Destinations

Where to shop for good food

People playing cricket along the Potomac, a weekend tradition. Photo copyright Matthew J. Paschke.

On Capitol Hill, you'll find the excellent shopping area of Eastern Market. This is the place to get fresh produce, meats and seafoods daily - not to mention excellent crafts, arts and bargains at the weekend flea market. The best bargain sandwich is the Grilled Tuna Steak sandwich at the Eastern Market lunch counter. It's a whole chunk of grilled tuna on a fresh roll with lettuce, tomato, and just a little garlic-butter sauce.

My favorite wine shop is a little wine store in Vienna, VA called the Vienna Wine Shop at 223 Maple Ave. The owners are two brothers who know their wines, stock hard-to-find labels, and yet are not wine snobs at all. They are happy to identify (and stock) bargain wines. This is a very excellent place to get some good stuff.

One of the places I truly miss in DC is the amazing service and products of Byerly's and Lund's grocery stores in Minneapolis, Minnesota. But a close second is Trader Joe's, a national grocery store chain with several branches in the DC area.

Great Places to Eat

Restaurants that have been tested and approved by spectacularly picky diners:

• Montmartre, Capitol Hill, a very good French bistro
• Café Berlin, Capitol Hill, tasty German food
• Guajillo, Arlington, a great little Mexican restaurant ~ order the chef's specials
• The Black Olive in Baltimore ~ awesome seafood
• Crystal Thai, Arlington, a nice Thai food restaurant
• Flavors Soul Food in Falls Church. Awesome Southern cooking.
• TenPenh uses Asian flavors to unique recipes. Excellent food, decor and service.