DC Restaurant week #1 and ANNABELLE is awesome (8-28-23)

 As I am alone this week, I am trying three different spots for restaurant week. Two are new to me and one I have not been at for years.

My first stop was the old Nora's on Florida Avenue, NW around the corner from Dupont Circle, just a block away from where I lived for a decade back in the 80's/early 90's.

Nora's has undergone a beautiful overall and now has a cozy bar with some dining spots in the entry room with exposed upper white brick walls in the main rooms and a huge hanging ivy suspended in the large skylight in the center of the room. The room feels cozy and sleek with comfy chairs and banquettes that are well spaced and black and gold tables.

Everyone here is helpful and friendly, and the service is top notch, something that is missing in so many places. I could not help noticing that everyone came by to check on the elderly lady in the table next to mine (I am saying at least 30 times) only to find out she comes several times a week. How nice to have a home away from home when you are alone.

My server, Michael, explained the Restaurant Week menu which is simple with a choice of starter, main and dessert. I was immediately drawn to several things despite Michael's recommendation. Before this I was greeted by Nick the sommelier and was thinking about wines by the glass and then maybe a cocktail, but he was adamant that one of the lowest priced wines on the menu at $54 was a steal. he was right the Muscadet Sevres-et-Marne "La Tour Galus" 2017 from Damien Rineau in the Loire was a superb treat loaded with mineral terroir and a brilliant fish pairing choice.

My first course was the Grilled Black Cod with Sweet & Sour Marinade, Aioli & Grilled Ciabatta. Speaking of ciabatta, there was yummy French baguette and grain bread with soft fresh butter.  I should also mention that they have house purified water, which is a must in DC these days! The cod was flaky, and the marinade was made from a "slaw" of sorts with onion, pepper and a tad of fennel as well as topped with greens and the ciabatta was ideal to mop up the marinade and aioli after.

My main course was Grilled Line Caught Swordfish with braised celery, zucchini, kale and a red bell pepper coulis (although Michael told me it was a switch from the glazed kohlrabi, black missions figs and potato puree which the menu had, I forgot!). I loved everything on this dish down to the kale and the entire effect reminded me of how very French in style Chef Frank Ruta's cuisine is. Indeed, the style is a refined French with an American tinge.

Dessert was beyond delicious with a Makrut Lime Posset (think panna cotta) with coconut crumble, lime gel and basil poached peaches, which were worth the whole meal alone. Riccardo, the manager, stopped by to make sure all was good, and I told him I had not been since they opened before Covid and was thrilled with my meal, the wine, the service, the decor and everything and we would be back FOR SURE!

stupendous Sorrentino wine dinner at Roberto's in Vienna, VA (8/27/23)

 As soon as Will headed off to the UK, I headed to Chef Roberto Donna's in Vienna for a fabulous wine dinner. I had the immense pleasure of sitting with the winemaker, Giuseppe Sorrentino whose winery is in Campania (on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius) as well as wine importer Maurizio Farro (a dear client) and winemaker Erminela D'Angelo who is also a superb winemaker for her family winery D'Angelo in Basilicata! There are lots of FB pics as this was also a great reunion of so many people who had met on Zoom during covid for those fabulous wine dinners that Nancy & Roberto Donna organized.

The first wine was 2022 Lacryma Chisti del Vesuvio Bianco Bio, called Bio as all the wines from Sorrentino are bio-dynamic as well as organic and vegan!! I loved this fresh white loaded with local minerals from the volcano that is made from 80% Caprettone and 10% each Falanghina and Greco. It was served with a truly "out of this world" Parmigiana di Melanzane (Eggplant Parmesan) which did not even taste like eggplant. The layers were fried and smothered in tomato sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan and even a vegetarian might have sworn it was meat!

Next was a super rich Crocchetta di Patate Ripiena di Scarola Sulla Fonduta di Burrata, Pancetta Croccante or a huge potato croquette stuffed with Escarole, Burrata cheese and crispy pancetta. Chef Roberto said this was a typical Campania street food dish, but it was so magnificent and paired ideally with the  2020 Lachryma Chrisit "Vigna Lapillo" Bianco Superiore is the blend of grapes. The wine is grown at higher altitudes and with lower yields and is creamier than the first Lacryma Christi we had which i actually liked more!

Our third course was a simple Ravioli Alla Sorrentina (named for the winery) and featured superb hand-made ravioli filled with delicious ricotta cheese and Parmesan in a tomato & basil sauce that just oozed freshness. We moved on to the 2021 Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso Bio made from 90% Piedrosso and 10% Aglianico which was superb and so drinkable. 

The meat course was a Punta di Vitello alla Fornara or simply a roasted Veal Breast with herbs and potatoes that was superb if a tad too lemony as the meat was so tender. The 2018 Lacryma Christi "Vigna Lapillo" Superiore is 80% Piedrossos and 20% Aglianico and was truly spectacular. I have had Lacryma Christi many times before, but these wines were all truly magnificent and made me want to spend time in the region tasting more! By the way, the winery has guest houses which i can book for you!!

Dessert was a yummy Pastiera Napoletana (an Easter specialty in Naples) or Ricotta & Wheat Tart with Orange Flower Water in a light Creme Anglaise or vanilla sauce. Sorrentino makes a 2017 Passito "Pompeiano" "Fior di Ginestre" that is 33% each Caprettone, Falanghina and Catalanesca(obviously orginating from Catalan/Spain, but a varietal new to me) that was more acidic than sweet and was a nice foil to the dessert, but probably not a wine I would buy as I tend to go sweeter with dessert wines.

What fun we all had and what a great meal and great wines. You can sign up for these 5pm dinner held almost once a month at their website and as this was my first one, I hope to return again soon!!

Santa Fe's SAZON kind of sucked (well, mostly) (8-16-23)

 Those of you who read my posts know that I am rarely negative. Last night, we were really excited to go to Sazon, one of the new nouvelle-type Mexican places here in Santa Fe. The setting is quite nice with maybe 15-20 or so tables varying in size in three small dining areas with large Mexican paintings all over the wall (I was particularly enamored of the 6 foot tall Frida Kahlo one with her breasts slightly exposed) along with sombreros, some religious art and a large kiva fireplace in the center. The rafters have an old feeling as I think the building is most likely colonial and hence all wooden. 

Our server brought a small plate of 5 different moles for us to taste along with fresh mini tortillas. This is to get you to decide if you wish to choose a dish with one of them and get to taste it up front. They were a chocolatey Mole Poblano, a fruit based New Mexico mole(with apricot), a superb Mole Verde with tomatillo, a Peanut Mole which I loved and a spicy red Coloradito with chile de arbol. A half glass of Cava Segura Viudas was complimentary to cleanse the palate and accompany them. I loved the plethora of Mexican wines and we chose a bottle of Vinsur "Refeljo" 2020 from the Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California made from 42% Petit Verdot, 35% Syrah and 23% Cabernet Sauvignon that was wonderfully earthy and had great flavors to boot.

I chose the Gazpacho with Crab special starter and Will chose the Shrimp Ceviche, also a special and thus, no prices were given. Will's ceviche was yummy and quite filing with a lot of juice, but also a lot of shrimp and yummy chips. My gazpacho was about 5 spoonfuls with maybe 1/2 spoonful of crab; Will was kind enough to share his shrimp.

Since I loved the Coloradito Mole I ordered that on the Duck Breast, but Will opted for the Chef's signature dish of Enmoladas de Pato which was cron tortilla with duck breast, layered with sweet potato puree and the Mole Poblano. He called is dessert duck as it was very rich and quite sweet due to the chocolate combining with the quite sweet sweet potatoes. My dish was a hit, but we told our server Megan that Will was not very happy, and he had eaten barely 1/3 of it. She offered to bring out a shrimp salad which we assumed was complimentary, and Will said it was quite boring and very bland.

I wanted to give them a chance so ordered the Rhubard-Strawberry Cobbler which was decent but would win no prize. Will's coffee was warm, mine was lukewarm.

The check came and I went into shock at the $25 for the teeny bowl(check out the FB pic) of gazpacho, but also the shrimp salad was not complimentary. Megan came over and said the manager had to deal with it. I almost blew up and told Will, it would come out of her tip for sure if they charged us. The manager came over with a new tab without the salad and all was well....until the middle of the night when I clearly had some kind of food reaction issue. So no more Sazon for the Savada-Stevensons!

Tonight dinner is at the opera house!

DC's DONSAK THAI is tasty! (8-14-23)

Donsak Thai has been around for ages on Connecticut Avenue at Calvert and we should berate ourselves for never going before.

It's a small simple space with no more than maybe 15 tables and you do need to reserve, even on a Monday as we did since the place was pretty full. We arrived to monster size menus and lots of dishes and we asked our server if she would give us help and she offered up some great ideas that really loved.

I started with a passion fruit margarita which I asked her not to make too sweet and it was perfect although a salt rim would have been nice. Will liked his Moscow Mule and then we chose a bottle of refreshing Pratsch 2021 Gruner Veltliner as it's a wine that works well with spicy food. I do need to apologize as I only took some photos and they are quite bad, so nothing on Facebook!

The food here is not that spicy although the appetizer salad of Larb Gai make from ground chicken, red onion, scallion and rice powder did have a nice kick to it. The Thai dumplings came with a sweet soy sauce and were made of crab, shrimp, pork and carrots and were pop in your mouth delicious, while the Duck Rolls were really tasty made with scallion, cucumber and drizzled with Peking sauce; alas one of mine had a huge piece of gristle in it.

All of the main courses were very tasty and we decided to choose one spicy dish from the special Essay menu, a particular type of Thai cuisine that was new to all of us. Our server suggested the Nham Kao Tod which was very crispy rice with fermented pork sausage, fresh ginger, red onion, cilantro, scallion and roasted peanuts and a spicy lime dressing. Its only fault was that it came lukewarm, b ut the taste was superb and a very different type of dish from standard Thai cuisine. The Red Curry Duck had coconut milk, pineapple, tomato, red pepper and basil and was probably the best dish as you can pour the sauce all over the rice. Donsak Crispy Chicken was breaded and served in chili paste with stir-fry green beans, basil and red pepper.

We enjoyed a small bottle of Haku Tsuru Sayuri Nigori Sake which was cloudy and a tad creamy and most refreshing. No room for dessert, but what a great place for yummy Thai food, or maybe take-out next time!

DC's FANCY RADISH has a full repertoire of vegan delights (8-10-13)

 For Samuel's last dinner before he heads back to LA we chose FANCY RADISH on H St, NE in a neighborhood that has completely changed recently and now is chock full of dining spots, shops, a Whole Foods and more. Fancy Radish is tucked in the middle of the block in a small space with a couple dozen tables max and is very unprecocious, yet has some nice art, exposed brick walls and simple decor. Our server Eva explained that the menu is meant to be shared and that for 3 people we would generally order 2 or more dishes per person.

I asked what dishes "we had to have" and she replied that everyone loves the RUTABAGA FONDUE and that after having it the day before one couple ordered two more!

She was so right, but we ordered six of the 10 items and did end up going back to that creamy rich fondue at the end for seconds!!

I started with a Fearless Forager made from scotch, shitake, Szechuan Amaro and Angostura Bitters. The drink had a slight mushroom hint, but was a scotch-lover's delight. Will loved his One in a Melon made with Watermelon tequila, Lime, Cucumber, Sparkling Rose, Rind Pickle and Lime Salt. Sam had two of the Vibrational Match made from lavender, Hibiscus, Butterfly Pea Flower, Lemon, Agave and Club Soda!

We ordered three dishes to start and loved the Pastrami Carrot Salad with Sauerkraut Puree, Smoked Mustard and Pumpernickel Soil which really tasted like sliced pastrami even though it was carrots!!  The Rutabaga Fondue comes with a soft pretzel bread and house pickles(cauliflower,radish,etc) and we fell in love. I can see why everyone orders seconds, but we wanted to try other dishes first!

The Grilled Avocado is a gorgeous presentation with curtido, smoked tomato salsa, cilantro crema and pepitas, but was our least favorite item on the menu not because it was not good, but because it was not that exciting as the other dishes indeed were. Peruvian Potatoes were spicy and addictive with Aji Amarillo, Cilantro, Peanuts and Cured Olive, so much so that Samuel had to order a second plate which we all shared as well. We also adored the Heirloom Tomato Toast which was a couple of huge thick fresh country bread slices topped with gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, Basil Goddess dressing, Crispy Shitakes and Micro Salad mix on top.  Our sixth dish was the delicious Spicy Dan Dan Noodles with red chile sesame sauce, Sichuan peppercorns and five spiced glazed mushrooms...so yes, they were spicy and yummy.

The wine list is varied and on the pricy side with almost everything over 460. We loved the Cab Franc/Malbec blend(served by the glass as well) called "Tu Vin Plus aux Soiree"(which kind of translates as "you came to the party again") from Fabien Jouves in Cahors, France which had a tad of earthiness but was on the lighter red side and went well with everything.

We all shared the Sticky Toffee Pudding with Bannoffee Ice Cream and Cookie Crumble because that is Will's fave English dessert, and while it was yummy, it was not a touch on the UK original.

So in a nutshell...the food here is superb, the prices on the high side, and some dishes excel and impress more than others. I would be worried to come here often if the 10 dishes on the menu don't change a lot, but I hope they do. It's a vegan delight, although, gluten might be an issue and we all had a delightful time and shall be sad to see Sam head back to LA this evening.

Arlington's INCA SOCIAL is primo Peruvian!! (8-9-23)

 I had heard about INCA SOCAL since it opened just up Wilson Boulevard in Arlington almost 2 years ago, but never had been there and was thrilled last year when Chef Michael Ciuffardi brought his team to participate in March of Dimes' Signature Chefs event. Their ceviche that night was primo and we walked away with an auction dinner for six which we finally arranged last night. It was a wonderful experience with amazing food, great drinks and tableside demos by Chef Michael with wonderful explanations of all the foods, history and more by event manager Carla. The six of us had a ball and there are photos and videos on Facebook showing everything.

We sat down to conchita, the small toasted corn kernels munchies that Peru is famous for,  and our drink was, of course, a delicious Pisco Sour, which some of us had to have seconds for sure! The first course was Quinoa, that ancient and healthy grain that is always a treat, but Chef Michael nestled it on a layer of asparagus cream with red pepper, mango, radish, roasted baby corn and dots of cilantro oil. The cream was a rich almost soup-like base which required a spoon to scoop up afterwards.

SIWICHI is an old local word that we call Ceviche today and Chef Michael prepared tableside the same one he made last year from Signature Chefs but used fresh flounder with the recoto pepper leche de tigre, red onion, sweet potato, chocle (soft white large Peruvian corn kernels) and cancha (the small yellow toasted crunchy corn kernels). Ceviche or Siwichi is really not a hard dish to make, but you have to have awesome fish and this flounder was amazing and there has to be some secret ingredient in the leche de tigre as I can never seem to copy it! CHICA MORADA is a delicious cold purple corn drink that was served here with or without rum and is infused with spices like cloves and cinnamon. Inca Social has tons of ceviches on the menu as well as a sushi bar and we can't wait to return to try it all!

MAR DE GRAU was our 3rd course name for a Peruvian ware hearo and was a Steamed lobster tail served atop a seafood sauce with pak choi(bok choy) and Andean Peruvian potatoes, baby corn and asparagus. The sauce was so rich and flavorful it reminded me of the Spanish XO sauce crossed with a seafood bisque. We were all in heaven and the Proverb Sauvignon Blanc served with it was the perfect foil to the dish's richness. The lobster was so good I was cleaning out all the lobster tail shells at the table!

INCA RISOTTO was a rich Risotto a la Huancaina made with cheese and cream with tenderloin grilled steak served atop, cherry tomato and an "Oriental" sauce of oyster, soy, vinegar and more all reduced. This sauce is used on the Lomo Saltado served at Inca Social, so you can have it there! The meat was tender and tasty and it was all paired with a fun Passion Fruit Chilcano made with Pisco, Ginger Ale & Bitters.

We were getting very full but there was room for the dessert which was a fun and fairly light PICARONES which are Peruvian "doughnuts" or fried dough rings made from sweet potato and squash (who knew?) and covered with a syrup made with cinnamon and cloves and more and a scoop of LUQUMA Ice Cream which was dreamy. Chef Michael over-indulged us as he shaved Cacao Quillabamba 70% Cacao from Peru over the entire dish. OMG..we were all in heaven and promised to return to Inca Social again very soon and many more times for sure (PS they have another one in Vienna, VA.)!!

Many thanks to Chef Michael, Carla and the entire team at Inca Social who were more than welcoming!