Young & Hungry in the D of C

I was half-listening to WAMU's Metro Connection today, until this segment came on showcasing Washington City Paper's 50 Best Restaurants feature this week. As the WCP's Tim Carman noted, this list is a little different than others because they dispense with the usual suspects - the Citronelles and what not - because everybody already knows that they're worth eating at. This list focuses on the less well-known ones. Present, a Falls Church Vietnamese place (one of five Vietnamese places on the list, and not all of them are phở houses) sounds like it is particularly worth going to. Apparently, they make up nine different types of fish sauce. Nine.

World Market

Did you know that the sale of beer and wine is legal in the state of Virginia on Sunday, unlike here? At least in the independent city of Falls Church it is. I found that out up close and personal today as I headed down the 295 and around the Capitol Beltway to Falls Church, VA. My purpose was twofold. First, I planned to visit a dim sum restaurant I had read about on Chowhound.com called Lucky Three, which the Chowhound folks love, but many others think is either awesome or okay (no bad reviews, though; check the Washington City Paper and the Washingtonian). I forgot to write down the address, so I had to forget that first part of the agenda.

This led to the second thing on said agenda: a visit to Falls Church's World Market. This is a megastore of fine international products

• groceries (Cadbury choclates from England, tiramisu mix from Germany, and whole shelves filled with Thai Kitchen products)
• wines (pick a country, any country)
• beers (okay, not as many countries to pick from)
• furnishings (papasan chairs, bookcases, couches, oh my)
• miscellaneous items (tableware, cookware, cookbooks, carpets, draperies), and
  
• art from around the world (Maasai necklaces, Tibetan Buddhist meditation bowls, and lots of stuff from Indonesia)

They have tons of these World Markets in California, but only a few days ago did I get any clue that they might be on the East Coast. None are around Baltimore, but there are several clustered around DC, both in Virginia and Maryland. I went and dawdled for, oh, half an hour - there was just so much that I didn't know what to get first! I even called my friend out in SoCal and told him where I was (he was surprised, though not as fascinated by this new discovery as I was). I finally settled on a box of Cadbury chocolate-dipped finger cookies and a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz (a lovely Australian red wine). I figured I might as well buy some alcohol, because who knows when I will next have the chance to do that on a Sunday? Fascinating.