Book Review: A Marked Man by Barbara Hamilton

A Marked Man (An Abigail Adams Mystery, #2)A Marked Man by Barbara Hamilton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love this series (I know–it’s only the 2nd book). I love the author’s detailed research, I love the time period, and I love Abigail Adams. (Okay, so I’m not so in love with John Adams, but that’s a petty detail.)
This is an excellent follow up to the debut mystery featuring Abigail Adams as the amateur sleuth. The mystery itself is fairly straightforward, but what makes this book such a lovely read is the incorporation of historical detail and a glimpse into the lives of the Adams family. Abigail is as wonderful as I imagine her–intelligent, warm, accessible and very human.
The backdrop of the impending Revolutionary War makes the story all the more compelling. And the author makes both sides–the revolutionaries and the British soldiers–personable and three dimensional and real. I look forward to what I hope is a lengthy multiple book series!

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minibar by Jose Andres

We visited minibar by Jose Andres with some friends this past Saturday night.  It was the first time we had been to the new space, which is spare and minimalist with high ceilings and lightly painted wood.  (It’s located at 855 E Street, NW, Washington, DC.)

The food definitely catered to the “foodie” crowd and was innovative, fussy, and delicious.  Here are the evening’s dishes:

We started out with a series of amuse-bouches (I would say a series of appetizers, but the entire dinner is made up of appetizer-sized dishes).  The introductory dishes were pineapple short bread,

pineapple shortbread

pineapple shortbread

pizza margarita (the crust is made out of potatoes),

pizza margarita

pizza margarita

a parmesan canele,

parmesan canele

parmesan canele

pressed flowers (they were edible), and

pressed flowers

pressed flowers

almond tart with blue cheese, which was good, even though I don’t like blue cheese and which was served on rocks that had been bathed in liquid nitrogen (to prolong the life of the almond shell).

almond tart with blue cheese

almond tart with blue cheese

One of the cutest dishes we were served was the rubber ducky (the inside was filled with foie gras ice cream):

rubber ducky

rubber ducky

One of the most interesting dishes was the beef tendon churro (once was enough for me):

beef tendon churro

beef tendon churro

The Waldorf salad was an extremely creative rendition of a traditional Waldorf salad:

"waldorf salad"

“waldorf salad”

The late night chicken shawarma was amazing and even more amazing was the side of yogurt accompanying the shawarma

chicken shawarma

chicken shawarma

The Vietnamese pig ear was excellent—spicy and full of texture:

Vietnamese pig ear

Vietnamese pig ear

The Iberico sea urchin would be good, I suppose, if you like sea urchin.  The texture wasn’t my cup of tea, but the flavors were excellent.

sea urchin

sea urchin

The shabu shabu included coconut shrimp ravioli in an extremely flavorful broth:

"shabu shabu"

“shabu shabu”

The most straightforward dish (and quite delicious!) was the beech mushroom papillot with truffles:

beech mushrooms with truffles

beech mushrooms with truffles

The smoked oysters with escabeche was a myriad of flavors and textures:

smoked oysters

smoked oysters

The fabes con almejas (white beans and clams) were clams with essence of white beans.  The dish was delicious!

white beans & clams

white beans & clams

The espardenyes (sea cucumber) with bone marrow proved to be a surprise.  I loathe sea cucumber, but the chef had prepared it in such a way that the texture no longer resembled the gelatinous, slug-like creature that it is (unlike Chinese restaurants).  It was actually quite tasty, and, combined with the bone marrow, was amazing.

sea cucumber & bone marrow

sea cucumber & bone marrow

Next up was a squab liver mousse bite:

squab liver mousse

squab liver mousse

To prepare us for the roast squab with oysters and seaweed.

roast squab

roast squab

You have to like goat cheese to like the bonne bouche cheese puff, but I’m told it was quite yummy for those who do like goat cheese.

goat cheese puff

goat cheese puff

The bloody beets and yogurt course were beets with a little hisbiscus juice covered with frozen yogurt snow.  Yum!  (And I’m not that fond of beets.)

beets with yogurt snow

beets with yogurt snow

The mango floating island was refreshing and palate-cleansing.

mango floating island

mango floating island

And the assortment of desserts included a raspberry bon bon, Thai pocky stick, lemon-mallow (lemon marshmallow covered in white chocolate), a bluberry coolant, a boozy bear (a gummy bear filled with muscat), and doughnuts, made with Krispy Kreme doughnut ice cream, reformed to look like a Krispy Kreme doughnut and covered with chocolate and sprinkles.  (No photo of the doughnuts, unfortunately, as we had to eat them quickly before they melted.)

assorted desserts

assorted desserts

We were impressed by the skill of the chefs, and the meal was delicious and innovative.  But it definitely isn’t for the steak-and-potatoes type of diner.  Still, if you are an adventurous eater or are looking for new food experiences, it’s definitely a worthwhile visit.

 

(Disclaimer:  we are investors in ThinkFood Group, the parent company of minibar.)