America Eats This?!

Food Friday makes a very interesting, very historical return!  On July 4^th, a new temporary restaurant opened in Washington, DC – America Eats Tavern.  The restaurant is a partnership between ThinkFoodGroup and the Foundation for the National Archives and was opened in conjunction with the Archives’ new exhibit, What’s Cooking Uncle Sam?

I think the idea for the restaurant is pretty cool.   The menu is inspired by the history of American cooking.  The descriptions of the food are less about what the food is and more about the food’s history; for instance, here’s the description for the cobb salad - 

COBB SALAD
Robert Cobb, Hollywood, 1936

Cobb was the owner of the renowned Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood. One night he was hungry and supposedly created this salad from the leftovers he discovered in the walk-in refrigerator. He loved the result so much that he added it to the menu.

Pretty cool, right?

A couple of us braved the sweltering heat on Friday night to experience what America eats.  We took a 3-2-1 approach - 3 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert.  We split everything so there was more for us to try!  Since I’m using a lot of brain power to write a blog post for work (cough, cough), I thought I’d just post the pictures so you can see what America eats too. 

Grilled Butter Oysters - not a fan. 

On the bottom - Vermicelli Prepared like Pudding
- the grandfather of today's mac and cheese.
On the top - Shrimp Remoulade and Fried Green
Tomatoes - So...I really loved that movie and
that's why I suggested this dish.

Shrimp and Pork Jambalaya -
that's real crawfish in there! 

The jambalaya "plated."  Interesting fact -
the woman responsible for making Thanksgiving
a national holiday is credited with publishing the
first known recipe for jambalaya in 1853. 

BBQ Beef Short Ribs and "Cold Slaw" -
yummy and delicious.  Cold slaw or coleslaw
was brought to America by Dutch settlers.

Vermont Sugar on Snow - so, this is "snow" that is
drizzled with hot maple syrup.  Verry sweet.
The drink in the upper right hand corner is
called the Switchel.  It's a New England field
workers drink that blends molasses, ginger, cider
vinegar, and my favorite, rum. 
|And it's served in a mason jar which is so cute!