DCVegEats

Been a while since I ventured down to Del Ray.  A Cheesetique special brought me back to the area, along with a desire to check out some shops.  First up was Bagel Uprising .  It replaces the underwhelming gluten-free/vegan friendly bakery which last resided in this spot.  The line out the door and the "sold-out" signs (down to Poppy Seed and Plain by 1pm on a Saturday) make it clear this is a bigger hit.  The bagels are good.  Smaller than typical (which is a good thing for my expanding waistline) they have that nice chewy interior which is a hallmark of a decent bagel.  They were overdone, IMHO, and it wasn't a fluke.  Every bagel left had a deep brown sheen.  I prefer a tan color.  It made the outside a little leathery.  That being said the house-made cream cheese spread was amazing.  I had scallion-chive on my poppy seed, toasted, and could have dived into a pint of the stuff.  Bottom line:  The spread was awes...

It's Restaurant Week in Arlington so I checked out Ted's Bulletin.  The good news:  They have an expansive menu (breakfast served all day!) with numerous vegetarian options (although not a lot of vegan).  The space is attractive and bright, even on a rainy day, and our server was outstanding.  The fixed price menu, available for Restaurant Week, included vegetarian options in every category.  Servings are large.  I not only left stuffed but my entire party was able to take home leftovers.  Desserts are courtesy of Sidekick Bakery, the attached, funky and fun options sweet shop which is affiliated with the restaurant chain.  The not-so-good news:  1)  It's loud.  Really loud.  My companions laughed.  Typically they can't hear the server.  This time the server couldn't hear us.  It took three tries for one of them to order a soup (the server thought she wanted "fruit").  2)  It's expensive.  Blame ...