Posts Tagged ‘Tim Carman’
Posted by ryan / Monday, May 2nd, 2011
The half-smoke is typically defined as a sausage link that is equally composed of beef and pork. Some even call it the District’s most iconic dish. The food served on the fourth floor of the Hotel Palomar yesterday, otherwise known as Domaso Trattoria was anything but typical.
Despite the constant threat of rain, the Top Dog Challenge went off without a hitch. Hundreds of people attended, raising over $7,000 for Brainfood. A charity that uses cooking to teach life skills to teenagers.
Among the eleven restaurants represented, Firefly of NW D.C. would eventually emerge victorious. Executive chef Daniel Bortnick’s fennel sausage and half-smoke bacon chili was declared the best by the judges. A panel that included the likes of Top Chef finalist Mike Isabella, Robert Rollins of Ben’s Chili Bowl, The Washington Post’s Tim Carman, and Nycci Nellis from The List Are You On It.
Rollin’s approval may have been the biggest honor. His family’s renowned establishment on U Street has been the obvious choice for this kind of food since 1958. “It’s actually an honor that people want to try to replicate or duplicate what we do,” he said. “By no means is it a threat. To me it’s a compliment to me and my family. They’re sure trying to have fun with it.”
I grappled with my own decision for quite some time, thoroughly enjoying almost everything I tried. I may have overindulged a bit in my attempt to find the one I enjoyed the most. My stomach hurt when it was all over, but I ultimately chose BRABO’s half-smoke sliders for originality. Chef de Cuisine Chris Watson’s creation included tangy sauerkraut and spicy brown mustard.
This was truly an unforgettable party that I look forward to attending again in the future.
Congratulations to Chef Bortnick for winning the title of Top Dog.
-Ryan Robertson
Food Writers (and Aspirers) Unite!
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, August 9th, 2010
What’s that? An all day food writing seminar brought to you by the Smithsonian on Saturday, September 25, 9:30a.m.-4:30p.m.
(Okay, I know you have a month of life that will be shuffling around your calendar until then, but why not write this in early – in a snazzy-colored permanent marker? Besides, I want you to have the opportunity to buy tickets before they go like hotcakes. And we all know how quickly hotcakes go in this world.)
For me, the sprinkles on the cupcake are the tips to be presented by our local food writers – Amanda McClements of Metrocurean, Tim Carman of the Washington City Paper, Bonnie Benwick of the Washington Post and a few more. It sounds like the virtual party we have every day that we blog…except it’s not so virtual this time.
(photo: Green Matters)
Introduction to Food Writing (see website for tickets)
Saturday, September 25, 9:30a.m.-4:30p.m.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
1100 Jefferson Drive, SW
Tickets: $85 Member, $120 General Admission
-Jamel Daugherty
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
I may not have the name recognition, industry clout or generous expense accounts enjoyed by my fellow D.C.-Metro restaurant critics.
But when it comes to dopey fans, yours truly is the shaznit.
At least, that’s what I’m taking away from my latest Stupid Fight standings.
British comedian and iconoclast Tom Scott created the linguistic litmus test, a process which liberally penalizes those who rely on exorbitant punctuation (“Long strings of exclamation marks produce the harshest grading, if I remember rightly,” he explained), emoticons and/or texting shorthand (LOL, OMG) to get their flippant messages across. The calculations are culled from your last 100 @ replies–proving, once again that silence is golden–all of which makes SF rankings a very fluid barometer of the collective grey matter in any Tweeters immediate orbit.
Though originally designed to shame the sheep who while away their days composing unrequited missives to celeb Tweeters, I decided to run our local food personalities–including critics Tim Carman, Todd Kliman and Tom Sietsema–through the IQ wringer to see how our respective flocks fared.
I’m proud/sorry to report that in these here parts, I’m King of the World!
* @WARojas – SF score: 500 (putting you all just north of “thick as two short planks”)
* @tomsietsema – 286
* @timcarman – 88
* @toddkliman – 0 (squarely planted in the “smart as a whip” camp).
My regional dominance clearly established (holla!), I elected to pit some national food folks against one another:
* Alimentary ethnographers Michael Pollan (@michaelpollan) v. John T. Edge (@johntedge): 248 – 93 (respectively)
* Gastro gatekeepers Dana Cowin (@fwscout) and Christopher Kimball (@cpkimball): 111 – 292
* New York Times scribes Frank Bruni (@frankbruni) and Sam Sifton (@samsifton): 440 -271
* Culinary community builders Addie Broyles (@broylesa) and Robin Davis (@DispatchKitchen): 252 – 233 (*tightest race of the day*)
* Food scholars Michael Ruhlman (@ruhlman) and David Leite (@davidleite): 694 – 0 (*the widest spread encountered*), and,
* Dirty Dirty dining sleuths Bill Addison (@BillAddison) and Brett Anderson (@BrettAndersonTP): 443 -286
So, what did I learn from my intensive investigation into Stupid Fight?
Not much.
But whadja expect from a guy whose “fans” must remain ever vigilant lest they forget to keep breathing…
–Warren
Carnivores Unite for Meat Week 2010
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Two days and counting until Meat Week 2010! The event lasts from January 31 to February 7 nationwide, with the event culminating on Super Bowl Sunday. What a perfect way to end the week: barbeque and pigskin. Eight days of pure heaven for meat lovers.
Image: Kelly Kubik
In 2005 “The Holiday That Time Forgot” was founded by Chris Cantey and Erni Walker in Tallahassee, Florida. Although the term meat refers to any and all animal flesh, they decided to focus meat week on barbeque, Southern style barbeque that is. Awards are handed out for Best of’s (Sauce, Service, Sides, Atmosphere, and All-Around) and Meat Week Honors. Meatography is key to documenting the event.
The DC region can thank Captain Mike Bober of Capital Spice, for putting together a mouthwatering list of venues for DC’s first ever Meat Week.
-Sunday, Jan 31: Urban BBQ in Rockville, MD
-Monday, Feb 1: Rocklands Barbeque in Washington, DC
-Tuesday, Feb 2: Red Hot & Blue in Arlington, VA
-Wednesday, Feb 3: Pork Barrel BBQ at Mango Mike’s in Alexandria, VA from 5-9pm ($15.95)
-Thursday, Feb 4: Capital Q in Washington, DC
-Friday, Feb 5: Branded ’72 in Rockville, MD
-Saturday, Feb 6: Mr. P’s Ribs and Fish in Washington, DC (514 Rhode Island Ave, NE in the Safeway parking lot) at 3pm
-Sunday, Feb 7: venue of your choice at 6pm
The idea was to keep the event within the Beltway and Metro accessible, so only two venues are in Virginia.
Lucky for us, one of the Virginia venues (Mango Mike’s) will feature a preview of what’s to come at Pork Barrel BBQ (yes, the makers of the sauce and dry rub), which opens this spring in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, VA. It’s an appropriate debut as the guys at Pork Barrel are partnering with Mike Anderson and Bill Blackburn of Mango Mike’s to develop the new restaurant.
Image: Pork Barrel BBQ, Capital Spice
Urban BBQ is on the list, which is the location of last years first attempt by Tim Carman in drawing fans to the holiday.
Rockland’s Virginia locations, though not the primary site for the holiday, will be happy to take any carnivores eager to bite into some barbeque.
On the last day participants are free to eat barbeque at a game watching party of their choice. All gatherings are open to the public and take place at 7pm, unless otherwise noted. You don’t have to attend all 8 days.
To secure a spot at Pork Barrel’s tasting, email capitalspice@gmail.com by Monday evening.
Excuse me while I go wipe the drool off my face.
–Aisha Salazar
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
(Image: Capital Spice)
Capital Spice’s composite “best of” map that is.
Tech-savvy food blogger Mike Bober has incorporated our latest 50 Best Restaurants picks into an evolving dining atlas demarcating the current dining favorites trumpeted by local critics–myself, Tim Carman of the Washington City Paper, Todd Kliman of the Washingtonian and Tom Sietsema of the Washington Post (with the most prominent Zagat scores thrown in for good measure).
A quick scan of the fully integrated food awards uncovered a few interesting tidbits:
* 2941, Four Sisters and Ray’s the Steaks were the only universally acclaimed establishments
* Of the 19 overlapping reviews, we agreed with Kliman most (74 percent of the time), followed by Sietsema (47 percent) and Carman (42 percent)
We look forward to poking around Bober’s information buffet as it continues to grow.
–Warren
Throwing Open the Dining Awards’ Floodgates
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
(Image: Zazzle)
Fellow food scribe Tim Carman wonders whether anyone will be genuinely surprised by the Washington City Paper’s forthcoming “Best of D.C.” picks, particularly as they pertain to the coveted Best Restaurant tag:
Personally, if you ask me, too much emphasis is placed on the Best Restaurant category.
Seriously, do any of you expect to be surprised by the winner of that category?
Carman suggests that he’s much more jazzed about the Best New Restaurant battle, laundry listing the 25 contenders–roughly 1/3 are from Virginia, including still green properties like Eventide and BRABO–and urging readers to weigh in on the recent hospitality boom.
Having recently sewn up our Best New Restaurants coverage (appearing in our May issue), I was intrigued to see whom Carman et al. are eyeing from across the Potomac. Conversely, his post also reminded me that I desperately need to increase the frequency of my exploratory trips into Hot Chocolate City, lest I lose further touch with the District dining heavies.
Of course, we’ll all be hearing LOADS about the “BEST NEW” this-and-that for weeks to come, as awards season is now in full swing.
Yesterday, the James Beard Foundation nominees were handed down (gala slated for May 4 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall).
Tonight, the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington will make known the candidates for the 2009 RAMMY Awards (gala slated for June 7 at the Omni Shoreham).
Thursday, the City Paper releases its readers takes’ on local toques.
And our round up of the most interesting newcomers to the restaurant landscape should be revealed the week of April 23 (you can reflect on our 2007 list here).
So, all you armchair food critics and amateur dining sleuths might want to skip on over to your favorite “undiscovered gem” one last time.
Because it’s unlikely to remain that way for much longer–especially if us awards-flinging media types have our way.
–Warren Rojas