I just love trying foods that are offered for a limited time. Lucky for me, my recent whirlwind one-day visit with my daughter, Grace, fell during the Food and Wine Festival at DCA.
At the top of our list was the $5.50 Meyer Lemon Blue Diamond Almond Macaron at the Citrus Grove kiosk so we headed there for breakfast. This palm-sized macaron has a stiff, lightly lemon flavored creamy filling with an additional layer of unidentified berry jam. The soft outer cookie tastes a little like marzipan, which was the highlight for me. I’m OK with this item being offered for a limited time as once was enough for me.
For lunch, Grace and I stopped at the Garlic Kissed Kiosk where she ordered the $7.75 Creamy Mac 'n' Cheese- with Garlic Bread Crumble. The generous amount of crispy, buttery, garlicky topping was the real star- it tasted and smelled great. This happy marriage of two comfort foods is worth trying.
Our next stop was the I Heart Artichokes kiosk where I ordered the tasty $7 Fried Artichoke With Lemon Aioli. Although the artichoke could have been crispier, the aioli added a lot of flavor and the fresh sprouts on top made it feel sort of gourmet. I’d order this again.
Our final stop of the day was the Golden Dreams kiosk, where we ordered the $7.25 Deconstructed Teriyaki Chicken Musubi with Pineapple Relish. The chicken had a great flavor, as did the relish, which was reminiscent of sweet and sour sauce. There was a good ratio of sticky rice to the other items. I’m glad we tried it.
Our favorite item all day, by far, was the $5.50 Chocolate-Peanut-Caramel Parfait. This deconstructed snickers bar consists of chocolate mousse, cookie crumble, peanut butter mousse, chopped peanuts, and caramel, with a fudgy chocolate layer on top. Grace and I enjoyed this dessert so much we created a napkin and popcorn tub vessel which I risked storing in my backpack in order to save the last few last bites for later. I would love to get the opportunity to order this again.
The 2019 Food and Wine Festival is a special event at DCA running through April 23rd.