BACK IN BLACK

While three nights a week I may be eating things like seared tuna, chilled avocado soup, roast keg of lamb with fig potato gratin and endives au jambon, it wasn't always this way. I certainly cooked occasionally while attending college at Georgetown (chili in LXR, surprise dinners for girlfriends, my 21st birthday feast) but more often than not my friends and I were foraging for good fast food or having passable stuff delivered.

A recent post about my first memories of eating Indian food triggered my DC food memories about eating it at an old favorite, Delhi Dhaba, a restaurant in Arlington. This got me thinking about some of my other college food haunts and a hankering began-- an itinerary began to form (picture of Georgetown behind the Key Bridge c/o GU).

So last weekend I went on a road-trip to our nation's capital to test the food against the nostalgia. The itinerary? Delhi Dhaba, Pho 75, Ben's Chili Bowl and a slice of too big pizza from Adams Morgan. Before reaching my destination, DC, there was a necessary food stop in Atlantic City-- ACDC and hopefully after some good food, back in the black.

THE WHITE HOUSE SUB SHOP

A few years ago, my grandfather, John Tortorello, a former Brooklyn detective prone to wearing a fedora hat and making the occasional visit to Atlantic City introduced me to the White House Sub Shop. Ever since, it's been hard for me to pass up the opporunity to stop in for a sandwich, a sandwich with few peers.

On the corner of Mississippi and Arctic Avenues, the White House Sub Shop was opened in 1946. So I've taken a number, they'll call us when it's our turn to order. Let me tell you a little about the place while we wait. The take-out menus at the shop advise that Anthony Basile "returned from the Philippine Islands in September 1946...As founder and orignator, I opened White House Subs in October 1946...Been here ever since!"

No matter what time of day I've arrived at the White House in AC there has always been a line of people inside waiting at the counter to order their sandwiches. And each time I visit every yellow booth is filled. I don't ever expect to sit in a booth. I work hard to find a parking spot nearby (tough) and eat the sandwich in the car while listening to the radio.

Now I've never eaten the steak and cheese sub but I've both read and heard testimonials from friends I've turned onto the place that they're worth the trip on their own-- if it means anything to you, the place has won a James Beard award.

Enough of what other people order though, there's only one thing on my mind when I go to the White House and that's a Whole White House Special, extra Genoa salami, provolone, ham and cappacolla, for $13.60. Wait, I can hear your howls of protest, "$13.50?" Hold on to your Blimpie, you Subway-junkie, and just listen.

Finally, it's our turn, "Two White House specials please."
"You want your peanut butter cruncy or creamy?" asks the guy behind the counter.
"Crunchy," we respond.
"You don't miss a beat," he answers.

The first step is to prepare the bread. It's a fresh baguette that smells super fresh and has a crisp but not crumbly outer shell and the dough inside has wonderful give. Don't get to attached though, they tear out the center of it-- gotta make room for the cold cuts.

Laying out the provolone cheese is the next step, and it just keeps coming- slice after slice after slice. His hands move fast laying them out from one end to the other and then back to the beginning.

Then comes the Genoa salami applied with the same speed and methodology, slice after slice overlapping from one end to the other. Just when you think the sandwich can't possibly fit any more meat reaches for something else...

That's right, the ham. If it's your first time you stand there wondering in amazement how you're going to finish the thing. If you've had one before, it's Pavlovian, you're salivating and waiting for the dressings.

And then come the tomatoes. As the count would say, "One tomato, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," but much, much more quickly. Big red slices of juicy tomato, at least 8 on a whole sub. Now when I'm in AC I never take insurance at the blackjack table, but the tomatoes are followed by insurance you've got to take...

Insurance that you won't be getting too close to anyone for a little while. After the onions come the condiment that makes the sandwich, crushed hot peppers. They finish the sub with some oil and vinegar, and finally salt and pepper. Take a breather, we're not quite done.

See, we said we wanted this sub to go, so there's one integral step left that needs to be taken care of before we can leave and sit down with this baby. That's right, you guessed it...the sandwich actually needs to be closed.

They use a knife to press the cold cuts into the recess of the bread that was torn out before (they were very careful not to slice the baguette fully in half at the beginning and now you see why-- there wouldn't be a chance of keeping the thing together otherwise.

You'll struggle even though they've taken the necessary cautions, believe me. The sandwich which is almost the length and weight of your arm (I'm not exaggerating) is wrapped up tightly in butcher paper, put in a large paper bag and you're on your way. There's a little outdoor seating area across the street you can use to work on the sandwich. In a perfect world, there's a baseball game on and I'm sitting in my car listening to it while trying not to get the onions on the floor and the hot pepper and oil all over my shirt. Best sub I've ever eat, hands-down.

I don't think I've ever eaten a whole White House Special all in one sitting. Usually I'll eat a half to 3/4 and keep the rest for later. Any gambling visit to Atlantic City has to begin with a visit to the White House and the leftover is reserved for a break from the tables or as sustenance to gird yourself for the ride home. In this case, I only ate half as I knew I still had a major meal left to eat upon arriving in DC.

DELHI DHABA

I was introduced to Delhi Dhaba by my college friend, Gobind Sethi. A dhaba is a local Indian restaurant. Gob took us there sophomore year touting their butter chicken and promising we wouldn't be disappointed by a trip to Arlington. We went with him somewhat skeptically that anything in Roslyn could be worth the trip. Worth the trip? We'd go for the Sunday brunch buffet which lasts from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and for $8.95 it's all you can eat naan, raita, butter chicken and palak paneer. The Dhaba was voted "Washingtonian Very Best Bargain Restaurant Award Winner." We'd spend several hours there and leave in pain. Upon our return to the dorms there was nothing that was going to happen besides a nap or watching Star Wars, Dead Alive, They Live or The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzaii Across the 8th Dimension for the fiftieth time.

We met up with Gob first thing upon arriving in DC and he took us over to Delhi Dhaba. Namaste. Step up to the display case, and take a look at the menu. Don't be scared, we got some eatin' to do. My favorite dish is butter chicken. I've mentioned my love for butter chicken in passing before but I've yet to actually try to make it on my own at home. I've yet to decide which recipe to try.

According to Wikipedia, butter chicken or Murgh Makhani was supposedly invented by accident at Kake Da Hotel in Connaught Place, New Delhi. The chicken is "marinated overnight in a yogurt and spice mixture usually including pepper, coriander, cumin, chili, methi and garlic...The chicken is then roasted or baked. A sauce is made from butter, tomatoes, almonds and various spices, often including cumin, cloves, cinnamon coriander, pepper, fenugreek and sometimes cream. Once the sauce is prepared the marinated and roasted chicken is chopped and added to it."

We ordered our food and sat down in the dining room to wait for it. Delhi Dhaba always has a Bollywood movie being played, no bad music background like light jazz here-- you've got some fun Indian movie music complete with elaborate sets, beautiful, coy, beautiful women flirting with guys from behind trees, running through fields and almost kissing before running away again.

Gob ordered the chicken tikka with some naan and raita. We ordered the special combination platter. For $8.95 you get what's called a mix platter, your choice of three selections along with raita, naan or rice and a little lettuce and tomato. If the portions look small don't worry, your stomach will get over your eyes, you'll be full by the time you leave.

Pardon me, I couldn't wait to dig in. Seriously though, of course I ordered the butter chicken. They were out of palak paneer (freshly minced spinach cooked with homemade cheese cubes) but had spinach with mushrooms which I optedd for. Besides that I had the mutter paneer (peas and homemade cheese).

It's hard to be critical on a nostalgia tour while visiting favorite places, especially when I was again eating with my good friend. Other than the cheese being replaced by mushrooms (what?) the food didn't disappoint. I polished off everything and still felt pretty comfortable, not overly full. Like Southern food, when it comes to Indian food I'm like a dog, I just keep eating-- no self-control.

During a huge snowstorm sophomore year I was determined to eat at Delhi Dhaba even if it meant walking across the bridge and up Wilson Avenue by myself when I couldn't convince anyone to brave the weather. After I finally got there I kept eating because the snow kept coming down and braving it seemed more and more impossible. Finally I couldn't eat anymore and there was no other option but to leave. I didn't have enough money for a cab and the snow was at least a foot high so you couldn't really find one anyway. At one point I just lay down in the snow on the walkway on the Key Bridge, incapacitated by fullness and unable to go on. I finally pulled myself up and made my way back to the dorm where I collapsed on my bed and didn't wake up until the next day.

We finished off our meal with my sweet, beloved, Gulab Jamun ($3.50): deep fried farmer's cheeseballs in a honey and rose water syrup and topped with almonds. Super soft and sweet in the honey-water, they brought me back to the days when I could afford to drink the syrup after eating the dessert-- I just didn't go ahead and do it. In the bacground is carrot halwa ($3.50) which Gob swore by. It was tasty, but seemed incomplete, like it was the filling for another dessert. He also said we had to try a sweet noodle dessert but they were out of it so that will have to be another trip. For now, we wouldn't be doing very much at all, forget eating.

We were always confused about whether this sign meant that the area behind the sign was for smokers or whether it was the are that the sign was on where you were supposed to smoke. The ashtrays seemed to move around throwing the whole area into question. Since quitting almost two years ago and living in New York where the smoking ban was enacted longer than that it was just strange to see that DC hasn't put one into effect yet.

Once again, last Saturday night I left Delhi Dhaba having eaten too much. It was the dessert that pushed me over the edge. Gob took us around the area and we marveled at how it had developed over the past 8 years. Then we went through Adams Morgan to see what it had turned into...Buckhead North for those of you who know the Atlanta "scene." While the Ethiopian restaurants are still there the scurvy places to get drinks have become a meat-market extraordinaire. What was one place serving the giant pizza slices has become many outside of which fights seem to happen every night. We were too full on Delhi Dhaba to get a slice so Gob took us on a tour of the monuments 0n the way back to his place where we called it a night in preparation of more eating on Sunday.

DELHI DHABA Meal for three people: $37.98
2424 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA, 22201
(703)524-0008
(Near Court House Metro)

PHO 75

Pho is a Vietnamese beef noodle shop that's best visited during the Fall or Winter. An old friend I've long since lost touch with introduced me to Pho 75. The restaurant serves huge bowls of steaming hot soup with tripe, beef, and mint leaves that warm you up right quick. The restaurant is pretty non-descript from the outside and sits in a strip-mall. Inside it's not much better, it looks like a hospital cafeteria, but you're not here for the decor.

As I mentioned above, things have changed in this neck of the woods-- we're almost 100% sure that right next to Pho there used to be a strip club. No more. It was 2 p.m. by the time we arrived at Pho 75 but there was still a line to get a table (at left, a lazy Susan with everything your little Pho heart could desire: plum sauce, hot sauce, chopsticks, napkins soup ladles and toothpicks).

Pho 75 does community-table style seating but it's busy enough that the low din blocks out what most everyone else is saying. My companions ordered small bowls of soup, the Nam Vé Dòn (slices of skirt flank steak) and the Tái* (slices of eye-of-of round steak).

Keeping to tradition, I ordered a large bowl of Tái* Nam, Gâu, Gân Sách (forgive the incomplete accents, I don't have the resources for Vietnamese accents), slices of eye-of-round steak, well-done flank, fat brisket, soft tendon and bible tripe. I also ordered a dua, young coconut pieces and milk. It's sweet and offers a nice contrast and relief to the soup once you've added some plum sauce and spicy hot sauce and the sweat starts to form on your brown.

My companions ordered cà phê sua dá, Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk. It comes with glass of ice and the coffee, dripping into condensed milk at the bottom of a mug from a pot above (at right), along with a glass of water to dilute it.

If you've had Thai Iced Tea you know the drill. The Vietnamese Iced Coffee is similar in concept. The result of that strongly-brewed coffee is a beautiful, deep brown with white swirls from the condensed milk. That'll wake you up.

The restaurant has been named the Best Bargain Restaurant from 1987 through 2006 and with the speed with which the food arrives, the ridiculously large portions and prices like $6.95 a bowl, you begin to understand why. At right, the Tái* (slices of eye-of-of round steak).

At right, my bowl of soup: Tái* Nam, Gâu, Gân Sách, slices of eye of round steak, well-done flank, fat brisket, soft tendon and bible tripe. Now I'm sure there's a place down in Chinatown that serves a substantial bowl of noodles but I haven't found it yet. Pho is my standard and I've been disappointed time and again. Either there aren't enough noodles or the meat is missing something. But Pho didn't disappoint at all.

Along with a hearty portion of noodles (no skimping here), slices of jalapeno, and the different types of meat, a plate of add-ins arrive: fresh mint leaves, bean sprouts, and quartered limes. Just dump it all in. The mint wilts in the broth and gives it a nice flavor. The sprouts add a little crunch and the lime gives a healthy tang.

Of course, the hot sauce and the plum sauce are added generously to taste. I'm not shy about either. Even in the middle of the summer I want my noodles to make me sweat.

Beyond the add-ins and different flavors I've mentioned above what makes the meal is the well-balanced broth and the different types and textures of meat, the slightly gum-buttery fat, the elasticity of the tripe and the heartiness of the steaks.

I made a fairly decent showing and felt very satsified with a bowl of noodles for the first time in a long time. But as you can see I didn't finish the meal. There was a time where I could keep eating without a problem but I had to stop because I still wanted to try some of their desserts which I don't remember having back in college.

Truth be told, I wasn't crazy about any of the desserts. There was che chuoi, a banana pudding with tapioca (too watery); che bap, a corn pudding (yeah, just didn't work for me); and a red jello dessert with tapioca (which I found tasty and refreshing enough to finish off). Each cost $1.50.

It ended up costing about $10 per person, meal, dessert and drink included.

PHO 75
1721 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA
(703)525-7355

OTHER OLD HAUNTS

So far I was two for three. I had managed to return to my old haunts and they hadn't disappointed me. There was one more place to visit, Ben's Chili Bowl, but I'd have to wait a few hours before I'd have any room to eat. So we headed over to Georgetown (M Street and Wisconsin, left) to see how the neighborhood had changed and to find a few other food standby's. It's much more upscale than even when we went to school here. Up Wisconsin the bad clothing places we were convinced were fronts for drug dealers and gangs (how could they continue to stay open?) were still there but M Street had moved up a couple notches. Gap, Puma and Coach? 1994 to 2000 weren't exactly the St. Elmo's Fire years of seedy bars, strip clubs and sex theatres, and I'd witnessed the loss of two art film houses while attending school but even Olsson's, the independent bookstore I used to work at was now gone and Urban Outfitters had been joined by Anthropologie. But some of the old food haunts (minus Burrito Brothers) were still there.

Which Georgetown student doesn't know the long lines at Wisey's? You'd squeeze your way to the back of the store, wait, wait some more, then order your sandwich, wait some more, then wait on line to pay and finally you'd be on your way if you could get past the panhandlers who sat outside the door to the store.

Wisemiller's Grocery & Deli
1236 36th Street
(202)333-8254

The Tombs is still around, of course. It was the only real "campus bar." They were stringent about carding so I didn't go at all for the first few years. Once I could get in, I didn't want to. It was filled with 'whitehats' and it felt like a fraternity-- it just wasn't my scene, "fah too commercial." When you walk past the Tombs it's necessary that you walk across the street to go take a look at the Exorcist steps.

These are the steps that the priest falls down while doing battle with the devil. It's quite steep. Health-conscious people used to use the stairs for exercise, jogging up and down. I tried it once or twice, it's great for the quads. We were more interested in getting in trouble during my college years. One night we scaled the side wall on the right holding on to the metal bars so that we could get out to the arch, sit down and look out over the river.

Chu's Cafe farther down on Prospect Street meant Mrs. Chu working behind the counter and Mr. Chu working in the kitchen. It meant super cheap Kung Pao chicken, and white rice. Chu's was certainly an institution but it wasn't one of my favorite places.

Chu's Cafe
3261 Prospect Street
(202)342-3377


I'd go to Booeymonger's when I didn't know what else to do. The sandwiches were okay (I don't care what the Hoya thinks) Standard-fare, nothing special really about it but it's prime location. Wisey's was better in my day.

Booeymonger's
3265 Prospect Street
(2020)33-4810

The Philadelphia Cheeseteak Factory was the place that we used to go to on Friday or Saturday nights after a few beers has since moved down the street but it's still there. Situated on the corner of Bank and M streets, it used to face an alley through which you could watch disoriented college students make their way back up to campus and late-night activities. There was a bar nearby (I can't remember the name) that used to serve underaged college students, we used to pour out of it looking for good, greasy food and the factory delivered late at night.

Quik Pita was probably the place that got us through college. It was the only place open super late, 3 a.m. to 4:30 a.m, depending on the night. For at least the first two years Quickpita's chicken or beef shawarmas (marinated chicken breast with tomatoes, parsley, onions and tahini, $4.50), shish ta'wook (barbecued chicken breast with lemon juice, hummus, tomato and parsley, $4.50), fries $2.50 and katayef ($1.50) for dessert was delivered to us by a guy on a scooter that we got to know on a first-name basis. It often saved us (at least til 4:30 a.m.) from Capuccino's Pizza and Manny & Olga's, the only other late-night alternatives after 4 a.m. If you didn't order Capuccino's or Manny & Olga's and you had to eat you'd either have to figure out a new way to make Ramen beyond the 50,000 other methods you'd previously tried or you were pulling an all-nighter and waiting out breakfast somewhere. We thank you Quick Pita.

Quick Pita
1210 Potomac Street
(202)338-7482

Towards the end of my time in DC when I didn't have the energy to go all the way to Roslyn I'd get my fix for Indian food at Marjan down near M Street. Their chicken tikka marsala and palak paneer were pretty good and the place was charming in a Euro-disco kind of way.

Marjan Of Georgetown
3205 Prospect St
(202)625-6400

Moby Dick House of Kebab was a little more expensive for me at the time but it was worth it. Tender, charred meat with buttery rice and yogurt, Moby's was always full and there weren't a lot of seats in the place.

Moby Dick House of Kebab
1070 31st Street N.W.
(202)333-4400

When I ran out of money from eating at Moby Dick's the only option was a bagel at the Georgetown Baglery and Pizzeria. Having grown up in New York no bagels could measure up. These were passable. Most importantly, they were cheap, $.60 cheap.

Georgetown Bagelry
3245 M Street
(202)965-1011

In that vein, Mr. Smith's was a savior. Self-described as "the friendliest place in town," Mr. Smith's did the whole piano-bar thing. We used to go there to have a few drinks at happy hour and eat dinner via their half-price appetizers. Hey, you did what you had to.

Mr. Smith's
3104 M Street
(202)333-3104

Lastly, a visit to my old favorites would be incomplete without mentioning the Georgetown Cafe. Known to most students during our schoolyears as the PLO cafe it was open all night long. And as long as that was true, burgers, fries, omlettes, and lots and lots of coffee while talking, studying or doing whatever it is you need to do at 4 a.m. in a diner could be done.

Georgetown Cafe
1623 Wisconsin Ave.
(202)333-0215

By the time we got around to thinking about food we discovered to my horror that Sunday night was the one night of the week that Ben's Chili Bowl closed early. There would be no chili dog for me-- no chili burger, no fries, no pototo salad, no chili con carne, no sampling of their cakes or other items on the menu, no fighting on line, no quarelling about booths, no formica and pictures of famous people and grease in your stomache.

Instead we went to another old haunt, this one in Dupont Circle, Zorba's Cafe. Don't think about it as a replacement for Ben's. It's not in the same realm at all. In fact, I wouldn't even say it was a haunt. It was just a place I'd go once in a while while searching for finds in used bookstores. There's not alot of value here-- the meat portions are puny.

The best thing about Zorba's is their galaktoboureko ($3.00), a custard in layered fillo dough moistened with honey-- it's like a Greek Napoleon, delicious.

Zorba's Cafe
1612 20th Street
(202)387-8555

RECAP

Counting Delhi Dhaba, Pho 75 and the White House Sub Shop, I went 3 for 5. I'd have to make return trips for an Adams Morgan slice (until I have one now I don't know what all the groaning is about beyond having to actually go to Adams Morgan) and Ben's Chili Bowl.

How did the food hold up to the nostalgia? Reasonably well. Both the Dhaba and Pho didn't disappoint. In fact, until I find a replacement in Chinatown, Roslyn's going to call after me every time I need a bowl of noodles. I'm open to any New York suggestions folks...