Arts
12
theObserver
Friday, May 22, 2015
Summer House brings West Coast to Bethesda By Madison Hurr Features Editor Walking into Summer House: Santa Monica, I was immediately transported to the West Coast. The food and decor earned five out of five stars, as the restaurant offered a wide variety of dishes and a cool, relaxed atmosphere. Summer House: Santa Monica opened in Pike & Rose in North Bethesda about four months ago. Its only other location is in Chicago. The decor is tantamount to the atmosphere of a beach house. The interior is painted all white with indoor shrubs and greenery, providing a pop of color. Circular bulb lights are strung across the ceiling and both linen and glass lanterns illuminate the room. Straw chairs and outdoor seating, along with a “Countdown to summer” plastered on the wall, scream California. Along with lunch and dinner options, the restaurant offers breakfast from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. giving even those
who aren’t morning people a chance to savor the delicious breakfast menu, which includes chicken and waffles, orange-chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled egg sandwiches. During my weekend brunch visit, I tried the Santa Monica egg white omelette, blueberry pancakes, roasted cauliflower and the pasta of the day, which was gemelli with fennel and pork sausage. Though most egg white omelettes lack the flavor of normal omelettes, this one did not. The cheese and turkey breast, as well as the tomato avocado topping, embellished the egg whites. The roasted cauliflower was served with jalapeño pesto, candied lemon, Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Not too spicy and roasted to perfection, this was a great choice of side dish. The gemelli was cooked to just the right amount of chewy, and the blueberry pancakes were fluffy and sweet.
Though delicious, the entrées seemed to be high in sodium, calling for a round of dessert to balance everything out. I had the coconut float: fresh coconut sorbet, vanilla bean ice cream, passionfruit ice, lemongrasslime soda and chia. It came in a mason jar and presented itself as a perfect summer dessert: a unique combination of crisp and refreshing flavors. If the dessert menu doesn’t suffice, the front of the restaurant hosts a dessert bar with a wide array of sweets and coffee. One of their most popular sweets is the Krispy chocolate chip cookie topped with rice crispy treat bits. Another is the bacon chocolate chip cookie. They also serve gluten-free cookies and a gluten-free cinnamon roll for those with gluten allergies. The “Krispy” chocolate chip cookie was soft and delicious. I had never seen such a combination of rice crispies and cookie before, and it was just as good as it sounds.
If you want to get a taste of California, go no further than Summer House: Santa Monica.
PHOTO BY MADISON HURR.
Summer House’s assortment of dishes gives diners the opportunity to experience West Coast food.
CRAVE will make your tastebuds go wild By Arielle Gordon Arts Editor
CRAVE Bethesda: American Kitchen & Sushi Bar is the latest restaurant to be garnering attention from the CHS community. CRAVE is a full-service lunch and dinner restaurant that offers a wide variety of dishes, from classic American comfort food to exotic sushi. It is the first location on the East Coast, but there are six other locations around the country. “From fresh salads and sushi, to hearty entrees and flatbreads, there’s something for everyone at CRAVE,” CRAVE Bethesda General Manager Michelle Went said. The restaurant offers a lunch menu, a dinner menu, a sushi menu, a dessert
PHOTO BY ARIELLE GORDON.
Chef Joel Hassanali’s specialites include foods local to Maryland.
menu, a take-out menu, a gluten-free lunch menu and a gluten-free dinner menu. Each gluten-free menu offers over 20 options. According to Executive Chef Joel Hassanali, each executive chef also has a lot of freedom to create items at his or her own restaurant. Hassanali likes to incorporate ingredients specific to Maryland, such as rockfish and crab, onto the menu. He also incorporates his Caribbean background into many of his dishes. In addition to the standard lunch and dinner menus, customers are also able to order from the chef’s special menu. The chef’s special menu offers five to seven chef-created items that are unique to each restaurant. In addition to using a wide variety of local and exotic ingredients, CRAVE makes sure that all of the dishes they serve are cooked with fresh, high quality ingredients. “Our sushi is flown in fresh daily from around the world,” Went said. “We make it a policy never to allow food to leave the kitchen if there is a question about its quality.” To ensure that there is always something new for customers, CRAVE changes its menu approximately every six months. They are currently serving their spring/summer menu. They also offer a fall/winter menu.
Some of the entrées can be a little pricy, as a burger was about $16 and the sushi ranges from about $8-14. The portion sizes are average. According to Went, CRAVE is also in the process of adding more, less expensive “small plate” options to the menu.Cheaper options may make CRAVE a more appealing dining destination for students. Upon dining at CRAVE, I was pleased. The staff was very friendly and made sure that I had everything I needed or wanted.
The restaurant is large and dimly lit. The overall ambiance is nice and intimate; however it was quite loud inside, and some of the tables were located in close proximity to one another. I thoroughly enjoyed what I ate. I split the California sushi and Strauss Free Raised Grass Fed Burger with another person. Both dishes tasted fresh and were filling. CRAVE opens at 11a.m., which gives seniors enough time to get lunch and get back on time. The options on the lunch menu are generally cheaper than the dinner menu.