Commissary

Commissary -- on P between 14th and 15th downtown -- has been on my list simply for its location since I read about it a while ago. It stuck with me because of its name and the idea it would probably have a little of everything. So on a chilly February Saturday after swimsuit shopping around the corner, when some hunger pangs started panging -- I recommended a 3pm meal at Commissary. The previous tenant of this location was Merkado -- an odd Latin/Asian/I don't-know-what kind of place where I had a birthday at a few years ago. I was served a lamb shank sticking out of a soup bowl like I was Fred Flinstone at a state fair. Merkado was just sucking up good space -- the wrong restaurant for that neighborhood. A fly-in at 3 with no previous plans place like Commissary was perfect. We sat in the corner with a view of the trendy people with afternoons of nothing to do. Our Latin waiter was very helpful and when he didn't know what the answer was -- he went and found out... even though I knew after one bite it was potatoes that made their blueberry pancakes different from the bisquick IHOPy kind. Our neighbor table didn't have the same luck with our same waiter. It was like two different people and we commented to each other on this fact. I started my meal with lentil soup. It was bland and could have used some meat, but after a request for some lemon juice, it brought memories of eating at the Iranian place in Qatar. Lemon juice is the trick for brining out flavors at the last minute in a complex soup. My main dish was a chicken stew with rice. Perfect comfort food, although the bay leaves in it were a bit much. One would have sufficed. I hope Commissary makes it. We need more restaurants like this. The closes alternative I can think of is Busboys and Poets sans bookstore. Both worthy afternoon hang outs.