Once upon a time, I made a last minute trip into Washington, D.C. to check out a certain museum exhibit.  After my visit, I was quite hungry and made a stop at Zaytinya at the advice of two facebook friends.  They gave good advice.

The place looked swanky, but the late lunch crowd was casual enough that I didn’t feel like a total tourist (even though I was totally rocking the sneakers.  Let me live in my denial).  The place was still pretty full when I arrived, even though I was starting a late lunch, which made me glad I came late so I didn’t have to wait for a seat at the bar to open up.

Some of the late lunch crowd was starting early happy hour with wine for lunch, which made me do a double-take.  Wine at 1:30pm?  Did they have kegs and eggs out back, too?  But hey, they were keeping it classy.  No one started singing out loud or dancing on the bar.

Appetizer: Butternut Squash Hummus with some kind of amazing bread.  I wouldn’t usually even get an appetizer when it’s just me going to lunch.  But when I saw Butternut Squash Hummus, I couldn’t resist.  I love butternut squash, I love hummus, this was a no-brainer.  I could have been satisfied with just the delicious bread and hummus.  But there was more. 

Main dish: Falafel burger described as an olive oil brioche bun, chickpea fritter, tomato, and garlic yogurt sauce.  Side of Maroulosalata: romaine, myzithra, scallions, dill, olive oil, and vinegar.   This was by far one of the best veggie burgers I have ever had.  There was more bun than I needed, but I still loved every bite.  The salad was light and refreshing, and not what I imagined based on the description.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the romaine shredded.  It was really easy to eat.  That might sound silly.  Obviously I could cut the romaine with my knife and fork if I wanted to.  But sometimes it’s the little things that you remember months later. And I clearly hated it.

Is it bad manners to eat every last bite?  At home that was a prerequisite for leaving the table.  At school it was praised and got you to recess a little faster.  And I could probably blame some of that for the extra 15 pounds I don’t really need….  Oh well.  That’s why I joined a gym.