Baked & Wired still the best

After my second evening at Proof, I headed back to my hotel room to indulge in something I'd been waiting for for a very, very long time. No, not that. No, not that either. I'm talking cupcakes, people; specifically, cupcakes from Baked & Wired. After work that day, I'd walked all the way to B&W's shop in Georgetown to pick up a Karen's Birthday cupcake-- chocolate cake with white frosting. I carried it with me all the way to Proof, kept it safe through dinner, and then went to town back in my room.

After the Georgetown Cupcakes/B&W head-to-head taste test last year (wherein B&W won handily), I'd been craving this cupcake on and off. And unwrapping it this time around, I was looking forward to the magic. While the experience was slightly different this time around, it was still seriously good. First, there was some interesting marbling going on, as if some dollops of vanilla cake accidentally made its way into the batter.

Little bits of vanilla in there?

Second, the cake wasn't quite as deep and fudgy this time around; more fluffy and springy, it still packed a powerful chocolate taste and a moist-enough texture. The frosting, as I had remembered, was my favorite kind-- vanilla, sugary, and perfect with the cake. And even the cupcake paper, which gives some extra nooks and crannies to the confection, added to the experience.

Like a beautiful rose

Baked & Wired is seriously good. The cupcakes aren't cheap (almost $4, as I recall), but they're completely worth it. Next time I'm in town, I'll absolutely be back. And who knows-- maybe I'll even make some excuse to go to DC simply for the cupcakes. Stranger things have happened...

Baked and Wired
1052 Thomas Jefferson Street NW
Washington, DC
202-333-2500

Proof: My DC home away from home

I was in DC for work a couple of weeks ago, and having fond memories of Proof from my last visit, I decided to head back. I'll say up front: Proof was even better this time around, so good that I ended up there for dinner two out of my three nights in the city.

First off, the atmosphere is almost insanely welcoming. It's artfully lit, with cozy booths and spacious tables; wine bottles line a floor-to-ceiling room divider; there's a bar area in one corner; and the far corner, near the kitchen, houses a quiet little cheese counter, with a cheesemonger (?) methodically portioning enormous wedges of cheese into cheese-plate-sized hunks.

Oh, and the service-- it's spot-on. My waiter the first night came over to welcome me back the second night I was there, even though my table was not in his jurisdiction. Service is solicitous without being overwhelming; it's knowledgeable and friendly but not intrusive.

Proof is a wine bar, so of course there's wine. A decent selection of wines by the glass includes some unusual varietals (great for my Wine Century Club!) and offers three different sizes: half-glass, full glass, and quartino, all at reasonable prices. During my two visits, I tried a Furmint from Hungary and a Zierflander from Austria, both of which were crisp, delicious, and food-friendly.

Furmint

Zierflander

Ah, the food. Unlike at a lot of wine bars, the food here isn't an afterthought; there's a full menu, with lots of space devoted to charcouterie and cheeses, yes, but also an ample selection of salads, appetizers, and entrees.

On both my visits, I started with the olives. These are meaty, salty, substantial orbs in a delicious brine flecked with citrus zest and a touch of crushed red pepper. Since the olives are so large, one order is actually a decently-filling appetizer.

Very carefully plated

There's also a bread course of sorts, which is admittedly not Proof's strong point. While the dip-- Greek yogurt with mint, chives, and olive oil-- is addictive and spoon-worthy, the bread is flat, hard, unsalted, and largely flavorless. I understand why this might make a logical bland cracker for a pungent cheese course, but as a stand-alone bread it just doesn't quite work.

Quantity, not quality

But back to the good stuff. I tried two salads during my visit. First: maple-roasted delicata squash with arugula, pecorino, pumpkin seeds, and cider vinaigrette. This was a tasty and pretty hearty salad, with tender squash and some good crunch from the pumpkin seeds. I wished the pecorino had been portioned a bit thicker; as it was, it was so paper-thin it almost melted into the squash and didn't quite get a chance to assert its salty flavor. But overall, this was a good expression of fall on a plate.

Not too sweet

The second night I chose the roasted beets with pea shoots, kaleidoscope carrots, aged goat cheese, toasted hazelnuts, and sherry mustard vinaigrette (which I'd gotten before). This salad was a really ample portion-- I was unable to finish both this and a full order of olives. The beets were sweet rubies, contrasting nicely with the peppery bite of the pea shoots. I had only two half-carrots in this salad, which was fine with me, since despite being "kaleidoscope" they tasted like normal carrots. The healthy scattering of hazelnuts lent welcome crunch to the mix, and the three small hemispheres of aged goat cheese provided a surprisingly pungent cheesy funk to the mixture. This is a good salad, but it's strong-- the flavors are all assertive, so if you're looking for a mild start to your meal, consider yourself warned.

Buried beets

One of the two evenings, I stayed for dessert. They have some interesting dessert options, including a sticky toffee pudding (which you don't see all that often), but I was looking for something light. One special request later (kindly obliged by both my waiter and the kitchen), and I had a trio of their specialty ice creams. A scoop of gianduja gelato was smooth and hazelnutty; a boule of creme fraiche ice cream was surprisingly tangy and bold; and the orb of coconut sorbet had the appealing shatter-y texture of good sorbet, along with a tantalizing tropical flavor. And the nut cookie providing the garnish added some welcome heft to the dish.

Smooth, creamy, and neutral

I love Proof. It's the kind of place that makes me want to own a wine bar someday, someplace that is cozy and welcoming (even to a solo diner), takes pride in its food, and offers a diverse selection of wines that allow people to try something different without laying out too much cash. Last year, Proof earned four Offset Spatulas from me, and this year it effortlessly retains that rating. You can bet that next time I'm in the area, I'll be back.

Proof
775 G Street NW
202-737-7663

D.C. proves itself with Proof

Sunday evening was our last night in D.C. (as well as being my birthday eve), so the time was ripe for celebrating. We headed across the city to one of the few places in D.C. that I knew about in advance (and one of the very few that were in our price range): Proof.

It was a Sunday night, so we were able to get a table no problem. We were led into the cool, hip-ly decorated restaurant to an enormous cushy booth, all to ourselves. The vibe was simultaneously upbeat and chill, with loud but not overbearing music and cool touches like boudoir-themed bathrooms with black toilets. Nice.

Anyway, back to the food and drink. I started with a glass of sparkling "Punkt" gruner veltliner, an interesting selection I'd never had before. It was crisp and tasty, served in a beautiful glass, and a great start to the meal. AV chose a Fruli strawberry Belgian white beer, which our server described as with a "touch of strawberry" but was positively bursting with the fruit. It was so strawberry-packed even I liked it. We also sipped water from their cool, tulip-shaped glasses. Very nice all around.

The magic flute

Bursting with berries

Such a graceful vessel

While other tables around us started out with yummy-looking flatbread, our table was still sadly breadless as our first dish arrived. We had decided to start with the olives, which was an extremely generous portion of the little bites. This was a good selection, refreshingly un-oily, and a perfect way to begin the meal.

Like little pebbles

For the rest of our meal, we had ordered a selection of apps. AV went with the "spicy little meatballs" with goat cheese agnolotti and tomato fondue. These were heartily approved, although they would have been better with bread.

Speecy-spicy meatball

My main selection was a "Roasted baby beets and kaleidoscope carrots with aged goat cheese" salad. This was quite a creative salad, offering an interesting twist on the traditional beets-and-goat cheese pairing. The beets were tender and sweet, artfully offset by the funky aged goat cheese (although I tend to prefer fresh goat cheese, but that's just me). The carrots were the long and thin mini kind, which I love. And the bed of well-dressed arugula was studded with crushed hazelnuts. A rich and very delicious salad.

Beautifully packed with flavors

Finally, we split the salad of local asparagus and sunflower shoots. This salad, draped with a covering of parmesan, was also creative, with halved peeled asparagus spears in a bed of tasty greens. I liked it, although AV pointed out he prefers his asparagus warm. Good to know.

Lots of artful draping

About halfway through our final salad, we realized the bread was not forthcoming, so we flagged down our waiter and asked him for some, in addition to placing an order for a second glass of wine for me (a two-ounce taste of Greco di Tufo, an interesting white he had recommended. Extra kudos to Proof for offering all wines by the glass in three different sizes, which lets you try lots of different kinds). While the glass of wine did arrive, no bread did. So finally we flagged down a different waiter, who finally brought over a container of salt-sprinkled thick flatbread with an accompanying dish of greek yogurt for dipping. While it was tasty, especially with the oil-drizzled yogurt, it wasn't really worth the wait. We both would have preferred "real" (i.e., non-flat) bread, which I think would have gone better with the wine and food selections Proof offered.

Like sails blowing in the wind

We debated their dessert menu, particularly an enticing sticky toffee pudding, but we were both a bit too full for a full-fledged dessert, so we paid the check and skipped out to the nearby outpost of Gifford's for an ice cream extravaganza. Mmmm. But bread issues aside, we were both very happy with Proof-- the food was both thoughtful and well-executed, creative without straying from comfortable flavors. And our waiter was reassuringly knowledgeable about wine, something I really like seeing from staff at wine-centric establishments. If I lived in D.C., I know Proof could well be one of my favorite places. It's an easy-going, friendly and comfortable four-Offset Spatula destination.

Proof
775 G Street
202-737-7663

Life with Food and Drink goes to Washington! And eats cupcakes. Obvi.

This past weekend, AV took me to Washington, D.C., for a four-day celebratory weekend. On Friday night, we had a lovely barbecue at the home of one of AV's friends; Saturday, we woke up and explored the city, ultimately bumping into the 4th of July parade, which was watched for an hour or so. A helpful hint for all my readers with an even slightly cynical bent: No one human creation provides more opportunities for observing/commenting/making fun of all aspects of humanity than a parade. We had fun.

That afternoon, we ventured into Georgetown with two of AV's friends, JK and LM (our intrepid tour guides for the weekend), to see the swanky sights. And by "swanky sights" I mean cupcakes. Being as I am in the cupcake biz, part of my obligation as a good citizen is to check out the rival offerings anywhere I go, so I had two destinations in mind: Baked and Wired and Georgetown Cupcakes, both located on side streets off the main Georgetown drag.

First up: Baked and Wired. The shop is a combo coffee shop/bake shop, and it has a pretty cool/hip vibe with just a touch of attitude. The layout of the goodies was slightly reminiscent of Billy's, without the cupcake case, and I made my selection from the treats displayed on diferent kinds of cake tiers on the counter. I chose a carrot cupcake and a chocolate-vanilla cupcake ($3.50 each!!), which were packed in a cute little two-cupcake box. We had designs to eat them after dinner while watching fireworks on the Mall, so after we rested in the seating area of the cafe for a bit, I went back up to the counter to grab a bag. Unfortunately, nobody was there-- literally, there were no workers even within eyeshot of me. I stood and waited for a minute or so, all by my lonesome, and then I just walked behind the counter and grabbed a bag for our cupcake box. I suppose it's all in keeping with the "relaxed" vibe of Baked and Wired, no?

In line at B&W

The goods, packed snugly

With our box and bag in tow, we made our way to Georgetown Cupcakes. Georgetown Cupcakes seems to be D.C.'s Magnolia, right down to the line out the door. Sigh. It turns out, though, that the line is more to do with the fact that only about 4 people fit inside the shop at any given time than with overwhelming demand; after about 5 minutes of waiting, we were up. The cupcakes are all arranged behind a glass counter, and it seems as though those ones are for display while the workers pack your selection in the back. It seemed like a good system, since they kept the line moving. I went with a chocolate-vanilla, a red velvet, and a mocha (for JK and LM); the three traditional size (read: smallish) cupcakes were packed in a cool pink box. We were off.

The line outside...Sigh

The counter with cupcakes for show

Sweet pink box

Three little gems

Later that night, after a delicious Asian-fusion dinner at Mie n Yu, we found ourselves on blankets on the Mall, awaiting the fireworks. A cupcake fest ensued. I cut each cupcake into fourths so each of us could try them all. First up: the Georgetown Cupcakes offerings. Both were ahh-kay, if that makes sense; the cake was pretty standard on both, with the RV a little spongey and the chocolate large-crumbed but richly chocolatey. It was the frosting that prevented these from becoming stellar cupcakes-- it was light and whipped and too insubstantial for my taste, almost with the texture of cream cheese frosting without enough powdered sugar. These were certainly good renditions of what they were, but I definitely prefer my frosting richer and thicker.

Georgetown RV

Georgetown chocolate-vanilla. Festive.

And that's just what Baked and Wired provided. These cupcakes were housed in the same type of cool cupcake paper as Sweet Revenge in NYC, just a parchment square that unfolds as you eat the cake inside. These tiny cakes were large, as well, just on the reasonable side of Crumbs-sized-- certainly a substantial treat. First, I tried the carrot: A rich cake packed with walnuts, tasty though not as moist as Billy's, with a good solid cream-cheese frosting (and a good amount of it, too). Then the chocolate-vanilla: Very moist chocolate cake, rich and delicious buttercream, a real winner. The B&W chocolate-vanilla was my favorite of the bunch; it reminded me a bit of Amy's Bread chocolate cupcakes and was eminently craveable. Next time I go back to D.C., I'll go back to B&W-- though their cupcakes are expensive, they're good stuff.

B&W Carrot

B&W chocolate-vanilla

Stomachs packed full of sugar and fat, we collapsed on the blankets and played cards until we were treated to a delightful fireworks show that lit up the Washington Monument. Happy birthday, America!