Food for thought

My time has been occupied by so much lately that cooking dinner is often low on the priority list, and by the time I get home I'm generally not hungry anymore. However, that does not mean food is void from my life... just my refrigerator. Fortunately, with my move to the house in the city, I'm within a short walk to several places of culinary inspiration. Two of which are owned and operated by the same guy.

Many of you know I'm a huge Top Chef fan, although I've not been able to watch the DC episodes this summer. I've been very delighted to discover that several of the Top Chefs live and work in my new neighborhood. One of them being Spike Mendelsohn, owner of Good Stuff Eatery and the new We, The Pizza. Good Stuff is where I went with Lucy and the girls the 2nd weekend in July, and it is home to some of the best, most mouth-watering burgers you'll ever put in your mouth. That being said... I go there for their salads. :) Seriously... they're delicious. After the gym on Tuesday, I walked the 12 or so minutes to pick up take out. I planned on eating half of the salad and saving the rest for the next day's lunch, but it was so good, and I was so hungry that it didn't ever make it to the fridge.

When I found out that Spike was opening a new pizza place right next door to Good Stuff, I knew I had to call my co-worker and fellow culinary-adventurist Son to go check out We, The Pizza. We had to wait in line for it, but it was worth the wait in the cool Saturday afternoon. All the slices have clever names that I can't now remember.  I ended up with a "For the Greek in Us" slice of deep dish and a slice of Forest Shroomin'. Son got a buffalo chicken and blue cheese and a spinach artichoke slice. We tasted all four and they were each delicious in their own way. We topped it off with the We, The Pizza brew that I actually wouldn't recommend. Next time I'm trying a soda from their soda-jerks. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

Chef Spike in the flesh

Each pizza slice is garnished with fresh herbs and hand-mix oil and cheese.

Take a moment to read the sign if you can.

Now, I'm hungry! That greek slice was sooooo good. So, we ate our pizza and jetted off to Chinatown to watch Inception, which I highly recommend if you've not seen it yet. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It takes a lot for a movie to truly keep me guessing, and this one was.

Friday night Christina, her friend Kate and I grilled/made dinner for ourselves, and enjoyed some fun conversation. We learned we are even more alike than we previously thought. The menu for the night: Chicken breasts on the grill with avocado, tomato, and cucumber salsa accompanied by mixed greens, grilled peaches topped with goat cheese and honey drizzle.

Great food, great fun, and now, I'm hungry so I must leave. xo