McLean 1910, McLean, VA

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Don

The old Three Pigs BBQ space in Langley Shopping Center has been so transformed that it’s no longer recognizable, and its replacement, McLean 1910, seems like it’s off to a good start. How good?

McLean 1910 is owned by the same folks who own McLean Family Restaurant (incidentally, relatives of Pete Sampras!), and taking place of the spartan Three Pigs is a quiet, well-decorated dining room which will be quite popular with senior citizens. (This is, after all, downtown McLean, with an older, well-heeled clientele.)

The chef is Gregory Webb, and our server on this evening was named Eddie – I wouldn’t normally call out a server by name except he was so friendly and helpful that he deserves a bit of recognition.

The wine list is small but workable, and I started with a glass of 2008 Cantemerle Chablis ($9 on list, $8 on bill) while my young dining companion enjoyed his usual Diet Coke ($2.50, refilled without asking).

Chablis went well with our split appetizer of Grilled Shrimp ($9) with polenta, queso cotija, and chimichurri. Eddie, who hails from Chile, was pretty stoked that I recognized the chimichurri as Argentinian, and the three of us ended up having a good rapport. I knew something was right with this cooking as soon as the plate hit the table – three jumbo shrimp doesn’t sound like much, but this dish was very thoughtfully cooked and plated.

I moved on to a 2009 Les Chailloux Sancerre ($10) with our entrees which we shared. Matt got Blackened Sea Scallops ($25) with herbed goat cheese polenta and sauteed spinach in a lemon beurre blanc sauce while I ordered Pasta with Baby Clams (a bargain at $16) steamed in white wine, lemon, garlic, and herbs, ordered “white” instead of “red.”

The only flaw in the meal was the blackening rub on the scallops which was simply too harsh (I’d warned Matt about the possibility of this) – the extreme saltiness permeated the scallops to the core, and really overwhelmed an otherwise good scallop preparation (cut the rub by half, and you have a winner).

But my pasta was remarkable even though it was dried. Not only were there four whole clams in shell (definitely not babies), there was also a ridiculous amount of clam meat throughout the dish – so much so that we couldn’t even finish it. Get this dish.

So how good was McLean 1910? From this one dinner, if you take away the harsh rub on the scallops, you just might have the best restaurant in downtown McLean. Granted, that’s not saying much, but it’s saying something.

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Sou’Wester, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Southwest

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Don

February 14th is a special day for me – not only because it’s Valentine’s Day, but because it’s also my son Matt’s birthday!

For the past two years, I’d taken him out for an “all-dessert dinner.” (Yes, go ahead and call Child Services), but this year we went the traditional route at Sou’Wester.

We were all exhausted before we even went out for various reasons (in my case, I’d been up since 4:30 AM working).

A 7:30 PM reservation is pushing it on a school night, especially on Valentine’s Day when you just know the restaurant is going to be slammed. And slammed it was, too, with the kitchen backed up and courses arriving s-l-o-w-l-y.

But when they did arrive, every single course, save one, was excellent (which also says a lot about how much work this restaurant did to get ready for Valentine’s Day – the single busiest restaurant day of the entire year in the industry).

Sou’Wester was featuring a “So Happy Together …” four course menu for $55 featuring two Hors d’Oeuvres to share, two appetizers, an entree for two, and choice of desserts. A limited a la carte menu was also available.

So we got one four-course which consisted of:

Hors d’Oeuvres
Beef Tartare with Gaufrettes
Virginia Oyster Gratin with Grilled Bread

(In retrospect, probably a bit bread-heavy given the basket of cornbread, biscuits, etc., but we were too hungry to even think clearly when we arrived. The Gratin was the one miss of the night, really only because it was under-salted.)

Appetizers
Anson Mills Grit Cake with roasted wild mushrooms, rosemary, and red wine sauce
Baked North Carolina Shrimp and Blue Crab with melted leeks and Champagne butter

Entrees
Salt-Crusted North Carolina Red Drum for two with roasted hen-of-the-woods mushrooms and braised fennel
10-Ounce Beef Prime Rib ($30) with twice-baked potato, braised arrowleaf spinach, and beef jus

By the time we’d finished this little culinary orgy, it was almost 10:30, Matt had two tests the next day, and we just had to wave the white flag on dessert. It was an extraordinarily high level Valentine’s Day dinner, especially given the price and location (regular old restaurants were charging ridiculous amounts – $75 a person (at places where the total bill is usually half that) for the privilege of dining on what is more often than not a disastrous restaurant night) – Sou’Wester, kitchen backup aside, did themselves proud on this evening. They even gave us a little bag of chocolate chip cookies to go.

And, in my mind, Sou’Wester still remains one of the most underrated restaurants in the DC area. It’s ironic that it’s starting to get more critical acclaim now that it raised its prices a bit – people don’t realize what a gem they had on their hands when this place first opened. Fortunately, that gem still remains in place.

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Fast Gourmet, U Street Corridor

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Don

(See the January 15th Review here.)

I had just attended a breakfast summit at Eatonville, but didn’t get the chance to have any breakfast. It was 11 AM, I had parked right in front of Fast Gourmet – was there any serious doubt where I was going to have lunch?

It took all my reserves not to get a Chivito, but from my previous visit I’d remembered one of the owners heartily recommending the Tuna Sandwich ($8.50). Really now, when’s the last time you’ve had a great tuna sandwich?

Well, this one was. It was made with fresh yellowfin tuna, and served with red onions, raisins, capers, greens, and mayo on whole wheat bread (you can also get it on brioche). This was a fabulous tuna sandwich, pretty much what you’d expect given that it’s using fresh, high-quality tuna. For my personal tastes, it didn’t quite live up to the glories of the Chivito, but (as geeky as this may sound) there is scuttlebutt floating around the internet about things not being spread evenly, and that was also the case here – everything was sort of clumped to the center, and I got bare bites of bread. I also think I might get this on brioche next time.

Nevertheless, I don’t remember a better tuna sandwich than this. And! I got to taste the new-old thin french fries (the ones I had on my previous visit were the thicker ones they were experimenting with). I liked the thin ones better with the tuna, especially for the first 5-10 minutes when they remained hot; I’m not sure which would fare better with the Chivito, especially after they started to cool. But this is a mere trifle – just go here and get a sandwich – any sandwich – and enjoy it.

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Pizzeria Orso, Falls Church, VA

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Don

(See the December 11th, 2010 Review here.)

Confession time. It was 7 PM last Sunday night, I was working on almost no sleep, had really never spoken in public before, and hadn’t even started writing my speech to give early the next morning at Eatonville (I ended up working from 7-11 PM, then 4:30-6:30 AM) – I began mentally threading my talking points on the way to Pizzeria Orso to pick up my carryout pizzas. Yes, pizzas, plural – I was starving, and was going to take no chances.

A traditional Margherita DOC ($13) was gone in about ten minutes. It was a fantastic pizza, just it has been each time I’ve ordered it.

Unfortunately, a specialty Giamette ($16) with tomato, provola, pepperoni, sausage, salami, and ham was below the lofty standards Pizzeria Orso has set for itself. It failed the Pizzeria Bianco Test (and yes, that’s an honest-to-goodness true story): “Would I drive across the country for this pizza?” No way. There was so much salty meat on it that the outstanding crust, complete with perfect char (just like the Margherita had) was overwhelmed. I didn’t feel like being a complete bloat-o the next morning, so I had only one piece, and wrapped the rest to put in the freezer (sorry, Edan!) While not “for the masses,” this was a meat-fest, and really has no place at a world-class pizzeria.

Or does it? Because I had it again a week later … stay tuned …

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Volt, Frederick, MD

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Don

I often walk straight into hornets’ nests, and so it was Saturday night at 7:30 PM, Valentine’s Day weekend, as I got an answering machine at Volt, but ignored the near-zero percent chance of getting a table and went anyway. It goes without saying there were no tables, but after about a fifteen-minute wait, two prime seats opened up at the bar. Score!

As with so many other restaurants, wines by the glass here are frightfully expensive (25% of the bottle price), and the diner is better off ordering a whole bottle of something (many bottles are priced in the $30s – ask the sommelier for help!) Nevertheless, the lowest-end glass of 2009 Karl Lagler Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Burgberg ($10) should carry a diner through just about anything other than dark meat courses.

Four appetizers, separated into two courses, ordered off the main dining room menu (there is also a separate lounge menu available, but it really isn’t any less expensive):

Yellowfin Tuna Tartare ($14) with the famous “Volt squiggle” of avocado, chili oil, petite cilantro, soy air, and marinated whitefish roe was a huge hit, the cylinders of tartare inside the squiggle of avocado, and buried underneath a rapidly disappearing cap of soy air.

Do not go here and think you shouldn’t order a salad. “Winter Garden” ($11) with beets, carrots in Timothy hay, radish, graham soil (!), kohlrabi, and Cherry Glen Farm chevre was one of the top two dishes – a fabulous, artistic presentation of beautiful winter vegetables, all in the right balance and just brilliantly plated. If you’re the least bit vegetarian, do yourself a favor and get this dish.

And then a couple of soups:

Shiitake Velouté ($12) with pinenut sabayon, chili oil, and opal basil was arguably the dish of the night, with the hot velouté blanketed and insulated by its mirror image of foam on top, with just enough hot soup peaking out from underneath to entice the diner to have both in one bite, then try each separately, then alternate. It was awesome.

Clam Chowder ($14) with mock root vegetables (squares of “carrots, potatoes,” etc.), dehydrated bacon, and California osetra had high quality clam meat, but was surprisingly my least favorite dish of the evening because it lacked a little oomph. But it speaks volumes that this this is the case because I still loved it – there wasn’t anything not to like.

I’d previously said in the Dining Guide that Volt was the best restaurant in Maryland. On this crowded Saturday night, with the restaurant completely overrun by patrons, I saw nothing to convince me otherwise.

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Matchbox, Capitol Hill

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Don

Last Friday, a working dinner turned into an hour-long “where should we go, what should we get” discussion, culminating in carryout pizza from the Capitol Hill Matchbox. It was a great decision, and turned out to be a good selection of pizzas.

A small Veggie ($12) with cremini mushrooms, Spanish onions, roasted poblano peppers, roasted garlic, mozzarella, fresh herbs, and fingerling potato crisps was a perfect foil to a small Sausage & Sundried Tomato ($12) with ricotta, mozzarella, fresh basil, and balsamic reduction.

I was very skeptical about the balsamic reduction, but it really worked pretty well on this pie, countering the mild saltiness of the sausage and making for an irresistible, chocolate-covered pretzel-like combination.

The veggie was my idea, and the most interesting thing about it were the fingerling potato crisps (little homemade potato chips) which had to be made in-house, because I’ve never seen them before, and the oil used for them tastes a lot like the oil used in their onion straws (not a bad thing, as Matchbox seems to have a habit of using good, clean oil).

I want to say Matchbox is the Pie-Tanza of Capitol Hill, but as much as I like Pie-Tanza for its restraint and crust, I like Matchbox even more for both. The crust is thin – almost matzo-like except a bit chewier – and could easily be overwhelmed by aggressive toppings, but as busy as these pizzas (especially the Veggie) sounded, they were full of finesse.

As take-out, these came up to room temperature in a hurry, and were still every bit as good as when they were hot. A very good showing for Matchbox.

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Famous Luigi’s, Downtown

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Don

(See the January 9th, 2010 Review here.)

I met Nikki Lewis downtown to discuss my talking points for ROC-DC’s Behind The Kitchen Door breakfast summit at Eatonville. We’d originally planned on meeting at Sign of the Whale, but it was so loud, and so was everywhere else, that we found ourselves at Famous Luigi’s – the second time I’ve been here this year (which is odd, because this is not a place I frequent frequently (yes, I said that on purpose)).

Moretti La Rossa (which, coincidentally, I’m sipping on right now (not the same one)) is only $4.75 here, but a Vodka and Cranberry Juice with Stoli was a pricey $9.75, strangely tabbed out at $2.50 for the (little can of?) cranberry juice and $7.25 for the Stoli.

Unlike the cheese pizza I scarfed last month, I didn’t like the three-topping Pizza for Two ($15) with black olives, zucchini, and sausage. The crust was really doughy, flaccid, and boring, and the toppings just kind of … existed.

Famous Luigi’s is never “great,” but is sometimes good; this was certainly the worst pizza I’ve had here.

But it was quiet.

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Sabai Sabai Simply Thai, Germantown, MD

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Don

For those of us who remember the glories of Thai Square from five or ten years ago, there may be another eye-popping option. Except that based on this meal alone – which, granted, is not enough to be casting judgment on a restaurant – Sabai Sabai Simply Thai is working at a more refined level. Not necessarily “better,” but more refined.

Crispy Duck with Basil ($14.95) just plain humiliated the virtually identical dish I’d ordered two nights before at Nava Thai. Flash-fried roasted duck with fresh chili pepper sauce topped with crispy Holy basil – it “reads” the same, but the execution was sublime, the quality of the duck meat exceptional, and the crispy basil every bit as exciting as the crispy spinach at Rasika that gets so much press.

I hesitated to order two “crispy” dishes, but could not resist the Crispy Herbal Fish ($15.95) made with fresh (!) tilapia filets marinated with turmeric, lemongrass, garlic and black pepper. This was way better than the (very good) cumin fish at Hong Kong Palace, and could be absolutely mentioned in the same breath as Peter Chang.

Pad Thai with Chicken ($9.95) was ordered for texture, and also to see what they’d do with the chicken meat. This was a great version of Pad Thai that I’d love to try next to Nongkran Daks’ Bobby Flay-slaying rendition at Thai Basil.

I don’t know if I caught Sabai Sabai Simply Thai on the best of evenings, but I do know that this was a candidate for one of the best Thai meals I’ve ever had in my life.

Absolutely, positively, raised in the Dining Guide, with plans to return in the very near future.

Sabai Sabai Simply Thai explicitly states on the their menu that “we never add MSG,” and with food this flavorful and good, why on earth would you need to? Wow!

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Kushi, Mount Vernon Square

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Don

I had a broad sampling of items at the deceptively expensive Kushi last night (it, like Jaleo, can add up), starting at the bar with a happy hour special of Kuro Uma Gold Shochu ($6, normally $8). Then, on to the table …

Having been to Kushi several times in the past, I’ve learned that their high-end sushi is terrific (and terrifically expensive) – they can afford to offer this because it’s such a high-volume operation that the low-end dining subsidizes the transportation costs (think Eamonn’s, The Majestic, etc., subsidizing the Tasting Room at Restaurant Eve (although Restaurant Eve, even the bistro, has gotten very expensive in its own right)).

There was no high-end sushi last night, just a Groupon, and an assortment of small plates from various sections of the menu. In order of arrival:

A complementary amuse-gueule of Aji Nanban (two small, fried sardines in broth with vegetables) – a very nice touch, and a gracious way to start the meal.

From the Kobachi (small plates) section:

Kinpira ($3), simmered burdock root, and Niku Dofu ($5.50), simmered tofu and beef.

From the Gohan (rice & soup) section:

Two orders of Yakionigiri ($3 each), grilled rice balls, in this case fascinatingly stuffed with what appeared to be rhubarb, the crunchiness of the exterior of the rice balls reminding me of Persian tah digue (that great, bottom-scraped rice that I adore).

From the Robata (wood grill) section:

Japanese Eggplant (a bargain at $3), and Maitake Mushroom ($5), both vegetarian because some of Kushi’s robata meats are initially cooked using the sous-vide technique (which has no place whatsoever here), and merely finished on the grill; vegetables tolerate this method much better than animal proteins.

From the Kushiyaki (charcoal grilled skewer) section:

Chicken Liver ($4), Pork-Stuffed Shishito Pepper ($5), and Leek ($3) which was surprisingly the least favorite dish of the evening, the leeks being completely DOA (dessicated on arrival).

Finally, from the Maki (sushi roll) section:

Salmon & Avocado Roll ($6.50), the consensus favorite of the night, mainly because of the extraordinary sushi rice coupled with just the right amounts of salmon and avocado (both having a very similar texture), the whole thing being melt-in-your-mouth good.

Drinks throughout the meal included one major mistake on my part, the Echigo Koshihikari Niigata ($10 for 16 ounces) which tasted no better than a dilute Sapporo (I’ve had other Echigos, such as the Red Ale and the Stout, in the past, and loved them, but make sure to skip this one unless you’re a Bud drinker). Better were two boxes of sake from the Tokubetsu Junmai section: Suigei “Drunken Whale” from Kouchi ($9 for a reasonable four-ounce pour).

In reading what I just typed, I’m realizing how much of Kushi’s menu I tried last night. Everything (with the exception of the grilled leeks) was good to very good, and nothing was outstanding. Nothing, that is, except the experience as a whole: friendly service, good-quality food, a huge, varied menu, and very low price points for the budget conscious.

Kushi has done quite well for itself, and after three or visits here, I’m raising it some more in my Dining Guide (available for free, always, to participating members of donrockwell.com (which is also free – why don’t you take 2-3 minutes and sign up? You’ll love it, I promise you!))

And coming next: a review about the best Thai meal I’ve had in … perhaps several years.

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Busboys & Poets, Mount Vernon Triangle

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Don

I had thirty minutes to kill before a business dinner last night, so I stopped into the always uplifting Busboys & Poets at City Vista for a quick beer.

Gluten-free dining has gotten a lot of attention lately, and I want to spend more time in the future concentrating on that issue as well as other diner restrictions (vegan cuisine, quiet dining rooms, etc.) so that everyone may benefit from these reviews.

A bottle of Bard’s ($6) is made from sorghum malt, and is gluten-free. It is (so the website says) “America’s first gluten-free beer and the only beer made from 100% malted sorghum.”

None of this matters unless it tastes good, however. This is the first time I’d ever tried a Bard’s, and was both surprised and somewhat pleased with what I found. The nose has malt tones, as well as an extremely mild, Gueuze-like sourness that carries into the fore-palate. As strange as it sounds, this tapers off into a neutral, almost unsweetened sun-tea finish that’s supported by enough acidity to keep it interesting. It’s worth ordering if you’ve never tried it, even if you’re not worried about staying gluten-free.

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