When we lived in Houston, we’d regularly fly to meet friends from Austin at a little grass airstrip in the Hill Country, park the plane, dial a phone number written in Sharpie on the wall of the phone booth, and be met at the gate to the airport by a rusted out 1958 Ford pick-up truck for a ride to some of the best burgers and fried catfish west of the Mississippi. But after moving back to Virginia, the $100 hamburger runs gave way to local outings in the car and after 9/11 and all of the restrictions on general aviation around DC, our casual aviation outings for a $100 hamburger faded away.

But I had the opportunity to revisit the joy of a fly-in burger this week on a short “business” trip, flying from Leesburg to Gaithersburg in a friend’s Piper Comanche. While the 12 minute flight across the river stretches the definition of a legitimate $100 hamburger run, the results are worth bending the rules a bit. The Montgomery Co. Airpark is close enough to Leesburg to make this outing in a car and definitely worth the drive for a visit to the Airpark Café in the terminal building there. The menu is classic diner fare with a Greek/Mediterranean twist.

After our meeting was over, we retired to the Café for a quick bite before the grueling flight back to Leesburg. I ordered the cheeseburger while the pilot-in-command selected the Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich. The service is lightning fast, but you can amuse yourself while you wait by watching the aircraft take off and land just out the window. There’s also a nice deck for outdoor dining if the weather permits. Given that both plates were cleaned in a matter of minutes, I have to give the Airpark Café two thumbs up for a classic $100 hamburger experience. And they get an extra gold star for being a real on-site airport restaurant.

Lunch for two was about $20, plus 20 gallons of avgas and an hour of tach time. So if you’re looking for something to do this Labor Day weekend, it’s worth the 30 minute car ride (or 12 minute flight through the Air Defense Intercept Zone, dodging black helicopters) for a visit!

Of course, no visit to Landover would be complete without sampling something deep-fat fried, so our selected entree was the chicken tenders and fries basket. The tenders actually lived up to their name, and were moist and juicy with a crispy batter that was slightly spicy. The black pepper of the batter was nicely matched by a dollop of Heinz Ketchup which was precisely dispensed by the large ketchup pumps nearby. The fries were reminiscent of those at Five Guys (see the review below), and clearly were taking advantage of SysCo’s best battered fry recipe.

We washed it all down with two bottles of vintage 2009 Dasani water. Appetizer and dinner with beverages came in at just over the Redskin’s final score (24-27) at $25.

All joking aside, lunch earlier this week at Five Guys in Chantilly was actually quite enjoyable in comparison to the snack bar. For those who aren’t yet initiated into the cult of Five Guys, they make what are arguably the best hamburgers and fries on the planet. I chose the cheeseburger with the classic lettuce/tomato/mayo toppings and a Coke. Everything is made to order and stuffed in a brown paper sack, with the fries dumped in on top.

Five Guys makes double patty burgers by default, so if you’re not feeling too hungry, you should make sure to order the “Little” version instead. The meat is cooked medium well unless you ask for something different, and the burger is juicy. So don’t skip on the napkins! But the real secret of Five Guys is the fries. These are the classic, square-cut, deep-fried lovelies that every burger joint on the planet used to serve before some marketing person got the brilliant idea that we wanted our fries dunked in batter before cooking. A small order of fries is enough for 2, but I confess to finishing most of mine myself.

If you’re in that part of town and feel the need for an awesome burger, Five Guys will definitely fix you up. They’re located at 14421 Chantilly Crossing Lane, just southwest of the Rt. 50/28 intersection at the end of the strip mall. A burger, fries, and drink will set you back about $10, 1500 calories, and 20 minutes of guilty dining pleasure.

Our second suggestion this week is Moe’s Southwest Grill situated at 667 Potomac Station Dr NE. For being part of a chain, the food was surprisingly good. After being greeted by the traditional “Welcome to Moe’s” yelled by all employees when someone comes in, we picked a ground beef taco meal and a pork salad from the menu. Both portions were huge and the taste and spices were excellent. The taco was so full of meat, guacamole, salad and pico de gallo that I had a hard time not getting any all over my shirt. The pork salad is made with pulled pork meat and was dressed with our choices of ingredients : cheese, pico de gallo, beans and cilantro. Of course it did not replace a trip to New Mexico or South Texas, but it was good southwest food for Northern Virginia.

Finally, we made a nice discovery during our First Friday outing. We sampled some of the products (apple cobbler, beignets, hushpuppies and cornbread) from Woodpecker Farm Foods. This Virginia company was founded in the early ’90s by the great grandson of Betty Washington, George’s sister. The gourmet batter and dough mixes are made with simple, natural ingredients.  You add a little water to the mix, stir, bake or deep fry and voilà! Their products, very affordable (between $3.50 and $4.50 a bag) can be found at The Pink Shop or online.

The dining room is spacious and immaculately clean, with a large TV and free WiFi for diners who need to be entertained while eating. But the food is the highlight of Red Kabob, as it should be. The meats are perfectly cooked, side dishes quite tasty, and portions are more than enough for one person. We had the beef and the chicken kabob plates, which came with basmati rice and a small salad and a large, locally baked pita. Along with the dinner came two very nice dipping sauces, a minty, spicy one that went very well with the beef and the classic yogurt/mint tzatziki sauce.

I can’t overstate how nicely the meats were prepared. So often, kabob restaurants have the meat pre-cooked and it ends up dry and tough as it is reheated. The chicken and beef were tender, moist, and very nicely spiced.

In addition to the main courses, we had a side order of hummus, which would have been nice with a little olive oil, but was fine by itself, with probably more tahini than some recipes, which made it quite tasty.

The owners are very enthusiastic about their new restaurant and are quite happy to offer you a taste of something else, or a little bit more of what you were having if you’re still hungry. My only regret is not realizing how large the portions are. Two full plates is really more than enough for 3 or 4 people, so you can probably get away with splitting one of the combination dishes if you want to keep the per person lunch cost under $10. Our bill for 2 dinners, drinks, and a side of hummus was $24.

The graciousness of the owners and the perfect preparation of the meats make this place a repeat visit for sure.

Our second small but nice restaurant is Lesher’s Hot-Dog at 26 South King St. You better look up for the sign to not miss the place! First of all, we have gone several times to this place and it’s always super clean and the staff is very friendly. The menu is not very large (3 kinds of hot-dogs and 2 choices of burgers if I remember correctly) but the food is good. I really like the chili hot-dog. They burgers are well cooked and juicy. Unfortunately they do not serve fries, but they do have a variety of chips and sodas. I hope one day this place will add a few mores items on they menu like more toppings and some side dish. That would make it a lot more interesting place. But you can get 2 hot-dogs and a soda for about $5.30, which is not bad for lunch.

Right now, the best way to characterize Shoe’s is as a local coffee shop, very much in the pattern of the old Market St. Coffee, but with a significantly wider selection of coffees, teas, smoothies,  and fruit drinks. Add to that the freshly baked pasteries and sandwiches and salads made on the premises and you can start to see where it goes beyond the “just another coffee shop” label. And best of all, their coffee is organic and fair-trade and they are trying to stick to local, organic ingredients in the food they serve.

The decor is fun, with walls of shelves, a floor to ceiling chalk board, big tables with board games, puzzles, and rack of magazines to entertain. Not to be missed is the overhead light fixture made from antique shoes, complete with a 1928 ladies shoe found in the wall during renovations. And as we walked in, one of the baristas was adding live music to the mix with her guitar and pleasant vocals. There’s also free Wi-Fi, but it was hard to tell what the power outlet situation was for road warriors needing a quick bite and a cuppa.

We tried several things from the menu, selecting the Shoe salad (a bit of an antipasto-topped garden salad), the Italian hoagie, and the grilled portobello and mozzarella sandwich. The sandwiches were good, and though already made, they were happy to stick them in the sandwich press to toast them up for you. The ingredients were great, with the roasted peppers and fresh mozzarella, fresh greens, and nice breads adding a lot. Beverages we tried included the Shoe smoothie (normally peach, but made with pineapple for us), the blackberry smoothie, and the lemonade. All were very nice, freshly made, and as a pleasant surprise, not very sweet with the tartness of the fruit supplying a little extra zing to the drinks.

While we were dining, we were treated to a preview of the menu to come once the beer and wine license wends its way through the Virginia ABC bureaucracy . A nice small plate, including goat cheese stuffed peppadew peppers and some grilled focaccia with melted cheeses would go very well with a glass of wine, and we look forward to these sorts of additions to the menu.

Sandwiches were followed up by coffee and dessert, with a nice blueberry scone and a large cup of café mocha rounding out the meal. Due to a complete ordering failure on my part, we didn’t get to try the unadulterated coffees or teas, but that’s just an excuse to go back soon.

In short, Shoe’s is going to be a wonderful addition to the downtown dining scene. They are open every day from that first wake-up cup of coffee to the late evening dessert run or glass of wine. The staff were all very helpful, the decor is a treat, and you can’t beat the location for convenience. See you there!

As an added bonus, it’s right across the street from Nichol’s Hardware, which is a must-visit-once-a-month blast from the hardware past. If you’ve never been, you owe it to yourself to see this bit of Americana.

This week’s second adventure includes picking black raspberries at the Mackintosh Fruit Farm in Berryville. This nice little family orchard is on the far side of Clarke’s Gap and has blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples, peaches, and lots and lots of different vegetables according to the season. Their prices are about half of what the more touristy Great Country Farms charges. They have a very nice picnic area, lots of locally grown and baked/cooked/prepared foods, and acres of stuff to pick. This week is probably the last week for raspberries, but the blackberries looked like they’d be ready to pick any day now.

Finally, Red, Hot, and Blue on E. Market St. in Leesburg got a quick lunch visit. As usual, the meat was good. But all things considered, you’re better off searching for more authentic barbecue a bit further afield. Good, but only occasionally.

La Lou’s Bistro – Market St. next to the Tally Ho Theater. A couple of readers sing its praises. This Yelp review provides more info. There was also a Loudoun Times Mirror article on them this week in the print edition.

Fractured Prune – This one is on the must-go-see list if for no other reason than their tag line is “Hot Hand-Dipped Homemade Donuts.” 828 S. King St.

Leesburg Farmer’s Market – I’ll second Valérie’s recommendation on Baker’s bacon (email bakerinc@shentel.net). This is not your normal, fatty, thin grocery store bacon. It’s thick-cut, and shorter strips that fit better in your pan. And much more meat than fat. Perfect for that summer B.L.T. with fresh heirloom tomatoes and some lemon basil instead of lettuce. Mmm.

The Leesburg Farmer’s Market goes year round, but it would be a very good idea to try and find an inside place for winter, or even as a permanent locale. Why not try to get the place the Rust Library used during its renovation? Some products like the meat, cheese, honey, sauce, etc. could be sold all the time. No need to wait only for Saturdays! But then again, maybe the joy of Saturday morning market’s adventures would be diminished by it…

To subscribe to the Farmer’s Market newsletter, see their web site at : http://www.loudounfarmersmarkets.org/Leesburg.php