Restaurant Week Recap

So Restaurant Week is long gone ... but not forgotten. This time around, I had the pleasure of dining at PS 7's, Penn Quarter's Zaytinya, and Olives for lunch. My first dinner of the week was on a Tuesday night. My good friend Shabobe, (pronounced Sha-Bob-Ee) and I had dinner at PS 7's. I had to do a little research to find out how it got its name. Apparently, PS 7’s is a combination of the Executive Chef/Owner’s name, Peter Smith and the address 777 I Street. The restaurant is located in the Chinatown/Penn Quarter neighborhoods of Washington, DC, which is conveniently just one block away from the Verizon Center and two blocks from the Gallery Place Metro Station. Any place that is accessible by metro, in my opinion is bound to do well. PS 7's is no exception. The restaurant's dining room is very modern, yet cozy. Some of the tables are a bit close to each other, which could be considered cozy or intrusive, depending on who you ask. PS 7's restaurant week menu was, how do I say it, almost barren (unfruitful, lacking). There was not enough appetizers to choose from, and if you don't like fish, well you'd leave hungry. For my first course, I ordered the "house-made" Black Pepper Parmesean and Lemon Gnochi, served with duck confit, haricot verts, pearl onions and watercress in a sage and vermouth broth. I thought that the gnochi was decent, but it was so peppery, that I coughed with almost every bite. For my second course, I opted for the Cornmeal Crusted Rainbow Trout, described as served with roasted yellow corn, watermelon and cilantro relish and baby spinach. Shabobe said that he had ordered the trout before and recalled it being very good, so I decided to give it a go. I wish I hadn't. I wasn't in the slightest bit impressed. I don't even think that I finished it. The fish was dry and with every bite, I wished I had more cilantro relish. I will say that I thought that offering Beingnets as a dessert was quite unique. I haven't had them since Nawlins, going on 8 years ago. They were delicious and I hope that they offer them all year round on their dessert menu.
A day or so later, I attended a meeting out of my office and found myself standing outside the restaurant Olives at located at 1600 K Street, NW. I sat at the bar and was pleasantly surprised by their restaurant week lunch menu. For my first course, I had melon and procuttio. I ate every single bite, although I think that the procuttio should have been wrapped more around the melon pieces. It was plated nicely, in terms of presentation, but it was rather difficult to eat. For the second course, I ordered what I thought would be a very simple boring chicken breast, but boy was I wrong. This chicken was the best chicken breast that I have ever had in my entire life. The meat was extremely tender and unbelievably juicy. It definitely had a mediterranean flavor and the ingredients were almost unidentifiable. I learned by researching the owner and chef, Todd English that he is not only, breathtakingly handsome, but very well known for his "rustic mediterranean cuisine". He owns several restaurants all over the US, including Bonfire, Kingfish Hall, Figs, and several locations of his restaurant Olives. I'd like to come back. Great place for a cool and chic happy hour.

Le Paradou offers Restaurant Week Menu

I have only been to Le Paradou one time and I think it was in December 2007. I believe that my husband and I went there for our 4th wedding anniversary celebration. My hubbie is not a foodie, but we loved Le Paradou.
I was so pleased to find out that Le Paradou just annouced that for the first time since their openinig, they are participating in restaurant week from Monday August 11 to Saturday August 16 (see RW post below).
Le Paradou's Restaurant Week menu will feature the Best of Executive Chef and co-Proprietor Yannick Cam's contemporary cuisine;
Sea Scallop Ceviche, Chilled carrot soup with ginger infused carrot sorbet, Lobster purse with carrot and ginger reduction, the famous Crab Flan with Miyagi Oysters and White Corn Ragout, Tomato Gazpacho with Avocado Terrine, Cilantro and Lobster Claw, Roasted Salmon with artichokes tomato confit and Parma Ham, Black Angus filet with a Millefeuille of Potatoes, Veal Ossobouco with fennel seeds and safran jus, quail with muchrooms and pistacchio mousse stuffing , Breast of Duck with Poultry mousse stuffed cabbage and basil jus and more! Don't forget their extensive wine list when ordering! Especially since the restaurant receieved the “Best of Award of Excellence" by Wine Spectator magazine in 2006.

Le Paradou is located at:

678 Indiana Ave NW
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202.347.6780
Fax: 202.347.4066


For more information (dress code, parking, map, etc.) or to make reservations at
Le Paradou:

Make sure you visit www.opentable.com to make your restaurant week reservations. Hurry!! Le Paradou plans to provide diners a spectacular adventure in intense flavors.

DC Restaurant Week Dates Just Announced!!

DC's Restaurant Week is back!! That’s right … haven’t you heard? Yes, well maybe you haven’t because the RW dates for this summer were just released. This summer expect restaurants to be HOT! Washington’s twice-a-year Restaurant Week, always creates quite a stir for DC Area diners. It's the time of year that normal folks (those without a hefty expense account) can actually afford to dine in Washington's best restaurants.
Restaurant Week is intended to create business for area restaurants that would normally be in a downward slump due to so many people vacationing over the summer months.The upcoming Restaurant week officially begins Monday, August 11, 2008 and ends Sunday, August 17, 2008, but some establishments will be observing early and expanding their participation to all month.
Participating Restaurant Week restaurants offer a gourmet 3-course prix fixe menu, $20.08 Lunches and $30.08 Dinners. Some of the regular participating restaurants include Corduroy, Bistro Bis, Butterfield 9, and Vidalia. Some newcomers include Restaurant K by Alison Swope and Rasika. I wonder when restaurants like Komi, Restaurant Eve, CityZen, or even Citronelle might open their doors to Restaurant Week.
Last RW in January, rustic Italian Dino offered its full menu, with a few upcharges and lasted the entire month. Romantic Butterfield 9 last time started the promotion a week early and extended the entire month, as well.
All of José Andrés’s area restaurants—Spanish tapas flagship Jaleo, Mediterranean-flavored Zaytinya, Modern Mexican Oyamel, and Latin-themed Café Atlántico have offered Restaurant Week for an extra week in the past. We can only hope that they will continue. The same goes for two places owned by restaurateur Ashok Bajaj—Cleveland Park’s neighborly Ardeo and its wine-bar sibling, Bardeo.

I already have reservations at Foodie Favorite, Corduroy for Dinner. Make sure you return to see my reviews!

Cooking and Culinary Arts: Where to go

So I've been recently considering taking some cooking classes or getting a degree or diploma in Culinary Arts. So far I've been looking for information on co$t. I saw a commercial on TV about the Art Institute of Washington and their Culinary Arts program. Also I found a huge List of cooking classes for adults and children in the Washington Post. The list is rather dated since it's from 2001, but the websites are listed. I'm considering signing up for a class or two that is offered at Galileo in DC by Chef Roberto Donna. It costs $100 per person for each class and includes hands-on instruction with the Chef, an apron, recipes, a five course meal and wine pairings. Other cooking classes of interest to me are those being offered at the Lebanese Taverna. The cost per person is a little less at $60 per person. You can register online, which is handy and the classes last from 6:45pm to 9:30pm.

Dining in DC Wish List and Mother's Day (May 11)

So there are lots of opportunities to celebrate by dining out each year. For me, the big ones are my wedding anniversary (Dec.), my birthday (Jan.), Valentines's Day (Feb.), Mother's Day (May), my husband's birthday (Nov.) and then were back around to another year. In Dec 2007 my husband and I went to Le Paradou (see review) for our wedding anniversary. For my birthday, I went to CityZen (see review). For Valentine's Day, I can't remember if we went out or what we did. I was very pregnant, so we probably didn't do much. With that being said, Mother's Day is approaching. Since I have twice the duty, I plan to pick a special place this year.
I've decided to take a look at the Washingtonian's 100 Very Best Restaurants
and make a "Wish List", starting with my #1 most desired place to visit. This was easy of course, since the #1 restaurant, Citronelle, I have never been to.
So my Wish List is as follows:
1. Citronelle
2. The Inn at Little Washington
3. Komi
4. Restaurant Eve (Tasting Room)
5. Vidalia
6. Central Michel Richard
7. Kinkaid's
8. The Source
9. Marcel's
10. Palena

So with Mother's Day approaching ... I am not sure what I will pick.
Komi is closed Sunday and Monday, so if I pick Komi I will celebrate on Saturday, which is preferred anyways. Citronelle and The Inn at Little Washington are out of our price range right now, for two or more reasons. First is I am not working because I am on maternity leave and second we have a new baby and it costs a fortune.
I think I will try and talk my husband into Restaurant Eve. I really like it there (been there for lunch) but have never been there for dinner. The tasting room menu for five courses is $125 per person, which is a steal, especially since it's Cathal Armstrong.

Oya: on the fast track to 100's Best

So last night I checked out Oya (777 9th St., NW). The restaurant calls itself, "Contemporary Asia-French fusion". Traffic was horrendous, as there was a Capitals game at the Verizon center and a baseball game at the new Washington Nationals stadium. Besides that, getting to the restaurant was uneventful. It's on the same block as Zayatina and the Capital City Brewing Company. They offer Valet, thank goodness because they probably know that there is no way that a diner would be able to find parking on their own, well especially not on a night like tonight.
Inside the restaurant is breath-takingly sexy and chic. It has a clean crisp design with white leather tables and chairs and the foyer is adored with a heavy metal chain link curtain on the wall. On the restaurant website, you can see their interior photo gallery for pictures. http://www.oyadc.com/Interior
The bar and lounge area had at least two areas that were reserved for special parties. The bar itself was fairly large and could easily accomodate a couple hundred people for a bustling happy hour.
One thing that I noticed right away once we were sat at our table, besides the decor, is the din. You can't really hear the person sitting with you and you especially cannot hear your server. I had to ask my friend more than once what the server was saying. You simply cannot hear over the noise level in the dining room. I'm sure that the bustling lounge and bar area nearby didn't help. The servers are dressed in head to toe black, which is a stark contrast to the tables and chairs. On almost every table there is a unusually tall thin bottle of trendy (probably over-priced) water (Zengo).
One very unique thing about Oya other than the decor is that they offer a prix fixe menu every day of the week. They offer a $20 lunch menu and a $30 dinner menu. My friend and I both ordered off of the prix fixe menu. For the first course, I ordered the coconut shrimp. It was cooked perfectly. Shrimp that is overcooked, usually is very rubbery. This was very good. The shrimp was lightly battered like tempura. Since Oya serves tempura, it was probably the same batter. My friend ordered the Spicy Tuna Roll (sushi) as his first course. I of course tried it and thought that it was spicy, but not enough so that you can still taste the tuna. There wasn't a lot of the tuna in the roll. I thought that there was a lot of "white" in the roll (rice). I noticed that the wasabi was presented as if it was squeezed out of a decorators tube. We also ordered a California Sushi Roll. The ginger was un-died, it wasn't that pink that you would find at other sushi joints.
For the second course, I ordered the Grilled Sirloin which I ordered medium. I rarely ever order red meat so rare, but I truly think that meats are juicier more rare. Boy, was I right! This steak was so moist, so tender, it almost melts in your mouth. My friend ordered the Chilean Sea Bass which came with stuffed roasted peppers. I did not try the peppers, as I am allergic, but the Sea Bass was perfectly cooked as well. It didn't taste "fishy" at all. Light, soft, delicate buttery flavor; it was delicious. When I return, I will order the Chilean Sea Bass. For dessert, I had the trio of sorbets, mango, strawberry, and pineapple. All in all, when it's all said and done, I think that the atmosphere makes it a great date place, but not for a first, second, or third date, as you would need to be able to hear someone that you are trying to get to know. I think the food was delish. I bet in a few years, it will find itself on the 100's Very Best. I can't wait to go back!

Oya!

So tonight I'll be dining at Oya (777 9th St. NW), the sushi/american restaurant in DC's Penn Quarter. It's my first dinner in DC since the new baby has been born; that's 6 weeks, to be exact. I don't know a lot about this place, so I decided to do some research. So far I have been able to find out that Oya's "co-chefs" Jonathan Seningen from Le Paradou and James Stouffer from the Château Elan Winery & Resort in Georgia met snowboarding in Argentina. What this has to do with the great food? I have no idea, but people like to know little tidbits. Washingtonian Magazine says that Oya is "sexy and delicious". I can't wait to see what it's like inside. I don't think I have ever eaten in a firelit dining room before. Bring it on!

CityZen

A delayed review. I've been a bit busy with the new baby and new house, but I wanted to write before I forgot about my big Birthday dinner. CityZen was rated #2 by Washingtonian and Executive Chef, Eric Ziebold was voted in Food & Wine magazine as one of ‘America’s best New Chef’s’ and the restaurant one of the ‘Hottest Restaurants in the World’.

Washingtonians knew that CityZen was going to be big even before it opened in September 2004. Chef Eric Ziebold's previous gig as chef de cuisine at the Napa Valley's The French Laundry, one of the most celebrated restaurants in the country made him a sure thing in DC. CityZen has pretty much been booked ever since Ziebold arrived. Located in the deluxe Mandarin Oriental Hotel. That part of town looked like new construction.

One thing I learned about this restaurant is what an "amuse bouche" is.
The restaurant is truly beautiful. The bar and lounge area is as large, if not larger than the dining area. Minimalists would feel at home in the dining room with the stone pillars, chocolate-leather banquettes, and gourd-shape red-orange lanterns--and the mesmerizing wall of fire behind the bar.
Within minutes of sitting down, the maître d' explains that the menu comes in three parts: a regular six-course tasting menu, a six-course vegetarian tasting menu, and the prix-fixe three-course dinner menu. You choose between a $75 prix fixe menu of 3 courses or a $90 5-course tasting menu; tasting menus of 6 courses for $110 and of 7 courses for $125 are sometimes available. The Sommelier was very informed and very polite. I didn't choose the tasting menu but it looked scrumptious. Our meal began with the first of many compliments of the chef; an amuse bouche of fried mushroom with truffle butter. This mushroom fritter, even if it was only one bite tasted out of the ordinary. This fritter was an earthy, but otherworldly, tribute to late fall. The flavors were deep and the multiple textures clever. It did what an amuse should do, awaken one’s senses to future surprises by the depth of taste. Wait staff keep bringing intermission refreshments, such as olive oil custard topped with infused butter on one occasion olive oil custard slicked with hot chili oil. I ordered from the menu the Pekin Duck, described on the menu as Poached with Medjool Dates, Spelt, Asian Pear and Duck Leg Confit. My entree was the Pan Roasted Rouelle of Spotted Skatewing, described on the menu as made with Spanish Capers and Meyer Lemon. I never had skatewing before and thought that by trying this, I was broadening my horizons. Have I mentioned the cute little boxed rolls? Oh they are what I remember best about the entire meal. Those little rolls were delicious!

Restaurant Week is coming!! Yay!!

DC's Restaurant Week is rapidly approaching. Foodies all over the DC area area anxiously await not Christmas, or New Year's Eve, but YES, Restaurant Week!!
Washington’s twice-a-year Restaurant Week, always creates quite a stir for DC Area diners. It's the time of year that normal folks (those without a hefty expense account) can actually afford to dine in Washington's best restaurants. Restaurant week occurs usually once in the Fall, around October and the second week in January. The upcoming Restaurant week officially begins Monday, January 14, 2008, but some establishments are observing early and expanding their participation to all month. Most of us foodies already have at least a lunch and dinner reservation booked. Actually, most of us booked them before it was announced which restaurants would be participating. *wink*
Participating Restaurant Week restaurants offer a gourmet 3-course prix fixe menu, $20.08 Lunches and $30.08 Dinners. The participating restaurants list includes some regulars like Corduroy, Bistro Bis, Butterfield 9, and Vidalia. Some newcomers include Restaurant K by Alison Swope and Rasika. I wonder when restaurants like Komi, Restaurant Eve, CityZen, or even Citronelle might open their doors to Restaurant Week. Well ... only a girl can hope!

Rustic Italian Dino offers its full menu, with a few upcharges, starting January 2 and lasting the entire month. Romantic Butterfield 9 is starting the promotion a week early, on January 7, and extending it to the 26th. All of José Andrés’s area restaurants—Spanish tapas flagship Jaleo, Mediterranean-flavored Zaytinya,(pictured left) Modern Mexican Oyamel, and Latin-themed Café Atlántico—offer Restaurant Week for an extra week, through January 27. The same goes for two places owned by restaurateur Ashok Bajaj—Cleveland Park’s neighborly Ardeo and its wine-bar sibling, Bardeo.

I already have reservations at Circle Bistro in Foggy Bottom and Foodie Favorite, Corduroy for Dinner. I will just slide into Zaytinya just in time on Sunday for dinner, as well. Make sure you return to see my reviews!

Da Domenico: No Accolades here

Da Domenico, established in 1980, is a small, family-oriented, Italian restaurant nestled into the heart of today's bustling Tysons Corner. The restaurant's founders, the Ramella family came to America from Imperia, in northern Italy and successfully ran their business for more than 40 years. It is currently owned and operated by Sayed, who was with the original owners for 10 years.

According to the website, "The recipe to Da Domenico's success is the spirit, warmth and culinary talent of the Da Domenico family". Perhaps the culinary talent had the day off on New Year's Eve (NYE). Granted, New Year's was my first visit (and probably my last), but I expect that no matter what I order, that my food is served warm.
Apparently they had a special NYE menu, because neither of the two dishes that my husband and I ordered is on their regular menu. They had a prix fixe menu, three courses for sixty dollars per person.

The appetizers that they offered except the Calamari Fritti, were new to their dinner menu. They offered a lobster stuffed ravioli with salmon caviar, lobster bisque, crab stuffed shrimp, and two choices of salads; an arugula and a Caesar. All of the options were very tempting. I couldn't decide which would be better, since I like crab and lobster, however, for the first course, I ordered the lobster bisque and my husband ordered the stuffed shrimp. The bisque was smooth and creamy and was served at the perfect temperature in a white oval bowl with a small round crustini floating on top. I liked the bisque, but have had better. Actually the Lobster Bisque served at the Great American Restaurants, as I recall, is surprisingly better. The bisque was spicy but lacked the occasional chunk of lobster meat that I think most people expect in a quality bisque. I was unable to taste the stuffed shrimp, as my husband said that it was loaded with bell peppers, which I am allergic.

For the second course, there were mainly seafood options, even though I had heard that Da Domenico is well known for their Veal Chop, however, I just wasn't in the mood for the Chop. It was on the menu, but I ordered the Cotoletta Porchini ... the menu described it as Veal Scaloppine with a creamy mushroom sauce. It sounded delicious and I figured if they are good with Veal that it would be good, as well. I was rather disappointed when my dinner arrived. The Scaloppine cutlet was borderline cold and the mushroom sauce was almost bland. Served with the veal was one single quartered potato slice and a few green beans with a quartered tomato slice. I ate the potato, even though that wasn't warm either. The green beans were crisp, just the way that I like them. I didn't ask for them to heat it up, although I probably should have. Instead, I just picked at it and ate an occasional bite here and there, but it looked like I barely touched it when they took my plate away.
I ordered the cheesecake as a dessert, but was disappointed, as well. The top coating of the cheesecake gave it a roasted flavor that I don't care for on cheesecake.
Overall, I just expected more. I am thoroughly disappointed. Maybe I should have ordered the Chop, since that's what they say is their best dish. C'est La Vie!