A Weekend in Washington D.C. - Tiny Urban Kitchen

We will begin a short series on Washington D.C. based off of a weekend trip I took there over July 4th weekend. Yes, it was another wedding, so we didn't get to eat at as many places as we would have for a normal trip. If you want to see my other DC posts, definitely check out the index (or just scroll down to the bottom of thist post), where you'll find a list of all the links to the different restaurants I've visited in DC.

I was so very torn.

On the one hand, I'd always been curious about what it would be like to sit on the Mall at the nation's capital on the 4th of July. It seems like if there's going to a huge celebration somewhere, DC would be that place.

Yet I absolutely love the fireworks in Boston. If I'm not out of town, I will be there. We always head out there every year to watch the fireworks on the river. I love how the music coordinates with the fireworks show, which is really long! (about 30 minutes). The show is always phenomenal.

This year, because we were invited to a wedding in DC, we had that much more reason to make a weekend trip out of it. So, we flew down to DC on July 3rd and spent a long weekend doing all sorts of classic DC activities, such as visiting the free museums (Smithsonians!) along the national mall (awesome way to escape from the heat you're waiting for the fireworks to begin), heading down to Virginia to see the Discovery space shuttle at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum (so cool!), and (of course), checking out its dining scene.

No July 4th is complete with a BBQ, and we did just that. We visited several friends who lived in the area and had a fun barbecue. I learned how to make salmon on a cedar plank, something I can't wait to try at home!

In DC, we checked out a few restaurants, such as this fun family-owned spot originally from Taiwan that boasts a pretty awesome flaky green onion pastry (among lots of other dishes!).

We're huge fans of Jose Andres (having been to many of his other restaurants), and thus decided to try a few more in his empire in DC (where he started it all). This Mediterranean place had fresh ingredients and lots of fun, flavorful small plates.

His flagship restaurant, now expanded to take more reservations, was a revelation - delicate, well thought out flavors accompanied stunning presentations.

It's a fun experience, as you get a first hand look at the creation of each dish.
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Stay tuned for much more complete posts about each of these places!