There was a time I had yet to visit the Capital of the very country I was born in. A few days before I visited, I had the worst craving for Middle Eastern food. I had already spent nine months in Boston and lived a five minute walk from one of the best Turkish restaurants in the city, but there was an itch to scratch, and that joint wasn't going to fulfill it, so I Google'd a bit and found a few spots, but my itinerary, while not set in stone, was mostly set, and I couldn't be bothered to change it. Fast forward five months after I visited D.C., and I had just moved back to Los Angeles, only to find out that my favorite Lebanese was closed down permanently (COVID). Luckily, I was visiting DC for the second time in a month as my girlfriend had just moved close to Georgetown and it was yet to be revealed to me that I would uproot my life again to move back east.
Yellow had been on my list since April of '23 and I was finally able to go in. It was lunch rush, but even then, upon entry, my girlfriend and I were asked if we wanted a seat, and the kind host quickly found a table with a quick turn of the head. We had a Lamb Gyro, some random salad, a couple lattes, and we were content for the rest of the day. I questioned the presence of a host during a lunch rush at a cafe for a moment, but my hunger took me away from that fact and we didn't visit again until April of 2024 and this time, something was different.
This time, my girlfriend was no longer my girlfriend but my fiancée, it was my fifth week of having moved to D.C. permanently, and it was date night. Thursday nights are date nights! When we went in, we were hoping to just grab a couple of lamb gyros, maybe a coffee, and then go home and watch Star Wars. We were instead asked if we had a reservation. We were a bit baffled as we weren't asked this the last time, but something we noted was that this time, we were visiting far later in the day. Whereas we had visited once before in the early afternoon, this time, we were told they had switched to their dinner menu, and reservations were encouraged. Luckily, being about 5:30P on a Thursday, we were able to be seated rather quickly and well...
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| fire roasted carrots + tahini ranch |
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| (not) pizza beef nduja |
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| habibi classic hummus |
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kurkum-marg & sumac g&t
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We felt we had found something special. It wasn't much of a surprise that Yellow was as amazing as it was. We had heard multiple times from others around the city just how great this place is, placing it on our radar quite some time ago. The fire roasted carrots were a wonderful medley of color and flavor. Complimenting the sweetness of the vegetable was a tahini ranch, garnished artistically; beauty better manifested through flavor. The hummus, while simple by nature, was wonderfully topped with some of the most flavorful za'atar and olive oil, and obviously made in house, as the texture was not the processed creaminess one finds at your supermarket. The hummus had texture; a personality. Dip the crust of the (not)pizza in it for a wonderful vessel to eat it with, and speaking of (not)pizza...
The beef nduja was an experience on its own. For the unfamiliar, it looks like pizza, eats like pizza, smells like pizza, but it's (not), as they say on their site. It is wood-fired sourdough topped with a variety of eastern mediterranean flavors. For the one we asked, it was a beef nduja, salad, peppers, and stracciatella cheese. This wonderful combination of ingredients had us craving for far more than our stomachs could handle, and we were left clamoring to return for weeks.
Now, I can go on about how this is my favorite spot in DC, and it represents the food scene here well, but that'd be a lie. Not everyone is a fan of mediterranean food, and for some, it's odd to explore food outside your comfort zone. There's also the fact that I have only scratched the surface of the D.C. food scene. What I can say about Yellow is that it is a great gateway into the wonderful flavors of the mediterranean. If you are new to the cuisine of the ancient world, this is a great place to start, and I highly recommend it. My story with Yellow doesn't end here; It has only just started when I met a mystery man about three weeks ago...
I am a barista. I say that with a pride that no one can take from me. My expected levels of quality for drinks I serve, and service I deliver are matched by few in the coffee industry, and there are many I consider great leaders, but few I call master of the craft of serving coffee. This is a conversation I had with a now nameless and faceless food critic I met a few weeks ago. We talked what seemed briefly, but my poor coworker felt left alone at the break of dawn while we talked about our experiences, and so I had to let the man go catch his flight. In our brief exchange, he taught me to let something in my leadership flourish: courage, and to seek the unknown.
As a leader, I shared with the man, there have been many times that I have felt I'm being abrasive, maybe even arrogant with my team. His rebuttal changed me a bit, and inspired me to start this blog: my expectations of service and serving are high because my delivery of it are just as high. To have the expectation for those around me to do the same takes an empathetic mind, but to state as such is the kind that will go on to make their mark. (To be fair, my memory is faulty, but this was along the lines of what he said)
I could not ignore what I had wanted to do for a long time anymore, and when I shared this encounter with my fiance and what I wanted to do, she said, "Go for it!" and we went back to Yellow.
For those unfamiliar with the metaphor, to be yellow in English is to be scared; a coward; without the courage to face the unknown and the difficult. While visiting the website for Yellow, I realized that a word would keep appearing while the pages changed: yalla; "Let's Go" in Arabic. So go I did.
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| sumac g&t (rear) and mish mish spritz (front) |
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beiruti hummus | | (not)pizza soujek |
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| crispy asparagus |
Naturally, we tried different things this time around, and took note of many wonderful things. We first noticed is how kind our waitress is. Just as last time, they were informative, intelligent with their recommendations, and were obviously knowledgeable about their menu offerings. The tables were neatly set and organized. We saw that as parties left, tables were quickly cleared, and set up for the next party, and while it was a slow night, the urgency to keep tables clean and staged is a reflection of how seriously the cafe staff are about their job and their dedication to their presentation.
We quickly ordered the Suman Gin and Tonic (8/10), as it was a favorite from the first time we visited, but we did want to explore a new cocktail, and came to the Mish Mish Spritz, a wonderful combination of bitters and sweet with sparkling water. A tad difficult to drink straight from the cup due to the crushed ice, but overall a great drink (7/10).
When our waitress came back, we had already decided on our plates and I won't lie: I wasn't a fan of reading "crispy asparagus: lemon garlic aioli" Something about that description felt boring and off for what is overall an amazing appetizer. The coating the asparagus is fried in perfectly traps the flavor and moisture of the asparagus, and pairing the hot asparagus with the cold and wonderfully flavored aioli was a contrast of temperatures I was not expecting. The lemon was present, but not overpowering, the bitters seemingly neutralized by the garlic, salt and olive oil. (8/10)
Of course, we also ordered the beiruti hummus (8/10) with a generous amount of za'atar and feta, but this time with the addition of a pita bread. Last time, we felt that the crust of the (not)pizza we ordered was not enough to be able to enjoy the hummus without requiring a spoon (which isn't a bad thing! It's quite the amount, and being raised in a Mexican household, I tend to be a bit heavy handed with the carbs while dipping).
In the end, we were served our (not)pizza: the Soujek. This pie felt very meat heavy, which is a turn towards my favorite direction in food (despite my fiances protests that we have been eating too much meat as of late). The armenian sausage was heavily and evenly dispersed over a cheese I was not familiar with: jibneh. It's creamy, but not heavy, allowing whatever flavors are placed on it to dominate the pallet rather than letting the cheese be the center of the pie. With the pickled peppers and the ever subtle hint of honey, the (not)pizza is an easy favorite meal for me in the DMV, easily making it a 9/10.
I look forward to many amazing experiences in the DC area and hope to find hidden gems, try new flavors, and hopefully, they'll be as creative and courageous as Yellow! is with their bold flavors, kind and wonderful service, and their creative thinking to turn their cafe into an amazing culinary experience. The standard for the DMV is set, and Yellow! has set it high.
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| eat well! eat often! |
1524 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington, DC 20007
Rating: 8/10
