Cupcake Wars

So i recently went on the hunt for cupcakes for a birthday party. I work in Baltimore and have had a cupcake from Charm City Cupcakes before, so i chose to order from them. I filled out an online ordering form which said i would be contacted to complete my order. Needless to say, I was never contacted and Since I have a problem with calling places, I kind of forgot about it and never called the place to confirm my order. A friend at work recommended I try Georgetown Cupcakes which she likes much better then Charm City Cupcakes.

So i went on their website and instantly fell in love. I was able to see the entire menu online and what each cupcake had in it and on top of it, as well as a nice picture. Georgetown cupcakes offers the regular everyday flavors including red velvet, vanilla and chocolate as well as special flavors for each month like this months Cherry Cheesecake and ginger peach AND special daily flavors like my favorite PB fudge. So i ordered a personalized 18 cupcakes online and i had the option to pay online or pay in the store and I got a reciept to print out right away. I chose to pick up from the Bethesda location but they of course have a location in Georgetown D.C. as well.

One of the perks of ordering ahead is that when you get to the store you get to skip the line. This was a sunday morning, 11am the line was out the door and down the sidewalk. I went right up to the counter, paid and got evil stares from the people in the line..but oh well not my fault!

Now to the most important part...The cupcakes! How shall i describe them, hmmm.... moist, flavorful, not too sweet, but just enough, perfect small cupcake size not too large, the icing was the perfect compliment to the cupcakes. The icing was well flavored, fresh and light. My favorite, the PB fudge was a chocolate cupcake filled with a thick fudge and topped with peanut butter frosting. It was like a large, perfect, reese's cup, delicious! while i didn't get to eat all 18 cupcakes :( everyone at the birthday party raved about their cupcake flavor, and the 3 I did eat (red velvet, carrot, PB Fudge) were all delicious and worth the trip and the expense ($2.50 each, $15 for 6 and $29 for 12)

I will definately be going back to try some of the monthly and daily flavors in the future. These are also good for events such as birthdays and babyshowers.

This was my first time going to a gormet bakery specializing in cupcakes so the War begins, I will be trying some other spots in the future. But Georgetown gets 4 out of 5 for their sweet treats

2010 Summer Restaurant Week!!!!

Yay!!! its that time again..just wanted to let you all know that restaurant week(s) is upon us!!!

First up is Baltimore restaurant week. I work in Baltimore but have yet to try any good places to eat out here. Check out http://www.baltimorerestaurantweek.com/ for a list of participating spots. Baltimore's restaurant week runs August 13-22 with many places offering 3 course dinners for $35 and lunch for $20. An added bonus, discounted parking at many downtown garages! Some places that i would recommend, Lebanese Taverna, I sampled some of there food before at an event downtown and it is delicious greek/medeteranian food. Hummus, and great olives. Here is a list some friends of mine gave me of great places in Bmore that are participating:
-RA Sushi Bar -Brewer's Art
-Flemings Prime Steakhouse -Milan
-City Cafe -Salt Tavern
-Rusty Scupper (for sunday brunch)
-Saute

Next is D.C.'s Restaurant Week http://washington.org/restaurantwk/ August 16-22. Some places of interest on this list are Ceiba, Bombay Club (which i have reservations for, i'll let you know how they are) I've also heard good things about Chart House, Georgia Browns, La Tasca, the Melting Pot but have not yet dined there myself.

And you can never go wrong with Zaytinya, Poste Brasserie, Ruth's Chris, Mortons, McCormick and Schmicks and Art and Soul all places i've tried myself, and love :)

Finally, if you're still hungry Alexandria Restaurant week is August 20-29 http://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?m=9&pid=426 . Most VA places are included in the D.C. restaurant week list, so this list is pretty short. Delia's Mediterranean Grill has a nice review (scroll down) from Ria on restaurant rundown..check it out. La Tasca is also on this list, so you may be able to wait until this week to visit there instead of using up your time during D.C.'s week. Besides that you're on your own with this list, i haven't visited any of these places yet.

I'm so excited! wish i could visit every place on each list for the next three weeks..but i promise i won't. Good luck and let us know how the places turn out ;)

Teatro Goldoni

Spinach Cappellaci
Buffalo Mozzerella

Veal Chop
Roasted Salmon

"2009 Rammy Award for Favorite Restaurant and was named DC's Best Italian Restaurant by Washingtonian and Esquire Magazines." All these awards and top reviews, I thought this restaurant was a perfect place to take my husband for his birthday. While the ambiance, service and cleanliness are very important when going out to eat, lets face it the food is most important and their food disapointed me big time!

So this time my review will start with the food:

We started out with some fried calamari and buffalo mozzerella as an appetizer. The calamari was bland and needed the tarter sauce to add flavor, this would be the theme of the night...no flavor. The presentation of the food was excellent and beautiful. The calamari had fried red peppers and zuccini mixed in the basket which was fun and different, but the zuccini had more flavor then the calamari. On the plus side it did taste fresh and was not chewy like some calamari i have had. The mozzerella was something new for me, i'll admit but the texture and flavors of it were not pleasing to me. This was the one dish that had a little too much going on. The candied cherry tomatoes, balsamic gelatin and eggplant on top of the mozzerella overpowered the cheese and gave it an abrupt flavor. I ate one piece and did not want any more.

I chose to order the Spinach Cappellaci which was under the pasta section, (pictured above) it was 4 small pasta's filled with butternut squash which was sweet and very different. It was a nice soft fresh pasta dish but tasted more like a desert with the sweetness of the butternut squash inside. Next I had the roasted salmon which was topped with crabcake and laid on top of sauteed spinach. The spinach was crunchy and tasted slightly burnt. the salmon needed salt and pepper and the crab cake had pieces of shell in it. King of like when you buy the cheap grocery store brand of crab meat insted of the phillips crab meat to make crab cakes at home. So i was picking crab shells out of my mouth. My husbands veal chop looked gorgeous and huge. It also was bland and needed some seasoning and flavor. It also had alot of fat on it and was slightly tough and chewy.

After dinner i had a taste for something sweet to get the other flavors out of my mouth, but the desert menu consisted of fruit, gellato and nothing that looked worth my time.

My main complaint about Teatro Goldoni was the lack of flavor in the food, obviously but I was also unhappy that it was not an italian restaurant. Nothing about it made me think italian. There was techno music playing, there were african masks on the wall for decoration. I can see a spin on traditional itialian but this place was just confused. To be fair i will mention the service was excellent, prompt and friendly. they even took the mozzerella off our bill when i told them i hated it (not in those words:) and the prices were reasonable for the dishes they offered. The drinks were also delicious and strong...maybe you can visit the bar for happy hour 5-9pm mon-fri...we couldn't get happy hour prices sitting in the dining room (seriously).

So i think the best thing i learned from this experience is that its best to go off word of mouth to find a good place to eat (like restaurant rundown:) and not off top 100 list or places that have won awards or rankings from the Washingtonian!

2 out of 5 stars for this place..and I won't be going back no thank you