We may live in (Northern) Virginia, but aside from my occasional, tongue-in-cheek “y’all,” we haven’t adopted too many Southern mannerisms. But every once in a while, you just get a craving for something artery-clogging, particularly on a cold, snowy January day. Rather than channeling Paula Deen and deep-frying something at home, we opted to head out to one of our neighborhood restaurants, Evening Star Cafe. I was eager to try their new Saturday breakfast dishes — the fried chicken and waffle, to be precise. Though I will admit it was a tough decision between that and the biscuits and gravy, something I learned to love when visiting my grandparents in Florida many years ago. (The trip that ended my vegetarian phase, coincidentally … just couldn’t resist Grandmom’s daily bacon.)

Despite its casual neighborhood restaurant vibe in the kid-filled neighborhood of Del Ray, Alexandria, Evening Star doesn’t have a kids’ menu. On past brunch/lunch visits, we’ve been offered choices like chicken tenders and pasta off the secret menu, and I’ve even seen patio patrons order hot dogs for their dogs. (It was one of the pooches’ birthday, their owner explained. I can only assume they topped off their meal with puppy pops from the Dairy Godmother.) Anyway, I was able to order a plain waffle and scrambled egg for the boy today, which worked out perfectly. The husband had the huevos rancheros, a colorful and flavorful dish, artfully arranged and kicked up with another Southern nod, Andouille sausage.

Back to my meal, I never really understood the appeal of fried chicken and waffles — chicken for breakfast? — but I have to say I get it now. A touch of sweet honey butter on succulent, savory chicken wrapped in the warm carb embrace of a waffle, it really is perfection.  When I was pregnant with the boy, I had a freak KFC craving one night. I regretted indulging the craving for days after… now that I’m pregnant again, it’s nice to have such a delightful alternative should the fried chicken craving strike again. (And to assuage any guilt over the calorie-heavy meal, Evening Star uses local and organic ingredients “whenever possible,” according to their website.)

Evening Star is open for brunch from 10am-3pm on Saturday and Sunday. The fried chicken and waffle is only available on Saturday, while Sunday has the more traditional eggs benedict, French toast, etc.
2000 Mt Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301-1310
703.549.5051

Last week I attended a FoodBuzz publishers dinner at Michel Richard’s James Beard winning Central in Washington, DC. Together with eight other DC bloggers, we enjoyed good wine, food, and conversation about food, of course.

We started with the much lauded gougeres. While they were enjoyable, I was wishing for a slightly more pronounced explosion of cheese upon biting in. This may just reflect my personal cheese addiction, though.

As an entree, I had the braised beef cheeks with tagliatelle and carrot puree. The carrot was topped with crispy carrot ribbons, a nifty contrast in texture. The beef cheeks were rich, falling apart tender and flavorful. I sampled another person’s brussels sprouts, which were sweet and creamy and appropriately loaded with bacon, of course.

For dessert, I took the advice of our waiter and ordered Michel Richard’s chocolate bar, a rich chocolate bar paired with decadent hazelnut ice cream and caramel sauce. Truly not to be missed. Overall, I thought the food was outstanding. Sort of like the comfort food your mom would have made, if your mom were a classically trained French chef.

Thank you, FoodBuzz! And thank you to Olga (Mango and Tomato) and Rivka (Not Derby Pie) for organizing the dinner. Photos thanks to Anna of Meals from the Girl in the Little Black Dress. And also attending were Lauren from Capital Cooking Show, Quinn from Daily Moderation, Maddy from Cook Like Mad, Matt from Foodphoria, and Taresa from Cook and Book. Check out their blogs for more pictures and reviews.

Around Town: Looking for a good meal next week? Open Table’s Appetite Stimulus Plan offers $24 lunches and $35 dinners at participating restaurants Nov. 17-21. Capital Spice created a terrific Google map of participating DC restaurants, to help you map out which ones you can comfortably hit up on your lunch hour. (This deal is being offered in all of Open Table’s cities, including NY, Minneapolis, Seattle and San Francisco.)