Whine: Goes Great with Crackers

I am really good at whining. It's a skill, really. It takes a keen observer to notice the smallest things that are "wrong" and pick them apart methodically. On a more positive note, I can also recommend how to fix something that is "wrong".

Take today at Baby Gap: I needed to return or exchange a few gifts that had been given to my 0-3 month old while she was still 0-3 months old, which were unwanted/unneeded/the wrong size. Being that I had a 0-3 month old, I couldn't get to the store in the 30 day return window the store requires. I could not return anything today, although I had schlepped myself to the store - still an accomplishment although baby is almost 4 months old. Did anyone with a 0-3 month old write this silly rule at Baby Gap? If so, they'd know that new moms need at least three months to have going to Baby Gap be the priority of the hour. Sigh.

But let's not despair. Really. Let's have some fun. Like associating ourselves with wine that's served by the glass!

Last week I went to Church Street Cellars. There I met with my fellow co-chair for Social Events for Moms of the Vienna Moms group (more on Vienna Moms another time). This wine bar is one of the few places in town that you can sit outside and enjoy food and beverage. Inside, you can order wines by the glass using a convenient purchase card that you load up with money and then spend down as you drink the wine down. The menu has also grown sizeably since the place first opened a few years ago.

There is also Out of Site Wines which is, well, out of sight off of Church Street! Across from the caboose on the W & OD Trail, from what I've seen it's more wine store than wine bar. (Am I wrong? The Web site doesn't offer much, and I haven't been there in a while). However, I believe they are available for specialty events and tastings. Indeed, I'm going to see about hosting a Vienna Moms event there later this year. The staff is really friendly and knowledgeable. I felt good buying a bottle of wine here and supporting the local business.

I've also been meaning to check out Paradise Springs Winery in nearby Clifton, VA. A fellow new mom went to the Winery's weekly Friday Happy Hour (5 - 9 pm) with the kiddie. I wonder: Could I nurse Ellie while nursing a wine? :)

Fresh in Vienna

I would be remiss if I didn't attribute one post to my favorite summertime activity in Vienna - going to the Farmers Market. Located by the Caboose on the W&OD Trail on Church Street, the Vienna Farmers Market is THE place to be on a Saturday morning between 8am - 12pm.

As spring creeps near, my mouth starts to water for the fresh fruit and veggies that have been lacking all winter long. Now it's a bonanza! Today we got fresh watermelon, cantaloupe, plums, peaches, nectarines, corn, tomatoes, squash, onions and cucumbers. We usually get these awesome pretzel roles and semolina bread, too, but I am trying to watch the carb intake these days - the constant reminder of pregnancy that is a larger pants size needs to go away.

For the holiday weekend, the vendors today wore red, white and blue beads. One shopper had an Uncle Sam type hat. When we went on Halloween last year, hubby and I dressed up and got lots of smiles and comments - we were the only ones in the whole market dressed up! Our costumes served as a starter for conversations that are sometimes lacking as we all rush from stand to stand, eager to get on with the day.

Do you go to the Farmers Market?

Vienna’s Culinary United Nations

After yoga class at the East Meets West yoga studio on Church Street, a friend and I browsed through the recently-moved Yas Bakery. The store moved in early 2010 from it’s location on Main Street to a standalone building at 137 Church Street. I can’t remember what was there before, but now Yas boasts a bright, inviting grocery featuring Iranian imports and pastries. The pistachio baklava is delicious. You can find some novel items, like rock candy sticks with saffron – traditionally used to sweeten coffee. I also saw whole tamarind (I wouldn’t begin to know how to cook with it, though. Exotic!). There are about a dozen varieties of pickles, followed by a dozen more of olives. A fun place to browse.

I realized afterwards that for a small town, Vienna has an impressive variety and amount of stores and restaurants where you can find international foods. And many of them (perhaps all?) are locally owned shops. Here are some of my favorites around town – although by no means an exhaustive list.

Restaurants

For Indian food we love Amma Vegetarian Kitchen at 344 Maple Ave East (across from the Giant supermarket). It’s a local place where you’ll find folks getting traditional potato-filled dosas (crepes) and upppatams (pancakes). The dishes are served with a side of coconut chutney and spicy sambar soup. It’s a great place for casual, traditional Indian fare without waiter service. The only downer is that when ordering take out, there’s a lot of non-recyclable styrofoam.

For Thai in Vienna, we like Natta Thai on Glyndon Street SE in the Maple Shopping Center (where Jammin Java is). The dishes pack a spicy kick. The space is cozy, so we’ll often use Natta Thai as our standard for Thai take out.

Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant on Maple near Nutley Street holds a dear place in my heart. When my hubby and I were first dating I was a vegetarian (getting me to convert to carnivore is one of his proudest accomplishments). For one of our first dates, he took me to Sunflower, obviously pleased with having found the perfect restaurant for me. It’s a winner. Every time we go one of us orders General Tso’s surprise “chicken”—and whenever I look at other tables in the restaurant, almost every one has an order of the same. The edamame soybean pods are also crisp with a savory sesame dressing.

For sushi we like the sushi places that have cycled through 128 Maple Ave West (next to Sleepy’s and Tuesday Morning). I went today, and in the last two weeks it had changed hands yet again. The new place is Yirasai. For lunch I had a bento box with soup and salad. Pretty tasty. We also like Sushi Yoshi, housed on the corner of Church and Center Streets. Hubby and I sat at the sushi bar there once and I ordered a vegetarian sushi platter that was a work of art. It was Drew’s Blackberry wallpaper for several months. No joke.

Groceries and Other Take Out

While I’m not so ambitious as to try and cook Indian or Thai food from scratch, I do like to usemany of the spices in my cooking. And sometimes I have a hankering for international treats. Here’s where I go for the goods:

Aditi Spice Depot on the edge of Vienna at 409 Maple Ave East (across from Beulah Road), is a great place to get strong spices at a fraction of the cost of the traditional grocery store. I’ve stocked up on cinnamon and cumin, getting over double at Aditi for the price I would pay at large grocers.

Drew and I stumbled across the small Thai-Asian Food Market (350 Maple Ave West) when we returned from our honeymoon in Thailand. We had never noticed it before, and there it was! We bought curry simmer sauces and iced tea drink mixes, and whipped up a dinner that took us back to the sandy beaches of southern Thailand.

In my home of New York, bakeries abound that feature amazing cookies, cakes and pies for a fraction of what it costs to get a mass-produced dessert from our beloved mass retail stores. I am always on the lookout for bakeries where I can pick up cookies or a cake to bring to a friend’s home. So far, I’ve found two of note in Vienna.

The first is Yas, described above. The second is Silva’s Patisserie. My husband started spoiling me with treats from Silva’s when I was in my last month of pregnancy. If you are looking for decadent, carefully crafted desserts that look pretty, Silva’s is your place (at 167 Glydon Street, SE). A tiny storefront, this bakery can make you a large wedding cake or individual-sized fancy desserts. And they have tons of marzipan– an almond sugar rush in fruit shapes! Hubby actually had a box of the miniature marvels delivered to our doorstep for my birthday, after Ellie was born. An indulgence indeed.