Cava (Capitol Hill)

After being mildly annoyed by my last venture out with a recommendation from Washington Post food critic Tom Seistma, I had to quickly give him a reprieve to help restore my faith in his opinion. And his write up this week of Cava -- the Rockville, Md., cum Capitol Hill Barracks Row restaurant did just that. I did their Greek Mezze during Friday night happy hour with my friend Mike who just moved up from Tampa. The posh atmosphere was sexy and inviting. Dark, candlelit with brick walls that didn't let you forget you're on this historic street, but the contemporary and polished fixtures and warm wood added to the buzz of loud laughter. The front windows slid to the side erasing the line between the sidewalk and the bar, welcoming walkers in for a drink. The one I chose was a twist on a mint julep with apricot puree and liquor in it -- my homage to the Preakness this weekend. Go Papa Clem! Move your bloomin' arse!  As the after work crowd arrived, Cava got ever more livelier with a very hip and refined clientele, although our table for two in the back was perfectly private. The number of options on the menu were all traditionally greek but with some semblance of gourmet twist to them. Different Herbs here or there.  Wanting meat -- we chose the Cava grill, which came with 3 lamb chops, 2 chicken souvlaki, 2 grilled meatballs and 2 pork medallions that melted like butter in my mouth. We also ordered a dish of spanakopita to balance it out.  All of the meat was grilled perfectly -- sometimes kabobs can be dry. Not here. And the lamb chops were FANTASTIC. I feel terrible for those people who won't eat lamb. I've had bad lamb before and know why they don't prefer it... don't fear it at Cava though. All of this food would have been perfect for three people at a happy hour timed dinner as we ended up taking home a few things.  The wait staff was attentive and considerate. When I said we'd be having a drink and were not going to even look at the menu for a while, they didn't bat an eyelash unlike other hopping places I frequent. Definitely a good recommendation by Tom and a place I will add to my list of places to return in the near future. http://dc.cavamezze.com/site/home

Vermillion (Old Town)

I often forget of all the options in Old Town for dinning, compartmentalizing all the restaurants there in my mind as colonial decor, mincemeat pie and servers with big buckles on their shoes -- belonging more in an amusement park than in a metropolitan city. But it isn't really like that. This week I was reminded again of the decent fare Old Town has to offer by Vermillion on King St., owned by the same people who do two of my other favorite restaurants -- Tallulah and Evening Star. I've also learned they have a 4th, relatively new one that does beer pairings in Old Town I believe called Rustica (?). The occasion for Friday night was dinner with the Clods and Mike, a classmate from college in town with the Air Force. We chose Vermillion primarily because of its convenience. I had been there before and remember it being decent -- but was there with such a large group, that the details of the restaurant were sketchy. The evening began downstairs in their lounge with mint juleps (because the Clods missed them for the derby) and I of course had my summer special of Hendricks Gin, cucumber muddle and soda. Vermillion puts sugar in their version making it more mojito-y -- but good nonetheless. Once upstairs, we took a difficult to maneuver booth given its velvet upholstery and the complete inability to slide in... The dinner selection was easy. We all chose the chef's tasting menu and wine pairing. This began with a taste complements of the chef of a bit of thin sliced ham and I'm not sure what else. Very tasty and always a classy touch. Our first real course was a crispy fried oyster atop shaved fennel and mint slaw. This was served with a New Zealand Sauvignon blanc. Our second course was a trout served atop blue crab, garlic and leeks. To make it fancy, it also had a roasted bell pepper froth -- that silly new culinary trend -- some call it whipped or flavored air. I think it looks like spit on my plate... nonetheless, this was one damn fine trout. This dish was coupled with a chardonnay from Argentina. Not a big fan of chardonnay here, but it wasn't half bad. Next we had the hangar steak over rye spatzel. I could have had this all by itself on a much larger dish. This was absolutely delectable, however it was coupled with a far-too-tart and in your face cabernet from Australia (or so says the menu... I could have sworn the waitress said it was a malbec... but it was way too bold for a malbec). We finished the meal with rice pudding fritters with dried cherries, pinenuts and a bittersweet chocolate sauce. Oh man -- this tops most any desert I've had at a restaurant. The desert was even paired with an old tawny port. All of that for only $61 was a bargain. The decor of vermillion was subtle and creative -- frames on the wall lit by distant lights to look as if the brick in the frame was the art. Modern, but comfortable and rustic. Our very large booth which could have accommodated 6 was awkward. That I can honestly say was my only complaint. The service and management were very attentive... the manager coming over to our table to answer my question about their relationship with those other restaurants I mentioned. This got him high marks in my book. Overall, a decent meal out in Old Town... no mincemeat on the menu and nobody wore buckled shoes.

The Source (Downtown)

I can certainly see why all the accolades fell upon Wolfgang Puck's relatively new DC restaurant, The Source, which is attached to the Newseum. I went there this week with my old friend Becky, in town from Germany. While I had tried to find someplace with white asparagus on the menu given the season, she really has only one requirement for restaurants -- a tablecloth. I'm sure there are other less trendy places to go in the city which could have satisfied this requirement, but The Source has been on my list since it opened and won the best new restaurant in DC award. We started off in the bar on a crowded happy hour Wednesday where they served my new favorite spirit -- Hendricks Gin -- muddled with cucumber and served up. We also ordered a cheese plate for our wait since we showed a half hour before our reservations. Valet parking was simple and the bar had a lounge atmosphere, hopping with young hill staffers and a sexy vibe. Our table became ready before our cheese plate arrived and I was impressed at the seamless delivery of it upstairs to our semi-private table for two overlooking the staircase. Among the impressive wine list, we settled on a bottle of an Austrian Sav. Blanc -- the strongest grapefruit flavor I've ever tasted in this kind of wine. Very perfect pairing for my choice of the scallops, served with a coconut peanut sauce and a side of drunken noodles. The three scallops on the plate were large and stood alone while the noodles were served separately in a sterling covered dish. The coconut peanut sauce was a sweet complement to the savory and perfectly sauteed scallops. The rest of the menu was asian fusion and all looked good. I was particularly torn between the scallops and pork chop for its licorice honey glaze. Chef Scott Drewno certainly has a creative palette. Had I looked at the desert menu with my order, I would have pre-ordered the chocolate souffle as the entree was just the right size to be able to enjoy a sweet ending, however with the length of time required for that, I settled on the blueberry almond crumble with vanilla salted streusel and ginger ice cream -- heavenly. The service was spectacular. My wine glass was never empty. An empty plate was never static. And the army of servers were never intrusive. Our primary waiter was gentle, sophisticated and clearly knowledgeable. I was pleased by his recommendation of the scallops when I asked him to choose between my two selections. The upstairs decor is striking and modern with a wall of wine behind glass, walls of windows looking out on the rain storm, and tables that were not on top of each other. With the lack of restaurants in that vicinity, The Source brings a hearty competition to the posh Charlie Palmer Steak, just blocks away. Make sure to go with enough green in the bank though as any visit will surely make a dent in your checkbook.

Fire & Sage

In the downtown Marriott is a restaurant. Like most hotel restaurants, I don't consider them destinations. But when Tom Sietsema, the Washington Post's food critic who has yet to misguide me, raves over the renovations of a restaurant called Fire and Sage in what used to be a tacky 90s nautical themed place (Regatta bar), I put it on my watch list.  Fast forward two weeks to an evening with my ladies Ty, Monica and Jen.  Ty being pregnant, we asked her what her desire was for the evening.  Normally when I ask somebody's desire, the expected response is a genre -- like Italian. Ty responded -- I want bacon wrapped scallops.  Ah hell.  So off a googling I went until I found some half decent menus with bacon wrapped scallops at recognizable locations in DC.  Two showed up on the list. Mortons in Crystal City and this Fire and Sage place.  I'm sure there are more, but these were the list I had. Mortons is a bit pricey, but I threw both out there.  The girls started drooling over the Fire and Sage menu. I warned them it was a hotel restaurant... a place for transient businessmen to pick up hookers, watch sports on the big screen and drink into the night enjoying the solace from screaming children at home. Then I went to make a reservation. The lady laughed at me. Laughed! "oh, you won't need a reservation."  Warning #2. But the ladies were content with the menu so we went.  Free valet parking if you go to the restaurant (warning #3) -- marketing ploy to draw people in. Not worth it. We walked in and picked our own seat when the bar was full (warning #4). Nobody second guessed the tub sized baby gift in a 'nice' restaurant (warning #5). Jen and I getting there first, and 5 minutes before the end of happy hour ordered some aps and drinks. The sliders were nothing special, but the garlic sea salt fries were fantastic.  Of course it was just garlic and sea salt.  How hard is that? The fries themselves were nothing special. The drinks were very weak, albeit tastey -- like juicy juice. The waiter was friendly and attentive... of course, us being his only table.  I ordered the scallops wrapped in bacon... given that was the impetus behind recommending this place. Was I ever disappointed.  Scallops have a sweet spot. You can't over cook them or else they are rubber. If you undercook them, that's called ceviche. To get the bacon cooked, I imagine they would need to fry it up first, wrap them and then continue cooking... but I'm not sure that's what they did because I could bounce these suckers off the wall like one of those rubber balls from a gum ball machine. The dish was served with greens and a glob of cheese grits.  And me being a southern raised boy, I use the word grits only in the technical term. Cement would probably be a better description. Jen and I did split some of their mac and cheese, which was half decent, although I've certainly had better. I was utterly disappointed in the entire meal. Lets move onto the ambiance. The best I can say about that is it was no longer a nautical theme. There was nothing special about this expensive renovation that would have me recommend this place as trendy.  Shut off the sports on the TV, dim the lights, fire the chef, keep the waiter but make him take off that stupid Marriott name-tag (this is a restaurant, not a hotel), and tell the bartender to double his pour. I don't remember what Tom had when he went, who was there or what impressed him so, but let me tell you, this place was utterly forgettable. The only reason I remember these details is for my readers to warn them away. Thankfully I was with some sexy and fun women who distracted me from the "dining" experience.