Saturday night was a very special occasion of the 35th Anniversary of
our dearest friends and we were thrilled to be invited to the new and
fun BOND 45 (www.bond45.com) at National Harbor just south of DC on
the Potomac River. The owners of the original Bond45 in New York have
a long list of well known spots in NYC that I have dined at and
enjoyed, but I must say I know that some of their prices can be
astronomical. They have brought their sky-high prices to National
harbor, and while the staff is superb as well as the service, not all
the food is at the level of the prices charged.
Oddly enough, Chef Enzo Febbraro, a well known Italian figure in DC
over the years is in charge here. They do call Bond45 a New York
Italian Steak & Seafood restaurant, but I think the Italian cuisine
chef Enzo adores and cooks is missing; not even one pasta graces the
menu.
On arrival our anniversary party received a glass of Prosecco VILLA
JOLANDO which had an intense lemon flavor.
We were treated to yummy puffy huge cheese popovers when we arrived
and enjoyed a Vinosia 2009 FALANGHINA from Campania that was light and
fresh. We moved quickly to red with a MONTEPULCIANO d'ABRUZZO 2007
from Collefrisio "ZERO" which was also light, but with a nice slightly
earthy body to start off our reds and move bigger, as we did with the
MONTE ANTICO 2004 "La Lecciaia" SuperTuscan which had a huge mineral
taste and actually we decided was better with food.
We shared a bunch of starters from the "signature" FRAVIOLI GRANDI
which is basically a huge fried piece of dough with stracchino cheese
and mozzarella filling with a piece of prosciutto and sopressata
draped on the outside of each. While these are loads of fun, they are
about 4 inches square each and basically loads of dough and filler.
You would do better with the FRIED SHRIMP & CALAMARI which come with a
roasted cherry pepper aioli and a plain aioli. The BURRATA is pricey
and not the quality one would see at other places it is offered in DC
(say Galileo or Dino) and while tasty, was closer to a regular
mozzarella and not so creamy. It had very little flavor unless you
ordered the plate with PROSCIUTTO and wrapped it around the cheese.
The version that came with BEEFSTEAK TOMATOES offered up thick
slightly greenish and unripe tomatoes, although nicely dressed.
The main courses all seem to run way above $35 with the aged steaks
all ringing in the high $40 range. For this price, the quality should
be superb, but we had numerous issued. The SCOTTISH KING SALMON with
zucchini, leek vegetable-like salsa got raves as did the gargantuan
VEAL CHOP PARMIGIANA (I thought of this but decided to go steak as we
were in a steak place!). My NY STRIP 14 ounce with FOIE GRAS-PORCINI
Butter was ordered rare and came RAW, while my neighbor's PRIME RIBEYE
29 day aged 20 ounce steak was ordered medium and came well done. When
things were fixed, the quality of the meat was not at the level I
expected nor the prices charged! The FILETs were perfect and a Black
Truffle Tartufata was a nice topping (each topping is charged ala
carte!) Side dishes went from a magnificent ROASTED PARMESAN POTATOEs
which were crunchy and tasty to a bland Creamed BROCCOLI RABE which
came to the table cold. The Grilled ASPARAGUS PARMESAN were nice but
the sauce was very thick and almost gloppy.
Desserts fared better with a wondrous PANNETONE with chocolate sauce,
decent Tiramisu, profiteroles (I always find these boring) and
excellent VANILLA & CHOCOLATE MOUSSEs. In an effort to calm our
disappointment, these were all complimentary.
So while the staff tries hard, the steaks are not what they should be.
If you do happen into BOND 45 stick with seafood and veal for the best
deal!
What is most important on this occasion was that we had the company of
the most wonderful folks around!
