Most of you who have stuck with my various adventures over the past few years will probably remember my years of notorious root beer drinking at my favorite local restaurant, Sweetwater Tavern. You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned them as much recently. There’s a very clear reason for that. The root beer is still fabulous, don’t get me wrong, but sadly the rest of the quality has gone downhill rather steadily. There was more to Sweetwater than just the root beer. They used to serve the best cheeseburgers in Northern Virginia; the meat was freshly ground nearly every day by their in-house butcher. The patties were thick, cooked to perfection, and far juicier than anything you could imagine. And best of all, they never came close to resembling that insult to true beef perfection: a preformed frozen patty made from the meat of who knows how many cows.

    Yes, Sweetwater was so much more than just root beer. It was about ozzie rolls, great service, and the all-important emphasis on heavenly beef. Sadly, something happened, and all of that has changed. Did the management change? Did they expand the business too quickly? I don’t know. But the burgers have changed, and I’ve faced far too many instances of shoddy service and barely average quality meat. My favorite haunt has forsaken the beef, and hast therefore forsaken me!

    That left me a bit high and dry for a while when it came to my search for good food. I’ve been without a favorite restaurant for a while. Thankfully my friend Jay has come to my rescue, and for the past few weeks we’ve been driving around in his Porsche (wheeeee!) looking for the next generation of Heather’s Happy Place. In the event that you too live in the DC area, or perhaps if you’re coming for a visit, here are a few of my favorites thus far.

Don Corleone’s (21018 Southbank St, Sterling, VA 20165 – 703-444-4959)

    This small, newly opened eatery is proud “to offer a pizza you can’t refuse.” Named for the infamous Godfather, this is so much more than just your average pie shop. Ooh how I love it. When I was younger I was blessed to live in Italy for a short while, and ever since I left I’ve been searching for the next best thing to the pizze (yes, with an E) that I used to get at my local trattoria in Aviano. Don Corleone’s has officially won because they are as authentic as it can get outside of beloved Italia. Why? Because they import as many of the ingredients as they can straight from Italy. Not only that, they have the only true honest-to-goodness wood burning brick oven pizza in Loudoun County. Most brick ovens actually use gas to run the flames inside, but not at Don Corleone’s. Burning wood bakes a pie at 850 degrees unlike anything else, making the crust absolutely heavenly. To top that crust, they make the sauce fresh with sweet plum tomatoes. And if you get my favorite – the Pizze Margherita – they lightly cover it just like the Northern Italians do with Buffalo Mozzarella and fresh basil. Oooooh, it makes me melt every time. When I first discovered their pizza I fell so deeply in love that I went there three nights in a row. That’s just how good it is. Now if only they’d sell truly authentic gelato, I’d be in Italian heaven. Please go, go now! You’ll soon be a believer in the Don too, I promise.

McCormick & Schmick’s (Multiple Locations)

    Alright, so I normally don’t abide by chains and M&S certainly counts as one, but what’s a girl to do? Thus far they make the best burger that I can find. Jay & I hit Five Guys, a slightly less wide-spread chain, but what can I say? They lost out when I went to M&S a few nights later. As opposed to the typical burger-joint burger, I prefer a more “gourmet” patty. The meat has to be thick and juicy, it has to be fresh, and it has to be seasoned just right. It can’t just be any old burger made by a short-order cook. As much as I love ’em, they just aren’t quite perfect. M&S has come fairly close with their classic cheeseburger. It’s a bit pricy at $7.95, but that patty… mmmm. It’s pure red meat happiness, it is. I’m not quite prepared to name them the out-and-out winner, but I will say that apart from the actual patty, I also appreciated the general atmosphere of the place. The design was lovely, and the lighting was comfortably dim. And even though the restaurant was full that night, it was by no means too loud. I normally abhor overly loud restaurants, which is unfortunate, since apparently restauranteurs these days seem to think you should be deafened by the racket whenever you go out for a bite to eat. M&S was bustling, but I could still have a nice conversation with Jay without having to shout across the table. So all-in-all, I’d recommend the McCormick & Schmick’s at Reston Town Center. It’s pleasant, it feels a bit more upscale, and if you go, be sure to check out the Chocolate Bomb for dessert. You’ll be glad you did, it’s well worth the calories. Heck, I enjoyed it all so much, I went back again the next day. (If you get a chance, try the mashed potatoes… oooooo! I don’t even usually like mashed potatoes, but these were positively fabulous.)

Trader Joe’s (Multiple Locations)

    I was racking my brains trying to think of a good place to go for dessert after a delectable pizza or a fantastic hunk of beef, but I just couldn’t think of anything to top my latest obsession. A while back I got into this mood where I was determined to try some foreign foods I’d never before encountered. I wandered the aisles at Trader Joe’s and picked up whatever looked interesting. The experiment was a profound success, as I discovered the joy that is chocolate Mochi. Pronounced Moe-chee, this Japanese dessert is both bizarre and beautifully chocolatey. It’s essentially a small ball of ice cream encased in a thin layer of chocolate rice paste. It may sound strange, it may even sound disgusting to some, but believe me, it works. The rice paste is incredibly unfamiliar to those of us Americans who have never been to Japan, but personally I can’t get enough of it. And the ice cream, mmmmm. Granted, it’s not gelato, but it’s lovely nonetheless. It even has little chunks of chocolate in it! But best of all, Mochi comes in beautifully controlled portions. One little Mochi ball is typically enough to satisfy. But if you have a serious chocolate craving, another Mochi certainly won’t kill you. If you have problems controlling how many scoops of ice cream you dish up, go for Mochi instead, and the decision is already made for you. Mmmm, tasty!

    The search for culinary excitement is by no means over. Hopefully Jay will continue to go with me as we speed around in his Porsche looking for the best burger in the DC area, gelato that’s actually deserving of the Italian name, and any other sweet surprises we happen to come across along the way. Preferably I’d like to find another local restaurant to supplant Sweetwater as my all-time favorite place to eat, but we shall see. In the mean time, if you have any suggestions, please do post a comment and let me know where you like to hang out and chow down. Next time maybe I’ll delve into a few other favorite places, like my favorite place to shop and my latest exciting discovery – a local spa with an amazing masseur and the world’s most amazing shower. Ever. But until then, go to Don Corleone’s, check out your local McCormick & Schmick’s, then head on over to Trader Joe’s and pick up some Mochi. And let them all know that The Heather Show sent you.