Restaurant Review: Vivace (Charlotte)

Possibly one of the best Italian meals I’ve had.  Ever.  And not enhanced, at all, by the fact that Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn were sitting less than 20 feet away from us.

Angie Harmon was at the same restaurant as I was.  And we didn’t even realize it until we were leaving.

Now, I’m not sure what she ate for dinner that night, but what my fellow diners and I had was a pleasure to the palate.

We started with salads and meatballs.  What?  You didn’t know four perfectly sized, perfectly seasoned, perfectly perfect meatballs could be an appetizer?  Well, they can be.  And they were.  A mixture of beef, veal, cheese, heavy cream, herbs and spices (and, as one of my friends said, “a little bit of heaven”).  Topped with a bright red marinara and shaved piave vecchio, the four healthy sized meatballs were a great way to start off the meal.  Obviously, ordering the meatballs as an app allowed me to indulge in their deliciousness while freeing up my entrée options since I no longer felt obligated to order the spaghetti and meatballs.

I wonder if Angie Harmon had some meatballs.

Pre-entrée, my dinner pals and I also had salads.  Two of them had the Vivace seasonal salad, which was a rainbow on a plate.  Loaded with grapefruit, oranges, goat cheese, spiced walnuts atop mixed greens, served with a lemon honey vinaigrette.  For a cold day in January, this was a refreshing treat, summoning visions of summer and sunshine, not slush and bitter winds.

I shared a Caprese salad with a friend.  It was delicious.  A take on the tradition tomato, cheese, and basil setup, this salad came before us slightly altered.  The tomatoes were roasted and slightly charred.  The tanginess of the tomatoes was nicely offset by the slight char from the roasting; this choice of preparation also allowed for the tomatoes to retain their moisture and remain decadently juicy (which may not have been the case had we gotten regular, plain old boring sliced tomatoes out of season).  Instead of leaves of basil littering the plate, these tomatoes were covered with a perfect basil pesto.  And, the mozzarella–soft and buttery and served in perfect proportion to the tomatoes and pesto.

On to the entrees!

Because I had gotten my taste of the meatballs with my brilliant appetizer selection, I opted for the pappardelle alla Bolognese.  The thick, ribbon-like pasta was covered generously with the savory Bolognese.  And an added bonus?  The goat cheese crema (when is goat cheese ever a bad addition, really?) and more of that delicious piave vecchio.  The best thing about this dish was that you could get it in two portion sizes.  I opted for the smaller one and finished every last morsel and was quite sated.  Had I ordered the bigger portion, I would have probably finished every last morsel, as well, so as not to let any go to waste.

We had two orders of the spaghetti and meatballs arrive at the table.  Usually considered a favorite among the much younger set, this was enjoyed by my 30-something friends with as much glee as if they were 5-year-olds. The meatballs on top of the spaghetti were a tad bit larger than the appetizer portion and were a generous quantity (five!).  The sauce, while labeled on the menu as “tomato sauce” is, in fact, a little bit creamy.  The spaghetti is a bit thicker than your average spaghetti, allowing the sauce to stick to it heartily.  The secret to ordering this—and to jazz it up and make it a bit more adult—is to order it with a few shakes of red pepper flakes.  The difference is dramatic.

The final entrée for the table was the chili-capellini and lump crab.  One word:  amazing.  The capellini was a vibrant red from the chili and the flavor was quite evident—but not overpowering.  The roasted tomatoes, garlic, and generous portion of lump crab meat downplayed the spice nicely.  Again, a clean plate.

And, because there were four clean plates (and that’s just the entrees!) we had no room for dessert.  But it was well worth it to give up the calories.

I wonder if Angie had dessert.

Restaurant Review: Artisa Kitchen Supper Club (in pictures)

The What:  Artisa Kitchen Supper Club

The Where:  The Fridge Art Gallery, Washington, DC

Deconstructed olive. Tasted like the dredges of a dirty martini.

Purple Potato Chinese gnocchi.

Beet salad with goat cheese fondue, gelee, balsamic glaze, and pink grapefruit.

Fennel wrapped in Virginia ham with shredded green apple salad and a citrus vinaigrette.

Pumpkin (or was it carrot??) soup with cinnamon foam and some kind of delicious oil.

Lamb sous vide with spaghetti squash and garlic paper.

Scallop topped with hazelnut, with truffle powder and some kind of puree…

Rabbit ravioli with a chanterelle ragout. Sorry, Thumper.

Cod terrine with microgreens.

The pork belly.

Champagne sorbet made with liquid nitrogen, a la Richard Blais.

Bubbly.

Dessert: saffron cream, dark chocolate truffle covered in cocoa, candied carrot over a carrot/raisin bread.

Restaurant Review: CityZen

To celebrate my brother’s 30^th birthday, we went to CityZen, located in the Mandarin Oriental.  I can’t think of a better way to have ushered him into his fourth decade than this.

We sat down and were immediately greeted by our server.  He welcomed us to the restaurant and immediately took our drink orders.  Soon thereafter, our beverages arrived and our new friend was ready to start answering questions and telling us about our choices.

He was very knowledgeable.

The restaurant offers three choices for dinner—a six course tasting menu, a three course menu, and a six course vegetarian menu.  With the six course, you do not get to make any choices; you eat what you are served.   We each opted for the three course menu so that we had some control over our choices.

Side note:  because, when making the reservation, we told them it was my brother’s birthday, the server took a moment, after taking our orders, to hand my brother a birthday card signed by the entire staff of the restaurant.  A nice gesture, we thought.

Before the appetizers arrived, we were treated to several canapés.  Slightly bigger than an amuse bouche but smaller than a traditional hors d’oeuvre, these surprises were all fantastically marvelous.  The first was a sous vide lobster custard.  Usually, when you think custard, you think sweet.  This savory custard was a masterpiece and we all savored every last drop.  The custard was smooth and creamy and, because it was prepared using lobster shells, the flavor was deep and authentic.  Topped with a tiny round brioche, and a lobster infused oil, this was a canapé worth every last calorie.

The second canapé was an olive oil custard.  This was tasty, as well, but extremely rich.  It tasted much like a soft boiled egg so, if you’re not into that taste or texture, this may not be the choice for you.  I ate the whole thing [of course] but could have been fine without it.

Another side note:  the iced tea came with simple syrup.  Nothing better than true sugar water.  Splenda be damned.

As we finished our canapés, we were surprised with another treat:  the travelling bread basket!  We were given a choice of white, wheat, or ciabatta bread (and could have as many slices as we wanted!).  The best part of the bread experience was the butter.  We were given two kinds of soft butter—a sweet butter (which tasted fabulous on the wheat bread) and soft salted butter.  Doesn’t get much better than that.

Finally, our first courses arrived.  I had the potato blintzes with smoke salmon and salmon mousse.  As one of my dining partners stated, “It tastes like a Jewish holiday.”  The potato was a fabulous puree that was smooth and creamy.  The blintzes reminded me more of a taquito in terms of their texture on the outside and the fact that they were rolled in a tube shape.  There was a generous amount of salmon mousse set atop the two blintzes.

My brother, of course, ordered the pork jowl confit.  He always chooses the “weird” meats.  It was so tender and melted in your mouth, though, so not a bad choice on his part.  There was a sweet sauce, pomegranate seeds, and pine nuts that decorated the plate.

The other appetizer that appeared before us was the artichoke agnolotti.  The pillows of pasta were stuffed with a creamy puree of artichoke.  Not generally a fan of artichoke, even I had appetizer anxiety and envy over this one.  The agnolotti was topped with beautifully seasoned chanterelle mushrooms.  There was just enough sauce to cover the pasta and to leave a bit for ciabatta dipping.

On to the entrees.  Three of the four of us ordered the veal.  Served with a rich jus, the veal was so tender it did not even need a knife.  Served alongside was a potato concoction that was mashed potatoes (with cheese mixed in) that were pattied and fried.  The potatoes had a hint of nutmeg that added a fall feel to the meal.  The veal also came accompanied by mushrooms and some kind of green.

Our last entrée was the beef option.  The cut was “that delicious fatty piece that comes in the corner of a ribeye.”  I can’t get more technical than that.  Living up to our server’s promise, the beef was cooked to perfection (medium rare) and, like all the other red meat we had sampled that night, melted in your mouth.  This entrée was served with fruits of the harvest—pumpkin, most notably.

Oh my goodness I almost forgot to tell you about the rolls!  Each side of the table was presented with its own small, wooden box filled with mini, house made, buttered, and salted Parker House rolls.  First of all, they were the cutest little buns from the oven ever.  And they seriously melted in your mouth.  We couldn’t get enough—but made do with our provision of eight [for each side of the table].

Prior to dessert, our server came by our table with complimentary prosecco (or sparkling grape juice for those who weren’t drinking) to toast the birthday boy.  Another nice—and welcome—gesture.

Much to our delight, the parade of servers came around after our dinner dishes had been cleared and offered us a pre-dessert canapé/palate cleanser.  Set before us was a Concord grape sorbet with lemon chiffon cake and lemon curd.  Amazing.  The tartness of the lemon in the cake and accompanying curd went well with the sweetness of the grape sorbet (which was a surprising taste in and of itself).  The sorbet, too, had a slight tang, so all the flavors really worked well together.  Much like the lobster custard canapé, we kind of wish we had just one more bite.

But we needn’t have been greedy, because our own, full-sized, delicious desserts arrive shortly thereafter.  Three of the four of us ordered the CityZen SkyBar, the restaurant’s signature dessert.  Here’s what it was—the description says it all—milk chocolate biscuit with Valrhona fudge, caramel candied peanuts, and Tahitian vanilla mousse.  The biscuit was really more of a circular vessel that held within it the layers of peanuts and mousse.  The description leaves out the mini scoop of bitter, dark chocolate ice cream (atop some dark chocolate cocoa) that came on the side.  It wasn’t too sweet, don’t worry.

Another side note:  as if our servers hadn’t done enough to make us feel welcomed already, my brother was given another birthday treat–his very own, very special red velvet cupcake with sour cream frosting, served on a cake platter emblazoned with a chocolate message saying “Happy Birthday.”  He did not share his cupcake.  Not even a taste of the frosting!  His defense?  “It was an amuse bouche!”  Our acceptance?  “Fine, it’s your birthday.”

Oh yeah, our fourth dessert was an apple tart.  Green apples, flaky crust…it was tasty but clearly didn’t stand out.  Luckily for its recipient, those of us who ordered the SkyBar were willing to share.

As if that weren’t enough, with our bill came more dessert!  Served on a slate “platter,” we had more dessert choices–four each of a Mission fig macaroon, dark chocolate truffles filled with orange and cinnamon, and a pear gelee.

The meal was fabulous.  At $80/person for a three course tasting menu with several extra mini courses, the price was comparable to other upscale area restaurants.  As our server and new BFF told us, fancy food doesn’t have to be fancy.  It’s about taste and texture and the experience.

“Gourmet,” he said, “is just another word for delicious.”

Definitely gourmet.

Restaurant Review: Kinkead’s

We finally made it to K.  After four rescheduled dinners, dinner club finally has K under its belt.

K is for Kinkead’s.

Since we arrived a bit early, we sat at the bar for a cocktail before our table was ready (and, happily, were able to sip and chat for as long as we wanted and were not rushed, even though we were at the bar beyond our reservation time).  It was nice to sit and catch up.  It was not nice to get the stink eye when I asked the bartender if he had a cocktail list I could peruse.  I’m not good on the spot, I need ideas.  Apparently, I should know better than to be so gauche as to ask for a menu.  Vodka cranberry, then, it is.

Upon being seated, we were immediately given a wine list—but not menus.  In fact, we weren’t given menus until we had been sitting for five minutes or so.

While we looked over the menu (which, we noted, was different than that which was on the website—I understand this is normal and should know better than to choose and commit myself to something online), the waiter brought us a bread basket.  Filled with a variety of choices (cornbread and slices of white and wheat) the basket was accompanied by a dish of soft butter.  Soft butter is key.

The cornbread was fantastic—it had a touch of cumin and a kick of chili pepper, which were both nice surprises that were subtle enough that you could taste something “different” but not so overpowering that they took over the sweetness of the corn.

Not surprisingly, we each started with an appetizer.  Two of us ordered the pumpkin ravioli with a sweet balsamic glaze, crispy sage, crisp prosciutto, and pine nuts while the other two ordered the Hawaiian style tuna tartare “poke” with sushi rice, mango, toasted macadamias and taro chips.  Not a drop of anything was left on any of the four plates.  The ravioli appetizer (the long plate had four on it) were tender and the pumpkin puree was sweet and smooth, complemented well by the acidity of the glaze.  And the sage was a perfect touch.  I always forget how much I like crispy greens; it reminded me, a bit, of the crispy spinach appetizer (the palak chaat) at Rasika.  The tuna tartare was perfectly seasoned, with the mango adding sweetness and the macadamia nuts adding texture to the appetizer.

We practiced a little more individuality when ordering our entrees.  As this is a restaurant known for its seafood—and since there was really only one non-seafood entrée option (a NY Strip), we each stuck with the fruits de mer.

The most impressive of the entrees was the crispy grilled whole black sea bass with cucumber salad, baby bok choy, and a Chinese fermented black bean sauce.  The waiter made sure that we knew that the fish was whole.  A whole fish means that it comes with the head still attached and that you have to figure out how to filet and debone it yourself.

Yes, we know.

The fish came curled around the cucumber salad.  It was perfectly crisp on the outside, flaky and moist on the inside.  The Asian flavors—ginger, sesame, fish sauce—added a complexity to the dish which, otherwise, would be simple but still delicious.

Another entrée selection was the swordfish served with cannellini beans and ditalini pasta.  The fish was perfectly cooked and topped with a fragrant pesto.  The sauce that accompanied the fish was the perfect complement.

I stayed “safe” and ordered the cod.  But it was topped with imperial crab and served with pureed sweet potatoes so delicious we ended up ordering a separate side order for the table.  The dish also came with a stuffing like concoction, the components of which I was never sure but the taste of which I was certain was delicious.  There was definitely corn in it—it was sweet like cornbread but had the consistency of stuffing.  I also had a small pile of wilted spinach on the side, but, alas, I can’t tell you how that tasted.

The fourth selection was autumn themed—a flaky white fish served with carrots, root vegetables, and a beet puree that gave the plate a beautiful fuschia color.  The mixing of the flavors was warm and comforting.

Who were we to say no to dessert?  We tried, we really did, but as we saw plate after plate of dessert parade past us, we knew we had to give it a chance.  What better way to try things out than to get two samplers?  We ordered the sorbet (mango, passionfruit, and raspberry) and the crème brulee (pistachio, dark chocolate, and salted caramel).  The mango sorbet was the star of the desserts—it tasted like summer.  Sweet and fresh, the sorbet was so authentic it was as though you were eating a mango half that had been frozen.  The passionfruit was very tart.  Very.  The raspberry was nothing to write home about; we decided it was the best “go to” in terms of sorbet flavors.  Each of the crème brulee selections were tasty.  The chocolate tasted more like pudding than crème brulee.  The pistachio was so subtle we had to be reminded what the flavor was but, once you had it in your head, the flavor became more pronounced.  The salted caramel was the best of the three and the only one that we finished completely.

The crowd was a bit older, but we enjoyed livening the place up with our youth and our interesting young folk conversation.  Parking was plentiful on the street, but the restaurant does validate garage parking.  On an expensive or not scale, Kinkead’s falls more on the former side but the quality of the food and its presentation is worth it.

Restaurant Review: The Boathouse at Rockett’s Landing (Richmond)

If there’s one thing you can say about Richmond it’s that there is definitely not a dearth of places for a tasty meal, be it breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch, linner…

The Boathouse is no exception.  Located on the James River at Rockett’s Landing (4708 East Old Main Street, Richmond VA 23231), The Boathouse occupies the top floor of the recently restored Power Plant building, which once provided electricity for Richmond’s fleet of trolley cars (aside:  how cool would it be if Richmond still had a trolley??).   The decor of the restaurant–for it being a seafood restaurant on the water–was not overly themed or nautical.  It was, actually, quite tasteful and minimalist and modern.  The brick oven in which they make their famous pizzas provided a warm, orange glow to the room and added an air of coziness.  The booths were open, large, and quite comfortably seated our party of five.  The bar area had high tables with comfortable stools.   Per the restaurant’s own managers, they do not take reservations, but we were able to snag one on Open Table.  Upon questioning of the [15 year old] hostess, we were informed that they are having issues with Open Table and that they are going to limit reservations to parties of six or more.  There were, actually, mostly larger sized parties while we were there, and the dining area filled up quickly and stayed going strong until we left.

The restaurant specializes in seafood but offers a variety of other dinner options, as well.  We happened to all partake in the non-seafood entrees–and, sadly for the case of writing a balanced review, three of the four of us ordered the filet.  But what a filet it was.  Cooked perfectly to order (and we each ordered it a different temperature) the meat was pretty much fork tender and melted in your mouth.  Accompanied by creamy (as in taste, not texture) mashed potatoes topped off with cheddar cheese and asparagus, this was a selection with which not a single one of us was disappointed.  The mashed potatoes were the perfect consistency, each bit flecked with some potato skin (but not in an overwhelming way) and with a lump here and there to prove authenticity.  The asparagus, which also accompanied the grilled pork chops (which was the fourth entree we ordered) was the star of the evening.  Grilled to the point of being a few shades shy of slightly charred, the asparagus was green and crisp and salted and peppered to marvelousness.   The grilled pork chops were also succulent and tender and came with a side of potato and gruyere gratin. 

Each of us added a half side salad to our entrees for an additional $5.  The wedge was “classic,” with bacon, diced fresh tomatoes, and ranch dressing.  Rather than the traditional “normal” blue cheese, the Boathouse wedge was adorned with crumbled gorgonzola, which added a nice touch–it was not so strong as to overpower the rest of the flavors.  The salad was dressed between layers of lettuce, not drizzled with the dressing so, while it appeared as though you did not have enough dressing (and, really, who can ever have enough ranch?) there was the perfect amount.  The pear and gorgonzola spinach salad with sliced onions and a balsamic vinaigrette was also a hit. 

Note:  if you want bread, you have to ask for it.  But you’ll be glad that you did.

Another note:  if you have a child with you, be sure to order the $5 (yes, $5!!) cheese pizza for him or her.  If you’re anything like the adults we are, you’ll want to have a bite or two (ok, a slice) of the large pie.  The thin crust lended itself well to the generous sprinkling of mozzarella, with a sweet tomato sauce.  As our waiter, Ethan, said, “it’s the best $5 you’ll ever spend.”

We ended the evening with the Pizzookie which, as you can imagine is, a cookie pizza.  What appeared before us was nothing short of magnificent:  a chocolate chip cookie the size of a dessert plate, baked just enough to be cooked but not nearly enough to have true cookie consistency.  Topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and hot fudge, this is a dessert not to be missed.  It is recommended that you eat it AS FAST AS YOU CAN, as it melts into a soup (albeit still delicious) very quickly.  Not to shun a dessert, but I will say it could’ve used a minute or two more in the oven, just to be a better receptacle for the toppings. 

I can’t write a proper review of The Boathouse without saying that, if you are to make it there for a meal, I’d strongly suggest making it your evening meal and suggest even more strongly that you go at or near sunset.  It was breathtaking to see the sun descending over the James, with the Richmond skyline in the distance.  The reds, pinks, oranges, blues, and purple were vibrant and stunning and added to the already warm and cozy atmosphere of the restaurant.  Though it was chilly the night we were there, we could all easily imagine sitting on the outside patio, cocktails in hand, watching the sun go down on a warm summer night.  With a basket of bread and maybe some crab hush puppies in front of us, of course.

Restaurant Review: Black Market Bistro

Tucked away in a quaint little post office in Garrett Park, Maryland (with a not so quaint Amtrak track right behind it), Black Market Bistro is a part of the Black’s restaurant family (my second favorite local group, after the Great Americans, of course). 

Despite the bustling, filled to capacity dining room, the overall feel of the place is warm and comforting.  The wait staff is extremely pleasant and gracious; our waitress never once huffed about the fact that she had to come by four times before my two dining companions and I were ready to order (and, it wasn’t like we really needed to look at the menu–the three of us are pretty standard in what we order when we dine together). 

The specials for the evening highlighted the greatest joy of summer:  the heirloom tomato.  There was a crostini with ricotta cheese, basil, and tomato.  There was also a gazpacho with basil.  Our choice was the heirloom tomato salad.  Our tomatoes (all shapes, sizes, and colors) came served with small balls of mozzarella and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.  The tomatoes were perfectly ripened–not grainy or mealy, they were juicy  and crisp.  The balsamic was the perfect acidic counterpart to the sweetness of the tomatoes. 

The other menu appetizers seemed to mostly be of the seafood variety; while appropriate for the season it was not, to me, appropriate for the area (call me a snob, but I’d prefer to have my seafood closer to the sea).  There were several different musssel dishes (one Thai inspired, one with garlic, shallots, and tomatoes), and some cornmeal crusted oysters.  There was also a squid salad and an atipasto platter. 

The dinner menu was quite varied.  Thin crust pizzas started off the options.  The dinner entrees, much like the appetizer ones, had many seafood choices–trout, salmon, tuna, and shrimp.  There was also the typical fare of chicken and steak but, of course, we all three gravitated toward the burger.  I know that, to write a proper review, one must really sample as many different items as possible.  We?  Failed.

However.

The burgers were fantastic (and at least we had them different ways).  With the options of cheese (cheddar, pepper Jack, provolone, or Point Reyes bleu) and bacon, we went crazy with variations.  The burgers came cooked to order (perfectly medium rare), the juices soaking perfectly into the sesame seed bun (as one friend said, “You don’t see these much anymore…it’s more of a Kaiser world.”).  The burgers come with a salad and crispy onion strings.  French fries appear no where on the menu.  The mixed green salad left much to be desired (including dressing, in my opinion) but the onion crisps were a welcome accompaniment. 

And then?  Comes dessert.  BMB makes all breads and desseerts in-house, daily.  (Aside:  the bread basket held several slices each of regular white baguette type bread and what we determined was an Irish soda bread with currants.  Neither disappointed.  What was slightly disappointing was the pre-packaged pats of butter.  I prefer a vat of real, don’t have to open a gold wrapper, spreadable goodness.)  We each ordered our own dessert and, among the three of us, were able to sample the root beer float (“Root beer does something amazing to the texture of the ice cream”), the blueberry pie slab (a la mode, of course, and a slab it surely was), and the chocolate panna cotta (“This really is quite chocolatey”).  The blueberry pie, which was my choice, was so beautiful–the granulated sugar sprinkled all over the crust made the pie sparkle.  The garnish of fresh peaches tasted as though they had been picked straight from the tree and delivered to the pie man (after which they were marinated in some sort of citrus). 

Before we knew it, we had been sitting at the table for almost three hours.  Not once did anyone try to rush us and not once did we ever realize the amount of time we had spent eating and laughing.  If you’re looking for a kind of out of the way place (I mean, it’s right off of Rockville Pike, between Kensington and Rockville) with a comfortable atmosphere that offers a seasonal and well-priced menu and you don’t mind the occasional freight train rolling through, Black Market Bistro is the place for you.

Restaurant Review: Poste Roast

A long overdue review. 

Several weeks ago, my friends and I got together for a farewell dinner for two friends of ours who would soon be picking up and moving themselves all the way out to Seattle.  What better way to celebrate them, our friendship, and the beginning of summer than an authentic pig roast?  And what better place to do that than Poste?

Every summer, Poste does nightly (except for Thursdays) family style dinners.  Poste Roasts are intimate, family style dinners for 6-12 people.  Held in the restaurant’s Chef’s Garden amid pots of herbs, these dinners are definitely an experience to be had.   Make your reservations at least seven days in advance  and you and your friends can sit at the big marble table and sample the deliciosity that Chef Robert Weland has to offer. 

And there is a lot that he offers.  When you make your reservation, you are asked to give your meat selection (as roasting an animal on a spit obviously takes a long time and needs to be done prior to your arrival).   The options (main dish and sides) are all locally sustainable foods.  For your meat selection, you can choose from standards such as suckling pig, beef brisket, or lamb.  There is also salmon, squab, poussin, or goat.   Each meat selection comes paired with specially chosen sides that are served family style. 

My friends and I decided to go with the pig.  Aside from it being a delicious choice, its paired sides of macaroni and cheese, grilled seasonal fruits, and sauerkraut were options we could not turn down.  

(As an aside:  we could also not turn down the truffle fries (or truffle frites, if you want to be French).  We ordered several baskets (why get plain fries when you can get truffled ones?)  for the group and devoured them within minutes.   They seemed to be double fried in what I guess was duck fat.  The truffle flavoring was there but subtle enough that it was not overpowering.  Served with a homemade ketchup that many of us had to keep from licking off our plates, these were a perfect beginning to what would turn out to be a spectacular meal.)

So, we’re all sitting around the table, engaging in our usual banter, when out comes our pig.  Our very own pig!  Our host presented it to us and allowed us a chance to look at it (and take pictures with and of it) before they took it to the kitchen and (SORRY) beheaded it.  The staff was kind enough to split the head (sorry, again) and separate the pieces (ears, brains) so that we could sample them as we pleased.  I actually expanded my culinary palate and pulled up my big girl pants and spread a little bit of the pig brain on toast.  The verdict?  Not so bad.  It had the texture of liver, I thought (kind of velvety) with the same kind of iron undertones.  I can’t say that I’d ever order it on its own (or by choice) but I’m glad that I tried it.

The pig itself was amazing.  We all had a little bit of the crispy skin…think Thanksgiving turkey yumminess times about one hundred.  The meat itself was succulent and juicy and its only downfall was that we had to carve the pig ourselves.  Thankfully, there were several brawny men in the group who not only embraced the task but, also, enjoyed doing so.  The pork belly was as good as you could expect, if only in small portions.  We all had our fill of the pork and then some, and still went home with six doggie bags (for which several actual doggies were very thankful).

The sides were also a hit.  Expecting to have grilled peaches (because that would seem obvious, considering the season), I was surprised when our cassoulets revealed grilled apples, instead.  Needless to say, this fruity accoutrement was my least favorite part of the meal, though the sweetness did work well with the savory aspects of the pork and the macaroni and cheese and with the acidity of the sauekraut.  Now, let’s talk about the macaroni and cheese.  In a word, it was scrumptious.  Absolute carbohyrdate cheesey perfection.  There were at least three different cheeses integrated into the sauce, though if quizzed, we couldn’t tell you which.  But they were fancy cheeses, no doubt.  The top was perfectly crisped, allowing for a slight crunch to go with the soft gooeyness. 

We all ate our faces off.  And enjoyed every second of it.  Of course, though, we had to have dessert.  Well, I did.  For the record, everyone else said that they did not want anything.  Fine, I could take one for the team.  Little did I know that, once the tasting of salted caramel (um, yum, no??) arrived, every single person within a five foot radius of me would dig in a spoon “for a taste.”  Good thing I don’t mind sharing.  We took down the dessert and enjoyed every last drop.  The selection included a coulant (which was really just a fancy caramel cake…it was actually pretty bland but had a hidden hint of caramel), caramel ice cream (not overly sweet, not overly salty), caramel creme brulee (with a perfectly hardened layer of scorched sugar, though it was still my least favorite component) and some caramel popcorn (super sweet but with a final kick of heat).

For $38/person (excluding drinks (take note of their cocktail menu, it’s pretty unique), appetizers, and additions), this is a great dining experience for a group of friends to share on a warm summer night.  The ambience is awesome, the food is fantastic, and the pace of the meal is perfect for a night out in the garden.

Restaurant Review: Pizzeria Orso

I’d like to take a moment to, once again, note how stupid Yelp and its reviews (but, mostly, its reviewers) are.  I know I will be met with some disagreement, but in this case, I know that I am right.  And those reviewers?  They were so wrong.

My dad loves pizza.  So, what better way to celebrate his day and his wonderful children (without whom there could be no Father’s Day) than to go to dinner and allow him (and ourselves) to indulge in the fabulosity that is Pizzeria Orso.   Chef Edan McQuaid, who has been called “the best pizza guy on the East Coast”  is just 30 years old but, seemingly, has been making pizza forever (“he probably came out of his mother’s womb making pizza”) .  Before taking the helm at Pizzeria Orso, McQuaid worked at such local establishments as 2 Amys and Pizzeria Paradiso. 

Located on the ground floor of an office building in Falls Church (for you natives, it’s where the old duck pin bowling alley used to be) and right near Elevation Burger, the space is large and bright, with a waitstaff that is friendly, informed, and ready to serve.  Our table of six barraged our poor server, Ben, with a bevy of questions (Is your cheese shredded or sliced?  What is the difference between tomatoes and fresh tomatoes? ).  Service was not slow, as per the myriad Yelp reviews I read. 

The menu is quite similar to that of 2 Amys…lots of delicious appetizers and a variety of pizza combinations.  The selling point is that every pizza takes just 90 seconds to cook in the wood fired oven, and each pizza comes out slightly charred on the top and bottom.  This?  Is a good thing.

We started off with a couple of appetizers.  The potato crocche, fried potato and cheese fritters, were delectable.  Crunchy and golden brown on the outside, once you bit into them you were awarded with a bite of mashed potatoey goodness.  In fact, that is the best way to describe them:  golden nuggets of deep fried mashed potatoes.  A little sprinkle of salt and these were perfect.  And five of them for $5 seemed to be quite reasonable (despite the “overpriced” tone of many of the Yelp reviews). 

We rounded out our appetizer choices with two orders of fresh burrata, which came drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and served with several pieces of perfectly toasted bruschetta.  If you’re not familiar, burrata is is a fresh  Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream.  The outer shell is solid mozzarella and the inside contains both mozzarella and cream, giving it soft, easily spreadable, and buttery texture (thus, it is not surprising that ”burrata,” in Italian, means ”buttered.” ) This appetizer was tasty beyond words.  The softness of the cheese and its subtle salty and creamy flavor worked well with the “plain” aspects of the toasted bread. I could’ve eaten an order all by myself.   My grandmother looked very seriously at my brother and asked him if he was sure he wanted to eat that, considering his cholesterol.  I’d like to think that was a rhetorical question. 

And now we move on to the pizza (or pizze, if we want to be authentic).  We ordered five different ones, each of which proved to be its own star.  Among the pizzas were the Diavolo, a traditional pepperoni (with the cute little pepperoni slices that curl up into little bowls of grease…don’t cringe, you know you are drooling), tomato sauce, and mozzarella (sliced, not shredded) pie.   We also sampled the Ortaggio, which was topped with tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella, eggplant, olives, onions and sweet peppers.  We then ordered three variations of the margherita:  one with proscuitto and mushrooms, one with just prosciutto, and one with prosciutto and lardo which, according to our friends at wikipedia, is ” a type of salume made by curing strips of pig fat with rosemary and other herbs and spices. It is taken from the layer of hard fat along the pig’s back…[and was] at one time Italy’s basic cooking fat, especially in regions where olive trees are sparse or absent, but health concerns have reduced its popularity [note that cholesterol problem previously discussed].” 

 Of course, I had to have a taste of the lardo pizza.  It was rich and full of flavor and worth the full fat that it added (and, really, how often do you see something like that on a menu?).  The one “bad” thing I have to say about the pizzas is that, much like its fancy pizza counterparts, Pizzeria Orso does not cut your pizza for you unless you specifically ask them to (and, even then, they may forget but they will happily bring a pizza cutter to the table).

All in all, this was a very good, easy, and delicious experience.  There were no “kinks” that needed to be worked out.  Perhaps, in the two weeks since they’ve opened, the place has found its groove.  It clearly provides a fabulous pizza experience that rivals 2 Amys and, with its convenient to suburbs location (and a garage, to boot!) Pizzeria Orso is definitely going to find its way onto the pizza rotation list (if not completely remove all competitors from the list).

Restaurant Review: Bourbon Steak (lunch at the bar)

I mean, who doesn’t want a 10 oz burger for lunch on a workday? 

The joy of these few days between Christmas and New Years is that you can take a longer lunch without batting an eye. 

I first heard about the Bourbon Steak lunch special a few months ago.   It took this long for me to go, but I’m glad that I did.

One of my favorite dining partners in town and I headed over to the Four Seasons in Georgetown around noon.  Straight through the lobby and to the bar, which was somewhat crowded with a crowd much older and fancier than we are…but we played the part.

We sat down and ordered our complimentary non-alcoholic beverage.  We knew from perusing the menu beforehand that truffle popcorn would be our appetizer.  It was amazing.  The popcorn was a little greasy due to the truffle oil but it was such a good flavor that we overlooked it.  Come on, we were about to chow down on burgers as big as our heads…what’s another couple hundred calories?

We munched on corn nuts and cashews while we looked at the menu, though we knew for sure what we would order.  The bartender knew just by looking at us.  So, two oak-fired prime steak burgers (retailing at $16) it was.   All part of the deal, and among our other choices, were a grass fed beef burger, a salmon burger, a vegetarian falafel burger, or a turkey burger.

The burgers were cooked to a medium perfection and accompanied with house made pickles, Cabot clothbound cheddar, and “secret sauce.”  The cheddar was sharp and somewhat pungent and worked well with the lean and juicy beef.  The 10 oz was a bit much for an average eater to consume in its entirety at lunch on a Monday, but my friend and I each made a valiant effort. 

The burgers came with your choice of greens (really?!), onion rings, or a trio of fries.  We ordered the rings and the fries and were not disappointed.  The onion rings were lightly battered, made with red onion and not the traditional yellow.  The rings were thin, the batter thick and not overly greasy (or, for that matter, greasy at all).  They came with a house made ketchup.  There were three different kinds of fries, each with its own condiment:  white cheddar with barbeque sauce, salt and pepper fries with ketchup, and sour cream and onion fries with a creme fraiche dipping sauce.  There was more than enough to share and, sadly, many fries left over.

We topped off our meal with the Bourbon brownie, a decadent end to an already decadent lunch.  The dessert came with several “bites” of gooey, fudgey brownie.  The bites were topped with a seemingly unsweetened whipped cream, which complemented the hurt your teeth sweetness of the brownies.  Along with the vanilla ice cream and the cocoa powder and chocolate sauce that adorned the dish, this was a dessert of epic proportions.  The best part was that it all came arranged in the shape of an exclamation point…kind of like a “YAY!  You’ve made it to the end of the meal and still have room for more!” 

Thanks to Metrocurean for the photo.

The burger, side, dessert, and drink rang in at $21.  Considering you probably pay that much if you buy all of those entities a la carte at an average restaurant, it was quite a deal for a Washingtonian Top 100 (#35).

 

Restaurant Review: VOLT

A place where gray meets brown in a fashionable manner.  Where everyone wears brown Chucks.  Where food is served synchronized and perfectly timed.  Where it’s okay to giggle and act like a 12 year old.  Where the bread basket is never ending (hello, bacon popover). 

Phenomenal.

Now, my friends often laugh at my superlative of “Top 5 Meal.”  I give it often enough that the Top 5 has grown to maybe 50.  But this meal?  Really was. 

This past weekend, five friends and I had the awesome privilege of dining at Chef Bryan Voltaggio’s VOLT in Frederick, Md.  You may know Bryan from such shows as, well, Top Chef.   When coming to our table the first time, the sommelier asked us how we heard about VOLT.  The six of us giggled.  And when the Chef himself actually came to the table, well, there was some more giggling.

When making our reservation months ago, we expressed interest in the tasting menu.  This meant that we got to eat in the kitchen.  The same kitchen where Chef and his talented staff cooked the food we devoured.  The same kitchen! 

The six course tasting menu ($95) had two options–the Kitchen Menu and a vegetarian option. 

We all started off with beverages.  I chose the Spicy Spark, a sparkling wine mixed with a jalapeno simple syrup.  The rim of the glass was dusted with almond and cinnamon.  The sweetness of the simple syrup helped downplay the spice of the jalapeno.  Mixed with the dry sparkling wine, it was an interesting and tasty combination.  Best left as a pre or post dinner cocktail and not a meal accompaniment, though. 

As we sat and watched Chef and his crew in the kitchen, we gawked at the menu in front of us.  Six delectable courses.  We couldn’t wait.  And, we didn’t have to.  Before we knew it, three servers swooped down on our table, placing in front of us a bonus course.  More like an amuse bouche, the tri colored macaroons were a sight to be seen.  One was filled with foie gras, one was a take on Caesar salad, and while I can’t recall what the third was, I can assure you it was delicious.  The exterior of the macaroons was similar to those meringue cookies that were ubiquitous at piano recitals.  You know the ones.  Biting into each of these, though, we were welcomed by a smooth, creamy treat. 

Our next course was another bonus:  lobster flan with caviar.  Fancy pants we definitely were.  It was an interesting dish that I can best describe as a creamy custard (think a little firmer than creme brulee, but savory not sweet) with lots and lots of chunks of lobster mixed in.  The lobster was tender and not rubbery.  And the caviar was the perfect touch of saltiness the dish needed.  (Note:  as a salt fiend, I am happy to give compliments to the Chef–I did not wince, once, because there was no salt on the table…not that I would’ve asked for it (I know better), but the fact I didn’t have to is pretty cool). 

And if that weren’t enough, we were brought  a morsel of falafel.  As a self-proclaimed expert in this genre of cuisine, I’d say that Chef Bryan has it down.  It had the right combination of spices and was a perfect texture–if done poorly, falafel can be dry and crumbly.  This was quite the opposite.

And now on to the menu items.  First on the list was the Yukon Gold potato soup.  The bowl came empty but for the bonus accoutrements, the brunt of which I don’t recall but there was definitely some crunchy pancetta in the mix.  What more could you ask for, really?  The servers meticulously poured the creamy soup into our bowls and we dove in.  The potatoes were pureed to a golden, creamy, liquid consistency.  The soup was so smooth and served at just the right temperature.  Had we not all quickly scarfed down our bread minutes before, I can assure you there would have been some serious dipping and plate mopping  going on.

Next up:  the Cherry Glen Farm goat cheese ravioli with butternut squash puree, sage brown butter, and sage foam.   If forced to choose my favorite course, I’d have to say this was mine (though my impeccably cleaned plate for each course would cause one to believe I liked them all equally).  I generally am not a fan of foam–I always order my lattes without it.  But on this?  It worked.  Much like Graham Elliot used a horseradish foam to highlight the taste of the beef in my deconstructed beef stroganoff several weeks ago, Chef Bryan Voltaggio used the sage foam–a slightly more pungent flavor–to highlight the delicate flavor of the butternut squash brown butter and the slightly stronger flavor of the goat cheese.  The ravioli itself was perfectly cooked–it was tender all around, not hard on the sides as ravioli can sometimes tend to be.  I could have eaten a full sized entree of this and called it a night.  Thank goodness I didn’t have to.

Next up were the pint sized Nantucket Bay scallops.  I don’t like scallops, but I probably could’ve fooled anyone who saw me take that plate down.  These succulent scallops were served with black forbidden rice, cardamom spiced carrots, shiitake mushrooms, lemongrass, and coconut.  The pairing of the flavors had an obviously Asian twist that worked well.  The lemongrass and coconut helped to tame the stronger cardamom. 

Pork belly.  Pork belly.  Pork belly.  Need I really say more?  Cholesterol be damned, this made my heart happy.  Served atop cannelini beans (whose blandness helped cut down the salty from the pork belly) and with a side of crispy petite red ribbon sorrel (think thin circle of bacon) and moutarda, this was a true treat.  The sauce was a sweet complement to the salty fatness of the overall dish.  Definitely not for those who are watching their fat or caloric intake.  Which is why it was so damn good.

Our final savory course was the piece de resistance for many of my dining companions:  the Wagyu beef culotte.  Wagyu beef is suddenly the be all end all of beef, taking over the throne from Kobe (Kobe is Wagyu, but Wagyu is not always Kobe–you know the whole square and rectangle conundrum).  This beef proved why.  It was cooked to a perfect medium rare (again, not for the faint of heart) and accompanied by ratte potatoes, golden raisins, dragon carrots, and glazed Tokyo turnips.  The turnips were the only thing I was served that I did not eat.   I wish I knew what he put in those potatoes but maybe that’s a secret he should keep, as I would make them ALL THE TIME and then get sick of them.  An interesting garnish on the plate was a garlic transparency…it was just a clear square that, when you bit into it, made you glad you weren’t a vampire. 

And now, on to dessert.  It was called Textures of Chocolate and included a white chocolate ganache, milk chocolate ice cream, chocolate caramel.  There was some kind of chocolate wafer served along with it, as well–it tasted a bit burnt but that flavor went so well with the caramel (if you were innovative enough to dip it, as I obviously was).  The whole thing was dusted with a light cocoa. 

And if that weren’t enough, we ordered a cheese plate.  Make that two.  There were four types of cheese on each plate.  Served with whole wheat walnut toast, the cheese selection had something for everyone–there was bland, there was hard, there was creamy, and there was stinky. 

Just as we thought we were winding down, one last course appeared before us.  Compliments of the maitre d’ and as a thanks for joining them for dinner, we had an assortment of house made, mini ice cream sandwiches (think Chipwich–but better).  As a thanks for allowing us to join them for dinner, we ate the three different varieties–oatmeal raisin with coconut ice cream, chocolate chip with chocolate ice cream, and white chocolate chip with vanilla ice cream. 

So, let’s recap:  six courses ($95) with an optional wine pairing (for an extra $45).  A regular or vegetarian course option (there was some molecular gastronomy going on with the vegetarian options).  Extreme willingness to sub in or out from the menus, based on preference and/or dietary restrictions.  Three bonus “tastes” from the kitchen.  Perfectly synchronized serving of all dishes, with a knowledgeable server letting us know what was in front of us.  Friendly staff who took the time to chat and socialize–not a cranky pants in the group.  Amazing view of the kitchen and all the action.  Mellow yet sophisticated atmosphere.  

Top.  Five.  Meal. 

PS we were sent home with a cranberry orange muffin so that we could prolong our fabulous dining experience.