Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Food on the Brain...Tangy Sweet, Rice and Artfully Chocolate

Hi Darlngs:

Lately, I have been thinking about food when I need to and when I should not. However, this is not because unfortunately last weekend I bought a package of NutterButters -my favs- and now I eat at least 4 cookies a day ... well right now I am on the second set of four...:) Let the caloric pile-up begin! (Hmm...should go to spinning class tomorrow.) Well, my personal weaknesses are not the reason visions of succulent dishes ladened with delicious sauces and delightfully refreshing desserts dance among my thoughts throughout the day. My palette is overjoyed because I have had so many good eating experiences in the past few weeks. Maybe Summer has awakened my tastebuds but I enjoy everything from the simple Haitian mango to the more complex Thai cuisine.

Here is the story: I've heard about PinkBerry for the longest time. They started out as the premier frozen yogurt option in California allowing their clientele to choose from a few basic frozen yogurt flavors such as greentea, coffee and original that are then topped with fresh fruit, granola, coconut or Cocoa Puffs for example. The twist on the flavor is that it presents a tangy addition to what was once frozen yogurt circa. before Pinkberry. I had to wait to taste since I could not fly to Cali just to buy frozen yogurt and the yogurt would not last the trip if it were shipped. They opened a store in NYC and I unfortunately visited NY a few times before finally making it to the Mid-town store. Talk about a wait that was worth it. I seized being a PB virgin about two weeks ago...and it was fabulousity indeed. The tangy/sweet flavor was light and refreshing, powerful but not overpowering, working with the palette to make a yummy home enveloping the tasty toppings as you popped them into your mouth and oh oh ah gone leaving you longing for more.

Well to my surprise I started hearing about a new frozen yogurt place in DC called TangySweet. Had to try it. Yummy! Loved it and is it not Shakespeare who said "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"? Except in this case the decor is not as up to par as PB, but the website is the same and the flavor is just about there but a little less tangy. It works...but it still keeps PB on the brain.

The next part of the story of my efforts to close the gap between my have and have not eaten I went to Rice restaurant. Rice, no surprise has really nice Thai food with fabulous Rice. The rice has coconut milk, spices and green tea flavor for sum - not your usual Asian restaurant fare. In the end, the rice could've been the entire meal...it is that good. The meal was great too. When they describe an entre as spicy take them at their word. The meal was flavorful the passion fruit nectar refreshing. A good time all around.

There was also a wonderful restaurant across the street from Rice call Artfully Chocolate featuring Kingsbury Collection ... a mouthful of words but a fascinating chocolate restaurant and more. They offer chocolate novelties such as massage oil, hot chocolate, room freshener, chocolate nuggets and bars. I was too full to try when I visited ... but a friend did and I will return. For the time being...I am stuck with my thoughts.

Dupont Circle is becoming a great DC find for food!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

After finally trekking it over to TangySweet in DuPont Circle yesterday . . . I have to say, I was extremely disappointed in what I experienced:
Tangy Sweet Staff/Customer Service - The staff were all young high school type kids, and they were not attentive to my needs. They are not trained in customer service, nor were friendly. It's obvious that this is a part-time gig for them . . . . they looked unkempt. They should be babysitting instead.
Fruit Selection - Pinkberry's fruit selections always appears to be fresh, and directly from the farmers' market. TangySweet seems like they got their fruits from the local supermarket, their almonds were stale. Their bananas were 2 weeks old (blackened skin and banana), which they were trying to serve me . . . I then opted for mango
Cleanliness - Pinkberry's store has an appearance of being clean and sterile . . . TangySweet . .NOT. There were crumbs and fruit droppings everywhere on the counter . . .
Yogurt - TangySweet obviously tried to imitate Pinkberry regarding their yogurt flavors. While the green tea yogurt tasted better at TangySweet, I was still yearning for Pinkberry's original flavor.
Store Layout - Again, TangySweet was attempting to imitate the color and layout of the Pinkberry's store, but they weren't successful. Everything in their store looked cheap, and the floors looked like you were stepping on doo doo.
I'm very disappointed, but unfortunately, I have no other choice but to go there if and when I need my Pinkberry fix.

Diva Style said...

Hey there! If you like this spot, you may want to try Co Co Sala in DC...it opened up about 2 months ago. Check it out - www.cocosala.com. Enjoy!

 
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