Those who know me well know I love a dinner party. I truly enjoy having a table full of strangers exchanging stories and experiences. Last Saturday, my friend K and I had the opportunity to attend a Saturday Supper at
Art and Soul Restaurant. For starters, Art and Soul is one of my favorite restaurants in DC. It has a special place in my heart as it was the place the Dutchman and I dined the night we got engaged. It also has a special place in my heart due to the amazing can baked cornbread served.
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| Hush Puppies |
We sat on a long table at the patio of the restaurant as we prepared to share our meal. The patio lights give it a whimsical feel, in the distance you can see the Rotunda of the US Capitol Building. As the smoke of the BBQ infused the warm air, we got to know our neighbors at the table: a family from Northern Virginia, a lively DC couple, a real estate developer, and a USAID veteran. We enjoyed the diversity of age, race, and professions. We sampled the first course of pork rinds, deviled eggs with crispy ham and ground mustard, and hush puppies as we traded stories of food and travel. My neighbor to the left, a very clever 5 year old was a champ at wolfing down the pork rinds. I have to say, I love a kid with a broad palate.
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| Ribs on the outdoor grill |
We moved on to the next course: the long awaited BBQ. We had been enchanted by the smell upon arrival fueling to the anticipation. We were served brisket, pork ribs, chopped pork shoulder, and smoked jalapeno sausage. Although everything was delicious, my favorite was the pork shoulder (it must be the Puerto Rican in me). Every slice of meat was cooked and seasoned to perfection. We struggled to find room in our stomachs for the sides of skillet cornbread with sorghum butter, collard greens & bacon, baked beans, potato & egg salad, and benne seed parker house rolls. I sampled all of the sides, however there are two items which still linger on my mind: the cornbread and the butter. The taste of the sorghum butter on a warm piece of cornbread off the cast iron skillet still linger on my mind.
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Sauteed Greens with Bacon
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At the time of the final course, I was rubbing my belly and figuring out how I was going to work this off the following day. We found a tiny sliver of space for dessert. We had two desserts: lemon chess tart with blueberry compote and fried cherry pies with a side of pistachio ice cream. My belly begged me to choose only one: I decided for the lemon chess tart. It had a great balance of tart lemon with the sweet compote. K loved the cherry pies but we were both so full that we could only limit ourselves to one choice.
Overall, we had an lovely experience at the Saturday Supper. As a traveler, I love this concept since at times I travel alone. At the dinner, we met an Australian man who was traveling from Tanzania. He was traveling alone and found out about the dinner via the
Liaison Hotel, where the restaurant is located. I hope that other restaurants introduce such concept, think it's a wonderful way to bring people together. We can't wait to see the menu for the next Saturday Supper!
CONVERSATION