Capital Cooking with Lauren DeSantis: Foodie and The Beast at Carmine's

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Foodie and The Beast at Carmine's

Carmine's hosted a fantastic recording of Foodie and the Beast this Sunday with a star-filled line up of guests. Hosted by David and Nycci Nellis, the show was lively and a excellent start to my Sunday. Viewers were able to sample Carmine's legendary fare, specialty beers, mimosas and fantastically spicy bloody marys. A star filled line up of chefs and brewmasters were in attendance including Mike Isabella and Spike Mendelsohn.

The show kicked off with the introduction of Georgetown Bagelry's Happiness Bagel, by owner Mary Beall Adler. The Happiness Bagel is a delightful mix of pumpernickle, sesame seeds and sea salt. I would love this as a sandwich or with a savory flavored cream cheese.

Greg Engert, Beer Director of Neighborhood Restaurant Group and brewmaster Megan Parisi discussed the beer samples and their upcoming project Bluejacket. Megan discussed how her vision was to make something for everyone, beers for those who don't like beer. The first beer, a sample of Sgt. Pepper highlighted this goal, as it was light bodied and flavorful, but still packed a punch.

The Sgt. Pepper sample combines four different kinds of peppercorns and would pair well with an assortment of foods; I really enjoyed the peppery flavors, which were not overpowering. We sampled the wings, marinated in sage, rosemary, olive oil and garlic and then fried, from Carmine's menu with the Sgt. Peppers. It was a great matchup.

Chef Mike Isabella discussed his new Mexican inspired restaurant Bandolero, which will open as a pop-up with a special event to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. He also has two other projects in the works, Kapnos, Greek for "smoke", and G, spun off of Graffiato, serving sandwiches during the day and classic Italian dishes and a price fix menu at night.

Also making news, is Chef Spike Mendelsohn, with his show on Bravo, "Life after Top Chef", and two new Good Stuff locations in Crystal City and Georgetown. He is also launching another restaurant on Capitol Hill, Spike was mum but to say that it would be a steak frite concept. After living on the Hill for quite sometime, I've appreciated Good Stuff and We the Pizza and am quite excited to see his newest addition.

Attendees also had the opportunity to learn about foodie events in DC including Ommegang's Hop Chef Competition that will take place on April 28th at the Atlas Theater from 1-4 PM. The competition will showcase DC area chefs creating and pairing food with Ommegang's beer.