july.

This was the warmest July I’ve ever had the displeasure of experiencing. I think that my mood is affected by the weather to a concerning extent. When it’s 80 degrees with 95% humidity at 6am as I try to go for a run, I am the least mature and most emotionally volatile person I know. This fact is made blindingly obvious in the District of Columbia, and the dangers of a stupidly weather-vulnerable Chase were only held at bay by the fantastic people I spent the month with and the fantastic food I indulged in.

I’ll get to the food in a moment, or, at least, the top three meals. But, on a non-food related note, I did genuinely love what July had to offer. I finally presented my full Senate internship capstone project, a research proposal to support future substance use disorder (SUD) treatment legislation. My proposal occupied a massive chunk of my mental capacity throughout the internship. Maybe I deluded myself into viewing my proposal as more important than it truly was, but I don’t know many interns who don’t do the same with their respective projects. I think that life is full of delusion until it isn’t. I took some fantastic trips with my friends, namely a camping trip at Shenendoah Park. We spent hours watching the sun go down over a mountain range, conversing excitedly, queuing up new music on the speaker (god, is there a more fantastically human ritual than trying to impress one’s friends with music?) And, now, I have a trip to Italy with Nic to look forward to. I don’t mean to be obnoxious; I just know that, like all things, the good times shall eventually pass, and I want to acknowledge them before they’re re-absorbed into the incomprehensible, cosmic, annoyingly stubborn bowl of mystical clam chowder called “time.”

Anywho, the meals.

Lapis

The best meal I had in July came from a restaurant that I had idiotically neglected for months. I’d been told by several people that a visit to Lapis was a necessity, but I’d never given in. When my mom and grandfather visited to take a tour around the Senate buildings and help me move to my new apartment, I saw a perfect opportunity to hit a new spot.

We started with two classic Afghani dishes. The Mantoo Beef dumplings had a tremendous dough. I rarely indulge in dumplings that have an exterior quite so flavorful. The filling was also very good and well-seasoned, but I really think the best part here was the yogurt sauce they were sitting in. We also had the Bolani, which is a classic flatbread; ours were filled with pumpkin and beef. The pumpkin-filled Bolani is a must-have. Incredible textures all around.

For my main dish, I went with the Morgh. I really love Indian-style chicken quorma, so my expectations were high, and Lapis passed with flying colors. The chicken was very well-marinated, and the sauce was the perfect consistency. I would definitely say, though, that the portion sizes could have been better. Of course, you really can’t go wrong with the traditional blend of Afghani spices.

Filomena

I can’t believe it took me this long to go to Filomena. It’s a Georgetown institution, and the reasons why are apparent as soon as you walk through the door. The restaurant is just so quintessentially New York Italian. The decorations are lavish and overdone; the menu is covered in references to famous celebrities (“The German Chancellor loves this pasta!” or “Bill Clinton’s Favorite Salmon!”); the waiters are extremely professional and dressed in nice suits. It’s a fun, fun, fun experience.

The menus, and portion sizes, are massive. I was immediately overwhelmed, but luckily, the restaurant does a really good job of letting you know which dishes to get. The veal and beef gnocchi was superb; the sauce tasted sweet and blended well with the veal, and every ingredient was portioned perfectly relative to it's counterparts, so each bite included the best aspects of the dish. I also had the ceasar salad; hard to mess up a ceasar salad, but Filomenas was (of course) particularly great.

Finally, rather than adding a third meal, I want to do a rapid-fire “honorable mentions” list. Without further ado:

This is the pb+j/rice cake/chocolate chip amalgamation I eat every morning. So good.

The office’s intern coordinator made us incredible pumpkin cookies.

Oreo with cheez-its— don't knock it till you've tried it.

I went over to my extended family’s house for dinner. They are from India, and the traditional vegetarian dishes they prepared were phenomenal.

Barcelona Wine Bar. Yum.

I ran a 10k (and had a personal best of 33:11!). To celebrate, I indulged in this phenomenal hodge podge.

Friends and canned soup atop a mountain. Life is a series of little campfires.