Wednesday, September 09, 2009

way back home to Washington's wonderful WILLOW (Arlington,VA)

Am safely back home weighing a bit more than I had hoped...so on a diet next week! Last night we headed to WILLOW in Arlington (www.willowva.com) which has always been one of our favorite places, especially for Samuel who has taken a great liking to the flatbreads. Last night he chose the BBQ Chicken version which was so big, he took home 2/3 of it! It had yummy smoked chicken, cheddar and mozzarella with loads of pickled shredded onions, which we quickly removed, and he was okay with. I tasted it and especially loved the smoked cheese.

We did not know that WILLOW has a super bar menu and were treated to a plate of CHEESE GOUGERES (those divine puffy delights that here are larger than golf balls and weigh nothing) with a spectacular BLACK TRUFFLE BUTTER for dipping; this alone added an inch to my waist! Will and I decided to split a small CALAMARI ALI OLIO Flatbread which was smothered with Roast Garlic, Savory Parmesan, Fontina, Roasted Tomatoes, Calamari, Parsley and tasty Lemon Rind. Our only complaint was that when you eat the whole slices of squid they pull the topping off (hopefully next time they will cut the calamari to avoid the mess).

We ordered a bottle of refreshing pear and apricot nosed TEGERNSEERHOF GRUNER VELTLINER 2007 from Bergdistel, Wachau in Austria that was perfect with our fish dishes.

We also split a starter of CRISPY CRAB CAKE & SOFT SHELL CRAB with Corn Pancake, Corn Sauce, Radish & Thyme. The crunchy radish was nice, but it looked like pancetta at first, and I was kind of hoping for that smoky addition to the dish and was a slight bit upset with radish which does not emit much flavor, and alas no smoke. The crab was superb as was the pancake and sauce and this is also a huge dish, easily split between two.

As Samuel enjoyed a scoop of Mango Sorbet, we enjoyed our main courses with Will choosing the Seared Norwegian SALMON with LOBSTER & BARLEY Risotto, Caramelized Fennel Puree and Lobster Butter. I may not be a salmon fan when dining out, but this dish was a star (It's kind of like eating chicken in a restaurant, and by the way--the Fried Chicken dish at Willow seemed to be our first choice, but it was a bit too much after everything else). I opted for the Seared Day Boat SCALLOPS with EGGPLANT Ravioli, Shitakes, Smoked Tomato Butter and Grilled Corn. This dish had three huge scallops seared just right and crunchy on the edge sitting atop the shitakes and ravioli that along with the butter and corn made for a superb flavorful sauce and a completely perfect dish.

Sadly, after all this none of us could even think of dessert. We asked our smiling server Said for the check and headed home a very happy family.