Eating in the burbs

Various meetings took me to the suburbs for dinner this week. I met an old friend who has moved to Alexandria at Geranio, an old-style Italian restaurant on King Street. It was refreshingly relaxing and un-pretentious and we both had the signature lobster risotto, which was truly outstanding. The rice was perfect and they were restrained in the use of butter -- no cheese -- so that the lobster flavor came through. Presumably they used some sort of broth and/or butter made with lobster, because the flavor permeated the rice. The lobster itself was fresh and tender. I had a grilled portabella and arugula salad which was also perfectly prepared and my friend ordered a light dolcetta d'Alba to accompany the meal.

For the final class in my introductory Italian course, the instructor took us to Pizzeria Da Marco in Bethesda, run by a fellow Genovese he knows. The restaurant offers genuine thin-crust Neapolitan pizza and I got the DOP version with buffalo mozzarella and an extra topping of prosciutto. The pizza was (nearly) as good as 2Amys but the ambiance of the large space in a new brick building left much to be desired. As a result, however, it was not nearly so crowded and noisy as trendier places and is a good fall-back if you just want to have a good pizza.

Our trip over to Silver Spring to Charm Thai was just a way to get some quick and easy dinner. I say it every time that I'm surprised how close Silver Spring is. The restaurant gets good reviews in Yelp but I made the mistake of asking for my seafood drowned noodles to be "extra spicy." The kitchen evidently took that as a dare. I was able to choke it down but next time I will just order what's on the menu. Andrea liked her very spicy crunchy chicken but the duck roll appetizer we split was pretty blah. The restaurant is totally devoid of charm -- this may be why I forget how close Silver Spring is -- with the tables lined up a long counter that serves take-out customers. In my new project to get better acquainted with Thai cuisine, I will certainly go back there, but will be more judicious in my menu choices.