Chen taught the group how to make fudge!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
RESTAURANT REVIEW: Spike's Restaurants
It’s All About the Goods:
Some Serious Nom Action with Top Chef Star, Spike
Anne Gregory is a member of Georgetown Gastronomes
While I must admit that I have dabbled in many reality television shows and have probably watched every Bravo show that has come to air, I recognize Top Chef as being the clear-cut winner of the reality category. For any food-afficiando, who wouldn’t enjoy watching accomplished chefs vie for the Top Chef title through a season of entertaining foodie challenges? One of my good friends, Anna, is a fellow avid Top Chef lover (come to think of it, we are probably good friends because we share an appreciation of good food—why are those things so often intertwined?). We had both known from watching the show that one of the contestants, Spike Mendelsohn, had a burger joint in DC. For those who don’t know him, Spike competed in Season 4 against among others Richard Blais and Stephanie Izard (the winner) and was eliminated, just missing the final four. In my opinion, I’d say he was known for being a bit BA, fairly attractive, and just doing his own thing.
Of course when Anna rolled down to DC for the weekend, we needed to check out his restaurant. The opportunity to taste the food of a Top Chef had both of our mouths watering. And, we were right to do so after checking out the menu. In fact, Spike opened Good Stuff Eatery to feature his weaknesses—hamburgers, fries, and shakes (the menu also includes salads and chili). While I was scoping things out, I saw that he owns a pizza place right next door as well: We, The Pizza. We, The Pizza specializes in New York style pizza, old fashioned Italian sodas, and homemade gelato.
With the promise of some good food, we headed over to Capital Hill to check both places out. Aside from the anticipation of the food, there was more than a little excitement regarding the prospect of maybe, just possibly seeing Spike in person. We probably asked each other what we would say to him if he were there five times over the course of our journey. We finally got to the restaurant, walked in, and low-and-behold, no Spike. We were both disappointed but just got into line and commenced the agonizing process of deciding what to order. We also wanted to eat at We, The Pizza, so we decided to share a Toasted Marshmallow Shake, Spike’s Village Fries (fries topped with fresh rosemary, thyme, and sea salt) and a Good Stuff Melt Burger (melted cheddar and muenster, caramelized onions and mushrooms with Good Stuff sauce).
The restaurant is a typical order, get your food, and then sit down place. It wasn’t fancy or anything—just simple, come, get your grub, park it, and enjoy. All of a sudden, right while we were standing at the register, something magical happened. Spike appeared. He descended on the cash register and just started working, all casual, like he does that on the reg (which from my understanding from another customer, he is there often). To alleviate our initial disappointment, we had spent most of our time in line rationalizing his absence; he’s an accomplished chef and must be busy on other foodie ventures. We were both dumbfounded and completely star struck. I was nudging Anna saying over and over again, “Oh my god, there he is. What do we do? What do we say? Should we say something?” Anna, normally quite the chatty Kathy, was completely speechless, wide-eyed, and shifting her weight from foot to foot. When Spike gave us our food and we paid, he seemed to give us an extra boyish, mischievous smile. I can’t quite remember exactly, but I think that we may have stammered something excitedly like, “We’re big fans of the show!” It was all a blur in that moment.
We stopped at the dipping bar to try some of the different dips for the fries and then sat outside to enjoy the weather and devour our meal. The shake was delicious—maybe a bit sweet, but that’s never a problem in my opinion. The fries were really good but may have been a tad too greasy; it depends how you like them. All of the dipping sauces were really good! That was a unique touch. The burger was your typical, simply good burger—just an American staple done right. Anna and I were both really satisfied (and were recovering from just seeing one of our favorite chefs from the show in person). We headed next door to get some pizza for the road. When we were standing in line, we saw Spike again, as he went rushing by. He clearly is deeply invested in both restaurants at every level. It was nice to see someone who could just cook for those with “palettes” and the gourmet crowd in order to garner more culinary acclaim, pursue a passion and not worry about the sophistication or delicacy of his dishes and worry about pleasing the food critics. Anna ordered a slice of white pie (ricotta, fontina, roasted garlic, Parmesan, mozzarella, sea salt, olive oil, andparsley), and I ordered the spinach and artichoke pie (Béchamel, sautéed spinach and roasted artichokes, aged provolone, Parmesan). Both slices were huge. I couldn’t resist digging in while it was still hot then and there, and I do not regret it. The pizza was delicious. I was a big fan of the flavor profiles and how they took the pizza to the next level.
Completely stuffed (I plan on fasting prior the next time), we headed back to Georgetown. I think we both thought that we could ride off into the sunset happy and satisfied after such an enjoyable meal. Fortunately for us, Spike’s offerings will no longer be a metro-visit away. GoodStuff Eatery plans to expand and open a new Georgetown location! According to the website, the address and more information will be confirmed this spring, so that is definitely something to look out for. Meanwhile, if you share Spike’s weaknesses and are looking to indulge a little, head over to Capital Hill and get the Good Stuff experience. You won’t regret it. And if you’re lucky, you may even get to see Spike.
3/18 Tex Mex with Evelyn
This week Evelyn hosted a Tex Mex event with carnitas (pork simmered and seared in orange, lime, garlic, and cumin) with guacamole, caramelized onions, black bean spread, corn tortillas and homemade flour tortillas, and various veggies. We also made some great virgin mojitos!
Recipes here:
carnitas (so simple!):
http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/11/homesick-texan-carnitas/
Guac:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/guacamole-recipe/index.htm
Black Bean Spread:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/mexican-tortilla-pizza-recipe/index.html
Virgin Mojitos:
http://www.slashfood.com/2008/06/11/virgin-mojitos-as-good-as-the-real-thing-minus-the-boo
2/20 Tea and Cookies with Faith
Today we baked cookies and enjoyed loose green tea from Faith's semester abroad in Taiwan!
2/5 Vegan Brunch
This week we kicked off a new semester of Gastronomes with a Vegan-friendly brunch co-sponsored by the Georgetown Animal Rights Activists (GARA). Menu: Sunny Mushroom Tempeh Bagel, peanut butter and banana toast, and grapefruit-cado smoothies!
11/20 Cheese Party with Evelyn
This week Evelyn shared her (literally) unhealthy obsession with all things dairy with the Gastronomes at our cheese party! We made a fresh cow’s milk cheese with citric acid, rennet, and whole milk. During the process, we ate cheese while Evelyn explained all the weird anecdotal historic and scientific information she has gathered over the course of this little food-crush, including tidbits on types of milk, milk processing, bacteria/cultures/mold, coagulation, textures, etc.
Types of Cheese at the party:
Our homemade cheese
Cana de Cabra (Spain, goat)
- Paired with marcona almonds and sourwood honey
- Paired with sweet oatcakes
- Paired with apple butter
- Paired with walnuts and cherry jam
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