ANNOUNCER: And now, "Signature Dish," a WETA original series.

SETH: Today on "Signature Dish," we're on the hunt for some killer bar bites.

We'll nosh on a nostalgic favorite.

PAUL: This is our kicked-up version of Shake and Bake.

SETH: Be still, my 12-year-old heart.

We'll reach way back into pizza's past.

Are we making miniature pizza today?

GIULIO: No, no, no, no, no.

This was how the pizza was made back in the days.

SETH: And raise our glass to the great southwest.

This right here is a pretty-looking taco.

BRITTANY: Good times, good wine, good food.

SETH: I'm Seth Tillman, WETA producer and DC native, and I love good food.

Nice to meet you.

That's why I'm traveling to restaurants across the DMV.

At each stop, looking for the one thing you just gotta try... That Signature Dish.

We're getting this bar crawl started at the base of DC's Shaw neighborhood.

I'm hitting up Your Only Friend, a casual sandwich shop by day turned hip sandwich bar by night.

The eatery is the brainchild of Paul Taylor and Sherra Kurtz, who first met while working in DC's pioneering craft cocktail bar, The Columbia Room.

SHERRA: Paul was coming aboard at Columbia Room, and a trusted friend of mine was like, "I really think the two of you are going to get along like peas and carrots.

Like, I think you guys are going to be best friends."

And then I met him, and we did.

PAUL: Sherra saved my life metaphorically and probably in reality, more than one time.

I got to know her, and I was like, "I can't really do my job without her."

SHERRA: Everything shut down in DC on March 14th of 2020.

We both knew that we weren't people who were going to do well at home.

And we started talking about how we could help our community.

SETH: To support DC area healthcare workers, Paul and Sherra launched a pop-up at Columbia Room called "Get a Hero, Be A Hero."

SHERRA: For every sandwich that somebody purchased, we would then donate one to the people on the front lines.

I think we thought we'll do this for a couple of weeks and then we'll go back to, you know, slinging cocktails at the Columbia Room, but that's not how life unfolded.

People gravitated to what we were doing, which was comfort when there wasn't a lot of that available.

SETH: Your Only Friend began slinging sandwiches at the start of 2024.

Just over a year later, they received Michelin Guide honors.

PAUL: We both love sandwiches, and we're very opinionated on sandwiches.

We love taking something so simple and make it so elegant.

I love the idea of nostalgia: Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, the Orange Julius.

We love the idea of capturing those memories and trying to look at them through a different lens.

Sherra and I had talked about what would the name of this place be?

And what about Your Only Friend?

I had told Sherra she was my only friend a million times.

And the idea of Your Only Friend isn't necessarily those moments where you are saved.

It was this idea that the outside world is crazy.

It's nuts.

Have a sandwich, have a cocktail.

Let it melt away for a second.

Just relax.

It's Your Only Friend.

SETH: Paul.

PAUL: Oh, hey.

SETH: Good to meet you.

PAUL: Pleasure to meet you.

SETH: I love sandwiches, and I love cocktails, so I'm excited.

PAUL: You're in the right place.

SETH: What are you making today?

PAUL: Well, today we're making our signature sandwich, the Chicky Pep No.

2.

It's kind of like a chicken cutlet.

Imagine like a chicken parm, but like, let's turn it up to 11.

SETH: All right, rock and roll.

How are we getting started here?

PAUL: The most important thing some people may say is the pepperoni bolognese that what we call here is "pep bolo".

We're getting started.

We're going to let some olive oil come up to temp.

We're going to do some chopped onion, about one onion.

Now you hear that good sizzle going on there.

(sizzle) So now that we have the onions a little translucent, we're going to add some garlic.

SETH: Oh, yes.

PAUL: Oh, yeah.

Garlic, there's a lot of recipes out there that you look at and they're like, "Add two cloves."

But I like to multiply that by 10, right?

SETH: Just add the whole bulb, why not?

PAUL: Why not?

And we're letting it get a little bit aromatic now.

As soon as you see the garlic start to brown a little bit, we're going to add some fennel.

SETH: Ooh, yeah.

PAUL: I love fennel.

SETH: A little bit of heat going in here too?

PAUL: Yeah, a little bit of crushed red pepper.

SETH: If I go to a Pizza Hut or a Shakey's Pizza, if I see a little glass jar of hot pepper flakes, I'm just dumping those on.

PAUL: Yeah, the parmesan is going in for sure.

The red pepper all on top of that.

And now that we smell it getting a little bit aromatic, we're going to add some pepperoni to it.

So commonly in bolognese, you see like, veal, beef, pork, and very little tomato.

So maybe it's not so traditional, but we wanted it to be kind of not traditional.

We're letting the pepperoni render down a little bit.

You're getting some of that fat, which is going to make it oh so delicious.

We're going to add some tomatoes.

And right, you've got some bay leaves.

I'm going to throw them in right now.

SETH: They just look so pretty on top.

PAUL: They do.

And then we're going to add a little bit of chicken stock.

We're going to turn it down, and we're going to let it simmer.

This will probably cook down for about 30 minutes, just like Nonna would make in the old country.

And while we have the simmering, what we're going to do is we're going to make our chicken cutlet.

So why don't you follow me down here, and we'll make some cutties.

SETH: All right.

Starting with, looks like we have a little chicken thigh right here.

PAUL: We do.

Pounded out chicken thigh.

We are strong believers in the chicken thigh for the cutlet.

I love the fat content.

We call these Nonna's Cutlets.

I think it's an ode to obviously Sherra's grandmother, but also this is our kicked-up version of Shake and Bake.

SETH: All right, but deep-fried instead of baked.

PAUL: Correct.

Always better that way.

So we're going to start with egg and then move into our seasoning.

Okay.

So get it nice and covered.

We're going to put it in our breading.

So it's Italian breadcrumbs, a little bit of parmesan, garlic, oregano, onion.

And lastly, we put in our secret ingredient here, which is MSG.

SETH: Ooh.

And you know, when I was a kid, MSG got such a bad rap, but I think we all know now just make sure food tastes even better.

PAUL: Yeah.

Delicious umami kind of flavor going on.

We're going to go ahead and drop these down.

We're going to fry these at 270.

SETH: And 270, that's pretty low for deep-frying, right?

PAUL: Correct.

But what we want is to cook them all the way through, but we don't want to fry them fully because we're going to finish them to order.

So Seth, this is going to par-fry for about five more minutes.

After these are fried, we're going to let them rest.

And then we're going to fry them again, but at a higher temperature.

While our cutlets are resting, we're going to finish our pep bolo.

This includes taking the bay leaves out and fortifying with butter, and then we're going to blend it with an immersion blender.

Our cutlet's gonna get some of that pep bolo that we just made, and then it's going to get topped with mozzarella and provolone.

It goes in the oven.

Then we're going to prep the bread.

It gets a nice lacquer of clarified butter, and then that gets our OG breadstick dust: garlic, parsley, onion, salt.

Then we're hitting that with a butane blowtorch.

(blowtorch hissing).

To the inside, we add our anchovy mayo.

It's legitimately anchovy paste, garlic, and mayo.

It's a bomb of umami.

So once the cutlet, pep, and cheese is done, we take it out, and we're going to add it to our sandwich.

Then we're going to top it with a little long hots.

We roast those in olive oil with a little bit of salt, and we hit with a little bit of the torch.

And that, my only friends, is the Chicky Pep No.

2.

SETH: All right, guys.

This sandwich is a mess, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

It looks like it's overflowing with flavor.

What are we drinking with it?

SHERRA: Yeah, so this is our crystal clear rum and cola.

So I don't know if you are as big of a fan of the '90s as Paul and I. SETH: Oh, I certainly am.

SHERRA: Yeah, we were sort of obsessed with the idea of the clear craze.

(record scratch) SETH: Hey, real quick, you all remember the clear craze, right?

♪ HAGAR: Right now, hey, it's your tomorrow.

♪ SETH: Oh, the best.

And Crystal Pepsi has been off the market for a good couple of decades here.

How are we getting our crystal cola?

SHERRA: Surely has.

This is made with a special blend of essential oils.

We took Coke apart and tried to identify all of the flavors that we could.

So we blend them into a syrup, add some acid phosphate, and a little bit of lime.

And we are using Cihuatán Rum, which is an El Salvadoran rum and carbonated here in-house.

SETH: All right.

Cheers to that.

All right.

Well, be still my 12-year-old heart.

I can hear the Van Halen music playing in my head.

SHERRA: You and me both.

SETH: But Chicky Pep No.

2 time?

PAUL: Let's go.

SETH: All right.

Digging right in.

Oh, wow.

All right.

Just a 10 out of 10.

PAUL: Oh, wow.

SETH: Warm and delicious.

Those pepperoni flavors and all that cheese is complimented also so nicely with those roasted peppers on top.

This is an adult sandwich.

So, a little mix of nostalgic flavors, a little heat, and it goes great with the cocktail.

PAUL: There is an anchovy mayo on that as well.

SETH: Oh, there certainly is.

There is just umami across the board.

And you know, this idea of a sandwich bar, I know it was born, you know, during the pandemic, but post-pandemic, we need third places like this more than ever.

SHERRA: Yeah, I think we wanted to build a place where you felt like you had a community the second you walked in, whether you knew anybody in here or not.

I mean, it's communal.

This is actually called a Chicago rail, and it's meant so that you lean into it and so that you become a part of the bar.

And also the ambiance, you know, the old bricks behind us, tall ceilings, this amazing stained-glass piece, and I think it all just sort of comes together in the end.

SETH: Yeah, I like that we're sitting here under the altar of sandwiches.

SHERRA: Exactly.

It's all meant to really convey a sense of feeling at home, even if it's a place you've never been.

SETH: Well, I feel at home here.

I've been glad to have the chance to be your only friend for a few minutes today and enjoy this incredible sandwich.

Thank you both so much.

SHERRA: Thank you.

PAUL: Thank you.

SETH: Next, I'm heading to the U Street Corridor.

At the intersection of 14th and Florida, you'll find Lucy Bar, where the bites come by way of Italy.

GIULIO: I'm from Roma, but my family comes from Naples.

We have a history with pizza and Napoli, right?

It's in our blood.

But during my young years, I start loving surfing, and I decided to go ahead and learning to make pizza to pay my first surfboard.

And then I started being really passionate about the pizza until, at one point, I had to make a choice of life.

The choice was getting the desk of my father or making pizza.

And my father was convinced, "Oh, he's going to realize how hard it is to manage a pizzeria, late nights, hours."

Truth is that I love the nightlife and hated the office life.

SETH: In 2010, Giulio moved to New York City, opening the acclaimed pizza shop Forcella.

After extensive travels around the US teaching pizza making, he opened Slice & Pie in DC in 2022, quickly racking up awards.

That same year, the neighboring Lucy Bar opened its doors.

GIULIO: And with this Lucy, it evolved slowly.

I say, "Well, if I have this beautiful space, why don't we make it very pretty?

Why don't we make a full menu?

And why don't we make it become a hit for the neighbor?"

Happy hour is drink-focused.

In Italy, you go to the aperitivo for the snack prior to your dinner.

I decided here to start a program that is a real Italian aperitivo, like the one you can find in Milano, Bologna, and is made all by cocktails that resemble the flavor profile that then is served with the food.

People love the fact that the food is becoming the star of that hour.

I love pizza because it's a social food.

Go to Roma, go to Napoli.

In a good pizzeria, you're going to find a lawyer, suit and tie, next door to him a construction worker.

Nobody judge anyone.

And so it has this happiness moment of sharing.

It all comes together in a restaurant, in this case in Lucy, because we have this atmosphere where people talk to each other, and that's why I like this festive atmosphere that always is around pizza.

SETH: Giulio.

GIULIO: Hey.

Hey.

SETH: Hey, good to meet you.

GIULIO: How are you?

SETH: I'm doing great and really excited about Lucy Bar.

Pizza and drinks to go along with it.

GIULIO: And aperitivo, right?

SETH: What are we drinking here, Chef?

GIULIO: I've got our variation on margarita.

It's called Basilette.

It has basil like Italian gin, and also the lime and bergamot liquor that we make in Italy called Italicus.

And so we shake everything, serve it on the rocks, garnish with basil again, and ready to drink.

SETH: Salute.

GIULIO: Salute.

SETH: Ooh.

Delicious.

And that basil has me in the mood for pizza.

But it looks like... Are we making miniature pizza today?

GIULIO: Well, it's not miniature pizza.

We are doing our signature dish, which is called the montanara, and it's a fried pizza with a delicious topping.

SETH: All right.

Fried pizza, that sounds like something we'd invent here in America.

GIULIO: No, no, no, no.

SETH: But montanara, this is an Italian dish?

GIULIO: No, no, no, no, no.

This was how the pizza was made back in the days.

Considering 1700, 1800, nobody had an oven at home.

And so what they were doing, they were making the dough and put it into a fryer.

And guess what?

It's really delicious.

SETH: All right.

Well, I'm excited.

I've never had fried pizza before.

How do you get started here?

GIULIO: So it's very simple.

The dough is tiny.

So what we do, it's full of air, as you can see.

We just push it down very gently because we want to keep the air.

We want it to be fluffy and soft at the inside.

SETH: And is this the same dough that you would use for regular pizza?

GIULIO: It is the same dough in Neapolitan pizza.

To make our dough, it's simple.

Italian flour, yeast, water, salt, nothing else.

SETH: So this is a recipe that you've been perfecting for many, many years.

GIULIO: Still not perfect.

SETH: When's it going to get perfect, chef?

GIULIO: Tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

SETH: Tomorrow.

GIULIO: Maybe.

SETH: I'll come back.

GIULIO: First step, I'm going to take this and put it in the fryer.

So first thing you see, the oil has to be clean.

So what I'm doing is turning and flipping it continuously.

So we want it to puff up, but evenly, and then we want an even color that has to be gold, but it does not have to be too brown.

So as soon as the dough is ready, we pull them out and let the oil drip a little bit.

And here we are.

SETH: Oh wow.

Those really, really puffed up.

Those are like little miniature pizza balloons.

GIULIO: Yeah, lots of air.

You can see that's not oily at all because the way the dough is done, it doesn't absorb too much oil.

So we have two different toppings.

The first one, I'm going to top it with Stracciatella.

So this is imported from Italy.

Then we're going to add anchovies.

SETH: Oh, my favorite.

Can I snack on it right back here, chef?

GIULIO: Nope.

SETH: All right, I'll wait.

GIULIO: I can slap the wrist, like my mother.

You know, when I was trying to reach for something, tack!

We have a very strange pairing, but you'll see how it is.

Some truffle oil.

Okay, this is white truffle oil.

Just a drop to give it a depth of flavor.

We will complete it with some parsley, fresh Italian parsley.

And the other one is more traditional.

So we have some reduced tomato sauce from San Marzano.

SETH: And Chef, is there anything going into the sauce besides tomato?

GIULIO: Just Italian tomato and salt.

And now some Italian Pecorino, imported, right?

We're going to complete it with the fresh basil.

And we're ready for tasting.

SETH: All right, chef.

They're small, but they're like little works of art.

Should we grab our aperitivos and go dig in?

GIULIO: Let's go eat.

SETH: Let's do it.

All right, Chef.

Choices, choices, choices.

Which one do you suggest first?

Classic.

GIULIO: Classic montanara start because we have truffles here, we have anchovies, strong flavors.

SETH: We're going for just the simplicity of a little tomato and basil.

Here we go.

All right, that's a hit right there.

The dough is so light and airy.

GIULIO: Yeah.

SETH: And even though it's fried, it doesn't taste oily at all.

GIULIO: No.

SETH: And you've got just the freshness of those tomatoes on top.

A little bit of that sharpness of the Pecorino.

GIULIO: Yeah, it's like a salty funnel cake, maybe, you know?

It's a bad way to say, but yeah.

SETH: But you wouldn't let me try the anchovies back in the kitchen, so now's my chance.

GIULIO: Now is your chance.

SETH: I love how the Stracciatella is just melting off the Montanara.

That is bold.

GIULIO: Yes.

SETH: And I'm not even the world's biggest fan of truffle oil, but it just gives it a nice, strong little punch.

GIULIO: Yeah, you need it.

Otherwise, the anchovies would overpower and it kind of balances everything.

SETH: And I feel like nowadays chefs and restaurants, everyone's always trying to find some unique, regional flavor.

Why do you think it is that montanara hasn't really had its moment to shine?

GIULIO: Not many people had their Nonna cooking the montanara at home, right?

That's how I grew up.

So for us, making it is kind of like going back to the old time and tradition of family meals.

SETH: And now it's kind of the perfect bar bite.

And when you're working on the cocktail program, are you keeping sort of these Italian flavors in mind for what pairs well?

GIULIO: Acidity.

The acidity is what makes you hungry, right?

So if you think of any aperitivo in Italy, bitter flavor and sweet, and that's what we try to do with our cocktail, always that tone of acidity that gets your stomach ready to work on the food, right?

SETH: Well, it got me going from the moment we walked in the kitchen.

This montanara is so simple and yet such a revelation at the same time.

And I'll be sidling back up to this bar to try some more of it really soon.

Thank you, Chef.

GIULIO: Thank you very much.

PATRON: Wonderful.

SETH: For my last stop, I'm staying in the U Street Corridor.

This time, a few blocks east on 11th Street.

I'm visiting Lulu's Winegarden, run by Paul Carlson and his wife, Brittany.

The couple previously ran Vinoteca, a longtime neighborhood favorite in the same spot.

PAUL: Vinoteca opened in 2007.

It was, in many ways it's classic wine bar.

When 2019 occurred, we were feeling that it was time for a little bit of change.

BRITTANY: When we created Lulu's Winegarden, we were going for that kind of beer garden meets wine aesthetic, making it a little bit more fun, a little bit more approachable.

PAUL: At Lulu's, we try to be more communal, and I think that's where, like, wine and food really play its most important role is bringing people together.

SETH: Lulu's offers wines by the bottle or the glass, but with a notable twist.

PAUL: Wine can be overwhelming.

One of our things at Lulu's is that our menu is all one price.

So you don't have to pick your wine based on price point.

It's broken down by flavor profiles and what you like and what is fun.

SETH: And to complement the wine, the Lulu's kitchen is turning out a unique menu.

BRITTANY: You think about a wine bar and you kind of think about the traditional pairings: the cheese plates, the charcuterie.

And we were wanting to reinvent that.

So, where I grew up, the Southwest, Paul grew up throughout Central America, Colombia, and then our chef, Chef Cable Smith, grew up in New Mexico and lived in Texas.

CABLE: Growing up in New Mexico, it didn't really resonate how much it shaped my love of cooking until way later.

Food there is really simple, but there's just so much love in it.

Really, the entire culture of New Mexico is surrounded on the Hatch chile.

So I just wanted to be able to highlight it on the menu, but also with things that you would still find in a wine bar.

BRITTANY: Instead of the cheese plate, we've got a Texas-style white queso.

You can order a build-your-own taco board.

CABLE: Southwestern food doesn't seem like a natural pairing, but a Hatch chile, especially once it's roasted, it has all these notes of chocolate and raisin that actually pairs well with wines, and with the emergence of so many great wines coming out of South and Central America, there's just an opportunity for the pairings to expand.

BRITTANY: When people come to Lulu's, we want them to just have a good time.

They go out in our hidden back garden.

A lot of people come in, they go, "Oh my gosh, I almost forgot I was in DC for a couple of hours."

And so we want people to gather with good friends, no stress, no pretense.

Paul will help you pick the perfect bottle if you need any help and you enjoy it alongside some amazing food.

SETH: I'm meeting up with Chef Cable on Lulu's back patio to grill out Southwest style.

Chef.

CABLE: Hey, how are you?

SETH: Good to meet you.

CABLE: Thanks for coming in.

SETH: Oh, I am excited about coming to this little desert oasis on a weirdly cold day here in DC.

CABLE: It's a perfect day for grilling.

SETH: What are you making today?

CABLE: We're going to make our signature dish here at Lulu's, which is our carne asada tacos.

We're going to load it up with Hatch red chiles from New Mexico, along with some other ingredients, just to really punch through that flavor.

SETH: Awesome.

So how do you get started here?

CABLE: We're going to start off by making our marinade.

So we're going to start off with all of our liquid.

This is pineapple, orange juice, lime juice.

That sweetness really helps the char on the outside of the steak.

The lime juice kind of helps tenderize it as it's cooking.

SETH: After the juices, Cable adds garlic, shallots, jalapeños, and a parade of dried ingredients before adding the star of the show.

CABLE: Now we're going to go with our Hatch red chiles from New Mexico.

This is the green chile that has been dried out.

You get a lot of sweet, mild heat with this chile.

SETH: Just about every New Mexico dish, Hatch chiles, that's going to be the foundation, right?

CABLE: Absolutely.

Everywhere you go, you're going to get red or green, and you could get a little bit of both, and they call it Christmas style.

SETH: All right, Christmas, and it's that time of year.

CABLE: It's perfect.

And then we have black soy.

SETH: Ooh.

CABLE: We have citrus vinegar and then canola oil.

Last thing, I'm going to add a little bit of fresh cilantro just for some herbaceousness, and we're going to get this mixed up.

SETH: After the ingredients are blended, it's time to marinate the steak.

CABLE: So we are using a skirt steak from Roseda Farms in Maryland.

Not a lot of fat on it.

We'll get this nice and covered.

SETH: And that is a pretty color on that marinade.

CABLE: You can smell it too.

We're going to get this all rubbed in.

This is going to go ahead and set for about 24 hours.

So Seth, we have one here that's ready to go.

We're going to go ahead and take this over to the grill.

Let's get this cooked up.

SETH: Let's do it.

CABLE: So this has already been oiled.

I'm going to go ahead and hit it with some salt and pepper.

Go ahead and get this thing down.

SETH: There we go.

Now we're cooking.

CABLE: I'm going to go ahead and oil it and get salt and pepper on the other side.

SETH: All right, we've got some flare-ups happening here.

And for carne asada, you're looking for that kind of quick, high-heat cooking, right?

CABLE: Absolutely.

Because it's such a lean cut of meat, we want to hit it really high heat, so all those sugars in the marinade really start to caramelize, give us a nice char on the outside.

Because these are carne asada tacos, we need tortillas to go with it.

New Mexico is all about the flour tortilla.

We make these fresh in-house.

We've got a hot comal.

SETH: Yeah, and some people hate on flour tortillas for some reason.

I think they're delicious.

CABLE: They're the best.

SETH: Oh yeah, and as soon as it hits that comal, it's puffing up real nicely.

CABLE: Absolutely.

So once these tortillas get nice and puffed up, we're going to go ahead and get this steak flipped.

We're just looking for a little bit of crust on the edges just for some texture.

Steak is done.

We're going to pull it off, let it rest for a little bit.

Then to plate up our carne asada tacos, we're going to go ahead, slice it against the grain, really thin, serve it up with those fresh puffed flour tortillas, some of our Shiner Bock beans, pickles just to cut through some of that fattiness.

Queso fresco.

And our aji sauce.

And the carne asada tacos will be ready to enjoy.

SETH: All right, guys.

Taco time.

CABLE: Yeah.

Absolutely, let's go for it.

PAUL: Let's go.

SETH: All right.

You lead the way.

You can kind of make a bite to your own choosing here, taco on your own terms?

BRITTANY: Absolutely.

SETH: Thank you, Paul.

PAUL: Of course.

CABLE: You just want to get a little bit of everything here.

You're going to get some good acid from the pickled onions.

Nice fat from the avocado.

Top it off with a little bit of sauce and queso fresco and you're good to go.

SETH: Oh, there we go.

BRITTANY: That is my favorite sauce.

PAUL: We have sold it by the bottle.

That's right.

BRITTANY: We've sold it by the bottle.

People love it.

SETH: All right, and a little more acid with the lime.

And these are the Shiner Bock beans, chef?

CABLE: Yep.

Shiner Bock beans just from a little bit of my Texas roots.

Lots of bacon, more Hatch green chiles in there.

SETH: You're speaking my language.

PAUL: Delicious.

SETH: All right.

This right here is a pretty-looking taco.

BRITTANY: A stacked taco with like all of the flavors.

I think that's one thing that Cable does so well.

He nails all of like the different flavors and textures.

It's just perfect.

CABLE: What do you think?

PAUL: I don't have words.

I'm eating.

It's delicious.

Oh my God.

SETH: Get out of here with that.

The tortilla, nice and pillowy.

Perfect little bed for those flavors.

Love the acidity.

PAUL: That's my favorite part.

Between the pickled onions and the sauces and the lime, it's just like that bomb of acidity is delicious.

CABLE: The Hatch chile isn't too spicy.

It doesn't overpower any wines you might be doing with it.

I think it just turns out just right.

SETH: Mmm.

All right.

Obviously, it is a wine garden.

What are we drinking with this, Paul?

PAUL: So we're going to be pouring some wine from Mexico.

SETH: From Mexico?

PAUL: Yeah.

So we really like showcasing certain regions of the world, but one of the regions that we love is just Mexico.

Historically, Mexico is the home of wine in the Western hemisphere.

It originated when missionaries came to Mexico and started planting grapes just for their own consumption.

It is a combination of nebbiolo, which is the primary grape here.

And there's a little Cabernet to kind of blend it out.

CABLE: Sounds good to me.

Cheers.

SETH: Yeah, let's try it out.

CABLE: Cheers, guys.

SETH: Salud.

CABLE: That's amazing.

SETH: Really good.

Really kind of almost like berry-forward.

A little sweetness in there.

PAUL: Yeah, of course.

I think the chill that has on this wine also just makes it so approachable with all the different like peppers and spices and stuff like that comes with Southwestern cuisine, and this dish in particular.

SETH: I like when you come here, you're getting delicious food to pair with your wine, but it goes completely against expectations.

BRITTANY: I mean, that was the vision for Lulu's, right?

It was groups of friends gathering, enjoying good food and enjoying good wine in an unpretentious atmosphere.

All of our wines are priced the same, exact price, so you're not going into it going, "Oh, well, I don't really want to drink that."

But choose that because of the price.

PAUL: Right.

We just wanted to make it simple.

And I think by setting at one price point and having approachable food, it just makes the experience of getting together with friends, it's such a much easier process.

SETH: And that's what it's all about.

BRITTANY: It's all about.

SETH: The gathering.

BRITTANY: Good times, good wine, good food.

SETH: All right, well, I'll be coming back here for some more great food and drink.

I can't thank you guys enough.

PAUL: Thank you very much.

CABLE: One more.

BRITTANY: Salud.

ANNOUNCER: To find out more about great food in the Washington Metro area, visit weta.org/signaturedish.