paper boxes tied up with string

Amidst the Aramark and chain (almost) wasteland that is lunch around VCU Monroe Park....

Fun experiments with sound

We’ve often sought more quantitative measures of noise levels in RVA restaurants, as opposed to subjective descriptors. In the absence of a real sound meter, I’ve been playing with the Sound Meter app for Android over the last year or so. The app uses the phone mic to estimate the sound levels which is output in decibels (dB). See numbers on the left and their corresponding levels.

Note that the decibel scale is a log scale. Thus an increase in dB by ~3 dB is a doubling of sound intensity. An increase in sound intensity by 10x = 10 dB. So going from 60 to 80 dB is actually an increase of 100x in sound intensity!! We of course, tend to register sound differently in our ears (based on pressure which is roughly 6 dB for 2x sound), which makes the numbers tricky.
 
So what was the measure of sound in RVA restaurants? 

   
The results: Overall, this app turned out to be quite finicky and I’m still not sure about its accuracy. Some control experiments included a VCU Rams Basketball Game and next to a prop jet airplane (both very loud over 80 dB but did not exceed 90 dB) to a quiet room ranging from 40-60 dB. 

After collecting multiple data points in several restaurants, rather surreptitiously of course :), I ended up with numbers with little to no statistical significance (p-value)! So I finally throw in the towel on this experiment. The (rather obvious) data – most restaurants typically have levels between 55 dB – 75 dB, with wide fluctuations as a function of time!

Verdict – need a better sound meter. The app is fun though!!

As an example, the WaPo has used the following QCME scale to describe restaurant noise levels for some time now:

Quiet (under 60 decibels)
Conversation is easy (60-70 decibels)
Must speak with raised voice (71-80 decibels)
Extremely loud (over 80 decibels)

Within this data set, I can however crown the winner for the average quietest dining room we’ve encountered here in RVA. Quiet drumroll.........No surprise here – on average, the dining room at the Lemaire was the best place to carry out a conversation in hushed tones (averaging 55-65 dB).

The bar at the Lemaire, on the other hand….

(PS: While dining acoustics are indeed important,  this "experiment" was all in jest. Its bad enough to have people like me taking pictures of food !!)

Black Hand @ Patterson + Belmont

Perhaps not so new, but a charming addition to the Museum District

Pear cider

Our friendly neighborhood wine bar Secco was pouring a delicious pear cider from Eric Bordelet a while ago. And oh my! what a delight it was. Slightly paler than the apple version, either the Authentique or the Poiré Granit are scintillating products of 300 year old pear trees. It was a pity that they ran out.... (was relieved to find it in plenty on the West Coast though). 

Everything is better with bacon?

Seen at the ABC store:

Meanwhile....these guys over at Naughty Bacon seem have taken this concept a bit too far. I don’t think Bill Gates had this in mind when he proposed his $100,000 challenge to reinvent the condom.

orange salad

Deliciously simple winter salad - courtesy of 2 Amys in NW DC.

Sliced oranges (blood and regular) + red onion + olives + chives. Drizzle with some good olive oil.

Gingerbread locomotive...

Edible but not eatable? Christmas cheer and a feast for the eyes at the Jefferson/Lemaire. Nice touches on the track ballast !
Happy Holidays !!

Richmond Cheap Eats - skewered meat edition

Variously spelled - Kabob/Kebab/Kabab/Kebap, all cover different kinds of meats either skewered or directly heated by flame. Forgoing the sundry chain K places around, there are at least two very decent places around where one can get very good kebabs/shawarma style food for cheap (~ $10 pp).

The first is Dӧner Kebab in Carytown. We’ve had some pretty good shawarmas and Middle Eastern style kabobs here. Their falafel sandwich is also terrific. The preserved lemons (and pickled veggies) add an extra kick to their offerings.  (A while ago, these guys used to be out @ Broad/Meadow where they had some of the best pita chips in town for $1).
The second is more narrowly defined with some caveats. For the kabab of the South Asian variety, the Bangladeshi-run Darul Kabab on Old Parham Road makes for great takeout. One can get chapli as well as delicately spiced shish varieties of different kababs (all halal) with a well sized naan, salad and side.


A stone’s toss away is a little hidden gem – the RVA version of the Indian Pastry House. There is plenty of debate on the (largely average) Indian restaurants in RVA and food therein. However, there aren’t that many places around that serve Indian snacks and street food. With plenty of vegetarian options and a variety of dishes like dosas (delicate, crispy crepes made of rice flour and served with lentil soup and different fillings) and chaats, all for < $10, its hard not to like the IPH. 

NYKR cartoon

What we're watching ....

amidst some busy times, a thoroughly fascinating documentary film on the great sushi master Jiro. Dining at his celebrated, sushi only, Michelin 3-star restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, may well be beyond the reach (or even interest) of most, but this movie offers a mesmerizing glimpse into a chef, his craft and notions of 'perfection':

From the superlative, to a mixed bag of a book by Tyler Cowen, "An Economist Gets Lunch". Primarily included here because his blog has long been on my reading list and led me to some good eats around DC. A fascinating premise, if he focused on tying economics and food, which crop up every now and then. Instead, his skewering of foodie pretentiousness and holier-than-thou "locavores", both easy targets to begin with, is upstaged by his own, albeit in a different sense.