World Tour: St. John’s, Antigua

Image via blog.sportbet.com

Curry-scented spinach soup with roasted corn. Pan-fried fillet of butterfish with sweet chili sauce and stir-fried vegetables. Good, authentic, Caribbean cuisine. Sound appealing? You may want to consider cashing in those United Airlines points in for a trip to the Caribbean – specifically to St. John’s, Antigua. Voyage Privé, a members-only travel site, is offering an exciting opportunity to enjoy the sights, sounds and flavors of St. John’s at very attractive rates. From now through October 3rd, 2011, members will have the opportunity to book a Deluxe Beachfront room at the Galley Bay Resort for discounted rates up to 58%. It doesn’t stop there. The mouthwatering aroma of the spinach soup and the taste of butterfish fried to perfection can become your reality when you get this deal and receive three complimentary meals each day from one of the resort’s three restaurants. Great hotels at discounted rates and cheap flights are always great to come by especially when good food is involved (and I forgot to mention, membership for Voyage Privé is free! – a definite go in my book!).

Hump Day Roundup

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Events

The Taste of DC is the talk of the town.  From October 8-10, 2011, the District will reclaim the three-day event that features over 60 of DC’s restaurants, food trucks and wineries.  Taking over America’s most popular street, Pennyslvania Avenue (*between 9th & 14th street, NW), the taste will highlight the Districts favorite foods, beverages and entertainment.  Get your tickets here.

Fan of Martha Stewart?? Well the lifestyle icon will hold an exclusive interview for the Smithsonian Associates on November 17, 2011 @ 7 pm.  Alongside discussing her influences and inspirations, Stewart will make a special presentation on entertaining in the home.  Tickets ($35) can be purchased here and the event will be at DAR Constitution Hall.

Playtime

Tea with Mrs. B has partnered with Social Safeway to ensure the children have proper etiquette too.  Manners & Tea is back this year for children ages 4-12 featuring lessons in floral arranging, modern manners and etiquette in an entertaining fashion.  The event will be held on Monday, October 10, 2011 (*Columbus Day) from 10:30 am-noon.  Reserve a spot by emailing georgetownsafeway@gmail.com by October 6, 2011.  This event is free.

New

BONMi opens @ 900 19th street, NW.  Located in the District’s Golden Triangle, the Vietnamese sandwich and salad shop boasts an affordable, healthy, fresh food option for under $10.

Executive Chef Brian McBride welcomes new chef de cuisine, John Melfi, to the Blue Duck Tavern family.  Restaurant choice of the President and First Lady for their 17th wedding anniversary, Blue Duck Tavern is known for its seasonal ingredients and top flight chefs. Kudos!

Catch Me If You Can (*This is the newest addition to my Food News roundup…keep up with me as I make my way around the Nation’s Capitol)

Last week I attended The Hill newspaper event at the National Archives featuring the theme “A Healthy America”.  Awesome event that gave me the opportunity to check out the “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam” exhibit.

Etiquette Tuesday: Khan’s Bar & Grill

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About a month ago, I went on a Facebook/Twitter rant about a spot called Khan’s Bar & Grill and I received the same response about 10 times over: “What happened??”  For a minute I struggled with whether to even give this place one drop of attention from my site, but on this Etiquette Tuesday, I decided it was finally time to share my story.

I was invited alongside another food blogger to visit Khan’s on H St., NE to try their Mongolian bowls.  I arrive to a less than friendly waitress who seemed confused when I asked for the Public Relations (PR) representative, which was the person who invited me to the event.  Finally, she figured out who this person was and directed me to the bar to wait for the PR contact to finish up another meeting. I sat at the bar and was engaged in some light conversation with the friendly bartender, when the PR contact came out and instructed me that she would have to leave due to a family emergency but assured me the staff would take care of us for the rest of the evening.

After the PR contact left, this is when the evening went rapidly downhill.  Once seated outside with the other food blogger, a man who introduced himself as a silent owner of Khan’s came and sat down at the table with us.  He proceeded to question us about our blogs, stating “anyone can do a blog” and insulting us before finally closing out his comments with “Is there anything else we can do for you??”.  The other food blogger responded by telling him we had not tried the Mongolian bowls, which was the main reason we came to the restaurant.  He then retorts “Well, I’m going to have to talk to the other owner, Mr. Lee, because we have extended ourselves enough with the appetizers”.  We decided it was time to go. Now.

When we walked in to tell him that we were leaving and would not be having the Mongolian bowls, he told us they would not be extending themselves any further and that we could leave.  We asked him why he was being so rude to us where we were invited to the restaurant (*mind you, by this time other patrons in the restaurant were turning around to see what was going on…) and he responded that they did not invite us, rather the PR contact had invited us.  We responded by saying “Doesn’t she represent you??” and he simply responded back with “We did not invite you”.

Ok, for those of you who do not understand how food blogging and the media world work, let me break this down for you.  The Public Relations representative works as a liaison between the restaurant and the media.  They are hired on behalf of the restaurant to act as a representative for the restaurant establishment.  The restaurant in this situation did not understand the role of the PR consultant and totally undermined her knowledge and skills as a professional PR representative.  If they felt that they did not like the way she was handling the PR for the restaurant, they should have discussed this with her at a later date/time versus resolving the problem by making us feel unwelcome.

In all my years of blogging, I have never received such horrible service and treatment especially where I was invited to an establishment.  Blogging may seem like an easy job to those that do not do it on a consistent basis but it becomes a part-time/full-time job when you blog the way that I and many other bloggers do.  To be ridiculed and insulted after trekking to the other side of town for some rubbery calamari, dried out chicken wings and $10 Mongolian BBQ, I would not recommend this place to anyone especially to my readers. Usually I would not put this negative energy out on a restaurant but I would not want anyone to voluntarily spend their money in an establishment that does not know how to treat those that were directly invited into their establishment.  Who needs that when there are over a 1,000 other restaurants in the District to visit?? Not me.

Khan's Bar and Grill on Urbanspoon

Simple Shrimp Pasta

Much like the character Bubba in Forrest Gump believed, shrimp is extremely versatile. You can fry up a batch, stuff ‘em in quesadillas or just eat them as is with a fresh serving of cocktail sauce. Besides the variety if offers, I love shrimp because it’s quick and easy. Here’s my SUPER quick, go-to shrimp recipe.

Ingredients (Servings based on dinner for two)

1/2 pound raw, jumbo shrimp
1 tomato
1/2 box of rotini pasta
Italian dressing (amount will vary based on personal preference)
Ragu Roasted Garlic Parmesan Sauce (about 1/3 – 1/2 the jar)
Old Bay Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Basil
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Directions

Bring a pan of rotini pasta to a boil. Clean and devein shrimp.

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Add shrimp to pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Season with Old Bay Seasoning*. Sautee shrimp until both sides have color.  Add freshly cut tomatoes.

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Season shrimp-tomato mix with basil and garlic. Add Italian dressing and mix well.

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Add Ragu Roasted Garlic Parmesan. Use your taste to judge how much to add. You will want enough to mix evenly throughout your finished pasta dish.** Mix well.  

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Drain rotini and remove Parmesan-Shrimp mixture from heat. Mix all in a large bowl and serve.

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Enjoy! 

Archele’s Tips
*Season to taste. Old Bay has a very bold flavor and may be a bit spicy to some.
**If you don’t want to use the Ragu Roasted Garlic Parmesan, feel free to use your personal preference.

World Tour: Claim your experiences

Image via HTI

I’m all about claiming the great things that I want to experience in the future, whether it be major accomplishments like reaching a certain level in my career or smaller things like dropping 5 pounds within a month’s time. I finally recreated my vision board last night and the passport overflowing with stamps that I added made me realize that I need to take the Travel/Cuisine wish list that I’ve been keeping, and turn it into a plan of action. I think it’s high time that I map out my journey to the different tastes, smells, sounds, sights and tongues that the world has to offer, and anticipate that journey instead of just wishing for it.

 If there’s a place you want to go and cultures you want to experience, then imagine yourself doing it. I’m going to let my United Airlines points build up (after all, I want my money to be dedicated to delectable food and exploration and not to an overpriced flight) and plan for my taste buds and eyes to be dazzled  by all that the world has to offer – I may make a vision board solely for my taste buds!  If there’s somewhere you want to go, even if it’s a pricey restaurant that your budget does not usually allow, don’t say “If I ever get to go” or “I want to go,” instead say “When I go” or “I am going.” Start claiming your experiences now!