Ledbury, CNU, Trible (P-Trib), and a N’awlins playlist for Fat Tuesday
I got an email today, which proved to constitute some excellent marketing. Ledbury is a clothing company headed up by Paul Trible. I have shirt made by them, which I very much like. Its a Virginia based company, and the shirt I have is the Goshen, which I like to believe is named after the Scout Camp here in VA. Paul is the son of another Paul Trible, the president of CNU, my alma mater. I concur that Ledbury’s button stance is superior to Brooks Brothers, but most of the shirts in my closet are still Brooks Bros. Thats primarily because the majority were purchased before Ledbury was around, but also because I like a button down collar, which is too rarely offered by Ledbury. I know sartorialists will deride my predilection for the button down, but it just looks the best without a tie. I only really wear a tie at events or important meetings, so most days I’m in a button down. I digress. Ledbury sent out an email with a great Mardi Gras playlist, so I thought I’d share it. Its so good, it got me to post this, and think about their shirts. Well played Ledbury.
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More catchup, another snow day
Helped a friend move in DC. My back didn’t give out, so rowing season is looking more and more promising…
Then it snowed again. I never thought I’d get tired of snow, especially living in the South, but we’ve had a lot this year.
We made the most of it though. Got some spices and hot cocoa mix at penzeys, and went to our favorite snow day spot, Ireland’s 4ps.
As you can see, not a lot of foot traffic while we ate. Not sure why, but the city was empty. After we dug out the vehicles, we stopped by giant for some fat tuesday supplies. Not many people at the giant either. Notice the king cake box.
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Caribbean Plate
We got some takeout the other day, and decided to try a fairly new option in FCC. Caribbean Plate has some mixed reviews online, but I’m a huge Jamaican food fan, and wanted to give it a try. I’ve been to Scotchies in Jamaica, and grilled my own jerk over pimento wood at home. The Jamaican meat pie was pretty good. Not amazing, but well spiced, and came with a very good and flavorful hot sauce. The jerk chicken caesar was terrible. It was an average caesar at best, and the chicken was not jerk seasoned at all. This is definitely not what I was expecting. I’d probably go back, but not for the jerk.
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Panjshir Falls Church
I’ve been to Panjshir several times. Each time I’ve been in there, I’ve always wondered about people getting Korean food during the Korean War, German, Italian, or Japanese during WWII, Vietnamese during Vietnam, etc. I’m sure plenty of people ate Italian during WWII, but you’d think there would be at least some stigma around it. In any event, I digress as we’re drawing down in Afghanistan, and I’d like to talk about the food.
The wife and I headed out, thinking we’d get some Crisp and Juicy, only to find out that the building was empty. I assume they’re moving, or have closed, but haven’t been able to find out definitively online. Another FCC resident pull in the parking lot and was typing in her phone with the desperation of a crack addict trying to figure out why there was no pollo a la brasa to be had. Since we were nearby, we went to Panjshir. While not our first choice that evening, Panjshir has never disappointed. Its very good, and also a great value. I ordered a mixed kebab, and my wife got the Kadu Palow. The Kadu Palow is very interesting to me. Its got pumpkin, yogurt, and lamb, which is an unusual (to me), but amazing combination. Its a must try. The kebab, while much less adventurous, is also very good.
I rounded out the meal with a Johnny Walker black, and left feeling full and quite satisfied. If you’ve not been, definitely go.
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The Deli at Nourish Market
We used to go to Kennedy’s natural foods all the time for a sandwich. When they changed ownership, I’m not sure why, but it fell off our radar. I remembered it for some reason the other day, and we got some takeout. Its now called Nourish Market.
Let me first say that I don’t know much about health food. I eat fried food, southern food, mcdonalds, etc. So while sprouted multigrain bread does sound better than normal bread, I’m not sure by how much or even why.
I used to be a big fan of their tuna salad sandwich, so I got that. The wife got a black bean burger (vegetarian). Neither of us are even slightly vegetarian, but we are open to good food. Both sandwiches were very good. I’d get both again. They taste great, and I like to think I’m eating at least slightly healthier and more responsibly/locally than usual.
Now for the fun part. I saw on their website that they have local kombucha on tap, and more options than anywhere around. I’d never had kombucha, but there is not much I’ve not heard of, given the strange predilections of my health conscious friends that are into things like paleo, perching, barefoot running, and other things I’m sure I’ve incorrectly identified and will hear about later. Back to the kombucha. We got an original, and a fruit flavored one. The original was as described on wikipedia: slightly effervescent tea, with a mild vinegar flavor. The fruit one tasted like pure carbonated vinegar. I kept an open mind, and drank a whole one, but I’m not sure I would again. Lets just say it was an experience.
If you like health food, or just want a really good sandwich, check out Nourish Market.
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House of Cards’ Frank Underwood can do 500 meters in 1:39 on his water rowing machine (erg)
I finished House of Cards season 2 a while back. I’ve been meaning to post about Frank Underwood’s 500 meter time. In the show, he says he can knock out 500m in 1:39. Its been a good while since my competitive rowing days, and even then I was a coxswain. I was skeptical about Frank’s time and even more so about my ability to even come close to 1:39. I gave it a try the other day, and barely came in at 2 minutes even. I realized later I didn’t have the resistance all the way up on the machine, but I don’t even know if that matters. What I do know, is that I have my doubts about a middle aged politician rowing such an impressive time…
Be sure to Click Here to see my post about rowing in DC, heavy with pictures!
***Update: I’ve tried the FU Erg Challenge a few more times since my first post, mostly as a workout warm up. Even with the resistance at 10, my best time is still about 1:58. However, Frank and I have different rowing machines. See my other HOC posts (linked above and below) for details and links about the specifics.
******Update II: Since season three came out, I’ve had a lot of renewed interest in this post. Friend of the blog, David, did a little investigating, and had this to say:
Rented Water rower after watching House of Cards. There is no way that Frank Underwood did 500 meters in 1:39. The Water rower has a computerized meter and at 30 strokes a minute it measures about 3:50 for 500 meters. The only way he did that in 1:39 is that there was NO resistance and they put the sound of the water in afterwords. The more resistance the harder it would be to pull and the more time it would take. I rowed with the video and all he did was 30 strokes a minute. Frank Underwood is a compulsive liar so it is plausible he lied to Clair about his skills. 1:39 NO WAY!!!
In researching Frank’s assertion of his prowess , I Googled the world record for 500 meters on a rowing machine and found it to be around 1:29. I watched a video of said record done by a weight lifter with legs and arms like trees, so we can assume we have been Underwooded!!!!!
When I’m not rowing indoors, I like to be out on the Potomac (Maybe in season 3 Frank will take up the sport for real). To find out about where I row in DC, and more about FU/rowing, Click Here.
Read my post to learn how to smoke bbq like Freddy here.
I also have another HOC S2 post about the Civil War episode, Here.
If you’d just like to see more about this southern gentleman inside the beltway, click the title of my blog to see my most current posts. Thanks for checking out the blog, and feel free to follow me on twitter @bonvivantva
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Chick-fil-a on a Sunday (Homemade DIY Chick-fil-a)
Any Southerner can tell you that the biggest problem with Sunday is that Chick-fil-a is closed. Why does that matter? Well, for one, we all want what we can’t have. Another issue is that if one indulges on a Saturday night, there is no warm delicious chick-fil-a waiting for them Sunday morning(ish). In college, my Sundays usually involved waking or being waked up by my roomate, to roll over to McDonalds for nuggets or a big mac, and orange drank. Every once in a while, my girlfriend would get us Chick-fil-a on Saturday, and warm it up Sunday (part of the reason she is now my wife). After a night of partying, there is nothing better than a king of the hill marathon, and Chick-fil-a. I saw an article the other day about making your own Chick-fil-a. The wife and I did some googling, and got down to business.
The results were awesome. The sandwich and waffle fries were very close. The Chick-fil-a sauce was spot on. The polynesian sauce was close, but definitely the weak point. Its easy to find copies of the recipe online, and they’re all basically the same.
Some Virginia trivia before I end the post: Chick-fil-a sauce was created at a franchise in Fredericksburg VA.
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Firing up a new pipe
My uncle gave me some pipe tobacco the last time I went for a visit. I have an old Peterson, and a few corncobs, but I’m not really much of a pipe smoker. I’ve always wanted a churchill, so I did a little research and went with a well known, highly recommended brand. Netflix has a documentary called, Everything or Nothing, about James Bond. While Bond was not a pipe smoker himself, I channeled my inner M, and lit up a quarter bowl to break her in. It was a nice way to spend about an hour, and my office smells amazing. Pipe smoking is something of a lost art. Perhaps its time to look into it.
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Rose Gold Everything
I started this post for VDay week, but never finished it. Way back in 2009/10, I decided to go pick out an engagement ring. Since jewelry/jewelry stores were not my forte, I asked my dad and family for help. My dad took me to his guy in DC. He asked me some questions about myself and my potential fiance, and then showed me some options. I like to think of myself as a fairly traditional guy, but I ended up with a fairly modern looking solitaire in platinum. I can’t find an image that looks like what I got, but to get an idea of how modern it is, here is the jeweler, and the collection. Rose gold is not for everybody, and I think my wife’s platinum rings are perfect for her. When it came time to get my ring, I had a decision to make. I knew I wanted something subtle and traditional, but gold or silver tone? My dad has gold, as most men of his generation do. Every single one of my married friends opted for silver tone, be it platinum, silver, white gold, tungsten, or titanium. My jeweler, seeing that I wasn’t completely sold on yellow gold or silver tone, brought me something I’d never heard of before: rose gold. I loved it, and still do. The addition of copper makes a unique color that stands out in a subtle way, and looks great (as long as you keep at least a base tan, assuming you’re caucasian). I couldn’t be happier with my choice, and have since, gotten a few rose gold accessories:
The three watches pictures above are not automatic, and fairly inexpensive. They are not solid rose gold, but have held up very well. If you’re young, on a budget, or not that into watches, these make very good choices. All are Invicta brand. The silver watch on the upper left of the winder is automatic, and also Invicta. They make very good watches at a great value. The silver one, while not rose gold, approximates a bond watch I’ve always been a fan of:
Much more about the bond watch and strap here:
I’m sold on rose gold. The only drawback I’ve experienced is that I’ve not found a set of tuxedo studs in rose gold.
If you have the means and inclination, here are some more rose gold options:
If yellow gold is more your style, enjoy the following (probably NSFW, language) videos:
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Make your own ginger cocktail bar, blenheim ginger ale, Rush
My dad needed to borrow my truck, so I went over to my parents place to exchange cars and have some dinner. I brought the movie All is Lost, and thought we might have some rum drinks, and enjoy the movie. I juiced some limes, put out some ginger syrup and ginger ale. I bought the red (magenta) and gold capped blenheim ginger ale locally at red white and bleu. The red cap version is pretty spicy. I think it really makes a cocktail if you’re really into the flavor of ginger. Its not subtle, but you don’t always want subtle ingredients. For my drink, I poured about 2 oz or so of mount gay eclipse over rocks, added some lime juice, topped with blenheim red, mixed it, and then poured some el dorado 15 over a lime slice to top it.
The topper looked best with the black seal rum, but tasted best with the el dorado. The ladies mixed the topper in, so looks probably mattered more in their case.
The blenheim red is just spectacular. Very spicy bite on the end, great ginger flavor. I highly recommend you check it out. A friend of mine recommended it to me at the cheese shoppe in Williamsburg, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
I still had chicken and waffles on the brain, and in the freezer, so I put threw a quick dinner together on short notice. Nobody was feeling my movie pick, so we ordered Rush on demand. I thought it was very well done. If you’re a race fan, check it out.
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