Sightings of (minor food) celebrities

I may have seen some talking head or congressperson around town....and just not realized that I was in the general vicinity of someone I should probably know, someone who's guiding the direction of our country. However, when Spike or Molly crosses my path, I notice. Ok, so they didn't exactly cross my path - I kinda sought them out. But still, only one was a guaranteed sighting with actual interaction, so I'm going to go ahead and place this in the "sighting" realm. Spike? Molly? Who are these people, Erin, and first name basis, really?

In desparate need of a really delicious burger (I miss you, patio at Jake's...and barstools at Twisted Root...and cheddar fries at Spanky's...) and intrigued by the fact that I could eat at a restaurant opened by a former Top Chef contestant, I recruited Dana for a trip to the SE quadrant of the city, a formerly unexplored territory. Anyone remember the guy with the hat from season five? Oh yes, Spike! Also known for being a bit of a jerk to go with the hat, but turned out enough decent dishes to redeem himself somewhat. Good Stuff Eatery is his latest culinary endeavor, right here in DC, so I figured I'd give it a shot...for both the food and the potential of seeing someone who's been on TV (there I go, contributing to the American fascination with "celebrity"...rest assured that I was more excited about the possibility of good food, but a little Spike sighting wouldn't hurt things).

The burger was tasty...but not the most amazing burger I've ever had. The rosemary and sea salt fries were a brilliant idea...but it was a little tricky to dig through the batch and find one that wasn't completely crispy. Even though the food wasn't quite as amazing as I had hoped it would be...we did get our Spike sighting, which I think raised the quality of the food in our minds! Funny how that works. We didn't harass him for a picture - it was a litte busy, and he seemed perturbed by the perky blonde collegiate types begging for a photo op, so we didn't want to push our luck. Oh, and it's possible that my hands were covered in grease...which is not entirely a bad thing. Please see highly posed Top Chef photo to the side for visual.

Earlier this week I was pretty pumped about taking a mid-day break to walk over to the Borders about five blocks away to attend a reading and book-signing by Molly Wizenberg. Who?? Well, hence the "minor food" caveat in the title here. She started a food blog a few years ago, Orangette - it took off, she had the chance to write a book, now zooming around the country greeting fans and promoting said book. I adore both food AND writing, hence my immediate purchase of said book and excitement about actually meeting her. It was great to hear a little bit more about her and why she writes, how she got into doing the blog, and just the great big roller-coaster ride her life is taking.

I'm going to take her sentiment quite literally and take "enjoy it all" to mean "enjoy all of the recipes in this book" - I'd really like to make it through the whole thing before splattering it with assorted ingredients as it makes its way into the kitchen, but it's going to be tough. It was so great to meet her and hear a happy, successful story in the midst of the current doom and gloom dominating the headlines. Go food!