I often have to convince myself a trek across the city is worth it and yesterday it was over 3 minutes driving after rush hour to Bloomingdale(NorthCapitol & S St, NW)where the Red Hen has ruled for a while now. Admittedly the drive home was only 22 minutes, and I have to say, the trip was well worth it.
The three of us settled in and it took a while for the water to arrive, but it was a choice of house-filtered still or sparkling and at no charge. It is time for everyone to move to these systems to avoid the glass and plastic waste of bottled water, and we truly appreciated it. I perused the wine list and was impressed with some Virginia treat from Linden and Early Mountain, but settled in on a novel Arianna Ochipinti (one of my favorite winemakers)SP68 (for the name of the main street--Strada Provinciale 68) 2018 blend of Zibibbo and Albanello fromMSicily that was perfumed to perfection and loaded with mineral flavors. I was back in Sicily.
The menu is divided into toasts(bruschetta), antipasti, pastas and mains and there is plenty of variety, so it's hard to choose.
We chose two toasts& two antipasti to share amongst the 3 of us, and then went from there. Smoked Trout Rillettes were divine, creamy and rich with yogurt, cucumber, trout roe, dill, capers and sesame and it came with a pickled cuke and onion on the side. The bread was grilled perfectly and clearly touched with EVOO for extra crunch and not dry at all. The other was Burrata with Charred tomato, Salsa, toasted sesame, lemon and olive oil, which was truly delicious, but paled next to the richness of the salmon.
The antipasti were a divine Fried Cauliflower with Sicilian Hot Sauce, Charred Scallion, yogurt & breadcrumbs as well as "Cacio e Pepe" Arancini with pecorino, pepper, herbs, aioli and Calabrian chili honey. I like them, but I think my homemade arancini are better. SORRY!
Alas the wood tables, floors and all make for a noisefest that I am not very fond of.
Sam decided to have pasta as a main and settled on a delicious GNOCCHI SARDI with Spicy Lamb Sausage, broccoli rabe "marinato," & braised chickpeas that was rich and creamy, but wonderfully balanced by the spicy sausage. I loved the chickpeas as a very different touch. Will & I split the MAFALDE, wide pasta ribbons with sweet corn crema, spring onion, roasted corn and pecorino tartufo. The truffle was not that apparent, but the dish was superb and the ingredients were a breath of freshness in summer.
Will and I moved on to wine by the glass and he chose the dry rose Cantine Ippolito Gaglioppo Ciro 2018 from Calabrian, but I liked my March white much better from Tenuta de Angelis called Pecorino 2018 from Offida.
Our mains were huge and we had to pack up half each plate for later, even though we shared them both. I had the brilliant Caramelized Scallops with English Pea "Cremosa" (thick puree), Bacon, Sugar Snaps, Frisee & Mustard Vinaigrette. It was ingenious to put these very different ingredients together, but the taste worked wonders. Will chose the excellent Roasted Halibut, Truffle Polenta, Baby Lacinato Kale, Grilled Asparagus and a Green Olive-Caper Salsa.
Each dish was a meal, and what I also liked was the abundance of vegetables in all the dishes as well as the pastas. While we centered on seafood, there is plenty of meat here as well, and I am sure we will return when the weather cools off for that.
Amrita was a helpful and thoughtful server and listened to us when we said we like to eat slowly, so we truly appreciated that. Alas, there was no way we could manage dessert.
Next time!
