Evening Star Cafe for New Year's Eve

The Evening Star Cafe which is nestled into the quaint Del Ray area of Alexandria had a very special prix fixe menu of four courses for New Year's Eve Dinner.
The restaurant is located at 2000 Mount Vernon Avenue and in addition to the dining room there is a lounge and and upstairs bar where local artists like my favorite, Justin Trawick often plays.

The Executive Chef, Will Atley, who is a personal friend of mine had a lot to do with why we chose to dine there for the evening. It was also conveniently close to the new Gaylord Resort at the National Harbour where were were attending our New Year's Gala. However, I will never make that reference again ... Our dinner was one of the best I have ever had. I think I enjoyed it more than CityZen!
Yes, I was a bit spoiled that evening by Will. When we told our server that because there was two individuals in the party and there was four courses, that we would like one of each course and that we would share. Well I guess when Will got wind of this, he decided to give us each our own portion of every course. To say the least, We were delighted by every course, including the amuse bouche that Will brought out personally that was a lobster stuffed mini biscuit, as he described it. For the first course, we each had our own portions of the duck carpaccio and the lobster risotto. The risotto was served atop a quarter lobster which was perfectly cooked and the risotto had a deliciously rich texture. I have never prepared risotto and I don't think I've ever ordered it at other restaurants, so I don't have much experience to judge the risotto, but it was delicious and the texture seemed perfect. The duck which was cut into thin slices was served atop mixed field greens, sweet walnuts, and red onions and was perfectly paired with the vinaigrette. As my husband told the Chef, he thought the duck was not gamey tasting at all, which he said was very good. The spinach gnocchi with the tomato puree was soft and flavorful, however, it was not my favorite of the four courses. My favorite course was the butternut squash stuffed ravioli. I told Will that I don't particularly care for ricotta cheese, but that I thought that the ravioli was divine! I hope that it becomes an addition to the regular autumn menu. My main course was the beef tenderloin which was succulent and juicy. It was served atop mashed potatoes and mushrooms. Ben ordered the trout which I thought was amazing. It was creamy and had lemons and capers. I would definitely order that again if it was featured on the regular menu. There were two desserts. One was a chocolate mousse cake, which I didn't try too much of, since I'm not a huge chocolate lover and the other was a mango fruit tart. Very rich but delicious! Our entire meal was heavenly! The cost of the four course prix fixe menu was only $60 per person or $85 if you had wine pairings with each course. What a bargain! The meal was one of my best yet and for a very reasonable price, especially since it was a special occasion. Kudos to the very talented chef! We are excited to come back again!

Correction: Restaurant week pushed until February 2009

I just found out that DC's Winter Restaurant Week will NOT be in January this year, like it normally is. The dates have not been released as of yet, however we know that it is being post-poned until February.
Source: www.washington.org