Last night MOON RABBIT on the DC Wharf was full of foodies as a part of the 25 city James Beard Taste America tour. each city has a host restaurant wine Chef Kevin Tien at Moon Rabbit brought his friends Tim Ma and Paola Velez to join him in a super evening of food and drink.
The evening started off poorly as I entered the garage at the wharf at 6pm(for the 630pm event) I hit a huge line of cars backed up the ramp and was stuck. After a while I got into the lot, but there were no spaces as the Anthem had a live concert at 8pm of H.E.R.!! Well, from now on, I will check the Anthem schedule before even thinking of trying to park at the Wharf. One of our friends was so upset after an hour of driving around, he gave up and went home. I go to the restaurant about 650pm and my other guests arrived just after 7pm.
I was so stressed and manager Noemi Herrera clearly saw I was frazzled and got me the arrival cocktail called RABBIT's TAIL of Rabbit Hole Cavehill Kentucky Straight Bourbon with Five-Spice Dram, Lime, Lemongrass, Pineapple and Barley tea Syrup (created by Gemma Hardy).
Moments later, the photographer Shannon Finney stopped by (she thought she knew me) as I was still seated alone and asked how things were going. I may have been pretty miserable, but she totally cheered me up, as the drink did and soon after my friends arrived and we began what turned out to be a wonderful meal and evening.
The first course of "Bread" was created by Paola Velez & Kevin Tien: Pepita Cornbread with Charred Pineapple Butter & Chile Crisp(this was a dreamy spicy kick-ass butter) and whipped salted Kerrygold Butter were paired with Turmeric Milk Buns(think Bao) with Fermented Chile Honey that I fell in love with, but resisted so I could enjoy all the meal. There were assorted Kerrygold Cheeses and Eclectic Jams (but we did not know what they were??!!). Fotos are on FB
Tim Ma's appetizer of Skuna Bay Salmon Carpaccio(Crudo) with Pickled Charred Shallots, Sichuan Preserved Lemon & Herbs(he called it secret Chinese stuff!) was light and dreamy and topped with Beet Chips compressed in Miso & pickle juice. The wine was Venus La Universal Dido Monstant Blanc 2017, which in itself is a crazy enough name for a wine, but was quite tasty and a great pairing.
The main course by Chef Kevin was XO Rice Cake Gnocchi with Crawfish, Garlic Chives, Aromatic Panko Bread Crumbs and Lime. Chef explained that there was also krill in the broth and the sauce was a superb kick-ass spice that I fell in love with and will surely ask him to duplicate on our next visit(2 weeks from tonight!). There was a non-seafood veggie option as well with the Miso Rice Cakes and Roasted Mushrooms with Egg & Chive! Everybody was happy and the wonderful wine was a Colene Clemens Dopp Creek Pinot Noir 2019 as the dish was a heavy one and really begged for a nice red.
I forgot to photograph Paola Velez' simple but delish dessert of Coconut Panna Cotta with Tropical Fruit, Vanilla and Salted Oat Crumb topping. This was paired with the same flight of Rabbit Hole Whiskeys we had at the last Taste of America here in DC back in the spring!! As before I avoided the two middle drinks as they were way too intense for me and loved the first of the flight, but ADORED the last:
Cavehill Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey was nice;
Heigold Kentucky Striaght Bourbon Whiskey & Boxergrail Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey are not for me, and
Dareringer Straight Bourbon Whiskey (finished in PX Sherry casks) is my fave!!
A yummy fun night that started off bad, but turned terrific!
