Chef Nongkran Daks Photocredit to Quail Ridge Books
One sunny Sunday afternoon, I stumbled upon this Northern Virginia gem – a hole-in–the–wall called Thai Basil Restaurant. It proved to be an authentic Thai restaurant serving both traditional and southern Thai dishes. The restaurant is owned by the talented Executive Chef, Nongkran Daks, who beat Chef Bobby Flay in a Pad Thai competition on the Food Network program Throwdown! in 2009. Daks was born and raised in Southern Thailand. She was exposed to cooking at the age of 7 and the very first thing she learned to do was pound curry paste. Since then, she has taught in Hawaii, DC, China, Laos, Taiwan, and Thailand and ran a snack bar in Bangkok serving Asian and Western style dishes. Despite her experiences throughout Asia, Daks strives for maximum authenticity in every Thai dish from start to finish. She wants her customers to appreciate the taste of true Thai food.
Wall of Fame
Thai Basil restaurant has been featured in many articles – New York Times, USA Today, the Washington Post, Washingtonian magazine, Zagat, and AOL – among others – earning the government of Thailand’s “Thai SELECT” certification in 2001 & 2007. For those who are not familiar with the Thai SELECT program, it aims to certify and promote authentic Thai cuisine worldwide. For Daks it proves her restaurant serves authentic Thai food. Yet despite all accolades, any first time visitor will immediately take notice of the restaurant’s simple décor with its Thai artifacts, palm leaves and bamboo woven hats hanging above the mirrors and framed photographs of Thai Royal Family as well as Daks’ own family and friends.
Dining Room
After being seated in the dining room, we ordered Thai iced tea while browsing over the menu. This Thai Iced Tea was a pleasant blend of loose leaf red tea with sweetened condensed milk.
Thai Iced Tea
For appetizers, I recommend sharing ‘Goong Hom Pha’, also known as Shrimp in a Blanket. It consists of crispy filo dough filled with jumbo shrimp marinated in oyster sauce, sugar, minced garlic and fresh coriander. It is then wrapped and sealed with egg yolk before deep-frying. The finished product is a cross between a spring roll and crispy wonton, to be dipped in sweet and sour Thai chili sauce.
Goong Hom Pha
Each Asian country has their own way of preparing stir-fried noodle dishes. In every authentic Thai noodle dish, there’s a nice balance of flavors and textures (e.g., sweet, sour, salty, and spicy). The most popular dish at a Thai restaurant would be ‘Kway Teow Pad Thai’ a type of stir-fried rice noodles. I was a bit surprised to learn that Pad Thai may have originated from China as ‘Kway Teow’ meaning rice noodles in Chinese and ‘Pad’ translating to stir-fried in Thai. Thai Basil’s Pad Thai uses medium rice-stick noodles, chopped garlic, dried shrimp, chopped salted radish, bean sprouts, eggs, chopped scallions, your choice of protein (shrimp, tofu, chicken, beef or pork), lime, palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind sauce, vegetable oil, and crushed roasted peanuts.
Pad Thai
The dish is very fragrant and full of color and flavor and the rice noodles soft and moist. Bean sprouts and scallions provide an occasional crunch to the dish. The protein gives the dish texture and the palm sugar serves as a natural sweetener while acting as a thickener.
The tamarind sauce had just five ingredients – tamarind juice, palm sugar, water, fish sauce, and a dash of salt. Since it takes at least an hour to prepare the noodles and Pad Thai sauce, Chef Daks prepares these items in bulk in the morning before the start of business. After these items are prepared, she warms up oil in a pan, adding various ingredients (garlic, dried shrimp, salted radish, protein) to give the oil an array of flavors. After removing the protein, she adds the ready-to-cook noodles and water, stirring to ensure the noodles are somewhat separated. After the noodles are done, she returns the protein to the pan, frying an egg, mixing everything together and adding the scallions and bean sprouts to the pan. The finished dish is garnished with a lime wedge and bean sprouts.
This is a most delicious Pad Thai…the preparation and years of training come across with every bite. If you are in the neighborhood, give it a try!
Samantha Lee
Samantha Lee has been a foodie since the day she was born. Growing up, her grandparents owned Tung Bor Chinese Restaurant, the first dim sum restaurant in the DC area. In her free time, she loves to bake and cook. As a student at American University, she sold her baked goods (e.g., brownies, cheesecakes, cookies, and cupcakes) on campus. Since then, she has expanded her culinary knowledge and skills by enrolling in many DC area cooking classes when she learned from local greats including Amy Riolo, Robyn Webb, Marie Ostrosky, Mike Isabella, George Pagonis and Spike Mendelsohn. She has been blogging about food via Yelp since October 2014.
If you ignored the word “Abridged” in the title of this comedy, actor Dave Wright is keen to impress it upon you – multiple times while waving a weighty leather-bound collection of The Compete Works of Shakespeare. You tell yourself, there’s no way three actors can get through all those plays. But, ah! There’s the rub. They do! Well, sort of, and in ways unexpected.
Joanna Henry takes the helm as director keeping up the lickety-split pace both on- and off stage as the actors race through the aisles and at one point leap up on a handrail to deliver a speech. I won’t be enumerating how many, or which, roles each actor portrays, since I lost count before the end of the first act as the quick-change artists morphed into male and female roles. But the stout-figured Wright, along with the lanky, deer-in-the-headlights wide-eyed, Hans Dettmar and the diminutive Sean g. Byers, who rhapsodizes that “this book will be found in every hotel room in the world”, make up the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s entire cast. They are keen to remind us that Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and 37 plays which the actors, nay, comedians, merrily condense into one. To prove they are up to the challenge, they announce, “We don’t have to do it justice. We just have to do it!”
Hans Dettmar – Photos by Matt Liptak
Using every trick in the book, the trio combine pratfalls, spoofs, rap lyrics and a ton of crazy props as they speed dial their way through all 37 of the bard’s classics including, but not limited to, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra and of course Macbeth, which they point out to the uninformed, is the one word you can NEVER say in the theater.
To make it more relatable they toss in topical references like The Real Housewives of Potomac to describe a scene in Romeo and Juliet, and call on the recently uttered words of Donald Trump to express the size of a wall, “It’s gonna be huge!”, to keep the lovers apart. But for the most part the process is achieved through costume changes and hilariously bastardized lines. Somehow a blow-up dinosaur figures in. It’s Cliffs Notes on a runaway horse.
Hans Dettmar, Dave Wright, and Shawn g. Byers – Photos by Matt Liptak
Straight out of the blocks the audience roars at the blaze of high voltage activity. It’s utterly contagious, more so when a member is plucked from their seat and invited to participate in some of their shenanigans. How they squeeze, scrunch and slap together all these comedies tragedies and histories, is a wonder in and of itself. In one particularly silly scene Punch and Judy are employed to express Ophelia’s plight. The frustrated Ophelia cries out, “Cut the crap, Hamlet, my biological clock is ticking and I want babies now!”, which pretty much (colloquially) sums up her dismay. And this comic turn from King Lear which is realized as a football game, “quarterback gives it to the hunchback”.
To borrow from Hamlet’s old chatterbox, Polonius, “Brevity is the soul of wit”. And these three have it down to a science.
Highly recommended for a night of pure, unadulterated (Oh, alright, there is some adulteration. Massive amounts, if you will.) hilarity.
Through March 19th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street. For tickets and information call the box office at 703 683-0496 or visit www.thelittletheatre.com
Faran Tahir as Othello and Jonno Roberts as Iago in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Othello, directed by Ron Daniels. Photo by Scott Suchman
Director Ron Daniels presents Othello on the cavernous stage of the Sidney Harman Hall against an industrial-looking backdrop giving heft to the drama that is about to unfold. Daniels has chosen a curious, and fascinating, interpretation in casting an actor as Othello, a Moor, who is not black. Played by Faran Tahir, an actor of Pakistani descent, Daniels gives his Othello a fresh look, broadly hinting that the “Moor of Venice” was a Muslim converted to Christianity. It dovetails neatly with the line, “Your son-in-law is far more fair than black,” delivered by the Duke of Venice (Ted van Griethuysen).
It’s a bit stunning at first – certainly an intriguing political perspective for our times. Yet after adjusting to that unusual twist, we have Shakespeare’s brilliantly dark tale – of love and war, blatant racism and the destructive power of jealousy, coupled with the duplicity of man.
Othello Press Photo captions OTHELLO_007Faran Tahir as Othello, Patrick Vaill as Cassio, Jonno Roberts as Iago, and Jackson Knight Pierce as Soldier in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Othello, directed by Ron Daniels. Photo by Scott Suchman
Set Designer Riccardo Hernandez gives us an austere set – five massive factory fans spread out across the second level, churning and whirring in rhythm, and a collection of rusted oil drums pressed into service as chairs, tables and occasionally weapons. It’s that simple. Ditto for Costume Designer Emily Rebholz who dresses the men as modern day soldiers in World War II Army uniforms and the Venetian senators in Edwardian cutaways. The women, Desdemona wife of Othello (Ryman Sneed) and Emilia (Merritt Janson) her handmaiden, get simple dresses reminiscent of Isadora Duncan and her Grecian muses. All the better to cut to the action and drama.
Ryman Sneed as Desdemona and Faran Tahir as Othello in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Othello, directed by Ron Daniels. Photo by Scott Suchman.
Though there is a great deal of fuss and feathers in Act One in setting up the conflicts, trickery and ultimate betrayals, the drama really gets underway in Act Two, when Iago’s (Jonno Roberts) cruel machinations begin to come to fruition. As Othello’s aide-de-camp, Iago has already primed the pump by convincing the lovelorn scion Rodrigo to give up his fortune in jewels to buy Desdemona’s affections – a ruse to bankrupt the besotted fool and hoard the jewels for himself. Next he has duped Cassio that she will fall helplessly into his arms as soon as Othello turns his back on his adoring wife in a fit of jealous rage. And thirdly, and most horridly, he has ingratiated himself with Othello by convincing the General his innocent wife is a lowly cheat. All so he can have the chaste lady for himself. It’s an absolute wonder he can keep all his stories straight.
As the plot’s pendulum swings back and forth from Venice to Cyprus, Lighting Designer Christopher Akerlind suitably alters the mood, veering from soft spots for the ladies and fiery red hues for Othello’s increasing jealousy. Be prepared for the loud fusillade of retorts from the soldiers’ rifles as they celebrate Othello’s win against the Turks. Here Composer and Sound Designer Fitz Patton adds bawdy bar songs to the drunken celebrations. It’s the same point at which the tide begins to turn against Cassio who, snockered, delivers the line, “Reputation, reputation, reputation. Oh, I have lost my reputation. I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.” Yet another weakness for Iago to capitalize on.
Patrick Vaill as Cassio and Natascia Diaz as Bianca in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Othello, directed by Ron Daniels. Photo by Scott Suchman.
By the time Cassio’s jealous lover Bianca (Natascia Diaz) appears to obfuscate matters, Othello has gone quite mad and we see him on his knees in Muslim prayer and vengeful rage, “She must die!”.
STC has assembled a mighty cast, diverse in performance levels, yet able to capture the pithy parts and animate them cohesively.
Highly recommended.
At the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall through March 27th 2016 at 610 F St., NW Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
Josh Lamon (Addison Mizner) and Noah Racey (Wilson Mizner) in Road Show at Signature Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman.
The many reincarnations of Stephen Sondheim’s Road Show that began with a workshop in 1999 called Wise Guys, then opened in Chicago in 2003 as Bounce, and later in New York in 2008 as Road Show, might reveal a story of the vagaries of business in and of itself. But it wouldn’t be half as juicy, nor nearly as fun as the tale of Addison (played by the rivetingly hilarious Josh Lamon) and Wilson Mizner (played by the captivatingly suave Noah Racey), the musical’s main characters. Determined to see his show get the attention it deserved after four scripts, three titles and two out of town tryouts, Sondheim thought he’d finally gotten it right. Now it’s up to us.
But what’s not to like? Those who adore Sondheim will find his familiar chord changes and emotionally sophisticated lyrics in these eighteen numbers that take us from the brothers’ ordinary upbringing in California to a glamorous world of fame and fortune with all the trappings and pitfalls. Taking to heart their father’s dying words in the tune “It’s in Your Hands Now”, they set out to make their fortune – – at first in Alaska during the gold rush of the early 20th century – – where the brothers have the first of their many fallings out in a hilarious sleeping bag dust up and an emotional, and financial, parting of the ways.
Noah Racey (Wilson Mizner), Josh Lamon (Addison Mizner) and Sherri Edelen (Mama Mizner) in Road Show at Signature Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman.
It’s a tale as old as Cain and Abel, here sprinkled with the glitz of Palm Beach and the high stakes world of real estate, driven by two ambitious brothers who co-opted Barnum’s hucksterism and Ziegfeld’s showmanship to craft an empire along Florida’s Gold Coast.
Noah Racey (Wilson Mizner) in Road Show at Signature Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman.
Director Gary Griffin sticks to a bland stage set of wooden planks, a ramp, and an underutilized second story flanked by winding staircases, its plainness redeemed by an excellent cast, hilariously quirky souvenirs from Addison’s risky ventures in far-flung outposts – – from Hawaii where he buys a share in a pineapple plantation that promptly burns down to India where his gem emporium succumbs to a hurricane, and Hong Kong where his fireworks factory blows up to a Guatemalan coffee plantation upended by a revolution – – and a story with a rib-sticking plot.
When, after all his failed businesses, Addison returns home to his mother, played beautifully by Sherri L. Edelen, he is greeted by her immortalizing his ne’er-do-well brother in the song “Isn’t He Something”, which she sings to Addison from her death bed. Here’s a mother who clearly knows how to play two ends against the middle.
Stefan Alexander Kempski (Ensemble), Angela Miller (Ensemble), Noah Racey (Wilson Mizner), Jacob Kidder (Pianist), Bobby Smith (Ensemble), Matthew Schleigh (Ensemble) and Erin Driscoll (Ensemble) in Road Show at Signature Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman.
Eight other actors handily play a slew of roles – – Erin Driscoll, Dan Manning, Bobby Smith, Stefan Alexander Kempski, Jason J. Labrador, Jake Mahler, Matthew Schleigh, and Angela Miller with Jacob Kidder on upright piano onstage for the duration of the show.
See it for Sondheim’s music, tons of laughs and a rollicking good tale of fame and fortune won and lost in the quest for the American dream.
Through March 13th in the MAX at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.
(L-R) Caroline Hewitt as Anna Fitzgerald, Margaret Colin as Hester Ferris and Michael Simpson as Colin Ferris. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.
Anthony Giardina’s The City of Conversation opens with a prophetic quote from then President Jimmy Carter – “the erosion of our conscience in the future is threatening to destroy the Social and Political fabric of America”. And in this tale, its families too.
It’s 1979, eight years before journalist and Washington power hostess Sally Quinn declared the death of the political insider dinner party. It was a time when the city’s power elite regularly negotiated over congenial cocktails and swank dinner parties in historic Georgetown homes – a time when the socially talented wives of certain influential men held considerable political sway. The title comes courtesy of author and social reformer, Henry James, a Victorian liberal who would have known that a social gathering of Supreme Court justices, politicians of both stripes, DC socialites and media power brokers would create a highly charged atmosphere.
(L-R) Tyler Smallwood as Young Ethan and Caroline Hewitt as Anna Fitzgerald. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.
In admirable fashion Margaret Colin portrays Hester Ferris, a modern-day Helen of Troy, who is based on a composite of several well known Washington hostesses of their day – Pamela Harriman, Kitty Kelley, Evangeline Bruce, Perle Mesta and Sally Quinn, wife of the late Washington Post editor, Ben Bradlee. (We know this from the revolving slide show of their photos in the theatre’s lobby and from Giardina’s acknowledgement that Quinn gave script advice.)
Tom Wiggin as Chandler Harris. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.
Hester is a staunch liberal whose inner circle includes her lover, Virginia Senator Chandler Harris (Tom Wiggin) and her spinster sister and secretary Jean, played outstandingly by Ann McDonough. On this night she is preparing to entertain the racist Republican Senator from Kentucky, George Mallonee (Todd Scofield), in order to sway his vote. But her dinner is upended when her son Colin (Michael Simpson), returns home early from Britain with his future fiancée and conservative firebrand, Anna (Caroline Hewitt). Colin wryly explains his upbringing to Anna, “Dinner is always about something. Other kids got “Pat the Bunny”, I got Tocqueville.” When the politically ambitious Anna challenges Hester’s liberalism, and proves to be a worthy opponent, the drama kicks into high gear and Colin is forced to take sides in a house divided by power, politics and ultimately a mother’s betrayal of her only child.
(L-R) Todd Scofield as George Mallonee and Caroline Hewitt as Anna Fitzgerald. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.
Less than a decade later we find Hester fighting Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, Anna triumphing the cause of Oliver North and Chandler asking for sexual reassurance. When Anna threatens Hester that her actions will result in her never seeing her adored grandson Ethan (Tyler Smallwood) again, there is a collective gasp from the audience that could rattle the 12-paned windows of Georgetown’s historic homes.
Director Doug Hughes places the action in the round, which sometimes results in 90˚ of the theatre laughing uproariously while the other 270° are straining to catch the punch lines. Though some were missed, enough landed to sustain the humor, especially this zinger from Hester, “A president used to be able to get out of the White House, come to Georgetown and get advice!” That went out with bell-bottom trousers.
If you’ve ever wanted a sneak peek into the glamor, gossip and Machiavellian intrigues of the Georgetown salon, this play lays it all at your feet – the polite arm-twisting, the post-prandial cigars and the deal-making all taking place over bourbon and branch. It’s parlor politics at its best, served up effortlessly by a cast who does witty and wisecracking to perfection.
Highly recommended.
Through March 6th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
These recipes from Nielsen-Massey are too delicious not to share. For the Decadent Chocolate Pudding be sure to use only the best semi-sweet chocolate you can find. May love find you and light your path.
May love find you and light your path?
Decadent Chocolate Pudding (Serves 5) – Yields about 2 ½ cups
Ingredients
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
½ cup of powdered sugar
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 ½ teaspoons Nielsen-Massey Mexican Pure Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Pure Chocolate Extract
½ teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Pure Coffee Extract
In a heavy saucepan, combine the cornstarch and milk. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with powdered sugar until they are pale yellow and have thickened. Gradually pour into the cooled milk mixture. Place saucepan back onto low heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not let it simmer or boil. Remove from heat and then add melted chocolate, vanilla, chocolate and coffee extracts. Pour into individual serving bowls or ramekins. Chill 3-4 hours until set. Serve with Espresso Whipped Cream.
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Espresso Whipped Cream (Yield about 1 cup)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Pure Coffee Extract
In a chilled bowl, combine all ingredients and whip with an electric mixer until fluffy. Serve with Decadent Chocolate Pudding.
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Rose Water Scented Sugar Cookie Hearts (Makes about 3 Dozen)
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup superfine sugar (purchase or process granulated sugar for 20 seconds in a food processor)
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
3¼ teaspoons Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Rose Water
2 eggs
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar (for dusting work surface)
¼ cup all-purpose flour (for dusting work surface)
Position oven rack in the center of oven and preheat to 350⁰F. Line two large, heavy light-colored baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt until blended; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar, cream, vanilla extract and rose water; beat with a handheld mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to medium-low; add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients one half at a time.
Divide dough into two even pieces, press each piece into a disk shape, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour. Dough should be cool and firm but easy to work with.
In a small bowl, whisk confectioners’ sugar and flour until blended; set aside. Working with one piece of dough at a time, place on a clean, dusted surface. Roll dough to about ⅛-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut heart shapes and transfer with a thin offset metal spatula to prepared cookie sheets. For even baking, do not overcrowd cookies. Gather remaining dough, cover with plastic and chill. Continue with second chilled dough.
For best results, bake one sheet pan at a time until done, about 10 minutes; remove and place cookies on wire racks to cool. Decorate and store in an airtight container.
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Rose Glaze and Rose Piping Icing
Ingredients:
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon meringue powder
2 tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Rose Water (may substitute with Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract)
variety gel food colors
In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and meringue powder. Add water and rose water, stir until smooth.
Glaze cookies in desired colors and set aside to dry before piping. For the piping icing, remake the glaze recipe and add additional confectioners’ sugar, one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Divide icing into small bowls; add desired gel colors.
