Weekend Review: Our Komi Experience and other scenes from our July 4th Weekend

We had an enjoyable time at Komi celebrating our third anniversary. The servers were friendly, attentive, and not pretentious.  They added fun to our dining experience, which I appreciated because often times fine dining places can get a little too stiff. On a side note, I think the male servers got the better end of the fashion deal in their skinny slacks and button downs versus the females who wore dresses that were reminscent of "Little House on the Prairie".  Their dresses were cute nonetheless. :)

Anyways, they prohibit taking pictures, so I'll try to list the dishes that I can remember. The meal started off with small bites and working its way up to the main entree.

• "fluffy pastry topped with roe" (sorry, I can't even remember the exact name)
• crostini
• raw fish and sea scallops
• foie gras
• chickpea ravioli
• marscopone stuffed dates
• berries and greek yogurt
• suckling pig with homemade fluffy pita (they brought us more!)
• greek doughnuts 
• little chocolates
• root beer lollipops

I can't remember what else... :(

Pros

• Suckling pig main entree was divine (very flavorful and not too fatty!)
• The raw fish dishes were not fishy tasting much to the delight of Justin
• Wine pairing was phenomenal, tasty and really brought out the flavors of the food like a good pairing should. My favorites were the pinot gris, the Belgian beer (Justin and I actually finished our beer before the entree came and they filled it back up), and the dessert wine. By the end of the meal I was getting a good buzz on! Yes, I'm a lightweight. ;)

Cons:

• Lack of a beef dish (I know the menu changes daily, but one beef dish would have been much appreciated for my carniverous hubby!)
• Desserts left something to be desired as they were pretty simple. I know that there is beauty in simplicity, but I would have appreciated a little more complexity. Perhaps something that looks like it came from a pastry chef?

Overall, I thought it was an enjoyable experience, a must-do for any DC foodie! I haven't been to many multi-course prix fixe places, but if I had to choose between the two I have experienced, I'd still say that Volt's Table 21 is the best! 

Komi was a great place to celebrate our third anniversary. At our first anniversary we dined at Bourbon Steak. For our second, we ate at Blue Duck Tavern. It seems we have a very bougie/fancy theme for our anniversary dinners so I can't wait to see where we'll eat next.

Here are some other scenes from our long holiday weekend...

A funny Frenchie billboard we saw in the metro...

In addition to our anniversary, it was Derby's second birthday, so we celebrated with a pizza party...

Dog treat pizza party that is...

Justin doing his best Frenchie impression with the pizza slices...although I don't think they were amused...

 I think they just wanted to dive right in!

We spent our 4th of July on our friend's rooftop. We waited with excitement to see how Jenn's patriotic cake would turn out...

Perfectly! Pinterest FTW!

Afterwards, we went to the Giant next door on the hunt for some chicken wings...doesn't this look like some stock photo? Caption?

#Bromance

So that's how we spent our anniversary/Derby's B-day/July 4th Weekend. It was crazy packed with a lot of fun!  The Brioni aren't resting just yet...we're doing something major renovation-wise at the Brioni household...stay tuned!

Weekend Review: I'm Feelin' 22

Hi Everyone! A few weeks ago, I celebrated my 32nd Birthday with a fun, event filled weekend. To kick off the festivities Justin and I dined at Rasika West End. Justin had never had Indian food before, but promised me that he would take me out for an Indian dinner for my birthday.  We figured that he might as well try the best Indian restaurant in the city. I started off our meal with the signature Rasika cocktail made with sparkling wine. Cheers to me!

For starters we ordered samosa (on the left) and the famous palak chaat (flash fried spinach). Both were delicious!

For our entree, we ordered an assortment of naan to share while I ordered the chicken adraki and Justin ordered the tandoori chicken.

We also ordered the vegetable biriyani. It's neat how it is filled with rice and prepared in a bread pot.

I then helped myself to another cocktail...I forgot what the name of this one was, but it had a spicy kick to it!

For dessert, our server came out with a tiramisu type of dish...on the house! You could definitely taste the Indian flavors in the dessert!

The next day, my sisters, friends, and I ran the Color Run in Baltimore. I'm sure you all saw pictures on Facebook, but I'll probably be reviewing the race in a separate post tomorrow. :)After the Color Run, we were starving so we headed to Fells Point to "attempt" to eat at the Blue Moon Cafe.  The wait for that place was so long (due to its small size), so we ended up going to Todd Conner's on the corner.

Although being our second choice, Todd Conner's didn't disappoint. I ordered the Monte Cristo (not as good as Bennigan's!), but still tasty and filling!

I ordered a horchata cocktail that tasted like chocolate milk and was given a complementary bloody mary since my sister's told them it was my birthday. Needless to say, I was on the verge of getting a little tipsy, but luckily I had filled up on the brunchy goodness to coat my belly.

That evening we traveled to our old stomping grounds (Arlington) to do some bar hopping. In true 22 year old fashion, we started out at Ricky's to get our pregame on! This was the first of many Patron shots. Was this one the coffee one or the regular one? I have no clue, but both went down smooth...

Who took this blurry picture? Judy?

Bottoms up!

The rest of the evening consisted of us going to a total of two bars (so much for bar hopping, more like a bar hop ;), and me not remembering much afterwards. Somehow, we ended up back at Ricky's apartment, ordering Pizza Movers (the saltiest pizza ever, with fake sausage that I like to call "snausages!"), and passing out everywhere. Luckily, we woke up bright and early enough for Jill to make it to work!

These days birthdays aren't as crazy as they used to be, but they are still fun. Event though my birthday is just one day, I still like to celebrate the entire weekend with good food, drinks, and friends!

Happy Birthday Justin! The 10th Anniversary of your 21st Birthday!

Last week was Justin's birthday and unlike last year's drunken debauchery we played it a little more low key this year. After all, he's turning 31...we're too old for that! LOL! Anyway, for his actual birthday we went out to dinner at The Prime Rib, a place we've been wanting to try for a while. Justin started off with the lobster bisque, which is something I usually order when it's on the menu, but alas it is not "paleo challenge" friendly. :(

 

So instead I ordered the tomato soup which is still tasty (and not cream based either!)

 

We also split the shrimp cocktail appetizer! You can't go wrong with a big, honking shrimp I say!

Then, came our entrees! Justin ordered the full cut. Man, that thing was huge! Bone-in prime rib...it reminded me of the hunk of meat that tipped over the Flintstone's car...LOL...

 

I on the other hand opted to get the classic, signature cut. Way smaller of course ;) Oh, by the way, the shredded white stuff on the sides of our plates isn't cheese, but shredded fresh horseradish. Neat, huh? It definitely wasn't as spicy as I thought it would be but it added a nice kick with every bite of meat.

 

These were my sides! Kinda wish the portion sizes were bigger...

 

Then the server came out with strawberries romanoff (on the house) with a candle on it. Justin was definitely surprised. Note: restaurants actually read the comments in an Open Table reservation so it pays to write down if you are celebrating a special occasion!

 

On Friday, we hit up Biergarden Haus on H St. to meet up our friends for a couple of drinks (I was DD, obviously!). Since it was cold outside they closed off a large part of the outdoor seating area. This caused them to strictly limit how many people could come in and out. This put a slight damper on our festivities since we had a party of over 20 people because they gave some of us a hard time getting outside to join the rest of the group. We made the best of the situation and eventually, everyone got outside but it was kind of pain to deal with in the first place.

 

It was nice to see all our friends, many of which we haven't seen in a while!

Overall, all I would say all of Justin's Birthday festivities were a success! We unfortunately didn't get to celebrate with my dad (since they share the same birthday!) but hopefully we'll have a belated birthday celebration in the near future!

Happy Birthday Louie!

Today is Louie's first birthday!


Can you believe that one year ago this little dude was born (along with his three brothers and two sisters) in Crystal City, VA?

They grow up so fast!


Here a glimpse of what he's been doing on his special day...

Have a good weekend and a Happy Easter!