I ate two cups of gelato in one day and in two different cities.

Tuesday May 1, 2012

I just enjoyed a lovely weekend in Washington DC and Baltimore, MD. Most importantly, I ate a lot of amazing, and vegan, food. 

Wire scene setting!

Just as awesomely, I went to Baltimore, home of The Wire. If you haven't heard of The Wire, get new friends. If you have heard of it and you haven't watched it, why are you wasting your life? The Wire is a TV show focused mainly on  Baltimore police and drug trade. There are five seasons, each of which focuses on a different facet of Baltimore, and this shit is real (not reality tv- comparing "The Wire" to reality tv is like comparing "People" magazine to War and Peace* (side sidenote- no one actually reads "People", do they? I always thought it was kind of like Playboy- you're only in it for the pictures)). It’s a masterwork of detail and character development and holy mother of god continuity. It's the absolute pinnacle of television. Even Mad Men, with its hidden depths beneath that smoky sleek period gloss cannot touch this. Go put it at the top of your Netflix queue.

Spoiler Alert! Also, foul language and violence. Watch 100 Amazing Wire Quotes at right.

Fell's Point

However, while I was in Baltimore, I did not go wandering around to any "corners". It was exciting enough to spot familiar Wire landmarks. Instead, I experienced a very lovely and welcoming city. There was lots of gorgeous old architecture, a picturesque harbor and a very trendy neighborhood with insanely delicious gelato. This magical gelato shop had a satisfyingly wide variety of vegan sorbet flavors, including the rare dairy free chocolate flavors. As in their most popular flavor, chocolate noir, which is the chocolatiest, smoothest, most intense sorbet flavor I have ever tasted. After capping lunch with this deliciousness, taking the train back to DC and going to Chinatown for dinner, I spotted someone walking with a gelato cup from the same place. Apparently, Pitango Gelato is a chain, based in DC. Unfortunately, they are only in DC and Baltimore. But yes, I had another gelato after dinner. For those of you keeping track at home, that was gelato #2 of the day. I paired my chocolate noir with passionfruit sorbet the first time and raspberry the second. I have it on good authority that their actual gelato is equally delicious, though everyone in my party agreed the chocolate noir was the pinnacle of awesomeness. 

Taken from baltimoregrows.com

I am now a convert to the "Charm City". I like interesting places, places with stories and challenges and changes. Baltimore certainly has all of those, though if things that are difficult or different frighten you, you can always stay in this neighborhood (to the right), called Harbor East, an antiseptic experiment with the repressive and elitist air of some sort of gated expat enclave.

Other delicious restaurants I sampled while on vacay:

Sticky Fingers: DC Vegan bakery and lunch counter! Cupcakes and fake meats/cheeses galore.

Jaleo : DC Spanish Tapas restaurant, omni and a half a block away from a Pitangos.

Cazbar: Baltimore Turkish restauarant, omni with lunch specials.

*Disclaimer: I have not read War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I plan to.