Recap: Taste of DC

We couldn’t have asked for better weather than last Monday for the District’s revival of Taste of DC. With temperatures peaking at the high 70s and not a cloud to be seen, more than 60 restaurants set up shop along Pennsylvania Avenue for the three-day festival.

Fortunately both and Rachel and I had Columbus Day off from work, so we were able to avoid the large crowds and not have to wait in any long lines.

We started the day off with Medium Rare’s filet sliders. Topped with their delicious secret sauce, it made for a satisfying first bite. It’s one of many restaurants that we still need to try.

Up next was a miniature lobster roll from Luke’s Lobster. This was our first encounter with the NYC import, and after biting into the roll, it was definitely not our last.

Nearby was Local 16, serving up their Neapolitan pizza made famous by pizzaiolo Edan MacQuaid. There was a lot of buzz regarding MacQuaid’s arrival to the restaurant earlier this summer, and after buying a slice of their cheese pizza, it definitely warrants the hype.

Our next dish was a beef patty from Patty Boom Boom. Our friend Kim ordered the veggie patty and we both agreed it was the better of the two as the beef was not as flavorful and somewhat dry.

Meanwhile, Co Co. Sala’s four-cheese bacon mac and cheese was one of the most savory dishes of the day. On the sweeter side, they also offered their famous Chocolate Onyx. Featuring dark chocolate mousse, vanilla crème brulee, salted caramel, crispy chocolate pearls, brownie, dark chocolate sorbet, and cinnamon toffee bon bon, decadent doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Moving onto Surfside, we cashed in four of our tickets for a fish taco from their food truck. Considering that the weather made it feel like you were on the West Coast, at least for a day in October, it was an apt choice.

Speaking of food trucks, our next destination was Sauca. A few of our friends ordered the butter chicken, but because I’ve been on a banh mi kick lately (I had a heavenly banh mi burger at Masa 14 the previous day), I went with that instead.

And of course, you can’t end any sort of food festival without consuming a giant cookie. Firehook Bakery’s Presidential Sweet oatmeal cookie fit the bill, containing chocolate chips, dried cherries, pecans, and coconut.

Overall, Taste of DC was a bonafide success. Redeeming our tickets from the will-call table was painless, purchasing additional tickets was effortless (and to think, credit card was the preferred method of payment), and the vendors had plenty of food with little to no waits (at least that was the case on Monday).

It’s amazing that the festival has been on hiatus since 2003, but given the plethora of vendors this weekend as well as the large crowds it attracted, let’s hope Taste of DC remains a mainstay for years to come.