Good Stuff!

A few months ago, I was listening to NPR while driving somewhere. The Kojo Nnamdi show came on and Kojo talked to Chef Spike Mendelson. I’d never heard the name but he apparently rose to fame on Top Chef, a TV show I never watch, so no surprise there. They talked about the two joints the chef founded, The Good Stuff Eatery and We The Pizza (both located on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C.), as well as about the guy’s new book, The Good Stuff Cookbook.

The more I listened, the more intrigued I was about the guy’s approach to food. He was all about using fresh, high quality ingredients to make otherwise unassuming foods such as burgers and pizza. The idea is not that novel but it seems to resonate more and more with me as I get older and I think about what we eat and what we feed our child(ren). I also liked their community involvement, their concern for the environment and their effort to teach kids about healthy eating. That was enough for me to want to try the two places.

Though we haven’t yet tried We The Pizza, we did finally go to The Good Stuff Eatery with some friends, who were visiting from out of town a few weeks ago.

What did we think? We all ordered different types of burgers and we all loved them. The fries didn’t look as appealing as the fries do in other restaurants but that’s because of the type of potato they use. What they missed out on looks the fries more than made up on taste. Nia and I also had their milkshakes and they were excellent, though very, very filling. The prices are a little higher than what you’d pay at Five Guys, my husband’s standard for burgers, but the quality of the ingredients and the taste justify the difference, in my opinion.

Will we go there again? Hell, yeah,  though this is another place, where you usually have to wait in a long line to get your good stuff.  We  had to sit outside because there were no available seats inside – luckily the weather was nice. It is a family operation but the chef’s a celebrity and has been featured on Oprah, Rachel Ray, The Food Network, The View and the like. The place is also one of Michele Obama’s favorite burger joints. So, it’s not exactly a quiet place but good it sure is.

Oh, and just so you know, both places are closed on Sundays - we learned that the hard way.

Next, we have to try We The Pizza.

Paul, Nia and our friends Anna and Eran, with their daughter Maya enjoying the Good Stuff.