Yearly Archives: 2009

Cupcakes Actually

CUPCAKES ACTUALLY
CUPCAKERY
http://cupcakesactually.com
Food Decor Service Cost
15 18 15 $8

March 30th, 2009
I went to the newly opened cupcakery in Fairfax Corner before they eve had their official opening. I was hoping that this cupcakery would be good because it’s in a location that I regularly visit. Unfortunately, the quality is less than that of other cupcakeries and they’re actually more expensive! Even though they are open relatively late for a bakery, by the time I get there, they’re always cleaned out and they have only a few cupcakes left.

The red velvet cupcake was fine. The frosting had specks of vanilla in it, but had a slight sour taste to the cream cheese. I did not care for the candy on top at all, it tasted exactly like chocolate melts that come out of bags at the grocery store. Also, I felt that they were copying Georgetown Cupcake’s red velvet, which has the same design, but smaller, fondant heart. I was surprised at how red the cake was.

The strawberry cupcake (Strawberry Fields–vanilla cake with strawberry  purée) was way too hard and dense–it had the taste of a stale muffin. Unlike normal cake, I had to exert some effort into getting the fork to go into it! That was a bad sign.  The icing was strawberry buttercream, which had a slightly grey-ish, off-putting color to it. It could have benefited from a few drops of coloring to make it more appetizing. It had a nice flavor though, and not too sweet.

The method for transporting individual cupcakes is flawed. I tried to bring home a mocha one and it was smeared all over the inside of the box.

The store only has one lone table, and it’s high and slightly awkward to sit at. The decor other  than that rings slightly of CakeLove with the mosaic-bottomed display case, though I did like the back-lit flourescent menu.

I’m not sure if I would ever go back here ever again, especially since some cupcakes are almost $4 each! I always want to pop my head in and look, but I’d much rather get a cookie or shake at Potbelly, Starbucks, or some other tried-and-true local stop.

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Cappellino’s Crazy Cakes

CAPPELLINO’S CRAZY CAKES
BAKERY
http://www.cappellinoscrazycakes.com
Food Decor Service Cost
12 14 10 $3

March 21st, 2009
Seems that the cupcake craze has made its way to Charlottesville. This small bakery is located in the historic downtown district of Charlottesville, and I had to try it. It’s small and quaint, as most everything is in this brick-lined town. The cupcakes reflected the country like atmosphere by only ringing in at $2 each. There weren’t many flavors to choose from in terms of cupcakes, and I was torn between thinking these cupcakes were cute and pretty or whether they looked like someone in middle-school accidentally spilled their body glitter on them.

The store is small, but sparse–not homey. I liked the chalkboard on the wall, but it was in a location where customers would line up and lean against, so the menu would smear. The service here is possibly the worst that I’ve ever encountered at a cupcakery. I asked the person behind the counter which flavor she would recommend since I like exotic and bold flavors, and she recommended something that had very “subtle” flavors. Then I proceeded to say that I don’t like “subtle” flavors and like bold, exotic flavors, and since I don’t live around here, that I would like to make sure I get the best one possible. At this point, she snapped at me and said “Well, I can’t help you then!”, and shouted “Who’s *ready*?!” to the people behind me (which were with me). This totally ruined the experience for me and I went off with my bruised ego, dwelling how she had treated me all day.

The flavors I got were Chocolate with Raspberry Cream, Brown Sugar with crystallized amber, and Lemon cake with lemon frosting. Others got the “Snoball” cupcakes, which were chocolate cupcakes with coconut on top.

These cupcakes were edible, but the frosting was too sweet and the cake too dry. The frosting was so sweet, I could taste each grain of sugar in the frosting, as if it hadn’t even been blended well. Even if I lived in Charlottesville (still), I wouldn’t go back here. I would rather go for a crepe or brownie somewhere else.

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Washingtonian “Best of DC” Party 2009

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On the evening of July 15th, I went to Washingtonian’s “Best of DC” Party. I had seen the information about this party prior to the event, but only went when I purchased a Groupon, making the $95 ticket only $50. I arrived at around 7:30 to the National Building Museum. The crowd here was a lot younger than I expected, mostly people in their upper 20s and lower 30s.

After waiting in line to check-in (I saw many people with Groupon print-outs in hand), we received our wrist bands and walked into the museum, which was decorated with an “Asian” motif. Not sure how I feel about that since it’s a little kitsch and an easy way out instead of coming up with an original theme, but I liked the ribbons and fishie cut outs as well as the imperial sun flower artwork (which  I saw someone wearing one of these flowers–I can’t believe they defaced the art like that!).

We stopped and got some Sweetgreen yogurt from the truck on the way to the building. I got tart yogurt with mini chocolate chips. I really liked the refreshing tartness of the yogurt, much better than some that I’ve had elsewhere.

After taking a program and a Washingtoninan “Best of” issue from a nearby table (which I don’t think we were supposed to), we made our way around. A lot of the tables were already sold out or were getting close because the building had opened up at 6pm for people that had “presidental ($125) tickets. Some of the food was good, some of it was not good, but none of it was amazing. I was sad to miss Rasika and the Source (as well as many others that had deserted their tables by about 8:30). I did get to meet one of the owners of Matchbox, who offered to buy us margarita’s, but sadly, the bar did not have alcohol–just beer and wine.

Below is the list of what we had:

  • Sweetgreen: tart yogurt with strawberries/chocolate chips
  • co.co sala: strawberry cheesecake lollipops, crab corn dogs
  • commonwealth: beef brisket on toasted baguette topped with scallions
  • founding farmers: nut mix, bread with roasted red pepper or guacamole dips
  • 2941: chocolate pistachio diamant, seasonal pate de fruit, strawberry blueberry macaroon pops, milk chocolate ice cream sandwiches, chocolates
  • the oval room: shrimp ceviche with “chorizo” and micorgreens
  • georgetown cupcake: Red Velvet / Peanut Butter Fudge cupcakes
  • bgr the burger joint: cheeseburger with pickle, diced onions, mustard
  • kitchen: smoked salmon with truffle emulsion and small salad
  • hook: summer berry shortcake, tuna w/ raspberry foam
  • bangkok joe’s: pumpkin vegetarian “best” potsticker
  • citronelle: chilled eggplant soup
  • matchbox dc: sliders
  • majestic: homemade mini hotdogs
  • asian nine: some sushi roll with panko and sauce
  • baked & wired: Peach/Cherry/Blueberry Pie, brownies
  • domain de canton: ginger liquer
  • stella artois
  • hakutsuru: plum wine
  • poste: lemon thyme “lemonade”
  • water
  • kirin ichiban
  • cafe bonaparte/napolean cafe: pink pomegranate champane

co.co sala: strawberry cheesecake lollipops, crab corn dogs commonwealth: beef brisket on toasted baguette topped with scallions 2941: chocolate pistachio diamant, seasonal pate de fruit

I was so glad that they had plum wine at a tasting booth, that I went back multiple times. One of the best dishes was the pumpkin potsticker from Bangkok Joe’s, which I haven’t been able to get out of my mind since. They were steaming hot and the perfect blend of sweet and savory. At co.co. sala, I voiced my opinion on the restaurant, stating that I had a previously horrible experience, and the manager invited me back. Not that I’m going to go back, but it was nice to see a face with a name. Many dishes here were half-eaten before going in the garbage, such as Commonwealth’s brisket, the Crab Corn Dog at co.co. sala, both ‘sliders’ here, whose buns were atrocious. I was excited by seeing Citronelle, but the soup they offered was slightly off-putting. I loved the Peanut Butter Fudge cupcake at Georgetown Cupcake, but it was waay too rich for me. The molten fudge filling inside oozed out when you took a bite and I’m sure I had frosting and filling all over my face and hands by the end of it. Definitely a plate/fork deal, not napkin-hovering-while-standing-struggle. 2941’s macaroon pops were nice and fluffy, yet crispy on the outside. We also got chocolate-nut-toffee bark to take home. Hook’s cake was alright, but I spit the tuna right out when it went in my mouth. How disgusting! And I eat raw fish all the time, so it wasn’t that.

Apparently there was a lion dance performance (which I missed), but oh did I see the glow-in-the-dark interpretive hula-hoop/nunchuk dance. I was stifling laughter. Other than that, the music was young and slightly confused, but I could tell they were trying.

I’m glad that I went this time, but I don’t think it was worth it. It was a fun night out on the town, but absolutely not worth full price, and I won’t go next time even at half-off.

Picnic-y Bento

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I was quite lazy today, and I’m trying to clean out the fridge. Seedless watermelon, homemade potato salad, strawberry/rhubarb & peanut butter whole wheat sandwich, diet green tea.

Bento on the left is a little Totoro one I picked up in Japan, the sandwich box on the right is from a dollar store. I stole it from my house, so who knows where it came from. Below the Totoro bento is my Totoro silverware set. I keep it at my office so that I don’t have to use utensils, and I don’t need utensils at home, so why not. Freakin’ awesome Wall-E bag in the back. Never gets old…

July 3rd (2nd Work Bento)

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I was given lunch Monday, made a sad sad lunch on Tuesday (furikake rice with a peanut butter/jelly sandwich), and bought lunch on Wednesday, so Thursday was the first bento that actually had some semblance of bento-ness.

I wrapped this in a furoshiki I got from Japan. The top level of our local department store in Mizonokuchi (OI/NOCITY) had cute furoshiki and bento stuff, and I think I thought these were crabs when I bought it. Either that or I have a similar one that has a crab print on it. The reason I needed a furoshiki was because my Wall-E bag is a little too small for this Miffy lunch box. The Miffy box is only one teir, but extra horizontal. When I was making my Wall-E bag, I based it off of a Rilakkuma bento bag I bought for my sister which came with a smaller two teir bento. Oh well. So long as I have something to keep the bento together and serve as a protective barrier between food and my Coach purse.

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