Zengo's Culinary Tour Menu

#ChicvilleDC Dinners

Welcome to DC - Due South!

Girls Night Out With Tablelist At STK!

Brunch At Ankara Restaurant

Photo Credit: Berkay Demirkan/Design Medialand

Denizens Brewing Co Turns 1 Years Old!

Dinner at Noelia Italian Kitchen

Power Lunch at STK

Bistro du Soleil + Tastemade Video!!

Brunch at Casa Luca + Tastemade Video!!

Modern Latino Cuisine at Toro Toro

There are many adjectives I’ve used to describe a restaurant. Most of them are food related. However, the main adjective that comes to mind when I think of Toro Toro is sexy. As you enter the black lacquered walls, the cowhide upholstered bar stools, and the feel the heat of the grill, you suddenly feel a little sexier.  Toro Toro is a restaurant by Mexican restaurateur Richard Sandoval which serves modern Latin dishes. From Mexican asados to Peruvian ceviche, it’s a virtual culinary trip via the rich flavors of Latin America. The food married with its surroundings, make it into the perfect place for a date night or a ladies’ night out.

Dine Out: Eat STK

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of having a ladies night media dinner at STK in Dupont.  We had an adorable booth, round table style, to eat, drink and be merry!!  The wonderful thing about being hosted is that we got to sit back and enjoy the culinary ride!!   We started off with their house made bread that comes in it's own little skillet and dripping with house seasoned butter.  Everyone enjoyed their sparkling wine, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.


After we toasted, the food began to arrive starting with the salads.  We had the mixed green salad with demi sec cherry tomatoes, aged asiago and sherry emulsion.  My main choice was the hearts of romaine, with garlic crouton and parmesan lemon dressing.



Next came the main event!! Steak of course, a strip steak to be specific, cooked medium and accompanied by a sauce plate that included chimichurri, au poivre, horseradish (my fav), blue butter (also AMAZING), bearnaise, red wine, STK and STK Bold.  Along for the ride was the delicious and juicy brick roasted chicken  with spring vegetables, maitake mushroom and jus.  My favorite though was the Chilean seabass (cause I love steak but I'm realizing I love fish more).  The seabass sat atop ratatouille, and tomato ver jus.  My dad has always told me a variation of "When in Rome" when it comes to eating out.  You don't go to a Cuban restaurant and order the burger!! So normally I'd say if you go to a steak house, get the steak!!  For STK, I will happily make an exception to that rule and say go to STK and get the seabass, it's a steakhouse with more than just steak!  The accompanying sides were the sweet corn pudding, mac & cheese and Parmesan truffle fries.  All were delicious and variations that I felt were uniquely well done!

We ended the meal with some pumpkin glazed doughnuts with bourbon sauce and caramel sauce.  We also got to try the carrot cake with pineapple filling, citrus brown butter glaze, vanilla ice cream. YUM!!

Thank you STK for having us out for such a wonderful night and thank you to our wonderful server who helped us to have such a delicious culinary journey. 

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by STK. The opinions are completely our own based on our experience.

True Food Kitchen

SCDC Lookbooks: Lady Dinner

SCDC has been a bit crazy busy these past few weeks but we are back with a new lookbook collaboration for you! This time we partnered up with BOOKALOKAL to put together a mini lookbook that features food and fashion! In this project we wanted to highlight how much fun a ladies dinner can be. Mariella of Splendor Styling did an amazing job at styling the table and bar, Jessica of Adventures Of The Repatriate created a delicious menu and Julien did an amazing job at capturing the story we wanted to tell. Big thank you to SHE'S UNIQUE and VIOLET BOUTIQUE for sponsoring the jewelry and the clothing for this shoot.

Are you ready to host your own dinner party? Head over to BookAlokal and sign up to be a host! or better yet come and dine with us, our next dinner is this Tuesday!

Mother's Day Brunch

We're really excited to share this new cooking video with you. We've joined forces with Mariela Cruzado from Splendor in Spanglish and our amazing videographer, Sebastian Marin. Together,
we produced a beautiful video on how to prepare a mother's day brunch with a Latin touch.

I am a big believer the best gift you can give a loved one is your time. What better what to give your mom or a special mom in your life than a homemade brunch made with love? This is great to prepare in a group and even enlisting your little ones to help you out. On the video, we show you how to prepare mini-quiches and Mariela shares her fabulous decorating tips!

Equipment: 12 Cup Muffin Pan
6-8 Strips of center cut bacon
1 red bell pepper
1 small onion
1 1/4 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
6 Eggs, preferably organic/ 3/4 Cup heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Anti-Stick Spray, I recommend Pam Baking Spray

Pre-heat oven at 350F. Fry Bacon until crispy, remove and place on plate with paper towel to absorb excess grease. On the same pan where you fried the bacon, fry the onions and peppers until tender (4-5 Minutes). Meanwhile blend eggs, cream, and salt and pepper in a blender. Spray muffin tin with baking spray. Crumble the Bacon. To assemble: place a thin layer of bacon on each cup, followed by a spoonful of onion/pepper (Around 1 Tbsp), followed by the cheese. Then pour egg mixture into the cups until 3/4 full. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cooking Tips: You can serve with a salad (ours is Mango/Avocado/Red Onion) and Queso Frito (Fried Cheese) for a Latin touch.
Entertaining Tips:  Style your bar for a party! Display your signature cocktail and dessert in the same spot for easy access. Add flowers! Mix and match what you find at your local florist. Colorful arrangements will add character - and beauty - to your table set up. Think buffet. Serve food in personal servings. Display them together with cute name tags. Your guests will love it!

PS: To get more details about this brunch and other great recipes make sure to visit Jessica's blog HERE! to get more details about the table setting, please visit Mariela's blog at Splendor in Splanglish!

Made with True Love: Cauliflower Soup

As we all know, this winter has been a tough one in DC. One of the things I love to do during snow days is make a nice soup from scratch. My favorites are butternut squash and cauliflower. For this video, I decided with the cauliflower because it is one of Katya’s and Carlis’ favorites. The soup is pretty light with the recipe shown or you can also add ¾ cup of half and half to make it creamier.

I added two European inspired ingredients: leeks and truffle oil. To be honest, my first time cooking with leeks was in 2006, when I first moved to Belgium. They are a popular ingredient in Belgian cooking. I love to add them to soups, mussels, and stir fry. I also love truffle oil. Some varieties can be quite expensive, but found this one at HomeGoods for $6.99. Aside from the soup, add it to mash potatoes or homemade macaroni and cheese for a refined taste.

If you love to make homemade soups, dips, and smoothies (or want to at least), I recommend you get an immersion blender. Mine is from Kitchen Aid but there are many other affordable varieties you can find on Amazon. This is also a great tool to have if you love to cook and you live in a small space.

Making soup from scratch can seem overwhelming, especially if you don’t have experience in the kitchen. However, as the video demonstrates, it’s super easy to make. Many canned soups are very high in sodium. Cooking from scratch allows you to know exactly what is going into your food. Enjoy!

Made with True Love: Pancakes from Scratch

Video by: Sebastian Marin
One of my main takeaways from my time in Europe was my attitude towards cooking and food. I love the supermarkets and farmer’s markets in Belgium, filled with fresh produce and the best dairy I have ever had. I always enjoyed cooking, but my time there inspired me to cook more from scratch. I refer to cooking from scratch as “cooking with True Love”. A great and easy way to show our love is to make something from scratch. One of the easiest things to prepare from scratch is pancakes. Carlis and I got together to make a Valentine’s day brunch which can be shared with your loved one, your friends, and your family. We made pancakes with a basic buttermilk recipe I found in Martha Stewart Living and cut strawberries into little hearts to give it the Valentines’s day appeal. We also fried eggs in ring mold for the perfect round shape. If you are feeling very lovey-dovey, you can use a heart shaped egg mold (I found one on Amazon). We found creative ways to decorate our table on a budget. We found beautiful flowers at Giant for $6 and placed them on a glass pitcher I got on sale for $5 at Home Goods. We used Carlis’ mom’s vintage red coffee cups. Instead of spending extra money on placemats, we used Valentine ’s Day tissue paper and cut it into paper place mats. Carlis also recycled the hearts and decorations from my Bridal shower as coasters and accents. I used pink sugar to decorate the rims of the champagne glasses we filled with Pink Moscato. I always say the best gift you can give to your friends is your time. Cooking a meal from scratch not only creates an intimate environment, but it is also cost effective. What better way to show the special people in your life how much you care than by cooking with True Love?

PS: You Follow Jess on Insta @dcrepatriate and Twitter for more amazing food recipes!

Bookalokal Dinner Parties

Meet Jess! one of my best friends and also my fave Chef and NOW she can also be your fave Chef :)

Bookalokal is finally in DC! You guys might wonder what this is? It's your new way of saving money, eating a delicious three course meal paired with great wines and meet new people all at the same time! Jessica now hosts dinners once every month. Each time the menu changes but the quality of how the food is made never does. I've been lucky enough to host two of her recent dinner parties and it's always been a wonderful experience. Below is a little more about BookaLokal and also dets in our next dinner party. 

What is Bookalokal:  "A platform that helps people connect over food. Our guests include tourists, travel junkies, expats and local people. Our hosts include food bloggers, culinary students, retired chefs, stay at home parents and people who just love to host a good dinner party."

Our Next Dinner Party is this Wed, Sept 18th at 8:00 pm. You can still purchase your ticket HERE! 
Do you think you have what it takes to host the next Bookalokal dinner in DC?  more info HERE! :)

PS: Don't forget to enter our recent Giveaway HERE! you know you want that $50 gift card to T,J. Maxx/Homegoods!