My Lovely Man-Date Lunch

This is something I had been meaning to get to for quite some time, but no one ever said I was a go-getter. This is but the first in a planned series of posts that will attempt to undercut and outdo the lovely ladies of Black Coffee and a Donut.

Sometimes the weight of the world tends to get to you and as a man you have few outlets for this stress. One of the things my friend Brian and I like to do when we feel like its all just too much is head down to the trendy Georgetown neighborhood in Washington, D.C. and treat ourselves to a lovely day of shopping and dining.

On this particular day not too long ago we made our way to the Georgetown Waterfront, a place Brian assures me is a super-lame meat market come sunset, when all of the boring people with no personalities dress up and try to get laid. Brian said there was a guy with a boat that had docked and his pick-up line to the ladies was "Come check out my boat!" Awesome.

But I digress. During the day the waterfront is a lovely place for two strapping young men to settle in for a delicious and eco-conscious lunch. Our love for fine dining and our glorious Mother Earth led us to Agraria Farmers & Fishers, a nice little place that specializes in serving foods from local and sustainable agriculture and fisheries yada yada yada. You all know the story.

The restaurant also allowed us a chance to people watch from the patio which is always a good time. We had to set the tone for the man-date very quickly and ordered beers and a plate of onion rings. Nothing says "We are definitely not dating" better than beer and fried foods.

The onion rings were served with a very good mustard-seed ketchup, which brought a very nice tang to the appetizer. I could have stood to have a little more on the plate.

For Brian's entree, he went with the old standby, Crispy Duck Breast. My man loves duck because he is Asian (he was born in Wisconsin though) and is always ordering that on our man-dates.

Each dish came with the restaurant's signature rice-a-roni side as well as a vegetable medley.

For my entree, I got the Ahi Tuna, which was prepared with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

I was also accidentally given the special cilantro butter which accompanies the fish "Cowboy Style" and was glad for the mistake. The butter is mixed with the aforementioned cilantro as well as sun-dried tomatoes. As it melts, it adds a very nice flavor to the fish.

After lunch we had planned to go to the Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop up the street but were lured in by the desert menu.

Brian selected the sorbet sampler, which featured green apple, blood orange and some other kind of sorbet that I can't remember (B?).

I got the mixed berry cobbler. It featured blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and some peaches thrown in for good measure with a nice crumb crust and vanilla ice cream.

Also available for desert was a nice Key Lime Pie, which I talked myself out of getting because I always get that for dessert. This may have been stupid on my part since I freaking love Key Lime Pie. That's why I always get it. Rest assured I will try it next time I go down to this place. There are a lot of items on the menu that we wanted to try, so we will definitely be heading back there.

As for the rest of the man-date, we did some fun shopping (I bought another jacket and Patagonia ON SALE, as well as a sweet Hawaiian print hat like Mark Harmon from Summer School and an awesome driving cap for Brian that makes him look like a DJ) and even went to the Scoop Shop anyway to see if they carried the hard-to-find sorbets.

All in all, it was a glorious day and I look forward to heading back, which will probably be sooner than later.