The Crustacean Adventure- Washington D.C,

Washington D.C. is an exciting city for history and museum lovers. You can spend weeks in the Smithsonian, visit memorials and homes of presidents. We took a Segway tour of the main tourist points in the city. It was a really fun way to experience a city.

My cousin Rupal moved to D.C. a few years back. She proudly carries the food lover label as well. I asked her to take us to a not for tourist place for a meal. She recommended the D.C waterfront to eat crabs.

The D.C. Waterfront seemed like a place from the past. It reminded me of the various blues festivals I had attended when I lived in Chicago. It reminded me of my road trips through Tennessee and Kentucky and Louisiana. Even though there was no music, i could hear the rhythm and blues in my head. People were casually dressed for date night, buying crabs, oysters, lobsters, mussels, clams, crawfish. Fried catfish sandwiches. I could hear the harmonica, drums and sax in my head as we walked around the large plaza surrounded by the fresh catch of the day. Live crabs being sold by the dozens. $50 for 2.5 dozens of the large male blue crabs. Plates of fresh oyesters to shuck, one of the best ceviches I have ever eaten. We even bought some crawfish to try. The place was alive and vibrant.

Rupal guided us through the process of buying and eating the crabs. Christian & my sister and my cousin Neil were all new to the experience. We were all in seafood heaven. The men behind the counters were very sweet and helpful. I bought some Old Bay Seasoning - the local Baltimore masala that goes well with everything.

The thing that I really enjoyed was people watching. This place seemed most popular amongst the black folks. I find black fashion the most fun, evolved and experimental. Men in colourful suits, women in jumpers and mini dresses. Large frizzy hair, several braids in some. I always admire the confidence and the beauty of these people. Many folks were nice and let me take their pictures.

After a couple of hours, we had gone through 30 crabs, a dozen crawfish, a dozen oysters, a large box of ceviche with crackers and some 24 beers amongst the five of us. As we walked back to our car, there was a lady playing this really amazing song on her radio- Birds by Weeknd. That song was the song of the night for me. Do hear it out as you scroll through the pictures.

 

 

 

Of Short Skirts, Fancy Shoes and Wine served in Plastic Cups

Last month I attended Sula Fest. Initially, I was not entirely impressed with the whole thing. It was alright. The food was Ok, the music performances were short of stellar and the energy level could have been taken up several notches. The line up was Something Relevant (the saxophonist Ryan who I love), Petri Dish project with Ashu of Blue frog and Monica Dogra, Anushka, Pentagram and Medeival Pundits (I took a rain check on the last). However the wine was lovely of course and Sula owns a fantastic property in Nashik. But the more I think about it that maybe this festival wasn't entirely about the wine or the food or the music. I think what I really had fun was checking out the haute couture. What with Lakme Fashion Week 2011 coming up this Friday I thought it would be great to share my attempt at fashion photography.

This adventure to Sula was only possible with the help of my two friends Keith and Nishanth and my mom's car. Nishanth was a total trooper to drive all three of us from Mumbai to Sula (Nashik) and back in one piece all in one day. I had been to Sula before in the monsoon and the views from their tasting room are decadent of endless rolling grapevines and interspersed with lakes. Absolutely beautiful.
Like I said the food was passable- burgers, kheema pao, Italian, Chinese, Indian- the whole spread. Nothing really stood out to me. The Bournville Dark Chocolate and wine pairing was interesting. The wine was delicious but was served in plastic cups. Considering it was a huge festival I suppose thats forgiven. But really delicious wine. My favourite wine is the Dindori Reserve Vignier. So good.
But most interesting was the hot fashion, the shortest skirt, the cute sandals, men in linen shirts, sexy jeans, women with fun hair dos, sunglasses, smiles and grins.
So channeling my inner Sartorialist - here it is Food Blogger turns Fashion Blogger-

The beautiful Sheetal Malhar

Last year I came down to the vineyards during the monsoons. We were designing a wine bottle label and toured the wine country for inspiration. Check these beautiful photos. Totally worth a visit don't you think.