1 p.m.
Del Ray Farmers’ Market • E. Oxford & Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria – Sat, 8-noon
Fairfax Farmers Market • 3720 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax – Tue, 8-noon
Falls Church Farmers Market • 300 Park Ave., Falls Church – Sat, 8-noon
Fredericksburg Farmers Market• George and Prince Edward Streets, Fredericksburg – Mon-Sat, 7-6 p.m.; Sun, 12:30-4 p.m.
Frying Pan Farmers Market • 2709 West Ox Road, Herndon – Wed, 8-12:30 p.m.
Great Falls Farmers Market • 750 Walker Road, Great Falls – Sat, 9-1 p.m.
Haymarket Farmers Market • 1500 Washington St., Haymarket – Sat, 8-2 p.m.
Herndon Farmers Market • Lynn and Station Streets, Herndon – Thu, 8-noon
Kingstowne Farmers Market • Kingstowne Center & Kingstowne Blvd., Franconia – Fri, 4-7 p.m.
Leesburg Farmers Market • 20 Catoctin Circle S.E., Leesburg – Sat, 8-noon
Lorton Farmers Market • 8990 Lorton Station Blvd., Lorton – Sun, 9-1 p.m.
McLean Farmers Market • 1659 Chain Bridge Road, McLean – Fri, 8-noon
Middleburg Farmers Market • 300 W. Washington St., Middleburg – Sat, 8-noon
Mount Vernon Farmers Market • 2501 Sherwood Hall Lane, Alexandria – Tue, 8-noon
Nokesville Farmers Market • 13005 Fitzwater Drive, Nokesville – Sat, 8-noon
Oakton Farmers Market • 3200 Jermantown Road, Oakton – Wed, 8-noon
Old Town Alexandria Farmers Market • 301 King St., Alexandria – Sat, 5:30-11 a.m.
Old Town Manassas Farmers Market • 9201 Center St., Manassas – Thu, 7-1 p.m.; Sat, 7:30-2:30 p.m.
Nokesville Farmers Market • 13005 Fitzwater Drive, Nokesville – Sat, 8-noon
Purcellville Farmers Market• 751 E. Main St., Purcellville – Sat, 8-noon
Reston Farmers Market • 11400 Washington Plaza W., Reston – Sat, 8-noon
Smart Markets – Centreville • 5875 Trinity Parkway, Centreville – Fri, 3:30-6:30 p.m.
Smart Markets – Fairfax Corner • Grand Commons Ave., Fairfax – Tue, 3:30-6:30 p.m.
Smart Markets – Gainesville • 13297 Gateway Center Drive, Gainesville – Sun, 10:30-1:30 p.m.
Smart Markets – Herndon • 460 Elden St., Herndon – Thu, 3:30-6:30 p.m.
Smart Markets – Oakton • 2854 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton – Sat, 10-2 p.m.
Smart Markets – Reston • 11890 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston – Wed, 3:30-6:30 p.m.
Upper King Street Farmers Market • 1806 King St., Alexandria – Wed, 3-7 p.m.
Vienna Farmers Market • 131 Church St. N.E., Vienna – Sat, 8-noon
Wakefield Farmers Market • 8100 Braddock Road, Annandale – Wed, 2-6 p.m.
Warrenton Farmers Market • Branch Drive and Warrenton Village Center (Wed), S. Fifth & Lee Streets (Sat) – Wed, 7-1 p.m.; Sat, 7-noon
West End Farmers Market • 4800 Brenman Park Drive, Alexandria – Sun, 9-1 p.m.

Or click here for our full list of local farmers markets

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Freeze Jag: Peterson’s Ice Cream Depot

Posted by Warren Rojas / Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

August is historically the steamiest, stickiest, sweatiest month of the year–brilliant move, Founding Fathers, building the nation’s capital on a swamp–in these parts. We’ve tracked down 31 frozen treats (one a day for the rest of this month) to provide you with some temporary, and often insanely delicious, relief.

The place: Peterson’s Ice Cream Depot – 7150 Main St., Clifton; 703-830-7898; www.petersonsdepot.com

The prescription: Patti Hopkins Clifton Red shake. “Hey, Nishi was here!” an obviously excited local pointed out to her companion after spotting another friend’s name on Peterson’s “conehead enrollment form” (promotional tool). Seems like everyone who pops by this award-winning ice cream shop are on a first name basis with everyone else. The chalkboard menu reads like the Clifton phone book, with most of their specialty items sporting the names of the intrepid regulars who helped inspire them. My love of fresh fruit and frosty beverages led me to the Patti Hopkins shake, a frothy refresher weaving together freshly chopped strawberries—juicy bits of real fruit pop up in every other spoonful—with velvety soft serve cut with the lemon-lime kick of tingly, bubbly Sprite.

Sundae junkies are well rewarded here, enjoying their pick of 10 (and counting) signature creations tricked out with all kinds of fanciful treats. Dessert seekers can also indulge in: traditional soft serve cones, custom shakes–amaretto, Georgia peach, mint chocolate, pumpkin pie and English toffee caught our eye–ice cream-cookie sandwiches, frozen malts and iced coffees.

–Warren

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Keep tabs on the month long Freeze Jag trek here.

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Watermelon Lemonade: The Lazy (Best) Way

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

If you haven’t noticed already, it’s pretty nice out today. Not too hot like the rest of the summer, with a pretty steady breeze to keep things cool. It’s nice. This is a nice day.

To go along with today’s pleasant weather, we recommend making some watermelon lemonade, lazy summer edition.

Most recipes for watermelon lemonade are simple, but are what we would call “somewhat time consuming.” Like this Smitten Kitchen recipe. You have to dice up your watermelon, puree and strain it, then juice a few ounces of lemon juice, make simple syrup and then, after everything’s finished, clean.

It’s a nice recipe that we recommend you try, just not today. Do it on Sunday.

I’m not one to promote laziness in the kitchen, but the afternoon is only so long, and you never know when it’s going to start raining. That’s why we’re going to offer you a method of making watermelon lemonade that’s less time consuming but still a memorable summer treat.

First, you take a watermelon, preferably cold, and crack it open and cut it up into cubes, ditching the rind. Place the cubes in a glass. Then you take some lemonade (you can make your own if you want, which will probably taste better, but, remember, it’s Tuesday and you’ve done enough today) and pour it over the watermelon cubes. After that you go outside and drink it while thinking about how great summer is.

Sounds stupid, doesn’t it? It works.

The big chunks of watermelon mellow out the no doubt super sweet lemonade that you’ve poured over top of it, and the drink doubles for a pretty light calorie snack, if you discount all of the sugar in the lemonade. You can also put booze in it if you’re in that kind of mood. It might not be elegant, but can pretty much guarantee that it’s better than whatever this is.

- Kris King

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Feast on Greek at Winchester’s Weekend Festival, August 20-21

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

As a kid, I hated to see summer end, but I always had one thing to look forward to as August faded into September: our neighborhood Greek Festival, where you would find me stuffing my face with everything from pastitsio to fried chicken livers (you can turn your nose up, but your loss)  to baklava and galaktoboureko. (Dear galaktoboureko: I may not have known your name,  but with your honey syrup-soaked layers of buttery phyllo filled with celestial custard, I loved you the most).

If you are as enamored with Greek food as I am, and you can’t wait until September for the D.C. festivals to roll around, then your weekend forecast just got a little brighter. The Winchester Greek Festival is offering you two–yes, two–days of Greek home-cooking by the “talented ladies” of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church.

Inside the Church Hall, you will be treated to a veritable feast of finger lickin’ Greek treats. I won’t list them all, but here  is a sampling of the weekend’s offerings:

Savory a la Carte

Moussaka (eggplant and ground beef plus tomato, cheese, and bechamel)

Pastitsio (aka the Greek-I-am-superior-to-Italian lasagna, layered with baked macaroni)

Manestra (Orzo pasta cooked in tomato sauce)

Souvlaki (marinated pork grilled over hot coals)

Stewed string beans with onions, tomatoes and herbs (so good, so right)

Greek Pastries

-Baklava (with walnuts)

-Flogeres (“rolled version of baklava drizzled with chocolate”)

-Karithopita (a spiced, syrup-soaked walnut cake)

-Kataifi (nuts and spices wrapped in shredded phyllo and “smothered with honey butter”)

And if you can’t choose between the pastries, there is (gasp) an assorted gift box.

Just so you know, I’ve only shared a smattering of what is available inside the Church Hall. Outside, save room for the likes of gyros, more souvlaki, (“our famous”) roasted whole lambs, as well as loukoumades (petite Greek donuts soaked in honey syrup) and ice cream!

Important: Bring cash if you want to fully partake; credit and debit cards will not be accepted.

I may be (you think?) a bit preoccupied with describing the weekend’s culinary delights, but this festival is certainly offering more than (soul-satisfying) Greek food. Troupes of the church youngsters will dance on both days. You will also be able to tour the church. Kids can enjoy the moon bounce, face painting and tattoos, and games and prizes. Saturday hours are 10:45 to 7:00 p.m; Sunday hours are 12:00 to 7:00 p.m. Admission = free; parking is “ample.” For the complete festival menu as well as more information on scheduled events, click here.

Dormition of The Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church
1700 Amherst Street
Winchester, VA 22601
(540) 667-1416

-Johnisha M. Levi

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Freeze Jag: JoJo’s Original Soft Serve

Posted by Warren Rojas / Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

August is historically the steamiest, stickiest, sweatiest month of the year–brilliant move, Founding Fathers, building the nation’s capital on a swamp–in these parts. We’ve tracked down 31 frozen treats (one a day for the rest of this month) to provide you with some temporary, and often insanely delicious, relief.

The place: JoJo’s Original Soft Serve – 17986 Jefferson Davis Highway, Dumfries; 703-221-6363; www.jojosoriginal.com

The prescription: S’mores sundae. Short of sitting around a campfire, the opportunities to indulge in real, honest-to-god S’mores are few and far between. Mind you, I come across various iterations in the restaurant world–molecular gastronomists break it down into curious powders and foams, Cosi trots out lue flamed-hibachis for table-side roasting, etc–but they are almost always obsessed with melting the marshmallow and making a sticky mess of things. JoJo’s has gone in the entirely opposite direction, depositing its warmed but still intact pillows of fluff into a jumble of frosty soft serve, cascading hot fudge sauce and crushed graham crackers. I fully expected for the graham crackers to carry the day, but genuinely enjoyed the tacky, gummy sweetness of the puffed sugar, which proved integral to recreating that signature S’mores experience.

I doubt I’m alone in my admiration of JoJo’s S’mores tribute. But one cheery attendant informed me that the top seller this summer has been the cheesecake shake (cherry-topped shake mixed in with crumbled cheesecake pieces plus your choice of fresh strawberries or blueberries).

Go on with your bad selves, trend chasers. I’m perfectly happy staying old school.

–Warren

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Keep tabs on the month long Freeze Jag trek here.

 

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Local Goodies: Peruvian Chicken

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Clearly, “pollo a la brasa,” or Peruvian chicken, is not a new trend in the food world, but it is pretty new to me (I just tried it for the first time two weeks ago). After that first time, I was hooked so I went to two more places in the following two days. Here’s what I thought of the three places:

Meh – Pollo Campero (5852 Columbia Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041; 703-820-8400)
When I was in high school, almost all of my peers and teachers raved about this place. I used to even see long lines overflowing outside the door. So I was surprised to find myself disappointed with the food here. The chicken was really bland. I shared a side of fried plantains and yucca fries with my friend and they didn’t fare much better. Even though they were both fried, they were both soggy. The chicken did come with a complementary tortilla and they had a small salsa bar, but that didn’t make the chicken any better. This really turned out to be nothing special and I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here again.

Good – Sabrina’s Grill (2962 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA 22042; 703-698-9221)
The food here is kept under a heat lamp, but the food is still really fresh and good. Their chicken was okay, but I was much more interested in the fried yucca fries and fried plantains that I got. The yucca fries were a bit hard, but still retrained their natural texture after being fried and tasted really good. The fried plantains were cooked so that they had caramelized a bit and were sweet, but not overwhelmingly so.

Call me a regular – Chicken Loco (7610 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA 22003; 703-941-4377)
A friend actually bought this for me to bring home, so I’m not sure how their food is kept. The chicken here is the most flavorful out of the other locations since the other two locations didn’t have memorable chicken.  I absolutely loved the yucca fries here because they had a great texture and still tasted yucca. Their fried plantains were fried until they had caramelized a little bit and were just the right amount of sweet.

I do have a few more places to try out in the area, but Chicken Loco is definitely my favorite so far.

-Mai Nguyen

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Freeze Jag: Intermission

Posted by Warren Rojas / Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

[We interrupt your regularly scheduled sweets sortie for this meditation on the state of frozen desserts in NoVA today.]

In Northern Virginia, summer can mean many things. But most of all it means that it’s hot out.

Not warm.

Not pleasant.

Hot. Sticky, wet, swampy horror heat that gets under your skin and steam-cooks your brain.

For years, a healthy dose of ice cream has been the go-to remedy for beating the heat, but lately the frozen favorite has seen an increase in frosty competition from the resurgence of the tangy, original style frozen yogurt, and the funky flavors of Italian gelato.

Boasting about its low-fat content and natural ingredients, frozen yogurt start-ups like Pinkberry and Red Mango stormed the country since their founding in the latter half of the last decade. Gelato producers took a similar approach, spinning its product as a classier, more delicate alternative to ice cream. Northern Virginia and D.C. has seen several specialty gelaterias open like Plush (Vienna) or Boccato (Clarendon, Old Town Alexandria); some are on their way to becoming successful franchises—Pitango has four locations, Dolcezza, three.

Gelato and frozen yogurt places have popped up in bustling civic centers like Reston Town Center, Old Town Alexandria, Tysons Corner, Clarendon and all over Washington.

Still, what’s wrong with ice cream? In all of the frenzy, how have the area’s old fashioned ice cream makers fared in the blitz of trendy treats?

“We’re selling more ice cream now than we ever have,” Kline’s Freeze owner James Croushorn said, he and his wife having bought the business from his father-in-law 13 years ago. “We’re pretty much maxed out when we’re busy; this little building wasn’t built to do the business we’re doing.”

Kline’s sells locally sourced, old fashioned, low-fat soft serve ice cream and has been in Manassas since 1965. Things haven’t changed much over the last half-century. “We’re selling the same product we’ve had for 30-some years,” Croushorn boasted.

Trends come and go in the dessert market, and Kline’s hasn’t been immune to trying out hot new items in the past. “I think years back my in-laws tried to sell a yogurt product here, and our customer base didn’t like it and didn’t want it,” he said. “I’m sticking with ice cream.”

The longstanding popularity of a place like Kline’s, which has weathered countless trends in the past, isn’t surprising. But it seems that even the newer home-made ice cream shops do not view gelato and frozen yogurt as a serious threat. “I know it has not affected us, our sales are also growing” Toby Bantug, who owns Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream with his wife, Monina, asserted.

Toby’s serves hand-dipped, super-premium ice cream, which Bantug makes on the premises. And while Bantug acknowledges the popularity of frozen yogurt and gelato, he doesn’t view them as a threat for the ice cream market. In fact, he welcomes them. “Although frozen yogurt has the healthy thing going for it, it makes people aware of frozen desserts and makes people think about ice cream. It’s all good,” he said.

David Tax, owner of Lazy Sundae, which serves hard ice cream made from dairy from the Shenandoah Valley, is equally unfazed by “it” dessert shops. “The quick hitters, the trendy places, you’re not going to see those places in three or four years because they’re hitting, and as soon as their business takes a downturn, and it’s going to because it’s a trend … they’re history,” Tax predicted.

Outside of the cities and suburbs, trendy frozen goods barely register with ice cream vendors. Moo Thru turned out to be a runaway success when it opened in 2010 despite its remote location. The modest stand sells ice cream made from cream sourced from owner Ken Smith’s own dairy farm, and he claims it’s not uncommon to see people coming from as far as 40 or 50 miles away just for a cone.

“It seems that the more [customers] taste our product the more they want of it,” Smith said.

Smith’s stand has been doing so well, in fact, that the dairy farmer turned ice cream magnate is considering opening a second location in Northern Virginia proper. Even with expansion on his mind, Smith hasn’t given competition from gelato and frozen yogurt much thought.

“I don’t think [gelato and frozen yogurt] are in my realm of thinking simply because they offer a different type of product,” he said. “When we were starting in this business, gelato was a name that was thrown at us a lot… a new dessert product people were striving for… and yogurt being the same, and it’s not that we’re without a thought of those products… but right now we’re focusing on our quality ice cream.”

So there you have it: ice cream—it’s still popular.

—Kris King

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