You have a few, very meaty choices when it comes to the fillers in any of their five final offerings. There's the trompo (think al pastor with a delicious tangy sauce), cabeza (head), bistec (grilled steak), carnitas (fried/braised shredded pork) and tripitas (tripe). Vegetarians will find options limited pretty much to the (tasty!) quesadillas, and vegans are plum out of luck.

And then you have your eating options. Option A: pop a squat on one of the milk crates they've laid out for you as Picky is doing in the shot above along with two tripitas tacos (his favorite). Option B: eat it in your car in the parking lot while you stare back at the very place you got your tacos. Option C: take them home, as we've done many, many, many times.

What's a sincronizada you ask? Good question. From what we could tell, it's basically a two tortilla taco, but with the tortillas forming a sandwich instead of both supporting the load from below. Picky asked our good friend Angie, conveniently from Mexico, to explain this preparation. She said that the sincronizada came along with the introduction of the microwave to Mexico during her childhood in the 80s. You'd make the taco sandwich and pop it in the microwave where you set the time and it was synchronized. Presto.

And here's a glamour shot of some more tripitas at home. Oh, man. Now we're getting hungry. Good thing we moved a little farther south or we would be back here pretty much every other night. . .

Tacos El Rodeo
10th Street and Washington Ave
Lunch to 12:30 a.m.
Every day

As a refresher: on our second day in DC, Messy overdid it to the point where she passed up the chance to sample craft beers with old friends (unheard of!) in favor of passing out in a full-on food coma.

By the next morning, however, Messy was ready to get back in the saddle again. We started off our day with breakfast at Ben's Chili Bowl. Obama likes it, Bill Cosby likes it, a George Washington University professor has become the Ben's Chili Bowl historian and keeps office hours there. GWU even holds the historical records of Ben's at their Gelman Library. There is nothing we can say about Ben's that hasn't already been said: try the half-smokes! Eat the chili! Be like us and try cooked apples, French toast, scrambled eggs, salmon cakes, grits, home fries and pancakes! Ben's is an institution for a reason. The food is good. And it may seem cheesy to say, but the food at Ben's is better because it's made with love.

While we were there we had the supreme honor of sitting down with Mrs. Virginia Ali and hearing some of her amazing story. The coffee at Ben's is not so great, but for some reason, that watery coffee in a styrofoam cup tasted amazing in the company of Mrs. Ali.

Ben's Chili Bowl isn't just a restaurant; it's a community gathering place. Neighborhood kids can come and stay as long as they want (and eat for free!) as long as they bring a book with them to read. Homeless folks can grab a meal in exchange for cleaning the alley. The Ali family pays attention to the needs of the community. Noting that it isn't healthy to eat so much chili and sausage, Ali's daughter-in-law, Sonya, said that the restaurant had expanded the menu to include vegetarian chili, turkey and fish options, and at that time was working on adding gluten-free options as well.

We left with hugs from Mrs. Ali and her daughter-in-law, and yes, it did feel like we were family. Above is a shot of one of Mrs. Ali's sons and one of her grandchildren who helped bus some tables while we were there.

Since we still haven't learned to pace ourselves, we were full again by the time we met up with Chris from DC Metro Food Tours for tour of Little Ethiopia. We explored Habesha, one of many small Ethiopian markets in the area, before heading to Zenebech Injera for coffee ceremony.

Our hostess roasted the beans right in front of us and wafted the fresh beans as she walkd around our table.

After the steep, she poured out the dark stuff at an alarming height, aerating the coffee.

And here's a shot of the beautiful, oily black gold. Picky is not a coffee drinker, but he happily finished his cup of precious coffee. Messy may make a convert out of him one day…

Zenebech Injera supplies supplies injera for 90% of the Ethiopian restaurants in DC. They brought us two huge options to sample: one with yellow split peas, lentils, chickpeas, collards, a cabbage-potato-carrot combo, and tomato salad, and the other with grilled meat. We could barely eat anything by this point, but we sampled what we could–and it was delicious! This was the first point where we were forced to leave some food behind; as delicious as it was, there was no way we could eat anything else.

One of the coolest things we did during our time in DC was step behind the curtain to see how injera is made. It is a process that takes a lot of skill.

The lady making the injera told us that she makes seven rounds per minute. Sometimes she works a three hour shift, sometimes eight. So she's making somewhere between 1,200 and 3,400 rounds of injera a day for the DC Metro area. If you've ever had injera in the DC Metro area, chances are you have this lady to thank!

We rolled ourselves over to Eatonville for some New Orleans low country fare. Who didn't need another meal in two hours?

By this point, we really couldn't eat anything more. Picky was able to try the rock crab hush puppies and gumbo.

After a quick rest, we soldiered up for our last meal in DC: lunch at Ris. We got the chance to sit down with Chef Ris LaCoste and hear some of her amazing life story.

At 26, she first met Julia Child, then 70. They became friends during LaCoste's time at Harvest in Cambridge where Julia got her burger fix. Fast forward 20 years and she cooked Julia's 90th birthday party at Clyde's. She said this menu was very similar to that very special 90th birthday dinner she prepared. We would've loved to hear Chef LaCoste go on and on with her stories of Julia, but she had to run to the farmers market before it closed to get some fresh produce for the next few days.

By this point, it was just us and our buddy Clare from The Daily Meal, so we decided to share all of the options on the restaurant week menu.

Vichyssoise with crème fraîche and chives. "My favorite Vichyssoise recipe." – Chef Ris Lacoste. This was Messy's favorite.

French Crudité Plate: leeks vinaigrette, celeriac remoulade, sherried beets and French potato salad. A classic Julia preparation from any Paris café with market fresh local vegetables.

Moules Marinière (Mussels Sailor-Style): butter, herbs and vermouth, served with grilled bread. We aren't the biggest mussels fans, but according to our companions, these we incredible.

Sole Meunière: with lemon brown butter and parsleyed potatoes. "We rolled to a stop in La Place du Vieux Marché, the square where Joan of Arc had met her fiery fate. There the Guide Michelin directed us to Restaurant La Couronne." Good, simple, classic fish.

Quiche au Fromage et Choufleur: Gruyère cheese, cauliflower and caramelized onions with your choice of salad or frites. A nice vegetarian option.

Dueling Meatloaf with mashed potatoes, summer squash with tomatoes and mushroom gravy. The veal and pork with veggies on the left was Julia's recipe. The beef and pork with evaporated milk and cream was Chef LaCoste's. Both were great meatloafs, but Picky liked Julia's recipe (prepped by Chef LaCoste's kitchen!) just a tad more.

The Salty Turtle Sundae: vanilla ice cream, salted pecans chocolate and caramel sauces. One of Julia's favorite indulgences from Lucky’s in Montecito, CA.

Almond Vacherin with peaches and cream. Chef Ris' seasonal tribute to Julia's love for meringue and poached fruit.

By the time we boarded the train back to Philly, we had eaten and drunk enough for a family of ten. Over the course of six months. It was an incredible experience that we are incredibly grateful for, although the speediness of our posting may not reflect that. Thanks so much to Destination DC! We will be back to check out the Food Exhibition at the Smithsonian soon!

While at Premium Steap, we got to chat with Peggy Stephens, the owner of Premium Steap, for a bit about her seven years at her Rittenhouse location (she put in five years out in Wayne prior), about some of the 190 teas she carries, and about some of the awesome gift sets she's put together for the holidays (or just to treat yourself anytime!). One interesting thing we learned after years of tea drinking is the tea grading system. If you've ever looked at loose leaf tea, after the name of the tea, there's usually a string of what seems to be random letters. Different regions use different grades, but the more letters after the name, the fancier the tea. And, in general, the smaller the leaf, the fancier the tea.

There were four samples ready for us to try when we walked in, one of them being a gingerbread tea which Messy absolutely loved. Paired with a gingerbread chocolate-chip tea cookie (there were several trays of tea-infused cookies in the back), she went back for a few more rounds.

The shelves were packed with awesome teaware. These ridiculously cute mugs decorated with animals (infuser included) are for $18. Paired with two 2 oz. packages of tea, you get a great whimsical gift for $32.

So many pretty pretty colors everywhere you turn! One of the funkiest items in the store is the Floatea which is an egg shaped infuser with a silicon grip on top. Its base is stainless steel and the whole contraption is balanced so that it floats in your teacup! Too cute. They're $14 by themselves; with two 2 oz. packages of tea, they make a nice $25 gift.

The coolest of them all has got to be the aptly named "Tea for the whole nest" package. Four stacking bird and branch handled cups and a 2 oz. package of tea for a total $75. When you stop in the store, you really have to see this for yourselves. The little photo lifted off the Premium Steap site just doesn't do it justice.

Towards the back, we spotted a little display with some Girls Can Tell tea towels and lunch bags adorned with her signature tea-based illustrations. And before we left, we each got a lovely gift bag with samples of yet more tea to try. We were super happy to see a sample of heaven rooibos in each of our bags. We took a couple deep inhales from the tin off the shelf intrigued by the description: South African Rooibos combined with chocolate, vanilla, and mint makes for an excellent tea, especially for dessert! Resembles a Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie, but no calories!. Picky thought it was more butterscotchy than Thin Minty, but it was still very tasty. When we actually brewed it at home, the aroma was intoxicating.

Since this visit, our household has become even more tea-focused. There is usually a pot of something delicious steeping to warm up our chilly apartment (and us!).

Premium Steap
111 S. 18th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Hours: Mon/Tues/Sat: 10am-6pm
Wed/Thurs/Fri: 10am-7pm
Sunday: 12pm-6pm

After you walk through the front courtyard, lined with picnic tables and torches for the coming chilly months, you will come to your standard BBQ rope line. You're greeted with a marble counter and a wide expanse of wood, brick, and polished-and-stained concrete. It feels vast and inviting at the same time. The smell of BBQ helps a bit, too. Many of Starr's earlier concepts have an almost Gallagher-esque way of getting their point across, but the interior of Fette Sau feels just right, with just enough of a Starr-splash as a garnish.

While we were intrigued by the cartons of water, we passed in favor of the big old water dispenser.

A view of the interior of the space. The eatery is spacious, airy and warm. There's Chef/Owner Carroll in the red plaid over by the bar.

Chef/Owner Carroll taking a breather during opening weekend. You can see a good deal of the American whiskey and bourbon on hand behind the bar.

And then there's the meat and fixins. You'll be ordering by the pound for meat (an order of chicken is an entire half) and quantities of small or large for your sides. We were told by Carroll that a decent serving is half a pound per person. We ordered up 3/4 lbs, a sausage link, and four small sides with some Martin's potato rolls on the side. Beers can be ordered in sizes ranging from a half pint for $3 all the way up to a gallon for $42. The beers come in mason jars and growlers.

Here's a heap of Berkshire pulled pork ($18/lb). Picky found it interesting that they labeled their pork varietals on the menu. The Berkshire hog is a heritage breed renowned for it's deliciously juicy and fatty meat. This helping didn't disappoint.

Here's the Black Angus beef brisket ($18/lb) which was leaner than Picky likes his brisket. It was a bit on the dry side, but we'll chalk that up to new oven jitters. We're sure the ovens/smokers are still being broken in and it's going to take a little bit before everything is dialed in perfectly.

Ah the Duroc pork belly ($20/lb). Carroll said that his favorites were the brisket and pork belly. Picky commented that pork belly almost always was his pick on the menu when available. In Picky's view, there are no reasons not to like pork belly. And once again, the varietal is listed, the Duroc, it's a common red pig that gains weight well. Not as fancy as the Berkshire hog, but nice to see it listed nevertheless.

A link of Nicolisi hot Italian sausage ($4/link). The link had a nice snap to it, but wasn't quite as hot as Picky had hoped.

To go along with the dry rubbed meats, there was a trio of sauces in squeeze bottles at each table, right next to the paper towel roll. One was a classic sweet sauce, one was made almost completely with smoked chiles and the last one a classic vinegar sauce. Carroll said that by mixing the sweet and chile sauces, you'll get a classic spicy sauce. The vinegar and sweet sauces paired nicely with the juicy pulled pork. The smoked chiles brought an intensity to the brisket.

Sides! Burnt end baked beans ($5.25/$8) were startlingly beefy. Carroll spilled the beans (see what we did there?!) and noted the beans were made with a ketchup base, but a pile of burnt beef ends are in there which absolutely dominate the bowl in a great way. Green bell peppers, onions, molasses, and hot pepper make up the rest of the sauce. These beans are the happy outcome of an illicit affair between Texas hot chili and sweet New England baked beans. Philly isn't a bad meeting place for such an affair actually…

Potato salad ($3.75/$7.50) was tangy with a creaminess coming from the waxy potatoes.

Gus' half-sour pickles ($1.50/$3) is where Picky just about lost it. Half-sour pickles, who eats these things?! Just leave them be for another little while and you'll have a properly sour pickle. Messy had a bite and immediately knew what Picky's reaction would be. She warned him. She pleaded him to not taste it. But he had a bite and was disappointed nonetheless. Messy, who is easy to please, ate two pickles happily.

The sauerkraut ($2/$4) was fresh, crunchy and acidic. It may just have been the surprise hit of the night. Sure BBQ is going to be good, but who raves about sauerkraut? Carroll, thank you for paying attention to the details.

The great thing about all of the sides, except for the beans, is that they are all vegan. Yup, even the potato-salad is mayonnaise-free. There is also an intriguing broccoli salad (with lime was it?) that we didn't get a chance to try. The rest of the restaurant obviously does not cater to vegans and vegetarians, but if you are not a huge meat fan and find yourself here you would likely enjoy the tasty sides. And even if you are a big meat fan, don't forget to eat some vegetables!

Here's a shot from the back of the house booth, where we sat. There's another room to the left filled with more picnic tables. Fette Sau will allow 130 patrons to belly up at a picnic table or the beautiful bar at a time.

A shot from the bar. And speaking of the bar… We enjoyed a pint of Dock Street Rye IPA for Messy and an Earth, Bread & Brewery Squason for Picky. The Squason is made with acorn squash and had a lovely squashy-nuttiness to it. The not-too-hoppy Rye was filling and enjoyable for Messy. As true opposites in most aspects of life, we did not enjoy each others' beers in the least. Fette Sau will have three exclusive beers brewed for them available on tap very soon: a swanky will come from Sly Fox, a Penn St Porter from Dock Street and a lager/ale based dry rub infusion from Earth, Bread & Brewery. We're excited to head back to try swill the exclusive brews — the Earth, Bread & Brewery dry rub brew is the only one available for now.

On the back wall is a lovely fresco depicting cuts of meat painted right onto the concrete slabs. "We really just thought it would look cool and be interesting to have meat charts painted on the wall in Brooklyn and now it's kinda become our signature," said Carroll. While we didn't have room in our overstuffed pants for dessert, they have key lime pie ($4), an intriguing bacon brownie ($3), a peanut butter cookie ($1.50) and schmancy Nunu Chocolates from Brooklyn ($8-$9/box). The full menu is listed here so you can see what we didn't get to (yet). Expect the tab to come to $20/person depending on how much BBQ you can pack in and how much booze you can drink. Carroll also told us that the dry rubs will be available for sale soon so you can try to recreate some Fette Sau goodies at home. The sauces may be bottled down the road as well.

A better shot of the bar and all its lovely barreled liquors.

A parting shot of the front picnic tables. While the smoked meat and sweet bourbon will go a long way to keep you warm when the mercury drops, the heat lamps will do the rest if you grab an outdoor table in the months to come. We stopped by for an early 5:30 Sunday dinner to catch up with Carroll and seats were aplenty, but by the time we left around 7:00, the line was 15-20 deep up front. We should also note that the early crowd was a good mix of families, hipsters and neighborhood folks, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Get there early, stake your claim and enjoy your night!

Fette Sau
1208 Frankford Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19125
215.391.4888
Hours: Mon-Thu: 5p-11p, Fri: 5p-12a, Sat: Noon-12a, Sun: Noon-11p

Fig leaves are soaked in Laird's Apple Brandy in a butter crock for about two weeks and then wrapped around the normally foil-wrapped blue Sue's been making for several years now. The result is distinctively delicious. There's a wonderful boozy brandy nose to it, but not too strong of a flavor — the blue definitely dominates. The center of each wedge is wet, clumpy, salty and crumbly with the strongest vegetal blue oomph. The flavors run from the front to the middle-back of the tongue, tingling all the way. The color ranges from a creamy, warm off-white at the rind end to a milky white at center. Its consistency lies somewhere between a wetter foil-wrapped blue and a natural rind blue.

It's great.

Try it with some papery-tart Three Springs Fruit Farm cider. (This blue is probably too strong for an overly sweet cider.) Just ask Farmer Ben Wenk — another one of our favorite farmers! — about the flavor profile of cider he has in stock at market. Dried apricots and walnuts will round out your plate nicely.

Here's Miller at the 2012 Local Grower, Local Buyer event that Fair Food puts on each year. Look out for the Figgy Blue at fine cheese counters around the region starting in two weeks. Check in at DiBruno Bros on 19th Street and 9th Street and at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal for the upcoming release! You can catch Miller at Headhouse Square Farmers Market on Sundays (it'll be there first) right up until Christmas and potentially a couple other markets. Check her schedule for more information.

Our talented friend Mike Geno has painted a portrait of the Figgy Blue here. Take a look at his Etsy shop for some delicious artwork.

I arrived right on time for a change and got to talk with Pat for a little while before the table filled up. The Bensonhurst-born LaFrieda sipped on Scotch and I had an icy Old Fashioned. LaFrieda also spent many years in PA via undergrad as well as a tour in the Army Reserve up in the Reading area. We chatted about food, Philly's bad rep as a dangerous city and NYC after Sandy ravaged four of the five boroughs along with Long Island and North Jersey where the warehouse is located. LaFrieda said their shop was the only butcher in the tri-state area (that's NY-NJ-CT) with a generator backup so they actually never lost power during the aftermath of the storm. They got orders from restaurants they had never done business with before who were willing to pay anything to get fresh product to serve. Not willing to gouge the already strapped restaurants, LaFrieda Meats filled orders as best as they could without raising their wholesale prices. One request of a donation of two tons of burgers was, however, not filled.

LaFrieda said he spent a week soaked in diesel and was highly combustible the entire time. If you had a LaFrieda burger in the last few weeks, you may want to send them an email of thanks for keeping the operation going through the storm and afterwards when nobody else could.

LaFrieda sources their meats locally with tons of poultry and lamb coming from PA, but the lamb on the menu tonight was from a farm in Michigan. The beef for their steaks and burgers (in 1,000 eateries across the country) comes from a Temple Grandin designed cattle farm. If you're not familiar with Dr. Grandin's work, check out this great Science Friday clip. All of that meat makes its way across the country to restaurants in Miami, Michael Symon's joints in Cleveland and out to Vegas. All fresh, never frozen. The burgers are made using a specially made patty forming double conveyor belt which takes the 27°F noodled beef (video) "pucks" from a tube and gently forms them into homemade-style patties complete with cracks. They're not the super perfect patties you're used to seeing. Here's a random fact for ya: red meat doesn't freeze at 32°F like water.

The burger. Butcher and Singer's Butcher Burger was already my favorite burger in town. I was a little worried that they were playing with fire here in making a change. I think this blend might be a tad less fatty, but still plenty delicious. Piled with fried onions and so much cheddar, this burger doesn't need any further adulterations like ketchup, mustard or mayo. The description on the menu does say there's a drizzle of Russian dressing on the bun, it's not noticeable (I really hate Russian and couldn't taste it). If you're a fan of rare or medium-rare burgers, steakhouses will do it right every time, fear not and order away. From the menu:

10 oz. Pat LaFrieda Burger cooked to temp and topped with charred Vidalia onions and cheddar cheese. Served on a brioche bun [baked at Parc] that is toasted and drizzled with Russian dressing. Iceberg, sliced Kosher pickles and sliced tomato sits on the side. House made French fries go along with it.

At some point, the talk turned to cheese steaks. I don't remember how or why, but it did, hey we're in Philly, right? LaFrieda dropped some knowledge on us: cheese steak meat is beef knuckle which is ground, pressed like a car at a junk yard then sliced. What is beef knuckle? It's the meat behind the knee of a cow connecting the femur to the tibia, kind of like the ACL to put it in sports parlance. If you want a really good cheese steak, use a steak cut, not beef knuckle. You can learn a lot from a butcher, get to know yours.

Starr himself dropped in for a visit to say hello to his meat purveyor. Conversation eventually turned to a new concept he and his staff were working on. I could tell you what that conversation was about, but I don't want to wake up in an oil drum a few miles off the coast of NJ. Suffice it to say the concept is just not my style.

The lollipops lamb chops were wonderfully juicy with a nice little knot of fat on one of my chops. Fat is flavor people, embrace it, don't discard it! And yes, LaFrieda does more than beef. I didn't know until I saw it on the menu and LaFrieda himself listed the various products they put out.

LaFrieda told us of his dry aging room with 80,000 steaks on hand. The math on all that steak comes to $1.5M with some of the meat aged all the way to 120 days which is months past the standard 21 days you'll normally see. LaFrieda loves serving the 120 day carpaccio at events. His father, Pat Sr., finds the aged stuff gross. He likes his meat fresh. Pat Jr, on the other hand, eats about 10lbs of raw meat a week as a result of testing everything on the line each night (he takes the night shift while his father and cousin split the day shifts).

Here's a shot of LaFrieda talking to the gang. There's Art from Foobooz's elbow on LaFrieda's right, Brian of Brides, Burgers & Beer to his left and down on the other end Brad of 22nd & Philly, Ryan of In Search of Beer, Joey from Philebrity and Danya from Drink Philly [her writeup for Zagat along with some people who's names I didn't catch on my way out.

All in all, it was a great meet and greet with the Burgermeister of the US. Pat's a great guy who obviously takes pride in what he does and he does it with a passion. If you're looking for more LaFrieda products, the Starr group has infused offerings into many of their menus around town:

• Continental Old City & Mid-town: Continental Cheeseburger – Pat La Frieda "special blend" 1/2 lb burger, sautéed onions & sharp cheddar
• Jones: Cheeseburger – 1/2 lb burger with lettuce, tomato and charred onions
• Parc: Cheeseburger – Grilled onion, raclette cheese, pommes frites
• Pod: Charcoal Grilled Umami Burger – Cabot cheddar, soy ketchup, pickles
• Route 6: Cheeseburger – Oven Roasted Tomato, Louie dressing and house fries

But if you want the Butcher Burger, you're gonna have to make it to Butcher and Singer during the week for lunch. The steak and chop house doesn't do burgers for dinner, sorry.

Many thanks to the team at The Door, who handles the PR for the Starr Group, for the invite.

You walk in and are greeted by the gorgeous bar. You'd be quite happy to plop yourself down on a backed stool and munch away while sipping fanciful cocktails.

Around the corner of this triangular eatery, you could opt for a quiet corner table.

We started off with cocktails (why stop now?). Here's the Chhaya: Old Port Rum, averna, tamarind, ginger simple syrup, lime [all signature cocktails $12]. The Aarohi: Milargo silver tequila, allspice dram, lime, house-made grenadine, was a deliciously salty margarita with no tequila bite. The Divya: Beefeater gin, apricot liqueur, lime, spiced honey syrup, sparkling wine, was a light fare. The Naina: Amrut fusion whisky, Averna, yellow chartreuse, bitters, was an Old Fashioned without the sugar and Picky very much enjoyed it. The Lalita: Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Cocchi Americano, mango, house-made grenadine, bitters had a lovely and strong mango nose.

By this point, we were old friends with our dinner companions and we decided to share pretty much the entire restaurant week menu.

Palak Chaat: crispy baby spinach, sweet yogurt, tamarind, date chutney [$10]. This was amazing: one of the items that you have to order when visiting this place and if you're there with somebody who has been before, chances are they've had it; it's a popular carryover from the original Rasika restaurant. The spinach is quickly blanched for color then fried.

This one escapes our memory, but we're getting hungry looking at it.

Crab pepper masala: lump crab meat, curry leaves, black pepper, filo. Crab in filo was new to Picky, but he enjoyed it, especially with that split pepper on top.

Pretty, pretty, but our memories let us down and our notes weren't as plentiful.

Fish Chutneywala: sea bass, cilantro, mint, coconut. A very clean coconuty flavor, this would be an easy choice for those who like un-fishy fish.

Mixed Grill: Kali Mirch Salmon, Coorgi Murgh Tikka, Seekh Kebab. A little bit of everything to please the undecided eater.

Paneer Tawa Masala, Vegetable Rassa, Dal Makhani. The vegetable rassa was Messy's favorite.

Sweet potato and Sago Tikki: cumin, green chili, curry leaves, pineapple chutney. Tangy/sweet and spicy.

Not pictured: Andhra lamb curry: curry leaves, red chilies, black pepper was Picky's choice. He was too busy scarfing down what may have been the tastiest curry he's consumed in his life to snap a pic. It did just look like curry though. But the taste… oh the taste… And the Malai fish curry: halibut, onion, bayleaf, coconut milk was a standout for Messy. She found the coconut broth to be outstanding!

By the time dessert came around, we had to practically force ourselves to try everything. Messy pretty much gave up at this point, but Picky charged on. Coconut and Lemongrass Panna Cotta. See, DC really loves these panna cotta / flan desserts nowadays. We've never seen so many of these items on menus at the same time before.

Gulab Jamun with cardamom ice cream. This can be found in many Indian spots and is basically a luscious honey cheese and is a must order when Picky sees it on the menu.

Rice Kheer was creamy with bits of fruit for a spark.

Mango and jasmine sorbet. A nice palate cleanser.

Rose compote ice cream. Not for the faint of heart, this was very rosey. A little goes a long way and Picky needed to go back to the mango/jasmine to clear his senses.

Picky continued on to Churchkey with friends. Messy, on the other hand, promptly passed out in what may have been the first legitimate food coma of her life. This was clearly the right choice (not that she had much of a choice!) because we still had a full day left of eating ahead of us. Churckey is a no longer the new kid on the block, but it was bustling with action at 10.30p. Picky and his friends grabbed a seat in the lounge area in the back by the kitchen and enjoyed some drinks from the extensive draft list (56 taps including casks?!). The beers range from the exotic to the local and everything in between. Even coming from a serious beer city, Philadelphia, Picky was quite impressed with what they had to offer. Too stuffed to enjoy the delicious looking bar bites menu, he sipped away at some Chesapeake Bay area brews. What a night.

Bigger versions of all the photos if you follow the link below:

Here's what the festivities looked like from the second floor.

A view into the kitchen where Julia Child filmed her seminal cooking show in Cambridge, MA for 45 years. The Smithsonian has created a website dedicated to her work here. All 1200 pieces in the exhibit was used by Julia during the show. (Well, everything except for the plastic produce!) The white fruit bowl on the table was striking. According to the Smithsonian's site, it's a bowl from Moustiers, in the South of France, by the Childs' country home.

We were so lucky to have a chance to sit and talk with Rayna Green, who helped move the whole exhibit from Cambridge to DC. She had some really great stories and gave a little background on how the food scene in America changed during Julia's time. She mentioned how the nation changed post-WWII where backyard culture came about and men grilled and meat consumption rose. Countering that, hippie food came about through Woodstock's free kitchens and a concern for fresh ingredients rose with California cuisine. The "nachoification of America," as Green put it, arose with America becoming a snack nation of Fritos eaters and Jack in the Box patrons grew in size. The Super Bowl became a second Thanksgiving of sorts for snack food.

Coming soon to the museum is a larger exhibit on food called FOOD: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000 which will open just before Thanksgiving. Objects on view will include TV dinner trays from the '50s, Weber grills from the '70s and the story of Zinfandel and its tie to the University of California at Davis.

After the birthday celebration, we headed over to the recently redesigned (March 2012) Jaleo for some afternoon cocktails and snacks.

Everywhere you looked, there was color. Jorge Figueredo, Jaleo's General Manager, said the redesign makes the space "more electric." The old Jaleo was apparently a loud space so sound muffling pads were installed as functional artwork. You can peep some older photos of the space here. No telling when those will be redone so click over quickly!

Figueredo with one of the Jaleo chefs. Figueredo told us of his recent trip to Spain with Jaleo's founder José Andrés and the culture of drinking gin and tonics after every meal. That tradition was brought back to Jaleo to go with the redesign.

Several of the tables in the front of the house are gussied up foosball tables. All of the little foosball people were replaced with little action figures!

Left of the entryway is a long communal table with one of a series of artwork anchoring the scene.

Surrounding the bar area is a gentle curve of tables making full use of the space while allowing for plenty of walking space. The beautiful tiles on the floor are custom made. The design incorporates elements of Spanish food staples: jamón (which Figueredo calls "the healthiest fat you'll ever eat!"), water and wine.

There are about 100,000 hand-linked beads strung all around the restaurant.

The menus are on iPads. Fun!

We loved these smiling people on the bathroom floor. Must be quite the surprise after a couple of extra strong Jaleo gin and tonics!

One of the talented bartenders prepping some of our gin and tonics.

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L-R: London Dry Grapefruit, lemon balm, lemon, white pepper; Barrel Aged Pickled ginger, allspice, orange, lemon; New Western Tarragon; and José's Choice. The dangerously light London Dry was Picky's favorite. You could easily drink a few of these too quickly and end up stumbling home. The Barrel Aged G&T was fantastically light even with its murky look with a bright orange kick.

We sampled six of the famous gin and tonics. (Messy is also a huge fan of a good old g-and-t and she was pretty excited to get to sampling these.) Above is the New Western Tarragon, lemon, lime, borage.

The Herbal Coriander: blossom, lemon, lime; New Western Tarragon and José's Choice: Kaffir lime, juniper, lemon, lime. And the final drink was a Vegetal Fennel, radish, cubeb, kumquat, but it looks like Picky didn't get a shot of it.

While we were busy sampling these delicious drinks, the kitchen was busy making us a full meal's worth of tapas.

Pan de cristal con tomate: Toasted slices of uniquely crispy and ethereal bread brushed with fresh tomato [$8.50]. How could something so simple taste so good? We could not stop eating this! The special bread has more water than flour and is pulled on a bubble gum making machine. We assume that's something like a taffy puller you can see on the Boardwalk. The bread is parbaked in Barcelona and then flown into DC.

Cono de La Serena con membrillo: La Serena cheese and quince paste cone. Cono de salmón crudo con huevas de trucha: Salmon tartare and trout roe cone. The strong-flavored La Serena cone was Messy's favorite snack.

Ostras 'Gin & Tonic': Five oysters with lemon, gin and tonic. Disclaimer: neither of us has ever enjoyed bicuspids. We always found the texture to be kind of gross. But we both decided to give these oysters a try and we were not disappointed. They were phenomenal. While the G&T flavors were dominant, we doubt that traditional oyster lovers would be disappointed.

Here are the croquettas, presented in sneaker made by Salma Hayek's brother (no joke). Apparently Andrés wanted to use a real (clean, of course) sneaker for this dish, but that presentation was controversial. These croquettas are apparently a big favorite and it was easy to see why: they tasted great!

Mejillones Vinagreta, mussels served with pipirrana (a Spanish salad with tomatoes, potato, and peppers), sherry dressing and honey ($9).

We finished off with this amazing gin and tonic dessert! At this point we were a little toasted and seriously full. . . and we had dinner reservations in just a few hours!

Bigger pics in the link below

Yummy Counter Culture coffee and treats at Peregrine Expresso. You can find Counter Culture in various Philadelphia coffee spots, including Ultimo. They also have a Philadelphia Training Center which sounds pretty awesome for the coffee fiends out there.

We then took a stroll through Eastern Market, where there wasn't a whole lot going on because it wasn't a Farmer's Market Day. It was no Reading Terminal, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

We were supposed to stop here for a proper breakfast of pancakes and such, but we were stuffed from fresh beignets and croissants that our DC host Kate brought along. So we just got some iced teas and were on our way.

We spent a few hours in the Newseum, where Messy (who is media researcher and news junkie) would love to work. Here's a shot just inside the gorgeous balcony. This gorgeous long room joining the two spaces.

Here's the view southwest down Pennsylvania Ave towards the Capitol Building with the Canadian embassy to the left.

There's Messy in yellow taking in the view south towards the Mall with the Federal Trade Commission with the orange roof and the National Gallery of Art across Pennsylvania Ave. That's Jen of Tiny Urban Kitchen in red right behind Messy, also taking in the view.

Here's a shot overlooking the atrium.

Inside the Pulitzer Prize Photography exhibit on the first floor with a film playing in the multimedia area. The photo on the screen is Nick Ut's famous Vietnam War photo of a girl screaming that her skin is burning from a napalm strike. Nick Ut has since stayed in contact with that girl, now a wife and mother, through the years. This was Picky's favorite photo exhibit he's seen in a good long while.

Here's the wall displaying all of the Pulitzer Prize wining photographs through the years. Picky was having a field day reliving all of the photographs he has seen through the years and remembering the amazing stories they tell.

Messy wished we could have spent longer, but we had to head on over to The Source, a Wolfgang Puck restaurant with Executive Chef Scott Drewno at the helm.

Interestingly, we learned that Puck allows his chefs to have a large amount of creative control over what ends up on the menu. This place was very attentive to the details: they replaced the light-colored napkins with black ones for our companions with dark-colored pants. (The lower floor is more of a Japanese gastro-pub with a lower price point. Happy hour includes three small plates for $20.)

For a starter, we had spicy tuna tartare: sesame-miso cones, pickled ginger, shaved bonito. A nice wake up of the senses for the onslaught to come. We were served a mix of the Saturday dim sum brunch [pdf], the lunch menu [pdf] and the dinner menu [pdf]…

Scrumptious boiled beef dumplings: fermented chili bean sauce.

Housemade silken Ma Po tofu custard, chili pork sauce, fresh herbs. Incredibly tender, even for tofu.

Tiny Dumplings: pork belly, black vinegar, chili oil, ginger, cilantro leaves. The pork belly dumplings may be "tiny," but they pack a punch as pork belly tends to do.

Scallop & shrimp Shu Mai: Shanghai curry lobster-uni emulsion.

The pork bao was the highlight for Picky. He can't wait until the Philly Bao Truck is on the streets. The homemade marshmellow-y fluffiness of a proper bao bun is comforting like the other side of a cool down pillow in the summer heat.

Crystal garlic chive dumplings: king crab, Kurobuta pork, Chinese mustard. The closest thing to a "regular" dumpling on their menu, this is still hit out of the park.

And then the larger plates came out. Oh lord. "Thai Style" drunken noodles: Gulf shrimp, Thai chilies, holy basil. The fantastic combination of tender noodles and crispy duck skin is always memorable. Pungent anise-y basil rounds out the flavors when you think it'll be too much on your palate.

Their tempura chicken sandwich: heirloom tomatoes, avocado chili aioli. It's a schmancy version of your deli chicken sandwich turned up to 11 with a sour and butter pickle on top!

When we were all ready to throw in the towel, desserts came out [pdf]. Yes, desserts. Vanilla custard with lemon curd, mango, orange madeleines were first. More panna cotta-style stuff in DC. DC really loves this custard/panna cotta stuff.

Strawberry and Thai basil sorbet was a delightful trio of sweet, punchy herby and tang.

The chocolate dessert:espresso ice cream, chocolate tart, chocolate brownie was Messy's favorite eat of the entire trip and a perfect finale to the fanciful whirlwind at The Source.

While we were chowing down on these delicious eats, we had a chance to chat with Chef Scott Drewno, who's been at the Source since the tender age of 21. Like The Federalist's Chef Harper McClure, Drewno hails from upstate New York. He was super nice, and he told us how he just came back from a long trip to China where he learned some new tricks from Chinese grandmas (what a source [see what we did there?!])! They clearly paid off—everything we had was phenomenal!

A slideshow of larger shots can be seen by clicking on the link below:

We started off by meeting Meredith Goldberg, PR & Marketing Manager for The Madison, on the patio for drinks. At this point, we were also joined by Jen Che from Tiny Urban Kitchen, who flew in from Boston to eat and drink with us for the rest of the trip. Picky began with a Five on Rye [$12]: (ri)1 Rye, peaches, rhubarb shrub, pink peppercorn, sugar. Sweet and bitter. Just like Picky, heh.

Messy, who jumps at the chance for off-the-menu anything, ordered the Tradewinds cocktail without even hearing all of the ingredients. (She's a risk-taker that way!) The Tradewinds turned out to be a delicious combination of lemongrass/lime gin, lemon galengal syrup, and Hum Botanical spirit, garnished with candied ginger. The shot above, while pretty, is not the Tradewinds. It's what our friend Kate had, a Smoked Strawberries [$12]: three citrus vodka, local strawberry preserves, "smoked" limoncello. We had a sip and it was delicious.

Chef Harper McClure, a CIA grad, came out to chat with us for a bit. He asked us if we trusted him to just bring stuff out instead of choosing individual items from the menu. We all nodded and he was off. A group of servers brought out six appetizers and we got started munching and passing to our right. Here's the Heirloom Tomato Panna Cotta* [$12]: horseradish tomato consomme, cherry tomatoes, white anchovy, opal basil. (A quick note about the descriptions: they're straight from the menu and each one with an asterisk is gluten-free!) The panna cotta was creamy with a slightly curded texture. Picky loves anchovies on just about anything and it definitely sparked each bite.

Heirloom Melon Soup* [$12]: Alaskan king crab, sweet wine, lemon verbena. The soup was deliciously cool and mellow.

Vine Ripe Tomato Gazpacho* [$10]: croutons, nasturtium blossoms, extra virgin olive oil. Wonderfully creamy and mesmerizingly beautiful.

Lobster and Corn Fritters [$12]: warm vermouth cream. Ummm, fried lobster and corn with vermouth cream?! This is something you could (but should not) eat all night while drinking yourself to oblivion at the bar. The Federalist isn't a bad way to go out.

Grilled Judith Point Calamari* [$13]: seared potato gnocchi, roasted garlic puree, pearl onions, scallion. Picky has had so much horrible and rubbery calamari that he's often wary of it on menus. This was not one of those cases. Grilled ceopolapods are delicious when done right. Not a hint of rubberiness in sight. We also really loved the Federalist-branded plates. Classy.

Ipswich Clam Chowder* [$13]: braised pork belly, poached Ipswich clams, cabbage, Yukon gold potato, sweet corn, cream. Look at that hunk of pork belly. Picky was practically drooling when the plates were brought out and immediately eyed it across the table. The sweet and creamy corn with a dusting of chili powder made each bite deliciously squishy.

Roasted Gulf Shrimp* [$27]: baby bok choy, snow peas, bell pepper, Bergamot broth. Our server poured the warm broth tableside for a bit of flair.

A close up shot of the Roasted Gulf Shrimp which was actually from South Carolina. Chef McClure informed us of the regional sourcing of lots of the meat: the tuna was from North Carolina, the chicken from Pennsylvania and from Virginia came their pork, duck and beef. While they don't hit you over the head with their local foodiness, they do go out of their way to find the best ingredients they can.

Seared Raw Tuna Loin* [$30]: Rappahannock oyster veloute, baby summer squash blossoms. The sight of a deep pink and just barely-seared tuna warms Picky's heart. Sliced thin enough to just about melt, yet thick enough to not flop around, the tuna was light and filling. But we had no idea just how full we'd get in a few minutes. Even just eating the sides was filling.

Virginia Black Bass* [$29]: sweet corn, chanterelle mushrooms, fried fresh link chiles, paprika-olive oil emulsion. The seared fish was delicious and the vegetables were pretty great, too! See those vicious looking peppers in the photo? They're not vicious at all. Turns out, they're called hat peppers and they tasted just like a tender green bell pepper.

At this point in the evening, we thought we were moving on to dessert. Then the steak knives came out. We had another whole course to sample, and it wasn't going to be a light one!

Roasted Moulard Duck Breast* [$29]: grilled white peaches, lacinato kale, Macadamia nut butter, sarsaparilla jus. Our dining companion Clare could not get enough of this one! Duck is one of those things when you see on the menu, you gotta order. But in our case, everything came out so we didn't even have the choice.

Heritage Pork Chop* [$32]: summer bean ragout, pearl onion, cornbread puree, bourbon jus. Messy couldn't get enough of the cornbread puree. Picky couldn't get enough of the chop, even the delicious fat cap. Mmmmm, fat cap.

Martin's Angus Beef Flatiron* [$28]: roasted heirloom tomato, marble potatoes, rosemary-lavender-garlic butter. Is there anything more decadent than butter on steak? Probably not. Oh wait, yes: rosemary-lavender-garlic butter! This was fantastic.

. . . And then the desserts came out.

Lemon Verbena Panna Cotta [$9:] honeyed amaranth bar, roasted pineapple, lime-espelette granita. This was the second of many panna cottas we'd enjoy in DC. DC seems to really love this stuff, and luckily, so do we.

A la minute chocolate cake gets dressed up with poached cherries and finished with cocoa nib ice cream. Messy is a big chocolate fan and this was her favorite.

Syllabub $8: caramelized bananas. Messy doesn't normally enjoy bananas, but she loved this dessert!

Towards the end of the meal, Chef Harper McClure came out from the kitchen to enjoy a glass of wine with us. He told us a little bit of his past, hailing from Preble, NY (population: 4,000 and one blinking yellow traffic light), he knows the small town life. But he's obviously transitioned to living in the nation's capital with the chops in the kitchen to match. He spoke lovingly of his ingredients and that love comes through in his cooking. But he's not just a cooker, he's a preserver too! You can read a post on the blog about his love of Mason jars (he also finds time to write everything on the restaurant's blog!) and next month, you'll be able to take a canning class right in the restaurant. Details will be up on their site in the near future.

What a night. And we had another two days of this madness to come!

Bigger pics in the slideshow below: