Brasserie Beck

This is not something I'm going to get into the habit of posting about, but I couldn't resist. I love french food -and apparently...now..I also love Belgian food! I'm not quite sure where the difference lies, though. Well the restaurant I'm talking about is Brasserie Beck ( http://www.beckdc.com/ ). The restaurant is charming and only a few blocks from my home. It has a Vienesse / hoffmanesque feel to it - a real charming bistro from Vienna in the 1920's transplanted to Washington, DC! Beautiful woods, high ceilings, large windows with a modern lace covering, white marble and blue upholstery complete the looks.

The food was a heartattack on a plate -but it's worth it. I had poached eggs over gruyere cheese over serrano ham with a light hollandaise sauce and some mesclun greens on the side. Now - grueyere cheese, poached egg yolks and Ham are probably my favorite foods, but I've never had them THIS GOOD before. The portion was small but very filling but unfortuantely I think I could have had about 6 more plates worth.

The most charming part was the copper pan it was served in, similiar to the one seen below! BEAUTIFUL presentation! I read that they serve a lot of their entrees in copper - purely for presentation -not the pans that are actually used to cook the food with. I really have a thing for copper pans and wish I hadn't already started my collection of the stainless all-clad. Too late to switch now ( besides, copper is a lot more expensive and high maintenance!) My mom used to polish her copper pans with ketchup, I guess the acid takes away the tarnish? I always thought it looked really gross though, like giving birth to a shiny copper kettle.

Back to brunch and away from births. Of course, the best part of brunch is generally the cocktail (no disapproving looks, please). Insead of the obligatory mimosa, I tried a Crevecour which is champagne (naturally) with citrus chamomile tea. It was really delicious - a great way to start a Sunday!

their famous pea soup

If you live in the DC area, check out Brasserie Beck. I can't wait to go for dinner now! I generally like to test out a restaurant with something hard to mess up like brunch - they passed with flying colors!

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They bloomed!

Well,I guess I'm not all black thumbs - I got my paperwhites to bloom and they look ok. Why do they grow so tall and weedy though? they like to slump over sometimes too - i'm not a fan of that. But here they are in all their glory!

they bloomed!

Here are my baked pears from the other week too -just so you can see mine are just as pretty as the photo I posted!

so good - all gone!dining by candlelight

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Richard Morris Hunt, Part 5

MARBLE HOUSE

The most opulent house in Newport is probably 'Marblehouse'. Built between 1888 and 1892 for William Kissam Vanderbilt ( yes, another one, they must have bred like bunnies ), this was the first newport 'palace' - before this most of the mansions were very informal in nature -more like true beach houses. The house was $11 million to build ( yes, that much back in 1888 ) and $7 million of that was in marble alone. When you visit you can see why - every square inch, interior and exterior is covered in exquisite marble! It's like a big tomb on the beach -but I imagine in the pre-air conditioning days this really was a great way to stay cool.

two photos I could find of the interior, it gives you an idea of the grandness and the acres of marble! Looks more like Versailles than a beach house!

Just behind the house in the backyard is a really marvelous chinese tea house! It had just recently been restored when I saw it 2 years ago.

the teahouse which is just off the back of the house, pictured

Now, something upsetting is that RMH supposed based this on the Petit Trianon at Versailles. Hmm....I don't think so -but it's still nice. I'll do a posting on the P.T. next week so you can see how that is SOOOO different than Marble House - even its function was different, not to mention that Marble House was built to impress while the Petite Trianon was built as a refuge away from court life at Versailles ...don't get me started....... I'm getting upset...........This is NOT the petite trianon......... It's not even the Trianon!

a sitting room off a bedroom -what, no marble?

I was pretty sick of taking photos by the time of this house ( plus it was raining ) so the photos are courtesy of http://www.galenfrysinger.com/newport_marble_house.htm

a view of the ceiling of the portico- marble marble everywhere!

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Richard Morris Hunt, Part 4

The Breakers

Are you getting bored yet? Only one more R.M.H. post to go! Will you miss him? I'm sure he'll miss you! Two summers ago I fulfilled a lifelong dream to go to Newport, RI. Some might say this was the playground of the gilded age - just R.M.H.'s cup of tea! I went during the famous jazz festival ( think louis armstrong and Bing Crosby in 'High Society' -thats newport and the festival ) which was really fantastic. Imagine sitting out in a sailboat riding the waves, sipping champagne and listening to fantastic music -that was me 2 years ago :) But of course it wasn't all fun and games -I had NUMEROUS house museums to see -I was on a schedule!!!

The front facade and driveway from Ochre Avenue ( millionaire row )

The most famous house in Newport ( and one of the most famous in the country ) is the Breakers. Built by Cornelius Vanderbilt ( ya, his younger brother built Biltmore ) as his summer home from 1893-1895, the Breakers is a 70 room mansion with 65,000 SF. Thats like.....super-target sized! The original cost was $7 million dollars ( $150 million in todays money). Like most of the mansions in Newport, the Breaker's rear facade faces the Atlantic ocean and cliffwalk ( a path you can follow along the ocean past all the mansions ).

the Breakers from cliffwalk and the 30 ft tall entry gates

The Breaker's truly is breathtaking. You enter into a lavish great hall which rises 50 ft. high, 50 ft. wide and 50 ft. long and basically all the main rooms of the house open off of it. Ceilings are tall and windows large to catch the ocean breezes. It truly is a magical place. However, the thing that struck me about all of the mansions in Newport were the fact that the mansions are so LARGE and the yards are so small. These are all basically palaces built one upon the other! In scale, it's somewhat like current-day suburbs - houses were built to maximize the space. Until Biltmore was complete, The Breakers was the largest house in America and it's sumptuousness surely beats the Biltmore estate.

the dining room and the central great hall

One interesting tidbit is that while the Vanderbilt family sold the home for $365,000 to the Newport Preservations society in 1972, the family still has the right to use the 3rd floor of the mansion for their use and they do each summer! So one of the biggest tourist destinations in New England which attracts over 300,000 visitors annually is still essentially a private home! Smart owners! Plus while technically the building and property are owned by the preservations society, all the precious furniture on display is still owned by the family. So when you visit ( and you must! ) don't touch!

Those pictures not by me are courtesy of the Newport Preservation Society as to preserve the house you cannot take interior photos

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