Approximately 6 years ago we started going to TOKA Cafe on 19th Street and had the pleasure of enjoying then rising chef RJ Cooper III's exciting cuisine. We returned again and again, and brought many of our friends who fell in love and returned as well. As fate will have it, Toka closed and Chef Cooper moved on to other places in town, most recently taking over at VIDALIA (www.vidaliadc.com) as Chef de Cuisine under the guidance of chef/owner Peter Buben. In those several years, Chef Cooper has honed his talent and ingenuity and last year was rewarded with the James Beard Mid-Atlantic Region Chef of the Year Award for his amazing work.
Last night, after a way too long absence (although I was there last fall for a James Beard Foundation event) we returned to the now even more elegant VIDALIA (1990 M St, NW) for a spectacular tasting menu that surely will go down as one of the best around. It really is great that we have so many chefs in DC willing to do these magnificent displays of their excellent talent.
The four of us sat down to a superb 1998 NICOLAS FEUILLATTE Blanc de Blanc Champagne that was yeasty, full of fruit and really a wonderful revelation at its 10-year peak. The champagne was served for quite some time while we enjoyed three separate and brilliant AMUSE: KUMAMOTO Oyster in GEWURTZTRAMINER Gelee, Fennel Emulsion, Osetra Caviar was our first blast of taste from the kitchen and we yearned for more.
The presentation of the second amuse is worth a paragraph in itself. A tilted stemless martini glass was on the right side of a rectangular plate filled partially with a creamy BRANDADE with Smoked Gelee, on the left two large piles of caviar: WHITEFISH from Montana and GRINNEL (I think from Tenn.) under a domed glass which was removed, reversed and then filled with a SMOKED VEGETABLE CONSOMME. We were instructed to savor the two caviars mixed with the brandade and then sip the broth almost as a palate cleanser. The latter was one of the best broths I have ever had; boy could I use it when I get sick! We savored
every bite and could decide which caviar we liked better, but it was simply a wonderful experience.
Amuse #3 was a Torchon of Smoked Hudson Valley FOIE GRAS dusted with Valrhona COCOA and served with Chocolate MOLE, Sundried CHERRY PUREE and a dash of BLIS 100 year old Sherry BALSAMIC. The flavors all together were creamy, rich and at times acidic depending on whether you included the balsamic or not. It was loads of fun to have the foie gras with each or several of the "condiments"; I forgot to ask why the dish was called "Foie Gras, Valrhona Cocoa, minus 8"?
Please also don't forget the tasty cornbread, exquisite mini-popover muffins and the luscious onion compote to spread on them.
The first course was simply called HAMACHI 2008 and was a novel treatment of the traditional sashimi dish with four separate presentations in a row:
HAMACHI with OYSTER & ANCHOVY was first and was a blast of fish, shellfish and that wonderfully salty fresh anchovy.
HAMACHI with AVOCADO Puree was next and while very flavorful, really stressed the fish itself.
HAMACHI with BLOOD ORANGE and Micro Greens was third and the final blast and wildly creative was HAMACHI with OLIVE OIL SORBET and WONTON. The fish had a slice of fried wonton with the sorbet scoop leveled atop that and was truly tasty, especially with another hint of blood orange.
The wine is one I must look for as it tasted glorious alone and paired perfectly: 2005 MULLER-CATOIR RIESLING Trocken(dry) from Pfalz, Germany.
Pasta may have a new friend in Chef Cooper as he served ORECCHIETTE laden with sliced PERIGORD TRUFFLES and Two year old Parmeggiano Reggiano. The wine was a Perigord novelty as well: 2001 TIRECUL la GRAVIERE which was a tasty blend of Semillon, Muscatel and Sauvignon Blanc from Montbazillac in Dordogne, France; even more amazing since I generally don't care for Semillon!
The fish course was a BLACK COD, HATTERAS STEW which had a stew of baby octopi, oysters, potato and more topped with a flaky perfect piece of cod with a crunchy yellowfin potato crust. The wine was a blend of six premier cru vineyards from Beaune in Burgundy called 2002 BOUCHARD 1er CRU BEAUNE de CHATEAU that we all marveled at.
We asked our amazing server Gene for a slight break as we knew the meat course was next and while waiting a while sipped the next wine, a huge intense and slightly spicy Shiraz 2005 TORBRECK "The Struie" from Barossa Valley Australia which went just superbly with the KAGOSHIMA WAGYU BEEF BRISKET and Smoked Puree of Potato. This was actually two preparations of Wagyu flown in from Japan: the first was an extremely rare seared piece of meat while the second was the 24 hour braised brisket cooked to perfection and a side of mirepoix of veggies. These were dusted with two types of rock salt tableside: Indian sulfuric and Himalayan; I guess that's the new fun trend these days as I've had it like four times since December!
Dessert was CHOCOLATE "en Cubism" which was a huge plate covered with all types of chocolate ganache goodies in 1/2 inch squares and dots of cherry jelly, mint, pistachio and berry creams and coulis. It was lots of fun and since the pieces were small, not too intense. Two small scoops of creamy yummy ice cream help cut the chocolate intensity: Chocolate Mint and Raw Sugar.
A 2004 M. CHAPOUTIER Banyuls from France was perfect with the chocolate as the Late Harvest Mourvedre seems to be so wonderful in balancing almost any chocolate dessert.
One can't possibly leave without Mignardises and they were loads of fun as well. ANother long rectangular plate arranged with one each of the following was placed for each of us (so we didn't have to share anything!):
Divinity
Cocoa truffle
Mint Chocolate truffle
one each Raspberry and Apricot gelee
miniature Southern Red Velvet cake in the most adorable of mini-foil cupcake holders
and my notes say White Chocolate ??
oops, too much scribbling, and of course, a glass of LUSTAU East India Sherry was a sweet treat to send us home.
I have a funny feeling you will be reading more about Vidalia and Chef Cooper not only from me, but in many other places as well! Kudos to the entire staff under General Manager Michael Nevarez who knows how to run a restaurant!
Correction: Someone is doing their reading well, and just noted that I wrote VIDALIA is owned by Chef "Peter" Bubin and it is indeed JEFFREY BUBEN. A thousand apologies for my faux pas to all and the Bubens as well. Luckily there was not a single mistake last night with our excellent meal!
