I’ve got nothing. So, here’s a picture of acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma on the floor of a bathroom with a wombat. Enjoy!
Yo Yo Ma on the floor of a bathroom, with a wombat.
photo by @petersagal, who helpfully tweets about his entire YoYoWombat experience here.
On a recent long-weekend trip to Washington D.C., I had the opportunity and pleasure to eat at a small restaurant in the Dupont circle neighborhood. Komi has twelve tables, no menu, and offers a fixed number of courses, depending on what is available, for a fixed price to all guests. I was lucky enough to score a 9:30 table the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I went with my friend Jenny, and we both enjoyed it thoroughly.
The chef/owner is a young dude named Johnny Monis who opened Komi about seven years ago. He was nice enough to come out of the kitchen and say hi after our meal. He even wrote the evening’s menu out for us:
As you can see, we had 18 courses, which included several small mezzethakia, mainly small seafood dishes. I’m embarrassed to say that I can’t remember all of the courses, but I remember them all being amazing. The mascarpone-stuffed dates with sea salt and olive oil stood out, as did the fried spanakopita cubes. They were deep fried, and almost exploded with spinach and cheese in your mouth. The main “entree” was a family-style shoulder of goat, which was stunning and flavorful. Everything was topped-off by 4 dessert courses and house-made lollypops at the end. They ask people not to take pictures of the food, so not to ruin the surprise of future guests, but if you’re ever in the DC area, I can definitely recommend KOMI!
After-hours: Restaurant hangouts for people in the industry
- The restaurant industry is a social one, and the after-work gathering is an important ritual. But at the end of a shift, cooks and servers aren’t looking for upscale food or fancy decor.
Dark stocks are the base for several rich, meaty French sauces. A whole bunch of beef (or veal, for that matter) stock can be reduced down to an amazingly rich glaze used for steaks or other meats.
I call it the Les Halles Beef Stock because it’s inspired by this book, but there really isn’t a recipe, per se. Bourdain just describes the procedure in a paragraph in a chapter called “stock.” It’s sort of a simplified version, and would apparently “get you fired at the French Laundry.” Anyway, it’s still delish, and I’ve included a recipe version here:
The ‘Les Halles’ Beef Stock
Peel the veggies and roughly chop them. You dont want any dirt or green shit (i.e., celery leaves). Dark stocks require you to roast both the bones (and scraps) and the veggies. Wash the bones in cold water. Crank the oven to 350F and load the bones in an oiled roasting pan - never more than 2 layers deep. In another oiled roasting pan (or in some butter on the stovetop), brown the veggies. The bones should take about an hour or so, but check them - you don’t want to char them.
Add the bones and veggies to a stock pot, cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer. My stock pot is small, so I actually don’t let too much of the water boil away. You’ll want to skim the fat and nasty foam that floats to the surface intermittently. Let simmer for 8-10 hours and strain, keeping the liquid.
Now you can use this liquid in several ways. You can use it as the base for soup, or reduce it further and use it as a meat sauce. It’ll get more and more flavorful (and better for some applications) as you remove more of the water. For example, if you continue to reduce the sauce, add red wine and diced shallot, you have the base for something like beef stew (bourguignon).
Here’s some reduced stuff:
Storing for later use:
