The Progressive Culinary Arts Movement: Adams Morgan Road Trip: 2004-05

The Progressive Culinary Arts Movement
Adams Morgan Road Trip

The 2004-05 Road Trip is dedicated to the heart of Adams Morgan, Sid Drazien

The History
The Progressive Culinary Arts Movement (PCAM) was founded in early 1993. We think there have been about 100 dinners. PCAMs have been held in San Francisco, Boston, New York City, New Haven, CT, Bel Air, MD, Brentwood, MD, Washington, DC, Charlottesville, VA, and Arlington, VA. Mostly they've been held at the residences of either Ian Fisk or Steve Friedman.

The Road Trip
In 1993 (east side) and the winter of 2001-2002 (west side) I decided to get to know Adams Morgan. So with John Halbert (in 1993) and Lorin Kleinman (2001-02) and a cast of irregulars (always) I journeyed to every restaurant between T Street and Columbia Road on 18th street in Adams Morgan. Of course, several of the restaurants we went to changed owners and names before we even finished making our way up the street.

The 2004-05 Adams Morgan Road Trip
It has been a decade, so Lorin and I started up the east side of 18th street again. Below are the places we have visited, and some selected comments.

When, Where, Who, The Grade	*Selected Comments*
03/31/05: The Diner Ian, Lorin, Ben, Ruth, Nancy Overall Grade: B-	Milkshakes not as good as at Toledo Lounge. Salomn very good, poached eggs kind of rubbery. Mac and Cheese good.
02/17/05: Fasikas Ian, Lorin, Jon Overall Grade: B-
02/03/05: Rumba Cafe Ian, Lorin Overall Grade: A-	Ian is officially the designated forgetter of the PCAM Road Trip Book. The Plantains were dry but in a good sauce. The Armadillo Guitar was very cool. Good Service.
Meza Ian, Lorin, & Others
12/09/04: Toledo Lounge Ian, Lorin, Jim S. Overall Grade: B-	Nachos -- sticky and cheesy. Basic but good. Vanilla Shake -- very good.
10/21/04: Jyoti Ian, Lorin, Lib, Larry Overall Grade: B-	Spicy Potato / Crache thing was excellent. Pak Taneer - Solid, not exceptional. Good Nan, although a bit too sweet. Samosas were delightful, fish was middling.
10/07/04 La Fourchette Ian, Lorin	Best food so far.
09/30/04: Amsterdam Falafel Shop Ian, Lorin, Cliff, Shane	Small Menu, but they do well with it. Cliff was too late to snag Lorin's EU passport
08/04/04: Chez Antoine (Again) Ian, Lorin, Anneliesa, Cliff, Vicky Overall Grade: A-	Yellow School Bus makes its appearance. Nicoise -- Good! Vegetables -- tasty. Epsinard -- Simple and Tasty. Crepe Antoine -- Very good. Fraise Special -- Very Food. Ice Cream is the best Touch.
08/26/04: Tom Tom Club Overall Grade: D+	Incorrect information on the menu, good spinach. Fish and Chips was fair.
East Meets West Ian, Lorin, Ben, Ruth, Jon, Vicky	Good green stuff for dessert.
08/04/04: Chez Antoine Ian, Lorin, Bill Wright Overall Grade: B+	Great food, good Lego-Art Waitress not sponsored by Microsoft, just named Emily.
Jumbo Pizza	We skipped it.
07/29/04: Little Fountain Cafe Ian, Lorin, My Hanh, Heather, Larry B. Overall Grade: A-	A great experience. Food and Ambiance are excellent
07/22/04: Columbia Station Ian, Lorin Overall Grade: B-	Fish Sandwich was nice, good sauce. Very cool lamp made from brass instruments. Poor service. Smoking -- Boo!
Peyote/Roxanne: Kitchen closed for renovation
Art & Soul: Doesn't serve food
Kung Fu: Closed
Crush: Kitchen closed twice in a row
07/15/04: Spaghetti Garden Ian, Lorin, Robert Revere Overal Grade: C	Service cheerful but insistent. Food plentiful but slightly rubbery. Weather great, outside table wonderful. Garlic Bread: Big and Crusty. (We had dessert at Little Fountain Inn, which was GREAT.)
06/24/04: Saigonnais Ian, Lorin, Nancy Overall Grade: A-	Outstanding Lemonade! Delicious Shrimp Rolls! Ginger Ice Cream! Banana Flambe not as good as (Ian) remembered it. Sugar Cane Shrimp -- cool little bown to wet the rice paper used for wrapping.
06/17/04: San Marco Ian, Lorin, Drew, Heidi, Vicky Overall Grade: A-	The Gnocchi is very good, not too sharp. Amaretto Cake crunchy but good. Very thorough table cleaning.
Khatroum Ian, Lorin, Jon Overall Grade: A-	Inexpensive, lots of food, very tasty.
05/20/04: Haranbe Ian, Steve S., Lorin, Nancy Overall Grade: A-	Spicy food, the unexpected surprise of the trip so far. Nicely spiced, with more complexity than the usual Ethiopian places. Salad was particularly good.
04/29/04: El Tamarindo Ian, Betsy, Greg, Lorin, Miriam, Charlie, Bill, Zahara, & Dave Rabin Overall Grade: A-	Good art on the walls. The Huevos Sonoras were not as greasy as Ian remembered. Food could have been hotter, but tasty. We like the place more for the ambiance than the food. One of Charlie's first dinners out. And he was impressed that they had milk.
04/22/04: The Blue Diamond Ian, Lorin, Nancy, Adam, Deborah, and Alair Overall Grade: C+	Lots of tea from the very cool Bubble Tea Machine, but dinner only so-so. Good veggies, but the sauce is a bit heavy.
04/15/04: Lauriol Plaza Ian, Jon, Lorin, My Hanh, Jim, Vicky, & Others Overall: B+	Good and Spicy Salsa and lots of it. Great outdoor seating. Excellent lemonade. Sweet sauce on the mahi mahi very good. Plantains & Margaritas were very good! Chicken -- good but not great. Hoping for something more adventurous. And most importantly, we changed someone's life.