Every year the James Beard Foundation embarks on TASTE AMERICA, w wonderful "tour" across America (20 cities this fall) with nominated and winning chefs hosting various dining events. Monday night Chef Erik Bruner-Yang of Maketto was joined by Jerome Grant of Mahal BBQ for a super fun evening of food and wine.
On arrival there was a reception with a slightly cloudy French champagne that I never did get the name of. It was a tad hard to drink on its own, but once the spicy hor's d'oevres arrived, it was ideal!!
There were pork spring rolls which were crispy with a kick and yummy shrimp dumplings in a kicky soy dip. It was hard to resist taking multiples of these, especially since we knew several courses were to follow! Since I was alone, I was lucky enough to be seated with three of the folks who came down from the JBF in NYC to coordinate the event. We were at a bar looking out the huge window upstairs at Maketto (H St NE) over the large inner courtyard, giant tree and kitchen below! It was quite nice, but the high metal chairs wreaked havoc on my rearend!
First was a Smoked Pineapple Carpaccio with Pork Cracklin', Radish and Patis Vinaigrette. I am not a huge pineapple fan unless it is just as a fruit on its own, but the smoke on this was amazing and cut the tart and sweetness of the fruit to perfection! It was served with a Sundstrom Cider Flux Dry 2021 Sparkling Cider which was another brilliant idea.
Next came a magnificent Cambodian Sausage-Stuffed Chicken Wing with Lime Leaf Brown Butter on a Cured Scallop. The wing was rich, but the cured scallop cut that and made a perfect, if odd, combination! Materne & Schmitt Winninger dry Riesling 2019 also cut that richness brilliantly.
The main was a superb Smoked Tocini-Cured Duck (breast) with Carolina Gold Rice and Mahal Ginger-Plum Sauce. As a duck fan, this was perfection with super crispy skin, little fat and perfectly cooked meat with a fab sauce. Bodegas Altanza Crianza Rioja 2018 was another super pairing and while we had an amazing team of servers and staff, a super shout out goes to STELLA! who managed to get me some extra wine when I needed it!
Dessert was a Mochi Beignet with Lemon Curd, Strawberry and Powdered Sugar (I had more red--thanks Stellla!) which was nice, but I did yearn for a little fun filling in the beignet--think spicy yuzu or guava to just make it more exciting.
The chefs came out to great applause and indeed I am positive that the filled restaurant patrons were quite happy with our wonderful repast!
