Go for the Schnitzel, stay for the desert

If you have been craving veal schnitzel and live in or around Washington, DC you are in luck. Having tried some at a couple of restaurants in the past I was very happy to finally find one that serves the best veal schnitzel around (and this is not an exaggeration).

Kafe Leopold , also called Leopold’s Kafe, is a modern Austrian restaurant that has a cafe/casual setting. The service and attention to customers is first class. The menu choices are unique and most I have never tried before, and the choices of drinks are also nice. We skipped the salad and opted for an appetizer, the Liptauer Crostini, and from the “savories” we chose the Olivenpissaladiere; both were excellent. For the main course we had the Leopold's Schnitzel and the Gegrilltes Lachsfilet (grilled salmon filet) and both were outstanding; the crushed cucumbers, Medjool dates, fennel, walnuts & basil oil that came with the salmon filet is out of this world. Both portion were larger than what you get in many other places. I particularly loved the schnitzel and it will be one of the main reasons I will be going back to this restaurant again and again.

Austria is also famous for its cakes and pastries. We decided to choose from the display at Kafe Leopold instead of choosing from the menu, and unfortunately I cannot recognize these choices in the online menu to tell you the names of what we had. One was a cheesecake (a bit small in my opinion) and the other is the one in the above image. I was told the cheesecake was very nice (I am not a cheesecake fan, so I passed on tasting it), but I can say that the one I had (see image) looked like a pice of art with chocolate shell but on the inside it had one small ball of something with hazelnut and a larger ball of something with almonds, and it was sooo good. I highly recommend this place. One thing you should be aware of is that they add a 3.5% “recovery charge” to the final bill, something some other (not all) DC restaurants also do.

US Cancer Statistics 2024

The latest annual report on cancer statistics in the United States is full of detailed information on the current status of cancer in the general population. It shows that generally progress continues to be made in the fight against cancer with fewer new cancer cases and fewer cancer deaths are being reported in recent years. Three things stand out from that report:

1) The number of men diagnoses with prostate cancer has been on the rise since 2015.

2) A type of skin cancer called Melanoma continues to affect more people each year than the previous year.

3) For men and women first diagnosed with cancer of the large intestine (colon and rectum) when they were younger than 50, the numbers dying from this cancer have been increasing year over year. This is unfortunate because it is the opposite of what has been happening in older patients.

So especially if you are younger than 50 and have signs or symptoms that can be present in association with colon or rectal cancer, please see your doctor (do not delay). Here is a link to the American Cancer Society page on this topic.

Source: Siegel RL, Giaquinto AN, Jemal A. Cancer Statistics, 2004. CA Cancer J Clin 2004; 74:12-49.

Feta Bakery and Cafe in DC

I have been wanting to try out this bakery and cafe in Georgetown in Washington DC for a while, and finally did it. Now that I have been there twice this month, I think it is becoming one of my favorites.  The choices for breakfast, lunch, brunch or just for dropping in anytime for a snack are more than one may think for a relatively small place, and everything I have tried so far has been a delight. They have an assortment of fruity drinks that are natural tasting, rich, and full of great flavor in addition to the usual assortments of coffee drinks, tea and sodas. They also have several types of breads and pastries that I have not found anywhere else.  Their prices a re very reasonable. To say service is excellent is an understatement; the staff is very polite, friendly, and helpful. I also like that it is not too noisy and you can have quite conversations, read a book or a paper. or simply have a quite time for yourself. The restroom is located in the back and requires a code to open the door which is provided by the staff across behind the counter. I highly recommend this place; it really is a gem. For more information, here is the link to their website:

fetabakery.com

Seth Meyers at the Kennedy Center

I am a big fan of Seth Meyers late night show, and especially “a closer look”, so when I found out that he was coming to do a stand up show at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, I quickly bought the tickets.

The theater was packed, and he got on stage almost on time; only about 5-10 minutes behind schedule. Unexpectedly, as one would have thought from watching Closer Look, the show was not political. It was also basically very clean (with one rare exception).  Seth was very funny throughout the show which lasted a bit over an hour. Surprisingly, he made almost all of the jokes about himself and his family, and avoided making fun of any specific group, except vegans. It was my first time seeing him live onstage, and I am looking forward to the next show. I highly recommend it.