My father article back in July

My  Dad wrote this back in July, I think is a great piece for TACA magazine, please go for it:

The Majestic Washington D.C.

By Jeff Borg
Photos J. Kevin Foltz

Washington has been my inspiration, escape and second home for 35 years. As a kid, Washington sparked my love for architecture and appreciation for great museums. In business, it taught me to wear a blue suit, white shirt and red tie. During my activist days, the city offered symposia at Georgetown and rallies at the Capitol.

On the Mall
Washington's broad avenues and dramatic vistas were conceived by French architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant to inspire confidence. People come to the National Mall, right in the center, to exercise free speech or just fly a kite.

Begun in 1793, the U.S. Capitol has been built, burned, restored and extended continuously. Citizens usually get tour passes from their representatives or senators. Visitors can get them through their embassy, concierge or the Capitol's online system. The observation galleries for the Senate and the House of Representatives welcome the public, but separate passes are required.

Washington is like a huge museum. The Smithsonian Institution, headquartered in the red sandstone castle on the Mall, is a complex of 17 museums and one zoo, all free.

In the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, dinosaur skeletons tower overhead. Exhibitions show how humans developed painting, drawing, engraving and sculpture 17,000 years ago. The 3,500 brilliant specimens of the gem, mineral and meteorite collections include the 45.5-carat blue Hope Diamond, unearthed in 17th-century India and owned by kings and socialites.

Another favorite is the National Air and Space Museum. In its National Mall building are the 1903 Wright Flyer, Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 command module and a lunar rock you can actually touch. In August, it reopens the Pioneers of Flight gallery, focusing on the 1920s and 1930s. Kids will enjoy new hands-on activities, toys and memorabilia. Parents will appreciate Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega and Jimmy Doolittle's "blind flight" instruments.

My favorite Smithsonian museums, the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, house the Asian collections. The Freer has 24,057 wondrous objects spanning 6,000 years of Asian history. The adjoining Sackler features another 8,818 pieces. Whenever I visit, I marvel at the ancient Egyptian amulets, glass and statues; Islamic illustrations and manuscripts; Chinese jades, lacquer and calligraphy; Japanese Rimpa and ukiyo-e paintings; Korean Koryo ceramics, silver and gold; and ceramics from Vietnam and Thailand.

Independent of the Smithsonian, the National Gallery of Art is the mother of all art galleries, created in 1937 when financier Andrew W. Mellon gifted his collection to the people. Must-see works in the West building include Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci and Francisco de Goya's The Marquesa de Pontejos. Highlights in the East building include Jackson Pollock's Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist) and Piet Mondrian's Tableau No. IV, Lozenge Composition with Red, Gray, Blue, Yellow, and Black.

On Fridays after work, groups of friends bring wine and snacks to the Sculpture Garden to enjoy jazz vocalists, saxophones, swing bands, salsa or Latin jazz, also free.

Visible from practically everywhere around town, the Washington Monument soars triumphantly. Ride to the top of the 555-foot obelisk, completed in 1884, and see vistas covering more than 30 miles.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, farther west, does not soar. It cuts the earth like a grave. Carved on its black granite wall are the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died in the nation's most divisive war.

President Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union through the bloody Civil War and freed the slaves. The Lincoln Memorial became the site of Martin Luther King's inspiring 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech on racial equality. Forty-six years later, within view of this memorial, an African American was inaugurated president.

The National Building Museum examines architecture, engineering, construction and urban planning. Completed in 1887, its red brick exterior is modeled after the Palazzo Farnese, in Rome. Colossal Corinthian columns define a Great Hall for functions. A detailed 1,200-foot terra-cotta frieze rings the exterior, depicting Union infantry, cavalry, artillery, navy and medical units.

In 1969, a giant headline in The Miami Herald, "MEN WALK ON THE MOON," inspired me to save that paper. Today the Newseum preserves 35,000 such specimens dating to 1526. I saw a 1545 Spanish newspaper reporting an earthquake in Guatemala and a 1603 broadside on the coronation of King James I of England. The Pulitzer photo gallery displays powerful images of our times, while the 9/11 Gallery examines the challenges of journalists reporting the 2001 attacks. A new exhibition explores the impact of Elvis Presley on music and culture.

Norman Rockwell painted a sentimentalized notion of an innocent America. When he took on serious subjects, like the young black girl walking to school past racist graffiti, it was his sweet style that helped viewers accept his message of equality. Opening this month in the Smithsonian American Art Museum is an exhibition of Rockwell's work, with 57 paintings and drawings from the private collections of filmmakers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

For drinks and dinner, Zengo offers an exciting Asian-Latin fusion, next to the Verizon Center. Try a signature mojito. Creative bar food includes yellowtail ceviche and tuna tiradito (similar to ceviche) with serranos. Mini tacos come wrapped in tortillas made of thin-sliced radish, stuffed with savory Peking duck and sweet apples, which disorients the taste buds. It's all about contrast: the Mexican and the Japanese, the yin and the yang.

Dupont Circle / Adams Morgan
Bohemian Dupont Circle is all about bistros, bars and boutiques. It's a great place to hang out and a great base from which to explore.

Kimpton's Hotel Palomar puts visitors a block from Dupont Circle. Part urban art gallery, part chic boutique hotel, the Palomar is done in comfortable taupe and golden hues with fun splashes of color. Guest rooms are spacious. In the comfy lounge, ask for Joe Bolam, just voted Best Bartender.

A little north, hip, young Adams Morgan, centered along 18th Street, is the capital of Hispanic Washington, with plenty of live music and 90 liquor licenses.

Come dinnertime, Lauriol Plaza offers excellent, affordable Tex-Mex in an urbane atmosphere. Its contemporary building won critical acclaim from The Washington Post. The sidewalk tables and rooftop deck got the place voted Best Outdoor Patio, in addition to Best Margarita, by readers of Washington City Paper. The secret of Lauriol Plaza's warm, smoky salsa is fire-roasted tomatoes.

Georgetown
Before there was a Washington, there was a Georgetown. Today the fancy shops, bars and restaurants center along M Street. Shady side streets are lined with the charming Georgian townhouses of Washington's elite.

Dumbarton House is an excellent example of Federal period architecture. Nearby, Tudor House, of the same period, highlights 100 objects originally belonging to George and Martha Washington, more than anywhere except the Washingtons' own estate.

The Kreeger Museum is a private art gallery in a building designed by Philip Johnson, with a refined collection of paintings and sculptures by Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Renoir, Cézanne, Chagall, Rodin, Miró, Munch and Kandinsky. Reservations are required, and it closes during August.

For dinner, Hook is an M Street restaurant for those who worry about the future of fish. Restaurateur Jonathan Umbel has committed Hook to sustainable seafood, sourcing from around the world. Start at the bar and ask the bartender to recommend a beer you never tried before.

The modern American lobby of the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel feels like your own living room. Guests are surprisingly diverse, not just K Street power brokers but also young families with kids. Celebrated chef Michael Mina has opened a Bourbon Steak here, featuring butter-poached meats and poultries. The décor is rich leather, warm woods and black granite.

Chicken Salad or Ensalada de Gallina a la Venezolana

This recipe is high in calories and carbohydrates, but as I always tell people, once in a while is OK to pamper yourself with comfort food, usually we do this salad with hen, but here in Washington we can't find hen, so chicken will be for this time, also some people boiled the whole hen or chicken, I am more practical, I will use clean, easy, chicken breast.

You need;

• 4 chicken breast, 6 cup of water and 2 spoons of salt to cook the breast
• 1 medium size onion cut in two
• 1 kg (2 lb.) of potato chopped like cubes, and  6 cups of water and 2-1/2 teaspoon of salt to cook the potatoes.
• 1 carrot peeled, chopped like cubes, you can cook it in the same water that you cooked the potatoes. 
• 2 cups of green peas.
• 1 apple peeled and chopped in small pieces.
• ½ cup of olive oil.
• ½ teaspoon of black pepper.
•  Salt to taste.
• ¼ cup of apple vinegar.
• 2 teaspoon of mustard.
• 2- 1/2 teaspoon of sugar or honey.
• 1- 1/2  cup of mayonnaise.
• 1 cup of raisins (if you like it)

What to do;

•   In a sauce pan put the chicken breast, water, salt, and the onion. Boil and cook for ½ hour. Remove from the fire and let the pot get cold before opening. Take the chicken out and let it cool, set aside.
• In another pot put the 8 cups of chopped potatoes with water and salt. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until are soft but firm. Remove the potatoes with a strainer spoon and let it cool, set aside. In the same pot, put the carrot. Cook for 15 minutes; remove all water and set apart.
• Cut the chicken in very small pieces with your hands (very small).
• In a big bowl and with a wooden scoop mix the chicken, the potatoes, the carrots, 1 cup of green peas, apples and raisins
• Prepare the vinaigrette mixing in a bowl the onion, the vinegar, the mustard, the sugar, the salt and black pepper.
• Add the vinaigrette to the bowl with the chicken and the cooked veggies.  Remove slowly with the wooden scoop. Add the mayonnaise.  Remove slowly until everything has mayonnaise.
• Put the salad in the display tray.  Even the salad, to make flat the top. Decorate the salad with some parsley and green peas.
• Some people put in the refrigerator for couples hours and serve it cold, I like my room temperature, if you have leftovers, make sure to put in the refrigerator.

Is seems like a lot of work, but is a tradition in Venezuela for the holidays, many families add boiled eggs or olives.

That is all, now a comer;  BTW you can serve 6 hungry friends.

Rusty Pelican in Key Biscayne

Ceviche. Photo by Jose Mendoza

Last June, I visited my friend Jeff in Miami, Jeff is like a father to me, as Father's day was close, we decided to play tourist in Miami, where he lives,  and where I used to live for 5 years, before I moved to DC, Rusty Pelican is a huge restaurant, with the most incredible views of downtown Miami, they have an outdoor patio, but because was June in Miami, we choose the indoors, they have a large menu, but you can always ask the staff for recommendations, is a big expensive for what I usually write on the blog but worth it.

We have the ceviche as an appetizer, it was amazing, the bread/cracker is warm and perfect for the ceviche, the fish is fresh and the hot factor is incredible, spicy and soft in the same dish. For main course, Jeff had the Florida Grouper grilled to perfection, Lemon Butter Sauce, Mashed Potatoes and Fresh Vegetables, and I pick the Shrimp & Scallop Scampi is a combination of Gulf Shrimp & Fresh Scallops Sautéed in Garlic Herb Butter, Served Over a Bed of Fettuccine.

The view from our table, it was beautiful.

If you visit Miami, and want to get away from Miami Beach, treat you and your family for the culinary experience, it was fantastic.  You need to drive to 3201 Rickenbacker Cswy, Key Biscayne, FL 33149

Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Tortilla Española (Spanish Omelet)

When I was visiting my friends in Madrid, Spain back in March; we cooked almost every day, she showed me multiple recipes that you can do very easily and we left this one for the last day is a lot of different steps and you will need, a drink and some friends in the kitchen with you. I want to share the recipe of my friend Ruth Arellano, she makes magic in the kitchen as always but this so far, is the best Tortilla Española that I ever have, get ready is a lot of steps but is worth it.

Stuff you need:

• 2 large bowls
• hotplate
• sharp knife
• potato peeler
• skillet or large frying pan
• spatula
• colander
• large dinner plate flat or a Vuelve tortilla

Ingredients:
• 5 large potatoes
• 1 large yellow onion
• 6 eggs
• 3⁄4 cup of olive oil
• Salt and pepper
For fun:
• 1 bottle of tinto de verano(red wine with sprite: equal parts) Make sure you have all the ingredients. Mixed the wine and sprite and pour a glass of Tinto de Verano is very important if you want to cook happy,  If you are under-21, make that a soft drink. Sorry.


Third, peel the potatoes and onion. Slice them both thinly.

Pour the oil in to the skillet and turn the heat to medium. When the oil is hot, turn the heat to low and add enough potato slices to cover the bottom of the pan.  Then add a layer of onions and sprinkle a little salt and pepper over. Repeat this until you have used all the potatoes and onion. Cook for about 15 minutes but do not let the potatoes go brown. They are properly cooked if you flip the mixture and the potatoes break easily. Don’t worry of you break a few in the process.

Now turn the heat off and pour the mixture into a colander over a bowl to drain the excess oil. While the oil is draining off, break all the eggs into another large bowl and beat them gently with a fork. Next add the potato/onion mix to the eggs and stir so that the eggs are all over the potatoes. Once again, don’t worry if some of the potatoes break. Leave this mixture to sit for about ten minutes.

Now turn the heat back on under the skillet and add 2 tablespoons of the drained oil. Add the potato mixture and spread it evenly over the pan. Make sure the heat is low because you do not want the eggs to burn. Cook for about 10 minutes. To check if done, use the spatula to lift the edge of the omelet. When it is ready to turn, the egg will start to turn brown on the bottom. The egg in the middle of the pan will probably still be a little runny.

Now take the skillet off the heat, place a large dinner place over the top, and holding both the skillet and the plate together tip the tortilla out on to the plate.

Put the skillet back over the heat and add another 2 table spoons of oil. Slide the tortilla back into the skillet and cook the other side for about 5 minutes. Once again, lift the edge to check that the eggs do not burn.

When the tortilla is finished, cut into slices like it was a pie and serve with salad as an entrée or on it’s own as an appetizer.

Cutting potatoes and onion

All done

frying the potatoes and onions

6 eggs

Drained oil

Mixing potatoes, onion with eggs

on the skillet

Checking if cooked for one side

Flipped on the plate and back to the skillet

Cooked some more until dry in the middle

Vuelve Tortilla if not a plate is fine

The result 

Gracias Ruth for the recipe, see you next year for more classes.

America Restaurant at Union Station in Washington DC

America is the Americana food experience for a foreign national like me, I will always see the place and never paid attention, until last Sunday, the food is excellent, the attention is great, also the idea of seating outdoors inside the most beautiful train station in the USA is a very incredible experience, I have had never experience so many different American Dishes in one place, if you have the change, get the chicken finger, the mashed potatoes is out of this world, and also the clam chowder, is delicious like one cook in Massachusetts but in stead you are in DC.

5 Desayuneria points for America the best in town.

Location:

202.682.9555

50 Massachusetts Ave NE
Washington, DC 20002
www.arkrestaurants.com