Sunday, May 01, 2011

it's still all about EVE in Alexandria and it's even better than ever at RESTAURANT EVE (4-30-11)

Last night we returned to what is clearly one of the best places for
fine dining for miles around. Chef Cathal Armstrong and his superb
staff make dining in Eve a truly fabulous experience. The BISTRO
section of EVE (as opposed to the even more-multi-course Tasting Room)
is warm ,pleasant, relatively quiet and calm and exudes fine dining to
a tee. On Saturdays there is now only a 3-course tasting menu in the
bistro for $65 and it is a perfect meal as well. The four of us had
one of the best meals we have ever had in DC and nary a thing went
wrong; okay, I had to pour some red wine once during the evening when
the empty glasses went unnoticed.
We sat down to a bottle of FERRATON Pere et Fils "La Matiniere" 2008
CROZES HERMITAGE and it is a superb white Rhone for the price and goes
with everything.
Our starters were varied and all mouth tingling and exciting:
My TARTARE of Pine Ridge Farm BEEF came with Housemade Rye and was a
divine dish with a pepperiness that I always look for in tartare.
Diced BIGEYE TUNE with Hefeweisen-Orange Broth Spring Flowers and
Coriander is another dish chock full of flavors and taste, while the
CRISPY GOAT PATE with madras Curry Vinaigrette is a novelty in that
the goat is rare amongst pate makers I know and this was prepared in a
disc of meat that is coated and fried to a crisp but not greasy at
all.

Our first red was the yummy LUCIEN MUZARD 2008 Santenay "Champs
Claude" Vielles Vignes which had a wonderfully intense earthiness
rather than tons of the usual Pinot Noir fruit. Had I known we were to
receive a special extra dish, I might have chosen white to go with the
richly divine and tantalizing Butter Poached MAINE LOBSTER with WHITE
ASPARAGUS RISOTTO, FAVA BEAN Puree and Kumquat.

We liked the wine so much, we had a second bottle with our main
courses:
Filet of Chesapeake RICKFISH with Maine LOBSTER, Virginia ASAPARAGUS,
Bacon & Sauce Soubise was a lighter main course, but superb
nonetheless. BASQUE STYLE SEAFOOD STEW is similar to bouilliabase but
missed that aioli crouton I always adore! It was tasty and the fennel
was mild (the French version often is so intensely anise-flavored I
can't eat it at all) making for a perfect seafood melange.
Roasted BELLY of KUROBUTA PORK with Pickled RAMPS, Salt & Vinegar Pork
Rinds and Poached Morels was a huge portion of free of fat and
perfecly cooked, altough I must admit I have never been a huge fan of
pork rinds. My Crisp VEAL SWEETBREADS with SMOKED KIELBASA, PIEROGIES
and Braised MUSTARD GREENS was one of my favorite plates of all times.
Simply cooked glands were gorgeous at every bite and the
accompaniments were varied and fun making each taste a bit different
as well. The pierogies were potato filled and creamy pasta pillows and
the kielbasa added a bite here and there. I even adored the greens.
A side dish of SUNCHOKES with Caramelized Onions is one to go for if
you feel like extra veggies. They are tender and tasty and the onions
cooked just so sweet.

As we relaxed and finished our second bottle of Pinot, Chrissy our
sommelieuse suggested we all do the cheese course as we wanted to
taste so many of the wonderful cheeses. She split 3 cheeses to each
plate and then we passed them around the table four times after
dividing each cheese in 4 smaller portions. In all, we were able to
taste 12 cheeses and it was a treat. they were accompanied by a fruit/
nut bread and regular bread--oh I forgot to mention the warm bread
that arrived at the beginning had us begging for more (even the
butter, I am sure it's Irish, is the best)--and a compote of apricot &
cranberries:
Plate 1-
Mileen's Washed Rind (Cork Ireland)
Gubbeen, a hard cow also from Cork
& Cashel Blue (Tipperary)) made up the Irish plate.
I was not thrilled with the Gubben, but the Cashel was divine.

Plate 2-
Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville, WI is an
intense mushroomy cheddar-like cheese that comes from jersey cows that
feed on wildflowers
La Mancha-a manchego-style sharp sheep is from Locust Grove Farm in
Knoxville, TENN
& Point Reyes Blue is from that town in California and is one of the
punchiest blues around.

Plate 3-
Petit Frere is another wash rind earthy cow from Crave Bros in
Waterloo, WI
Mountaineer from Meadow Creek Dairy in Galax, VA was my least favorite
& Julianna is a goat wrapped in herbs de provence from Capriole in
Greenville, IN
whcih got high marks from everyone and could have been the all time
winner.

Plate 4-was the overall top plate combo for me
Durrus from west Cork, Ireland was a superb cheese I had never had
before
Old Kentucky Tomme-also from Capriole was a gorgeous goat as well
& Demi-Sec frpom Pipe Dreams in Greencastle, Pa is another great goat
with great intensity

When they came back I had pocketed the menu and said it was all so
good, I ate the menu.
These were enjoyed with a bottle of PESQUERA 2007 TINTO, a Tempranillo
from Ribera del Duero that worked perfectly with the cheeses across
the board.

Desserts were calling and we chose two to split, but first GM/
Sommelier Todd Thrasher delivered some specialty drinks that he has
become quite famous for. Will gulped down his GIN & TONIC and the
other was (bad notes) St. PATRICK's (something) and Kevin decalred it
an Irish sensation.
The desserts were a tasty, but not too thrilling LEMON-PISTACHIO ICE
CREAM SANDWICHES and COCONUT CREM PIE with COCONUT Ice Cream that we
all loved. Before we could blink, two extra dessert arrived in the
form of the "Birthday Cake...just because." a mini-pink cake with
icing that would delight for any celebration, but the clear winner was
the CHOCOLATE & PEANUT BUTTER Mousse Layer Cake with Peanut brittle
and Candied Peanuts. Now remember, that Will detests peanut butter in
any form or phase, and decalred this dessert a winner in his book. We
may yet have a convert!

Whatever the case, we all have been converted to follow the cooking
genius of Chef Cathal Armstrong and promise not to wonder so long
aimlessly again without returning to EVE!