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.

Liberty Tavern (Clarendon for dinner)

I am in nirvana, having just quite unexpectedly had the best dining experience and meal out I've ever had in DC at Liberty Tavern in Clarendon. This always hopping place I've known for its bar scene and previously blogged about its decent brunch buffet can teach some of the 5 star joints around here about quality service and modern American gastronomics. As a thank you for dog sitting Ruby while in Key West, Alyssa and I decided on Liberty Tavern for a meal tonight. It's a bar. I didn't even think about making a reservation and didn't need one. Of course after the experience, I'm very surprised I could even get in. The bar was of course packed, loud and hopping on the first floor with all kinds of young professionals starting their weekend on a Thursday night. After only a few minutes of waiting, we were escorted upstairs to a table for 2. Our waiter, Jimmy, greeted us cordially. We chose an inexpensive sangiovese and ordered the shrimp appetizer, our first decidedly surprise of the evening. The large gulf shrimp came fried in a spicy batter with breaded fennel and, strangely, fried and breaded slices of lemon. Never thinking I'd see a fried lemon again, I decided to take a bite. It was like candy noshing on a lemon head. Interesting in the good way. When it was time to order, this is when Jimmy proved himself above the fold when it comes to waiters. We had a few questions about the menu. Not only did Jimmy answer our questions in significant detail, he anticipated follow-on questions going into third order detail. I felt like I could ask him the name of the boat my fish was caught on. When asked what the most popular dish and his favorite, he gave a lecture on the different dishes, my mouth watering at every word. Jimmy's favorite dish, something new, was the skate. A meal our table neighbor chose and it did indeed look good, but I went with the Branzino. The decision was difficult with the number of Executive Chef Liam LaCivita's wood burning oven choices on this season's menu. My Branzino was served over a bed of house made spinach spaetzle with a smoked pepper sauce. In a unique addition, two strips of thick and savory maple juniper bacon topped the fish. Before my fish came though, the home made bread came and Jimmy even described the different bread choices. An amazing waiter who deserved every bit of my 30 percent tip. Alyssa chose the Beef tri tip -- a cut of meat I had never heard of, but she raved over. I was so impressed with the night that I called the manager, Shawn, over to complement him on the excellent evening and Jimmy's service. For the last 4 years, Ceiba has held my top spot in all of DC for their service record. I'm sorry Ceiba, you've been served. Liberty Tavern takes that top spot now. High marks all around.

La Te Da (Key West)

Dinner last night was at La Te Da, a dinner theater famous for its drag shows. The chef there,  I think her name is Georgia Chase… I haven’t kept up… serves a mediocre  theater menu. While her gazpacho was spicy and fantastic, it was far too large a portion for a starter. My entrée was the citrus mahi, whose sauce was out of this world, but when paired with a piece of fish that had obviously been frozen, was disappointing. And for those of us with lactose issues, a single choice of cheesecake or cheesecake wasn’t going to cut it. When we asked the waitress who was foreign and didn’t remotely understand the question if there were any options (even for an up charge) other than cheesecake, she offered us key lime pie, which we accepted. However, a person who understood the dilemma would have said, the pie has whipped cream and a chocolate crust… what kind of place serves an alternatively lactose free dish that is covered in lactose? But what can you expect when you staff your purportedly top tier restaurant with people who don’t understand the primary language. A second example of this there was when my sugar packet solution to our unlevel table was unsuitable for our waitress and she called the bus boy to fix it… instead of him removing my sugar packets and replacing them with a cork he brought… instead he saw the sugar packets and decided the wobbly table was fixed. If you’re going to have a good restaurant, the competence of your wait staff must be unquestionable. The ambiance of the place… being outside… could have been spectacular under the shade trees on a breezy evening. But instead, there were screaming children poolside who were residents of the hotel and smokers who felt it appropriate to light up in the eating area – a practice I find rude and reprehensible no matter the one human family blah blah blah acceptance down here. I will not ever couple dinner with a show at La Te Da again.

Hot Tin Roof (Key West)

Hot Tin Roof is the restaurant for the Ocean Key Resort and has a beautiful view of the sunset with the address 0 Duval St.  Just above Mallory square and far enough away from the sunset festival to have a nice dinner, but still enjoy the low-key music from the band playing below – this is a higher scale restaurant. Having timed our reservations to coincide with the sunset, we arrived only moments before it became comfortable… the sun glaring in our eyes and the humidity frizzing mom’s hair. Mom and I each started off with a martini.  Mine was a key lime pie martini mixed with Licor 43, which reminded me of the swizlestick bar in Fort Walton Beach.  I started the meal off with shrimp scampi – 2 of them… just a bite to put something in my stomach, although the puff bread would have sufficed.  The shrimp were pink, large and local. Mom had the grilled scallop served over polenta. My meal was the Yellowtail snapper, which came with a tangy red sauce over it and was a rather large slice of fish.  I couldn’t eat the entire thing, but really wanted to.  The fish was a bit dry, but the flavor of the sauce made up for any misgivings. An Australian Sav. Blanc complemented my meal. Mom had the shrimp risotto, which had arugala in it and proved humorous to watch her slice her grits. Her meal, although good, was far too rich for me. Our meals came only moments after the beautifully clear sunset dropped behind Sunset Key across the water. Not a cloud in the sky that evening. Our wait staff seemed accustomed to the amateur photographers who covered the outside balcony where we sat.  The inside of the restaurant was empty, perhaps expected for a Monday night as the new crop of tourists had not yet descended on the island.  With only moderately good and considerably pricey food, I may opt next time to watch the sunset from the pier and enjoy the festival below instead. A good experience nonetheless.

El Siboney (Key West)

We made our way on bikes to the Cuban restaurant that Billy, the pool bar guy, recommended and it was exactly the kind of place I like to go to when traveling… seeing and tasting from the local’s perspective. On the corner of Margaret and Catherine Streets (I love that all the street names are names…) is a one story brick home-turned-business with maybe 3 parking spots out front. It is very out of the way for the tourist crowd, but a nice change of pace from the bustling Duval street.  The restaurant’s name is El Siboney and purports itself to be a family friendly Cuban restaurant offering the best in authentic Cuban dishes on budget.  It was filled with mostly locals… little old ladies, latin families (I assume Cuban) and perhaps 3 tourist families.  I had the grilled pork tenderloin (for some reason, pork says Cuban to me) and mom had the mahi. Each dish was served with black beans, yellow rice and fried plantains. Mom enjoyed her mahi, not having ordered that fish in a number of years which made her question why? We guessed the spices on her fish to be cumin and paprika. My pork loin was served butterflied and was far too large to eat in one sitting. With some lime squeezed over it, it was tender, juicy and flavorful.  While I enjoyed my pork, I wish I had called ahead to order the paella which has lobster and shrimp in it, but takes over an hour to make. The best part of the meal was in the end though, a small bowl of rice pudding.  As a rice pudding fanatic, I can honestly say this was the best I’ve ever had.  Creamy with overpowering vanilla flavor and large grains of rice.  The staff at this restaurant was friendly, attentive and fast, but don’t go there for the ambiance.  A trip to this hole in the wall is strictly for the magnificent food, not for a dining experience.

Evening Star Cafe (Del Ray)

So tonight I ventured into Del Ray, what could be my ideal neighborhood if I lived in the middle of nowhere, to Evening Star Cafe. I've frequented this restaurant a number of times in the past and always pictured it low key with really good food. But apparently for somebody who considers themself low key, Evening Star is higher end. I chose a glass of Horton Viognier, my favorite white from my favorite local winery -- snaps for the wine list. Perusing the menu, I started with the Fried goat cheese and beet salad, one of my favorite culinary combinations even though on their own I like neither -- snaps for the salad. For my entree, I chose the scallops because I had remembered them being tasty before, although the menu was different now and these scallops were not the same. I am finicky about my scallops though. They have to be cooked to the perfect balance between rubber and raw. If you can find the flashpoint between the two, they are perfect. These met that flashpoint. There were four medium sized scallops on my plate surrounding a mound of bacon and sprout hash. Again... flavors that just danced in my mouth. I had to look up on the menu to figure out what I was eating... I had no idea bacon and sprouts... it was (the good kind of) interesting and the flavors unidentifiable... but so good I ate every bite. The bacon was thick and the texture of the hash made every bite savory. The ambiance of the place, adorned with erector set lamps, loud color walls and a matching loud vibe that overwhelmed the small space made for an eclectic and enjoyable experience to supplement the A+ culinary excursion. Evening Star is a great date restaurant, clearly solid in its long standing status as one of the best restaurants in DC since its opening in the late nineties. I note its absence this year on the Washingtonian's 100 best. Perhaps the Washingtonian hasn't been there since chef Matt Cordes arrival a year or so ago when he brought a more modern American menu to the place. My dinner companion's side was jalapeno mac and cheese! Come on, who thinks of that! yum. Before he came around, I remember the menu being a bit more creole. The shift was noticeable and welcome. Highly recommended.

Rice (14th St)

Thaiphoon is a trendy hotspot in Dupont and Po Siam is a dump, hole-in-the-wall in Arlandria. Thaiphoon serves their Pad Thai on chic white plates while the drunken noodles at Po Siam have no real presentation to them at all. But if you switched the two dishes from each kitchen, patrons at either location wouldn't know the difference.

But at Rice -- which helped pave the 14th St renaissance that began in 2004 and is only now catching on -- is an entirely different Thai place. You cannot find Chicken with olives and basil anywhere else in this city (that I know of). And sometimes I crave that dish like until I can think of nothing else, to my own detriment because when I get there and finally order it, I forget to ask them to turn down the heat. Smallwerld<--not a fan of the uber spicy.

The restaurant has basically three menus in one. A "traditional" Thai menu... although everything on it seems to have its own special modification -- like the string beans served with the pik khing chicken; Rice specialties (like my chicken/basil/olives) that offer fusion thai or re-thought combinations of food using uniquely Thai ingredients; and a seasonal menu -- October has a lot of 'pumpkin' items. I can't tell you what was on the seasonal menu Friday when I went because I was too focused on my chicken/basil/olives that I didn't even open the menu.

The restaurant is small, sleek and minimalist. The art is on the plate, not on the walls. Like the artful way they deliver a side of rice with each dish... sometimes sweet, sometimes black, sometimes green, but always shaped and styled with care reflective of the restaurant’s name.

My only complaint? The teak chairs... I now selfishly take the booth seat if we get such a table because the chairs are simply awful. Hard. handcrafted and rustic/modern vibe? sure... but hard and uncomfortable. They do not inspire lingering. Perhaps this is a passive-aggressive way to turn tables.

The service is forgettable... which means not bad, but not out of the way. And don't leave without a lychee martini!

Mark's Duck House

On a nice Saturday afternoon, I went with Alyssa to Falls Church for a quick bite of Dim Sum at Mark's Duck House.  At one time, this place was rated in the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the US and the Washingtonian can't get enough of it.  It certainly lives up to the thought that the great places are the holes in the wall.  Hole is putting it nicely.  In a strip mall called Wilson Center is an uninviting facade with ducks hanging from the chop shop side of the restaurant.  The place is filled with Asians -- a good sign for any Asian restaurant.  We sat at a table for 2 in the back as the Dim Sum carts made their way around.  The movie Working Girl flashed in my mind.  I'm not really sure what anything we ate was called.  Many steamed dumplings with pork, shrimp etc. in them.  The one that I loved the flavor but couldn't eat a second one because of the mashed potato texture inside was the taro root crusted pork.  Flavors I'd just never had with a texture that made me gag a bit... You have to be a bit daring here, however,  I stayed away from the Chicken Feet. At $20 for two, it was certainly a bargain and an experience.

Hard Times Cafe

To celebrate national chili day, I met Monica and Kyle at Hard Times Cafe on King St. in Old Town.  I've passed this place so many times not ever giving it a second thought other than, "what's that horse statue doing in the back of that old timey truck?"  Anybody who's been to old town just had a light bulb go off and knows exactly what restaurant this is now.  Apparently known for its chili, their schtick tonight was order something, anything... a diet coke even... and get a free bowl of chili.  What nobody told us was that this was a popular celebration in Old Town and that we'd have to wait an hour to get a table... so our something was a number of beers.  I was thrilled that Shiner Bock was on tap.  A Texas brew from Shiner, Texas, that you just don't see often.  After a few of these, we were seated.  Our waitress brought us a taster of chilis.  There are 4.  A red one that was too hot for me.  A Texas one that was full of flavor.  A Cincinnati one that was on the sweet side and I wish I had ordered, and a vegetarian one that tasted like a can of smashed ass.  There was a moment of flashback to Langley O'Club free chili Sundays with all the Peters' kids when I asked if they served their chili over rice.  Sadly no.  When the waitress explained the deal of the night, it was clear she was either 'over' it or toked up because we asked if our beers from the bar counted as our 'something' and she responded with 'I don't care, I'll bring you some chili.' ... but we ended up ordering some sliders.  I settled on the Texas chili, but forgot to ask for it with beans, which would have settled the spice down a bit.  Regardless, it was some great chili.  After some laughs, some more beers, a lot of chili, and a pocket full of saltines to take home, we called it a night. National chili day will be celebrated on my calendar next year again.  Especially if the economy blows as much as it does now.  Everybody should celebrate these hard times at the Hard Times cafe.  

Hook

For my last outing of this year's DC restaurant week, I decided to finally check out Hook, given all the buzz around town about this place.  It's a fish restaurant.  Not seafood, but fish.  Seafood restaurants are on the coast and serve hushpuppies and buckets of shrimp.  They are messy, smell of the sea and usually have a large fish tank in them.  Hook serves fish.  All different kinds of fish, but specializes in finding regional products that support a sustainable, earth-friendly philosophy.  But don't throw on your birkenstocks and think you can come in here. Hook has clearly made its mark as a place to see and be seen before drinking the night away at one of the many posh lounges nearby.  This was evidenced by the table of sparkly girls next to us.  But if you're a big girl, request a bench seat.  The awkward round chairs of Hook will not fit a big ass.  We watched uncomfortably as an amazon sized woman tried to pry her way between the arms of this poor chair.  I don't think she ever got all the way into it.  As for the food... I have to give restaurants who serve their normal menu as their restaurant week menu some props... Hook did this.  It says to me that they don't need the money, they just want you to experience the food.  That's what this week is all about.  My meal started with a bit of a shocker... it was the bread on the table.  One bite and I went for the water.  I'm not a horse.  I don't lick salt.  This cornbread was salt cornbread -- I had never hear of such a thing.  Dining with Monica, Ty, Jen and Nancy... one of them tried to convince me that this was a southern thing.  I'm southern.  The only way you're going to have cornbread that salty in my part of the South is if you mistook the salt jar for the sugar on the counter.  My appetizer continued the theme of salt.  How good does this sound?  Yellow and red beats thinly sliced with a vinaigrette, whipped goat cheese and pistachios?  YUM.  Now the waitress did say this was a sweet and salty dish... the juxtaposition enticed me.  But again, all I tasted was the salt of the nuts.  Now that my blood pressure was raised from all that salt, I chose the Barramundi from Massachusetts for my entree.  I just wanted a different kind of fish I'd never had before.  To the waitress' credit, she did say this was a medium to bold fish... which means it tastes like fish.  I'm not a fan of fishy fish... but again, I wanted to step out a bit and ordered this.  I primarily ordered it for the parsnips, which I love... otherwise, I'd have chosen the char, which Ty hand and looked great.  Jen had the steak, so there is an option for the fish-haters, although there was only that one option.  The accolades for this evening's meal do not go to executive chef Jonathan Seningen and all his fish variations, but to Hook's pastry chef Heather Chittum.  My desert was the apple tart with a side of vanilla ice cream (which I traded for the nutella ice cream from Monica's Chocolate thing).  Very thinly slice apples layered and designed on a light puff pastry made for a wonderful finish to the evening.  It's no wonder she's so good.  Her lineage includes being the Pastry Chef for Chef Richard from Citronelle, arguably the best restaurant in DC -- Chef Richard of course having been a pastry chef for 15 years himself.  Overall, it rates as a restaurant I'd like to bring my mom to for a DC dining experience, but probably not a place I'd frequent.  The best part of the evening by far was simply the company.

Mie-n-Yu

For my second night celebrating DC restaurant week, I went out with my dear friend Alyssa to catch up after not having seen her in some months.  Catching up with people is one of the reasons I like Restaurant week so much... it's an excuse to get together like any other holiday...  hence its holiday status in my book.  We chose Mie n Yu, a Georgetown restaurant whose menu follows the silk road from China through the middle east.  It has decor that might be better suited to Disney's Epcot... fountains pouring into Bowls, a room that makes you feel as if you were a tuareg in the desert.  Last night though, I dined in Afghanistan and Morocco... or so those were the dishes I chose.  I started with the Afghan Mantu, which is a beef and scallion dumpling that had mint yogurt and a tomato sauce.  All of this is fancy for undercooked potsticker from any Chinese place, although I enjoyed the yogurt sauce.  Maybe that was the Afghan part.  My entree was the Moroccan Beef.  It was a large piece of slow roasted local organic beef with moroccan fruits, cinnamon, honey and saffron chutney served over roasted root vegetables.  Now this was good.  Of course I love most chutneys having grown up with my grandma making them, but I've never put it over a slow roasted side of beef.  By far this was the best meal of my week.  For desert, I was stuck with either chocolate or cheesecake.  Neither are good choices for me gastronomically speaking, so I chose the less chocolatey sounding chocolate choice.  That would be the Pecan Chocolate Croustade with chocolate whipped cream.  It just tasted like pecan pie with chocolate chips melted in it.  Nothing special.  The service, while good, was impersonal and the vibe was lively and trendy which proved an interesting juxtaposition to the Epcot decor.  Overall assessment, a fun place to dine with a very creative and different menu.

Indebleu

DC Restaurant week has always been my favorite holiday... a time to go to the restaurants that you never can make it to (if you make early enough reservations).  Well, Indebleu has been on my list for years.  I never made it there when it was the new 'it' restaurant... and then it got a bad rep, so I never tried to go after that.  But for restaurant week, I felt I ought to give it a shot.  I went there tonight with my friend Lou as a payback for watching my dog while I went off to Mexico for the weekend.  The night started off by me having to take a shower at his place because my hot water is out at home... and my complex changed the door codes on me today so I was locked out after walking the dog and hence late to Lou's... plus, I had a bit of a headache.  Read:  Dave's not in the best/most social of moods.  And if you know me, that can be a bit of a chore to deal with... But Indebleu attacked my downer day pleasantly turning it around.  First, the hostess was apologetic for not being able to seat us immediately and we had to wait 5 minutes past our reservation.  Seriously?  5 minutes is no big deal in my book, but her gracious  greeting earned points.  We headed to the bar where I found their wine by the glass selection appealing.  I had a Sangiovese, which you normally wouldn't find by the glass.  After we sat, our waiter, Brian -- a slight, but perky church-goer greeted us with a big smile and a helpful attitude.  He continued his good service throughout the evening... forgetting to charge us for the bottled water and other glass of wine earning him a generous tip.  My meal started with Main Mussels steamed with lime, tomato, garlic and ginger red curry.  There was a bit of a kick to these mussels, but they were steamed nicely and the curry sauce was a wonderful dip for the bread.  My main plate was the jerk brined and fried chicken.  I was going to order the yellow fin tuna, but I eat a lot of tuna.  I wanted something different... and I had read recently in a magazine... Details or GQ likely... that foodie restaurants were doing fried chicken.  This was my first time to a place of Indebleu's stature with fried chicken on the menu, but it was plump, juicy, crisp and not at all what I expected.  Needless to say, I'll never go to KFC again after this fried chicken.  Not even on the same planet and shouldn't be allowed to share the same trailer trash name.  The chicken was served with chinese greens, green chili corn pudding and a pineapple hot sauce.  Past the breading, the sauce is really what made this dish pop.  For desert, I wish I had ordered what Lou did... the L'Opera: an almond biscuit, kahlua cream, chocolate ganache and pistachio ice cream... but the chocolate ganache sounded too rich for me.  Turns out my Banana split had way more chocolate and less of the cherry that was described in the menu.... and while ok, I could have done without my desert.  Instead, I helped Lou eat his.  The ambiance of the restaurant was loud and bright.  For such a small space, I could appreciate the volume, although to Lou, it was distracting.  I thought it was the perfect level for a vibrant place.... but talking about vibrant, Please send in some lesbians to install dimmer switches.  The sunlamps of recessed lighting almost blistered the top of my head, forcing me to move over a chair.  All in all, I think this place can survive the stigma that it outlived its useful life.  These positive observations, mostly revolving around the spectacular food and service, are likely caused by the relatively new executive chef.  Michael Hartzer, formerly under the tutelage at DC's enviable Citronelle, has been with Indebleu for a little over a year.  With some good PR, this place could be the 'it' place again... it certainly has all the credentials... or at least it will if it installs dimmers.

Sei

Trend setters need to venture to this new eatery on 7th in Penn Quarter.  Sei, pronounced Say, just opened a few weeks ago, taking the sushi chef from Perry's and creating a chic downtown sushi and small plates restaurant.  Where the menu is short on food choice, the options for sake abound.  I however opted for a Pear sangria, thinking if I'm going to be at the new 'it' place, I need to drink their 'it' drink.  The chef's special sushi menu had many interesting options, the best of which that I ate was the fish and chips role, filling flounder in a role topped with thin, crisp french fries and a side of wasabi tartar creating a nice juxtaposition in both flavor and texture.  If you don't like sushi, there is also a small plates menu.  I didn't try anything on it, but the foie gras role looked interesting.  The disappointment of the night was the crunchy shrimp role.  While this dish would have sufficed at any less posh place, the "fried" tasted old.  Chef Yasutake, change your oil!  The Ambiance in this place kept the night flowing.  Don't come if you're sensitive to a loud place.  While we were able to carry on a decent conversation, the decibels were not for the faint of heart.  While for most places, that means it's lively enough and people are having fun.  However had our table for 2 been a larger party, I don't think I would have been able to hear the conversation.  The decor is fab-chic in all white with gold-leafed plaster fleur de les all over certain walls and bold red reeds breaking the space up.  Like Rasika around the corner, this place ads to the growing list of fashionable ethnic dining in a booming Penn Quarter, with my recommendation.