i love that red meat

A recent trend in DC has been gourmet burgers. This trend = me happy. Here is a brief report on two relatively new spots.

A couple weeks ago we went to Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington. Ray's as in Ray's the Steaks and Ray's the Classics, my favorite steakhouses in the area. They opened the burger place in the same strip mall at RtS and I assume they get a lot of business from people who can't get in that night.

It was probably the best burger my mouth has gotten its lips around. I had mine blackened with several thick slices of aged Vermont cheddar and roasted garlic cooked to their recommended temperature, a warm red center. The patty was at least a half pound and when I had to go to the back to use their ATM (it was even a no fee ATM) I saw someone taking a giant tray of meet to the grinder. The only possible improvement on the burger would be to get a bigger bun. The bread is good, but the size and juiciness of the burger more or less obliterate the poor bun. The corn on the cob and watermelon that come with all meals were nice touches. As were the multiple options of bottled root beer a couple on draft along with frosty mugs.

Today I went to another new spot, Good Stuff on the hill. Good Stuff was recently opened by one of the finalists on a recent season of Top Chef. Spike is either naturally gifted in marketing or the Top Chef people gave him some pointers because there has been a lot of buzz. I tried to go the day it opened but there was a line down the sidewalk at least 30 people deep. A couple weeks ago I tried to go for dinner after being in the office a little later than normal but there was still a line down Penn Ave. at 9:30pm. Our friends Kellie and Isaac live a couple blocks away and managed to get in one day. They enjoyed their food but said the line was a gimmick - they allow few inside to make it look like the place is busier than it is - and it was costly. I concur.

The burger was cooked well, and by well I mean nice and pink on the inside. It wasn't too big - easily could have gone for a double - but not too small if you get fries. I went for the seasoned fries with rosemary and thyme, but unfortunately the only seasoning you could taste was pepper. Not bad, but not great. The highlight was the toasted marshmellow shake. Overall I liked the food, but not the $15 bill (I could eat about 30 PB&J's, my normal lunch, for that) or the slow service. I waited 10+ minutes just to order and there were only a couple people ahead of me when I was there around 3pm. Couldn't image how slow it would be at 1pm.

It is interesting to compare the two places since they are so different. RHB doesn't have any advertising, they don't even have a sign outside or a website, and they clearly didn't spend more than fifteen minutes decorating. The lines are supposedly always long, but they have people walking through the line to take your order and give it to the kitchen so that your food is almost ready by the time you pay. Everything other than the food seems like an afterthought for a chef who just wanted to give his steak customers a fast-food option and ended up opening the best burger joint around where $10 gets you more food than most can eat.

Granted I read an article that pretty much said this, but GS is clearly the first in what Spike or his investors hope is a very profitable franchise. They created hype by getting a sort-of-celebrity chef to open a place and making people line up outside to draw attention when the place is supposedly half empty on the inside. When you walk in there is giant picture of Spike with a story about his grandfather would serve burgers on was paper out on his patio. While it certainly might be true, the look of the place leads you to believe it was what the focus group advised they go with.

Don't get me wrong, GS is good, but I wouldn't say it tops Five Guys, the gold standard of DC-area burgers. While I will probably return to both, Spike should learn something from Michael Landrum.

Splish, Splash

A bit of scary weather tonight. There was a flash flood on our street. We saw garbage cans floating by and water above our sidewalk. Thankfully, it only lasted less than 10 minutes and all the cars and people walking by seemed to be traveling along safely. I knew I should have bought those wellies!

You heard it here first!

As I was scanning other blogs on the net, I noticed PR Newser talking about the BPA controversy. For those of you concerned with my coffee thermos fiasco, I just want to say you heard it here first!

After a long and tenuous discussion with my loving husband, I've decided on Starbucks until I can find a made in the USA thermos. If you find this rare item, please post a comment.

Made in the USA

I've been on a long and arduous search to find a thermos-- wait, vacuum bottle made someplace other than China. I have just a simple, simple goal: bring my coffee to work without spilling it all over me or my stuff.

First, I learned thermos is a brand that has become genericized trademarks much like kleenex, jello and coke and that the proper term is vacuum bottle. Unfortunately, I also learned that I cannot spell vacuum without spell checker.

I go to the store and find people sell vacuum bottle looking things that do not keep liquid hot and sometimes makes the outside of the container where you hold the bottle extremely hot. That makes no sense.

Off to the internet and I learn there is a lot of information, which in retrospect, I wish I didn't learn. After some research I learn that I should be concerned with BPA and other chemicals that could leech into my thermos. Also, anything made in China should be taken off the list.

So a simple search for a thermos turns into finding a vacuum bottle that doesn't have bad chemicals and made someplace other than China. And it has to be cute and sleek--my own little persnickety requirement because I don't want to carry a huge thermos that looks manly.

At this point, some of you may been thinking Kleen Kanteen or SIGG. Well, don't google those names folks cuz you'll be surprised. Blogging mothers and Kleen Kanteen are in a bit of a fight now. And SIGG? Yes, SIGG sports bottles are "Swiss made", but SIGG vacuum bottles are made in China! A clever deception found on the box, but not the bottle because the top is made in Switzerland. SIGG claims that they check in on the manufacturer in China, but what else would they say? Another little note, the brand Thermos is also manufactured in China.

So, what do you think? Should I bite the bullet and just buy something I like from China or just pay the price of safety and walk to Starbucks?

Childhood living is easy to do

For the July 4th holiday I convinced Chris to go to Chincoteague, VA on Assateague Island. Part of the island is a national seashore with wild horses. The local legend is that these horses were on a Spanish ship that was sinking, but the horses somehow made it to shore and survived. The horses eat a certain type of plant that is nutritionally poor and causes their stomachs to bloat. Over the years this diet has stunted their growth so they look like ponies, but they are really horses with big stomachs.

We stayed at a nice bed and breakfast called the Inn at Poplar Corner that had a wonderful jacuzzi bath that took up a corner in the bathroom. It was a great location on Chincoteague's main drag and we could walk to all the local shops, restaurants and movie theater. It seemed like small version of Martha's Vineyard--although I have never been.

There wasn't much nightlife in Chincoteague so we decided to go to the movie theater to watch Hancock. The movie theater looked like a small auditorium reminiscent of my elementary school auditorium. There was even a stage and the seats didn't have cup holders. I was so awed I embarrassed myself by snapping a quick picture.

However, the MacGuffin (Doug's term) of the trip for me was to see the horses, which took a bit of effort beyond just laying on the beach. After a long walk I finally encountered a couple of horses on the beach. A bit later, I saw the icons of the island - the horses with the white and brown spots.

I had been warned that the horses are not friendly and there are signs everywhere telling visitors not to pet them. Some visitors ignored the warning and pet them anyway. Ranger Barebly came over to tell them to stop and told a few stories.

Apparently, the white tailed horse is really mean. He's seen it take a small child in it's mouth and throw it. Ranger Barebly's boss mistakenly came up behind it once and felt the horse's 1200 pounds as it kicked him. The meanest of the horses was "Big Red", who sought ways to be mean. Big Red died when a car hit him, but he didn't take it lying down. Even after one of his legs was broken he thrashed the car that hit him so badly it was declared a total loss. He then limped into the woods to die, but Ranger Barebly followed and shot him to put him out of his misery.

Here's a link to our flickr page from this trip if you want to see more photos.