DC!

This past weekend, David and I got out of town! Already we're off to a good start. DC isn't my favorite place, I'll be honest, it's a little small-feeling for my taste. That said, it has a certain classic elegance that I can appreciate. We were drawn there by a couple of varying forces. Firstly, my dearest dear friends from forever, Cali and Mike, both live in/around DC and I have been meaning to visit them both for a while now. Secondly, there was a very cool sounding conference at the National Museum of American History called "Food for Tomorrow" that I wanted to go to. Finally, there was an Arcimboldo exhibit at the National Gallery and because I'm taking a class on Food in Fine Art right now, I actually know who he is and was pretty excited to see his work.

I arrived in DC Friday night and jumped right into the conference with a very cool kick-off event featuring a sneak peek at the new movie from the boys who made King Corn called Truck Farm. They only showed 45 minutes of it because that's all that is done so far, but it is completely inspiring and whimsical and wonderful.

Cali and her lovely manfriend Dan joined me for both the preview and the tasty tasty cocktails and snacks following. It was just looovely! Then over to Mike's place, where we watched Rocky Horror and stayed up until 6 am talking which sounds like a successful sleepover to me. Brunch the next day, and David's arrival (yay!) and then...

Future of Food Panel!


I took a picture to prove that I really did do serious stuff like listen intently at panels. This panel featured three very different experts ; Amy Bentley, a Professor in my dept at NYU and who spoke about the meaning of meals, Janet Poppendieck who is a Professor of Sociology and has written a book about food in schools, and finally Vickie Kloeris who is the subsystem manager for the International Space Station and Shuttle Food Systems for NASA. Ms. Kloeris' discussion was perhaps the most fascinating to me, because I really know nothing about space food and because space food is AWESOME. A little scary - the current big NASA food project involves figuring out to make a variety of foods that can last 5+ years for the mission to Mars - but really fascinating. In Food Studies, we shun all things processed, freeze dried, vacuum sealed, and certainly irradiated. Space Food, on the other hand, depends on all of these things. Curious? Here's some more about Astronaut Vittles here!

Next! East Coast winemakers tasting with David! Apparently New York follows only California, Oregon and Washington in terms of winemaking, so I've been curious to try some of these local wines. Most everything we tasted was delicious; wines from Boxwood Winery in Virginia, and Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland most especially, sadly no particular stand outs from New York.

David hadn't eaten all day, so he was quick to find the circulating snackies. Tuna tartare in a cone thing! Yum.


And the best thing at the end of a long day, dinner with friends!



Calzone for David...


Kabocha Gnocchi with gorgonzola cream sauce pour moi! Mmmmmm... so simple and so belly warming.


A full, happy crowd!


The next day, David and I were greeted by a crystal clear sky and blazing fall sunshine. It said "go to Dupont Circle, sit outside, eat brunch, be happy, drink Bloody Marys, linger", so we did just that. A Benedict and a few Bloody Marys later, we made out way to the National Gallery.

We're greeted by a HUGE arcimboldo-inspired sculpture! It was captivating and surprisingly thrilling. I couldn't stop taking pictures of it, and I loved watching everyone stop and stare as they wandered between exhibits. Very cool. Especially after a couple bfast bevvies.


My favorite painting of the show! Four Seasons in One Head - apparently a new acquisition!


And on that cultured and inspiring note, we bid adieu to our Nations' Capital. Ta ta DC, until next time!