Sign in

with Email

Reset password


Not a member?
Join now for FREE!

by Ingredient
Search

Health and nutrition news that’s easy to digest

Capitol Hill Residents Look For Comfort on a Plate

Washington D.C. is quickly becoming a heaven for chefs who are offering high-end junk food.

Comfort foods like pigs-in-a-blanket made with Portuguese sausages, deep fried Angus hot dogs, and deviled eggs with bacon are appearing on menus all over the nation’s capitol to the delight of local residents.

Washington D.C. is full of government employees, legislators and lawyers that provide a permanent customer base making it an attractive location for new restaurants in a tight economy.

To the relief of local residents, well-known chefs like Jose Andres, Bobby Flay, Fabio Trabocchi, Danny Meyer and Spike Mendelsohn are opening nostalgic restaurants in D.C., which had long been considered a culinary wasteland.

These new restaurants are offering comfort foods made of high-quality ingredients at mid-level prices instead of the ultra high-end, high priced, cerebral eateries often found in other urban food centers like Los Angeles and New York.

D.C. also offers chefs a location that does not impose strict regulations on restaurant menus and business practices.

Ironically, business is booming at these high-fat palaces while the Congress is passing new laws that would require America’s schools to remove junk food from their campuses and cram more fruits and vegetables into their menus.

As Capitol Hill is quickly becoming a residential neighborhood, locals with high-stress jobs are demanding comfort foods to remind them of their childhood when life was taken at a much slower pace.

According to a recent New York Times article by Jennifer Steinhauer, chefs are aware that the high-fat comfort foods on their menus should not be consumed on a daily basis.

What of the Obama Administration’s focus on healthier eating with the First Lady’s initiative to end childhood obesity, the healthier holiday menu, and the organic kitchen garden?

Even President Obama has joined the search for high-calorie comfort, stocking up on doughnuts on a recent trip.

Comments