Black's Bar and Kitchen

After three days of binge eating while visiting my friend in the greater Washington DC area, I am going to need a month of dieting to counter this gluttonous President's Day weekend.

On Sunday morning, we had a glorious brunch in Bethesda at Black's Bar and Kitchen. Their seafood buffet was one of the nicest brunch's I have had. This includes New York and Las Vegas. The quality of the food was unlike a typical buffet of mediocre food that is perpetually refilled. All of it had good flavors and fresh ingredients.

They had a wonderful raw bar that was full of oysters and clams, seasoned shrimp cocktail, and assorted seafood salads. The mignonette sauce that went with the oysters/clams was subpar compared to my favorite at Fish. I prefer the vinegar to be more prominent; the sauce should be tangy so it adds freshness to the seafood, not weigh it down. They had a nice smoked salmon with a spread of creme fraiche, cream cheese, capers, onions, and even caviar. My favorite from the cold section of the buffet was the duck liver pate with caramelized onions, spread across their parsley toast point... yum!

Around the corner from the raw bar was the hot food; grits, applewood smoked bacon, breakfast sausage, eggs Pontchartrain. Their omelet station was made to everyone's taste and my friend's omelet was perfectly light and fluffy. Grilled asparagus topped with a beet and grape salad, charcuterie, pasta salad, grilled mushrooms in balsamic vinaigrette, and assorted grilled vegetables were all delicious sides to the craving station. Thick juicy cuts of molasses-peppercorn crusted prime rib with the usual accompaniments - au jus, horseradish cream, caramelized onions; the horseradish cream was divine.

$36 for the buffet only and $48 if you want unlimited champagne cocktails with brunch. A little pricier than I usually aim for brunch but well worth it.

DiWine

Brunch is a beautiful thing. All you can drink brunch is probably the reason why I love New York so much. I usually have brunch in Manhattan but this past weekend was my lazy, stay in my pajamas and do nothing weekend. But my friend dragged me out of my comfy fleece pajamas and to the a local restaurant around the corner from my apartment, DiWine. Lo and behold! Brunch special! For $15 dollars you can get an entree with a cup of coffee and a drink. If you want it to be endless mimosas, bellinis and bloody marys add an extra $7 only!

 Capricossa Pizza - Pepperocini, Eggs, Mushroom, and Mozzarella

I think we all know which option I choose but I was amazed at how good their pizza was. They have a wood burning brick oven in the back that gets the dough crisp on the bottom but still chewy goodness in the middle. And with V-day on the way, the made my eggs into the shape of a heart!

 Banana Bread French Toast - Maple Roasted Bananas, Strawberries, and Crème Fraiche

My friend had the banana bread french toast which I stole a bite of and it was so good! How have I never thought of making french toast with banana bread before? What made it so perfect for my taste? No raisins! I absolutely do not like raisins in bread and it was this dense banana bread with no raisins and plenty of walnuts for texture. But the most amazing part of that dish was the citrus creme fraiche that came with it. Amazing! Good to know that I don't HAVE to head into the city for a good brunch. Well done DiWine. I will definitely be back.