Restaurant Eve, Alexandria, VA

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Don

(See the December 21, 2010 Review here.)

It was Saint Patrick’s Day, and I hadn’t eaten a thing all day. Certain that the bar at Restaurant Eve would be packed, I was stunned to walk in and find it nearly empty at 5:30. Surprisingly, Ken and Val (both tending bar that evening) told me that Saint Patrick’s Day tends not to be crowded at the bar here – who knew?

All the more Roasted Brussels Sprouts ($7.50) for me – little, tiny, baby Brussels Sprouts, some of the best I’ve ever had. I still have no clue as their origin, but I guarantee they came from a local farmer – there’s no way they couldn’t have.

How were they prepped? Here’s how they were prepped:

Gouden Carolus Ambrio … $12.00 (Eve no longer serves Guinness (or anything else) on tap which is a mild tragedy.)

Greenore Irish Whiskey … $15.50

Tyrconnell Irish Whiskey(s) … $6.85

Deciding in advance to Metro instead of drive … priceless.

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Potenza, Downtown

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Don

I know it’s neither green nor Irish, but on Saint Patrick’s Day I stopped into the bakery at Potenza for a Large Coffee ($1.95). This, after getting my hair cut at Paul Ramadan’s wonderful Nantucket Hair Salon (ask for Paul or Howard when you call, and tell Marco at the front desk I said hello).

Normally, I wouldn’t bother writing about my morning cup of coffee, but it’s nice to remember that Potenza has a fine bakery as well, is smack dab in the middle of downtown at 15th and H Streets, and most importantly, is a block away from both Starbucks and Cosi.

While Potenza, which is run by the same company that owns Zola, hardly needs my support, it’s still a locally owned corporation that’s worth walking the extra block for if you want to support independent restaurants instead of chains (and let’s not forget, coffee is a very high-profit item). And if you want to do it for entirely selfish reasons, their coffee is only $1.95 for a large, is better than the coffees at both Starbucks and Cosi, and the baked goods simply blow away those offered at both of these mega-chains.

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Brabo Tasting Room, Alexandria, VA

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Don

I’ve now been to Brabo Tasting Room several times, and have always left happy. One possible reason? Only twenty things on the entire menu, making it easier to do them well.

This casual eatery seems expensive on paper, but the food here can be very rich and filling, and you can order less here than you might think, still walking away sated.

I was worried that Antigoon might have been Brabo’s response to my having turned against Brabo Pils, i.e., I was the goon, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw its true origins. Brewed exclusively (still?) for Robert Wiedmaier’s restaurants, a draft is an expensive $10 for a tulip glass, but it’s a rich, full-bodied beer despite its pale color, and you won’t be needing too many of these; my young dining companion’s usual Diet Coke weighed in at a hefty $3.00.

It’s difficult to imagine coming here and not getting either a wood fired tart or a pot of mussels, so we got both. A Braised Pork Belly Tart ($14) was masterful, with thick-cut, fatty pork belly cut with roasted poblanos (acidity) and pickled red onion (sourness) – I’ve never understood why these aren’t mentioned in the same discussions as “best pizza in town” because they deserve to be. Despite its small size (and thin crust), it was extremely filling.

If you’ve never tried the Chorizo Sausage & Fennel Mussels ($15), then you need to put this near the top of your short list – an awesome presentation served in a hot pan, there is so much chorizo in the deceptively light-looking, thick, reddish broth (put the bread in as soon as the mussels arrive, and let it soak) that this sensational mussel dish is a bargain at the price.

Although this doesn’t sound like a lot of food for two hungry guys, there were still a few mussels left at the end, and we walked back to the car stuffed like two boudins blancs. Another fine performance by this underrated restaurant.

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Clare and Don’s Beach Shack, Falls Church, VA

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Don

I hadn’t been to Clare and Don’s Beach Shack in a couple years, and I remember the last time I went, I ordered the exact same thing. It was “Grouper Tuesday,” and a Blackened Grouper Sandwich ($7.50) is on special all day long (you can also order it grilled, fried, Buffalo-style, etc.). It comes with crummy frozen french fries, and this time around was much smaller than it was two years ago. I was starving when I finished it.

But I was consoled by the usual friendly service here, as well as a Longboard Island Lager ($5) from Kona Brewing Companay (the same beer I started off with Saturday night at Hook).

I guess more than any other place I’ve been to recently, Clare and Don’s reminds me of Lost Dog Cafe, although both the atmosphere and the food at Clare and Don’s is one (small) notch higher. If it’s possible to like a restaurant while not liking the food, then this is the one for me – I always have a good time here. Now that I think about it, it sort of reminds me of Quarterdeck.

Clare and Don’s is also very conscientious about serving vegetarian entrees, so if you’re a vegetarian looking for something different in Falls Church, don’t forget about this place. They also play live music a few evenings a week (it is, after all, right next to the State theater, so that seems like a natural fit).

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Fujiya House, Fredericksburg, VA

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Don

It was a perfect day for a drive – Fujiya House, located in the massive Central Park complex in the new part of Fredericksburg, had run a Groupon that day, we had just played tennis, and my young dining companion loves teppanyaki, so why not?

You’ll never find this place without a GPS since it’s in the middle of the largest stores the world has ever seen – Wal Mart, Best Buy, Sports Authority – there are dozens and dozens, but if you find yourself craving teppanyaki while driving up I-95, you can do a lot worse than this.

I got a Kirin Ichiban ($7 for a large, $4 for a small), and Matt got his usual Diet Coke ($2 with refills). Forget the appetizers, because you won’t need them here (and I would certainly steer clear of the sushi).

I got the better combination of the two, Filet Mignon & Ahi Tuna ($24), as opposed to New York Steak & Shrimp ($20). You start with a very bouillon-based broth, with a sickly little shrimp in it, and that’s followed by a salad with typical dressing. Then come two shrimp as appetizers, and your choice of fried or steamed rice (out of our entire table of six people, I was the only one who got the steamed rice, and I’m glad I did because that fried rice is the most unhealthy thing there is!)

My order of preference for the four grilled items was 1) Ahi Tuna, 2) Filet Mignon, 3) New York Steak, and 4) Shrimp (Matt preferred the Shrimp to the fairly tough New York Steak). Make sure to get the Ahi Tuna either rare or medium-rare – I ordered mine medium-rare, and it was perfect.

Our chef was a ham! He told the corniest jokes (he rolled an egg across the grill and said “egg roll,” he threw some butter through the air into the fried rice and said “butterfly,”) and he did unspeakable things with the eggs using his spatula (including flipping one up into his hat). He wasn’t the fastest hibachi chef I’ve seen, but he was funny, and of course, tossed shrimp into peoples’ mouths at the end of the meal (and yes, I caught mine).

If you go anywhere near here with kids, check out the place called Fun Land – it’s a HUGE indoor amusement center, with a large outdoor portion that includes two go-cart tracks. The little bugger had the pole position and would not let me pass him, despite the fact that I was flooring it the entire time (he was cutting off the inside curve, so I was helpless, and since there was a “no bumping” rule, I just had to sit there and take it.)

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Hook, Georgetown

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Don

After counting 173 lemmings standing out in line to get into Georgetown Cupcake at 8 PM on a Saturday night, I walked down M Street and ducked into Hook.

I started mild, food-wise, and went with a Longboard Island Lager ($6) from the Kona Brewing Company in Hawaii (Hook’s wine by the glass prices are simply too high, so I decided to stick with beer).

In this day and age, it’s something of a luxury to get a bread basket, much less a decent one, and Hook’s is quite decent – fascinating little caraway (?) gougères accompany small pieces of focaccia, and are served with (needlessly, in my mind) paprika-topped butter.

From the Crudo section of the menu (Hook has always had good, interesting crudo), three canapes of Arctic Char ($8) which came whipped in a mousse, sitting atop a slice of beet with an almost undetectable touch of balsamic, and topped with what seemed like a thin sliver of dried beet but I’m not quite sure. This was had alongside an excellent Rockfish Ceviche ($9), mixed with coconut milk, lime, jalapeño, and red onion, all stuffed inside crispy “crab chips” – this was also served as three items, best picked up with your hands. A very good combination of flavors and textures with these two dishes – I’d happily order both again.

For the next courses, I switched to a Fire Rock Pale Ale ($6), also from Kona Brewing Company, knowing I was transitioning from lighter to fuller bodied dishes.

Curried Cauliflower Bisque ($10) with blue crab and lemon oil sounded so good I couldn’t resist it, and it almost was; all it needed was a pinch of salt to wake it up, and it would have been perfect (there wasn’t any salt nearby, so I just enjoyed it for what it was).

The only miss of the night was the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake ($16) served atop watercress, and surrounded with rings of  brown butter and spiced mango coulis and green apples. Although this sounded good on paper, it missed in practice, and I don’t think better execution could have saved it. The crab cake surely had some type of non-lump filler whether it was bread, mayonnaise, claw meat, or some unknown combination, and was moist to a fault. This moistness – whatever it was (it may indeed have had a small amount of mayo) – clashed with the mango and the brown butter, and it was just a failed combination of flavors. I rarely say a dish needs to come off the menu, but this one does.

Crab cake aside, this was a very good dinner at Hook, accentuated with excellent service at the bar, and a vibrant customer base. People talk of chef turnover at Hook, but the truth is that I’ve only had one bad meal here in my life (and I’ve been here many times in the past).

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Palena Cafe, Cleveland Park

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Don

(See the January 30th, 2011 Review here.)

As many dozens (yes) of times as I’ve been to Palena, I don’t think I’ve ever gone just for dessert – until Friday night.

Actually, it was for an after-dinner drink too – it was still early, and the masterful Jeff Faile (who will be leaving Palena soon to become Bar Manager at Fiola with Fabio Trabocchi (riches to riches)) was tending bar.

We asked Jeff to make two drinks of his choice, whatever he felt like making, one with gin, and the other with rye.

The first was his take on a variation of a drink. In Jeff’s own words: “I mentioned the Gin Gin Mule when pouring it which itself is a variation of the Moscow Mule (done with Vodka). The Gin Gin usually has gin, lime, simple syrup, ginger beer, and mint. I’m not a fan of the sweeter drinks, so I left out the simple. I used Plymouth gin, Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur (instead of ginger beer) for the bite and sweetener, fresh lime, and added the prosecco for texture instead of the ice chips. I do recommend both originals if you ever have the chance especially when/if the warm weather ever comes back!

“The second was basically a rye negroni. It’s a prohibition era cocktail called the Boulevardier. Without boring you with too much of the cocktail geek info, it was created by an American bartender who fled to Europe while escaping prohibition. It first appeared in print in the late 20’s which was about 20 years or so before the negroni’s recipe came about. The recipe is simple, 1.5 oz Rye (instead of gin), 1 oz Campari and 1 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth. Although I only use Carpano in the rye version and not the gin version (I like Dolin instead). It tends to over power the gin in a negroni.”

Both drinks were sensational, and hit the exact right spot. I don’t usually go around quoting such long blocks of text, but can I really describe these any better than Jeff himself did? No way. (My friend picked up the check so I’m not sure about the cost.)

How can you not order a dessert called the Spring Ahead Sundae ($9)? Carrot cake ice cream (!), vanilla frozen yogurt, granola, and cinnamon raisin sauce – it sounds simple, and is, but was so perfectly combined and executed that nothing could have been changed. Even the granola (which I was skeptical of when reading the menu) fit in beautifully.

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Ardeo + Bardeo, Cleveland Park

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Don

(See the December 29th, 2010 Review here.)

Congratulations to Dave Pressley, the new GM at Ardeo + Bardeo. When I called, Dave was able to get me a two-top on Friday night at 6 PM which is no small feat considering this place was pretty packed by 7:30 or so.

It was a leisurely dinner, starting with a Gin Blossom ($10) made with 209 gin, Absolut wild tea vodka, Lilet Blanc, and fresh lemon juice. This balanced drink was a soothing way to unwind into the meal, but by the time we got around to finishing it, the considerable amount of ice rendered it slightly dilute.

I solicited the advice of both Daves (our wonderful server was also named Dave), and cobbled together what turned out to be a very good meal.

Ardeo + Bardeo’s menu contains fully ten different sections (savory snacks, vegetables, charcuterie, cheeses, small bites, soup and salads, pizzas di grano arso, pastas, seafood, and meats). I tend to shy away from soups and salads at dinner, but in this case I’m glad I didn’t.

Chicken Soup ($9) with hominy, green chile broth, and avocado was a zippy twist on a posole, the chiles and avocado added à la minute for maximum freshness. Though it cooled quickly, it was a fine soup even at room temperature, and not a drop remained.

Spinach Salad ($9) came with full leaves of spinach, slightly overdressed with truffle vinaigrette which was cut by braised fennel and crisp gnocchi. This was a good salad that could have been even better without the truffle oil, and had the gnocchi been freshly crisped (they were really good gnocchi, but were at room temperature).

I tend not to like wines imported by Robert Kacher, but I liked the price point of the 2009 Chateau Guiot Rosé ($30), a grenache/syrah blend from the Costières de Nimes appellation. This was a very “red” rosé, almost Spanish in nature, that I thought might go well with the pastas; I was wrong, and I would have strongly preferred a pale, bone-dry version from Provence or thereabouts.

It’s telling that the Rabbit Bolognese ($14) gets top billing over the ricotta agnolotti because there’s a lot of it, and along with the carrot puree (get it? rabbit, carrots?), made this primarily a sauce dish although these firm agnolotti certainly held their own.

The Bolognese dish was fine, but the star of the night, and the one truly great dish, was a daily special of Lamb Ragout that Dave (actually, both Daves) insisted on us trying. And thank goodness they did, too. The ragout is made with braised lamb neck, sweetbreads, and smoked lamb tongue (!) served atop mint spaghetti (!) with chili flakes and ricotta salata. How good was this dish? It was as good as both pastas I had the night before at Tosca, and as good as any pasta dish I’ve ever had in Cleveland Park. Need I say more? World class, and needs to go on the menu as a regular item, pronto!

And, not that we needed any more food, but because I knew I’d be hungry for lunch the next day, a Rock Shrimp Pizza ($16) with lemon, garlic, and crème fraiche.  Doesn’t this sound refreshing? It is! And it was great the next day too, with an almost lox, cream cheese, and bagel aspect to it. Although these are only ten-inch pizzas, they seem larger, and are cut into eight slices – you won’t go wrong if you order this.

This was a very good dinner – better than the one I had in December, and will be long remembered for the stunning Lamb Ragout pasta dish. It’s a must try.

One recommendation: seated against the wall in a crowded dining room, this is one of the noisiest restaurants I’ve been to in quite awhile now, despite having carpeted floors and generous spacing between the tables. At times, both of us could not hear the other speak – a bit of soundproofing would go a long way here.

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Tosca, Downtown

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Don

On Thursday, Tosca (along with its sibling restaurant, Posto), was one of only four restaurants in the entire area to donate 100% of its proceeds to Food & Friends during the Dining Out For Life promotion. Because of this, they got my business, and hence this write-up. I can only hope this pays them back in some small way.

Tosca was packed, as it should have been, but a bar seat finally opened up after about five minutes. I started off with a glass of Tramin Sauvignon Blanc ($10) which went beautifully with an appetizer of Thyme Crusted Turbot ($17), served in its own broth (!) with baby fall vegetables. Although expensive, this was a deliciously simple dish that I’ve not seen in this area.

The Sauvignon Blanc also transitioned well into my first half-course of pasta, a Cappellacci ($13, full portions $24) filled with burrata and ricotta, olive and basil ragu, and served on top of a broccoli-rabe pesto. Don’t these dishes sound wonderful? They are. And please don’t forget that Tosca happily does half-portions of pasta – you as a diner can get an excellent sampling of the best pasta dishes DC has to offer, at a very expensive restaurant, and still not pay a lot of money to do it. I’ve been advising this for years, and after having the Pasta Tasting Menu at New York City’s Babbo last summer, I’m more convinced than ever that Tosca is every bit its equal for pasta.

Prepared for a heavier pasta course (and also not minding spending some money here because it was all going to a good cause), I ordered a glass of 2006 Produttori di Barbaresco ($17), made by one of the world’s best wine co-ops. My only constructive criticism about the entire evening is that this glass should have been served cooler, a problem that plagues the vast majority of restaurants in the area serving red wines.

But what a dish I had! I’d ordered a half-portion of Tortelli, but my wonderful bartender, Jay Villegas, whom I’ve known here for years, somehow finessed a portion of Potato Gnocchi (normally $21) served with a creamy Taleggio sauce with a ragu of Luganega sausage. As good as the other two courses were, this was the dish of the night, and was just an outstanding plate of gnocchi – I’m going to come here for lunch and order a full dish of this. Afterwards, rather than stuff myself with the tortelli, I decided instead to leave Jay an appropriate tip – this restaurant was losing money on everything it served this evening, and it seemed like the least I could do.

Note that all pastas at Tosca are homemade and I reiterate: they’re the best in the area, and are available as half portions. I feel guilty ordering these every time I come to Tosca, but this is a very expensive restaurant – on a par with Restaurant Eve – and this makes it more affordable for me (not to mention that I’m having some of the best pasta made anywhere in the United States).

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Taqueria Poblano, Arlington, VA

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Don

One somewhat overlooked thing about Taqueria Poblano is the relatively gentle pricing of their Margaritas ($6.25), made with fresh lime juice and not that awful Rose’s stuff. My young dining companion got his usual Diet Coke ($1.79 with refills).

The Taqueria Poblano in Arlington has always had super-friendly service (the owner is often there behind the bar), and this evening was no exception. This is good, reliable Tex-Mex where there are slight twists on things, but a lot of things also taste a lot alike.

A Tostada ($11.95) was essentially a taco salad, the huge, plate-sized tortilla at the bottom mounded with green chili pork, refried beans, cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, a ton of shredded lettuce, and avocado dressing. “You just never know what you’re going to dig up next,” Matt commented.

I’ve always been a sucker for burritos, and a Chile-Braised Beef Burrito “Al Arriba” ($11.25) was a submarine-sized thing, made with lots of beef, refried pinto beans, cheese, and pico de gallo. During the course of the scarfage, I probably added about four types of hot sauce as well.

The Lee-Harrison shopping center where Taqueria Poblano is located is interesting because there are a lot of good restaurants in it, only one that is bad, and none that are great – Taqueria Poblano definitely falls into the good category for fast, friendly, family-oriented, neighborhood Tex-Mex fare. It works very nicely in a pinch.

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