4 minute read
Home Plate
by David Hagedorn
Picnic in the Park
In October, the outdoor Water Park in National Landing debuted with nine restaurant kiosks, a fullservice sit-down restaurant, a live performance stage, landscaped greenspaces, multiple seating areas and water features spread over 1.6 acres. I canvassed the kiosks, which represent local, minority and women-owned businesses, and found five dishes that light my fire.
Falafel bowl at Falafel Inc.
Owner Ahmad Ashkar isn’t looking to reinvent the wheel with his value-priced falafel bowl, and he doesn’t need to. The combination of fluffy, fried chickpea balls, tabouli, red cabbage, pickled vegetables, cucumber-tomato salad and crispy pita chips hits the spot. Ashkar, by the way, is also founder and CEO of the Hult Prize Foundation, which awards $1 million annually to a team of young people to fund a social entrepreneurship project. ($6)
Bo-khirria banh mi at PhoWheels
This marks the first brickand-mortar location for the food truck business Huy Nguyen started in 2012 and sold to current owner Tuan Vo in 2017. (The two are partners at Water Park.) Don’t miss their clever mash-up of a banh mi, birria taco and bo kho (Vietnamese beef stew). Crusty French bread is stuffed with five-hour braised beef shank, red onions, gooey mozzarella cheese, cucumbers, pickled daikon radish, pickled carrots and cilantro, and served with a side of “bo ko” broth for dipping. A spectacular mess! ($17.98)
Funnel cake sundae at Dolci Gelati
Gianluigi Dellaccio, the pastry chef owner of this DMV chainlet, got so many requests for funnel cakes at his National Zoo stall that he finally devised a recipe for one after 15 tries. His light, airy and delightfully crispy confections are dressed with a scoop of gelato (your choice), whipped cream and chocolate sauce. ($12)
The Paulie Cicero from Cracked Eggery
This stand specializes in breakfast sandwiches, bowls and topped tater tots. Think of this sammie as breakfastmeets-antipasto: prosciutto, fried egg, arugula, ricotta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and kicks of sweet heat from Mike’s hot honey on a toasted challah bun. ($13)
Masala uttapam at DC Dosa
This is the second location of Mumbai native Priya Ammu’s eatery (the first is in D.C.’s Union Market) that offers variations on a beloved crepe-adjacent South Indian street food. Ammu offers two versions of her lentil batter-based pancakes: dosas (which are thin, crispy and folded over fillings—like in an omelet) and uttapam (thicker, openface pancakes). The masala uttapam is crisped on one side, then flipped over on the griddle and topped with crispy, turmeric-tinged curried potatoes, chopped cilantro and three chutneys: onion tamarind, mango habanero and cilantro sesame. ($15)
Sandwich Savvy
Armani Johnson has a thing for sandwiches, and that’s good news for us. The 31-year-old chef is running a pop-up called I Am a Sandwich on Mondays (at least through the spring, he says) at Mattie & Eddie’s in Westpost (formerly Pentagon Row), featuring four of his creations ($19 to $21). It’s hard to choose a favorite, but my money is on the General Tso’s shrimp po’boy, which finds crispy, buttermilk-brined shrimp tossed with chives and fried garlic and stuffed inside crusty French bread from the award-winning D.C. bakery Bread Furst, with lettuce, tomato, General Tso sauce and lemongrass aioli. The jumble of crunch, sweetness and tanginess is irresistible.
Born in D.C. and raised in Prince George’s County, Johnson has gravitated toward the kitchen ever since childhood. After graduating in 2012 from the Art Institute of Washington in Rosslyn (now closed) with an associate degree in culinary arts and a concentration in baking and pastry, he worked in various area restaurants before landing a position as the opening souschef at D.C.’s ABC Pony (now closed). That’s where he worked with Mattie & Eddie’s chef Casey Bauer, who now hosts his pop-up.
The other three sandwiches on the menu are equally tantalizing. Johnson accurately describes his AJ Smash burger as “a nod to surf and turf that’s like a Big Mac, but with crab dip on it.” The Banh Moe is a riff on Vietnamese banh mi with D.C.’s venerable fave, the half smoke, serving as the star protein, accompanied by liver paté, pickled jicama and carrots, aioli, cucumbers and cilantro. Last but not least is a galbi steak and cheese (galbi is a soy-based Korean marinade) with American and provolone cheese, caramelized onions, kimchi, ssamjang (a condiment similar to gochujang) aioli and jalapenos. Save room, if you can, for Johnson’s dreamy banana pudding.
