Foodie Beauties

The internet seems to be missing a good dating website for foodies.

I emphasize that the site should be good, because there do seem to be a few really bad ones. Most seem to suffer from a crisis of identity. They start out with the honorable mission of uniting cuisine lovers, only to quickly realize that by focusing their scopes on hungry, lonely hearts, they miss out on all the hearts that are just lonely. Somewhere along the line, they expand the theme of their site to embrace a bigger audience. Gradually, they give food up, abandoning the only reason that justified their existence among millions of other dating sites, and go for watered down.

I can recall reading the business section of the newspaper less than five times in my life, so take that disclaimer into consideration when you read the following: I think the internet dating market is hungry for a food-themed site. It just has to be done right. Here's Marcy's pitch:



Online Dating Site for Good Food and Cooking Enthusiasts Launches

The current popularity of the Food Network Channel is resulting in some creative niche filling.

One of these is a new online website that is more than just about dating. Pairing.us is an innovative website that uses the growing food and cooking trend to create avenues of communication and compatibility among people who value quality and fun.

Rather than viewing dating like a job hunt, this website still believes in chance, but that chance is enhanced by compatibilities of quality food, wine, and people. The goal of this website is to be the leading personals site for cooking enthusiasts and food lovers. This forms the basis for a unique cooking and food lovers community as well as a launching pad for people pairings.

A benefit of this concept is that the website avoids much of the awkwardness that can accompany dating websites. In short, this concept has managed to be a welcome and subtle addition to the genre of online dating. More than just promising results, we believe that the alchemy of computers, food, fun and communication will work its magic on its members and that it is well worth the price of admission.

Members have a chance at winning one of three cash prizes offered in Pairings’ monthly recipe contest. The top three finalists will receive cash prizes of $300, $200 and $100, respectively. Each contest will require a particular ingredient. The ingredient for August is the tomato. In addition, you will be required to pair up a wine with your recipe. Winning recipes will be featured in our annual cookbook and distributed yearly to contest winners. Join now with a lifetime membership, no monthly renewal, and one-time fee of $29.95.

To fuel the chemistry there are a variety of tools provided by the website such as chat rooms, message boards, and recipe postings, which assure time well spent. The idea of creating an online dating service for quality people from a community integrated in the culinary may be extraordinarily obvious. It may also be brilliant. It certainly is timely. A modest one-time membership fee is also an attractive low risk incentive for culinary fun and possible passionate pairings especially considering one has the opportunity of winning cash.

There is a lot to like about this website whether you are a foodie, a chef, a gourmet, an armchair cook, a grillmeister or anywhere in between.

Washington Area Top 50

Marcy and I have spent the past couple of months tackling the DC area's top 50 restaurants, and I didn't even have to sell my car. The trick? We're using Young and Hungry's list in the City Paper, not the rankings in the Post or Washingtonian, which would have required a bank loan. Places like Komi and Citronelle aren't used to rejection, but Tim Carman leaves them off his list, favoring hole-in-the-wall joints over places that just leave holes in your wallet. And so far, Tim's recommendations have been right on more than just the money.

In a spreadsheet with no less than three separate pages of foodie analysis, Marcy and I have been rating the restaurants according to five scoring dimensions: taste, creativity, ambiance, service, and price. Although the interior deco and service have occasionally suffered (I'm talking to you, Abol of Silver Spring), the taste and creativity have been consistently good.

Here are our overall rankings so far, along with favorite dishes:

Marcy

1. Four Sisters (banh hoi scallop va tom nuong - scallop skewers, lettuce Raps, vermicelli)

2. Joe's Noodle House (bamboo salad *)

3. Liberty Tavern (arctic char *)

4. Rasika (dal makhani - lentils, tomato, garlic, fenugreek)

5. Nava Thai (pad thai)

6. Heritage India (pondicherry spiced salmon with cilantro cream)

7. Jang Hyun Ban Jun (ja jang myun - wheat noodles mixed with bean paste and onions *)

8. Grapeseed (fricasse of wild mushrooms)

9. Evo Bistro (moroccan tuna)

10. Meaza (special veggie combo)


Matt

1. Rasika (avocado banana chaat)

2. Liberty Tavern (orechiette with confit of lamb shoulder)

3. Joe's Noodle House (spare ribs *)

4. Nava Thai (oxtail soup *)

5. Four Sisters (bo 5 mon - 5 courses of beef)

6. Evo Bistro (chicken leg tagine *)

7. Jang Hyun Ban Jun (ja jang myun - wheat noodles mixed with bean paste and onions)

8. Heritage India (chicken drummettes)

9. Grapeseed (cornmeal fried oysters)

10. Abol (Kuanta firfir - dried beef sauteed in berbere)

11. Meaza (Ye Beg Goden - baby lamb shortribs)

* Top dishes