Seeking Slurpacious in the District

Have you ever heard someone use the expression, “his eyes were hungrier than his stomach?” You know, the phrase that gets mumbled directly after some neighboring diner leans over in a frustrating bout of the I-ate-too-much syndrome. And then looks at you with those with puppy dog eyes begging for the impending belly-doom not to set in, and maybe even unbuttons his pants? Yes, that’s the one.

Quick fact about the ‘author’: If I were to appease my eyes every time they saw something tasty looking, I would be 1,049 1/2 pounds. Or more. My eyes are always hungrier than my stomach. The good thing is, I’ve learned through some years of practice how to control myself against those manipulative sirens, how to seek out the great and ignore the unnecessary, and how to always leave a little room for the unexpected amuse-bouche or delightful mouthful. I guess you could say I’m a fat kid at heart, gone foodie.

Slurpacious. Is that even a word?

The short answer is no. Yet, since I was a little girl, to me it has been the hands down best non-word food-word in the world. A friend of my mother’s passed it down to her, and she passed it down to me as the word to describe something you eat that is utterly fabulous, mouthwatering, can’t get enough of-hits the spot and blows the roof off-good. Something you would lick the plate for just to have that last little drop… even in public. (Come on… everyone’s done it at least once..?)

Slurpacious doesn’t have to be pretentious. I’m a firm believer that taste is just as much a product of the experience that surrounds what you’re eating, as it is a product of what comes out of the oven. As I embark upon the new adventure of living in DC this summer, I’m gearing up to go find it. And I’ll bet that slurpacious can be found in the local 4-star restaurant and in the Nationals Ball Park hot dog (which would of course be topped with ketchup, mustard, onions, and relish.. in one of those 10 cent Sara Lee mushy non-bread white buns. Slurpacious… right?)

My goal for the next two and a half months is to seek out the most slurpacious food moments! These could be home-cookin’ moments, restaurant or anything in between. I’ll recap the best, the worst, the most intriguing, rank them on a 1-10 slurpacious scale, and share the moments that make me feel like food is worth celebrating. All this while keeping to my entry-level budget, living in a city where eggs at the grocery store somehow cost $2.89, and keeping a personal promise to myself to not exceed spending 75% of my paychecks on food. Ah.. a challenge. I love a good challenge.

This blog is dedicated to all of you out there who, like me, have eyes hungrier than your stomachs; it’s for those of you who feel stifled or upset sitting at a dinner table where no one wants to talk about the food, or at lunch time when everyone just opts-in to Subway. Join me in seeking out the slurpacious, and devouring all of it that this District has to offer! No spare pair of pants necessary.