Review of Busboys and Poets

Busboys and Poets is one of my favorite spots in town. It's a restaurant, a bookstore, a bar, a community center, and a venue.

The owner, Andy Shallal came here from Iraq when his father was sent here as some sort of diplomat. He fell in love and never left. And he has created a U Street icon.

The part of the restaurant pictured here is the more traditional part, but you can still see some of the art on the walls. Before this part is a cozy section with sink-in couches. Next to that is a bar area.

There is another room at the end for private parties and performances. That room is covered in murals painted by Andy. Chris and I have seen a couple great musicians in there. There is also a bookstore in the front run by a nonprofit called Teaching for Change. There mission is to "transform schools into centers of justice where students learn to read, write and change the world."

Andy hosts writers and speakers of all sorts (more on one of those tomorrow). He also hosts a world famous peace cafe where Jews and Arabs get together to speak about the conflict in Israel. Often the peace cafe will host Israelis or Palestinians working for peace in some way.

All that and I haven't even gotten to the food. It's good. And it is very reasonably priced, particularly by DC standards. Last I ate there I had a poached pear salad with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette that was sweet and savory and quite perfect. It's also a popular brunch spot, with all the usual breakfasty options. But my favorite item may be the banana bread pudding. It's to die for.

Busboys is funky, diverse, socially aware, intelligent, artistic, and fun. What more can you ask for in a neighborhood restaurant?

Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th Street, Washington, DC

Review of Love Cafe

Love Cafe is the hang-out offshoot of Cake Love, a luscious DC bakery. Warren Brown, the owner of Cake Love and Love Cafe is an attorney turned baker who also hosts Sugar Rush on the Food Network.

Cupcakes are the specialty at Love Cafe, and it's hard to walk by there without picking one (or several) up. I have to admit that I find some of the cupcakes a little less moist than I prefer. However, whatever they lack in gooeyness, they more than make up for with the frostings.

Unlike most cupcakes, the frostings at Love Cafe are made with real flavors (not extracts) and you can tell. I love the raspberry frosting and the coffee frosting. I'm really making myself hungry here. Rumor has it that cafe has a cupcake bar where you can make your own concoction. They also have other pastries (huge, yummy eclairs), but I can't resist the cupcakes.

Love Cafe, 1501 U St., NW Washington, DC 20009

Review of Cafe Miranda

Pictured is funky little Cafe Miranda in Rockland, Maine. It came highly recommended by all the guidebooks and the owners of the bed and breakfast we stayed in.

Cafe Miranda can only be described as schizophrenic, but in a good way - like Robin Williams in The Fisher King. The menu is hand scribbled and incredibly long. There's no room to divide items up with nice sub-headings like "salads" or "entrees" so it's all just squeezed in together.

The menu items are even more schizo than the menu scrawl. Items include Big Duck Unit, Polish Hippie (grilled knokwurst sausage on an arugula and beet salad), and Six Week Itch (rigatoni pasta with red sauce and romano cheese). We went with the seared sea scallops with green chili tartar sauce, sweet potato fries with secret spice, Et tu Brutus (the salad that "kills a Caesar"), and the fish special of the day.

The scallops were cooked perfectly. They were in two sauces, the tartar I didn't like so much, but the spicy duck sauce-like substance was delicious. The sweet potato fries turned out to be covered in Indian spices (which makes sense since they served it with yogurt). They were good, but I'm partial to hotter spices on my potatoes. The caesar was a bit heavy on the dressing for me, but good. The real treat was the fish. It was cooked in the wood oven in a light broth with tomato and seasonings and some wide noodles. The flavor was incredible.

Of course we left a little room for the homemade ice cream, which was creamy and delicious. Then we rolled our big bellies out of there. If your headed that way, Cafe Miranda is worth a trip. Not all of the dishes hit it completely, but that's how it is with art.