Inn at Little Washington: New Event Space

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One day, I swear, I will dine at The Inn at Little Washington. Chef Patrick O'Connell has received some of the greatest accolades in the culinary industry and I would love to stay overnite and revel in Chef O'Connell's mastery.

But alas, I don't have an amazing anniversary to celebrate (yet!), but one day we will have saved up to celebrate a special occasion there (according to this Washington Biz Journal article, it landed on Forbes's list of most expensive restaurants - sorry I can't find Forbes's original list.)

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However, for those who are searching for the most romantic and delicious meal in our area, do consider The Inn at Little Washington. Or, better yet, reserve their new Ballroom for the "Meeting of the Families." After a special meal there, they'll be jumping at the next opportunity to hang out with their new kin. The new space can seat 36 for dinner or 30 for a boardroom meeting. (Thanks to BizBash Washington for the tip!)

Enjoy!

Top Chef Premier at Good Stuff Eatery

This post is long overdue, but as many of you know, I'm still trying to play catch-up on my posts. Now, if you haven't realized by now from all my posts on food, I'm a little infatuated with anything culinary and the epicurean lifestyle. (I'm only getting started on register for all the kitchen tools I will actually be using and have expressed a need for in the last 2 years.)

Naturally, I am a major fan of Bravo's Top Chef. You can imagine, therefore, my excitement when Chef Spike Mendohlson opened Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill this summer - so excited, that I went there twice after its opening week: First, my new co-workers drove me there all the way from Ballston to try out the place and check out the space. Second, I met my former co-workers there after a reception on the Hill. It was wonderful and I won't even tell you about how giddy I became when I spoke to Chef Spike as he expedited the orders while I waited in line. He's very charming. Let's leave it at that.

So, of course I watched the premier of Season 5 of Top Chef in style last Wednesday at Good Stuff Eatery! Spike invited me via email (and the rest of his restaurant's subscribers) as he was on Twitter for the show. Lauren and I arrived super early to fend off the non-existent lines (I mean, it was packed. I wouldn't recommend going ;). We sampled Ryan's Milky Way milkshake (divine). Then we shared the famed Toasted Marshmallow milkshake.

This little beauty was, seriously, a girl scout campfire in your mouth-minus the fire and the mosquitos. Somehow, you could taste the toasted outside of the marshmallow in the milky ice cream concoction - almost like you were slurping off the outside of the marshmallow and it turned liquid in your mouth. Heaven. Milky, marshallowy, heaven.

At 11 PM, Chef Spike offered beer on the house to all of us watching the show (they normally close at 11 M-F), but the premier went until 11:15 PM - super special. It was aroud this time that I summoned up the courage to ask him to sign my Top Chef cookbook that Lauren gave me for my birthday.

And, like the gracious host he is, he greeted all of his guests at the door. I will definitely be back for future showings - but I definitely recommend that you check out his place if you haven't. I'm not sure if the restaurant caters yet, but this would be a great little site to show your visiting friends and family that is unique to D.C.

Engagement Photo Follow-up

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It was awesome. After much deliberation on the outfits (I went through 3 different tops, 3 different pairs of jeans, 2 different skirts, one dress, one dress, and a partridge and a pear tree). Think of all the permutations of outfits that produced. Thank you to all my friends for their advice and insight - and thank you to Gridlet - my beloved maid of honor - for her constant attention, support, and patience. . . all the way from London.

The weather: gorgeous. Fiance: A.MA.ZING. Seriously. He was so patient and such a good sport about everything. Rob told him to look at him, he looked and smiled. Rob told him to stand over there, he trotted and waited. Rob told him to pick me up, he heaved. Of course, I think he hid behind me during many of the pictures, using his affection for me as a convenient excuse to press his head against my ear, but I didn't mind.

Tips and takeaways for couples about to take their engagement pictures:

Do have an idea of what kind of mood and shots you want to take - close up, far away, walking away, silhouettes, portrait facing the camera vs. artsy.

Do dress up a little - it just makes it special. Rob told us "Dress like you're going on a second date with each other."

Do wear something that complements your skin tones and eyes. I was very hesitant to wear black because I'd been told that black doesn't always photograph well, but Rob said that because it was a great contrast to Mr. Sweetpea's white button-up shirt. Both of our hair is also very dark brown / black and, as Rob said, he was "able to get the light to shine through" and highlight our hair and frame us in an awesome way.

Do talk to each other while the photographer is shooting. We were able to ignore everyone and just be ourselves in our own little world. It was really neat, actually, because all these tourists were mingling and strolling around, and we were just us. In fact, Rob told us that during one of our sessions, this little old man could not stop taking pictures of us because he thought we were famous!

Do research your venue! We were stopped by the little ranger at least 2 times to make sure we were in the allowed areas and that we had our park permit. Seriously, it was annoying because we were just like everyone else with their cameras -- only we had a flash diffuser (whatever that silver disc was), a mini-ladder, and 2 bags of camera equipment.

Don't be inflexible. It got a little cold in the last hour, so I just threw on my jacket, ran around in between shots, and forgot about the rest. Just go with it.

Don't be late. We ran in to a bit of traffic on the way to the Memorial - typical DC. But we were ahead of schedule a little bit, so that still gave us plenty of sun light.

Don't ignore your photographer. Get to know him/her (especially if they're doing your wedding). This is a practice session, so find out who they are and develop your relationship with them. We found out Rob went to school in Ithaca - oh so close to Colgate!

Venue Report: Newseum

I was lucky enough to attend not 1 but 2 receptions at the Newseum last week with my wonderful friend and former boss. The food, catered by Wolfgang Puck's The Source was delicious - despite it being "catered" but of course! It's Wolfgang Puck! In addition to the wonderful tastes we sampled, we were privy to the spectacular view from a balcony reception room.


The {breathtaking} capitol building at night:
The balcony - imagine how pretty she'd clean up with some flowers, candles, and linens:
The adorably delicious dessert lollipops (stuck in sugar, not sand):

I'm not the first (and I'm sure I won't be the last) person to blog about the Newseum as a possible reception space, but that view is definitely hard to beat! Reporters, journalists, newshounds, take note! Good food and good views.