The Dining Traveler Blog: Travel and Food Inspiration

Some of my most cherished memories in Brussels are from dinner parties. I love hosting dinner parties at home or going to a friends' home and enjoying great food, wine, and conversation. Given I have only been here less than three months, I am still working on building a social circle. In Brussels, everyone lives at close proximity. Here, at the National Capital Region, it is common to commute 70 miles to work which makes it difficult to connect with friends or colleagues after work hours. If I commuted 140 miles roundtrip in Brussels, it would more than likely place me in a foreign place, such as Rotterdam, The Netherlands or Aachen, Germany. However, I have been fortunate enough to reconnect with old friends and making new friends in DC proper.


Toasting to a New Life Life... and Friends

On Friday, I hosted a dinner party in honor of Carlis, my new neighbor and fellow blogger of SpicyCandyDC. I had to feed a table of 9 and wanted to create a menu both creative and simple to make due to the large group and short preparation time. My Dutchman is a very good cook and told me of a delicious stuffed shells recipe he learned to make during his time in Italy. I decided it would be perfect main course. I wanted to add European elements to the menu while making it accessible to my guests. I decided to start with mussels, as a homage to Brussels with white wine and cream sauce. It always warms my heart when people drink the whole broth after finishing the mussels. The ricotta and basil stuffed shells followed with a spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, fresh sweet peppers, and pomegranate. Instead of a dressing, I just squeezed a lemon and added a few tablespoons of my recent Austrian discovery, pumpkin seed oil. To conclude, I made a chocolate mousse with Cote D'Or Belgian chocolate which a friend brought to me from the Kingdom and thankfully just discovered it is sold on Amazon. I topped the mousse with fresh raspberries.

These Ladies Can Drink!

There are many beauties of a dinner party. It all begins with the preparation. While making sauce for the shells the evening before, I begin to envision the following evening, hoping my new guests enjoy the menu. The evening of the dinner, Carlis, Kat, and Grace arrived early to help. We collectively chopped, tasted, and cooked, making it a party with stories and music even before the rest of the guests arrived. Finally, we serve the meal. Sitting in a warm home, trading stories, drinking as much wine as we want (10 bottles to be exact), and feeling the positive energy of talented and diverse women secured the fact there will be more evenings like this to come. I do enjoy from time to time a dinner at a fabulous restaurant but nothing beats a lovely dinner at home. All photos courtesy of SpicyCandyDC.

A Touch of Brussels in DC

I have to admit all moving parts of getting settled into a new place have disrupted my writing routine. I actually feel guilty of not being so diligent about my new adventures. What has been going on so far? With Hans being on a ship somewhere in the Atlantic, I have been acquainted with the DC Metro. My daily commute is pretty painless, straight on the Yellow Line. I even enjoy reading the Washington Post Express I get for free at the steps of the metro entrance. The guy is unusually perky for doing this at 7am. Again, people are not perky (or optimistic for that matter) in the Kingdom.
I'm starting to become more acquainted with the neighborhood, trying the some of the local eateries such as Bacio and Big Bear Cafe. I've been to Bacio twice so far. It's no Mama Roma, but the prices are reasonable, good menu, and great service. I can see myself using my once a week pizza quota there, especially the LeDroit Park pizza. I was excited to show Anna, my first visitor from Brussels, my neighborhood. We went to Big Bear for a late breakfast and the place was completely packed on a sunny Saturday morning. The bagel sandwiches (how I missed thee) are delish and so is the coffee. We are still surprised on how we got a table as it was so crowded, but it gave me a snapshot of my new neighborhood (and inhabitants). It got me even more excited to live in this neighborhood although I miss Ixelles terribly.
I have to say my dining highlight so far has not been in my neighborhood, but close enough: Mio Restaurant. Living in Brussels, I sometimes felt as the only Puertorican in the village until I discovered my compatriots who lived in Holland. The closest thing I came to Puertorican food was the fried plantains I used to get from the Congolese food stand at Place du Chatelain. I was excited to hear there was a real Puertorican restaurant and even more so when I heard one of my favorite childhood TV chefs, Giovanna Huyke is the executive chef of the restaurant Mio. I have been here for less than a month, but been there twice. I cannot resist the delicious menu of fried snapper, plantains, pastelon, and my favorite, lechon (roasted pork). I was completely starstruck when Giovanna came to our table to say hello!

With Giovanna Huyke at Mio

It has been a strange transition being back. I had been accustomed to long sejours in the US but on the back of my mind, always knew I was returning to Brussels. After a few weeks it has sunk in: I live here. It was even more apparent when I got the keys to my house and spent enough at Crate and Barrel to have to pack my lunch for the next few months and deny my nieces and nephews Christmas gifts (I'm kidding about the latter). Now I look forward to decorate my new home, invite guests over, and see where this new life takes me.

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