Tuesday, January 17, 2012

POSTE passes Restaurant Week with passion and flying colors (1-12-12)

This past week was Restaurant Week here in DC, but don't fret if you missed it, many establishments have extended it another week, and some through the end of the month (check your local dining spots!).
We headed to POSTE at the Monaco Hotel down in the Penn District, where we have not been in about 6 years!
Chef Dennis MARRON who hails from the Kimpton Hotel restaurants in Alexandria where he did such an excellent job has taken over at the helm and tweaked the menu and while the Restaurant Week menu is short and simple, it won't disappoint.
The bread came and we tried the yummy butter-glazed and salted Parker House rolls, but skipped the sourdough for now, which turned out to be a wise move as we were in for a roller coaster ride of ravishing cuisine.
We told our server Megan we wanted to add-on with some oysters, but alas they had run out. They sent out two starters which are enough to make more than a meal! The CHICKEN LIVER PARFAIT comes in a ceramic pot with lid and a yummy MADEIRA GLAZE. On the side are pickled onions, ramps and gherkins and slices of Grilled Challa--DIVINE! PORK RILLETES are just as magnificent and come with the best Whole Grain MUSTARD I have ever tasted anywhere on earth! Will had some of each and I responded after completing the two plates, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"
We started with a bottle of MONTAGNY 1er CRU from J.M. Boillot 2009 which is a good upper-mid range choice. Our second wine was a superb red NEBBIOLO d'ALBA 2009 from DAMILANO that we have had before and is always a good mid-range choice for so many foods.
The 3-course Restaurant week menu was $35.12 and included the following:
Starters were the SPLIT PEA SOUP which was perfect on this bitter cold night and was loaded with chunks of tasty ham and some croutons as well. Mine was the CRISPY TETE de COCHON with Sauce Gribache which has to be a signature dish here. It comes in a deep fried patty over frisee and an array of beautiful mini-veggies and is not to be missed.
We both opted for the BEEF BOURGUINON main course which was a huge platter of tasty beef, more veggies, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, bacon and a superb rich sauce with a slash of Dijon mustard on the side of the plate for a bite.. We could not finish the huge portion and took 1/2 home which incidentally reheated PERFECTLY in the microwave thanks to Megan having it wrapped in Saran and then placed in a container. It kept all the tasty sauce intact and created a sou-vide microwave reheat that was ingenious.
We could not resist ordering a side of the superb TRUFFLE FRITES (not on the Rest Week menu)which was , by this point, overindulgence. But who knew? They come in an adorable flour pot with a paper cone inserted.
Dessert was the Winchester Apple Tarte Tatin with Vanilla Ice Cream which was really more of a pancake with tasty tart apples, but we really wanted that flaky pastry rather than a mini-pancake.
We left way over-indulged, knowing that we will be back to POSTE again soon for the a la carte experience!