All photos: Aineki Traverso

As we continue with our FOOD MONTH in BYT, today we visited chef Spike Mendelsohn's fridge.

Things you should know before we start: After appearing on Top Chef and  relocating to DC to open his restaurant Good Stuff Eatery, the DC celebrity chef and his sister Micheline have been working on putting together a book of recipes of classic American comfort foods (think burgers, fries, shakes, salads, and desserts), made from farm-fresh ingredients with his signature "good stuff twist”.
THE GOOD STUFF COOKBOOK will be released TODAY. We're pretty jazzersized to check it out!

That's not all we're expecting to see though- Spike is also getting ready to open a pizzeria WE, THE PIZZA right next to Good Stuff Eatery this summer and it promises to have the freshest New York-style pizza on the Block.

Spike's lovely fiancée Alyssa Shelasky (Check out her blog!) opened up the doors of their beautiful Capitol Hill home and let us get a scoop of what's in their fridge.

Let's see what they've got!

OUTSIDE: Letter magnets, magazine fishing ad (Spike loves boats and whales and wants to go on a fishing adventure soon), a variety of pictures (our favorite one was the one of Spike and a cute Greek old lady- there's something beautiful about happy elderly), Letters and Postcards, a page from People Magazine (which has a great history behind it- Alyssa works for People and after interviewing Spike for that same spread, they fell in love and been dating since then. (can we have an "awwwww!"?)).

ON TOP

Gualala River Cabernet Sauvignon, Crystal light pink lemonade, Dunkin' Donuts hazelnut coffee, steel water bottle, house wine,Duel Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley (Alyssa's favorite), Skinny Girl margarita mix (given to Alyssa by Margarita Franco from Real House Wives NYC ), Olive Oil ( brought from Spike's beach house in Kefalonia, Greece), Benissimo Balsamic Sherry Vinegar, Château St-George Champagne, Bailey's Irish Cream.

NOW LETS SEE WHAT'S INSIDE

TOP SHELF: Watermelon, Greek yogurt, garlic in a bowl, Soy Bean paste, Classic Hummus, Cream Cheese, Raspberries and Strawberries.

SECOND SHELF: Coke light and original twelve-pack (Spike is trying to drink less soda so Alyssa bought mini sizes), Welch's White Grape Cherry juice, Goya Guava and Guanabana nectar juice ( Aineki and I mentioned how much we loved the nectar and Alyssa let us have her last two Goyas. Thank Alyssa!).

THIRD SHELF:

Front- Lehigh Valley 2% Milk, Kolios' Feta Cheese, President Brie Cheese, Smoked Budha Cheese, Mortadella (Spike loves this deli meat, but Alyssa thinks its too porky), Blue Cheese.
Back- all natural Whole Grain Bread and (yummus) Hummus.

MOVING DOWN

Pizza (from Spike's new pizzeria), Lemons, Cucumbers, Braeburn Apples.

THE FREEZER

Skinny Cow Ice Cream cones, Jolly Rancher Popsicles ( Spike's all time favorites), Flour, Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough Ice Cream, Mixed frozen Berries, more Flour, Meat, Good Stuff Eatery bag ( filled with egg shells used for the garden), Skyy Vodka, Andes Creme de Mente, Pizza dough and some more flour.

SIDE DOOR

Organic Eggs, Dark Chocolate Mini Chunks, Carob Chocolate ( Alyssa loves this chocolate alternative to make baking goods ), Baking Soda, Organic Butter, Mustard, Whole Milk, Kraft Balsamic dressing, Ketchup, Assortment of Jams, Kronenburg Beer ( this French beer's a-maa-zing), Wine, Hot Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, Soy Sauce, Whip Cream, Hershey Chocolate Syrup, Aunt Jemima Syrup.

SPIKE'S VEGETABLE GARDEN

Spike is all about fresh ingredients so he started planting his own vegetables he has plants of: Tomato, Pepper, Brussel Sprouts, Eggplant, Broccoli, Cantaloupe, Onion, Lettuce, Sage, Oregano, Basil (smelled so good that I dared to eat a couple of leaves), Parsley and Rosemary.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH A SWEET TOOTH, OF COURSE WE GOT YOU DESSERT

Alyssa made this dessert called Clafouti that she descried like "it's kind of like a cherry tart..."very french! Its basically just eggs, sugar, flour, and berries..."

EL FIN

Like what you saw? Check out previous "What's in You Fridge? " posts

• DC Vegan's Amnber McDonald
• Josh Sisk, photographer, author of “Under the Strobe Light”
• Todd Kliman, food & wine editor of “Washingtonian”
• Josh Short, pastry chef of BUZZ Bakery
• Robb Duncan and Violeta Edelman of DOLCEZZA Gelato
• Miriam’s Kitchen
• Scott Drewno, of The Source
• Tim Carman, food columnist “Washington City Paper”
• DCVegan's Amber McDonald

Is there a fridge you’d like to see in here? Let us know in comments or at info@brightestyoungthings.com

Previously in What's In Your Fridge?:

• 8/4: Barton Seaver's Fridge
• 5/16: Mike Isabella's Fridge
• 12/28: What's In Your Fridge 2010: A Selection
• 12/27: Matthew Lesko: To the Fridge and Beyond
• 8/6: Whats In Your Fridge?: King Buzzo of the Melvins
• 7/7: Eating with Caution: Tittsworth's Fridge
• 6/3: What's In Your Fridge? Warren Brown of CakeLove
• 6/2: What's In Your Fridge? Washington Post Food Editor Joe Yonan
• 6/1: What's In Your Fridge? Nycci Nellis of TheListAreYouOnIt.com
• 5/28: Whats In Your Fridge? Amanda McClements of Metrocurean