mmmm food

i have eaten out so much in the last week or so it's a surprise i'm not completely broke and one hundred pounds heavier. and the first few weeks of the new year show no sign of slowing down. here are some of the highlights of where i've been lately:

lost dog cafe.
home to some of the best sandwiches in the dc area. and the biggest shocker? i ordered the republican! but honestly check out #16 and tell me that's not the most delicious sounding sandwich ever.

artie's.
in what's quickly becoming a brown family tradition we saw the kite runner and then hit up artie's for some ozzie rolls and entirely too much food.

duck chang's.
what's christmas day without a movie and chinese? this year it was juno (so good!) and then chinese food in annandale. and we specifically went to one of the most famous duck houses and of course the party in front of us got the last duck of the nice. and i bet they weren't even jewish.

portabello's.
this one came highly recommended and it surely didn't disappoint. it's a neighborhood place tucked away in the corner of a cherrydale strip mall, but it's a hidden gem for sure.

baked & wired.
i managed to go to the newly expanded georgetown bakery two times over the holiday break. you should make it your new years resolution (if you do that sort of thing) to get to b&w and try one of their strawberry cupcakes. they are possibly the best baked good i have ever eaten.

cafe pizziaolo.
in the off chance that you ever find yourself in crystal city you should definitely try this place. it's at the bottom of 23rd street and it's a genuine family run pizza place. oh, and they have board games to play while you wait for your pizzas to bake.

tabard inn.
for hannukah this year my sister and i took my parents out for a scrumptious brunch at the tabard inn and then we hit up the corcoran and strolled through the annie liebovitz and ansel adams exhibits. and it must be my year for giving gifts because it was another big hit.

hook.
a group of us went to this newish georgetown restaurant for dinner. the night was a pleasure! the ambiance was great, we got a seat right by the kitchen, the food was delicious and our waiter was a (arguably) hotter version of adrian grenier.

oyamel.
obviously any place that decorates with piñatas is fine by me, but seriously this place has great food. it one of josé andrés' restaurants and it's known for it's mexican small plates (and it's margaritas of course). oooh, and we tried the famous grasshopper tacos. and yes, they were crunchy.

chutzpah.
after driving down 123 and not seeing a single open food establishment, my first meal of 2008 was at chutzpah. not that it's a bad thing - the omelet, bagel and homefries (and coffee!) i dominated were pretty delicious.